Kuang Ye winced in pain, jumping slightly, but he stubbornly held it in, not letting anyone see. At this moment, Tang Ce turned his attention to Mu Wan and smiled with surprise. “This must be Miss Mu Wan, right? Hello, I’m Tang Ce, Kuang Ye’s business partner.”

Mu Wan politely extended her hand. “Hello, I’m Mu Wan, Kuang Ye’s fiancée.”

Tang Ce shook her hand and apologized, “I’m sorry for not being able to return to China earlier to sign the lease for the villa, as I was constantly traveling abroad.”

Mu Wan was surprised. “You’re the landlord of the villa?”

Tang Ce seemed puzzled. “Kuang Ye didn’t tell you?”

Mu Wan: … She secretly stepped on Kuang Ye’s foot again.

Kuang Ye: !!!

Kuang Ye was truly amazed by Tang Ce’s loose tongue. He quickly pushed him aside. “Aren’t you supposed to be busy with work? Let’s catch up some other time. Don’t keep Mr. Wang waiting.”

Mr. Wang shook his head. “It’s fine, no rush.”

Kuang Ye gave Tang Ce a pointed look, silently urging him to get to work. Tang Ce, noticing the crowd of people behind Kuang Ye, realized now wasn’t the time to reminisce. He turned to Mu Wan and said his goodbyes.

“Miss Mu, come visit Su You when you have time,” he said.

Mu Wan nodded politely, “Sure.”

Tang Ce and Mr. Wang continued on their way toward the dining area. The sound of their conversation could be heard as they walked away.

“How did Mr. Tang come to know CEO Kuang? He doesn’t look that old, yet he’s accomplished so much,” someone asked.

“We were classmates back in the day,” Mr. Wang replied.

“Really? You both went to MIT? No wonder he’s so capable, sitting as chairman at such a young age.”

“Yes, he’s just lazy—he hardly ever comes to the company,” Mr. Wang commented.

The group: …

“MIT???”

No way. But weren’t we told that he graduated from junior high??

Mu Wan’s smile widened, and Kuang Ye suddenly felt a chill run down his back. His knees began to ache as if anticipating what was to come.

Someone patted Kong Shuai’s shoulder. “Buddy, you’re not getting anywhere with that. Don’t bother.”

Kong Shuai: …

Mu Wan had a thousand questions in her mind. After bidding the group farewell, she left the restaurant with Kuang Ye. The group watched the taillights of their luxury car fade away, feeling both envious and excited. The dynamic of a strong woman and a gentle man is great, but this balanced and competitive feeling is just as intriguing. And the idea that they were equal partners, with him willing to be her “subordinate,” felt like the epitome of a beautiful love story!

Meanwhile, back at the apartment, Kuang Ye quietly retrieved the hidden keyboard, knelt beside Mu Wan’s feet, and quickly began to explain everything without letting her have the chance to get angry. “I didn’t get into MIT through the usual channels.”

“When I had to take a year off to recover from an injury, my father paid to get me in.”

“But I studied properly. Manager Zhang hired several tutors for me to start learning from middle school level again.”

“I passed all the college exams on my own, even skipping a grade. I finished all my courses in just over a year.”

Mu Wan, nonchalant, replied, “Balancing study and work, you’re pretty impressive.”

Kuang Ye looked pitifully at her, grabbing her wrist. “I had it tough back then. The only rest I got was during my treatments. Otherwise, I was buried in books all day, and I nearly puked from the pressure.”

It must have been incredibly hard to complete all the coursework from middle school to university in one year.

Mu Wan felt a bit soft-hearted, but her face remained stern. “So why didn’t you tell me about this earlier?”

“And what’s the deal with being the CEO of Su You?”

Kuang Ye’s expression darkened, and he gripped her hand a little tighter. “It wasn’t something I could boast about, since I didn’t enter through the official channels.”

Mu Wan thought about the rumors in their circle that labeled him as a high school dropout, and her anger began to dissipate. Kuang Ye, seeing her soften, immediately seized the moment to explain further.

“As for the CEO of Su You, that’s just a joke by Tang Ce.” He then recounted what he had told Mu Jianhua before. “After the company went public, the shares were diluted. I was going to sell my stake to him, but for convenience in management, he let me keep my shares.”

When a company goes public, shares are inevitably diluted, and new shareholders come in. Tang Ce, still young, was worried he wouldn’t be able to handle the older, more experienced investors, so he let Kuang Ye hold onto the shares as the ‘mysterious CEO.’ Any controversial decisions would be made in the name of the CEO.

“How much do you own now?”

“35%.”

Mu Wan: That’s enough to have a veto on major matters.

“And how much does Tang Ce have?”

“25%.”

Mu Wan: … So you two together control more than 60% of the company. You have absolute control over it.

“Does Tang Ce trust you that much?” she asked. A third of the shares in a public tech company was no small thing. Tang Ce seemed remarkably trusting to let someone not involved in management hold such a large portion. What if Kuang Ye secretly sold his shares to someone else and Su You changed hands?

Kuang Ye shrugged. “I told him privately that I wouldn’t touch my shares, and he doesn’t worry. But he keeps trying to trick me into working at Su You.”

Mu Wan suddenly remembered something important. “What major did you study in university?”

“Computer Science.”

Mu Wan: … You went to the best financial academy in the world, but studied Computer Science?