"No way, man. Did you break up?"
When Liang Hao's call came through, Jiang Chen was in his office dealing with work.
As the owner of a micro-enterprise, his energy was currently consumed by the trivial matters of the company.
If not for Liang Hao's call, he would have almost forgotten that he had already broken up.
The industry Jiang Chen worked in was precision electronics. Thirty years ago, this would have been considered a high-end sector, but nowadays it fell under labor-intensive manufacturing.
Domestic electronics in Hua Country had long failed to break through to top-tier international standards, so much of the electronics sector relied on OEM contract manufacturing.
Jiang Chen had entered this industry after making his first small fortune through cryptocurrency trading during his college years, followed by taking out loans.
Depending on supply chain orders from several mobile phone companies, he was managing to live a fairly comfortable life.
Of course, this business naturally couldn't compare to the profits of finance or computer science; it could only be said to generate employment and barely keep food on the table.
In fact, the reason he chose this industry was actually related to Su Zhi.
Three years ago, he was just a genius in the speculative market, riding high on success. Having earned his first small fortune, he strutted about, calling together friends left and right, having a wonderful time.
However, it was then that he met a drunk Su Zhi.
Later on, his close buddy Liang Hao told him that Su Zhi's family background was no simple matter.
In Hua Country, having money was naturally extremely good.
Yet simply having money did not equate to social status.
Therefore, he began to pour himself into his career, choosing a market that Hua Country had yet to conquer. Only in this way could he rapidly elevate his social status.
This was why Jiang Chen had been willing to become the head of a micro-enterprise.
According to his inner thoughts, he might as well just shut the whole thing down right now.
"Well, a breakup isn't surprising anyway. The gap between you and the Su Family is still far too big."
Liang Hao was still chattering away on the other end of the phone.
He and Jiang Chen were high school classmates and also close buddies.
Unlike Jiang Chen, who lacked power and influence, Liang Hao's family had some minor connections in Tianhai City. Although these connections weren't enough for him to bully others, inquiring about news was no problem at all.
Jiang Chen asked, "Did you look into what I asked you to check?"
"Ah, did that even need looking into? I thought you already knew."
Liang Hao paused and said, "Yesterday was the day that illegitimate son of the Qin family came back."
"The Qin family's illegitimate son? Who?"
"Qin Yu," Liang Hao said. "The old master of the Qin family has two sons, and the family business was inherited by the eldest son. This eldest son has two children—one legitimate son and one illegitimate son."
"Four years ago, Su Zhi and Qin Yu were in a relationship, which met with fierce opposition from the Su Family. Then Qin Yu went abroad."
"Because of this matter, the relationship between Su Zhi and the Su Family became quite strained. Come to think of it, you look somewhat similar to this Qin Yu. People in the circle are all saying that Su Zhi was just using you as a substitute."
"I thought you knew."
Jiang Chen asked, "If you didn't tell me, how would I know?"
He was also a proud person; had he known he was being treated as a substitute, he would have broken up long ago.
Jiang Chen had always believed in loving oneself before loving others.
He could do many romantic things for Su Zhi, but he could not sacrifice his dignity first.
Liang Hao chuckled awkwardly and said, "Ah, I figured you wouldn't lose out by being with the Su Family's eldest miss, brother. She's got a pretty face, a great chest, a tiny waist, and long legs—you didn't lose out."
"Right, don't tell me you two haven't even slept together yet."
Jiang Chen fell silent.
That's right, he and Su Zhi had never slept together.
Even though Su Zhi would occasionally come over to stay at his place for a few days.
This wasn't because he had any functional issues, but rather because every time he gave off a hint, Su Zhi would dodge it.
He had originally thought that Su Zhi was just relatively traditional in her thinking at the time, but he hadn't expected that he was actually the simple-minded one.
Sensing Jiang Chen's silence, Liang Hao more or less guessed the answer.
He sighed slightly and said, "Fine, I won't mock you."
"Still, being able to carry the title of the Su Family eldest miss's ex-boyfriend means you didn't get a bad deal."
"After all, your current company is worth over a billion, isn't it?"
Jiang Chen paused for a moment and said, "I'll sell it to you for a billion, do you want it?"
Liang Hao said, "Get lost, I have no desire to be a workhorse."
Jiang Chen said, "Then help me look around and see if there are any buyers."
He added, "I don't want to be a workhorse either."
...
"My head hurts so much."
"Yesterday... oh right, I drank a lot of alcohol yesterday."
Seeing the familiar bedroom, a flash of bewilderment crossed Su Zhi's eyes.
She had already forgotten how she managed to get back.
Tidying up her clothes slightly, she heard some commotion in the living room.
There she saw a cute girl sitting in a 'W' shape on the living room sofa.
"Yao Yao," Su Zhi looked at Lu Yao and asked instinctively, "Why are you here?"
Then, she noticed her voice was somewhat hoarse.
Seeing this, Lu Yao immediately let out a hum: "If I weren't here, you'd have been completely eaten alive by that guy Qin Yu."
"Qin Yu?"
She was slightly startled, and memories of the previous night immediately rushed back.
Last night, her phone had rung.
However, she was barely able to hold her phone, and Qin Yu ended up answering it.
Afterward, the gathering broke up.
He asked her for her home address, but she gave a vague and unclear answer.
Then she accidentally dialed Lu Yao's phone number.
She asked instinctively, "Where is Qin Yu?"
"Su Zhi, Miss Su."
Lu Yao said somewhat angrily, "Instead of caring about where Qin Yu is right now, you should care about yourself."
"I saw your Moments post."
"Moments? What?"
She instinctively unlocked her phone and tapped on it.
Then she saw the photo she had posted last night.
Lu Yao said, "Uncle Su explicitly warned you over and over again not to get involved in the Qin family's messy business. He must be furious right now."
"Qin Yu is just using you as a bargaining chip."
She felt a sense of exasperation.
As Su Zhi's best friend, Lu Yao was also an eldest miss in her own right.
She despised Qin Yu's behavior, which was why she hadn't gone over at all last night.
Yet she hadn't expected Su Zhi to post such a thing on her Moments.
However, at this moment, a completely different thought popped into Su Zhi's mind.
Did Jiang Chen see this Moments post?
She instinctively opened her chat with Jiang Chen, only to find the restaurant address he had sent lingering at the top.
Su Zhi opened her mouth, feeling as though her throat had been choked.
At that exact moment, the doorbell outside rang.
Su Zhi instinctively moved to open the door, but was stopped by Lu Yao: "You're not dressed properly to open the door, I'll get it."
Lu Yao opened the door and found a delivery courier.
"Same-city express delivery, a large package here for you to sign for."
"Oh."
After quickly signing for the package, Lu Yao noticed that Su Zhi was staring blankly.
Lu Yao asked with some confusion, "What's wrong, Su Zhi?"
Su Zhi said subconsciously, "These things were sent from Jiang Chen's place."
Lu Yao asked instinctively, "So what?"
"Weren't you and Jiang Chen just messing around?"