"Young Master Qin..."
"I can no longer work for you, Miss Yu's boyfriend is a master."
Ma Lao San called Qin Fengwu. The other end of the line fell silent for a long time, making Ma Lao San uneasy.
Shangjing.
In a lavish villa estate, a noble young man closed the Buddhist scriptures he was reading and placed his glasses on top of them. He then said to the person on the other end of the line, "There's no one you, Ma Lao San, can't handle?"
Ma Lao San's mouth felt bitter.
Let alone him, even if Ma Lao San's boss came, he might not be able to handle Chen Jinzhao.
Qin Fengwu sensed that Ma Lao San seemed to have something difficult to say, and asked, "Do you know who that person is?"
"Cannot say, cannot say," Ma Lao San shook his head.
Qin Fengwu's usually calm face showed a hint of surprise. Ma Lao San knew his background, yet he was still hesitant to reveal information. This indicated a significant problem.
He was not one to pry. He nodded and said, "I understand. Take care of your injuries."
Then he hung up the phone.
Qin Fengwu raised his hand. A middle-aged man with a sinister gaze emerged from a dark corner of the courtyard. "Young Master, what are your orders?"
"Ma Lao San knows too much."
Since he was no longer of use to Qin Fengwu, there was no need to keep him alive.
The middle-aged man understood immediately and set off for Ninghai, Jiangnan, to eliminate Ma Lao San without a trace.
Qin Fengwu enjoyed the quiet.
He leaned back in his grand chair, gazing up at the starry sky.
"Interesting, but anyone who dares to touch the woman I desire is destined to die."
Men are creatures of extreme possessiveness, especially young masters like Qin Fengwu who wielded immense power.
"It seems..."
"After I finish my current business, I must make a trip to Ninghai."
Meanwhile.
Ninghai, south of the city.
An Aston Martin with a sleek, streamlined design stopped at a bus stop. Chen Jinzhao stepped out of the car, carrying several large bags.
Yu Mengzhi rolled down the car window and glanced at the surroundings. This was an old district, with many buildings dating back thirty years. The overall impression was one of dilapidation, which made her frown.
"You live here?" she asked.
Chen Jinzhao nodded.
Yu Mengzhi asked again, "Why not live in the new city? It's convenient for transportation and daily life."
Chen Jinzhao glanced at the finely made-up Yu Mengzhi and said with a hint of annoyance, "Do you think everyone is as rich as your Yu family? A single apartment in the city costs at least two thousand. My monthly salary is only four to five thousand, and that's before daily expenses."
Young ladies like Yu Mengzhi usually had a common affliction – a lack of understanding of the struggles of ordinary people.
"How much is rent here?" Yu Mengzhi did not seem offended.
"Seven to eight hundred."
Yu Mengzhi said nothing further, rolled up her window, and drove away.
Chen Jinzhao looked at the bags in his hands and wondered what this was all about.
Shaking his head, he returned to his rented room, took a shower, and then lay on the bed, staring blankly at a photograph on the wall.
The photograph showed him and his brothers.
Now, only he remained...
Thinking of this, Chen Jinzhao sighed again and shifted his gaze away.
Speaking of which, he didn't know what had happened these past two days. He had inadvertently become entangled in the power struggles of influential families, which was not his intention.
According to Chen Jinzhao's original plan, he only wanted to live out his remaining years in a mundane life, as a form of penance for the incident three years ago.
*Ding dong!*
Chen Jinzhao fumbled for his phone from under his pillow.
It was a message from Yu Mengzhi.
Yu Mengzhi had proactively added Chen Jinzhao as a friend, and he had accepted.
However, after waiting for a long time, Yu Mengzhi did not send any further messages, which made him feel a bit strange.
Indeed.
He was being too self-important.
He and Yu Mengzhi were not truly in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship; it was just an act.
*Ding dong!*
Chen Jinzhao's gaze moved down. It was a message from his mother.
"Son, what are you doing?"
"I have a day off tomorrow, and I want to come to the city to see you. Are you free?"
"Oh, and the boss gave me a 200 yuan red packet today. Should I transfer it to you?"
"..."
Chen Jinzhao's thoughts were complicated.
In this life, he had let down his fallen comrades and his mother.
Chen Jinzhao grew up in a single-parent family, living with his mother, who had never remarried.
Chen Jinzhao knew his mother's hardships from a young age and vowed to succeed. He eventually got into Ninghai University, the best in Jiangnan Province and ranked among the top five in the country.
Even now, he remembered the scene of his mother crying tears of joy while holding Chen Jinzhao's admission letter.
Later...
Chen Jinzhao suffered heartbreak in his sophomore year and then enlisted in the army.
At the time, Chen Jinzhao's plan was to serve two years as a conscript and then return to his studies.
What happened later, however, far exceeded Chen Jinzhao's initial plans.
He ended up serving for five years.
After leaving the army, Chen Jinzhao sent his substantial retirement pay to his mother as repayment for raising him.
His mother, Li Qiurong, remained unaware that he was working as a doorman at a residential complex in the city.
Thinking of these things.
Chen Jinzhao sighed. Uncharacteristically, he did not smoke but tapped a few times on the screen.
"Mom, I don't need it."
"My boss just gave me a promotion and a raise today. Keep the money for yourself. Call me when you arrive tomorrow, and I'll ask for leave to take you out for a meal."
Li Qiurong seemed very pleased.
Since her son had grown up, Li Qiurong had not lived with him much. She knew that her son needed his own space as he got older.
At the same time, in the Donghu Villa District.
Yu Mengzhi returned home. As she got out of the car, she saw the lights on in the building and immediately guessed what was happening.
Feeling a moment of apprehension, Yu Mengzhi took a deep breath and walked up the steps into the living room on the first floor.
An oppressive atmosphere immediately greeted her, making her heart clench.
As expected.
The entire family was already seated on the living room sofas, waiting for Yu Mengzhi's return.
This villa was usually occupied only by Yu Mengzhi, but now the elders of the Yu family had gathered, clearly with her in mind.
Yu Mengzhi had been mentally prepared, but she hadn't expected the storm to arrive so quickly.
"Grandfather..."
Yu Mengzhi walked up to the spirited old master of the Yu family.
Yu Lingxiao glanced at his granddaughter and gestured for her to sit. After she sat down, he said, "Girl, are you unhappy with the marriage I arranged for you?"
Yu Mengzhi did not reply immediately but looked at her father, Yu Wendong, who was sitting opposite her.
Yu Wendong seemed to ignore his daughter's gaze, keeping his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart, appearing indifferent as if afraid of getting caught in the crossfire.
Yu Mengzhi withdrew her gaze and said with her head lowered, "Grandfather, I don't want to marry Qin Fengwu. The Qin family in Shangjing holds immense power. Qin Fengwu's grandfather is a general in the army, and his father is a high-ranking official. How could I possibly be worthy of climbing the Qin family's ladder?"
"Furthermore..."
"I already have a boyfriend. His name is Chen Jinzhao."