After ninety-nine online romances, I finally met my ex in person when school started.

"So how did you find him? It's been so many years?" Jiang Yao suddenly asked curiously.

Lin Chuxia said smugly, "Oh, sister, this is very simple. I just asked my dad, cough cough, that's a secret, and I found him right away."

"As soon as I got the news today, I came here to wait for him!"

Jiang Yao rested her chin on her hand, her beautiful eyes sparkling as she looked at Zhu Xun Chuan with a half-smile.

Under the table, she kicked off one of her high heels, and her toe, encased in black stockings, precisely hooked onto Zhu Xun Chuan's trouser leg, sliding up and down with just the right amount of pressure.

Zhu Xun Chuan remained expressionless and wiped his chopsticks with a tissue. He picked up a shrimp paste and stuffed it directly into Jiang Yao's mouth, silencing her about to make a teasing remark.

"Eat more and talk less," Zhu Xun Chuan said calmly. "It's been freezing all night, drink something hot."

Jiang Yao obediently bit into the shrimp paste. She chewed it a couple of times, her eyes almost overflowing with coquettish charm.

Her feet didn't stop moving; instead, she rubbed against the man's calf even more boldly. In front of outsiders, she was a decisive and ruthless young lady, but in front of this man, she was happy to be a submissive woman being fed.

Watching this scene, Lin Chuxia secretly swallowed. She eagerly pushed her empty bowl towards them, asking, "Where's mine?"

Zhu Xun Chuan picked up a spoon and ladled a full bowl of dried scallop and seafood porridge for her, placing it in front of her: "Why aren't you at home at this hour? What are you doing here?"

"I originally came to the neighborhood to pick up my study materials from my best friend," Lin Chuxia said, taking small sips of her porridge. "But I just happened to see you guys kicking down the door. I also wanted to get some fresh air, though. My husband, Lin, is going through menopause lately and he's been smashing cups at home every day."

"Is Mayor Lin in trouble?" Zhu Xun Chuan asked casually, leaning back in his plastic chair. His hand, however, darted out from under the table with deadly precision, grabbing Jiang Yao's restless ankle.

Jiang Yao trembled and pressed her red lips together.

"It's that municipal project in the south of the city again," Lin Chuxia complained without any warning. "It was invested by some foreign capital with dubious origin, and then it suddenly stopped halfway through. The person in charge of that project is a bastard, constantly threatening me with the contract. Old Lin is so worried his hair has turned white."

Zhu Xun Chuan pressed his thumb firmly against Jiang Yao's arch through her black stockings, but his gaze was fixed on Lin Chu Xia: "What's the name of the construction company?"

"I think his name is... Jiang Hai?" Lin Chuxia thought for a moment and nodded firmly. "Yes, that's the name. I heard Old Lin cursing about it on the phone."

Zhu Xunchuan and Jiang Yao exchanged a glance.

The intimate actions under the table stopped abruptly. Jiang Yao put down her chopsticks, a chilling glint in her beautiful eyes.

Jiang Hai. Jiang Ting's second adopted son.

Tonight in the Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness, he sat in a corner drinking tea. Not only did he not participate in Jiang Tao's coup, but after Zhu Xunchuan turned the tables, he was also the first to stand up and pledge his loyalty.

Remain aloof and keep your true intentions hidden.

Jiang Yao took a deep breath, her voice chilling: "Jiang Tao is just a fool who charges into battle. The one who truly colluded with foreign capital and let the wolf into the house was the second brother."

Zhu Xun Chuan pulled out a tissue and naturally wiped the porridge stains from the corner of Jiang Yao's mouth. His hand didn't stop there; he also brushed off half a grain of rice that had accidentally gotten on Lin Chu Xia's nose.

The two women were completely subdued by his effortless movements.

Zhu Xun Chuan withdrew his hand, his gaze casually passing over the two women and glancing at the snowy street outside the plastic shed.

At the intersection fifty meters away from the porridge stall, an inconspicuous black Santana was parked. This car had been following them at a distance of about twenty minutes since they left the Jiang family headquarters.

"I've finished my porridge." Zhu Xun Chuan stood up. He took out a hundred-yuan bill from his pocket and placed it at the bottom of the bowl.

He picked up the white fox fur coat and draped it over Jiang Yao's shoulders, then picked up the camel-colored overcoat that had fallen to the ground and wrapped it tightly around Lin Chuxia.

Zhu Xun Chuan put his hands in his suit trouser pockets, looked at the Santana that had stalled in the snowy night, and a cold, emotionless smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Second brother, you've been following us all this way. You must be freezing. It's time to show yourself."

On a snowy night, the cold wind whipped up snow and ice, slapping against the plastic sheds along the roadside.

At the intersection fifty meters away from the porridge stall, a black Santana sat quietly in the shadows. The window slowly rolled down half an inch.

Zhu Xunchuan's encrypted phone vibrated. The caller ID showed an unfamiliar local number from Harbin.

He pressed the answer button, turned on speakerphone, and placed the phone on the folding table.

"Brother-in-law, you have a good eye." Jiang Hai's calm yet somewhat sinister voice came through the phone, completely different from his previous subservient demeanor in the Hall of Loyalty. "Taozi is a brainless firecracker, he'll explode if you light him. But I advise you not to mess with me. I have 30% of the Jiang family's money laundering front, and several major projects in southern Bingcheng are all under my name. If something happens to me, Bingcheng's economic chain will be completely disrupted, and the authorities will be the first to target the Jiang family."

Jiang Hai, confident that Zhu Xunchuan was hesitant to act rashly, spoke with increasing arrogance.

Zhu Xun Chuan picked up a plastic spoon and stirred the slightly cooled porridge in the bowl, his tone flat and without any ripples: "Your trump card is only enough for you to live until tomorrow night."

He hung up the phone.

Lin Chuxia held the hot porridge, glanced at Zhu Xunchuan, then turned to watch the Santana's taillights illuminate as it disappeared into the snow. She leaned closer, catching a faint scent of sandalwood on Zhu Xunchuan's clothes, and couldn't help but ask, "You scumbag, what are you planning to do about him? He has a municipal engineering contract in his hands; even my dad can't do anything about him."

"He's greedy, lustful, and wants to climb the official ladder." Zhu Xun Chuan stood up, casually grabbed a white fox fur coat and draped it over Jiang Yao's shoulders, then put his arm around her slender waist. "He has a weakness, so he's not far from death."

……

2:00 AM. Presidential Suite, penthouse, InterContinental Hotel.

The heating inside was on full blast, making it even a bit stuffy. Zhu Xun Chuan took off his suit jacket, leaving only a pure white shirt with the top two buttons undone, and sat down on the large leather sofa.

Jiang Yao had already kicked off her high heels, and her legs, encased in black stockings, curled up on the sofa. She naturally leaned on Zhu Xun Chuan's shoulder, reached out and took a strawberry, offering it to his lips.

Lin Chuxia took off her camel coat and sat on the single sofa opposite her, wearing a white shirt and a Japanese-style plaid skirt. She looked at Jiang Yao's alluring and voluptuous curves, then looked down at herself, feeling a strange sense of competition.

She stood up, picked up the teapot on the table, poured Zhu Xun Chuan a glass of warm water, and deliberately bent down, leaving the collar of her white shirt open.

"Drink some water." Lin Chuxia pushed the teacup over, glancing at Jiang Yao out of the corner of her eye, her expression full of provocation.

Even though I call you "sister" and we're usually good sisters, there's no room for negotiation when it comes to who gets Chuan Ge! It's a battle for supremacy!

Jiang Yao chuckled softly, tracing circles on Zhu Xun Chuan's chest with her finger: "Miss Lin, what's the meaning of you, a female student, staying in our apartment in the middle of the night instead of going home?"

"What, you're allowed to be a mafia boss, but I'm not allowed to be the mayor's daughter?" Lin Chuxia said matter-of-factly, squeezing onto Zhu Xun Chuan's other side to sit down. "Besides, he owes me two years' worth of emotional debt, what's wrong with me keeping a close eye on him?"

Two stunningly beautiful women stood on either side of them.

Zhu Xun Chuan took a sip of water, then pressed his large hand against the back of both of their necks, pulling them closer together.

"Cease fire." Zhu Xun Chuan put down his water glass. "Tomorrow night, I need the two of you to act out a scene."

Zhu Xunchuan finally understood: women are such a hassle. One second they're best friends, the next they're best buddies!

Just like Su Mucheng and Shen Tianxi before!

The two women immediately fell silent, their eyes fixed on him.

Zhu Xun Chuan leaned back on the sofa, methodically making arrangements: "Jiang Hai is an extremely selfish person. Tomorrow night, Lin Chu Xia, as the mayor's daughter, will host a gathering for him at the Royal Mansion. Jiang Yao will be there to cooperate. You two need to stage a 'sisters turning against each other' drama in the private room."

"Do you want him to think that I want to bypass the Jiang family and directly intervene in the unfinished project in the south of the city?" Lin Chuxia was very smart and understood immediately.

Jiang Yao understood Zhu Xun Chuan's meaning: "Once he feels he has seized the opportunity to curry favor with the authorities, he will not only get money but also crush me. He will definitely reveal all his cards to show his loyalty."

"His biggest weakness is that he thinks he's smarter than everyone else." Zhu Xun Chuan ran his fingers through Jiang Yao's long hair. "Tomorrow night, make him vomit up everything he's taken in, with interest."