Chapter 10

After helping Zhong Yi pick out several outfits, Fang Junrong called to have the dresses delivered as soon as possible.

When she returned to her room, it wasn’t long before Li Wangjin knocked on the door.

Fang Junrong opened the door, and Li Wangjin walked in with practiced ease. She caught a faint whiff of cologne on him, which confirmed some of her suspicions. Li Wangjin must have already met with Jiang Yage’s aunt, Wen Sixian, right? This was exactly what she had orchestrated.

In truth, she didn’t need to do much. All it took was having someone whisper two things in Wen Sixian’s ear: “Li Wangjin’s idealized love is Wen Sier” and “Li Wangjin’s relationship with his wife is growing increasingly distant.”

If she hadn’t deliberately arranged it, the painter He Ming wouldn’t have mentioned Wen Sixian either.

As for Wen Sixian herself—struggling abroad—she naturally wouldn’t miss this lifeline when it appeared. In her past life, hadn’t Wen Sixian relied on her looks and carefully crafted image of devotion to successfully latch onto Li Wangjin?

Suppressing the disgust rising in her chest, Fang Junrong asked flatly, “What is it?”

Li Wangjin paused, then put on his usual gentle smile. “How much liquid cash do we have available right now?”

Fang Junrong replied, “About seven hundred million.” It had been more, but she had been actively purchasing gold and jewelry lately, spending a considerable amount.

Li Wangjin frowned—this was less than he’d expected. He had thought there would be at least a billion.

Fang Junrong continued, “Are you planning to buy more antiques and paintings? You’ve already bought quite a few this year. Over the years, it must add up to several billion at least.”

Li Wangjin’s heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t expected Fang Junrong to keep track of these expenses. His expression stiffened momentarily before quickly smoothing over. “Most of my purchases are works by Master Xu Fangweng. His pieces have been appreciating steadily on the international market—it’s practically an investment. When we sell them later, the returns could even outperform financial investments.”

He spoke with such conviction, as though he were single-handedly growing the family fortune.

“You’ve heard of Xu Fangweng’s *Frozen River Snow*, right? I’ve already contacted the original buyer. His business is facing liquidity issues, so he’s willing to sell. He also has several other pieces by the master that he’s prepared to transfer to me. The total comes to about 1.5 billion. It’s not a small sum, so I wanted to discuss it with you.”

If it were just tens of millions, he wouldn’t have needed to ask Fang Junrong, but for an amount this large, he had to get her approval.

Fang Junrong almost scoffed. Lowering her gaze, she said, “You know we can’t spend everything. We need reserves—for things like land auctions, for example.”

“I know,” Li Wangjin said, having prepared his arguments beforehand. “I was thinking—since we have other investments, why not liquidate some shares from other companies for cash? We can always pull some funds from the company later to cover it.”

Fang Junrong was more than happy to agree. After all, if they didn’t sell now, the assets would just be split evenly in the divorce. Selling now meant the money would end up in her hands—she wouldn’t be the one losing out. Though she was fully willing, she deliberately furrowed her brows and put on a displeased expression.

“It’s too risky. Let’s not,” she said firmly, shaking her head.

Li Wangjin pleaded and cajoled, expending no small amount of effort, even promising an additional 500 million to purchase property in the end, before Fang Junrong “reluctantly” agreed.

When he saw Fang Junrong nod, he felt utterly drained. He could only console himself—though his wife had gained 500 million, he stood to acquire 1.5 billion in return. In the end, he was still the one profiting.

Fearing delays might bring complications, he hurriedly arranged the matter after securing Fang Junrong’s consent.

…

The transfer of shares required procedures and time. Given the substantial amount of Li family shares being sold, whispers began circulating in their social circles. Moreover, Fang Junrong had no intention of keeping Li Wangjin’s actions confidential, so it wasn’t long before many learned that Li Wangjin had become so obsessed with purchasing Xu Fangweng’s works that he sold off several profitable shares of his own.

Publicly, people praised him for treating money as dirt and having refined taste, but privately, they couldn’t help mocking him. Every wealthy individual had their indulgences, and splurging was hardly uncommon. But no one else was as reckless as Li Wangjin, throwing away such vast sums.

Of course, many also felt Fang Junrong was far too lenient with her husband, tolerating such financial waste. Had it been them, they would have intervened. Thus, in many eyes, Fang Junrong became the epitome of a virtuous and understanding wife in China.

Some of her close friends even called to gently remind her that she ought to keep tighter control over the family finances rather than letting her husband spend so freely.

Fang Junrong maintained an outwardly tolerant demeanor—”If he likes it, let him be”—exuding grace and virtue. This was entirely deliberate on her part. When the time came for their divorce, Li Wangjin wouldn’t be able to claim the moral high ground as he had before.

Unaware that he had unwittingly fallen into Fang Junrong’s trap, Li Wangjin was in high spirits after selling part of his shares and securing the funds. He transferred the 1.5 billion to He Ming’s account, expecting it to be returned shortly.

Though he had collaborated with He Ming for years, he wasn’t entirely trusting—he had stationed several people to keep an eye on him. Yet, to his shock, all his bodyguards returned, bruised and frantic.

A bad feeling settled over Li Wangjin. “What happened?”

“He Ming ran away!”

Blood rushed to his head, nearly making him collapse. He took a deep breath, veins bulging on his forehead. “Are you all useless? With so many of you, how could you let one man escape?”

The bodyguards were equally aggrieved. “He Ming had accomplices—they beat us up. By the time we woke up, he was gone.”

The thought of the missing 1.5 billion nearly gave Li Wangjin a heart attack. His finger trembled as he pointed at them, unable to speak for a long moment before finally spitting out, “Find him! Search everywhere! Tear the earth apart if you have to!”

If not for needing them to fix this mess, he would have beaten them senseless for their incompetence.

The image of He Ming fleeing with the fortune made his vision redden with rage. Though the Li family was wealthy, with assets totaling billions, most were tied up in real estate. Losing such a massive sum at once left him in unbearable agony.

He tried hard to calm himself down. The most important thing now was to find He Ming quickly and get the money back. He was somewhat puzzled—did He Ming no longer want his son? He knew very well that He Ming had some physical issues when he was younger. The son he had taken and kept hidden was undoubtedly He Ming’s only heir. He had always been careful to keep the boy well-hidden; He Ming had never even met him in person, at most seeing him in videos.

A sense of unease lingered, refusing to fade. Thinking of a certain possibility, he nervously pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

Five minutes later, after hanging up, he couldn’t hold back his anger and smashed the phone to the ground.

As expected, He Ming’s son was indeed missing—someone had taken him away.

So someone was helping He Ming!

Along with his fury came overwhelming panic. Who could have done this? Not only did they know about He Ming’s existence, but they even knew where his son was being kept. Li Wangjin had always been cautious; even among his most trusted subordinates, no more than three knew about this.

Had one of those three betrayed him? Once this thought took root, it became impossible to shake. He racked his brain, trying to recall the recent words and actions of these three confidants, searching for any clues. The more he dwelled on it, the more suspicious all three seemed. It was entirely possible they were colluding with He Ming, leaving him in grave danger. Cold sweat dripped down his back.

In his foul mood, he wanted to find somewhere to unwind, but his phone—now shattered beyond use—lay in pieces on the ground. He couldn’t even call to make a reservation at his usual club. And he wasn’t in the habit of carrying spare phones.

Frustrated by everything going wrong, he angrily retrieved the SIM card from the ruined phone and had his driver take him to Wen Sixian’s place.

He borrowed the driver’s phone for the time being. Skillfully inserting his SIM card, he called Wen Sixian and asked her out to dinner. Hearing her gentle voice on the other end of the line, Li Wangjin’s mood finally improved slightly.

After years of a quiet life, Wen Sixian’s sudden appearance had rekindled some of the passion of his youth.

After chatting for a while and hanging up, Li Wangjin noticed a new text message. His expression darkened instantly when he saw the sender.

The message was from He Ming.

How dare he still have the nerve to text him!

Li Wangjin’s chest heaved with rage as he quickly opened the message. The contents sent his blood boiling all over again.

He Ming threatened that if Li Wangjin refused to give him another two billion, he would expose all their past dealings. Over the years, He Ming had kept every email between them and even recorded several conversations as evidence.

Furious, Li Wangjin hurled the phone to the ground once more.