Who's going to be the female lead's simp? Aren't the supporting female characters mor

In the city, at a private club owned by the Bai family.

There's no minimum spending requirement for the private rooms here, because people who can get in don't care about money at all.

Bai Jingyou sat by the window, with a pot of freshly brewed Da Hong Pao tea in front of him.

The fragrant aroma of tea complements the dazzling night view outside the window.

The door was pushed open, and a man in an iron-gray suit walked in.

Feng Rui.

He came alone, without an assistant or a briefcase.

Those eagle-like eyes scanned the private room before finally settling on Bai Jingyou.

There were no formalities, no small talk.

Feng Rui pulled out a chair and sat down opposite Bai Jingyou.

"A tech geek like Zhao Feng doesn't have the brains to refuse 50 million." Feng Rui got straight to the point, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and gesturing towards it.

Bai Jingyou waved his hand: "I won't smoke."

Feng Rui lit a cigarette and exhaled a smoke ring: "Tracing the equity structure of Kexing Electronics is a bit convoluted, but as long as we keep an eye on the flow of funds, finding you won't be difficult. Young Master Bai, you've been hiding quite well."

Bai Jingyou picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said calmly, "I didn't intend to hide it. The fact that President Feng came to me means I baited him in the right place."

Feng Rui narrowed his eyes.

This young man in front of me is too composed.

He was so composed that he didn't seem like a college student in his early twenties; he seemed more like a cunning old fox who had been navigating the business world for decades.

"Let's not beat around the bush." ​​Feng Rui flicked his cigarette ash. "Blue Ocean Intelligence is a piece of fat meat right now, and the Gao family can't hold on much longer. I have the capital, and you have the technological layout. Let's join forces and swallow Blue Ocean whole. I'll take 60%, and the rest is yours."

This is Feng Rui's consistent style: assertive, domineering, and profit-driven.

Bai Jingyou put down his teacup and looked at Feng Rui.

He was looking at Feng Rui, but his mind was on someone else—Feng Ling.

In the original novel, Feng Rui is a complete doting father to his daughter.

Because her daughter Feng Ling accidentally offended Lin Ruyu at school, that idiot Gao Beining hired people to target her, which eventually led to Feng Ling becoming depressed and dropping out of school. Feng Rui also went crazy and sought revenge, ultimately resulting in the destruction of his family and his death.

That was one of the few characters in the book that Bai Jingyou felt regretful about.

Ruthless and trustworthy, he was just unlucky to run into the protagonist's halo.

"Mr. Feng's appetite is a bit too small." Bai Jingyou smiled and tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

Feng Rui frowned: "What do you mean?"

"I don't care about Blue Ocean Intelligence's lousy technology." Bai Jingyou leaned forward slightly, his eyes instantly sharpening. "I want its production line, its factory, and its land in the high-tech zone. But I don't want its brand or its patents."

"Then what are you after?" Feng Rui asked, puzzled.

"Just looking for a place to stay."

Bai Jingyou took a document out of his bag and pushed it in front of Feng Rui.

It wasn't a thick business plan, just three thin pages.

"Draft of Fengqi OS System Architecture and Ecosystem Construction".

Feng Rui picked it up casually, initially just skimming through it.

But as he watched, his hand holding the cigarette froze in mid-air, unaware that ash had fallen onto his pants.

Two minutes later, Feng Rui suddenly looked up and stared intently at Bai Jingyou.

Feng Rui took a deep drag of his cigarette, only throwing it away abruptly when the butt burned his fingers.

Crazy.

too crazy.

But the gambler's instincts in his blood were completely ignited at that moment.

In comparison, simply acquiring Blue Ocean Intelligence and making a profit from the price difference is like children playing house.

"The risk is huge." Feng Rui's voice was a little hoarse. "If we fail, we don't know how much money we'll lose."

"High risk, high reward." Bai Jingyou looked at him. "Besides, hasn't President Feng always wanted to leave your daughter a family fortune that can last for three generations? Venture capital is a quick way to make money, but it's not stable enough. Once this project succeeds, it will be a gold mine."

When his daughter was mentioned, Feng Rui's eyes changed.

The shrewd businessman's facade crumbled, revealing a hint of warmth and longing.

He didn't expect Bai Jingyou to bring this up.

"You investigated me?"

"It's about understanding your partners," Bai Jingyou corrected. "In this industry, there aren't many people I, Bai Jingyou, can trust, but President Feng is one of them. Because you follow the rules."

Feng Rui remained silent for a long time.

The private room was so quiet that only the sound of boiling tea could be heard.

After a long silence, Feng Rui suddenly laughed, picked up the document, and said, "In my life, I've handled dozens of M&A deals, but none of them have made my heart race more than this. Okay, I'm in this game."

He stretched out his hand; his palm was broad and strong.

"Hongye will cover all the funding, but I have one condition." Feng Rui stared at Bai Jingyou. "I need to see tangible results. If I don't see results within six months, I will withdraw my investment immediately. That's the limit I can negotiate."

"Three months."

Bai Jingyou grasped his hand; his palm was dry and warm, and the pressure was just right.

"I'm afraid that Mr. Feng will be begging me to let you invest more in three months."

Their hands were clasped tightly together.

A storm powerful enough to upend Haicheng was quietly brewing in this private room.

"It's a pleasure working with you."

"It's a pleasure working with you."

As Bai Jingyou stepped out of the private room, he glanced at his phone.

A news notification popped up on the screen: [Gao Tianxiong, Chairman of Blue Ocean Intelligent, was hospitalized due to a sudden heart attack; Gao's Group's stock price plummeted in after-hours trading.]

Bai Jingyou put away his phone, a very faint smile curving his lips.

......

Yunjin Oriental River View Room

Lin Ruyu's expensive dress was wrinkled like a rag.

She hasn't had a drop of water since yesterday afternoon.

That idiot Gao Beining said he was going to withdraw money, but he never came back, not even a phone call.

At first, she sent a few coquettish voice messages, then it turned into questioning, and finally into hysterical insults.

No response.

The tall, handsome young man who always replied to her messages instantly and treated her like a princess has vanished into thin air.

The phone's battery level had turned a red 1%, and the screen was so dim it looked like it might turn off at any moment.

"Knock knock knock!"

The banging on the door started without warning, causing plaster to fall from the walls.

It wasn't a polite knock, but a forceful one used to tear the door apart.

Lin Ruyu was startled and before she could speak, the combination lock beeped twice to indicate an error, followed by the metallic scraping sound of a key being inserted into the lock.

The door was pushed open, and a strong smell of tobacco rushed in.

The landlord was a middle-aged man in his forties, with a gold chain as thick as a finger hanging around his neck. Behind him were two burly men wearing black vests, and the tattoos on their arms extended all the way to the backs of their hands.

"Oh, so this is the young master Gao's hidden beauty?" The landlord stubbed out his cigarette, his eyes sweeping across the empty room before finally settling on Lin Ruyu. The saccharine gaze made Lin Ruyu's skin crawl.

"What...what are you doing? This is trespassing!" Lin Ruyu forced herself to stand up, trying to put on her usual arrogant demeanor.

"Trespassing?" The landlord seemed to have heard a joke, pulling a crumpled supplementary agreement from his pocket. "Look carefully, this house is still mine. Young Master Gao said he'd pay the final payment yesterday, and a whole day has passed. Where's the money?"

He took a step closer, his fleshy face twitching: "Rent is 28,000, three months' deposit and one month's rent in advance, plus penalty for breach of contract, totaling 100,000. Pay now, or pack your things and get out."

"Beining is coming soon! He's the eldest son of the Gao family, how could he owe you this little bit of money?" Lin Ruyu's voice trembled, but she was still being stubborn.

"The Gao family?" The landlord scoffed, lighting a cigarette. "Little girl, are you really stupid or just pretending? Didn't you see the news? Gao Tianxiong was hospitalized with a heart condition, and the Gao Group's stock price plummeted! As for that young master Gao, I heard he was locked up for stealing money from his family. You expect him to save you? In your next life."

This sentence was like a bucket of ice water being poured over my head.

Lin Ruyu's mind went blank.

The Gao family... has fallen?

Gao Beining has been locked up?

Then what is she?

"No money, huh?" The landlord lost his patience and waved his hand. "Drag her out. Houses in this area are easy to rent; don't let her bring bad luck here."

Two burly men stepped forward and reached out to grab Lin Ruyu's arm.

"Don't touch me! This is illegal!" Lin Ruyu screamed and shrank into the corner, tears finally streaming down her face.

At this moment, all dignity of the school beauty and pride of the goddess were shattered by fear.

The rough, large hand was about to touch her shoulder.

"stop!"

A loud shout came from the doorway.

Everyone paused.

Through her teary eyes, Lin Ruyu saw the figure standing at the door.

He was wearing a studded leather jacket, his hair was dyed granny gray, and he was twirling a car key in his hand.

Chu Xuan.

He had just received the news.

The news spread throughout the circle that the Gao family's empire was about to collapse, and that Gao Beining, that good-for-nothing, had been beaten half to death by his own father for stealing money.

Chu Xuan's first reaction was not to sigh, but to be excited.

With Gao Beining gone, wouldn't Lin Ruyu be even closer to him?

He sped along the road and happened to witness this scene.

Looking at Lin Ruyu, who was huddled in the corner trembling and with red eyes, Chu Xuan felt as if his heart had been struck hard.

The urge to hold her in his arms and cherish her intensely surged to the top of his head.

"Where did this stray dog ​​come from, daring to touch my woman?"

Chu Xuan strode in, shoved the burly man aside, and shielded Lin Ruyu behind him.

That familiar sense of security, of being protected, has returned.

Lin Ruyu clung tightly to Chu Xuan's clothes, tears streaming down her face like a broken string of pearls: "Chu Xuan... why did you take so long to come... they bullied me... waaaah..."

She cried her heart out, never mentioning that it was because she couldn't afford the rent, instead portraying herself as an innocent victim.

Hearing the crying behind him, Chu Xuan was furious and felt incredibly cool at that moment.

He raised his chin, looking down at the landlord with his nostrils: "How much? I'll pay for her."

The landlord sized up the naive young man. Another sucker throwing money away.

"Rent plus penalty for breach of contract, 100,000." The landlord flicked his cigarette ash.

"One hundred thousand?" Chu Xuan frowned.

In the past, 100,000 yuan would have been nothing more than a few bottles of wine for him.

But since he had just returned to China and had gotten into trouble before, his mother had tightened her grip on the family finances considerably.

This 100,000 yuan represents almost half of the liquid funds in his account right now.

"What? You don't have any?" the landlord scoffed. "If you don't, don't pretend to be a hero!"

"Bullshit!" Chu Xuan was enraged. He pulled out his phone. "Give me your bank account number! I'm from the Chu family. Do you think I'd be short of your money?"

"The Chu family?" The landlord scratched his head blankly, then turned to the burly man beside him and asked, "Is there a Chu family in Haicheng? Are they famous?"

The burly man shook his head: "Never heard of him, probably just a nouveau riche."