"Why? You never said that before." Chen Hai immediately asked. After all, Chen Qin had often urged him to join the company before, so why was she against it now?
"It's not suitable." Chen Qin didn't explain much.
"Damn, I'm your brother! What's unsuitable about joining my own family's company?!" Chen Hai retorted, sounding somewhat indignant.
Chen Qin slammed her chopsticks on the table, her cold gaze falling on Chen Hai.
"Who the hell are you cursing at?!"
"Alright, alright, let's not argue during the meal..." Seeing this, Ye Shuang quickly tried to soothe Chen Qin's temper. Chen Hai's voice also softened. "I..."
At that moment, Zhou Min, who was sitting nearby, spoke up with a smile. "Ah Hai just lacks experience right now. If his own family helps him out more, he'll grow up fast. He just needs someone to give him a hand."
Chen Qin looked at Zhou Min and sneered. "Shut up. What gives you the right to say these things?"
Zhou Min looked a bit embarrassed but still smiled. "I'm just thinking of Ah Hai's best interests. With such a large business, it's only reassuring to have family manage it."
"With Ah Shuang here, we don't need this guy, Chen Hai." Chen Qin said bluntly, not sparing Chen Hai any face at all.
Chen Hai now looked at Ye Shuang, seeming somewhat helpless.
"But Ye Shuang isn't family, after all." As soon as Zhou Min said this, she suddenly noticed that everyone present, including Chen Hai, had their eyes on her, their gazes even seeming a bit odd.
Zhou Min was taken aback. Was there something wrong with what she just said?
"Xiao Shuang is our family. He's like a son to me." Chen's Father spoke up calmly then, apparently displeased with her previous remark, though he didn't make a big deal of it.
"Zhou Min, you don't understand the situation, but don't say such things again." Chen's Mother also said.
Even Chen Hai told Zhou Min, "Ye Shuang is my brother, my real brother. Don't say things like that in the future."
Zhou Min was stunned for a few seconds. She couldn't understand why the Chen family would be so protective of Ye Shuang. Wasn't he just Chen Qin's boyfriend?
But Zhou Min was quick-witted. She immediately smiled brightly and said to Ye Shuang, "Sorry about that, I misspoke. Let me punish myself with a drink. Please don't mind it."
Saying this, she picked up the cup of tea beside her and drank from it.
Because it was hot tea, even though it had been sitting for a while, this gulp made Zhou Min's face flush red, and she immediately started coughing violently.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Chen Hai hurriedly grabbed some tissues. "Y-you, drink slowly! Ye Shuang wouldn't really blame you."
With this little commotion, no one paid attention to what Zhou Min had said earlier anymore. Even Chen's Mother got up to check on Zhou Min's condition. After all, she was carrying Chen Hai's child; something happening would be terrible.
"I'm sorry..."
"Alright, have some cool water. Do you need to go to the hospital?"
"No, no, it's all my fault."
Ye Shuang watched this scene. He first reached out and touched the teacup in front of him. Feeling the scalding temperature, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly at how ruthless this woman was to herself.
To be honest, with the tea at that temperature, a normal person wouldn't gulp it down in one go. Clearly, Zhou Min had done it on purpose.
She could pull off the "hardship ploy" so effortlessly, no wonder she had Chen Hai wrapped around her finger like that.
However, she somewhat underestimated everyone present. Of course, excluding Bai Yuyou, who was focused on eating in a daze, everyone else here was shrewd. Chen's Father and Chen Qin naturally saw through Zhou Min's intention at a glance.
"That little trick might work on Chen Hai, but for Uncle Chen and the others... they're only tolerating it for the sake of your child." Ye Shuang thought calmly as he drank his soup, not forgetting to put some food in Bai Yuyou's bowl.
"Since Ah Hai has the intention, joining the company is indeed a good thing."
At this point, Chen's Father also spoke.
Hearing this, Chen Qin seemed somewhat dissatisfied. "Daddy!"
"Ah Hai has grown up. It's time for him to take on more responsibility." Chen's Father said slowly.
In fact, he had always hoped Chen Hai could enter the company to temper himself. Relying on Chen Qin alone was simply too exhausting. Although Ye Shuang was helping now, they were still short-handed. Otherwise, Chen Qin wouldn't still have to keep traveling abroad for business now.
"I'll work hard!" Chen Hai was overjoyed when he heard the old man agree.
Zhou Min, sitting beside him, also smiled, seeming very pleased with this outcome.
"Here's the plan then. Ah Hai, you start from the bottom, at the grassroots level. Get to know the company properly from the ground up." Chen's Father's words left Chen Hai dumbfounded again, and even Zhou Min was taken aback.
Grassroots level?
"Ye Shuang joined as a vice president right away. Why do I have to start at the bottom? I was at least a small team leader at my previous bank." Chen Hai said.
Am I even your biological son?
"Ye Shuang has the capability to handle his position. If you parachute in, you'll be like a headless shrimp, flailing around without even knowing what you're doing." Chen's Father said. "That kind of situation will only hinder the group's progress."
Chen Hai fell silent, seeming rather displeased.
Ye Shuang saw the situation clearly from the side. Chen's Father's intention was obvious: he wanted Chen Hai to start from the bottom. This way, he could better understand the situation within their own group and discover its problems from a different perspective.
Chen Qin observing from the top, Chen Hai observing from the bottom—it was actually a win-win cooperation.
As for promotions, there would definitely be no problem. No matter what, Chen Hai was the Chen family's only son. Chen's Father probably planned to temper his character for a few years before steadily helping him climb up.
But Chen's Father, being the one involved, failed to see one thing clearly: Chen Hai's own feelings. Chen's Father built his business step by step, steadily, but Chen Hai was different. He was, after all, the old chairman's son. Starting from the bottom like this would naturally make him feel psychologically unbalanced.
Especially when his own brother was a parachuted-in executive.
But in this situation, it wasn't convenient for Ye Shuang to interject. This was a clash of thinking between the older and younger generations. His input would only make things more complicated.
Better to explain Uncle Chen's thinking to Chen Hai afterwards.
"I must be adopted. I'm not eating anymore!" Chen Hai seemed to throw a bit of a tantrum, got up, and went back to his room.
Seeing this, Zhou Min had no choice but to say, "Uncle Chen, I'll go talk to Ah Hai first. But no matter what, starting at the grassroots... would you consider changing your mind?"
Saying this, Zhou Min followed him, one hand resting on her large belly.
Chen's Mother seemed to want to go check on Chen Hai but was stopped by Chen's Father. "Don't."
"You father and son, both as stubborn as mules." Chen's Mother, seeing the nice family dinner turn out like this, seemed a bit unhappy. "Even if you don't give him a high position, giving Ah Hai some leisurely post would be fine."
"You don't understand. That kind of tempering is useless. What's the point of him slacking off somewhere else?"
Chen's Mother didn't say more, just looked at Ye Shuang and the others, urging them to eat more.
"How much longer are we going to keep that Zhou Min around?" Chen Qin also frowned at this point. "I'm telling you, in a little while, Chen Hai is definitely going to stir up trouble again."
Marrying an unworthy wife brings misfortune for three generations.
This Zhou Min is simply a walking disaster!
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
end. Thus one must continue to cultivate, and become a saint or great emperor, in order to prolong one's life. Chen Xia, however, completely reversed this. Since his transmigration, he has gained immortality, and also a system that awards him with attribute points for every year he lives. Thus between the myriad worlds, the legend of an unparalleled senior appeared. "A gentleman takes revenge; it is never too late even after ten thousand years." "When you were at your peak I yielded, now in your old age I shall trample on you." - Chen Xia
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
