Chu Shangluo didn’t give himself any time to rest or grieve. After leaving the boxing gym, he drove straight to the company.

The building was dark, just like the countless nights he had spent alone in the office. The last time he came here at this hour, it was also in this dark hallway. Back then, he had held someone’s hand. Now, there was nothing beside him—he would never hold that person’s hand again. Chu Shangluo’s heart began to ache again. He thumped his chest, telling himself not to think about Ren Jiaoming anymore. That person wasn’t worthy of his thoughts. So what if there was no one to accompany him? Now he felt that being alone wasn’t so bad.

Chu Shangluo lit a cigarette and pushed open the office door. The bright light poured out, illuminating Chu Shangluo standing in the darkness.

“Chu Zhong, Chu Han also disagreed with giving the shares to the Wen family. What about you?”

“I spoke with over ten people from the Chu family. None of them agreed. They are all willing to advance or retreat with Chu Corporation,” said Lu Wen, placing a coffee cup in front of Lin Zhi. “The stock drop has stopped now, have some coffee to wake up.”

Chu Shangluo stood still in the doorway, his nose tingling. He thought he was foolish. Without Ren Jiaoming, he still had friends and partners. He wasn’t alone.

Lin Zhi put down his phone, looked up, and saw Chu Shangluo at the door. He immediately stood up. “Boss, what are you doing here? You should be resting.”

Chu Shangluo’s eyes were red, but he tried to sound casual. “It’s my company, why shouldn’t I come?”

Lin Zhi limped over to Chu Shangluo, and as soon as he saw the tears hidden in Chu Shangluo’s eyes, his own tears fell. He felt hurt—he is hurting for Chu Shangluo. Lin Zhi quickly wiped his tears away, knowing that Chu Shangluo didn’t like others crying.

The next moment, he was pulled into an embrace by Chu Shangluo, who gently patted Lin Zhi’s shoulder, his voice trembling. “It’s alright. Men don’t cry easily. Don’t just stand there, your leg isn’t well.”

“It’s much better now,” Lin Zhi sniffled and pushed Chu Shangluo away, embarrassed, before sitting back at his desk.

Lu Wen and Chu Zong also looked at Chu Shangluo. Chu Zong scratched his head and said, “Cousin, it’s my fault for not noticing my secretary was a traitor. I’m going to deal with this with you.”

Lu Wen shrugged and smiled. “Chu Zong, does this mean I’m finally getting promoted?”

Chu Shangluo took a long drag from his cigarette and slowly exhaled. He didn’t say anything. Everything was understood without words.

That night, they tallied up whose shares had been swindled by Wen Yan, how many people genuinely wanted to reclaim those shares, and how many had already sided with the Wen family.

The results left Chu Shangluo stunned for a long time. All of the Chu family members agreed to sue to reclaim the shares that Wen Yan had illegally obtained. Most of the outside employees chose to stay out of the mess, but a small number had already been bribed by Wen Yan.

The next morning, when Chu Shangluo woke up from the desk, the other three were still asleep. Lin Zhi was lying on the couch, Lu Wen was sitting with his arms crossed, asleep, and Chu Zong was sprawled out on the floor. Chu Shangluo took a deep breath and rubbed his sore, dry eyes. Just then, his phone rang. Chu Shangluo quickly put on his jacket and stepped outside to answer the call.

It wasn’t long before Cheng Jilin arrived, and Chu Shangluo was taken to the Bureau of Industry and Commerce for questioning. The Chu family’s seafood had excessive heavy metals, leading to over twenty people being hospitalized, with one currently in the ICU. This was a very serious food safety incident. After the meeting, Chu Shangluo followed Cheng Jilin to the Chu family’s various stores in the city to take samples and collect evidence. A whole day passed in the process.

When he returned, Chu Shangluo met Gu Yao, who had been waiting for him for a long time. Gu Yao looked at Chu Shangluo, whose hair was messy and eyes red from exhaustion. He had many words of reproach for him, such as warning him to be cautious of Ren Jiaoming, but when he saw Chu Shangluo, he sighed deeply, patted his shoulder, and said, “If you need any help, just say it.”

“I actually do need your help. How about you buy the boxing gym from me at the original price?” Gu Yao chuckled, and the heavy atmosphere he had tried to create evaporated. “Haha, how about I add twenty thousand more?”

A faint smile appeared on Chu Shangluo’s tired face. “Alright, that’s a good deal.”

While the Chu family was suffering, the Wen family wasn’t at ease either. Wen Yan saw this as a crucial opportunity to bring down Chu Shangluo. If he didn’t destroy Chu Shangluo this time, the Wen family wouldn’t find another chance like this. The entire business circle of the capital closely followed this matter, as it contained so many juicy details and potential changes in the market.

The idle rich young heirs followed the relationships between Chu Shangluo, Wen Yan, and Ren Jiaoming, with various rumors flying. The most convincing one was that Ren Jiaoming was Wen Zhengyang’s adopted son, and he had infiltrated Chu Corporation as an undercover agent to bring it down. The reason Ren Jiaoming was so loyal to Wen Yan was because he had feelings for him. Since Wen Yan resembled Chu Shangluo, Ren Jiaoming couldn’t win Wen Yan’s heart and used Chu Shangluo as a substitute. Now that the Wen family had closed in, he returned to his true master.

Those who heard this version couldn’t help but feel sympathy for Chu Shangluo. Even though they didn’t have a good impression of him, and Chu Shangluo didn’t like them either, they still pitied him. To be used as a substitute after giving his all was a bitter fate. The saying “a knife hangs over the color”^[1]The phrase “a knife hangs over the color” evokes a sense of tension or threat, using imagery that combines something sharp and dangerous (a knife) with something that could symbolize … Continue reading was something they’d take to heart. They’d remind themselves to engage in more casual affairs, never following Chu Shangluo’s example of doing it all alone.

The older generation of rich families wasn’t interested in such gossip. They focused on whether Chu Corporation could survive. If it did, the business ecosystem in the capital would remain balanced. If it failed and was taken down or acquired by the Wen family, Wen Corporation would dominate the market, and other businesses would face challenges.

On the third day, when Chu Shangluo came out of the Bureau of Industry and Commerce, he was completely exhausted.

The twenty customers poisoned by heavy metals had gathered a large crowd to protest under the company every day, demanding an explanation. Chu Shangluo promised them compensation, but they were still relentless. The chain reaction was severe, with Chu Corporation’s stock plummeting, shareholders hastily selling their stocks, external employees demanding to resign, and partner companies withdrawing their investments. It wasn’t difficult to topple a large enterprise with a single industry structure. Chu Shangluo had anticipated such risks when he took over Chu Corporation in the first year. He had subsequently developed various projects—real estate, e-commerce, and even mobile gaming. As a result, this year Chu Corporation’s market value was higher than previous years. But now, none of these ventures were of any help. A lot of money had been invested in real estate, but it couldn’t be recouped until the projects were completed, which would take at least a year. E-commerce mainly sold seafood, and after the seafood scandal, orders had dropped sharply. The mobile gaming venture, which had initially generated significant income, only covered the company’s losses for the time being. If Chu Corporation’s stock kept falling, the game business would also be impacted.

In recent days, Chu Shangluo had been getting less and less sleep and had become visibly worn out. He had thought about calling his father, but remembering how he had sworn to stay with Ren Jiaoming forever before leaving, only for his father to reject him, he couldn’t bring himself to make the call. He had completely closed off his own escape route.

Now, the company was surrounded by protesters, and he couldn’t go back. Chu Shangluo felt deeply gloomy, and for the first time in three days, he returned to the home that was filled with Ren Jiaoming’s presence. He was extremely agitated, chain-smoking as he walked into Ren Jiaoming’s bedroom and destroyed everything he could find. He smashed what could be smashed, tore and cut what couldn’t, and even poured ink over some items. Within a short time, the room, once neat and tidy and a place he had once been reluctant to dirty, was now in shambles, with no space left untouched.

Breathing heavily, Chu Shangluo looked at the destruction, but he didn’t feel any relief. His phone rang, and upon answering, a victorious laugh came through the line: “Chu Shangluo, have you thought about it? If you give Chu Corporation to me, I’ll stop everything and settle things for you. I’ll even plug a 300 million gap for you. Isn’t that good? Stop struggling for nothing.”

Chu Shangluo was so furious he almost crushed the phone. “Wen Yan, not a single bit. I won’t let you have your way.”

He hung up and blocked the unfamiliar number. When another call came in, he thought it was Wen Yan again and was about to hang up, but then he saw a familiar name on the screen. He paused, then slowly calmed down, and answered, “Dad…”

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line. Chu Shangluo’s heart lifted in anticipation.

“I know about the company,” Chu Chendong’s calm voice came through, unusually not scolding Chu Shangluo. “Tell me what happened.”

Chu Shangluo took a drag from his cigarette. “Our seafood was found to have excessive heavy metals. I’ve checked, and the issue isn’t with the farms, but with the market vendors. Every single vendor’s seafood exceeded the limit, and it could be deadly. Although we don’t have the evidence, it’s definitely the Wen family’s doing, and it wasn’t human error. The vendors change their water every day, so it couldn’t have been added directly. The issue is with the fish tanks. A year ago, Chu Corporation hired a construction team to rebuild all the seafood market’s tanks. They infused the heavy metals into the walls of the tanks. As time passed, the water wore away the gaps in the outer walls, and the heavy metals leaked out, leading to the situation we have today. The problem is, this situation is just considered substandard construction materials, and we can’t use it to go after the Wen family.”

At this point, Chu Shangluo’s cigarette burned down to his fingers. “Damn! The Wen family had started this so long ago!”

The phone line fell silent again. Chu Shangluo continued, “My brother was hit by a car back then, and that was also the Wen family’s doing. But we have no evidence. The only witness, Wang Yuanhao, is mentally unstable. He’s been diagnosed with mild mental illness, and while I’ve never stopped trying to treat him, right now his testimony can’t be used as evidence.”

On the other end of the phone, the sound of glass breaking came through, followed by Chu Chendong’s suppressed voice. “All these years, Wen Zhengyang has still been eyeing us!”

“What’s going on?”

The phone line fell silent again. After a moment, Chu Chendong asked, “What do you want to do?”

This time, it was Chu Shangluo who fell silent. He clenched his fists and spoke up, “This food safety incident is serious. The closure of Chu Corporation could last for a long time—maybe a year, or even longer. While Chu Corporation can hold on, we won’t last a year. Former partners won’t offer us help. The Wen family has blocked our way out. Bankruptcy is just a matter of time. It will be difficult to save Chu Corporation.”

There was a long silence. Over the years, father and son had often been silent with each other, but never had the silence felt so heavy and suffocating. After a long time, Chu Chendong spoke, “Do whatever you want. Your brother’s condition worsened after you left, and I can’t get away. But those three antique businesses—we must find a way to keep them. They aren’t ours.”

Chu Shangluo felt a pang of coldness. Even in this situation, his father still wouldn’t come back to help him. “What do you mean by ‘they aren’t ours’?” he asked.

Chu Chendong replied, “It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing,” Chu Shangluo demanded, his face cold. “The antique businesses were taken by Ren Jiaoming.”

“Then let him take them,” Chu Chendong said as he picked up a broken photo frame from the floor. In the old, worn-out photo inside, three young men stood side by side—himself, Wen Zhengyang, and Ruan Shu. Ruan Shu had a face strikingly similar to Ren Jiaoming’s.

“Why?!” Chu Shangluo closed his eyes, feeling betrayed. He had never wronged Ren Jiaoming, so why should the antique businesses just be handed over to him?

“Why? What are you hiding from me?” Chu Shangluo’s anger boiled over. Chu Chendong remained silent, staring at the photo, lost in memories.

Not receiving a response, Chu Shangluo angrily hung up the phone. He had had enough, truly had enough! Damn it! Let it be bankruptcy! He had been working tirelessly, sleepless and worn out, while Chu Chendong had been indifferent to everything! He never once asked if he was tired.

Chu Shangluo didn’t want to care anymore. He angrily left Ren Jiaoming’s room, rummaging through drawers until he found a bottle of red wine. Before, Ren Jiaoming had been controlling his drinking, so he’d hidden a bottle. Now that no one was stopping him, he could drink as much as he wanted!

Chu Shangluo sat on the sofa and downed the bottle in one go. Drunk and disoriented, he heard the sound of a door opening. He groggily looked toward the door, seeing a person standing there who had the same face as the one who had caused him so much pain. Chu Shangluo laughed in anger and threw the bottle at the shadow that had haunted him even in his drunken state.

Ren Jiaoming looked down at the broken bottle, frowning slightly. “I came to get something,” he said.

Chu Shangluo hadn’t slept in so long that his eyelids couldn’t stay open anymore. “Oh,” he mumbled, barely able to stay upright, before collapsing onto the sofa.

Ren Jiaoming opened the door to his room and, upon seeing the wrecked state of the room, his breath caught for a moment. Then he closed the door behind him. He knew there was nothing left for him to take, because everything was gone. Just like his relationship with Chu Shangluo—there was nothing from the beginning that could be left behind.