Chapter 257: Back To That Key Moment ⑩

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Chapter 257: Back To That Key Moment ⑩

“President Wen, negotiations with Jitong Township are complete. If everything goes smoothly, construction can begin in a week.” Secretary Tong Fei reported as he sent the documents to Wen Jingrong.

“Complete?” Wen Jingrong asked suspiciously. “Nothing went wrong halfway through? Weren’t some of the villagers planning to petition the authorities?”

A petition? What was that about? Shang Ke, currently resting against Wen Jingrong’s finger, wondered to himself.

The System immediately supplied the answer: 【Jitong Township is the site of a new development project Wen Jingrong intends to acquire. Because most of the residents have firmly opposed selling, no one has previously succeeded in purchasing the area.】

“It was mostly luck,” Tong Fei explained with a strange expression. “The villagers really were preparing to petition. But before they left, the century-old tree they regarded as their guardian was suddenly split in half by lightning. Then livestock belonging to several households came down with an epidemic one after another, causing heavy losses. A lot of people said it was Heaven’s will, and after that they agreed to our acquisition.”

“They didn’t object to the price we offered?”

“No.”

Wen Jingrong fell silent. Why was everything going even more smoothly than in his previous life? Back then, in order to wear away the aura of fortune around him, he had gone all out to behave like a crooked businessman and commit every unscrupulous act he could think of. For this acquisition alone, he had deliberately driven the price down and even prepared a forced-demolition team. Yet before he could use a single dirty tactic, the acquisition had simply succeeded?

“The contracts are already signed?” Wen Jingrong asked again.

“Yes.” Tong Fei gave him a puzzled glance. Why did his boss look so unhappy? Securing the project effortlessly at a price twenty percent below market value should have been considered one of the most successful—and luckiest—acquisitions in the industry.

Wen Jingrong’s face darkened. “Draft a supplemental contract. Increase the compensation for every household by ¥1,000 per square meter.”

“…What?” Tong Fei thought he had misheard.

Wen Jingrong’s gaze sharpened. “If your ears aren’t working, go to a hospital and have them treated.”

Even if his boss’s glare killed him on the spot, Tong Fei still had to confirm it. An additional ¥1,000 per square meter could mean a difference of hundreds of millions!

“President Wen, please say that again. Let me record it.” Secretary Tong had only just become accustomed to his boss’s treacherous shamelessness; this sudden burst of generosity and selflessness was difficult to process.

“Draft a supplemental contract and increase the compensation for every household by ¥1,000 per square meter.” Before Wen Jingrong could speak, a certain all-purpose fortune pen activated his recording function and repeated the order for him.

Wen Jingrong looked at the smartpen in his hand in delight. His Keke could use voice output now?

“Thank you, President Wen.” Tong Fei calmly saved the recording to his portable computer.

“One more thing. Chairman Chen had something come up and canceled tomorrow’s dinner with you. Would you like me to arrange another time?”

Who was Chairman Chen again? Shang Ke searched his memory.

The System immediately answered: 【Chen Jimin, the newly appointed political affairs chairman of Linyang City. He accepts bribes and has poor moral conduct. In several years, he will be investigated and removed during an anti-corruption and vice crackdown.】

Shang Ke: “…”

Wen Jingrong said darkly, “Don’t reschedule it. In fact, never schedule another meeting with him again.”

Tong Fei paused. “There’s also…”

“More? Why is there so much going on today?” Wen Jingrong’s expression grew even darker.

Tong Fei was silent for a moment, then bravely risked his life to continue. “Two months ago, you canceled the hospital-construction project and planned to invest in overseas chemical manufacturing instead. Unfortunately, the plants you selected either use outdated technology and are nearing bankruptcy or have been ordered to rectify serious pollution problems. They’ve essentially lost all investment value. Would you like to choose a different project?”

Wen Jingrong: “…Cancel it. Resume construction of the hospital.”

Shang Ke: “…”

“Understood.” Tong Fei voiced no objection to his boss’s sudden reversals. He dutifully recorded the instruction, bowed, and withdrew.

After Tong Fei left the office, Shang Ke used the smartpen’s voice function to ask, “What exactly have you been doing during the years I was gone?”

“What do you mean?” Wen Jingrong pretended to be perfectly calm.

“Forcing through land acquisitions, associating with corrupt government officials, investing in polluting industries.” Shang Ke remembered that although this man could be a bastard, he had never been so morally bankrupt that he crossed every bottom line.

“After losing you, I spent every day in a daze. I frequently made poor decisions that caused company losses and declining performance.” Wen Jingrong pressed a hand to his forehead with a grave expression.

The System: 【Before Wen Jingrong died, the Wenshang Group had become one of the world’s ten largest corporate giants, earning enormous profits every day and possessing wealth rivaling that of a nation.】

Shang Ke: “…”

“Fortunately, you’re back, Keke.” Wen Jingrong cradled the smartpen and said affectionately, “As long as you’re beside me, I’m sure I can manage the company properly, earn mountains of money, and make certain you never have to worry about food or clothing for the rest of your life.”

Shang Ke: Heh. Very convincing expression. The credibility of that promise is 99.99 percent. The remaining 0.01 percent is only being withheld so he doesn’t get too smug.

If the System had not been providing commentary from the sidelines, Shang Ke might genuinely have believed him. But now it was obvious that those so-called “bad decisions” had not been mistakes at all. Wen Jingrong had made them deliberately.

Shang Ke remembered something Wen Jingrong had once said: “I’ll find a way to get rid of the aura of fortune around me so it can never hurt you.”

Clearly, these “mistakes” had been Wen Jingrong’s method of trying to destroy his own aura of fortune.

Idiot. For a lover he might never see again, he had been willing to step willingly into the mud and destroy his own future. If his fortune had not been so extraordinarily strong, he truly might have sent himself down a road of no return.

“Keke?” When Shang Ke remained silent for a long time, Wen Jingrong called to him tentatively.

Shang Ke was both furious and heartbroken. He did not want to answer.

“Keke, why aren’t you talking?” Wen Jingrong opened his computer. “I downloaded a new game yesterday. Want to play together?”

Play, my ass. You’re the president of an entire corporation. What kind of example are you setting by sitting in your office playing games all day?!

“Work properly. You get off in two hours.” Shang Ke reminded him in a vicious mechanical voice.

“…Oh.” Were they really not going to play? This time he had downloaded the hottest large-scale online game on the market. They could fight monsters, level up, admire the scenery together, and maybe even get married in-game while they were at it…

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. Dozens of documents automatically opened and filled the entire computer screen.

Wen Jingrong: “Keke, why don’t we skip work today?”

Shang Ke: “What happened to earning lots and lots of money so I can live without worrying about food or clothing?”

Wen Jingrong immediately declared, “Work comes first!” He could earn money by the minute, but he could not make it look too easy. Otherwise, how would Keke ever feel sorry for him?

In his previous life, Wen Jingrong had exhausted every possible scheme to get rid of his aura of fortune, blackening himself all the way to the end. Yet even until the day he died, Keke never returned. In this life, Keke’s baleful energy had already been completely cleansed. Not only did he no longer fear Wen Jingrong’s aura of fortune, he actually needed it for cultivation. Therefore, Wen Jingrong had to eliminate every hidden danger left from his previous life as quickly as possible and complete his magnificent transformation from unscrupulous businessman to charitable benefactor.

“Aisai, find out how many welfare institutions there are nationwide.” Wen Jingrong found a spare moment to video-call his capable assistant.

“Why?” Aisai teased casually. “Don’t tell me Big Boss suddenly wants to support the nation’s charitable causes?”

“Mm.”

“Big Boss, I may not have much moral integrity myself, but I sincerely advise you to spare the poor elderly, children, sick, and disabled.”

Wen Jingrong instinctively covered Keke with his palm and said darkly, “I intend to establish an assistance fund to support selected elderly people living alone and children who have dropped out of school.”

“…Did you forget to take your medication?”

Wen Jingrong’s gaze turned icy. The villainous pressure accumulated over an entire previous lifetime erupted without warning. “Aisai. Who do you think you’re speaking to?”

“…” Aisai’s smile stiffened. He immediately dropped his teasing expression and replied seriously, “Understood. I’ll handle it right away.”

After the call ended, the chill around Wen Jingrong did not fade. He still wore the domineering expression of someone declaring: Anyone who dares provoke me can go die.

“What… is with that terrifying expression?” A flat mechanical voice suddenly sounded from his cuff.

Wen Jingrong immediately straightened his face and transformed into an infatuated fool. The cold, predatory gleam in his eyes softened into the harmless innocence of a deer. “What expression?”

Shang Ke: “…Never mind.”

He had suddenly realized that although Wen Jingrong’s brilliant aura of fortune remained intact, something inside the man seemed to have begun blackening…

He performed charity on the surface, but there was no compassion in his heart. That was the conclusion Shang Ke reached after observing him quietly for several days. Only in front of Shang Ke did Wen Jingrong show warmth and gentleness. With everyone and everything else, traces of coldness and arrogance still slipped through without him noticing.

Even though Wen Jingrong deliberately tried to conceal it, habits formed over decades could not disappear overnight. In Shang Ke’s eyes, the man’s entire temperament kept flickering back and forth between domineering tyrant and lovestruck idiot like a malfunctioning screen.

“I heard you recently donated a large sum to a nursing home.” Ge Junxuan looked at Wen Jingrong with concern. “Brother, are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

Wen Jingrong gave him a strange look. “You came to my house in the middle of the night just to ask about my health?”

“Not exactly. I wanted to introduce you to a friend.” A smile of professional pyramid-scheme sincerity appeared on Ge Junxuan’s face.

Wen Jingrong’s answer was to shut the door directly in his face. Every time Ge Junxuan wore that sleazy smile and said he wanted to introduce a “friend,” Wen Jingrong knew the bastard had too much free time and was trying to pimp someone out to him.

“Wen Jingrong, are you even a man?!” Ge Junxuan shouted while pounding on the door. “Every time I give you a chance to show your masculine prowess, you chicken out! Can’t you rise to the occasion just once? It’s only a one-night stand. Do you have to be this stubborn?”

Click! The door suddenly opened. A trash can flew out and struck Ge Junxuan squarely in the face, followed by an enraged shout: “Get lost!”

Ge Junxuan rubbed his face, muttered under his breath, then trudged away dejectedly.

Every so often, he came to Wen Jingrong’s place specifically to invite abuse. Partly, he wanted to drag his friend out of the pain of losing his lover. Partly, he wanted to ease his own guilt. After all, Shang Ke’s death had been indirectly connected to someone Ge Junxuan once liked, and Shang Ke had even saved Ge Junxuan’s life.

Although that person had already been sent to prison, Ge Junxuan knew Wen Jingrong’s resentment had never truly disappeared…

Wen Jingrong returned to his room in an irritable mood, the gloom around him still lingering.

After closing the bedroom door, he suddenly heard rustling from the dressing room. His expression shifted. He walked quietly to the doorway and looked through the crack—only to see a slender figure inside, wearing a loose T-shirt that exposed two long, well-proportioned legs. Bare feet rested on the dark plush carpet, making the pale skin look especially smooth and delicate, almost inviting someone to run their hands over it.

Wen Jingrong’s breathing instantly deepened. In the blink of an eye, he was behind the figure. He spun Shang Ke around, wrapped one arm around his waist, cupped the back of his head with the other hand, and kissed him deeply.

“Keke…” Wen Jingrong pressed him down over the table, roughly stripped off the T-shirt Shang Ke had only just put on, pinned both his wrists, and trapped him in the narrow space beneath his body. Years of accumulated desire erupted all at once. He gave Shang Ke no time to catch his breath before taking him with the force of a storm, thrusting into him without restraint…

Shang Ke endured the dull ache and invasive fullness between his legs and wanted nothing more than to roar: Fucking hell! Every time you get simpler and rougher! Would it kill you to give me one slow, tender fuck for once?!

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