Wen Liang didn’t stop what he was doing. He adjusted to a more comfortable position and continued kissing her, only making a vague “Hmm?” sound.

Chen Die struggled with her feet for a few moments. Wen Liang finally clicked his tongue, straightened up with his arms propped on either side of her, and looked down at her, “What is it?”

“I’m about to graduate,” Chen Die said softly, looking at him.

Wen Liang was silent for a moment. He reached for his cigarette box and lit one, lounging lazily against the headboard with a half-smile, “And then?”

She replied quickly, “And then the contract expires.”

Wen Liang exhaled a breath of smoke, his features shrouded in a bluish-white haze.

He lowered his gaze, his voice turning cold, “Chen Die, not everything can be said.”

“I’m serious,” Chen Die pressed her lips together firmly, suddenly unable to look at him. She turned her face away and said, “Wen Liang, being with you is too exhausting.”

As intangible as wind and clouds, impossible to grasp.

“You want to leave me?” he asked flatly.

Chen Die nodded.

He scoffed lightly, “Then why are you still in bed with me?”

Chen Die’s heart gave two heavy beats, and her heart rate quickly became unstable, as if it would jump out through her throat.

She had imagined how Wen Liang would react when she brought up separation.

Perhaps he would become furious at losing his control, or perhaps he would calmly nod in agreement, but she hadn’t expected this.

Calm, yet mocking.

Her self-esteem, like a punctured balloon, rapidly deflated. Chen Die sat up in bed and lifted the covers to leave.

As soon as her hand emerged, Wen Liang noticed the white mass of gauze.

His brows instantly furrowed. He grabbed her by the neck and pulled her back. Chen Die’s head hit the pillow, and her body bounced twice on the mattress.

“What happened to your hand?”

Chen Die remained silent.

Wen Liang’s voice turned cold, his entire being sinking into a fierce, stormy rage, “Who did this?”

“Lin Quan,” Chen Die didn’t hide it from him.

“Who?” He couldn’t immediately recall who that name belonged to.

“Chen Shuyuan’s mother.”

Wen Liang didn’t ask why. He gave a cold laugh and put out his cigarette, “Those Chen family people are like lingering ghosts.”

He took Chen Die’s right hand wrapped in gauze, paused, then worked around it to see the three-centimeter-long cut. Frowning again, he simply threw away the bloodstained gauze, “I’ll bandage it for you again tomorrow.”

Chen Die’s eyelashes trembled. She didn’t understand why he had suddenly calmed down.

Then, Wen Liang pulled her back, restraining her waist with his arm, and kissed the back of her neck as if to comfort her, “Alright, you’re upset with me because I came back late. Tomorrow I’ll settle the score for you.”

He lay down, pulled up the covers, his voice hoarse with fatigue, “Go to sleep, stop making a fuss with me.”

Chen Die belatedly realized that Wen Liang had misunderstood, thinking that all her words were just because she had been wronged outside and was now taking it out on him, not even caring about what had happened when she met Lin Quan.

He was too self-centered and arrogant to understand how the person who had nodded without hesitation to go with him back then could now want to leave.

Chen Die opened her mouth, intending to speak again, but a sudden tightness in her throat stopped her, and she could only close her mouth.

The next day.

Wen Liang had a bidding meeting to attend today. When he was preparing to leave, Chen Die was still not up, so he instructed Auntie Zhang to bandage her hand later.

At the bidding location.

This bid was for two engineering construction projects, considered a lucrative opportunity, and many companies were present.

“Mr. Wen, here’s an overview of the competing companies,” Zhu Qicong handed over the materials.

Wen Liang casually glanced at them before putting them aside.

The projects he set his sights on were always pursued with precise aggression, and he indeed dared to snatch food from a tiger’s mouth. No one could outbid him. Zhu Qicong had seen this since Wen Liang first took over Wenyuan.

Soon, the host went on stage, read the bid documents, and according to the order, called for bid speeches. Zhu Qicong was sent up.

Wen Liang had long had his eye on the hot spring resort project at this bidding conference. He was well-prepared, and his bid was high enough to break the psychological defense of other bidders.

He quickly secured that project.

“Mr. Wen, shall we return to the company now?” Zhu Qicong asked after it ended.

“Isn’t there a second round?” Wen Liang said in a calm tone. “No hurry to go back.”

The second project bidding opened.

After several rounds of competitive price increases.

Chen Ke raised his sign, “5.54 billion.”

Whispers of discussion arose around them, but no one else raised their sign.

Wen Liang narrowed his eyes, looking at Chen Ke.

Old Mr. Chen’s only son, the current chairman of Chen Group, and Chen Die’s biological father.

The host began counting down with a raised hand.

Wen Liang lazily raised his sign, “5.8 billion.”

Everyone was shocked and turned to look at him.

Wen Liang had just won the previous project, and now he was putting up 5.8 billion more. Most companies had fixed investments for their funds; where did he get so much liquid capital?

Even Zhu Qicong was stunned.

He had already found it strange that Wen Liang stayed after the first bidding ended, and now he had directly invested 5.8 billion in a project they hadn’t even planned for.

“Mr. Wen,” he leaned forward and said softly, “We haven’t estimated the profit margin for this project.”

Wen Liang said carelessly, “Profit is created, not estimated.”

Chen Ke raised his sign a second time, “5.9 billion!”

Wen Liang raised his price simultaneously, “6 billion.”

Chen Ke was furious. His think tank beside him began to recalculate, hesitating.

Soon, with three strikes of the hammer, Wen Liang won the bid.

No outsider knew about the matters between the Chen and Wen families.

The Chen family found it embarrassing, and Wen Liang couldn’t be bothered to mention it, so no one in the outside world knew that Chen Die was the true heiress of the Chen family, yet now lived with Wen Liang.

The bidding conference ended, and people dispersed.

Chen Ke walked straight toward Wen Liang.

Chen Group had originally been determined to win this project and had even invested a large amount of money in advance, but they hadn’t expected Wen Liang to come out of nowhere.

Taking the project for 6 billion, the probability of losing money was greater, and more seriously, it could cause the company to malfunction.

“Mr. Wen,” Chen Ke stood before him.

Wen Liang raised his eyelids.

Chen Ke said, “We’re all in business. Why must Mr. Wen harm others without benefiting himself?”

Wen Liang laughed, “I admit to harming others, but whether it benefits me remains to be seen. Instead of saying these things to me, Mr. Chen should go home and ask Mrs. Chen what she did yesterday.”

Chen Ke was stunned, his face bewildered, clearly unaware of what Wen Liang was referring to.

Wen Liang stepped forward and said softly, “Please convey to Lin Quan that if she dares to make trouble for Chen Die again, it won’t just be about snatching one project.”

After speaking, he gave Chen Ke a half-lidded glance and turned to leave.

Zhu Qicong followed, utterly confused.

Impulsively throwing 6 billion into a brand new project was already very unlike Wen Liang’s usual style.

And how did Chen Die get connected with Mrs. Chen again?

But one thing he could discern was that all this money was spent solely to give Chen Die satisfaction.

Truly, a fortune was spent for a smile.

Indeed, the position of the main wife was still unshakable. In all these years, Zhu Qicong had only seen Chen Die dare to be temperamental with Mr. Wen.

Getting into the car, Zhu Qicong drove out of the underground garage toward the company.

Suddenly, Wen Liang, who had been closing his eyes in the back seat, asked, “You have a girlfriend, right?”

For a moment, Zhu Qicong doubted he had heard correctly. Since when did Mr. Wen ask such humane questions?

“Yes, she was my university classmate.”

Wen Liang asked, “Do you quarrel?”

“Sometimes we do,” Zhu Qicong said stiffly, then recalled how he had worked overtime for several days in a row to prepare for this bidding conference, and added, “She gets angry when I come home late because of overtime.”

This perfectly aligned with Wen Liang’s purpose in asking these questions.

He turned his head, “How do you handle it?”

Zhu Qicong finally understood the reason behind Mr. Wen’s sudden show of concern. He smiled and said helplessly, “I coax her, of course. Having a meal together, giving a gift—that usually works.”

Wen Liang pressed his lips together in silence for a moment, then said, “Don’t go to the company. Go home first.”

Zhu Qicong understood and made a U-turn at the intersection toward the villa in the western suburbs.

After thinking, and uncertain whether Chen Die would be home at this time, Wen Liang took out his phone and called her.

No answer.

He frowned, his eyes slightly narrowed.

The car drove into the compound.

Before Zhu Qicong could fully stop the car, Auntie Zhang hurriedly ran out, glanced at the car, and quickly approached as Wen Liang pushed the door open.

She was clutching a piece of paper.

On it, in Chen Die’s handwriting, was written, “Auntie Zhang, I’ve left. Take care of yourself.”

She spoke in a panicked tone, “I was just tending to the flowers in the backyard. I wanted to wake up Miss but found this.”

Wen Liang stood by the car, his gaze grim, “Where did she go?”

“I-I don’t know.”

Auntie Zhang was breathless. She hesitated for a long time before saying the last sentence, not quite daring to speak. Finally, she took a deep breath, “Miss seems to have run away from home. Many clothes from the wardrobe are also gone.”