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

That night, the penthouse of Riverside One was eerily silent.

Chen Hao took out a spare tablet and swiped his long fingers across the screen.

That silent surveillance video played over and over again.

In the scene, the girl who usually blushes even when speaking loudly in his arms is now standing with her hands on her hips, pointing at Feng Ling's nose, her expression as ferocious as a shrew from the streets.

Although you can't hear the sound as his mouth opens and closes, you can tell from his mouth shape and expression that he has a sharp tongue etched into his bones.

Chen Hao turned off the screen and threw the tablet onto the marble coffee table with a crisp thud.

Lin Ruyu shuddered.

She knelt on the carpet, her makeup ruined by tears, her eyeliner smudged and black, looking rather comical.

"Brother Chen Hao..." She moved forward a little.

Chen Hao pulled his legs back to avoid her hand.

"Explain." His handsome face appeared somewhat gloomy and inscrutable.

"It's Chu Xuan! It's all Chu Xuan's fault!" Lin Ruyu cried out shrilly, as if grasping at a straw. "That day, he insisted I go and back him up. He said that freshman was blind and offended him, and if I didn't help him by saying a few words, he would beat him up in school. I was afraid things would escalate, so I did it..."

"Afraid of things getting out of hand?" Chen Hao sneered. "So you're helping him bully people? Lin Ruyu, do you think I'm blind, or do you think I'm stupid?"

Lin Ruyu was speechless.

Looking into Chen Hao's eyes, which were as cold as ice, the fear in her heart overwhelmed everything else.

She used to be able to navigate among these men with ease because of her innocent and harmless exterior.

Now that her skin has been peeled off, all that's left of her is an empty, lifeless shell.

"I was wrong... I was really wrong..." Lin Ruyu cried, gasping for breath. This time, she was truly terrified. "I just acted impulsively... Brother Chen Hao, please don't abandon me. I have nothing left but you. That good-for-nothing Chu Xuan can't protect me at all. Only you..."

Chen Hao looked at the woman in front of him who was crying her eyes out.

The image of the goddess in my heart is now shattered beyond repair.

All that talk of purity and innocence, of being untouched by worldly concerns, is just an act.

But seeing her groveling and begging, Chen Hao sighed.

The sunk costs were too high, and he was reluctant to cut his losses.

"Get up." Chen Hao exhaled a smoke ring, his voice devoid of warmth.

Lin Ruyu was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly got up from the ground.

"This is the last time." Chen Hao stared into her eyes, enunciating each word clearly, "Lin Ruyu, you can be stupid, you can be wicked, but in front of me, you'd better keep your little schemes to yourself. I've already offended Feng Rui for your sake. If you dare to cause me any more trouble..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but Lin Ruyu already understood the chill in his voice.

"I won't do it again, I'll never do it again." Lin Ruyu nodded frantically, like a frightened quail.

But things were far more serious than he had imagined.

The next morning, the retaliation came in full force.

As soon as Chen Hao entered the company, his assistant rushed in, sweating profusely.

"Mr. Chen, something's happened. Our shipment of goods has been seized by customs because they say the paperwork is incomplete and needs to be re-verified. Also, the logistics companies we had previously negotiated with have all suddenly breached their contracts, preferring to pay penalties rather than take our orders."

Chen Hao paused in untying his tie: "Feng Ruiqian's?"

"Not only that," the assistant swallowed hard. "The bank called and said that our company's risk assessment level has been downgraded, and the loan that was originally approved will be suspended. Even... the property management is causing trouble, saying that our floor is not up to fire safety standards and we have to suspend business for three days."

Chen Hao slammed his fist hard on the desk.

Feng Rui is trying to ruin him.

This demonstrates the strength of Hongye Capital.

Without resorting to violence, these seemingly compliant and legal methods alone can make it extremely difficult for a company that has just returned to China and is not yet firmly established.

"Understood." Chen Hao gritted his teeth, forcing himself to calm down. "As long as the funding chain remains intact, these are minor troubles. How's the acquisition deal with the Chu family going?"

That's his lifeline now.

If we can acquire the core assets of the Chu Group at a low price, resell them, or use those factory buildings and land as collateral, we can turn our current predicament around.

The Chu family is now like meat on a chopping board, at his mercy.

"The process is already underway," the special assistant reported. "The Chu family is now just an empty shell. The banks are pressing them for repayment, and they're eager to get rid of the business. If we can lower the price now, they won't have a choice."

"Alright." A ruthless glint flashed in Chen Hao's eyes. "Reduce it to the bare minimum. I want the Chu father and son to be left with nothing but their underwear."

……

In the south of the city, in an unlicensed clinic displaying a sign for traditional Chinese medicine massage, the air was filled with the smell of cheap disinfectant and mold.

Chu Xuan was awakened by the pain.

He opened his eyes and saw a peeling, mottled ceiling.

A piercing pain shot through my right leg; it was the sensation of a broken, dislocated bone.

"woke up?"

An old, hoarse voice came from the side.

Chu Xuan turned his head with difficulty and saw his father, Chu Jianguo, sitting in a broken chair, his hair gray, as if he had aged ten years overnight.

"Dad..." Chu Xuan opened his mouth, his throat dry as if he had swallowed a handful of sand.

"Don't call me Dad." Chu Jianguo didn't look at him, his gaze fixed blankly on the corner of the wall. "The Chu family is finished. The house and the car have all been seized. To raise money for your medical expenses, I even sold my last watch."

Chu Xuan looked at his leg, which was in a cast, and the scenes of the past few days flashed through his mind like a movie.

Feng Rui's blacklisting, banks withdrawing loans, and former friends kicking him when he was down.

And... Lin Ruyu.

The woman he treated like royalty at school, the goddess for whom he was willing to offend everyone.

Immediately after his incident, she not only blocked all his contact methods, but also turned around and threw herself into Chen Hao's arms, even stepping on his head to please her new lover.

"Oh……"

Chu Xuan suddenly laughed, his laughter hoarse and unpleasant, which aggravated his wounds, causing him to break out in a cold sweat from the pain.

"Is Chen Hao acquiring our family's factory?" Chu Xuan asked.

Chu Jianguo sighed: "No one else dares to take it. Feng Rui has said that anyone who helps the Chu family is going against him. Chen Hao is taking advantage of our misfortune, offering a price that's less than scrap metal, but we have no choice. If we don't sell, we'll go to jail."

"Not for sale."

Chu Xuan struggled to sit up, his eyes gleaming with a chilling madness. "Dad, I'm not afraid of going to jail. But I absolutely cannot let that bastard Chen Hao climb to the top by stepping on our family's corpses!"

"Are you crazy? How are we going to pay off our debts if we don't sell?"

"I'll sell it to anyone, just not him!" Chu Xuan gripped the bedsheet tightly, oblivious to the blood streaming down his broken nails. "Chen Hao wants to swallow the Chu family to recover? Dream on! I'll make him spit out whatever he's swallowed!"

He pulled the phone with the cracked screen from under his pillow and dialed a number.

He was an old workshop director at the Chu family factory, who had been with the Chu family for twenty years and was known for his loyalty.

"Uncle Liu, it's me, Chu Xuan."

Chu Xuan's voice was as cold as a demon crawling out of hell.

"Are Chen Hao's men going to inspect the factory? Listen to me, burn all the control motherboards of those core imported machines. Yes, right now. And that batch of raw materials, adulterate them with water and waste materials, do whatever it takes."

"Consequences? I'll take the consequences! I'm already a cripple anyway, so I might as well go down fighting to the death!"

After hanging up the phone, Chu Xuan leaned against the dirty pillow, panting heavily, but a twisted smile appeared on his lips.

Lin Ruyu, Chen Hao.

You two adulterers want to live a better life by stepping on me?

No way.

……

At 3 PM, in the CEO's office on the top floor of Hongye Building.

Chen Hao was in high spirits, leading his team to prepare to sign the acquisition contract.

Once the signature is signed, the Chu family's assets will be his.

However, just as the pen was about to fall, the conference room door was suddenly pushed open.

The technical director in charge of the capital verification rushed in, his face pale, and without even bothering with etiquette, grabbed Chen Hao's hand.

"Mr. Chen! We can't sign!"

Chen Hao frowned, looking at his subordinates with displeasure: "What's the panic? Is the sky falling?"

"It's worse than the sky falling!" The technical director shoved the tablet in front of Chen Hao, his voice trembling. "News just came from the front lines: all those core pieces of German-imported equipment at the Chu family factory are ruined! The motherboards are burned out, the system is locked, and the repair costs are higher than buying new ones! And the raw materials in the warehouse are all substandard and scrap!"

"What?!" Chen Hao suddenly stood up, causing the chair to fall to the ground with a loud thud.

"And..." The technical director swallowed hard. "That madman Chu Xuan has publicly exposed all of the Chu Group's hidden debts and tax loopholes online. The tax bureau and the economic crime investigation department are already on their way to the factory. If we sign now, not only will we not get the assets, but we'll also be saddled with this mess!"

Chen Hao felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, his body swayed, and he almost lost his balance.

This is hardly an acquisition.

This was clearly a deep pit dug for him by the Chu family, filled with explosives.

"Chu Xuan..." Chen Hao gritted his teeth, snapping the expensive pen in his hand in two. "You mad dog! You'd rather commit suicide than not bite me?!"

He originally thought that Chu Xuan was already a cripple and not worth fearing at all.

But he forgot that those who have nothing to lose are not afraid of those who have something to wear.

The most terrifying destructive power comes from someone who has given up on the future.

Not only did they fail to recover their losses, but all the due diligence and public relations expenses incurred in the early stages were also wasted.

Adding to the pressure from Feng Rui's pursuit, Chen Hao felt his financial chain was breaking under the strain.

……

Meanwhile, in a coffee shop near Haicheng University.

Bai Jingyou sat by the window, looking at the latest battle report sent by Chen Mo on his phone, and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"What are you laughing at?" Jiang Mengyao sat opposite him, holding a cup of hot cocoa, and curiously leaned over.

"Watching dogs fight."

Bai Jingyou handed over the phone. "That kid Chu Xuan, although he's not the brightest, he's ruthless when he gets going. He'll sacrifice himself to inflict damage on the enemy. He blew up his own assets just to prevent Chen Hao from gaining an advantage."

Jiang Mengyao was shocked after reading the message: "This is too extreme! The Chu family is completely finished."

"For Chu Xuan, whether it's finished or not is no longer important." Bai Jingyou stirred the coffee in his cup.

"Chen Hao is probably furious right now," Jiang Mengyao said gloatingly. "Uncle Feng is putting pressure on him, and Chu Xuan is setting traps for him. How long can that little bit of money he brought back last?"

"It won't last long." Bai Jingyou leaned back in his chair, his gaze drifting through the floor-to-ceiling window to the gloomy sky in the distance. "Chen Hao is too arrogant and too greedy. He thinks he's the mastermind, but he's already a player in the game. Just wait and see, this is nothing. Those two true lovers are definitely having a very exciting time right now."

"And what about you?" Jiang Mengyao asked, resting her chin on her hand. "Is Young Master Bai just here watching the show?"

"Otherwise what?" Bai Jingyou shrugged. "I'm a law-abiding citizen. These kinds of villains have their own way of dealing with each other. I don't need to lift a finger; they'll ruin themselves. All I need to do is prepare the popcorn."

I just wonder how interesting Chen Hao's expression will be when he discovers that the goddess he risked everything to save is actually a bottomless pit that only sucks blood.

Baek Kyung-woo is really looking forward to it.