After sorting out his emotions and checking his phone for a while, Chen Cheng rolled out of bed.

Chen Cheng had made up his mind to buy this apartment years ago when he first met Ye Zhenzhen.

For his own convenience, Scum simply waved his hand and spent over forty million to buy out this entire floor.

Before returning, he specifically notified his confidante at the company—Gao Yue, the Director of Human Resources and Administration.

Knowing the big boss was coming back, Gao Yue had tirelessly brought people over yesterday to tidy up the apartment, cleaning it until it was spotless.

The refrigerator was fully stocked with vegetables, drinks, beer, and various ingredients to ensure the big boss could settle in comfortably.

Chen Cheng went to the bathroom to take a shower. As soon as he opened the bathroom window, he caught the aroma of someone's cooking.

His stomach let out a growl.

Having slept all day, he was truly hungry.

At a time like this, smelling the fragrance of food made him even hungrier.

Chen Cheng changed into homey short sleeves and headed out. He went down the stairs, planning to give Ye Zhenzhen a surprise and perhaps score a meal at her place while he was at it.

Just as he reached the stairwell, he heard Ye Zhenzhen's voice. She seemed to be chatting excitedly with two other girls, and from the sounds of it, they were having a very pleasant conversation.

He hurried down a few more steps and peered around the corner of the stairwell.

Sure enough, the girls from the 22nd floor were in the stairwell simmering beef sauce.

This stuff has a strong smell; if you simmer it at home in a poorly ventilated apartment, the scent can linger for a whole day.

Chen Cheng looked at the tall, composed, and confident Ye Zhenzhen. With a slight curl of his lips, he called out to her back.

“Ye Zhenzhen!”

Ye Zhenzhen looked toward the sound suspiciously and happened to see Chen Cheng standing on the stairs.

“Ahhh! Chen Cheng!!!”

Excited, Ye Zhenzhen ran over, jumped, and hung herself onto Chen Cheng.

“Is there a need to be so excited? We only haven't seen each other for two months,” Chen Cheng said with a smile, supporting her weight with one hand.

Feeling the touch on her buttocks, Ye Zhenzhen's face instantly flushed. Her voice was as soft as a mosquito's hum, “It's mainly because I completely didn't expect to see you.”

Zhu Zhe and He Minhong looked at the two of them in bewilderment, making both Chen Cheng and Ye Zhenzhen feel a bit embarrassed.

Ye Zhenzhen was too embarrassed to keep hanging onto Chen Cheng and hurriedly jumped down.

“This is Chen Cheng, my friend and also my junior,” Ye Zhenzhen turned to introduce him to the two.

Before Zhu Zhe or He Minhong could speak, there was a “bang” as the stairwell door was pushed open by a girl in a red dress. She poked her head in and shouted urgently, “Quick, quick! Property management says we can't cook in the stairwell.”

Only after saying this did she notice Chen Cheng standing beside Ye Zhenzhen. The girl in the red dress was also stunned.

The awkward atmosphere instantly became even more awkward.

“How about we move these back first?” Chen Cheng chuckled, breaking the silence first as he pointed toward the induction cooker.

“Let's go to my place,” Ye Zhenzhen suggested after a moment's thought.

Unit 2202 was a middle unit and didn't have much ventilation, which was why the girls had been simmering in the stairwell.

The rooms in 2202 were small, and with four or five girls, it was already cramped. Now that Chen Cheng had come down too, it goes without saying.

Zhu Zhe nodded readily, and the group packed up their things and headed to 2203.

“Dressed like this... are you going to be our neighbor from now on?” Ye Zhenzhen walked ahead with Chen Cheng, squinting at him as she whispered.

“Our Dr. Ye is quite clever.” Chen Cheng smiled and winked at Ye Zhenzhen.

Ye Zhenzhen scanned Chen Cheng up and down. Currently, Chen Cheng was wearing a pair of large gray shorts, a plain white T-shirt, and large slippers—the quintessential look of someone at home.

“I'm the one who introduced you to this apartment, and now you're dressed like this. If I couldn't guess it, I might as well kill myself by ramming into a block of tofu,” Ye Zhenzhen said crossly.

Once inside, Zhu Zhe went into the kitchen to continue simmering her beef sauce, while the other two didn't stand on ceremony and sprawled directly onto Ye Zhenzhen's sofa.

It seemed they had already become well-acquainted.

After getting things settled in the kitchen, Ye Zhenzhen introduced him to the others: “Gigi, AChu, Hong Hong, let me officially introduce our new neighbor. Chen Cheng, studied economics, Master's from Stanford, PhD from UCLA. Your undergrad was at Jiaotong University, right?”

“Have you graduated with your PhD yet?” Ye Zhenzhen grinned mischievously at Chen Cheng.

Uh... this girl, she just had to bring up the one thing he didn't want to talk about, didn't she?

PhD programs in the Ugly Country generally take five to seven years. Ye Zhenzhen's biochemistry project was like that, though she was considered a fast graduate, finishing successfully in five years.

For the Economics PhD program Chen Cheng applied for, the first two years were all math, statistics, and advanced economics courses, with the following three years dedicated to one's own research.

After one year of classes, Chen Cheng regretted it.

It had nothing to do with his brain; he just didn't have the drive. Goodbye, academia!

Mainly, after going to Angel City, his mind was no longer on his studies.

Angel City was also known as the City of Fallen Angels; anyone who went there was bound to fall into a bit of corruption.

Chen Cheng was no exception. Bars, nightclubs, yachts, sea fishing, and so on—he was proficient in every way of eating, drinking, playing, and sleeping.

Angel City also had two major professional basketball teams. As someone who played basketball, who could resist the temptation of watching a game live?

For key games and playoffs played in Angel City, Chen Cheng's attendance was almost 100%.

He wouldn't even blink at front-row tickets costing over twenty thousand dollars, exuding the aura of a top-tier big spender.

It was a far cry from a few years ago when he couldn't bear to buy a new phone when his broke and went to mooch off Ye Zhenzhen.

Not to mention the exotic foreign beauties; he had learned quite a bit of foreign languages, being able to speak a few sentences of German, French, and Spanish.

Ye Zhenzhen spoke to Zhu Zhe in the kitchen and Yu Chuhui and He Minhong sitting on the living room rug.

“By the way, which unit on the 23rd floor do you live in?” Ye Zhenzhen looked at Chen Cheng again.

“2303!”

Ye Zhenzhen curled her lip; it turned out he wasn't directly above her.

“The one in the kitchen is Zhu Zhe, you can call her Sister Zhu. Gigi is a department manager at a hotel;

This is Yu Chuhui, just call her AChu. She's an engineer, and technically, she's your junior from Jiaotong University;

This is He Minhong. If you can bring yourself to use a pet name like Hong Hong, then go ahead. Hong Hong is a copy editor working at a magazine office,” Ye Zhenzhen introduced the three to Chen Cheng one by one.

Having watched the show, Chen Cheng naturally recognized the three.

Zhu Zhe was a department manager at a five-star hotel, having worked her way up from a vocational school background. Among the five people on the 22nd floor, she seemed to have the least education and a narrower horizon. In reality, she was the most calculating. First, she took down the hotel's vice president to push her direct supervisor up, creating room for her own promotion.

Later, when she discovered that her supervisor of many years was just a 'showy pillow'—immediately showing weakness when promoted to a position beyond his capabilities and being vague about her own promotion—Zhu Zhe didn't hesitate. She immediately began preparations and step-by-step replaced her supervisor, taking the Director position for herself.

Regarding her family who tried to drain her dry, she was also very principled. Business was business, and she was decisive, never looking back with regret.

She had truly mastered the essence of 'Thick Black Theory'.