Chu Shangluo raised an eyebrow and looked at Gu Yao, who was wearing a mischievous expression. “What method?”

Gu Yao replied, “Someone like him, based on my years of experience with men, has a very strong possessive streak. I’ll find a few young beauties for you, and you can make out with them in front of him. It’ll definitely work!”

Chu Shangluo pushed Gu Yao away. “Enough, enough, don’t come up with any bad ideas. Go play with your little beauties already!”

Young Master Jiang seriously agreed, “Yeah! Bad idea!”

“Hey, how can you call it a bad idea? What else would you do? You’ve probably already used all your soft and hard tactics, right? Why not try my method? I guarantee it’ll make your ‘Ren Jiaoming’ jealous, and tonight he’ll be all over you!”

Chu Shangluo couldn’t be bothered and looked around for Ren Jiaoming. Gu Yao, still with his little beauty, followed closely behind Chu Shangluo, kissing and cuddling. Chu Shangluo felt like kicking them both aside in frustration.

Gu Yao said, “This island isn’t bad, right?”

Chu Shangluo looked at the beautiful scenery in front of him and nodded. “What’s the matter? You want to buy it for me?”

Gu Yao quickly waved his hand. “I’d have to sell everything I own! You’re not my wife, why would I buy it for you? Anyway, this island belongs to the young master of the Yu family. This is the birthday banquet Elder Chen arranged. But the young master of the Yu family is so mysterious—nobody in the circle has ever seen him. I heard his health is bad, and he’s paralyzed. Your new secretary worked at the Yu family’s company, right? Has he seen him?”

Chu Shangluo thought for a moment. “I asked about it when we were chatting. Lu Wen hasn’t seen him either. This young master rarely comes to the company. It’s mostly phone meetings.”

“That’s really mysterious, right? So smart and secretive—it really piques people’s curiosity. From being a small, unknown company to becoming well-established in Beijing in just a few years, their market value is now on par with old companies like the Wen and Su families. It’s impressive. And now they’re so close to Elder Chen—seems like the business giants in Beijing are about to change.”

Chu Shangluo analyzed aloud, “It’s a bit difficult. The Yu family has always been focused on overseas business and rarely reaches into Beijing. The current business giant in Beijing is Elder Chen, but he’s getting old, and many younger members who are losing loyalty are waiting to divide the spoils. Once they do, the biggest players will be the Su family, Wen family, and your family. From the Yu family’s actions in recent years, it seems like they don’t want to get involved in the mess anytime soon.”

“Hey, CEO Chu, you’re being humble. You’ve already started taking action against the Su and Wen families. Chu Corporation will definitely have a place in the business world soon.”

Chu Shangluo stopped at the cold drinks area, his footsteps halting. “Forget it, I don’t want to get involved…” He trailed off, his lips tightening as he looked ahead.

Gu Yao looked up and saw what Chu Shangluo had been thinking about—Ren Jiaoming, looking at Wen Yan with eyes full of affection, almost smiling from ear to ear. Chu Shangluo’s fists clenched, and he turned around to walk back.

Gu Yao quickly followed him, saying, “Go over there and grab your big beauty back! What are you afraid of? Why run away?”

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to control myself and will flip their table over!”

“Let it be, what’s the big deal?” Gu Yao saw that Chu Shangluo’s eyes were red from anger. He paused for a moment, pushed the little beauty in his arms away, walked over, and casually threw an arm around Chu Shangluo’s shoulders, bumping into him. “Alright, you already cut off Wen Yan’s business, so he’s probably privately fuming. And besides, look at his scrawny, barely-there body—he’s definitely not built to last and can’t satisfy your Ren beauty. But look at you! Those chest muscles! Your physique! Your figure!”

Gu Yao said as he reached out and pinched Chu Shangluo’s chest. “You’ve got the perfect ‘older alpha’ body that beauties go crazy for. You’re handsome too. What are you worried about? I think Ren Jiaoming should be the one worried! He’s so cold, barely says a word all day, and you’re the one who likes him!”

Chu Shangluo pushed Gu Yao away. “Shut up, go away.”

“Come on, don’t be such a love saint. Let me find a few little beauties for you, and we can go drink together,” Gu Yao continued.

Young Master Jiang, buried in the sand with only his head showing, turned to Ren Jiaoming and said, “You can’t find Chu Shangluo, right? He left with a few little beauties. I was going to follow, but Gu Yao called a few people and buried me in the sand.”

Ren Jiaoming turned and walked away, but Jiang called after him, “Don’t go! Pull me out!”

Ren Jiaoming didn’t find Chu Shangluo when he returned to the room, and when he called, no one answered. At 10 p.m., Ren Jiaoming saw Chu Shangluo at a bar. Chu Shangluo was sitting with one young beauty on each side, legs crossed, his shirt unbuttoned. Gu Yao sat across from him, smiling and clinking glasses with him.

Ren Jiaoming walked over, grabbed the wine glass from Chu Shangluo’s hand, his voice cold, “Let’s go back, there’s something at the company that needs to be handled.”

Chu Shangluo was furious. Ren Jiaoming could have said something like “don’t drink so much, take care of your health” or “it’s late, go to sleep,” but instead, he insisted that he go back to work. Chu Shangluo grabbed the glass back and interrogated, “Who did you meet this afternoon?”

Ren Jiaoming replied, “No one.”

Chu Shangluo took a sip of his drink, the anger he’d been holding in all afternoon flaring up. “You lie without batting an eye. Do you think I didn’t see? You know I don’t get along with him, and yet you went to meet him. He even called you ‘gege’ and was all smiles with you!”

Ren Jiaoming’s expression darkened. “So, this is why you’ve been ignoring my calls all evening, hanging out with him?”

The words “hanging out” completely infuriated Chu Shangluo. Did Ren Jiaoming really think he was that kind of person? Furious to the point of laughing, he said, “Stop being so presumptuous. Just because you can meet with your friends, does that mean I can’t meet with mine?”

Ren Jiaoming glared at Chu Shangluo, his anger fleeting for a moment. “You’re the boss, do as you please. If you think these two aren’t serving you well enough, I can get more for you.”

Chu Shangluo was so angry he could barely contain himself. No one spoke as cruelly as Ren Jiaoming; every word felt like a needle, stabbing deeply.

Gu Yao saw that the tension between them was about to reach its boiling point, so he quickly wrapped an arm around Chu Shangluo and, with two little beauties in tow, led him out. “Why are you getting mad at a secretary? Let’s go have some fun!”

Ren Jiaoming watched the group leave, his fists tightening for a moment before loosening again.

When Ren Jiaoming returned to his room and pressed the doorbell, a man’s laughing voice came from inside, followed by Gu Yao sticking his head out. “Secretary Ren, why don’t you just sleep next door tonight? A secretary like you who understands the boss is rare. Mr. Chu and the little beauties are having a great time, I’m sure you wouldn’t want to interrupt them,” Gu Yao said, then closed the door.

Back in the bedroom, Chu Shangluo was playing cards with two little beauties. He looked up at Gu Yao and angrily asked, “What was Ren Jiaoming’s reaction?”

Gu Yao shrugged, sat next to Chu Shangluo, picked up a card, and shook his head. “No reaction at all, absolutely none! Are you sure you two really slept together? I’ve never seen anyone so composed! With him like this, he must be especially enduring in bed. He might even be able to control the timing for cumming and impregnating someone!”

Chu Shangluo nearly lost his composure from the first part of the sentence, but when the last line came out, he was both exasperated and amused. “If that’s really the case, he’s something else. I, Chu Shangluo, will share the same surname as him…”

Gu Yao leaned in and said, “Well, next time ask him if he can do it, observe in practice. If it works, I’ll help him apply for a Guinness World Record.”

Chu Shangluo punched Gu Yao. “Enough already, stop messing around. Take your little beauties and go back to your room. I’m tired!”

Gu Yao laughed and, pulling the two beauties along, went off to the next room to play cards.

Perhaps due to the alcohol, Chu Shangluo quickly fell asleep. The next day, when he woke up and went to the living room to get some water, he saw Gu Yao and the two beauties, who had been playing cards all night. The two beauties were on the verge of tears after losing badly. Chu Shangluo was drinking cold water when Gu Yao, yawning, came over, staring at the pale skin on the back of Chu Shangluo’s neck. Gu Yao reached over and gave it a hard pinch, making Chu Shangluo turn around and punch him in return.

Gu Yao clutched his stomach, almost vomiting. “Take it easy, wasn’t that a little too much? Isn’t this supposed to be just for show?”

Chu Shangluo rubbed the back of his neck. “Don’t you know I’m sensitive to pain?”

Gu Yao shrugged. “Come on, what’s a little pain? Anyway, Mr. Chen’s birthday party is in the evening. What should we do during the day? How about we drink some more?”

Chu Shangluo, frustrated since Ren Jiaoming hadn’t knocked on his door or called all night, agreed, “Fine, let’s drink some more. It’s rare to relax. If we have alcohol here, let’s not go out.”

“Sounds good. I’ll call for some dishes.”

After a while, the food arrived. Gu Yao went to open the door and saw Ren Jiaoming standing behind the delivery person.

The weather in May was already pretty hot, but as soon as Ren Jiaoming entered, Gu Yao immediately felt the room grow cold. At the dinner table, the little beauty picked up a wine glass and toasted Chu Shangluo. “Mr. Chu, tell Mr. Gu, he won a lot of money from me last night. Can he return it to me?”

The little beauty looked pitiful, about to clink her glass with Chu Shangluo’s, but she accidentally spilled the wine all over his shirt. The shirt became soaked, revealing the skin underneath.

Chu Shangluo, hungover and having drunk all night, drunkenly began to unbutton his shirt. Half of it was off when the glaring red marks on his neck were exposed.

Before he knew it, Ren Jiaoming grabbed his wrist and dragged him in the bathroom, with a dark expression, threw the drunk Chu Shangluo into the bathtub, turning on the shower.

Chu Shangluo choked on a few mouthfuls of water and cursed, “Are you crazy?”

Ren Jiaoming looked down at him from above, his face cold. “Your shirt got dirty. It needs washing. I’m just doing what a secretary should do.”