While admiring him, the others couldn't help feeling envious.
In this magical metropolis, running into a Girl so good-looking and still innocent is no easy thing.
For Second-generation rich kids like them, paying for a Girl who scores 90 on the beauty scale isn't hard.
But if you tell those Girls, 'I like big waves,'
They might just yank their tops off on the spot to show you how big, how wild they are.
Sometimes the richer you are, the less likely the women around you are pure, untainted little bunnies.
After all, your environment and social circle decide what kind of women you meet.
Take Qin Fen: despite all his money, he still fell into the trap of a fake Shanghai socialite.
Of course, you can't totally rule out money being one reason Si Nian is with Jiang Cheng.
But when everyone cares about money anyway, would you rather pick a worldly, well-trained graduate of a'socialite boot camp,' or a clueless, harmless little white flower?
Which one smells better to you??
Especially with Si Nian—anyone with experience can tell she's clearly never really been 'whipped' before.
Watching Si Nian occasionally put food on Jiang Cheng's plate, everyone present felt a twinge in their back molars.
While eating in silence, Chen Hao suddenly stilled his chopsticks, then quickly looked up at Jiang Cheng.
At that moment he was scrolling messages in the Xishan hooligan group.
The chat, which had been peaceful, suddenly lit up with a new message.
Wang Jiacheng: '@Chen Tie, are you in trouble??'
Liu Yue: '@Wang Jiacheng, you heard too?'
Chen Tie: '@Wang Jiacheng, @Liu Yue, what are you on about?? My head's killing me—quit the riddles.'
Chen Tie: 'Yeah, someone cracked my skull—so what? Not your turn to laugh.'
Wang Jiacheng: '@Chen Tie, looks like you don't know your family's in deep water, talking so tough.'
Liu Yue: '@Chen Tie, you're too cocky; let's see how cocky you stay.'
Wu Bin: '@Chen Tie, your folks must've pissed someone off. Mingsheng Group has warned every supplier in Xishan: no cooperation with your family. Director Liang at Huamei said the same—any Xishan firm that wants to work with them can't include your family. My parents already posted notice; we're no longer partners.'
Wang Jiacheng: '@Wu Bin, we got word too. Your family sure is something—offending two big players. My parents told me to keep my distance.'
Liu Yue: '@Chen Tie, Mingsheng's a top dog in plenty of industries. Even if you wanted to switch sectors, good luck—they're not just energy.'
Liu Yue: 'I'm curious: how did you offend Mingsheng Group? Of all people, why pick them—tired of living?'
Wang Jiacheng: 'Everyone knows I'm not close with Chen Tie, so don't mention him in front of me again...'
Liu Yue: '@Wang Jiacheng, that ruthless? Didn't you two hit clubs together all the time?'
Wang Jiacheng: '@Liu Yue, don't spout nonsense. Chen Tie's in the Shanghai circle now—why would he care about us Xishan bumpkins? Dude used to think he was Xishan's little king—now he's kicked a steel plate.'
Wu Bin: 'Good thing I never liked hanging with him. Total small-timer, awful drunk, vain, and grabs girls—his family getting blacklisted is karma.'
Wang Jiacheng: '@Chen Tie, cat got your tongue?'
Liu Yue: '@Chen Tie, probably trembling in a corner right now.'
Wu Bin: '@Chen Tie, he said someone cracked his skull—anyone know the story?'
...Chen Tie still had no idea his family had been blacklisted by Mingsheng Group.
After firing off a couple of retorts, he'd tossed his phone aside.
He lay in a VIP ward, head wrapped in gauze, eyes blazing with rage and resentment, whispering plots with his Bodyguard about how to get even.
'We can plant guys where Jiang Cheng usually shows up and jump him the moment he appears,' Chen Tie snarled through clenched teeth.
The Bodyguard frowned and shook his head. 'Too risky. Public security in Shanghai isn't like Xishan—we'll get nabbed by the cops.'
Chen Tie thought a moment. 'Then hire a few thugs to block him on the road, drag him somewhere quiet and teach him a lesson.'
The Bodyguard still disapproved. 'Young Master Chen, you saw last night—he's got plenty of Bodyguards. Hitting him on the street will cause a scene; we'll land in bigger trouble.'
Chen Tie slammed the bedrail in frustration. 'This won't do, that won't do—what do you suggest?'
Seeing his Bodyguard lower his head in silence, Chen Tie reluctantly touched the bandage, then pulled out his phone to call Shen Lang.
Before he could dial, Shen Lang burst into the room.
'Shen Lang, perfect timing. I've been out cold for ages and you show up just now?'
Shen Lang gave a cold smile.'Still yelling at me? I stayed up all night because of your mess.'
The shout left Chen Tie stunned.
Since the two families began cooperating, Shen Lang had treated him with utmost courtesy, if not obedience.
This was the first time Shen Lang had dared speak like that.
'What's that supposed to mean? You said Shanghai is your turf! Look at my head—how am I supposed to show my face? I haven't even told my parents yet. If you don't give me an answer, we're not done,' Chen Tie raged, cradling his bandaged skull.
Shen Lang sneered back. 'I did say Shanghai is mine, but you can't just stir trouble. This fiasco is your own fault, and you still want to cry to Mommy and Daddy? Guess you don't know what's happened at home—maybe they can't even save themselves now.'
'What the hell do you mean?'
Shen Lang now hated Chen Tie's guts.
Last night he'd spent endless words protecting him from Jiang Cheng.
Yet barely ten hours later, the Chen family had been blacklisted by Mingsheng Group.
Shen Lang hadn't been sure of Jiang Cheng's real identity, but seeing Mingsheng act so decisively against the Chens, everything became clear.
After all, everyone knows what the chairman of Mingsheng Group is called.
Judging by Qin Fen's fawning manner, there was no doubt—Jiang Cheng was definitely from Mingsheng Group.
His family had recently been planning to break into the Xishan market and had signed a string of contracts with the Chen family, covering nearly every aspect of the expansion.
The two sides were now so closely intertwined that they'd even launched several joint-investment projects.
This tight partnership meant their interests were locked together; it was the only reason he'd kept tolerating Chen Tie.
But now that the Chen family was in trouble, every Xishan venture was collapsing, and even the joint investments looked set to vanish without a trace.
How could he not hate?
Overnight, the family had watched more than a billion yuan evaporate.
If the family ever found out it all started with the two of them stirring up trouble in a bar last night, the fallout would be unimaginable.
He'd be cursed until his ears bled, and any future role in the family business would be virtually impossible.
The thought sent a wave of panic and dread surging through him.
When Shen Lang spoke, Chen Tie's heart plummeted; his face drained of colour, veins bulged on his forehead, beads of sweat rolled down, and the fat on his cheeks quivered.
Suddenly he remembered the messages he'd just seen in the Xishan group-chat, and uneasiness welled up.
Had something happened at home?
Still, he forced himself to stay calm: "It's nothing—I'm overthinking."
Yet if the family business really was in crisis, someone as clueless as he was would be the last to know.
Everyone would be scrambling for connections to fix things; no one would think to tell him.
The thought weighed heavier and heavier, and his hands began to tremble uncontrollably.
He yanked out his phone, opened wechat, and frantically scrolled through the chat history.
Chen Tie never imagined his family could be blacklisted by Mingsheng Group in the blink of an eye.
As the chatlog said, he'd usually been arrogant and offensive, making plenty of enemies.
Though nothing was final yet, those people were already mocking him and had kicked him out of the group.
If his family couldn't weather the storm, his own life would soon descend into hardship.
Right now Chen Tie had no time to dwell on Shen Lang's sudden 180-degree shift in attitude.
Panic-stricken, he asked, "What on earth is going on? Brother Lang, do you know anything?"
Hearing Chen Tie switch from "Shen Lang" to "Brother Lang" gave Shen Lang no pleasure—only disgust.
"What's going on? You caused it. The chairman of Mingsheng Group is Jiang Chenghong, and the man whose head you smashed with a bottle last night was named Jiang Cheng," Shen Lang said flatly.
At those words Chen Tie's legs buckled; his body swayed.
His face turned deathly pale, cold sweat poured from his temples, and terror filled his eyes.
He flung out a hand to brace against the big white wall, fingers clawing at the surface to keep from collapsing.
In his mind flashed Jiang Cheng's icy stare from the night before—a blade that stabbed straight into his heart.
His lips quivered. "That… that means because of me they…"
Shen Lang had no patience for more.
He drew a slow breath. "You'd better pray your family can sort out this Zhejiang mess. If it drags mine down, I'll be the first to come for you."
Watching Shen Lang stride away, Chen Tie slumped against the wall. Seeing himself booted from the Xishan chat, Chen Hao glanced at Jiang Cheng again.
He'd already heard Qin Fen's account of last night that morning—he hadn't expected Jiang Cheng to move so fast.
He wasn't worried about Jiang Cheng himself, but he knew exactly how dirty Xishan's tactics could get.
Qin Fen noticed Chen Hao's expression and teased, "Chen Hao, do you have a crush on Jiang Cheng? You keep staring."
Chen Hao rolled his eyes. "Gross, no. I'm reading the Xishan chat—Brother Cheng just blew my mind…"
Suddenly mentioned, Jiang Cheng looked over, bewildered.
Qin Fen caught on first.
"Xishan—could it be Chen Tie?"
"Yeah. I haven't asked home for details, but people in the chat say his family's been blacklisted there…"
At that, Jiang Cheng understood everything.
He hadn't expected Shen Chong to act so quickly.
Wang Congcong, utterly lost, asked, "What are you guys talking about? Who's Chen Tie?"
Qi Yuan chimed in, "What did I miss? Which idiot pissed off Brother Cheng this time?"
Seeing everyone's puzzled looks, Chen Hao didn't keep them hanging and simply handed over his phone.
A few minutes later, everyone's expressions were priceless.
Especially Zheng Zhigang and He Youjun, who were hearing Jiang Cheng's identity for the first time.
They were so shocked their jaws almost hit the floor.
Zheng Zhigang followed domestic affairs closely and naturally knew the name Mingsheng Group.
He understood that in China its status rivalled—if not surpassed—the great clans of Hong Kong Island.
When people spoke of Hong Kong, they only ever mentioned the Four Great Families.
But in truth, even more secretive were the centuries-old clans that stayed private and unlisted.
Those families stayed behind the curtain, their wealth and influence impossible to gauge.
Much like them, Mingsheng Group was unlisted, so its true financial power was hard to pin down.
Yet in China, any energy giant had influence no amount of money could buy.
While Zheng Zhigang knew the inside story, He Youjun had no clue.
He simply filed the name "Mingsheng Group" away in his mind.
Qin Fen exclaimed, "That was lightning-fast. I messaged you this morning worrying Chen Tie might pull something, and now he's had both arms cut off—damn, you're ruthless!"
Hearing that, Wang Congcong asked, "I can read the chat, but what exactly happened?"