Looking at the magnificent, imposing high-rise building ahead, Chen Feiyu said with satisfaction.
Suddenly, a security guard walked over, taking in Chen Feiyu’s cheap, off-the-rack clothes with a flash of disdain in his eyes.
After all, the people who came to this building were either white-collar professionals or members of high society. Who on earth would dress in such hopelessly outdated, cheap clothes?
"Move along, move along! This isn't a place for the likes of you. Scram, get out of here." Without another word, the guard moved to chase Chen Feiyu away.
Unfazed, Chen Feiyu smiled and said, "I'm here to see someone."
"You're looking for someone? You have a friend working here?" The guard looked at him suspiciously.
Chen Feiyu smiled. "Not a friend—my wife. I'm here to find my wife, so hurry up and let me in."
The guard couldn't help rolling his eyes.
It was true that nearly ninety-nine percent of the employees inside the Chaoran Group were women, and furthermore, young, beautiful, single women. Because of this, the company's fame spread far and wide, and every few days, some wealthy second-generation heir would show up trying to pick up girls, all of them claiming to have a wife working here. Yet almost all of them were frauds who ended up being turned away.
Who would have thought that even a bumpkin would try to pick up girls here nowadays? Truly, all kinds of people appeared in this day and age.
The guard was so exasperated he laughed, saying with scorn, "You think you can play the player? Why don't you take a piss and look at your own reflection first—do you think a bumpkin like you is worthy? Piss off right now, or I'm calling the police."
Frowning, Chen Feiyu said, "My wife really works here."
The guard said dismissively, "I see you won't give up until you hit a brick wall. Fine, what's your wife's name?"
Extremely displeased with the guard's contemptuous attitude, Chen Feiyu sneered, "Why should I tell you my wife's name? I'm warning you, if you don't move out of the way right now, bear the consequences!"
"Oh ho? What's that? From the sound of it, you're actually looking to throw punches?"
The guard scoffed mockingly, though he couldn't really be blamed—just by looking at his exterior, Chen Feiyu appeared rather slender and frail, completely incapable of fighting.
With a cold chuckle, Chen Feiyu was just about to make a move when the sound of screeching brakes suddenly came from behind.
A beautiful woman dressed in professional black attire stepped out, possessing an extraordinary poise that was easily a match for Liu Shengnan.
Stepping forward, Ye Yilin frowned and asked, "What are you two doing here?"
"Deputy General Manager Ye!" Upon recognizing who had arrived, the guard immediately flashed a fawning smile and continued, "Deputy General Manager Ye, some country bumpkin showed up out of nowhere trying to pick up women here, so I stopped him."
Glancing casually at her, Chen Feiyu said, "I'm here to find my wife."
Curiously looking Chen Feiyu up and down, Ye Yilin asked, "What is your wife's name?"
"Su Yingxue."
That statement was truly shocking enough to leave people speechless; Ye Yilin and the guard let out simultaneous gasps of astonishment.
The reason was simple: Su Yingxue was none other than the group's president, as well as the goddess of all Mingji City.
Now, a country bumpkin had suddenly appeared before them, claiming that Su Yingxue was his wife—who could possibly believe that?
The guard scoffed mockingly, "Get real! A person like you wants President Su to be your wife? What sheer delusion, completely overestimating your own capabilities!"
"You're saying your wife is Su Yingxue? Do you have any proof?" Ye Yilin was equally stunned, and equally filled with suspicion.
"Here, I happen to have a photo of my wife right here." Chen Feiyu took out the photograph.
The beauty in the photo possessed otherworldly looks and a cold, aloof temperament. It was undeniably President Su Yingxue.
"Good grief, you actually stole our President's photo!"
The guard had caught a glimpse of Su Yingxue from afar once before, which was how he recognized her appearance. He was convinced that Chen Feiyu must have stolen the picture.
Upon seeing the photo, however, Ye Yilin was genuinely shocked.
She could tell at a glance that this was a private, personal photograph of Su Yingxue—the kind that would never be handed over to outsiders. Since Chen Feiyu had produced a picture of Su Yingxue, there had to be some connection between them.
Furthermore, she knew that even if someone were to lie, they wouldn't choose a falsehood so easily exposed.
As a woman of breeding, Ye Yilin decided to play it safe. She asked for Chen Feiyu's name and then walked over to a corner to make a phone call.
The guard was still heaping sarcasm and ridicule onto Chen Feiyu, sneering, "I don't know where you managed to dig up a photo of President Su, but let me give you some advice: there are plenty of delusional people in this world. What kind of status does our President hold? How could she ever look twice at you? Deputy General Manager Ye is making a phone call right now, and your lie is going to be exposed any second. If you don't want to humiliate yourself any further, I suggest you get lost while you still can."
Chen Feiyu simply stood there calmly without a word.
Before long, Ye Yilin walked back over with a look of utter astonishment.
"Well?" Chen Feiyu asked, standing with his hands behind his back and raising an eyebrow.
The guard chuckled derisively, "Hah, what else could it be? His lies got exposed, obviously."
Ye Yilin looked Chen Feiyu up and down, the more she saw the more unbelievable it seemed, and said, "President Su asks you to go up. Follow me."
"Heh, how about that? What did I tell you, it's definitely a lia—" The guard caught himself mid-sentence, his eyes widening in shock. "What? President Su invited him up? C-Could it..."
Chen Feiyu walked calmly forward. As he passed by the guard, he suddenly remarked, "Remember this: those who judge others by their cover always end up getting the short end of the stick."
The guard's face instantly turned ashen, and cold sweat streamed down his forehead uncontrollably.
Only a single thought echoed in his mind: I offended President Su's husband. It's over, it's completely over. I'm going to be fired.
Ye Yilin found the whole situation utterly incomprehensible. Never could she have imagined that Su Yingxue—who had always carried herself with such aloof arrogance and treated everyone with indifference—actually had a fiancé.
Even more mind-boggling was the fact that for a favored daughter of the heavens like Su Yingxue, her fiancé should logically have been a dragon among men. Who would have guessed he would turn out to be such a country bumpkin!
Such a stark contrast was truly staggering.
With this thought in mind, Ye Yilin kept casting curious glances at Chen Feiyu, trying to discern if he possessed any extraordinary qualities.
Yet she was disappointed; no matter how she looked at it, apart from having rather delicate facial features, Chen Feiyu was hopelessly rustic from head to toe.
It was simply unimaginable that such a person could become Su Yingxue's fiancé.
Ye Yilin couldn't help feeling a sense of injustice on Su Yingxue's behalf, feeling that the latter had truly thrown her life away on him.
"Hmph."
Ye Yilin let out a cold, stiff huff of displeasure, leaving Chen Feiyu completely baffled.
Before long, Chen Feiyu followed Ye Yilin to the president's office.
A woman even more gorgeous than the one in the photo was seated behind a desk, working.
She wore a white suit ensemble, with delicate facial features, skin as white as snow, and an otherworldly aura.
Upon seeing Su Yingxue, Chen Feiyu was quite satisfied.
In the flesh, she was more than a hundred times prettier than her photograph. She was without a doubt the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on.
It seemed the old man had decent taste after all, finding such an absolute beauty to be his wife.
"President Su, I've brought him to you. I'll take my leave now," Ye Yilin said.
"Alright, sorry to trouble you."
A smile bloomed at the corners of Su Yingxue's lips, one capable of putting all flowers to shame.
As soon as Ye Yilin left, Su Yingxue's smile vanished instantly. With a pair of bright eyes, she scrutinized the "legendary" Chen Feiyu, unable to conceal her deep disappointment.
Although she had always opposed this match, Chen Feiyu was, after all, her fiancé, and she couldn't help harboring a shred of curiosity about him.
Yet now, meeting him in person fell far short of hearing the tales—she was thoroughly disappointed.
One had to know that her suitors were countless; if they were to line up, the queue would stretch all the way from Mingji City to the Imperial Capital, and every single one of them was a scion of a wealthy family.
Even so, Su Yingxue had always treated them with utter indifference—let alone someone as hopelessly rustic as the Chen Feiyu standing before her.
Stepping forward with a cheeky grin, Chen Feiyu said, "Wife, we've finally met."
Frowning, Su Yingxue said, "Don't call me wife. I never said I was going to marry you."
Chen Feiyu retorted, "The two of us have a marriage engagement in place. If you don't marry me, who else could you possibly marry?"
Su Yingxue was left momentarily speechless. If not for that betrothal agreement, Chen Feiyu probably wouldn't even have been allowed into her office.
Taking a deep breath to steady her emotions, she said, "This engagement was decided by my grandfather without my consent. I personally do not acknowledge it, and furthermore, I cannot marry a man who is utterly useless. However..."
"However what?"
Chen Feiyu couldn't help frowning, a trace of displeasure already rising in his heart.
Just as Su Yingxue was about to continue speaking, a commotion suddenly erupted outside.
The office door was shoved open immediately afterward, and a handsome man in a tailored suit walked in, holding a large bouquet of roses.
That person walked right in, ignoring Chen Feiyu completely, and strode straight up to Su Yingxue. Sporting what he believed to be a charming smile, he said, "Yingxue, these are for you. I've booked an entire restaurant for tonight—would you do me the honor of joining me for dinner?"
Chen Feiyu's expression darkened instantly.
To think someone would actually try to poach his wife right under his nose—this was simply too arrogant!
When Su Yingxue recognized who had arrived, a flash of disgust crossed her brows, and she said coldly, "Li Tongwei, I appreciate the thought, but no thank you. I have a guest here right now and it's not convenient to talk. Please leave."
A flicker of gloom crossed Li Tongwei's features. Only then did he notice Chen Feiyu's presence. After giving him a casual glance and assuming he was some low-ranking employee, a look of contempt surfaced in his eyes as he demanded, "Who are you? Didn't you see I was discussing something with President Su? Why haven't you rolled out of here yet?"
Chen Feiyu let out a cold laugh. "I'm her husband. What kind of pig-head are you? Can't you see I'm flirting with my wife? Why don't you hurry up and get lost from here!"
"What? President Su's husband?"
Li Tongwei was dumbfounded. He first looked Chen Feiyu up and down in disbelief, then burst into scornful laughter, stating arrogantly, "A poor loser like you actually wants to be Su Yingxue's husband? Why don't you take a look in the mirror—what pure delusion! Isn't that right, President Su?"
Li Tongwei was full of confidence. He was Li Tongwei, the young master of the Li family, one of the top influential families in all of Mingji City, controlling a third of its economy. As for a low-class piece of trash like Chen Feiyu, it would only take a single word from him to make the man mysteriously vanish from Mingji City.
Heh, what was Chen Feiyu anyway?
To his surprise, Su Yingxue merely glanced at him with indifference and said, "What he said is true. He is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, my husband."
"What?!"
Li Tongwei blurted out in shock. He looked at Chen Feiyu—dressed in cheap, off-the-rack clothes—and then at Su Yingxue, whose beauty was peerless, utterly unable to connect the two.
Chen Feiyu was quite pleased by this, and said, "Ordinarily, you would have to pay a price for threatening me, but I'm in a good mood today, so I'll let you off the hook. Why aren't you getting lost yet? Can you afford to take the blame if you ruin the romance between me and my wife?"
Suddenly breaking into a derisive sneer, Li Tongwei glared at Su Yingxue and scoffed, "Everyone outside says President Su is an ice beauty who shows no warmth to the opposite sex. I just never imagined that President Su actually had a taste for this sort of thing. I've certainly learned something new today."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Su Yingxue's expression shifted slightly with anger.
"What else could it mean? Isn't it obvious?" Li Tongwei laughed mockingly. "You reject so many outstanding young heirs only to pick a poor loser—tsk tsk, your tastes are certainly heavy. I just wonder, when the two of you do that sort of thing at night, does President Su share such a heavy taste as well?"
"Y-You, what are you talking about?!"
Su Yingxue was an innocent maiden; when had she ever suffered such an insult? Her eyebrows instantly shot up in anger, her eyes flashing wide as she stood up from her seat.
"Hmph, how do you prove I'm talking nonsense? How about this—spend a night with me, and let me test it out to prove President Su's innocence?" Li Tongwei chuckled evilly.
"Shameless!"
Su Yingxue trembled with rage, her ample bosom rising and falling violently.
Li Tongwei's eyes lit up. "Well, what do you say, President Su? Will you consider my proposal?"
Suddenly, Li Tongwei felt his shoulder being tapped. Turning around with a frown, he snapped, "Take your hand off. Don't dirty my clothes—you can't afford to pay for them."
Chen Feiyu sneered, "You've got it wrong. Standing right here, you are the true source of pollution, making the air in this room dirty and turbid. On top of that, insulting my wife right to my face means you're practically asking to die!"
With that, Chen Feiyu lashed out with his hand, delivering a fierce, resounding slap to Li Tongwei's face.
Li Tongwei stumbled back several steps, his head ringing loudly. Even his right molars were knocked loose, and blood began to trickle from the corner of his mouth.
Su Yingxue covered her small mouth, looking at Chen Feiyu in disbelief—he was this strong?
Yet deep down, she felt immensely gratified.
In both pain and fury, Li Tongwei clutched his cheek and venomously snarled, "You actually dare hit me?! Do you have any idea who I am?"
"My ass cares who you are."
Taking a sudden stride forward, Chen Feiyu closed the distance to Li Tongwei and delivered another slap that sent him flying, sneering, "Dare to bully my woman, and even if the King of Hell himself shows up, I'll beat him just the same!"
Climbing up from the ground with great difficulty, Li Tongwei's eyes burned with intense hatred as he let out a roar and lunged viciously at Chen Feiyu.
"Careful!" Su Yingxue couldn't help crying out in warning.
"Hmph, overestimating your capabilities."
With a cold chuckle, Chen Feiyu suddenly raised his foot, striking first despite moving second, and kicked Li Tongwei flying.
As Li Tongwei tried to scramble back to his feet, Chen Feiyu stepped right up to him again, delivering kick after kick to his body while cursing furiously, "Moron, flirting with my wife right in front of me—tell me, don't you deserve a beating?"
"Stop... stop hitting me, Big Brother! I'll never dare do it again! Please... stop! Keep hitting me and you'll kill me!"
Feeling as though every bone in his body had been shattered, Li Tongwei shrieked like a slaughtered pig.
Su Yingxue was completely dumbfounded—wasn't Chen Feiyu a bit too violent?
Still, it felt utterly satisfying!
A trace of a smile tugged at the corner of Su Yingxue's lips, and the look in her eyes as she gazed at Chen Feiyu softened just a fraction.
As Li Tongwei's pig-like screams continued to echo, Su Yingxue feared that someone might actually be killed and spoke up to dissuade him: "I think that's about enough. How about... how about you let it go?"
Only then did Chen Feiyu pull back his fists. A glint resembling sharp light flashed in his eyes as he said in a deep voice, "Fine. Since my senior wife has spoken, consider it your lucky day. I'll let you off this time, but if you ever disrespect my wife again, it won't be as simple as today."
"Yes, yes, I was wrong! I really won't dare do it again!"
Li Tongwei had already been beaten until his face swelled like a pig's head, completely stripped of any second-generation arrogance. Obedient as a grandson, he scurried out of the room like a fleeing dog, though the moment his back was turned to Chen Feiyu, his eyes filled with bone-deep hatred.
Sensing something amiss, as if trying to warn Chen Feiyu, Su Yingxue said, "Li Tongwei's father is the chairman of the Mingji Trading Group, and their influence in both the underworld and legitimate circles is formidable. The Li family is notorious for holding grudges—since you humiliated him today, he will definitely come back to take revenge on you."
"So what?" Chen Feiyu extended his fist and said proudly, "No matter how towering his power, I shall suppress it with a single fist. If he dares to come looking for trouble, I'll just smash him to pieces."
Su Yingxue shook her head inwardly. As a native of Mingji City, she naturally knew the extent of the Li family's influence. Even compared to her own Su Family, they were superior by a margin of three parts. Let alone a grassroots nobody like Chen Feiyu, even her own father wouldn't dare utter such grandiose boasts here.
The sliver of favorable impression she had just formed toward Chen Feiyu instantly vanished into thin air, and she said coldly, "In any case, you'd better watch your own back."
"Wife, are you worried about me?"
Chen Feiyu beamed with a cheeky smile. Having just maintained such an imposing, arrogant posture, he instantly reverted to his mischievous grin, leaving Su Yingxue feeling slightly dizzy.
Su Yingxue glared at him fiercely. "Who is your wife? If you keep calling me that, I'll call the security guards. Now sit down, I have something to say to you."
Though this command-style tone brought a flicker of displeasure to Chen Feiyu's eyes, he still took a seat opposite Su Yingxue and said coolly, "Go ahead, I'm listening."
Frowning as if deep in thought, Su Yingxue spoke slowly after a moment: "Although you and I have a betrothal agreement, you are currently drifting aimlessly and have accomplished nothing. Given this massive gap in status and position, if I refuse, this scrap of paper holding our marriage contract can be annulled instantly. However..."
"Oh? However what?" Chen Feiyu asked calmly, his face betraying neither joy nor anger.
Su Yingxue continued, "However, since it is a promise made by our elders, it is only right that I respect it. I will give you one year. During this year, the engagement remains valid, and I can provide for you financially, but I will not announce our relationship to the outside world. One year from now, if you still have no achievements to your name, or fail to make me fall in love with you, then this engagement..."
Before she could finish, a subtle, unfathomable light flashed in Chen Feiyu's eyes. His usual playful expression settled into calm as he said, "You'll provide for me? Are you looking down on me? Do you think I came here this time begging to finish our wedding? I hope you get one thing straight: the marriage contract back then was something your grandfather begged my master to set up. It's not like I am desperate to marry you."
Chen Feiyu continued, "I'll give you a year as well. If you fail to perform in a way that satisfies me, a single letter of repudiation will be all it takes to divorce you."
"You... what did you say?"
Su Yingxue was both shocked and infuriated. As a favored daughter of the heavens in high society, she had already taken the initiative to show goodwill, yet not only did the man fail to appreciate it, but he had even threatened to divorce her.
How could she possibly tolerate this?
Unfazed in the face of his enraged fiancée, Chen Feiyu remained completely unmoved, stating, "I mean what I say. Take care of yourself."
With that, he turned and walked away without the slightest hesitation.
"Chen Feiyu, you're infuriating! I want to see what kind of mess you can make of yourself in a year!"
Su Yingxue stamped her foot in anger.
Unfazed, Chen Feiyu pushed the door open and stepped outside.
Ye Yilin was standing right by the doorway. Upon suddenly seeing Chen Feiyu emerge, she managed an awkward smile.
Chen Feiyu gave a slight nod and walked away on his own accord.
Watching his receding figure, Ye Yilin shook her head inwardly. She had no idea how Chen Feiyu had managed to become President Su's fiancé, but she knew one thing for certain: Chen Feiyu was utterly unworthy of President Su. They belonged to entirely different worlds and were destined never to intersect.