The small desk lamp on Su He’s table worked every night, and the room was always filled with the sound of a pen tip scratching against paper. The pile of manuscripts on his desk grew higher and higher.

This part of the room was secluded, rarely visited by anyone. There was a small balcony attached, where he occasionally took the fish tank out to let the little goldfish bask in the sun. On nights that weren’t too stuffy, he’d sit on the balcony with a notebook, writing his drafts.

He thought no one would notice, but actually, Sheng Jingyu’s bedroom terrace was just diagonally above him.

On rare occasions, Sheng Jingyu would stand on the terrace and look down, seeing Su He tending to potted plants or cleaning the fish tank, changing the water and feeding the fish.

Just like now.

Sheng Jingyu fiddled with the lighter in his hand, the black and gold cigarette held between his fingers. The lighter’s lid snapped open and shut, but he never lit it.

From his angle, he could only see Su He sitting on the balcony, trimming the water plants in the fish tank. Only the top of his head and a small part of his fair chin were visible.

He thought to himself that he’d never seen a man with such delicate skin, almost glowing under the light.

Like a white water lily born in a pond, raindrops falling on the petals, no different from how they looked on his face.

In his Bluetooth earpiece, Yan Yichen’s voice came through: “It’s been more than half a month, and you still haven’t gotten rid of him?”

“How was I supposed to know he’d be so hard to deal with,” Sheng Jingyu sounded a bit frustrated. “Sheng Zonglan has sent people my way before, but I’ve never seen anyone like this.”

Never seen someone who could be molded and shaped at will, yet still maintain a good mood…

Since he was young, many people had been placed by his side. Sheng Zonglan had his own standards for choosing people. Most of them came from prestigious families and were quite proud, some even ambitious enough to try and get along with him.

But almost no one could endure Sheng Jingyu’s cold treatment, and they would resign soon after.

This gave him a moment of peace, and then the cycle would repeat.

There was always someone sent to Sheng Jingyu for various reasons.

But with Su He, things were different.

No matter how he treated this person, Su He seemed unaffected, happily living his little life, doing trivial things every day to annoy him.

He deliberately picked on him, restricted Su He’s freedom in the house, and Su He obediently stayed within the allowed area.

He spoke harshly, often saying unpleasant things, but Su He seemed to never take it to heart, always greeting him with a smile.

“Is he planning something big? It’s not right to keep going like this. Since you can’t get rid of him, why not… try to test him?” Yan Yichen suggested.

Sheng Jingyu was indeed considering it, but he didn’t say it outright: “We’ll see. I’m hanging up.”

He hung up the phone, staring at the person below, his fingers tapping on the marble railing, the rhythm growing a bit impatient. After a while, he murmured, “These two fish are really treasured.”

·

Major upheavals in Guangzhou were frequent, and a new municipal party secretary had just been appointed, causing a big shake-up. Many were affected, some rising, some falling.

The Sheng family took advantage of the policy changes, like a firecracker ignited, soaring even higher.

Sheng Jingyu had many affairs to familiarize himself with, spending several consecutive days at the Sheng headquarters. There were too many relationships to smooth out, too many people to connect with.

Invitations piled up one after another, and he had no time to deal with the ‘hot potato’ left at home.

In a board meeting, Sheng Zonglan decided to hand over a financial branch, Zhisen Capital, under Shengshi to Sheng Jingyu.

This news made dozens of eyes in the Sheng family stare at him like hungry wolves, eager to find his mistakes, so they could criticize him at future family gatherings.

Sheng Jingyu hadn’t returned to Jing Mountain for two days, spending the nights at the Intercontinental Hotel near the company.

After two consecutive all-nighters, his already problematic concussion found another reason to torment him.

It felt like there was a meat grinder in his head, the pain so intense he wanted to bang his head against the wall.

Assistant Fang wanted to send someone back to fetch some medicine, but found that it had already been delivered.

It was rare for anyone from Xiaoxie Garden to be so attentive. Upon inquiry, he learned that Su He had asked S037 to contact the driver to send it over, along with a portion of chicken soup with cordyceps and pig stomach, likely made by Su He himself.

Assistant Fang was certain because the chefs at Xiaoxie Garden wouldn’t use a thermal flask for packing.

They would use white porcelain bowls simmered in hot water, changing the water every ten minutes, so that when it was served, it was still steaming.

Seeing the thermal flask, Assistant Fang guessed who made it.

But timely help could quench the thirst of a dry land, so Assistant Fang didn’t pick and choose, promptly delivering it to his boss without mentioning who sent it.

Sheng Jingyu was probably exhausted; he didn’t even know if he tasted the soup before falling asleep on the sofa.

When he woke up, the sky had darkened.

Assistant Fang brought news that Su He had been called back to the ancestral home by Sheng Zonglan. Sheng Jingyu rubbed his throbbing temples and sneered, “Just in time, I’ll go and see.”

When he arrived home, Su He had just entered the villa not long before.

He had just dealt with the big boss and then welcomed the little ancestor.

Su He felt like he was walking on thin ice in his life, watching Sheng Jingyu’s imposing stride, feeling inexplicably nervous.

He wasn’t sure if Sheng Jingyu knew about him being called to the ancestral home. If he didn’t know, would voluntarily confessing lead to a lighter punishment?

Sheng Jingyu entered, unbuttoning his suit lazily, pulling off his coat. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Su He following him like a tail, seemingly wanting to say something.

He stopped and turned around.

Su He, lost in thought, almost bumped into Sheng Jingyu’s arms, but reacted quickly enough to avoid the accident.

“Why are you nervous?” Sheng Jingyu’s eyes were like an eagle’s, scrutinizing him without any concealment.

Su He hesitated for two seconds and then confessed, “I just met with Chairman Sheng. He asked me a lot about you.”

Sheng Jingyu stood in the backlight, looking down at him. The setting sun poured down from his side, too dazzling for Su He to look directly. He focused on his own toes instead.

On his feet were lotus green slippers, with inflatable frogs on top, bouncing as he walked.

He had bought them while getting fish food for the goldfish, and now they seemed more like the original inhabitants of this house than the shiny black leather shoes opposite him.

“I thought you wouldn’t tell me,” Sheng Jingyu’s tone remained flat, but there was a hint of impending storm. “What did you say?”

Su He replied, “I said I didn’t know, but I really didn’t know. You don’t let me into your room, nor do you take me out, but you forget to bring your medicine. Dr. Gu said rehabilitation is important at this stage…”

As he spoke, he went off-topic, but it was the truth.

His role as an informant was clueless, and after Chairman Sheng’s questioning, there was a long silence. Just when Su He thought he might be done for, Secretary Chen looked at him and said, “Chairman Sheng already guessed it would be like this. The young master is a cautious person. It’s rare for you to stay by his side for so long. Your next task is to gain his trust.”

“This isn’t an easy task, Mr. Su. It’s up to you.” Secretary Chen patted his shoulder.

Su He, confused, received affirmation and another burden on his shoulders.

After he finished speaking, he looked up to find Sheng Jingyu staring at him with cold eyes.

It seemed he was deciding whether to believe him or not.

After a while, Sheng Jingyu expressionlessly extended his hand and suddenly said, “Hand it over.”

“What?”

“Your phone.”

Su He instinctively took out his phone and placed it in his hand, but Sheng Jingyu didn’t move, looking at him and saying, “You know I don’t mean this.”

Then what… wait!

He suddenly remembered that this seemed to be the first plot point in the book, where the original character was given a tampered phone by the main antagonist after reporting back to Sheng Jingyu.

The phone had surveillance and tracking functions, and because it was on the original character, Sheng Jingyu didn’t suspect anything.

But how did Sheng Jingyu know about the phone’s existence?!

Su He hesitantly took it out of his pocket. He hadn’t planned on using it, but before he could put it down, it was discovered.

He nervously handed it over.

The next second, a loud crash exploded near his ear.

The phone flew against the wall, shattering into pieces, the glass on the surface breaking all over the floor, even denting the carved wall.

Su He was startled, his whole body trembling violently. He was easily frightened, and the little frog on his shoe wobbled, his eyelids blinking rapidly.

Sheng Jingyu bent down to pick up two black items from the debris, placing them in front of Su He: “Recognize them?”

Su He looked at the two black things, instinct telling him they were the surveillance and tracking devices.

But he still shook his head.

Sheng Jingyu sneered, “Didn’t Sheng Zonglan tell you how to use these things?”

“Micro locator and N8 chip eavesdropper, it can hear your heartbeat clearly.”

Sheng Jingyu casually tossed the now non-functional parts into the trash, dusted off his hands, and looked at him again: “Do you really not know, or are you just acting, Assistant Su?”

Su He: QAQ!!

How should he answer this?

He wasn’t completely clueless, but he didn’t know much earlier than Sheng Jingyu!

So does this count as knowing or not knowing?

Sheng Jingyu’s questioning expression was stern and fierce, looking down at him, the pressure was quite strong.

Su He had a premonition that Sheng Jingyu was about to tear him apart, and in a moment of desperation, he shouted, “We can cooperate!”

“What?” Sheng Jingyu clearly didn’t expect him to say that.

“I’m not necessarily going to risk being killed by you to work for your father. I just won’t tell him.” After saying that, Su He felt a bit lacking in confidence.

“But if I help you, there’s a chance I’ll be killed by him first, so you have to protect me, okay?” Su He looked at Sheng Jingyu with a worried frown.

The light brown eyes in front of him looked pitiful, seemingly genuinely seeking his help. Sheng Jingyu uncomfortably averted his gaze.

What was this, a delaying tactic?

Luring him into lowering his guard, then taking advantage of his trust to stab him?

Sheng Jingyu pondered for a moment, raising an eyebrow: “Why should I trust you?”

Su He was stunned; he really had no leverage to prove his words, so he said, “Anyway, you’re already guarding against me so tightly, I don’t even have the chance to report on you.”

Sheng Jingyu listened to the accusatory tone, suddenly chuckling: “Good that you know.”

With that, he went upstairs without looking back, leaving no clear answer.

S037, who had been watching the confrontation from the corner, quickly approached: “Are you okay, Su He? Were you scared?”

Su He scratched his ear: “A little.”

It summoned the cleaning robot to clean up the battlefield, and comforted Su He: “Don’t be afraid. Actually, before you, Chairman Sheng sent many people here. Although they didn’t stay long, after that, the young master dismantled 26 surveillance and eavesdropping devices in the house, so…”

Su He was genuinely shocked by the number and asked, “Were they all dismantled later?”

“All dismantled! Including the one in your room, all personally dismantled by the young master.” S037 replied.

Even his room had one…

!!!

You rich families are really too twisted!