Chapter 029: Why Do You Suddenly Look Kind of Familiar?

Chapter 029: Why Do You Suddenly Look Kind of Familiar?

Was there truly no one who dared cross Li Ruobing?

Of course there was. The Li family was a formidable clan, but not quite the very top tier.

And Li Ruobing kept a low profile by habit—never volunteering details about her family background. Those without sufficient standing might have heard the Li name without grasping its true weight; those with sufficient standing already knew, and had no need for her to explain herself.

There was a third category, too: people who had some connection to Li Ruobing without truly understanding her. Those were the ones bold enough to offend her.

Li Ruobing disliked being called “Miss Li.”

Only in certain settings, from certain people, would she let it pass without minding.

She far preferred “Boss Li,” and “President Li” worked well enough too—but “Boss Li” suited her best of all. The word “boss” softened the emphasis on her being a woman, which sat well with her forceful, take-charge presence.

That was precisely why Wu Chen, from the very first time he’d met her, had privately settled on calling her “Boss Li.”

Wu Chen knew what she liked. He had no interest in letting some small matter of address breed resentment in her, let alone some lasting bias against him—there was no need for that at all.

And the woman now approaching them had called her “Miss Li”—the intent behind it unmistakable.

Li Ruobing’s brows knit as she looked up. Wu Chen glanced over as well.

The woman wore a French haute couture gown, an Hermès Birkin at her elbow, a massive diamond ring on her finger. Somewhere around thirty, long waved hair, finely made-up features—though the makeup ran a touch heavy.

One glance was all Wu Chen needed to place her.

Liu Caixiu. Born Liu Lijuan. Thirty-two years old, from Liujia Village, Sishui Town, Erma County, under Donghai’s jurisdiction.

Her husband was Lu Guangnian, chairman of Donghai Juli Group. Seven years ago, after marrying him, she’d given birth to a son. The following year, with Lu Guangnian’s backing, she’d founded Yunxiu Fashion Co., Ltd., dealing in daily chemical products and cosmetics.

She and Li Ruobing weren’t merely acquainted—they knew each other well.

Though that familiarity held not a shred of goodwill.

The two were business rivals.

As far as Wu Chen knew, Liu Caixiu had long believed Li Ruobing had stolen her business out from under her. Liu Caixiu had opened her cosmetics company in Donghai six years ago; Li Ruobing had only arrived to set up shop four years back.

Truth be told, Liu Caixiu had never had much of a head for business. Without Lu Guangnian’s repeated infusions of money and connections, her company would have folded long ago.

But once Li Ruobing’s company had gotten off the ground, Yunxiu’s position had only grown more precarious.

The real grudge between them had taken root three years earlier.

Li Ruobing had struck a deal with a major beauty-salon chain—the salons would use and recommend Huancai Fashion’s skincare products to clients, a solid channel for offline promotion.

Before that deal, the same salons had been recommending Yunxiu’s products exclusively.

From that point on, every time Liu Caixiu ran into Li Ruobing, she found some way to needle her.

Especially this year.

Huancai Fashion’s valuation now sat close to two billion yuan, with a reputation that reached well beyond Donghai. Liu Caixiu’s company, by contrast, was worth only thirty to fifty million—and even that figure leaned on its fixed assets and factory equipment. At bottom, it was little more than a small regional workshop.

The gap was too wide to ignore.

She couldn’t match Li Ruobing in business.

She couldn’t match her in looks.

Family background, education—she fell short there too.

Jealousy came naturally to a woman like her. Liu Caixiu had always cared deeply about appearances and comparisons, and years of accumulated resentment meant that every encounter with Li Ruobing came wrapped in some barb—never a kind word.

“Mrs. Lu. Boss Lu didn’t come with you today?” Li Ruobing said evenly, tilting her head to scan the restaurant as she spoke.

No sign of Lu Guangnian.

Li Ruobing remained perfectly composed. She knew Liu Caixiu had come looking for trouble, no doubt with some fresh round of unpleasantness in mind—this woman, whose thinking she’d long since given up trying to follow, no longer merited much of her attention.

Not that she lacked a temper. If she truly let it loose, even she might find it frightening.

The reason she held back was her genuine friendship with Lu Guangnian.

She’d come to know him through her brother, Li Ruotai.

Li Ruotai and Lu Guangnian were close.

It wasn’t that Li Ruobing liked every friend her brother kept—rather, Lu Guangnian’s particular temperament happened to suit her own.

Lu Guangnian had built his fortune in demolition and relocation work, straddling the line between legitimate and underworld business in his early years before founding a real estate company and washing his reputation clean. Generous, loyal to a fault, the sort of man who’d taken a blade for a friend in his youth and nearly died in the hospital for it.

Among Donghai’s ten wealthiest men today, Lu Guangnian ranked sixth, with a fortune of roughly eight billion yuan.

He also served as vice president of the Donghai Chamber of Commerce.

Li Ruobing and Lu Guangnian shared something close to a cross-generational friendship.

More than once, Lu Guangnian had teased her to her face about being “born into the wrong body”—too forceful, too much like a man in the way she carried herself in business. That he dared joke with her like that spoke to how deep their bond ran.

And privately, he’d asked her more than once not to take his wife’s provocations to heart.

As for the business rivalry between Li Ruobing and Liu Caixiu, Lu Guangnian never gave it much thought.

He spent the money simply to keep his wife happy, with no real expectation the company would turn a profit—so long as the losses stayed manageable.

Lu Guangnian doting on his wife was well known throughout Donghai.

Li Ruobing, in fact, had never quite understood it—how had a man so generous and forthright ended up married to a woman whose thinking ran so muddled?

Simply because she’d given him a son?

“My husband’s out front, waiting for some guests. He’ll be in shortly,” Liu Caixiu said, then turned her gaze directly onto Wu Chen. “Miss Li, is this your boyfriend?”

Anyone who actually knew Li Ruobing would never have phrased it that way—but Liu Caixiu had come looking for a fight.

“Mm,” Li Ruobing said, a simple hum through her nose.

“Well now! Miss Li, since when did you start keeping pretty boys?” Liu Caixiu’s tone turned suddenly theatrical.

“Miss Li, you’re what, twenty-seven this year? And this pretty boy can’t be past his early twenties. Handsome, though—an old cow grazing on tender grass, and with good taste besides!”

Liu Caixiu deliberately raised her voice, wanting the whole restaurant to hear.

She meant to humiliate Li Ruobing in front of everyone.

In truth, a scene like this could never actually embarrass Li Ruobing—the steel in her ran far deeper than most people’s.

But this time, she had no intention of letting it slide either.

Li Ruobing’s hand had already closed around her wine glass. Wu Chen knew she was likely one second from flinging its contents straight into Liu Caixiu’s face—which would only sour things further with Lu Guangnian, and there was no need for that.

So Wu Chen spoke first. “Had a little too much filler, did we? Gone to your head? Try not to carry on like some shrew—you’re disturbing everyone’s dinner.”

“What did you say, pretty boy?!” Liu Caixiu whipped around to glare at him.

“Did I get it wrong? Not the filler talking?” Wu Chen said, smiling faintly. “Then maybe the chin surgery nicked a nerve. Or perhaps they scrambled something upstairs when they did that eye-corner surgery.”

“Shut your mouth! I’ve never had any work done!” Liu Caixiu shrieked like a cat with its tail stepped on.

Cosmetic surgery was her secret. She took real pride in the fine features she now wore, and hated nothing more than being reminded she’d gone under the knife to get them.

Wu Chen never understood why some people insisted on courting their own ruin.

Everyone carried some secret they couldn’t bear brought into the light.

Even a woman like Li Ruobing was no exception.

And Wu Chen happened to know the secrets of every notable figure across all of Donghai.

Mentioning the surgery was only an opening move.

Liu Caixiu’s real secret—the one truly unspeakable thing—Wu Chen hadn’t touched yet. That secret alone could make her disappear from this world entirely.

In truth, Wu Chen had no particular interest in digging up anyone’s past for its own sake. He wasn’t bored enough to go looking for trouble.

But for a vicious woman like this, he felt no need to hold back.

She’d brought this on herself.

“Huh. Why do you suddenly look familiar to me…” Wu Chen said, as if something had just clicked, eyes fixed on Liu Caixiu. “Didn’t you used to work at some bathhouse?”