Damn Chen Ling! A true paragon among us!

Feng Lifang’s passion came as unexpectedly as it vanished; just seconds after she threw herself at Chen Ling, she abruptly pushed him away, lowered her head to cover her mouth, and fell into a daze.

“Oh my God! I actually kissed him first… How could I…”

At the same time, Chen Ling was equally frustrated.

“Damn that Poseidon template… Is this really me lacking self-control? It’s clearly others who can’t control themselves around me!”

But now that the thin veil between them had been pierced, Feng Lifang could no longer hide the emotions she’d worked so hard to suppress.

After a long pause, she finally spoke, “Chen Ling, I know you already have a girlfriend. Maybe… maybe this is the best ending for me. You don’t need to feel burdened, nor do you need to take responsibility.”

“What???”

Chen Ling was completely baffled by her words. In his mind, he thought, You were the one who kissed me! Why should I be responsible for something I didn’t even initiate?

Feng Lifang continued, “We’re teacher and student. This is, in fact, against all reason and propriety. But now that things have come to this… we…”

Seeing her ramble incoherently, flustered and at a loss, Chen Ling realized that if he didn’t give her a clear response, with her conflicted and repressed nature, who knew what kind of wild thoughts she’d come up with?

Without hesitation, Chen Ling took a step forward, wrapped Feng Lifang in his arms with authority, and kissed her deeply once more…

Feng Lifang’s mind went completely blank; she couldn’t tell if it was from lack of oxygen or something else entirely.

Then she heard Chen Ling laugh, “Miss Feng, this was a passionate kiss between us. Don’t feel burdened!”

“He called me Miss Feng!!!”

Feng Lifang’s face instantly flushed red with embarrassment at his words. She pushed him away and hurried back to her dormitory…

…

“You’re back?”

Hearing the sound at the door, Liu Xuefeng stepped out of the study, looked at his daughter, and asked with concern, “So, how did Chen Ling’s conversation with them go?”

“Chen Ling doesn’t have a team yet, so they agreed on a three-month deadline. As long as he can put a team together, it’ll work out. But Chen Ling is quite ambitious; besides the project, he’s probably planning to raise capital in Lianjia Village…”

At the end, Liu Xinyue pouted in dissatisfaction, “I’m your daughter, aren’t I? I’m not even married yet, and you’re already worrying about your future son-in-law?”

Liu Xuefeng chuckled, “If only it were true. But let me warn you, this young man isn’t so easy to hold on to…”

“I know.” Liu Xinyue pursed her lips. “But you can see the potential in him, can’t you?”

Liu Xuefeng nodded. “Even though it’s still a small operation now, if he really gets involved with Zhongrui Corporation, starting from such a high level, his future is limitless.”

“Hee hee~” Liu Xinyue laughed happily. “That’s all I needed to hear.”

Seeing this, Liu Xuefeng hesitated before speaking. “So you’ve made up your mind? Going the supportive wife route? With your father’s backing, you could have a political career too, you know…”

“The ceiling is too low!” Liu Xinyue shook her head stubbornly. “You’re the one who had a daughter. Instead of fighting my way up myself, why not pick a promising talent to support? Isn’t that what you taught me? Besides, I don’t want to waste my youth slogging through the political ranks!”

“Xinyue…” Liu Xuefeng was momentarily speechless and suddenly wondered if perhaps his parenting had been a little off…

“And I really like him!” With that, Liu Xinyue retreated to her room, leaving Liu Xuefeng to shake his head in resignation and sigh deeply.

…

Chen Ling returned to his dorm feeling rather pleased with himself, his smile lingering even after he sat down.

Indeed, once one has tasted abandon, it’s hard to restrain oneself again after the first time.

Since things had come to this, he had to resolve the trouble with Feng Lifang.

With this in mind, he turned to Zhang Peng and asked, “Old Zhang, how are things going these past couple of days?”

“Pretty much as I expected,” Zhang Peng replied, turning around with a look of slight disappointment. “After the 20th, we’ve only been getting one or two hundred orders a day, and it’s still dropping. By the end of the month, I estimate we’ll only have a few dozen.”

“Did you run the numbers?”

“Yeah.” Zhang Peng nodded, opening a spreadsheet. “Actually, the orders are higher than I’d estimated. We’ve already surpassed 23,000. After deducting all expenses, our net profit is about 4.2 million.”

The moment the two began discussing money, Bao Zhenhai eagerly leaned over, exclaiming, “Old Chen, does this mean we’re getting paid soon?”

“We’ll have to wait until the whole thing is wrapped up before distributing profits, but I need to take out some money tomorrow,” Chen Ling replied.

Zhang Peng said matter-of-factly, “If you need money, just take it. The funds are all in your account anyway.”

“It’s a significant amount, so I felt I should let you all know,” Chen Ling said, then briefly explained the situation with Feng Lifang—though he left out the part about their passionate kiss.

After hearing Chen Ling’s explanation, Bao Zhenhai was the first to protest, “What kind of parents are those? A son is a child, but a daughter isn’t? That’s outrageous! Old Chen, I support you—Sister Dou’s problem is our problem! I’ll go with you tomorrow!”

On the other hand, Zhang Peng frowned in thought and asked seriously, “Old Chen, it’s not that I don’t support you, but we’re about to start stockpiling housing numbers. If you use this chunk of cash now, and we run short later, our profits…”

Chen Ling looked at him, understanding his concerns perfectly. Zhang Peng was right; to maximize profits, they needed to stockpile as many housing numbers as possible. Six hundred sixty thousand was no small sum. Lacking that investment could mean losses several times greater than six hundred sixty thousand.

But he nodded resolutely. “I can’t turn my back on Sister Dou.”

Seeing Chen Ling’s determination, Zhang Peng seemed to understand. Suddenly, he grinned and teased, “In that case, go ahead! No matter what, I support you! Tsk, tsk, Chen Ling, you’re something else—a role model for us all! This is something I wouldn’t even dare to dream of.”

Seeing his mischievous look, Chen Ling realized Zhang Peng had guessed the truth and retorted, “Get out of here!”

“What are you talking about?” Bao Zhenhai was completely confused by their exchange.

At that moment, Bu Chunsheng spoke up, “Your advisor has been won over by Chen Ling!”

“Won over?” Bao Zhenhai took a moment to process this, then suddenly exclaimed, “Damn! Chen Ling! You… from now on, you’re my only idol!”

Then he affected a mournful tone, “Sigh, Sister Dou was my dream girl! Chen Ling, you’d better treat her well…”

“Hah!” Chen Ling shot back, “What about your Huanhuan?”

At this, Bao Zhenhai instantly deflated, his spirits crushed—clearly, he hadn’t recovered from that previous blow.

Chen Ling looked over at Bu Chunsheng, feeling very satisfied. He’d only sought a helping hand, but who knew he’d stumbled upon such a treasure?

After a moment’s thought, he addressed the three of them seriously, “With orders down, one person can handle the job. From now on, Old Zhang and Sheng-ge will help me prepare for the company. By the way, Old Zhang, are all the company procedures done?”

“The office worked pretty efficiently,” Zhang Peng replied. “Following your suggestion, the company is called Chengjia. All the paperwork is in order. The two branches are working overtime, and the hard renovations are complete. As soon as the equipment arrives, we’ll be ready.”

“Good!” Chen Ling nodded. “Chengjia Real Estate! Gentlemen, from now on, this is no child’s play—it’s the real thing. Get ready!”

The three all felt a jolt of adrenaline.

Who would have thought that in less than a month, they would go from being ungraduated college students to entrepreneurs?

And all of it was because of Chen Ling…