Volume One, Chapter Eleven: Lu Chaoxi’s Money Is None of Your Concern
“Had enough of watching?” Wan Yan asked in a calm voice.
Lu Chaoxi shook her head, her gaze completely unrestrained.
Only halfway through shaking her head did she regain her senses and hurriedly covered her face with both hands, but her ears, already flushed red, betrayed her.
Wan Yan’s lips curled into a smirk at the sight. “I never expected Mrs. Wan to be such a little flirt.”
“No, no!” Lu Chaoxi closed her eyes and frantically waved her hands, making things worse. “It’s my first time seeing a man’s body up close—I was just stunned for a moment!”
Wan Yan’s smile froze, and he asked sharply, “So you’ve seen other men’s bodies before?”
He leaned in, staring intently at Lu Chaoxi’s face, so close she could clearly feel his breath.
Suddenly, Lu Chaoxi opened her eyes, unable to hide her amusement. “Wan Yan, are you jealous?”
Wan Yan was caught off guard. He sat back and flatly denied, “No.”
He was only interested in the shares.
Lu Chaoxi didn’t believe him; tilting her head, she kept poking his shoulder. “You’re jealous. You definitely are!”
A good sign—Wan Yan was jealous. Today was a celebration!
Wan Yan pretended to be aloof but couldn’t hide the embarrassment in his eyes. His tone was a bit flustered: “Lu Chaoxi, go change your clothes!”
“But you haven’t changed your pants yet.”
“I’m not going to.”
“Wan Yan, you’ll catch a cold like this.”
“Shut up!”
As expected, Lu Chaoxi was yelled at again. She pouted but obediently got dressed, her eyelids already heavy with sleep.
Today had been exhausting: making a cake, arguing with Wan Yan at the company, attending a banquet, and struggling in the pool for a long time.
She had used up all her energy, and once she relaxed, drowsiness surged over her like a tide.
Soon, she fell asleep leaning on Wan Yan’s shoulder.
At this moment, Wan Yan felt an unexpected sense of peace.
No need to pretend with others, no masks to wear when dealing with the old bastards at the Lu family, no tangled feelings about his relationship with Lu Chaoxi.
Nothing at all.
He hadn’t felt this relaxed for a long time—two years, perhaps.
Maybe Lu Chaoxi’s amnesia was a blessing.
---
A blessing? Wan Yan asked himself silently.
It should be. As long as she didn’t remember, their marriage could last a lifetime.
Thinking this, Wan Yan glanced lightly at the woman sleeping soundly on his shoulder.
He couldn’t help but get irritated and pinched her cheek hard. “You fickle woman.”
Lu Chaoxi mumbled in her sleep from the pain, nuzzled against his shoulder, found a comfortable position, and fell back into a blissful slumber.
Wan Yan’s expression softened, and he stopped teasing her.
This affectionate gesture was so natural that even he hadn’t realized anything was amiss—perhaps he had played the loving husband role too well today.
While driving, Song Yin lowered the sun visor and quietly reminded Wan Yan, “Sir, the matriarch will be released from prison next month.”
The man, who had just been smiling, snapped back to reality, his expression instantly turning cold.
He had just smiled because of Lu Chaoxi.
A bad omen.
Was it the Lu Chaoxi from two years ago, whose personality had captivated him, or was he simply too deep in the act?
Wan Yan steadied himself and told Song Yin, “In the next few days, find a suitable retirement home and arrange everything before my mother is released.”
“But...” Song Yin hesitated. “The matriarch said she wants to live in the Lu family villa.”
Wan Yan frowned slightly. Had his mother never let go of Lu Xianqing?
Now that he was dead, she still clung to the house he lived in.
But Wan Yan said nothing. “Let her live wherever she wants.”
The peace of this night was fleeting. Wan Yan silently warned himself not to get involved in his relationship with Lu Chaoxi again.
No matter if she had amnesia or not, the end result wouldn’t change.
After all… he was the one who killed her father.
---
The milky white silk curtains softened the sunlight, which gently touched Lu Chaoxi’s face.
She turned over and gradually woke up.
After a brief moment of daze, Lu Chaoxi sprang out of bed, barefoot, ignoring slippers, and ran out of the room.
A servant who was cleaning outside respectfully greeted her, “Good morning, Madam.”
“Where’s Wan Yan?” Lu Chaoxi asked anxiously.
The servant replied, “Sir has eaten breakfast and gone to the company.”
Hearing this, Lu Chaoxi hurried to the dining room and indeed saw another servant clearing the table.
He must have left not long ago.
An older servant carefully placed slippers beside Lu Chaoxi’s feet and asked, “Madam, would you prefer Chinese or Western breakfast?”
Lu Chaoxi put on the slippers and rushed to the walk-in closet to change, calling out loudly, “I’m not eating!”
She wanted to get to the company as fast as possible and find a way to become Wan Yan’s assistant!
She couldn’t allow Liang Zhijin and Wan Yan to be alone together at the company every day—otherwise, it would be like sending Tang Seng into the spider’s lair.
Others defended carrots; Lu Chaoxi defended her marriage.
Because of Lu Xianqing’s sudden death, Wan Yan rushed to take over Lu Corporation. As a son-in-law, he easily became acting chairman, which greatly displeased the company’s founding elders who had worked alongside Lu Xianqing.
During Wan Yan’s takeover, those elders had already caused many obstacles, causing Lu Corporation’s stock price to plummet.
Wan Yan had been trying to find ways to remove these thorny rivals.
Liang Zhijin suggested, “Why don’t you inject capital into Lu Corporation, A Yan? It could stabilize the stock price and help you assert authority on the board. Then it would be easy to push those elders out.”
But Song Yin disagreed. “Given Lu Corporation’s current scale, the investment wouldn’t be small. Sir just acquired 30% of Lu’s shares. Where else would you get so much capital now?”
Wan Yan remained silent throughout, letting the other two argue fiercely.
“Don’t forget, Lu Chaoxi’s grandfather was a famous entrepreneur in Jincheng! Rumor has it the old man left her over a billion in his will. Why not have Lu Chaoxi hand the money to A Yan?” Liang Zhijin said confidently, as if she had long planned this.
Wan Yan sneered, his gaze dark and menacing.
“Who do you think you are? Lu Chaoxi’s money isn’t for you to covet.”
He hadn’t stooped so low as to use a woman’s money to consolidate his position.
“A Yan!” Liang Zhijin urged anxiously, “Lu Chaoxi loves you so much; she’d gladly give you the money.”
Song Yin interrupted her bluntly, “Don’t you get it? Sir doesn’t want to rely on his wife to prove himself.”
“Only money can buy dignity. Do you want those old men to kick A Yan out of Lu Corporation?”
Liang Zhijin and Song Yin glared at each other, neither willing to yield.
In terms of sentiment, Song Yin couldn’t compare to Liang Zhijin, who had known Wan Yan since childhood.
But when it came to understanding Wan Yan, Liang Zhijin was no match for Song Yin.
After four years abroad, Liang Zhijin’s outlook had completely diverged from Wan Yan’s. Her understanding of success was ruthless—no means justified except the end.
Wan Yan only said lightly in the end, “You two go argue outside. The winner can come in and talk to me.”
He had no time to listen to them bicker in his office and promptly sent them both out.