Liang Meng walked all the way back to Lin Qing’s apartment, her mood sinking to rock bottom.

“You’re back! Everything go okay today?”

Lin Qing asked her, slurping instant noodles.

Liang Meng didn’t say a single word. She went straight to her room, climbed into bed, and pulled the covers over her head.

“Hey — I finished Daiwei’s livestream plan. Do you want to take a look?” Lin Qing poked her head in to ask.

Liang Meng didn’t respond.

Lin Qing’s mother yanked Lin Qing back and said quietly, “Are you blind? Anyone can see something’s wrong. Are you trying to get yourself killed going in there?”

Lin Qing poked her chopsticks back into the bowl and followed her mother into the kitchen.

“What do you mean ‘get killed’? Am I not even allowed to say a word in this house? I just wanted to ask what’s going on with her.”

“Asking like that — won’t do any good!”

Lin’s mother tied on her apron, shot her clueless daughter a withering look, then picked up the cleaver and started chopping green onions — thunk, thunk, thunk.

Before long, a bowl of steaming hot scallion oil noodles was ready, topped with two perfect white soft-boiled eggs.

Lin Qing looked at the eggs, then looked at the cold instant noodles in her own hand…

Her own… mother?

“Here we go,” Lin’s mother said, carrying the bowl to the side of Liang Meng’s bed. “Xiao Meng, listen to Auntie — no matter how big the problem, we eat first. We eat! We eat until we’re full, then we sleep! Come morning, hey — bright and beautiful, it’s a whole new day!”

Liang Meng had cocooned herself in the blanket, but couldn’t withstand the enthusiastic Lin’s mother practically singing variety shows in her ear, and finally sat up.

“Try it,” Lin’s mother said, eyes full of warmth.

Liang Meng reluctantly took the bowl, slurped one mouthful — and it was genuinely delicious.

So she threw off the covers, sat down at the dining table in the living room, and started wolfing it down.

“Xiao Meng, do you want garlic? Auntie will peel some for you.”

Lin Qing shot her mother a look — okay, the act was getting a bit over the top!

Lin’s mother paid her no mind and waved at Lin Qing to hurry up and ask what happened.

But no matter how Lin Qing pressed, Liang Meng just kept her head down and ate her noodles. Not a single word.

With no other option, Lin Qing sent a WeChat message to Wang Zaiwu: What happened?

Wang Zaiwu was at a nightclub having a wild time and sent back just a few characters: Liang Meng went home this afternoon.

Went home?!

Home where??

Could she mean the villa home?

Just then, Lin Qing’s phone buzzed again: Come downstairs.

That wasn’t a buzz — it was an earthquake.

She immediately jumped up, threw on a coat, and didn’t dare dally.

Before she left, she held up two fingers and pointed at her own eyes, then at her mother — warning her not to “kick someone while they’re down” or go too far with things.

There had to be some limit to how much of this “fake warmth” they showed Liang Meng!

Lin’s mother replied with a look that said: nope.

“Meng, too many noodles will give you heartburn. Here, have some matcha yogurt…”

Lin Qing walked out rolling her eyes.

She went downstairs, and a black Alfa Romeo was parked by the curb.

Lin Qing had no idea how Jiang Han had found his way here. She got in the car, resigned.

The moment she climbed in, the car door closed automatically.

Lin Qing’s nerves shot up even higher — she could hear the “thud, thud, thud” of her own heartbeat.

“Here is 100,000 yuan in cash,” Jiang Han said, his face utterly expressionless, his voice cold. “I don’t care what method you use — get Liang Meng to come back home.”

With that, Jiang Han casually tossed over a manila envelope.

He had too many worries crowding his mind right now, and had ultimately decided to solve the problem the most straightforward way he knew — money.

“Mr. Jiang, please don’t make things hard for me,” Lin Qing said. “Liang Meng is my boss. Do you honestly think I have any influence over her?”

“200,000.”

Jiang Han raised the offer.

“Mr. Jiang! This isn’t about money!”

Lin Qing’s voice climbed, but her eyes were glued to that 200,000.

Lin Qing knew exactly how much her mother had saved — she was sharp enough to know it down to the last cent.

Buying an apartment in Jiuting — down payment one million, still 200,000 short.

A perfect match.

Jiang Han had successfully found the crack in Lin Qing’s armor.

Flap, flap, flap — Lin Qing shook her head furiously.

Was she really going to be won over and corrupted for 200,000 yuan? Where was her conscience?

No bend of integrity under force, no fall to temptation of wealth, no surrender to the weight of poverty.

She quickly steeled herself against temptation: “Liang Meng came back in a terrible mood today. I feel bad seeing her like this. This isn’t the right time to push her to go home.”

“Then name your price,” Jiang Han said, still unwilling to give up.

When a deal can’t be made, it’s usually because the price hasn’t been agreed upon.

Lin Qing felt like her head was splitting in two.

If the person across from her were Wang Zaiwu, she could manage. But swapped out for Jiang Han, he was like a deep well with no visible bottom.

“You can’t possibly have no desires at all, can you?” Jiang Han didn’t believe it. “A place to live? A car? A promotion? Or…”

The implication was plain enough.

As long as Liang Meng agreed to come home, Jiang Han was now Pandora’s box — capable of granting Lin Qing any wish she wanted.

Lin Qing looked at the urgency in his eyes, swallowed hard, and pressed down the burning sensation rising inside her.

“Mr. Jiang, why don’t we find somewhere else to discuss this…”

“Fine. Drive.”

The Alfa Romeo headed off to some unknown destination.

After dinner, Liang Meng had calmed down and was no longer swept along by her emotions.

She sat on the bed and racked her brain — no matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t figure it out.

Longquan was on a strong upward trajectory right now, and she was gradually taking over the operations. What possible reason could her sister have for cashing out right now?

Liang Xing had said she wanted to enjoy life.

But Liang Meng knew her sister well. The house and the cars were all taken care of, and her sister had no taste for lavish spending. Her one and only hobby was doing yoga by herself.

If she wanted to enjoy life, she didn’t need to sell Longquan’s shares to achieve that — she could manage just fine as things were.

Unless…

She had stopped believing in Longquan’s future.

But the more Liang Meng thought about it, the less sense that made.

Her sister appeared conservative on the surface, but in reality she simply moved carefully and steadily.

Before Liang Meng had taken over the company, Liang Xing had been very skilled at playing different factions off against each other — that whole dynamic of left chancellor and right chancellor, she had played it perfectly.

By stirring up infighting among the company’s most capable subordinates, she effortlessly reaped the benefits.

From the episode involving switching the brand ambassador, Liang Meng was more certain than ever: whatever the surface appearances, as long as a project was still running, it meant her sister approved of it.

Take the livestream operation, for example.

No objection meant approval. No interference meant support.

If the livestream took off, Longquan’s market value would rise again — and wouldn’t cashing out then bring in even more money?

Her sister wasn’t an impulsive person. There had to be a reason behind all of this.

In the end, after turning it over and over in her mind, Liang Meng decided to respect her sister’s decision for now.

By any calculation of effort and return, Liang Xing taking away 35% of Longquan wasn’t unreasonable.

What Liang Meng needed to focus on now, then, was maintaining Longquan’s recent high share price, keeping the company from any missteps, and letting Liang Xing cash out cleanly at the peak.

With that thought in mind, Liang Meng called Cindy in the marketing department.

“Cindy, it’s Liang Meng. That thing we discussed last time about signing the up-and-coming golf star as our brand ambassador — how is it progressing?”

“Oh, you mean Lu Zhou?” Cindy responded quickly. “Given the recent unexpected incident and the public sentiment around it, we’re still in the assessment phase for that player. It’ll take about a week. Oh — wait, that’s odd, Liang Meng, your assistant called about this a couple of days ago. We already asked her to relay the update to you!”

“My assistant?” Liang Meng was caught off guard for a moment, then asked, confused, “Lin Qing?”

“Yes! She said you asked her to check.”

“I asked her to check?” Liang Meng was bewildered.

But quickly, she composed herself and said casually, “Oh! Right, she did mention you were still assessing. I’ve been so busy these past few days, it slipped my mind.”

“Understood, Liang Meng — we’ll speed things along.”

After hanging up, Liang Meng felt a faint, creeping unease.

She put on her robe, wandered out to the living room, and struck up a conversation with Lin’s mother, who was watching short videos.

“Auntie, let me ask you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“Does Lin Qing have a friend called Lu Zhou? What’s their relationship?”

Liang Meng hadn’t really expected to get much out of the question.

But at the mention of that name, Lin’s mother suddenly lost all interest in short videos.

She grabbed Liang Meng’s arm and sat her down. There wasn’t even anyone else in the apartment, yet she still leaned in conspiratorially and whispered: “You know about Lu Zhou too?”

“I only know that the two of them seem to be acquainted.”

“Acquainted?! That’s putting it mildly! Let me tell you…”

Lin’s mother chattered away at length, filling Liang Meng in on the history between Lu Zhou and Lin Qing. At the very end, she couldn’t resist adding: “And hey! The very apartment you’re living in right now? It belongs to Lu Zhou!”

“What?! This apartment belongs to Lu Zhou?”

Liang Meng could hardly believe her ears!

“Isn’t it… one of Lin Qing’s close friends’ places?”

Liang Meng had assumed it belonged to something like a girlfriend.

“Well, Lu Zhou is also a friend of Lin Qing’s. Who knows — maybe he’ll be her boyfriend someday.” And with that, Lin’s mother gave a smug little eyebrow raise.

“Oh…” Liang Meng’s expression became thoughtful. “Auntie, I’ll head back to my room then…”

Liang Meng wasn’t usually interested in other people’s private lives, but now it was becoming clear — this Lin Qing was far more complicated than she’d seemed.

“Oh, you have no idea! Those two have been dancing around each other for years! Neither one is willing to break through that paper barrier, and I’m this close to losing my mind over it as their — as her mother!”

Lin’s mother’s words from just a moment ago continued to echo in Liang Meng’s restless mind as she tossed and turned.

The next day.

Liang Meng deliberately gave Lin Qing a day off.

“Where were you last night?” Liang Meng asked, staring at the dark circles under her eyes.

Lin Qing had come home very late the previous night — Liang Meng had already been asleep.

“N-nowhere special,” Lin Qing said evasively.

Liang Meng assumed she had gone on a date with Lu Zhou, so she teasingly said, “Must be exhausted from your little night shift, go get some rest,” and headed off to the office.

She said it without thinking — but Lin Qing heard every implication.

Lin Qing twisted the hem of her top, kept her head down, and said nothing.

At the office.

“Cindy, today you’ve got that meeting scheduled with Lu Zhou’s team about the endorsement deal, right?”

“Yes, Liang Meng.”

“Send everyone else home for now. I want to sit down with this Lu Zhou one-on-one. Bring him to my office.”

“Understood.”

Half an hour later, Liang Meng finally met Lu Zhou in person.

He was even more handsome and radiant in person than on television.

“Have a seat.”

Liang Meng warmly gestured for him to sit on the reception sofa.

Lu Zhou sat down politely.

“What a situation — I only found out yesterday that the apartment I’m living in is actually yours.” Liang Meng laughed with a self-deprecating smile.

Lu Zhou was quick to clarify: “Liang Meng, I’m here today to discuss the endorsement contract. Please don’t let anything personal affect today’s negotiations.”

Liang Meng smiled pleasantly. “Since all factors have to be considered, personal ones should be included as well.”

“But Liang Meng…” Lu Zhou didn’t want to put anyone in an awkward position.

Seeing how young she was, he worried she might know nothing about sports and end up carelessly signing a deal with him, so he decided to be upfront: “I recently lost a match…”

Liang Meng found the young man in front of her even more interesting. Her curiosity piqued, she smiled. “Longquan is signing a brand ambassador, not a world champion.”

“But…” Lu Zhou was puzzled.

Liang Meng stood up and went to pour Lu Zhou a glass of water herself: “I’ll be candid with you — I’m also a golf enthusiast. I watched that match of yours. Your foot touched the ball, which caused a penalty deduction. It’s not that big a deal.”

“But because of that one issue, many companies that were originally going to sign me have gone back to a wait-and-see stance,” Lu Zhou reminded her. “Wait-and-see — you know what that means, Liang Meng?”

“I know.”

Wait-and-see meant no one wanted to take the risk.

“No endorsements means no commercial value. No commercial value means no competition opportunities.”

Liang Meng laid out the brutal reality of professional sports.

“You really understand this world.”

Lu Zhou didn’t press on about his own disadvantages any further, because he believed that this Liang Meng from Longquan had already made her calculations.