Back in the day, ever since Chen Cheng extorted the latest model fruit phone from Ye Zhenzhen, Ye Zhenzhen's Pandora's box was opened.

She constantly found ways to extort him, for tablets, computers, and headphones.

Chen Cheng wasn't someone to be trifled with either; he simply borrowed the new convertible sports car Ye Zhenzhen had just bought.

And he never returned it!

Later, he even drove it straight to Angel City, and that car is still parked in the courtyard of Chen Cheng's Angel City residence to this day.

However, it couldn't really be called taking advantage of Ye Zhenzhen, as Chen Cheng had also let her have a station wagon and a full-size pickup truck he owned in Palo Alto for cheap.

This forced Chen Cheng to buy another pickup truck in Angel City; for his regular fishing, skiing, and "4+2" trips, a convertible was truly inconvenient, whereas a pickup truck was sturdy and durable.

"By the way, since you're back, you haven't bought a car yet, have you?" Ye Zhenzhen asked with a sly smile.

Chen Cheng thought to himself, "Oh no," and sure enough!

"Hey, Zhen Zhen, let's talk about this when I get back. I'm driving right now."

He said this as he prepared to hang up the phone.

"Hey, first take the car to the dealership..."

"Beep, beep, beep..." Ye Zhenzhen held her phone, curled her lips, and muttered, "This guy, if you say he's stingy, he's actually very generous. But if you say he's generous, he can't stand taking the slightest loss."

Chen Cheng took the car to the dealership and returned to Ode to Joy after dark. His stomach was growling with hunger, so he grabbed a quick bite at the entrance of the residential complex before heading back.

Just as he walked into the complex, his phone rang.

"Karen, do you have the results?"

"Yes, Boss. I've found out about Dai Qixing's situation." The voice on the other end was clear and crisp.

The person on the phone was Chen Cheng's information officer, Lin Kailun, a Chinese-American whom Chen Cheng had poached from a commercial investigation firm at a high salary.

She was an intelligence-gathering expert who knew six languages: Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, and Korean.

"Tell me."

"This matter might actually have something to do with you?"

"Hmm?" Chen Cheng was confused; he didn't even know the man.

"Jiaxiang Industrial was built up single-handedly by Dai Qixing. His death is currently the subject of many rumors, with the most common one being that Dai Qixing was involved in illegal lending."

Putting it all together, Chen Cheng immediately understood where the funds that took over the position had come from.

"Boss, the moment Dai Qixing fell from the overpass was exactly when Jiaxiang Industrial's stock price hit its lowest point."

"Shit!"

Hearing this, Chen Cheng couldn't help but curse. Wasn't that exactly when he had taken over the position?

At the time, the bulls and bears were locked in a chaotic battle. The short sellers thought Chen Cheng was the rescue fund for Jiaxiang and, calculating that there was no follow-up power, smashed the price down desperately. Meanwhile, Jiaxiang's funds, seeing someone coming to support the market, followed suit and pushed it up fiercely.

As the short sellers kept smashing, they discovered that "Jiaxiang" was unfathomable, and they were terrified by the fierce rally after Chen Cheng had eaten up enough chips, forcing them to close their positions early to protect their profits.

When Chen Cheng felt the profit margin was sufficient and began to offload, Jiaxiang thought it was a counterattack from the shorts and stubbornly took on Chen Cheng's chips. Fortunately, traffic was restored at the mine, and with the stimulus of good news, the rescue funds managed to escape.

The only previous doubt was: where did the funds for Jiaxiang's takeover come from?

Now, Chen Cheng understood.

The short sellers hadn't calculated wrong; Jiaxiang was indeed at the end of its rope and had no money. They just hadn't counted on someone daring to use bank loans to save the market illegally while the local war situation was unclear.

They also hadn't counted on a wild card appearing out of nowhere. It's likely those short sellers still don't know they were caught in a short squeeze and are still reflecting on having prepared insufficient funds.

Chen Cheng didn't know there was another group of people involved.

It's just like fighting on a battlefield; once the guns start firing, whoever shoots at me is the enemy.

How can one tell who is who?

Once the shooting starts, the sides are automatically divided: you attack, I defend; you defend, I attack.

"How is this person's reputation? Was there really any conflict with Jiaxiang Industrial?" Chen Cheng asked.

If Dai Qixing was an upright person with no conflict with Jiaxiang Industrial, and his violation was just an attempt to help a private enterprise he had built up, then Chen Cheng would really be in a bind.

If he hadn't been so greedy and had taken over the position earlier, even just a little bit earlier, Teacher Ouyang might not have lost her husband.

But if there really was conflict between Dai Qixing and Jiaxiang, he wouldn't feel guilty.

"Although the domestic system likes to let debts die with the person and consider the matter closed upon death, based on the information currently at hand, the Shenmao Head Office doesn't seem to have found any issues."

"Alright, I know now."

"Fuck!" After hanging up the phone, Chen Cheng kicked the edge of the pond in the residential complex's courtyard.

He was truly in a bind; Old Madam Ouyang had really helped him a lot.

Not just with verifying situation analyses, but the Old Madam had even helped him revise his master's thesis several times.

Otherwise, with his background as a civil engineering "dog," it would have taken much more effort to graduate smoothly.

Chen Cheng sat on the edge of the pond, thinking for a long time, but still couldn't decide whether he should tell the Old Madam that he was also involved in it.

"Thump," the sound of someone falling interrupted Chen Cheng's thoughts.

Chen Cheng looked up and saw a young girl sprawled on the ground, still holding a package in her hand.

"Ah~" The young girl had clearly fallen painfully and let out a cry of pain.

Chen Cheng rushed over to help the young girl up. "Did you hurt your leg?"

The young girl leaned against Chen Cheng and nodded shyly. "Yeah~"

"Sit on the steps first, let me take a look."

Chen Cheng helped the young girl sit on the stone steps of the garden pond and prepared to check her injury.

"Hiss~" As Chen Cheng rolled up her pants, the young girl winced in pain.

"It's even bleeding." Chen Cheng took a look; a patch of skin was scraped off her knee. It was a nasty fall.

"Which building do you live in? Let me take you up first; we can't treat it here."

The young girl looked at Chen Cheng as he asked where she lived, feeling a bit wary.

But looking at Handsome Chen's face, she couldn't help but swoon. He's so handsome, how does he feel even more handsome than Fanfan?

Yeah, the girl was quite a fan of Fanfan, mainly because at this time, Fanfan hadn't gone to "make a heavenly umbrella" (prison) yet.

"I live in Building 8, 801," the young girl said.

Chen Cheng was stunned. Is it really that coincidental?

"I also live in Building 8, 2301," Chen Cheng was amused by the coincidence. "We're neighbors; I just got back yesterday."

"Is it that coincidental?" A look of joy immediately appeared on the young girl's face, and she explained, "I, um, at night, my eyes don't see very clearly; I just wanted to go to the entrance to pick up a package or something."

Bad eyesight? Chen Cheng instinctively looked at the young girl's eyes.

Oh no, she should be called a young girl. With shoulder-length hair, a pretty face, no makeup, and dressed like a student, she was probably around sixteen or seventeen years old.

The young girl had exposed her own weakness, naturally having been hurt in this regard before, so Chen Cheng would certainly not dwell on this issue.

"Do you have a medical kit at home? It might need to be bandaged, otherwise your pants will rub against it, and it will be quite painful."

As he said this, he helped the young girl up.

"Yes," the young girl nodded.

"Hiss~"

With every step, the young girl let out a hiss of pain she was trying hard to endure.

Chen Cheng shook his head; at this rate, when would they ever get there?

He bent down to pick up the package from the ground and stuffed it into the young girl's arms. "You hold the package, let me carry you up, okay?"

The young girl smiled shyly and replied with a voice as soft as a mosquito's hum, "Okay~"

Chen Cheng bent down and picked up the young girl in a princess carry. "Hold onto the package well, I promise I won't drop you."

The young girl didn't speak; looking at Chen Cheng's face, she felt the world around her go quiet, and she only felt her own heart thumping away. She could also feel his heart beating powerfully.