He thought he might be lonely for life, but he might also end up marrying a woman he doesn’t love, just to have children.

His fingers brushed over the image of the woman in the photo. In his memory, his aunt was supposed to have had a marriage. The man even chased her all the way to Italy back then, but unfortunately, later on... that man cheated and abandoned his aunt.

And it happened right in front of his aunt in Italy; reportedly, the person he cheated with was a college classmate of his aunt’s.

He had seen his aunt sobbing uncontrollably and had also seen her secretly trailing behind those two people. From that time on, Nan Moyan began to distrust marriage.

Better to be alone for life than to be in an unhappy marriage.

...

At eight o’clock in the evening, Nan Moyan brought Brother Ping along to meet with Lu Jingchen by himself.

In the end, the meeting wasn’t held at the place he initially wanted to choose but in a famous restaurant in An City. They booked a private room.

When Nan Moyan and Brother Ping arrived, Lu Jingchen was already seated inside, waiting.

The door to the private room opened. Lu Jingchen looked up at the men walking in guided by the waiter, his expression unclear, and he stood up immediately.

Nan Moyan walked directly to the seat opposite Lu Jingchen, a faint smile on his lips, seemingly nonchalant as he said, "I didn’t expect Mr. Lu to be quite punctual. I thought it would end up being us waiting for you."

Lu Jingchen didn’t engage in small talk. After Nan Moyan sat down, he also took a seat and straightforwardly asked, "I can agree to give you two billion, but we can’t prepare it in such a short time. Release my wife and the others first. I’ll get the two billion ready for you by six tomorrow evening."

Nan Moyan looked at the dishes on the table, still steaming hot and seemingly just served. He wasn’t the least bit polite, picking up chopsticks to taste, but paused at Lu Jingchen’s words. His narrow eyes slightly squinted, "Mr. Lu, why should I trust you? What if I release your wife and the others, and you don’t give me the two billion?"

"I vouch for it with my character."

"Sorry, I don’t know you well, so I don’t know what your character is like. Besides, these days, character doesn’t count for much. I wouldn’t dare say my own character is worth two billion," Nan Moyan remarked without the slightest politeness.

In his heart, he sneered at Lu Jingchen’s words.

He truly didn’t know where Lu Jingchen’s confidence came from; empty promises wouldn’t convince anyone. Even a written agreement wouldn’t seem as palpable as direct payment.

Preparing two billion indeed requires some time; raising it in just one day seems unlikely.

But it shouldn’t be something too difficult for Lu Jingchen, right?

Looking at Nan Moyan opposite him, Lu Jingchen thought that he increasingly resembled Song Qiao, like siblings.

He pulled at the corners of his mouth to reveal a smile and calmly said, "Why don’t we make a deal?"

Nan Moyan took a napkin, casually wiping his mouth and fingers, "It seems we don’t have any deals to collaborate on, Mr. Lu. If you can’t come up with two billion, you should know what kidnappers will do if they don’t receive the money, right? I don’t need to say more. I have only one condition now: bring the two billion, and we’ll return your wife, the others, and your company’s VIP client list to you unharmed."

He paused, then continued, "Of course, if there aren’t two billion, sorry, we’ll have to kill the hostages."

"You won’t kill them, even without the two billion," Lu Jingchen said confidently.

Nan Moyan was speechless, "..."

This time, Lu Jingchen didn’t play guessing games, speaking directly, "You must already know that my wife is very likely your sister, right?"

Nan Moyan was initially stunned, then the corners of his lips curled up as if he’d heard something amusing, "I don’t know what you’re talking about."

What sister? He never had a sister; he was an orphan.

Brother Ping was already surprised, staring wide-eyed at Lu Jingchen across the table. He hadn’t expected that Lu Jingchen had come prepared.

Brother Ping was astonished at how Lu Jingchen knew about their boss’s personal matters, knowing that their boss and Miss Song Qiao might be siblings.

They had only speculated on this themselves earlier that morning.

Brother Ping already felt a drum beating in his heart. He worried that the president of the CK Group, Lu Jingchen, was here to play the emotional card today.

And then aimed to explain that the boss and his wife were actually siblings, forgoing the two billion?

Imagining this, Brother Ping found himself slightly conflicted.

If they had to choose between two billion and the boss’s sister, what should they choose?

Two billion was no small sum, capable of buying many things, many houses.

But the boss’s sister was his only family...

All of a sudden, Brother Ping found it a bit tough.

Looking at Nan Moyan, Lu Jingchen still calmly said, "I trust that you must have investigated your background, right? In your mind, you might think there’s a 50% chance you and Qiaoqiao are siblings. What I want to tell you is, before Qiaoqiao was born, her parents were supposed to have had a son..."

He didn’t finish. He paused directly at this point.

Nan Moyan, however, suddenly looked up at Lu Jingchen. Although he hid his emotions well, you could still see the shock and slight disbelief in his eyes.

But Lu Jingchen noticed these, and he didn’t plan to continue, instead, he calmly addressed Nan Moyan, "These dishes were just served, and they are some of the more famous dishes domestically. The taste and texture prepared by this restaurant are pretty good. You probably haven’t had much Chinese cuisine living abroad. You should give it a try."

Nan Moyan, however, had already put down his chopsticks, staring directly at Lu Jingchen as he said, "Has anyone ever told you that speaking half-truths and giving riddles is a very unethical thing to do?"

He profoundly detested these half-talkers who left you hanging, raising curiosity without satisfying it, making him want to resort to force directly.