Two years ago, Jiang Chen once saved someone.
It was a heavy rainy day, and he and Su Zhi were having a rare argument. The reason for the argument was very simple.
At that time, Jiang Chen's company was making very little profit, and Su Zhi wanted him to close it down and revolve entirely around her. But Jiang Chen was a man of great pride, so naturally he would not give up on his work.
He was not the type to let romance blind him, and he knew that society in this world was far harsher on men.
Because of the disagreement, they had a huge fight.
Later, as Jiang Chen was driving home in the pouring rain, he saw a girl collapsed on the road.
She was none other than the young lady of the Ye family before him, Ye Muqing.
"I didn't expect to run into you here again, Miss Ye."
The memory flashed through his mind, but Jiang Chen felt no joy at all.
If he had a choice, he would actually prefer never to run into this person again.
Tianhai City had a long history; long before Hua Country was even established, many prominent families had already rooted themselves in this city.
Both the Su Family and the Ye family were such clans.
They had safely weathered all the political storms since the founding of the nation, and as a result, they had developed far better than ordinary families.
Compared to the Su Family, the Ye family had grown even larger.
Although on the surface the Ye family did not have a colossal enterprise like the Su Group, many companies with strong growth momentum had shares held by the Ye family.
One could easily imagine the status held by this eldest young lady of the Ye family.
She was a somewhat unhinged person.
Two years ago, after he saved her, Ye Muqing actually demanded that he become her boyfriend.
Naturally, he refused.
Then, this person began suppressing his company.
If he hadn't gone directly to unearth dirt on the Ye family and demanded they put a stop to her actions, he would have truly gone bankrupt.
Later, he heard that Ye Muqing had been sent abroad by the Ye family, and rumor had it that there were now plans for an arranged marriage with the Qin family.
Of course, her prospective match was obviously not Qin Yu, but Qin Huai, the heir of this generation of the Qin family.
So, this matter should be considered a thing of the past.
Jiang Chen did not know if she still harbored a grudge over what happened before, but even if she did, there was nothing he could do about it.
Fortunately, Ye Muqing did not make things too difficult for him.
"I've looked over the auditor's report. Both your company's assets and cash flow are quite good, and the corresponding industry is currently a blue ocean market."
"Hua Country has support policies for chips as well. Why do you want to sell?"
Jiang Chen replied, "It's nothing, I'm just tired. I'm not cut out for the manufacturing sector."
If it weren't for Su Zhi, he would never have thrown himself into this grueling manufacturing business.
He paused and said, "I personally enjoy freedom. Is that reason enough?"
"Of course," she said with a smile. "To be honest, the Ye family currently lacks a foundational foothold, which is why I am sitting here today."
"So, if you have no objections, please take a look at this contract."
Jiang Chen took the contract and was slightly startled: "One billion five hundred million?"
He looked somewhat puzzled.
Ye Muqing said, "Five hundred million of that is an apology for my past harassment, as well as a token of gratitude for saving my life."
Jiang Chen had to admire Ye Muqing's deep pockets.
One had to understand that regardless of the family or company—even a hundred-billion-yuan conglomerate—no one could casually pull out an extra five hundred million just like that.
Dashing people with hundreds of millions on a whim was basically something that only happened in dreams.
Yet Ye Muqing had actually done it.
However, Ye Muqing added, "Of course, the condition for this five hundred million is that I hope you will stay with the company for two years. The Ye family is not well-versed in chips."
Jiang Chen was slightly surprised. "The Ye family isn't well-versed in it, but you can poach talent."
There were quite a few people working in the chip industry nowadays.
Since Jiang Chen could secure mobile phone orders and apply chips to phones, naturally others could too.
Ye Muqing smiled and said, "The Ye family doesn't have the time."
Jiang Chen instantly understood—she was buying this for herself.
He asked with some curiosity, "Aren't you afraid I'll just pocket the benefits and run?"
To this, Ye Muqing merely smiled without a word.
...
While Xia Ge and Ye Muqing were busy negotiating their cooperation, Lu Hongluan was listlessly attending her classes.
She hadn't slept well at all last night.
She had thought Jiang Chen would reprimand her because of her job, especially since Jiang Chen seemed to value his pride above all else.
Yet, after helping her last night, Jiang Chen simply left.
What's more, she noticed that Jiang Chen hadn't stayed together with her for an entire week.
Though she was a bit reluctant to admit it, she found herself somewhat unaccustomed to it, and taking this money made her feel a bit uneasy.
Her tension did not go unnoticed by An Ya.
She smiled and asked, "Hongluan, do you know who you look like right now?"
Lu Hongluan yawned and asked instinctively, "Who?"
"You look exactly like a girlfriend who is terribly dissatisfied with her boyfriend," she teased with a smile. "Did something happen between you and that boyfriend of yours?"
Lu Hongluan shook her head. "No. He hasn't paid any attention to me for days, and I haven't looked for him either. What could possibly happen between us?"
By now, the rumors about Lu Hongluan being kept by a sugar daddy were flying everywhere. She hadn't denied them, and she even dared to openly discuss her "boyfriend" in the classroom.
She frowned and said, "There's still one thing I don't know how to bring up with him."
"What is it?"
She lowered her voice and said, "My mother wants to see him."
This was something she had mentioned to Jiang Chen long ago.
However, she was genuinely worried that Jiang Chen hadn't taken the matter to heart.
Her mother's surgery was already complete, and she was now recuperating in the hospital.
Whenever she didn't have classes, she would go to the hospital to accompany her mother, but she still didn't dare talk much about where the funds came from.
An Ya was extremely surprised. "Hongluan, are you being serious about this?"
Lu Hongluan said softly, "If he meets her, at least it sounds a bit better than me being kept as a mistress."
Even though she truly was being kept.
An Ya fell silent.
Feeling a pang of sympathy, she gave Lu Hongluan a hug and said, "Give me your phone, I'll talk to him for you."
"Okay."
However, the moment Lu Hongluan handed her phone over and An Ya saw the name on the chat interface, she was slightly startled: "It's actually him?"
Lu Hongluan looked surprised. "You know him?"
She had never told An Ya about Jiang Chen's identity.
An Ya looked conflicted and said, "I suppose you could say I know him. I remember he has a girlfriend... Oh, I think I know why he's doing this."
An Ya's family was also wealthy.
Though not an insider in that specific circle, she had some understanding of the entanglements between Su Zhi, Jiang Chen, and Qin Yu.
She looked at Lu Hongluan, her expression somewhat complex. "This money might not be so easy to take."
She continued, "Jiang Chen is a man with a girlfriend, but his girlfriend likely cheated on him, which is why he found you. Yeah, that must be it."
Lu Hongluan: "Ah, so he's actually so pitiful."
A sudden wave of pity for Jiang Chen welled up inside her.
Little did she know, the Jiang Chen in question had just signed his name on a receipt for one billion five hundred million.
With this sum of money, as long as he didn't gamble, he would never be able to spend it all.