Though Sheng Jie grew up in the Leng family, the two young masters had always treated him coldly. However, as compared to the first young master, the second young master was indifferent to everyone, treating all people with an icy demeanor.
Hence, his coldness was not personal when it was directed at Sheng Jie. As for the first young master, however, it was different. Although he had never bullied Sheng Jie, he was much friendlier to other children who came over to play every day.
Over time, Sheng Jie did not hang out with the first young master at all. As a result, he became closer to the second young master. As Sheng Jie grew up, he would often follow behind the second young master.
He also studied many computer programs in secret. Then, after going to Britain for training, he succeeded in joining Britain's top hacker organization, as he was quite skilled.
After he returned to his home country, Sheng Jie became listless and somewhat lost. One of the main reasons for this was that the second young master was also talented at programming, and his skills were far superior to Sheng Jie's. As such, Sheng Jie respected the second young master and revered him almost as a god.
As for the first young master, he went to Paris and achieved fame in the fashion industry, but refused to reveal his true identity. Instead, he used the identity of a mysterious designer as he rose to fame.
Sheng Jie was disgusted by this, as he saw it being a sissy way to handle the matter. Maybe he would have really disliked all that the first young master did or thought, regardless of what it was. Even if Leng Jin's fame was the same as Leng Yuchen's, he would probably still be able to find many shortcomings in Leng Jin.
In love, there was a saying: "If you like a person, temper is called personality. If you dislike the person, even when the person is as meek as a cat, you will complain of his or her hair loss!"
This sentence perfectly mirrored Sheng Jie's attitude toward the two brothers. So, when Leng Jin was about to tell An Qi about some matters that needed her attention, Sheng Jie would always quickly interrupt him. Although it was mostly because he disliked Leng Jin, Sheng Jie also felt that this was his way of being a responsible staff member to Boss Leng.
"An Qi, have you recovered from your neck injury? If you don't feel well, we can leave early," Sheng Jie said.
After he spoke, he was surprised the immediate and intense reactions from the three people around him.
Leng Jin put down his wine glass and asked, "An Qi, are you hurt? Is it serious?"
Wu Linzhi stopped looking at his mobile phone at this moment, too. Though it seemed that he had not been paying attention to the conversation, in actual fact, he was listening to the parts of it that concerned An Qi.
"When did you get hurt? Why didn't you tell me? Let me take a look at it," he said, while starting to move toward An Qi.
Immediately, Dong Manman looked at An Qi with concern, then slammed her fist down on the table and asked, "Have you lost your mind? Don't you know that it is improper for a man and woman to be in contact? Move away from her! Let me see what's the matter with An Qi..."
Apparently, An Qi did not expect Sheng Jie to suddenly change the topic of conversation. In fact, she had really wanted to learn some tips about runway modeling and photography from Leng Jin.
But, when faced with Dong Manman, who was looming over her at the moment, An Qi could only obediently pull down her collar and reveal the red marks on her neck to for her friend's perusal.
"What a b*stard! Which shameless man did this to you? Was it..." Before Dong Manman could blurt out Leng Yuchen's name, An Qi hurried to explain.
With a hoarse voice, she said, "It was Yu Hao. He wanted to ask me out in the afternoon, but when I rejected him, he strangled me in anger."
"Huh?" Dong Manman's mouth was open so wide that she could even swallow her own fist! "Yu Hao? But… He's going to marry Gu Xiaonan! Why would he still be bothering you?"
As soon as Dong Manman finished speaking, she realized that she had said something wrong, so she covered her mouth and gasped. She did not know whether An Qi was aware of the marriage yet.
Feeling both helpless and touched by her friend's concern, An Qi took Dong Manman's hand down and held it in her own as she said,"Rest assured, I already know about it. In fact, I already moved on five years ago. Otherwise, I would not have stayed abroad with An Yufei, living so peacefully for so many years."
"Oh, I'm so relieved to hear that." Dong Manman nodded and sighed with relief. "But, I didn't expect that b*stard Yu Hao could be so cruel! The next time I see him, I'll teach him a lesson!"
As Dong Manman said this, both Leng Jin and Wu Linzhi, who were secretly clenching their fists, seemed to be thinking the exact same thing. After all, the two of them were the ones behind the matter regarding Qi Yang Entertainment. However, it was just an appetizer for Yu Hao, as the important main dish had not been served yet.
The pair had wanted to play a game of cat and mouse with Yu Hao, torturing him slowly. They had never expected that he would harm An Qi! He must be really tired of living!
In the lobby of the hotel, Gu Xiaonan looked at Yu Hao's expression with confusion and some worry. She had no idea what had happened. She couldn't help but wonder...
What's going on? When we were registering, Yu Hao was in such a good mood...
As she gazed at him now, he looked like a stone statue, standing motionless in the lobby of the hotel. He looked like a man that had just been robbed.
Ironically, that was exactly what had happened. Yu Hao had really been robbed, as someone had stolen his wallet!
But, it was not the wallet that he usually carried in his pocket every day that had been robbed. It was his company's purse, which was far more important!
The most painful thing for Yu Hao was that the only person he could not tell about his imminent bankruptcy was the woman in front of him, his fiancée, Gu Xiaonan! Although Yu Hao appreciated Gu Xiaonan very much and was infatuated with her beauty, she was just like him… Dark.
After all, they had grown up together. They were not like An Qi, who had a good family background and pursued academic excellence. The most important reason why they were together was that their dark sides were aligned. After all, it takes one to know one.
Therefore, in the early stage of his entrepreneurship, there were many things that Yu Hao did not even need to say explicitly to Gu Xiaonan, as she would be able to read his mind and carry out all kinds of underhanded actions obediently and without question. For example, she would sometimes sleep with customers in order to get a contract.
She would also stage an impromptu video in public, among a long list of other things. In fact, Gu Xiaonan had done it all. In exchange for her sacrifice, Yu Hao tried to accept Gu Xiaonan and had created a prominent place for her within the business five years ago.
Sometime later, Yu Hao's company grew, adding to it professionals, who he placed in charge of the entertainment sector. In addition to giving her a place within the company, after Gu Xiaonan told him that she was pregnant, Yu Hao let her live in his own home.
However, after Zeng Xuerou married An Shijie, Gu Xiaonan changed. She was no longer anything like her former self.
Now, whenever she was in front of An Shijie, she would not even mention Yu Hao's name. She also refused to disclose her boyfriend's identity to the family after she officially entered the Leng Group's employ. This was exactly why the news of her engagement to Yu Hao was going to be so very shocking to everyone!
In other words, this tendency toward secrecy and self-protection helped to explain why neither Gu Xiaonan or Yu Hao opened up to others, even to each other. So, even if the person going bankrupt was Gu Xiaonan, she herself would not disclose the matter to Yu Hao either, as in this way, she would be placing herself at a disadvantage. For people like Gu Xiaonan and Yu Hao, who were so calculative, it was absolutely impossible for them to allow themselves to be seen as vulnerable!
Just as Yu Hao was thinking about how to convincingly lie to Gu Xiaonan, more than a dozen SUVs suddenly pulled up outside the hotel lobby. Dozens of people, all of whom were dressed in black, got out of the car. Then, without saying anything, they knocked Yu Hao out, carried him away, then threw him in one of the cars!