At the top floor of Rongda United Building, in the shareholder's office, the cigarette between Wang Chenghu's fingers had burned down to the stub, filling the room with white smoke.
In just half a day's time, he had nearly smoked an entire box of cigarettes from the desk.
"Useless, absolutely useless!"
On the desk lay a photo developed from a security camera, depicting a young man wearing a duckbill cap and dressed in ordinary clothes, who just happened to turn half his face towards the camera—it was the only clear shot of the young man's face captured by the camera.
Since yesterday, Rongda's security team had been busy, pulling footage from cameras on various floors and then filtering through to find information about the person their superiors were looking for.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the young man had anticipated this, either showing only his back to the cameras or just half of his face, without a single clear and complete photo available.
Wang Chenghu had not rested well these past two days; every time he closed his eyes, he saw the young man who had silently come into his office that day.
After that day, Wang Chenghu paid extra attention to the building's security, especially those guards who had been slacking off, all of whom he had fired.
Relying on the building's security was clearly hopeless, otherwise, he would not be cursing so much.
Wang Chenghu could only place his hopes on the men he had sent out. He had sent them to investigate two days ago and was confident that information would soon come back to him.
In fact, just as Wang Chenghu predicted, in less than half an hour, the man he had sent out stood before him.
"How did the investigation go?"
"Exactly as you instructed, sir. Recently, a young man has indeed been seen accompanying Shen Tianlong's daughter—it's this person!" Having said this, the subordinate placed a clear photo of the young man in front of Wang Chenghu.
At a glance, Wang Chenghu trembled; the person in the photo was indeed the young man from that day.
"Well done, take this photo and get someone to look into this guy's background as quickly as possible."
"Understood, sir."
The very next day, Wang Chenghu was looking at the investigative file, his frown deepening. There was indeed information about the young man's identity, but he could not access it.
The police had stated that they could not reveal the young man's identity information, and they gave no reason, even advising him not to provoke this individual.
"How can I let it go when someone dares to provoke me right at my doorstep?"
Time passed before Wang Chenghu's eyes gleamed with madness, "Shen Tianlong, do you think I will bow down just because you hired some mysterious expert?"
"Let me tell you, it won't happen! I didn't yield twenty years ago, and I won't now, twenty years later!"
...
Recently, Ye Qiu became famous!
All because he constantly followed Shen Mengchen, a campus beauty, almost inciting the wrath of all the male students in the school!
Who is Shen Mengchen? In the university campus of Zhongda, almost everyone knows her; she's the cherished daughter of the Longjia Group's Chairman Shen, a lady comparable to the daughter of a wealthy family in ancient times.
Shen Tianlong controlled Longjia Group, tying his family's name to the economy of the entire Zhongshan City—a splendid demonstration of economic strength. Yet here was a well-known lady, both rich and beautiful, being shadowed day in and day out by a man in counterfeit clothes and an unshaven face, a sore sight for any man who admired Shen Mengchen.
Shen Mengchen left the library, with Ye Qiu trailing a step or two behind her.
"Can you not follow me every day? This is a campus; I won't be in danger here," Shen Mengchen said. Ever since Ye Qiu entered the campus, she had become the focus of everyone's attention, as wherever she went, there was always a young man in a 'country style' following her. The surrounding students pointed and whispered, but Ye Qiu did not care. He continued in his own way, wearing his faded counterfeit Nike or Adidas t-shirt and flat shoes, forming a stark contrast to Shen Mengchen, no wonder Shen Mengchen was trying to get rid of him.
"This is my job," Ye Qiu dismissed, not agreeing with Shen Mengchen's assertion. He knew that sometimes the places that seemed the safest were actually the most dangerous.
"Hmph." Seeing that her words had no effect, Shen Mengchen huffed and lifting her eyes, suddenly saw a group of male students walking toward her from the shady path ahead.
"Hey, Mengchen, what a coincidence," said the boy leading the group of boys heading their way. His eyes lit up when he saw Shen Mengchen in front of him, and he hurried over to speak.
The boy greeting her was Li Hao, from a very affluent family, although not quite at Shen Mengchen's level. Ever since Li Hao first saw Shen Mengchen, he had been charmed by the lively and cute girl in front of him; thus, he was always excited whenever he saw her.
Li Hao took the initiative to greet her, but Shen Mengchen frowned, simply nodding politely without matching his enthusiasm.
Shen Mengchen's lukewarm response made Li Hao feel awkward as the other male students standing by couldn't help but snicker at his misfortune.
"Mengchen, are you free this Friday? I'd like to take you out for dinner," Li Hao continued with a smile, maintaining his gentlemanly composure.
"Sorry, I'm busy. Thanks for the invitation," Shen Mengchen replied directly, not giving Li Hao any face.
Li Hao was quite a figure on campus, tall and handsome, and also a talented basketball player, which made him popular among many female students. However, when facing Shen Mengchen, he was rather clueless.
"Bro Hao, I think it's not that Shen Mengchen doesn't want to go to dinner with you, but because there are others around, Miss Shen Mengchen is too embarrassed to agree," one of the boys nearby interjected.
Hearing this, Li Hao then shifted his gaze to Ye Qiu, who had been standing behind Shen Mengchen the whole time.
"Are you that kid who follows Mengchen around all the time?" Li Hao's gaze filled with disgust as he entirely scanned Ye Qiu, clearly judging his outfit before showing disdain.
"So with your standards, you want to chase after our Mengchen!" Ye Qiu could see the disdain in Li Hao's eyes; it was an open mockery.
Li Hao stared back with a dismissive look, too indifferent to bother with him.
Li Hao was looking to boost his own ego at his expense, but Ye Qiu wasn't going to give him the chance to belittle him.
"Hey, didn't you hear me talking to you?" Li Hao, ignored by Ye Qiu, suddenly glared, seeing Ye Qiu as nothing more than a migrant worker. How dare such a lowly person ignore and even disdain him—what gave him the courage!
"Were you talking to me? Oh, I thought some dog was barking at me," Ye Qiu said with a smile. His words abruptly silenced the area, especially the group of boys standing by, who were stunned that someone would speak to Li Hao in such a manner.
Shen Mengchen felt the same; she hadn't expected Ye Qiu to speak harsher words than even herself, completely disregarding him!
"You... you..." Li Hao didn't know whether to be angry or shocked; he was practically stuttering.
"What about me, you think because I'm dressed simply, you need to find a way to feel superior, to show how high-end and grand you are?"
"Are you foolish? You think by putting me down, Shen Mengchen will like you? Pathetic! Trying to show off shouldn't be by comparing yourself to those lesser than you, but to those better!"
"You think just because your family is well off and you look good that you're better than everyone? Do you think you are the sun and that everyone should revolve around you? Without your parents, what right do you have to mock others, all to prove in front of Shen Mengchen how great you are? Haha, I actually think quite the opposite—you are definitely the most ridiculous one in her eyes."
Ye Qiu's tirade flowed out rapidly, leaving Li Hao speechless.
"I..." Li Hao didn't know how to respond.
Shen Mengchen watched Ye Qiu in shock; she'd never seen such an unforgiving side to him, nor had she known he had such sharp-tongued talents. Was this even the man she knew?
"Mengchen, is what he said true? Am I really the most ridiculous in your eyes?" Li Hao directed his gaze towards Shen Mengchen and asked.
Shen Mengchen didn't know what to say, opting to remain silent.
"I don't know." Ultimately, unable to avoid Li Hao's intense gaze, Shen Mengchen quickly excused herself and fled.
Seeing this, Ye Qiu quickly followed her, leaving Li Hao hanging without a backward glance.
Shen Mengchen and Ye Qiu were gone, leaving Li Hao mulling over Ye Qiu's words.
"I'm not a clown; I refuse to be the most laughable person!" When everyone had left, Li Hao's eyes darkened, filled with an insane fury.