When Su Ziceng walked out of Su Qingzhang’s office, the joy from receiving Lin Ying’s call earlier had completely vanished. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Previously, Su Qingzhang had nothing but praise for Pello, yet, within just a few days, his tune had abruptly changed. He began questioning Pello’s origins and also accused him of being too shrewd.

Without a doubt, the change in Su Qingzhang’s attitude must be connected to Hang Yishao. But based on Su Ziceng’s understanding of Su Qingzhang, he wouldn’t side with Hang Yishao without reason. Moreover, Su Qingzhang had also brought up the topic of her and Hang Yishao’s marriage, which she had already firmly rejected.

No wonder Pello looked somewhat strange earlier. Su Ziceng’s face flushed with embarrassment. Pello’s question from before—undoubtedly, she would have given a positive response. Could it be that Pello lacked confidence in her? With these thoughts in mind, Su Ziceng entered the elevator, deciding she needed to clarify her thoughts to Pello and get him back to normal.

The elevator stopped at the financial department floor, and it was already lunchtime; only a few people were left in the office.

Su Ziceng arrived at Pello’s office door, knocked, but received no response. When she pushed the door open, she found the office empty and the documents she had previously disarrayed neatly put back in place.

"Maybe there was some urgent matter, and he had to step out," Su Ziceng muttered to herself, dreading facing the pairs of curious eyes at lunchtime.

At the entrance of the financial department, there came the clear sound of high heels clicking. Looking up, Su Ziceng saw Yan Wuxu. Her sudden appearance puzzled Su Ziceng; why would Yan Wuxu, who had been keeping a low profile lately, come here?

"Qingchang suggested that I come by the company more often to learn," Yan Wuxu said cheerfully, walking up to Su Ziceng and taking her hand.

No longer trusting Pello, Su Qingzhang, as a precaution, decided to start grooming a new financial manager candidate. He hadn’t explicitly stated which one between Su Ziceng or Yan Wuxu would be the final choice, but he had made arrangements.

Su Ziceng didn’t expect Su Qingzhang to make such arrangements so quickly, clearly pushing Pello to leave the Su Family sooner. However, without any real power in her hands, it wasn’t convenient for her to directly speak out, so she could only watch and wait.

Hang Yishao, currently dining out with Fei Qing, was cutting into a pork chop. Yet the Fei Qing sitting across from him looked incredibly unwell.

Both of them had more or less graduated, and their first project in hand was the Seaside Resort set to officially open this summer. The parents from both sides thought that it would be better for the younger generation to manage this new venture, and so they placed the responsibility in their hands.

Therefore, lately, Hang Yishao should, by all means, be working closely with Fei Qing every day. But in reality, whether it was the project’s fire safety inspections or the procurement of large quantities of supplies, it was Hang Yishao running around alone. Other than showing his face at various types and sizes of dining events, Fei Qing was essentially hands-off.

"Your dad’s riding high lately, why do you look so down and out?" Hang Yishao took a few bites and then put down his cutlery. Mr. Fei’s conference center project was at a crucial stage.

Fei Qing yawned. His eye sockets were sunken even during daytime, and his lips looked somewhat blue, as if he was suffering from cold, "With God’s Divine Light blessing him, of course everything goes his way." Indeed, since acquiring that ’Yellow Love,’ Mr. Fei truly seemed energized, as if he had rejuvenated by several years. In contrast, Fei Qing, who was spiritless all day, looked completely worn and dejected.

"You’re not addicted, are you?" Hang Yishao looked at Fei Qing’s plate—his usually favorite seafood noodles, barely touched—and then at Fei Qing’s complexion, immediately realizing what was going on.

"How was I supposed to know it would really be addictive? Shang Yin never seemed to have a problem with it when he used," Fei Qing shrank his feet back; his predicament had already been discovered by Mr. Fei. Hence, aside from regular expenses, any extra money was tightly controlled. Soon it would be Yang Wuxu’s child’s first birthday, and he had promised to buy "his son" a villa as a gift. Now, he didn’t even have a penny to his name.

"You should see a private doctor for treatment, I heard they developed a kind of electronic cigarette abroad that might help you quit," Hang Yishao didn’t know whether to scold or to speak gently, seeing Fei Qing’s condition he could only urge him to quit smoking quickly.

Fei Qing really had a hard time expressing his troubles; both he and Yang Wuxu were now struggling with smoking addiction. Moreover, with his finances under his father’s control, he was short on money. If he were to discuss it with Yang Wuxu, he feared he’d get an earful of scolding.

"Let’s not talk about that for now, do you have any spare cash on hand?" Fei Qing knew that Hang Yishao’s situation was different; the Hang Family had always been generous to their only son, and though Hang Yishao appeared prodigal, he was good at managing finances. The funds in his name had been growing like a snowball, moving up several levels.

"I do have money, how much do you need?"

"I’ve got my eye on a newly built villa by the seaside, it’s about thirty million or so," Fei Qing guesstimated.

With the completion of the seaside project and the looming completion of the Su Fei families’ skyscraper project, the Sixth District seaside area saw a large number of slums replaced by newly erected stand-alone villas.

"Why would you want to buy a villa there? If you’re really interested, you could have your dad pull some strings, you could probably get it for half the price," Hang Yishao also knew about the unspoken rule among officials, where real estate served as a solid form of currency for reciprocal dealings.

"Let’s just keep this between us; you absolutely can’t let my dad find out," Fei Qing said with a troubled expression, and unable to contain his anxiety, he yawned several times, looked around, and unassumingly pulled out a cigarette.

Hang Yishao frowned and turned his face away, "Don’t tell me you’re planning to buy a house just for a woman?"

He had expected Fei Qing to retort immediately, but instead Fei Qing choked on the smoke when his secret thoughts were guessed, coughing violently, with tears and mucus streaming down his face.

"Look at the state you’re in, if your dad saw you now, he’d surely be infuriated to death," Hang Yishao tossed him a few tissues, warning, "Don’t get fooled by a woman. Spending tens of millions on a house for a woman—are you out of your mind? There should be a limit to playing around with women."

"It’s for the wife and kid, everyone wants to be happy. Besides, if I don’t buy it this time, Yang Wuxu will surely give me an earful," Fei Qing slipped up without thinking and after saying that, he immediately showed a panicked expression of someone caught red-handed.

Hang Yishao was stunned. Yang Wuxu? Child? When did all this happen? Does Ziceng know about these things? (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast recommendation tickets, monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation.)