Chapter 10

Chapter 10

◎ Fu Feng’s Self-Delusion. ◎

Fu Feng found it perfectly logical to believe that Shen Ruzhen was smitten with him, and he had several theories to explain this conviction.

First, ever since Shen Rujiao's birthday banquet, Shen Ruzhen had transformed completely. Why such a drastic change? The only explanation was that she sought to captivate Fu Feng, to prove to him her distinctiveness from Shen Rujiao—that they were entirely separate individuals, just as no two leaves in the world are truly identical.

Second, why did Shen Ruzhen repeatedly display indifference, even resistance, towards him? Could she truly be immune to Fu Feng's charm? Impossible. The truth was singular: she profoundly understood the male psyche, knowing that the unattainable is always the most coveted. Thus, her outward resistance and evasion were, in reality, fervent attraction and yearning.

Third, consider Shen Ruzhen's final words that morning: "I was thinking the same thing." This indicated her desire to see Fu Feng, mirroring his own. So why did she wish to see him? The only explanation was that she, too, had been tormented by her parents' interference in their relationship. The moment she realized they were out of the way, she wasted no time in rushing into Fu Feng's embrace!

Fu Feng meticulously reviewed this logic multiple times, convinced of the rigorousness and precision of his reasoning.

Therefore… Shen Ruzhen must genuinely be deeply in love with him.

At this thought, Fu Feng felt a familiar tension creep in.

He began pacing his study, his anxiety growing with each step.

If Shen Ruzhen truly loved him, should he straightforwardly accept her declaration later, or should he play hard to get?

If he accepted immediately, would it diminish his authority as a powerful CEO? If he played coy, would it make him seem indecisive and irresolute?

Just as the two warring factions in Fu Feng's mind escalated from argument to mutual insults—

A knock sounded at the door.

Before the person outside could knock a second time, Fu Feng swiftly pulled open the door and declared to the figure outside, "I accept!"

He maintained his haughty posture, though it was the only thing about him that remained so.

Shen Ruzhen: "?"

Fu Feng said impatiently, "I said I accept your confession."

Shen Ruzhen was bewildered and not particularly touched. She grumbled to the system, "What on earth is Fu Feng babbling about?"

The system, too, was clearly at a loss to decipher Fu Feng’s convoluted thoughts.

Then, a sudden thought struck it: "Could this be the legendary self-delusion?"

"Self-delusion?"

The system began to explain animatedly: "Self-delusion is a term commonly found in fictional narratives, referring to a situation where one party interprets the other's words or actions as hints of affection, thereby influencing their own emotions."

Shen Ruzhen was stunned. She asked the system incredulously, "You mean, even though I ignore Fu Feng every day, he still thinks I like him?"

The system replied, "Host, it's entirely possible! After all, in this world, we have tropes like 'cold face washes underwear' and 'hate-to-love.' Compared to those, doesn't self-delusion seem quite normal?"

Shen Ruzhen: "..."

She conceded defeat: "Fine, I'll never understand the thought processes of people whose minds are solely consumed by romance. I prefer to solve problems with law and logic."

Fu Feng waited a full minute or two, but Shen Ruzhen offered no response, which irked him. No one had ever made him wait so long. However, since it was Shen Ruzhen, he found it somewhat excusable, reasoning that their relationship was a matter worthy of careful consideration.

Then, he heard Shen Ruzhen speak: "Alright. The reason I came is that I recently discovered something—about the Jiang family."

The first part of her sentence shattered Fu Feng’s romantic fantasy. Not only had Shen Ruzhen not come to confess her feelings, but her specific reason for seeking him out was because of someone else… Wait, that 'someone else' was the Jiang family.

Fu Feng’s eyes instantly narrowed, a flicker of警惕 flashing within them.

The Jiang family, a century-old dynasty, was the Fu family's greatest rival in A City's struggle for power—though "rival" wasn't quite the right word. The Jiang patriarch, Jiang Sheng, though over seventy, still wielded significant power, largely due to the incompetence of the younger generation. While the Jiang family was in decline and the Fu family on the rise, the Jiangs, as a former titan, still posed numerous obstacles for Fu Feng.

"What about the Jiang family?"

Shen Ruzhen finally produced what she had been holding behind her back—a stack of papers. Without a word, she handed them to Fu Feng.

Fu Feng flipped through the documents, his frown deepening with each page. Aside from a bankruptcy liquidation notice for one of the Jiang family’s subsidiaries, the rest were bank transfer statements.

He frowned. "What are you trying to say? Why are you showing me these?"

Shen Ruzhen replied, "Mr. Fu, do you not see the problem here?"

Of course, Fu Feng didn't.

He disliked Shen Ruzhen’s tone, as if she possessed knowledge he lacked, challenging his accustomed position of dominance.

So he said arrogantly, "This is just a pile of waste paper."

Shen Ruzhen gave him an unreadable look, then retrieved the stack from his hands. Pointing to the last page, she said, "This Jiang subsidiary is facing bankruptcy liquidation due to insolvency."

Fu Feng was aware of this. It was an insignificant subsidiary of the Jiang family, notable only for its substantial debt. However, under modern corporate governance, shareholders were only liable to a limited extent for corporate debts. Thus, even if this subsidiary went bankrupt due to insolvency, it wouldn't directly impact the Jiang family.

Fu Feng: "So what? Surely you're aware of the concept of limited liability?"

Shen Ruzhen: "Surely you're aware of piercing the corporate veil?"

Fu Feng: "???"

He frowned in confusion, then, after a long pause, gritted out four words: "What did you say?"

Shen Ruzhen picked up the stack of bank transfer statements Fu Feng had just dismissed as trash. Pointing to the transfer details, she explained with the patient, tolerant tone one might use to teach a child: "Jiang Sheng has a grandson named Jiang Mei, who holds over 51% of the shares in this company. He frequently siphoned funds from the company’s bank accounts for personal expenses or to transfer money to his lovers. By abusing shareholder limited liability to evade corporate debts, he should bear joint liability to creditors. And these bank transfer statements are irrefutable evidence for piercing the corporate veil!"

Shen Ruzhen smiled faintly: "If I recall correctly, Fengyun Technology is also one of the creditors, isn't it?"

As her words landed, Fu Feng’s eyes instantly lit up. If this were true, the massive debt of this small company would require the Jiang family to use their own assets for repayment! Not only could he recover a substantial sum, but he might also seize the opportunity to cripple the Jiang family!

Fu Feng’s breathing quickened. The Jiang family had always been his greatest nemesis. He had previously sought to dismantle them through commercial warfare, but such methods often resulted in mutual destruction. Now, the method proposed by Shen Ruzhen… seemed incredibly effective!

Fu Feng sincerely exclaimed, "I can almost smell the sweet scent of justice. Using legal means to defeat a competitor is truly exquisite."

He carefully and reverently placed the stack of bank statements—which he had just moments ago dismissed as trash—neatly on the table. His gaze softened as he looked at Shen Ruzhen: "Why are you helping me?"

Shen Ruzhen remained silent.

But Fu Feng had already conjured a sweeping romantic epic in his mind, complete with secret admiration, mutual pining, misunderstandings, suspicion, revenge, and lovers finally united.

He raised a hand, signaling: "No need to explain. I understand everything."

"You truly love me deeply."

Shen Ruzhen: ???

Unfortunately, she had no idea how Fu Feng had arrived at such a wildly irrelevant conclusion through such absurd reasoning, nor could she refute his conclusion by dismantling his baseless arguments.

Still, even though Fu Feng’s mental gymnastics were unexpected, she had achieved her goal of using him to legally dismantle the Jiang family.

Back in her room, she pondered for a moment before sending Song Fuzhou a message: "Well done."

The information about the Jiang family's useless grandson had been uncovered by Song Fuzhou.

As for why Song Fuzhou would know such a well-guarded secret—

If the second male lead in an alpha CEO novel were merely a college student, he would hardly be qualified to compete with the male lead for the protagonist's position.

Song Fuzhou's true identity was the illegitimate son of one of Jiang Sheng's overlooked sons. In the original story, after Jiang Sheng's death, Song Fuzhou capitalized on the chaotic family feud among the incompetent sons and grandsons, seizing the opportunity to become the Jiang family patriarch.

The message box immediately displayed "Typing..."

Shen Ruzhen recalled her past interactions with interns. Whenever an intern completed a task, she would send them an emoji, and the intern would happily clutch their phone and purr with delight—

As if they had received a reward.

She reached out and sent that emoji to Song Fuzhou.

A kitten extended its petal-soft paw and gently patted the head of a puppy on the other side.

The moment the emoji was successfully sent, the "Typing..." above the input box vanished.

Shen Ruzhen: Huh?

She waited for a long time, but no new message arrived.

It wasn't until she put down her phone that she heard a short notification sound.

Song Fuzhou sent back a puppy emoji—its big, dewy eyes looking adorably meek. It lifted its head, gazing up expectantly, as if hoping for someone beyond the screen to pat its head.

Shen Ruzhen's hand, hovering near the phone screen, gave a slight tremor.

Then it paused over the puppy's head.

The puppy continued to gaze at her expectantly.

She long-pressed the puppy and, without hesitation, chose "Add to Stickers."

[Author's Note]

See you tomorrow!