Chapter 153: The Black Widow Legend

Chapter 153: The Black Widow Legend

The moment Wu Chen saw the change come over Li Ruobing’s face, he knew she had worked it out. Nothing else would have produced that reaction.

“The Wu family?” she asked, her tone almost cautious, as though afraid of guessing wrong.

“Mm-hm.” Wu Chen smiled and nodded.

“Wu Yurong’s daughter?” Her voice rose, and her eyes widened further.

“That’s right. Her.” He smiled and nodded again.

Li Ruobing sat bolt upright, brows drawn hard together, and there was real anger in her voice. “You’re going after Wu Yurong’s daughter? Playing games again? Can you stop doing things this dangerous?”

“Correction. I’m going to help her realize her musical dream. What do you mean, ‘going after’ her? That sounds appalling.” He sat up as he spoke, then added, “And what’s the problem? Are you jealous?”

“Jealous my foot!” Her voice climbed again. “Don’t play stupid! You know perfectly well that isn’t what I’m talking about. If you want to play around with women, then play around. Have as many as you like—have I ever stopped you? I’m talking about danger. Danger. Do I actually have to explain to you what sort of woman Wu Yurong is?”

She was reacting violently.

Not only because Wu Yurong was formidable, but because Li Ruobing revered her. To Li Ruobing, Wu Yurong had become something very close to an idol.

Among Donghai’s ten richest, even the one ranked tenth held assets above six billion yuan, and each of the top three was worth over ten billion. A single swing in share prices could reorder the top three, but short-term fluctuation did not touch the long-term standings.

Over the past five years the composition of Donghai’s ten richest had shifted somewhat, mainly at the lower end. The top three had never moved.

Number one: Su Ruiwen of Jinfu Group. Jewelry.

Number two: Lu Changxin of Qian’an Industries. Small household appliances.

Number three: Wu Weidong of Senlan Fashion. Apparel.

Wu Yurong was Wu Weidong’s eldest daughter. She was forty-one this year, and currently vice chairwoman of Senlan Fashion Group. She had a daughter of her own, Song Xuan, twenty years old.

In Donghai, Wu Yurong could fairly be called a businesswoman out of legend. The legend ran through every part of her life. The first half of it had been all sudden ascents and violent falls.

Twenty-one years ago, at twenty-one, freshly graduated from university, Wu Yurong married. Her father, Wu Weidong, arranged it—an arranged marriage, a business-family alliance. The man she married was Song Xiang, son of Song Hongguo, owner of Bailingniao Group in Zhongzhe Province.

Wu Weidong and Song Hongguo had been university classmates. Old friends.

Bailingniao Group was also in apparel, but its business differed from Senlan Fashion’s. Senlan did menswear, casual wear, and sportswear; Bailingniao specialized in women’s clothing. Far from being competitors, the two houses complemented one another.

Hence the marriage alliance.

But Wu Yurong had fought the marriage with everything in her.

After graduation she had planned to go abroad and continue her studies in vocal music. Marriage had never entered her plans. The whole thing came without warning. She had resisted with all her strength—and in the end, for reasons of several kinds, she submitted.

She married him after all.

She married him, and she even bore a daughter—and the moment the child was born, she separated from her husband.

Word later had it that Wu Yurong had finally consented because Senlan Fashion was in crisis at the time, and because father and daughter had struck a bargain: once she married into the Song family and produced a child, she could do whatever she liked afterward, and Wu Weidong would never interfere in her life again.

That, supposedly, was why she agreed.

It was also why nobody tried to stop her when she moved decisively to separate from her husband after the birth.

The marriage Wu Yurong had been forced into lasted only seven years.

Because the Wu and Song…