Chapter 37: A Lady's Chamber Is Not Easily Entered

"After that, my eldest uncle smoothly took over as the acting head of the family, gaining complete control over the Chen clan," Chen Yu extinguished her cigarette and spoke softly. "As for my second uncle, the poison haunting him only worsened over time, leaving me no choice but to care for him personally."

"So, everything you told me in the hospital was just a ploy to make me talk?" Ye Fei narrowed his eyes. "The poison afflicting your second uncle must have been there all along, only now revealing its true effects?"

"That's right." Chen Yu didn't conceal anything, nodding. "But not everything I said was false. I truly have been searching for experts to treat his poison. Before I met you, I didn't even know what it was."

"Was it your eldest uncle who did this?" Ye Fei pressed further.

Chen Yu glanced at Chen Bozhong.

His gaze was steady, tinged with sorrow. "Mr. Ye, the evidence is clear. Who poisoned him no longer matters."

Ye Fei then recalled—the evidence pointed to Chen Bozhong’s own son.

For him, accepting this must have been no easy task.

"Favor for favor."

"Ye Fei."

"My second uncle and I brought you to the auction so you could understand the grave crisis facing the Eternal Group."

"If you can help us, restore us to the Chen family, not only will we be eternally grateful, we can even..."

"Bring down the entire Tenglong Chamber of Commerce!"

Chen Yu finished speaking, her eyes filled with earnest hope as she looked at Ye Fei.

"To be honest—" Ye Fei toyed with the jade seal in his hand, speaking indifferently, "Even without you, toppling Tenglong Chamber of Commerce is nothing more than a word from me."

"This..."

Chen Yu was momentarily stunned, clearly caught off guard by Ye Fei’s reply.

Chen Bozhong, by contrast, merely sighed, as if he had anticipated this. In a deep voice, he said, "Mr. Ye, saving my life was already a great kindness. I dare not ask for more. I only hope that after tonight, you can forget everything you heard in the car."

"Yu'er, don’t trouble Mr. Ye again."

Chen Yu closed her eyes and nodded.

"Who says..."

"I don’t want to help you?"

Ye Fei smiled before the two. "I only meant to tell you that Tenglong Chamber of Commerce is hardly worth my attention."

"So you mean..."

Chen Bozhong was dumbfounded.

"Four great families—far too many."

"This vast Hangzhou needs no such excess."

Ye Fei rolled down the window, his expression cold and radiant, like a wolf sizing up its prey, and asked with a smile, "Second Master Chen, if I help you reclaim your place in the Chen family, seat you as its head, restore your former glory—"

"What can you offer me?"

A true businessman speaks only of interests.

And true interests never require subterfuge.

Hearing this, Chen Yu looked at Ye Fei across from her, as if seeing a younger Chen Bozhong in him, eyes filled with deep surprise.

He...

Had changed.

Sharp and mature, the glint in his eyes pierced like needles, making one's soul shudder.

And so—

A secret conversation, enough to shape Hangzhou’s fate for the next decade,

Lasted a full hour.

At last, it ended.

The car stopped before Chen Yu’s residence.

A grand villa, steeped in Japanese style.

"Tonight, I’ll stay here," Ye Fei yawned lazily, "I doubt my senior sister will let me in for a while. You don’t mind, do you?"

"Of course not!" Chen Yu smiled brightly, pushing open the door.

The two entered together.

No one noticed that as Chen Bozhong stepped out of the car, this legendary figure, nearly sixty years old, recalled the words spoken to him by the young man an hour ago—

Sweat drenched his back, his eyes shone, and not a trace of old age remained.

...

Meanwhile—

Fresh from her bath, Zhou Danzhuang, dressed in a black slip nightgown, stormed into Lin Qiqing's room and shouted, "Lin Qiqing! Who told you to kick little junior out? He has no money, nowhere to go—do you want him to freeze to death outside?"

"If you freeze, he won't," Lin Qiqing, already changed into nightwear, sipped her sobering tea at the table, gazing at the moon outside. "Why bother worrying? He’s just a... a..."

"A what?" Zhou Danzhuang asked curiously. "You haven’t told me what little junior did to upset you?"

"None of your business!" Lin Qiqing bit her lower lip.

"Oh, look at you! Little junior must have done something wicked, right?" Zhou Danzhuang sidled up to her, nudging her arm. "Come on, Qing’er, be honest—did little junior take advantage of you while you were drunk?"

"Of course not! Stop making things up!" Lin Qiqing shot her a glare. "He... he brought another woman home without my permission!"

"So what? He’s our little junior! If he finds a girlfriend, we should be happy!" Zhou Danzhuang chuckled. "Why, are you jealous, ice queen?"

"Rubbish!" Lin Qiqing pinched Zhou Danzhuang fiercely, snorting. "Say another word and I’ll throw you out too! You can sleep on the streets with him!"

"How are you so sure he’s sleeping on the streets?" Zhou Danzhuang giggled. "Maybe... he’s napping on another woman’s bed right now!"

"You—shut up!" For some reason, Lin Qiqing felt a surge of anger in her chest and shouted, "Zhou Danzhuang, you must be bored out of your mind! Just wait and see how I deal with you!"

With that, the two rolled around on the bed.

...

Far across town, Ye Fei was in no position to enjoy such scenes.

He watched as Chen Yu led him into a pink, girlish bedroom, his expression turning odd. He clicked his tongue. "Seriously? I’m just here for the night, not to play house. No need to bring me to your room, just give me a guest room."

"The guest room doesn’t even have blankets—how would you sleep?" Chen Yu smiled, pointing to her bed. "Sit!"

"I’d rather not," Ye Fei sensed something unsettling in her gaze.

"Oh, come on, sit down!" Chen Yu rolled her eyes. "I don’t bite!"

"A widow’s house is full of trouble, sigh!" Ye Fei flopped onto the bed. "This bed’s pretty soft. Bet you’ve wrestled plenty of men on it?"

"Don’t talk nonsense!" Chen Yu glared fiercely. "This is the first time a man’s ever entered my room—not even my second uncle!"