Sun Ying's change of behavior seemed to have piqued Fan Jialuo's interest. His dark eyes fixed onto the other for a moment, and his red lips even hooked upwards slightly.

In response, Sun Ying stepped to the side and tugged at Cao Xiaofeng's back, seeking warmth from the other's body heat.

For some unknown reason, in that very moment that Fan Jialuo's eyes had fixed onto him, it had felt as if his gaze could see through and penetrate to the very depths of his soul, and he couldn't resist such an intrusion at all.

Cao Xiaofeng quietly moved closer to Sun Ying.

Then, raising his head to look at Fan Jialuo, he said, "Xiao Fan ah, your situation has completely turned around now, and your popularity is on the rise again. It's not impossible for you to negotiate with the company and continue your previous contract. If you can trust me, let me handle it all for you. I can help you plead with the company and reduce the amount of liquidated damages-80 million is no small amount!"

Fan Jialuo listened to all this but just smiled in reply. He stretched out a slender finger and pressed the button for the top floor.

He said casually, "There's no need to trouble you. Today, I came here solely to solve the matter of the liquidated damages. I'll personally go and discuss it with Zhao Wenyan."

"You want to talk to Mr. Zhao in person?" Cao Xiaofeng shook his head, his expression reflecting his worries.

"That person, Mr. Zhao, has never paid any heed to your affections in the past. I'm afraid that you won't be able to have a good conversation on this topic."

"I'm aware of it. Don't worry." Fan Jialuo smiled blandly as he nodded.

His every movement contained the virtue of patience, which proved that he was no longer his previous self.

It was at that moment that Cao Xiaofeng understood. The person in front of him wasn't the main personality, it was one of his sub-personalities.

But he had no idea as to which sub-personality was. If he wanted to once again grasp this person in his palms, he needed to get to know the other well, down to the minutest of details.

Yet, before he could inquire about any of these things, the elevator door opened and they reached their designated floor.

Cao Xiaofeng hesitated, not wanting to leave, and just quietly remained in place until Sun Ying pushed him out and dragged him away.

Fan Jialuo slowly backed up a few steps, and bent his legs slightly to recline against the smooth mirror-like metal wall.

His posture was very relaxed. It was as if he had come to the company not to negotiate, but to talk to a friend.

The elevator doors slowly closed, and then it began to climb, quickly bringing him to the top-most floor.

A few minutes later, Fan Jialuo was sitting in the Reception Room in front of the CEO's office.

A female secretary brought him a cup of coffee and said, "Mr. Fan, please wait a moment. President Zhao is currently entertaining a guest."

From her meaningful glance, it was evident that she knew that Fan Jialuo had been in the spotlight recently. The company would obviously try to keep him.

Fortunately, the person in question had taken the initiative to come. Since this was the case, even if he had no appointment, she couldn't just drive him away.

Fan Jialuo whispered a "Thank you" to the secretary and placed the coffee onto the table.

He leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes. His hands were clasped together as one of his thumbs rhythmically tapped against the tiger's mouth of his other hand, and he patiently waited.

The door of the CEO's office was tightly shut. However, due to the loud and emotionally charged voice of the guest, the people outside could clearly hear the on-goings inside the office.

An elderly male sounded out, "Zhao Wenyan, are you aware that your decision will drag the Zhao Group into the abyss? Are you crazy? To fill that pit, you will no longer need just six billion, but rather ten billion. And you will not be able to pay this amount back in this lifetime.

"Where's your brain? Where did it go? Are you even thinking about anything but love? I'm so disappointed in you!

"Moreover, can you even be sure that this is love? You're digging out your heart and scooping out your lungs, all as a gift for that person, but that same person is a spendthrift who simply takes you and treats you as a fool!

"In normal circumstances, they never think of you, and they only approach you when they encounter trouble! Can't you feel it yourself? Do you still have any integrity left?"

Zhao Wenyan replied to this tirade in a calm tone. The people outside couldn't hear what was said inside.

The elderly man's voice echoed again, higher-pitched than last time, "Shut up! That's not what I want to hear! You've lost your mind! If you still insist, I will schedule a general shareholders meeting to remove you from your current position!

"You don't deserve to be the chairman of the Zhao Group!"

The office door was suddenly opened, and an elderly man with a slim build, yet formidable aura, furiously emerged from inside.

The elderly man was Zhao Guoan, Zhao Wenyan's grandfather.

He had already retired from the management of business more than a decade ago, and had since not once interfered with the Zhao Group's affairs, rarely even staying within the country.

This time, however, the issue that prompted him to hastily return to China and argue to the point of declaring war with his grandson must be huge and quite severe.

The entire top floor panicked at Elder Zhao's entrance into the lobby.

Zhao Wenyan followed behind his grandfather, carrying an ashen face, which was in stark contrast to his eyes that glistened with fierce light.

Elder Zhao looked back at his grandson, and was shocked to find Zhao Wenyan still showing strong hostility towards him.

He lifted his walking stick and flogged his grandson with it, while grieving and lamenting, "Have you really lost your mind? Really lost your heart? Huh?

"If I knew you'd become like this, I wouldn't have chosen you as my successor over the heads of your father and uncles that year!

"How many stupid things have you already done for that woman and how much damage have you already caused the company? I was the blind one for believing in you!"

Zhao Wenyan quickly bowed his head, honestly accepted his grandfather's beatings, and then squeezed out a sentence from between clenched teeth, "Grandfather, I didn't mean to disrespect you, even less so would I ever hate you. I'm simply not willing to, truly unwilling to..."

But the reason as to why he wasn't willing was not uttered, the words remained stuck in his throat.

In the midst of the panicked assistants trying to intervene in their dispute and trying to calm things down, no one noticed the few drops of blood that had escaped from the corner of his mouth.

The drops slowly fell to the floor, where they were unknowingly trampled on.

He hated having to restrain his turbulent emotions, only able to bite his cheeks for an outlet, but he really was just too powerless to change anything...

Who could notice his helplessness, and pull him out of the abyss?

He had been plagued by nightmares all night long, and those nightmares were far less frightening than the reality he had experienced.

Zhao Wenyan quickly licked away the blood that stained the corner of his mouth and gingerly sent Elder Zhao into the elevator with the cooperation of his assistants.

The still furious Elder Zhao beat the floor with his walking stick and cursed, "You evil thing, just you wait to step down! I will not let you drag the Zhao Group into the abyss!"

Zhao Wenyan bent down and bowed deeply. The moment the elevator door closed, he saw a tear form in the corner of his grandfather's eyes, after which his eyes also reddened.

He stood in front of the elevator and stared for a long while at the already shut elevator doors.

It was only after three to four minutes that he finally turned around with a blank expression on his face, and immediately met a pair of dark yet bright eyes.

He had seen this pair of eyes, which left a deep impression, before. And now, facing them again made him slightly freeze.

"Fan Jialuo, what are you doing here?" Zhao Wenyan's mood had already calmed down.

He reached out his hand, gesturing to his office, and invited, "Come on, let's talk inside."

Fan Jialuo walked into the office with his lips curved upwards.

"Would you like something to drink?" Zhao Wenyan offered politely.

Before Fan Jialuo could refuse or even reply, Zhao Wenyan's phone rang and the other quickly accepted the call.

Zhao Wenyan quietly listened to his mother's advice.

Then, just after he had hung up, he received another call, this one from his uncle. A harsh rebuke suddenly smashed against his eardrums.

And then, one by one, the Zhao Family's elders and peers continued to assault his phone; to persuade, to scold, or to admonish...

Zhao Wenyan's facial muscles quickly became so tight and stiff that it seemed as though they might crumble into pieces in the next few seconds.

Nevertheless, he still insisted on saying- He would sell all his assets, his shares, and even the several companies that he had founded, all to save Su Fengxi's investment in Xichuan.

"Did Su Fengxi control you like this using Gu?"

One of his elders had questioned, and had ultimately ended the conversation with great disappointment.

Zhao Wenyan stared at his phone silently. His eyes flashed with a dull light.

Suddenly, his phone rang once again. Upon seeing the caller ID, he didn't wait to press the accept button and asked hoarsely, "How is it?"

"Mr. Zhao, I really can't see any problems with you. You better find someone else to solve it. But, in any case, I'm sure it's not Gu."

The caller simply spoke these few words and hung up.

Zhao Wenyan's straight back abruptly collapsed. Leaning heavily against the back of the chair, his beautiful face was covered in shadow, which made him look extremely decadent.

The current him was like a trapped beast. He was stuck in an abyss, surrounded by sharp knives.

No matter from where he tried to climb up, only bloody pain and despair awaited him in his path ahead. He couldn't save himself, let alone expect a helping hand from others.

Looking back at the first half of his life and then at the remainder of his lifetime, it seemed to be an eternal nightmare, from which he could never truly awaken. Only death could liberate him from this torture.

Zhao Wenyan held his forehead in one hand and his phone tightly in the other.

Creaking sounds indicated that this fragile machine would likely be sent to its death as a consequence of his agitated emotions.

Fan Jialuo turned a blind eye to his painful struggles, sat down in a leather chair and folded his slender legs, before directly saying, "Mr. Zhao, I hope the company will waive my liquidated damages."

Zhao Wenyan kept silent for a long time before finally muttering, "You know that's impossible. Although you're famous again now, the damage that you caused cost the company a lot of money. At most, I can only reduce a portion of it, but you will still need to return the rest. You can renew your contract with the company and make some concessions on that share."

For some reason, in Fan Jialuo's presence, Zhao Wenyan was able to think quite calmly, despite his current state of suffering and pain.

There was a particularly reassuring aura that seemed to surround this person.

Fan Jialuo leaned over, rested both hands on the surface of the table, and slowly drew himself closer to Zhao Wenyan.

Then, he tilted his head and whispered into the other's ear, "The company can't give me a reduction or exemption for liquidated damages, Mr. Zhao. But you can privately fund me."

Zhao Wenyan wanted to lean away from this close contact, but found himself confined in that spot by an invisible magnetic field.

There were certain subtle effects that poured into his eardrum as Fan Jialuo gently breathed into it; these "effects" flowed into his limbs and surged throughout his blood, arousing every cell and nerve in his body.

It was a truly mysterious sensation.

Fan Jialuo was still getting closer.

His dark pupils flashed with a shimmer, and then these speckles of light extinguished after gathering together and then eventually scattering.

In the end, clusters of shining nebulae were formed within them, a sight so wonderful that it was beyond the description of words.

It turned out that there existed someone in this world who had such a pair of eyes.

These eyes could bear the weight of a world, or perhaps even contained the whole universe in them.

Zhao Wenyan looked at him, completely dazed. His recently sobered mind became more and more chaotic.

Privately fund Fan Jialuo? How is that possible?

However, he was unable to utter this sentence.

An inexplicable throb brewed in his chest, fermenting, colliding, and finally sparking into existence.

Fan Jialuo gently tapped the back of Zhao Wenyan's hand with a slender fingertip, his touch carrying hints of a rhythm and seeming like a temptation.

But the words that came out of his mouth were somewhat hard to understand.

"I will trade 80 million for 10 billion, do we have a deal?"

"What?" Zhao Wenyan's throat was dry, and it burned.

"80 million for 10 billion, you'll be making a profit."

Fan Jialuo placed Zhao Wenyan's hand on his right hand before covering it with his other hand. He closed his eyes and said, "Good. Now you can pick up your phone."

As soon as he said these words, Zhao Wenyan's phone rang, and the caller ID 'Su Fengxi' appeared on the screen.

Bloodshot eyes flashed at the sight of these two words, ones which had originally stood for such a sweet name.

Clearly depicted in the depth of his eyes was resistance, hatred, and even a trace of killing intent, but his fingertips trembled, as if they couldn't help but want to quickly pick up the call.

Fan Jialuo gently covered the other party's right hand with his palm, and said softly, "Don't struggle. Pick it up."

Zhao Wenyan couldn't help but laugh. What struggle could there be when it was impossible for his body to reject a call from Su Fengxi?

However, he soon realized that Fan Jialuo's "Don't struggle" referred to his hand.

The other person wanted to keep him from breaking away from his clasped hands; he hadn't been talking about the conflicting thoughts in his mind.

Not breaking away from his hands wasn't a problem. He just didn't know what Fan Jialuo intended to do.

He really didn't give off the same vibes his main personality had, right?

On the one hand, Zhao Wenyan wanted to allow his imagination to run wild, and on the other, he needed to answer the call.

Regardless of these thoughts, Fan Jialuo's soft and low voice once again told him, "No matter what she says, you can refuse it all."

Refuse Su Fengxi?

Zhao Wenyan was stupefied.

-Such a thing was utterly impossible.

...

Frozenmirage: No, it's not me, not Qiuxue, not Noks. The author is the one who beautifully describes FJL in every moment QAQ

Qiuxue: Such wonderful words indeed! And, a chapter in which Fan Jialuo arrives to show who's boss and sort out his financing while he's at it-how efficient!

Noks: Truly, that entire description of FJL's eyes is beyond words. It depicts a beauty beyond words (°-°). I literally have no idea which words have been strung together to form such a description, and it's only for his eyes. (－‸ლ)