CHAPTER 280: CHAPTER 280: THE OLD BULL EATS TENDER GRASS

The first call was an international one from his younger sister, Li Keyao. Her vacation had ended, and he had sent her back overseas some time ago.

The little girl didn’t even bother with basic courtesy before screaming at the top of her lungs, "Li Juezhou, you despicable man! I’m Sang Ning’s biggest fan, and you dare to secretly pursue Sister Sangsang behind my back? You’re shameless, absolutely shameless!"

Li Juezhou frowned. He felt like his ears had just been assaulted by terrible noise pollution.

"Clearly, your academic workload isn’t too heavy. It looks like I can start arranging for you to intern at the overseas branch," Li Juezhou said with an unnervingly serious expression and a businesslike, emotionless tone.

Li Keyao instantly became obedient. "I’m sorry for disturbing you, Brother. My coursework is really demanding. This might be the only time I contact you this semester."

Li Keyao absolutely hated anything related to running a business. Making her intern at the company would be worse than killing her.

One pillar of the company is enough—her brother is more than capable; he doesn’t need this little good-for-nothing. She’s perfectly content eating, drinking, and enjoying life every day.

After Li Keyao’s call, the second call Li Juezhou received was from his friend Qin Siyan.

Although Qin Siyan didn’t scream like Li Keyao, his voice still inflicted some decibels of noise pollution on Li Juezhou.

"Damn, damn, damn, damnnnn!!!! Azhou, tell me this isn’t true! Are you seriously interested in that little celebrity?"

"I heard you’ve handed over the company’s day-to-day operations to an executive manager and only handle major decisions now. You’re not even in the office anymore. Is that true?"

"Oh my god, tell me you didn’t abandon such a massive company just to chase after a little celebrity. Was it worth it?"

"Azhou, did someone put a curse on you? I’ve heard that a lot of actresses in the entertainment circle keep little ghosts for this kind of thing. If someone cursed you, please tell me—I know a very reliable master who can definitely help you!"

Qin Siyan wouldn’t stop rambling, so Li Juezhou coldly interrupted, "If Sang Ning’s the one who cursed me, I’ll gladly accept it."

After saying that, Li Juezhou ran out of patience to explain further and hung up the phone.

The third call was the one he had been waiting for—his parents.

They didn’t call; instead, they initiated a video chat on WeChat.

When the video connected, the screen revealed an endless expanse of azure blue sea behind Father Li and Mrs. Li.

Father Li was wearing a pair of flamboyant beach shorts, while Mrs. Li had on a Bohemian-style vacation dress.

Both of them were wearing sunglasses. Although Li Juezhou couldn’t see their eyes, their excitement was evident in their tone.

"Azhou, I heard you’ve finally blossomed, and you’re dating some girl. Is that true?" Wei Lan asked with the distinct tone of a doting, nagging mother.

Li Juezhou straightened his posture and retorted, "Mom, I’m only in my twenties. Let’s leave the ’finally blossomed’ part out of this."

"But I heard this girl you like just turned twenty, and you’re already twenty-eight. That’s an eight-year gap! What else could it be if it’s not an old cow eating young grass?" Li Haidong mercilessly added from the side.

"Dad, my twenty-eighth birthday hasn’t even arrived yet. I’m still twenty-seven," Li Juezhou replied wearily, beginning to doubt whether he was even their biological child.

Ever since he took over the company, his parents had embarked on a life of globetrotting vacations. They’d even entrusted his underage sister to his care, as though they’d forgotten they had two children. Their record for not contacting him or his sister stretched to as long as six months.

Now, they finally deigned to call him, only to say things he didn’t want to hear.

"You’re still old!" Wei Lan dropped another brutal jab. "Azhou, you’re almost thirty and have never even dated before. Even though your father and I are anxious about your love life, we don’t want you dragging some innocent young girl into a mess.

Your father and I looked into it, and this girl you like—is she a celebrity? She really is pretty, I’ll give you that. But are you trying to be one of those sleazy rich guys who picks a starlet because she’s eye candy, plays with her for a bit, then discards her?

If that’s your plan, I suggest you forget about it. Your father and I may be old, but we’re not dead. We can still wield a knife to deal with you if needed. We will not allow something that tarnishes the Li Family’s reputation to happen!"

A sudden sharpness flickered in Li Haidong’s eyes as he removed his sunglasses. "Exactly! As long as I’m Li Haidong, I won’t tolerate having such an immoral son in this family!"

Li Juezhou rubbed his temples in frustration. He was their biological child. Surely they knew what kind of person he was by now?

"Go back to enjoying your food and fun. Don’t worry about things that don’t concern you. And, for the record, Sang Ning isn’t just some celebrity. She’ll be the brightest star in the entertainment industry one day. Right now, I’m still in the pursuit stage. Whether she even likes your son is another question entirely, so stop messing around. I have things to do. Bye!"

Li Juezhou had no intention of hiding his feelings for Sang Ning from his parents. He saw no reason to conceal anything from the people closest to him.

If Sang Ning didn’t still have her reservations, he would have declared to the world that she was his girlfriend.

There’s no need to hide it when you like someone.

After hanging up, Wei Lan and Li Haidong suddenly lost the mood for their vacation.

Li Haidong looked worried. "What do we do? Based on what he said, this doesn’t sound very promising. Do you think that girl might actually find him too old?"

Wei Lan shook her head. "I don’t know. Aren’t young girls these days more into those younger ’puppy’ types? Maybe our Azhou’s cold and domineering CEO vibe isn’t in style anymore?"

Li Haidong suggested, "Should we try to help Azhou?"

Wei Lan and Li Haidong were a pair of contradictions. On one hand, they worried that their son would harm a young girl’s future, but on the other hand, they also feared he wouldn’t win her heart.

Li Juezhou himself wasn’t too concerned. After all, he was already ahead in this race. Confessing his feelings was like reserving the position of ’Sang Ning’s boyfriend’ in advance. When her career took off, they could spend more time building their relationship then.

**

Sang Ning didn’t have time to pay attention to the uproar online because Qingyue had reached out to her.

"Sang Ning, may I invite you to have dinner with me?"

Though the call came from an unfamiliar number, Sang Ning immediately recognized Qingyue’s voice.

Qingyue inviting her must have been for no good reason. Naturally, Sang Ning refused right away, "I don’t think there’s anything for us to talk about."

"If there’s nothing for us to discuss, how about we talk about Shen Yi?" Qingyue said.

"Shen Yi?" Sang Ning was confused. Why would Qingyue bring up Shen Yi?