The voice on the other end was raspy, the kind you get after years of smoking.

Liu Changqing only needed a moment to guess who was calling.

Holding onto that suspicion, he asked uncertainly,

“You’re… Chen Dafu’s—?”

“I’m his dad. That little brat ran away from home. Is he at your place right now?”

Before Liu Changqing could finish his sentence, he was cut off by Chen Jianguo’s voice, laced with obvious anger.

“Put him on. Let him take the call.”

“He’s not here right now—he just left.”

“Just left? Where the h*ll could he have gone? Dafu! Dafu, don’t you play dead! If you don’t want me to break your legs, you better get on this call!”

“……”

Apparently not buying Liu Changqing’s explanation, Chen Jianguo started yelling.

Liu Changqing had to hold the phone away from his ear—dude was loud.

This old guy… had a serious temper.

Not quite what Liu Changqing had imagined.

He gave his phone a sidelong glance. Even without the speaker on, he could hear Chen Jianguo’s booming voice clear as day.

After who knew how long—probably after yelling himself hoarse—Chen Jianguo’s voice finally began to quiet down.

Only then did Liu Changqing speak up again.

“He really isn’t here. Before you called, Dafu came by and said you’d arranged a blind date for him over New Year’s, but he didn’t stay long before he left.”

“He really ran off?”

“Mm, no clue where he went…”

“That little sht doesn’t even listen to his old man anymore. It’s all his damn mother’s fault—spoiled him rotten. Dmn it, if I don’t smack him around every few days, he thinks he can flip the roof off the house. The next time I catch him, I swear I’ll break both his legs.”

Crude words, muttered under his breath.

Though not loud, Liu Changqing could hear him loud and clear.

It was… awkward.

I mean, sure, cursing out your kid is one thing, but do you have to do it in front of me?

How am I even supposed to respond to that?

After mumbling a bit more, Chen Jianguo switched gears and asked,

“I’ve met you before. When I first heard Dafu was hanging out with you, I wasn’t too thrilled. But that game console thing you two came up with—pretty solid. Selling well.”

“……”

“I heard you registered your marriage with An Quancheng’s daughter?”

“Yes.”

“You young folks really know how to stir things up. Don’t you worry about gossip behind your backs?”

“……”

“Let’s grab a meal sometime. I think you’ve got potential.”

“Sure, another day. I’ll treat you next time I’ve got time.”

“Alright then. That settles it. If Dafu shows up at your place again, just give me a call. That’s it for now.”

With that, Chen Jianguo hung up.

Liu Changqing stood there stunned, phone still in hand, listening to the dial tone buzzing in his ear.

He stared at his phone in silence.

A thought surfaced.

How does everyone have my phone number?

Do I have any privacy left at all?

----------------------------------------

Meanwhile—

Chen Jianguo tossed his phone onto his desk after hanging up. The way he threw it made the device clatter loudly against the surface.

He didn’t care.

Lowering his head, he sat silently for a while.

Then he looked up, his expression vaguely confused, like he couldn’t quite remember something. Facing Ye Rong, who was seated not far away, he said,

“Uh… where were we just now? I swear, the older I get, the worse my memory is.”

Hearing this, Ye Rong—who was usually very proud of her composure—couldn’t help letting her mask slip.

If Chen Jianguo had just been ranting about his kid, that’d be one thing.

But the two of them had been in the middle of discussing the ownership of a major development project. And not only did he seem disinterested in what she was saying, he’d interrupted the meeting to take a random phone call—and said all kinds of bizarre stuff.

Worse yet, it was a call to Liu Changqing.

After what Chen Jianguo had just said right in front of her, Ye Rong wasn’t foolish enough to miss the implication.

An Quancheng only had one daughter.

And Ye Rong knew exactly who had registered their marriage with her.

She’d met Chen Jianguo a few times back when her husband was still alive.

Back then, hadn’t he been super respectful toward her?

But now…

Her jaw tensed up, teeth clenching involuntarily.

Ye Rong inhaled deeply, then exhaled all at once, trying to calm herself.

“We were talking about that plot of land in City A…”

“Oh, right! Now I remember.”

Cutting her off mid-sentence, Chen Jianguo suddenly looked like he’d had an epiphany.

He reached over, grabbed the cup next to him, took a big gulp of tea, and swished it around in his mouth like mouthwash.

After a few noisy gurgles, he bent down and spat the tea into a nearby trash can. Then he let out a loud “haah,” followed by a thick wad of phlegm.

He spat that into the trash too.

Then he looked up at Ye Rong with a grin that wasn’t quite a smile.

“Ye-jie, what can I say? We’ve already broken ground over there. Your timing just couldn’t have been worse. If you’d given me a heads-up earlier, we might’ve worked something out.”

“……”

If Ye Rong couldn’t see through his act now, she’d have to be brain-dead.

Her expression darkened.

After a moment of silence, she stood up from her seat and glared straight at Chen Jianguo.

Her voice sharpened.

“You knew how important that land was to me. And you still went after it? That’s just downright dirty.”

“Oh come on, now that’s not fair. I got it fair and square. What’s dirty about that?”

“Chen Jianguo, do you think just because I’m a woman, I’m easy to push around?!”

“Don’t twist my words. I never said that… You’re misinterpreting me—yeah, misinterpreting.”

“……”

Staring daggers at him, Ye Rong fell silent.

The two locked eyes for a few long seconds.

Then Ye Rong grabbed her bag and turned to leave without another word.

Chen Jianguo didn’t try to stop her—instead, he lifted his head and yelled toward the door,

“Xiao Zhang, see Ms. Ye out.”

Hearing that, Ye Rong’s steps faltered for just a second.

Then she stormed out without looking back.

When the office door clicked shut behind her, only Chen Jianguo was left in the room.

There’s no such thing as a successful idiot.

Chen Jianguo may not have been highly educated, but the fact that he’d made it this far was proof enough of his capability. In all his years, there were few people he’d ever truly admired.

If he had to name one, it’d be Ye Rong’s late husband.

Li Zhengmao.

Chen Jianguo had always respected the man. His vision, his abilities—Li Zhengmao had been one of the most exceptional people he’d ever met.

What a shame… that he married her.

Chen Jianguo couldn’t figure it out no matter how he thought about it.

Sure, Ye Rong had been a real beauty in her youth, and her family had some money…

But aside from that, she was hardly remarkable.

Why had Li Zhengmao insisted on marrying such a woman?

Thinking back to the way Ye Rong had acted just now, Chen Jianguo couldn’t help but snort.

Still putting on airs when she’s the one asking for a favor. Does she really think she’s all that?

He couldn't hold it back any longer and let out a harsh laugh.

Muttering to himself, he grabbed his tea again.

“F**king hll… still acting like she’s hot sht, what a dumb*ss…”