Chapter 0022: Little Woman, Little Ambition

Qin Ruohan's expression gradually cooled as she looked at Fu Jianfeng. "So, what do you think should be done?"

Hearing Qin Ruohan solicit his opinion, Fu Jianfeng's heart leapt with glee. "I think a hidden time bomb like Chen Liuhe should be kicked out ASAP."

As he spoke, smugness swelled within him. Chen Liuhe, you think you can compete with me? In this club, I'm the real MVP. In Qin Ruohan's eyes, I'm the one who's most valuable to her. So what if you can fight? So what if you stole the spotlight tonight and turned the tide? I'll still get you booted.

But before his glee could fully bloom, Qin Ruohan's next words sent him crashing into the abyss.

"Manager Fu, I've always thought you were a decent talent. But your performance tonight? It's beyond disappointing. If I'm not mistaken, Chen Liuhe just saved your life, didn't he? He stepped up and saved everyone here, right?"

Qin Ruohan sneered, her anger boiling over. "How can someone's character be this vile? Fu Jianfeng, don't think I'm clueless. If it weren't for your arrogance, your reckless bravado, none of this disaster would've happened."

"In other words, Chen Liuhe cleaned up your mess. He salvaged the chaos you caused. He just saved your sorry life and a dozen others, and not even a few minutes later, you're here biting the hand that fed you?"

Her fury erupted. "Now you want me to fire a guy who did the club a massive favor and averted a catastrophe? Use your head—do you think that's possible?"

"If it weren't for Chen Liuhe, what kind of tragedy would've unfolded tonight? I don't even dare imagine it—do you?" Qin Ruohan's face was ice-cold. "Manager Fu, you've already shown your ugliest side to everyone tonight. Don't force me to call you shameless."

Her sharp, scathing tirade left Fu Jianfeng pale and speechless. He stared at her in disbelief, anger flaring. "Boss Qin, how can you talk to me like this? Over Chen Liuhe? Don't forget who's been the biggest help to you! Don't forget who's kept this club running smoothly!"

Qin Ruohan's smile grew frostier. "And don't you forget who gave a third-rate, washed-up grad like you a chance to shine. I don't expect gratitude for giving you a shot, but I do expect you to act decently and drop the arrogance."

"Qin Ruohan, it's me or Chen Liuhe—one of us stays, the other goes!" Fu Jianfeng growled, feeling his dignity trampled yet again tonight.

Qin Ruohan turned and walked away without looking back. "You're free to submit your resignation anytime."

"W-What? You're insane!" Fu Jianfeng couldn't believe his ears. "Qin Ruohan, you're tossing me aside after I've served my purpose! Without me, you can't hold this club together!"

She paused, turning back—not to explain, but to state flatly, "If you still want to stay here, let me give you a heads-up: don't mess with Chen Liuhe. Don't cross him. Stay out of anything he's involved in. Like you said, he's a dangerous man. Piss him off, and not even I can save you—nobody can."

With that, she strode off, her heels clicking elegantly against the floor, leaving him behind.

"She's nuts—all of you are nuts! I'll make you pay a heavy price!" Fu Jianfeng roared, his face twisted with rage, eyes brimming with venom.

In the courtyard, Chen Liuhe was enjoying the quiet night with Shen Qingwu. He hung up his phone, tilted his head to gaze at the bright moon, and let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head.

"Bro, what's wrong?" Shen Qingwu asked gently from her wheelchair. She always seemed so serene, even a year ago when she'd been cornered and abandoned, never once breaking down or begging.

"Nothing much. Just some small fry causing a ruckus at Qin Ruohan's club tonight—handled them myself," Chen Liuhe said, pausing. "Thing is, Qin Ruohan, that little lady, has some schemes up her sleeve. Seems she wants to play games with those three punks. I'm starting to see she's got a bit of ambition."

Shen Qingwu replied, "A lot of people are forced into it. When life's all silk and jade, you're carefree. But once fate kicks you down, you've got no choice but to fight."

"The problem is when someone's got the ambition to fight but not the brains or guts to match. Those types usually end up burning themselves," Chen Liuhe said, lounging lazily in his chair.

"Bro, what you call brains and guts might be better described as experience and grit from navigating this cruel world," Shen Qingwu said, tilting her head.

"Haha, you know me—I'm just an uncultured brute, rough around the edges," Chen Liuhe laughed, unfazed by her jab.

His brilliant little sister matched him in intellect and knowledge as closely as he dominated in raw power. Plenty had called him a freak back in the day, but just as many had said the same of Shen Qingwu!

"But you're fluent in seven languages," she pointed out, cutting through his bluff.

Chen Liuhe shook his head with a grin. So what if he knew seven languages? Everywhere he went, people stumbled over broken Yanhuang Chinese to talk to him. Rare was the soul who could make him speak their tongue—those folks were few and far between.

In his own words, he learned languages so he could curse back at anyone who cursed him, no matter their country or dialect.

"Bro, life's been too quiet lately. It's making me feel useless. I want to do something," Shen Qingwu said softly, sneaking a glance at him.

Chen Liuhe froze, his brow twitching faintly. "Worried I can't support you?"

She shook her head. "You know that's not it."

He sighed, nodding. "Alright, I'm curious—what kind of gig catches the eye of a genius like you, someone even Liu Group couldn't lure?"

Liu Group, a top-ten Yanhuang conglomerate, had earnestly invited Shen Qingwu to be an honorary advisor three years ago—an offer she'd turned down flat. It had caused quite a stir at Yanjing University back then.

Shen Qingwu blinked, tugging at his sleeve. "Tutoring."

"Tutoring?" Chen Liuhe shot her a surprised look. She nodded. "For a kid still in elementary school."

A flicker of astonishment crossed his eyes. He laughed. "Ha, they've got some nerve asking a prodigy like you—nearly recruited by the Central Research Academy at sixteen—to tutor a kid. Aren't they afraid it'll shave years off their family's lifespan?"

Pausing, he asked, "So, who are they?"

"Zhao," Shen Qingwu said simply.

Chen Liuhe raised an eyebrow, a playful glint in his gaze. "The Bianzhou Zhao family?"

"The very one you're thinking of," she confirmed.

After a few seconds of contemplation, Chen Liuhe chuckled again, this time with a hint of intrigue. "Interesting. The Zhao family's got some guts, tying themselves to us siblings under these circumstances."

He smirked self-deprecatingly. "Ever since Grandpa, our family's anchor, passed, the Shen name's been a sunken ship to most. We're like cockroaches in a latrine right now—no one's stepping on us yet, but they're disgusted just looking, and touching us? Even worse."

"Bro, you're wrong about one thing," Shen Qingwu said, her face radiating unshakable confidence. "To most, sure, the Shen family's done. But to the few with real wisdom, as long as you're around, who'd dare say we've truly fallen? Not even those top-tier Yanjing clans riding the storm would claim that!"

Back in the day, a peak Chen Liuhe had made countless families tremble. A wild, unrestrained Chen Liuhe had been a nightmare to every spoiled heir.

In the years he'd been hailed as a national asset, he wasn't some privileged brat—yet how many of those brats had revered and feared him?

Chen Liuhe didn't bite at her bait, instead saying, "The Bianzhou Zhao family might be a nobody in Yanjing's deep waters, but here in Bianzhou, they're decent enough."

Pausing, he asked, "Qingwu, you sure about this? Getting tangled with the Zhao family might mean saying goodbye to this quiet life."

He'd never crossed paths with the Zhao family—back then, they were worlds apart, one in Yanjing, the other in Bianzhou. But he'd heard of them.

In Bianzhou, the Zhao family was a local heavyweight. Not massive, but not small either, with solid ties in business and politics.

From what he knew, though, their clout had waned since Old Man Zhao's death. They were sliding downhill until a couple of sharp middle-generation heirs barely held things together. In Yanjing's lofty circles, they were insignificant. In Bianzhou? Borderline first-tier, hovering around second.

Still, Chen Liuhe never imagined the first family to reach out would be them. Guess with Grandpa gone, the Shen name really had faded from a lot of minds.