"Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (Huayue)..." Jiang Chen murmured softly.
This was the heirloom painting of the Jiang family.
Before his grandfather died, he had told him that the Jiang family could perish, but the painting must not be lost.
For the past ten years, Jiang Chen had never forgotten it for a moment.
"Xiao Hei, get ready. We move tonight."
"Yes." Xiao Hei nodded.
"All right, you go ahead. My wife is almost off work, and she certainly doesn't want me hanging out with shady characters. You don't look like a good guy at all. If my wife sees you, she'll start nagging me again."
Xiao Hei's expression stiffened.
So what if his skin was a bit dark? How did that make him shady? How was he not a good guy?
"What are you standing there spacing out for? Get lost." Jiang Chen gave him a kick.
Xiao Hei turned and walked away.
Jiang Chen checked the time. It was almost time for the workday to end, and Tang Chuchu would be coming out soon.
He wheeled his little e-bike over to the outside of Tang's Yongle Company. Before he even reached the entrance, he saw a woman walking out of the building.
The woman stood one hundred and eighty centimeters tall, dressed in professional attire: a white shirt, a black hip-skimming skirt, and red high heels.
She had a head of chestnut-colored, wavy long hair and carried a briefcase. Her stride was full of poise and dripping with elegance.
"Chuchu."
A man immediately hurried over, holding a bouquet of flowers which he offered to her. "Chuchu, these are for you. Are you free tonight? I've booked the Diamond Private Room at the Zuixian Tower and would love to invite you to dinner."
The person presenting the flowers was Wang Bin from the Wang Family, one of the Four Great Families of Jiangzhong.
Ever since Tang Chuchu secured the contract with Qianjun and her relationship with Qianjun's chairman, Ye Xiong, was brought to light, the Tang Family's fame had been growing steadily. Having also recovered her looks, Tang Chuchu had become the undisputed number one beauty in Jiangzhong.
After taking over as the executive chairwoman of Yongle, her business acumen proved formidable, and in a mere half-month, she had whipped the company into immaculate shape.
Her reputation grew by the day, earning her the title of Jiangzhong's most stunning female CEO.
Although she had a husband, Jiang Chen's reputation in Jiangzhong was truly abysmal. Those young scions simply ignored Jiang Chen, pressing on with their pursuits regardless, desperate to win the beauty's heart.
At that moment, Tang Chuchu caught sight of Jiang Chen pushing his little e-bike toward her. A radiant smile bloomed across her face. Completely ignoring Wang Bin, she walked right past him, planted a very public kiss on Jiang Chen, and slipped her arm affectionately through his.
"Honey, this guy wants to treat me to dinner in the Diamond Private Room at the Zuixian Tower. I've never been to the Zuixian Tower before."
"If he's inviting you, go ahead. And if possible, bring me along too—I've never been there either."
Seeing this scene, Wang Bin's face darkened. He strode over and said coldly, "Jiang Chen, I am Wang Bin of the Wang Family. I'll give you five hundred thousand—leave Chuchu!"
With that, Wang Bin pulled out a card and thrust it forward.
"Wife, should I take it?"
"Up to you." Tang Chuchu giggled, saying, "I think we should take it. Fifty thousand—uh, five hundred thousand should be enough for a good meal in the Diamond Private Room at the Zuixian Tower."
"Then I'll gladly accept."
Jiang Chen smiled, took the card Wang Bin handed over, and asked with a grin, "By the way, what's the PIN?"
Wang Bin lifted his chin proudly. "The PIN is six zeros. Take the money and get lost. From now on, you have nothing to do with Chuchu."
"Right, we'll go back and get a divorce." Jiang Chen nodded and said, "Wife, get on."
Tang Chuchu climbed onto the back of the e-bike, wrapped her arms around Jiang Chen's waist, and rode off under Wang Bin's bewildered gaze.
Wang Bin stood there in a daze for quite a while before it finally dawned on him that he had been played. Furious, he smashed the bouquet of flowers onto the ground, glared in the direction where Jiang Chen had disappeared, and cursed viciously, "Damn brat, I am not finished with you!"
Jiang Chen rode the little e-bike and brought Tang Chuchu back home.
As soon as they got inside, she sat down on the sofa, held out a fair little hand, and looked at Jiang Chen with a teasing smile.
"What?" Jiang Chen tightly covered his pockets. "This is the breakup fee Wang Bin gave me. This is my private stash."
"Breakup your head, hand it over!" Tang Chuchu put on a stern face and said, "You eat my food, drink my water, use my things, and wear my clothes—what do you need money for? Give me those five hundred thousand so I can put it in savings. When we have children and raise them later, won't we need money?"
Only then did Jiang Chen reluctantly take out the card Wang Bin had given him, complaining unhappily, "Wife, this has happened several times already. Over the past dozen days or so, the breakup fees other guys gave me have added up to well over two million in total. This money is mine..."
"Whose money?"
A voice came from the doorway.
Hearing the voice, Tang Chuchu instantly snatched the card back from Jiang Chen and blurted out anxiously, "Nothing, no money at all."
He Yanmei walked in, her face cold. "Wretched girl, you even dare to try and fool your mother? I heard everything right outside the door—what breakup fee, what two million? Hand it over!"
Tang Chuchu protested, "Mom, there really is nothing!"
Jiang Chen chimed in, "Yeah, really, it's nothing."
He Yanmei snapped, "I'm talking to my daughter, do you even have a role in this? Look what time it is, have you cooked dinner yet? Get moving!"
"Oh."
Jiang Chen immediately turned and headed off to the kitchen to cook.
After bustling about in the kitchen for over half an hour, he finally came out, and the family had dinner together.
After the meal, Jiang Chen pulled Tang Chuchu into their bedroom and asked in a low voice, "Wife, are you okay?"
Tang Chuchu rolled her eyes. "It's all your fault—why did you have to speak so loudly? The money was completely confiscated by my old lady, who said she raised me for over twenty years and now that I have a job, I need to pay her an allowance for her retirement!"
"What, you gave her all of it?" Jiang Chen's eyes widened.
Lately, he was genuinely strapped for cash.
He was a live-in son-in-law in the Tang Family without a job, and he didn't have a single penny to his name. Even his cigarette money was subsidized by Xiao Hei.
Tang Chuchu said with a helpless expression, "Yeah, all of it. The one hundred thousand breakup fee from Young Master Chen, the two hundred and fifty thousand from Young Master Zhang, the three hundred thousand from Young Master Liu, and the five hundred thousand from Young Master Wang—every last bit was confiscated by my mom."
"Sigh," Jiang Chen sighed. "I just hope that when I go to pick you up tomorrow, there are still wealthy young masters pursuing you so I can get another few hundred thousand in breakup fees. Wife, WeChat me a few hundred—I don't have any money for cigarettes."
"Who'd believe that? A few days ago when I was doing your laundry, didn't I see a black card in your pocket? Don't tell me there's no money on it. Hand it over, I'll hold onto it!" Tang Chuchu reached out her hand, demanding the card from Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen took out the black card.
The card was pitch black, emblazoned with a black dragon, and had no card number on it.
Tang Chuchu hadn't looked closely when doing the laundry last time, but looking at it now, she couldn't help asking, "What kind of bank card is this? Why is there no card number?"
"Um..." Jiang Chen stammered, "This is a co-branded bank card issued by major banks. It works at any bank. Besides, what era is this? Card numbers are out—everyone uses smart chips for cards now."
Half-convinced, Tang Chuchu took the card and asked, "What's the PIN, and how much is on it?"
"The PIN is six eights, and as for the money, not all that much."
"Eight your head," Tang Chuchu scolded. "Since when does a bank card have an eight-digit PIN?"
"I remembered wrong, it's six eights." Jiang Chen offered an awkward smile.
How could this card possibly have a PIN? No matter what you punched in, it would always register as correct.
As for this Black Dragon Card, there was only one such card in the entire country. It was a symbol of status and power. As for how much money was on it, he honestly had no idea, because he had never bothered to withdraw any.
Still, it was something he had earned through ten years of military service and ten years of honors, so there should be a fair amount. However, having reached his level, money was merely an external possession, and he didn't care how much was on the card.
Even if he handed it over to Tang Chuchu right now, he wouldn't mind. Without Tang Chuchu, there would be no him today; everything he had was given to him by Tang Chuchu.