Volume One, Chapter Three: Our President Shen Is a Complete Fool

When she returned home, Li Ruochu gently pushed open the door, and a deathly silence cloaked her in darkness. The living room was devoid of any light, the outlines of the furniture looming in the gloom like silent beasts. As expected, Shen Yubai had once again been ensnared by Gu Qiuying.

A bitter smile curled at the corner of Li Ruochu’s lips. Inwardly, she mocked, “Tangled together every day—not afraid of draining himself dry?”

Ever since she decided to seek a divorce, she had grown indifferent to such matters. Now, her mind was consumed only by how best to broach the subject with Shen Yubai.

After her shower, the steamy bathroom felt like a brief sanctuary from reality. Emerging wrapped in a towel, she noticed several unread message notifications flashing across her phone screen.

Unlocking it, she was greeted by messages from Gu Qiuying.

“So what if you married Yubai, Li Ruochu? With just one phone call, he still comes running to me!” followed by a photo: the two of them hand in hand on a yacht, facing the sea breeze, utterly at ease. Shen Yubai’s gaze was filled with adoration—a tenderness Li Ruochu had not seen from him in ages.

“We’re enjoying a candlelight dinner on the yacht right now. You’ll never win Yubai’s heart!” Gu Qiuying’s words were arrogant and triumphant.

Li Ruochu drew a deep breath, steadying her emotions, her fingers flying across the screen: “Yes, you two are perfect—a big pig’s trotters matched with big socks. Hope you’re locked together for life!”

After sending the message, she tossed the phone onto the sofa.

But the next moment, her phone rang incessantly, as if tolling a death knell. Annoyed, Li Ruochu grabbed it, only to see message after message from Gu Qiuying flooding the screen.

Most were intimate photos of her and Shen Yubai, some even showing Gu Qiuying half-naked in deliberately provocative poses.

Li Ruochu’s heart clenched. Though she had resolved to divorce, she had once truly loved Shen Yubai. Seeing these indecent images, a sharp pang of bitterness welled up inside her.

But she quickly regained her composure, took a deep breath, and replied, “Nice figure. I could upload your videos to a website—the explicit scenes will earn me another fortune!”

As soon as she sent it, the other side began frantically withdrawing the pictures, but the videos, having been sent too long ago, could no longer be recalled.

Imagining Gu Qiuying’s panic at that moment, a wave of vindictive satisfaction surged through Li Ruochu, and a smile tugged at her lips.

Just as she was about to go to bed, her phone vibrated wildly again.

Her brows knitted in frustration as she cursed inwardly, “Damn it, isn’t this ever going to end? Who wants to admire your springtime escapades in the dead of night?”

Irritated, she picked up the phone, ready to unleash her anger, only to discover the messages weren’t from Gu Qiuying, but from Jiang Mu, the secretary to Shenggu’s president.

She was about to open the chat when Jiang Mu called directly.

“Hello, Secretary Jiang, it’s so late—” Li Ruochu had just begun when Jiang Mu’s anxious voice cut her off.

“Oh my goodness, Secretary Li, I finally got through to you! I can’t reach Assistant Chen, and President Shen’s phone isn’t working either. I had no choice but to call you! I hope I’m not disturbing you!”

His voice was thick with urgency and unease, the words tumbling out in a single breath.

You already did, Li Ruochu grumbled inwardly.

But considering Shen Yubai was likely out at sea and his phone probably had no signal, and Assistant Chen would surely be with him, she suppressed her irritation and asked, “What happened?”

“There’s a problem with the contract between our two companies; the profit split we agreed on was supposed to be forty-sixty, but it’s reversed in the actual contract! Our president is furious right now. Please contact President Shen immediately to handle this.”

Jiang Mu’s voice was almost tearful, clearly shaken by his own president’s wrath.

Shenggu’s contract?

The details of the project instantly flashed through Li Ruochu’s mind.

She remembered originally leading the third group on this project, but last month, after Gu Qiuying joined the company, Shen Yubai inexplicably handed this crucial project over to her.

She hadn’t expected Gu Qiuying to be so unreliable, failing to notice such a fundamental issue and boldly submitting the problematic contract to Shenggu’s President Feng.

Li Ruochu couldn’t help but curse in her heart: Does Gu Qiuying have no brains?

After a moment’s thought, Li Ruochu knew that tonight Shen Yubai, that big pig’s trotter, would be lost in Gu Qiuying’s embrace, oblivious to urgent business, and certainly wouldn’t return.

Given the circumstances, she could only rush to Shenggu herself, stall for time, and stabilize the situation.

“Secretary Jiang, I’m heading over now. Please hold your president off for me!” Li Ruochu’s voice was resolute and decisive.

“Alright, alright, I’ll buy you half an hour!” Jiang Mu’s tone was relieved yet still tinged with anxiety.

As soon as she hung up, Li Ruochu sprang into action like a wound-up machine. She dressed quickly, and as she changed her shoes downstairs, she muttered curses under her breath, “Damn Shen Yubai, out there enjoying himself while I have to clean up his mess. Before I divorce him, I’ll make sure to squeeze a few hundred million out of him—otherwise, all those years of working day and night for the company will have been for nothing!”

Her voice trembled with anger, her expression twisted with fury. In her haste, she didn’t even notice the cute strawberry hairband still perched on her head.

Li Ruochu rushed out, slid into her car, started the engine, and the tires screeched against the pavement as the car shot forward like an arrow.

Throughout the drive, her foot pressed hard on the accelerator, and the car sped as if it might take flight.

Finally, racing against time, Li Ruochu arrived at the Shenggu Group building within half an hour.

Before the car had fully stopped, she flung the door open and jumped out.

Seeing Jiang Mu pacing anxiously by the entrance, Li Ruochu strode over quickly, “Secretary Jiang—”

“Thank goodness you’re here! What’s wrong with your President Shen? Doesn’t he review such important contracts? Not stupid enough to miss a chance to pocket money for himself, though!” Jiang Mu, seeing Li Ruochu, looked as if he’d found his savior; the furrow in his brow eased slightly, though his tone was still full of resentment toward Shen Yubai.

At this moment, he regretted ever involving Shen Yubai in the project. If not for Li Ruochu’s exceptional abilities during the early stages, they’d never have signed the contract so easily.

Li Ruochu nodded firmly at Jiang Mu, a glint of coldness in her eyes. “You’re absolutely right, Secretary Jiang. Shen Yubai is a blind, heartless fool!”