The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

By the time Chen Lu leisurely made his way home, it was already six o'clock in the afternoon.

Chen Pingsheng prepared a meal at home, and before he knew it, he had been living in this three-bedroom, two-living-room house for several years.

Although I don't live here all the time, I spend most of my time here.

He also knows many of his neighbors in the community.

This small house, which has undergone a major renovation, is worth five or six million.

The renovation cost over ten million yuan.

This area isn't the most prosperous part of Shenzhen, and the housing prices here are only considered average to low for the city.

It's only a little over 40,000 per square meter.

Those well-located city centers still cost 15 yuan per square meter, and Shenzhen was originally the smallest of the four super first-tier cities.

It is only one-third the size of Shanghai, and only one-eighth the size of Beijing.

In such a small mega-first-tier city, land resources are naturally scarce.

Therefore, the scarcity of land is also a means of maintaining high housing prices.

After millions of dollars worth of renovations, this small house is still very cozy to live in.

There is a master bedroom, a study, and the remaining room is Chen Lu's own small room.

As for the two halls and such, they are quite convenient for activities.

This is what a 130-square-meter apartment with zero shared area looks like.

Chen Pingsheng cooked the dishes, and Chen Lu served them to the table himself.

How's your studying going lately?

"Fortunately!"

"You call that 'okay'? Do you think I don't have your teacher's phone number or something?"

"Dad... I was just a little distracted."

"Is that what you call being a little distracted?"

After putting down his chopsticks, Chen Pingsheng comforted her, "You should try to understand Su Xiaoxi a little. It's already a lot of pressure for her to be just friends with you. As for you, your grades fluctuate so much, it all depends on how that girl treats you. What am I supposed to say about you!"

Seriously speaking, if this kind of girl were in an ancient royal family, she could have such a great influence on the mind of an heir.

She would have been dragged out and beheaded by a matriarch like Song Yanxi long ago.

Ten aristocratic families would all make the same choice, without any exceptions.

Chen Lu is still too young; he can't even see through such a basic thing.

The more he acted this way, the more Song Yanxi would resist him and dislike this little girl surnamed Su even more.

He might already be cursing her as a little vixen in his heart.

Sigh... In a society governed by the rule of law and in a peaceful society, Su Xiaoxi's life was saved again.

"Dad... I'll get better, don't worry."

"Your grades are secondary; the key issue is your emotions. You're too easily influenced by external factors. Dad just doesn't want you to be caught up in things without understanding them."

The father and son have maintained a rather uneventful relationship over the years.

As children grow older, corporal punishment becomes meaningless.

Moreover, Chen Pingsheng couldn't bear to hit him when he was little, let alone now.

"Don't worry, it won't happen again!"

"A real man should never make promises lightly, even if you are 100% sure, let alone make a promise you have no confidence in at all."

Chen Lu was a little embarrassed. He had just said it casually, but he didn't expect to be criticized.

Just don't say it again next time.

Fortunately, he didn't say it aloud, otherwise Chen Pingsheng would definitely have criticized him again.

He completely forgot what he had just said.

Chen Lu is under a lot of pressure having such a reasonable father.

After dinner, Chen Pingsheng would take him for a run or two outside the neighborhood, just like he always did.

Half an hour of exercise after dinner is essential.

When Chen Lu encounters someone he knows on the street, he will greet her warmly with, "Good afternoon, Grandma Zhang."

Grandpa Liu is out practicing Tai Chi again?

Politeness is just a basic aspect of a distinguished family's upbringing, and Chen Lu does it very well.

However, his hope of running into Su Xiaoxi downstairs was destined to be dashed.

Su Xiaoxi is not actually a member of the Chen family.

After losing the remaining 800,000 yuan, her mother was surprisingly happy, not depressed.

Su Xiaoxi was initially quite pleased, but after learning of her mother's plans, she fell silent.

It can be said that every time Su's mother schemed, it deepened her desire to stay away from Chen Lu.

This further deepened her deep-seated inferiority complex and lack of self-confidence.

"Xiao Xi, you did a really good job fighting for Chen Lu. Even though our family lost all the little we had left, it's nothing compared to the kindness the Chen family has shown us. But now we're both broke, so I've decided to find a new job. You need to take good care of yourself while you're home alone, okay?"

"Mmm..." Su Xiaoxi nodded softly, her voice barely audible. Her mother trusted her completely. She knew her daughter well; she had always been exceptionally sensible and beautiful.

The only pity about such a daughter is that she has such an unreliable mother.

A fleeting look of sadness crossed Su's mother's face; she also blamed Xiao Xi's foolish biological father.

They actually abandoned them, mother and daughter, if only they hadn't left that house.

It shouldn't have caused such strong opposition from Chen Lu's mother.

If she hadn't been ruthlessly driven out of Shanghai and seen no hope, she wouldn't have ended up becoming a mistress to those older men.

Who hasn't had a naive and romantic moment?

She was truly afraid that all of this would completely destroy her daughter's innocence and romance.

No matter how terrible Su's mother was, she was still wholeheartedly thinking of Su Xiaoxi's best interests.

Parents always plan far ahead for their children.

She's no exception; it's just that concern makes her confused, and she's not as smart as outsiders think.

She's just a pretty face that resembles Su Xiaoxi by about 70%.

Otherwise, she wouldn't bring these things up in front of her daughter so often.

In Su's mother's eyes, Chen Lu must really like her daughter. If things continue like this, the two will grow up together and become childhood sweethearts.

In the future, they may very well end up like the legendary Chen couple.

I've protected you since you were little, and I'll marry you when you grow up.

In the future, as we grow old together, you will be the only one by my side.

Who wouldn't envy such love? Only that legendary couple could truly achieve it.

If only her daughter had the slightest chance of obtaining such happiness.

As her mother, she naturally had to find ways to help her achieve all of this.

However, reality and ideals are often far apart.

Just like her now, the more effort she puts in this direction, the further away the result will be from her ideal.

Su Xiaoxi is indeed very sensible, so sensible that she knows many of her mother's actions and statements are wrong.

But she wouldn't utter a single accusation, much less loudly refute it.

She was like that middleman, caught in the middle and pleasing neither side.

She wanted to be just good friends with Chen Lu, but her mother was always eyeing the Chen family's wealth.

They even hoped countless times to receive some free help from their family.

Even if this help was insignificant to Chen Lu's family.

It will also unknowingly burden her with too many shackles.

In Su Xiaoxi's view, how can you ask your friends for help with everything?

After Su's mother left, she opened her small drawer again, inside which was a small doll that Chen Lu had given her when he was very young.

She lay on the bed, her face turned to the side, observing, the sunlight of the setting sun shining on her face.

It was so beautiful and poignant.

If there were a truly beautiful woman in the world, she would probably be one of them when she grows up.

Even Shen Xi couldn't criticize her looks; she could only say that she had such an unreliable mother who was also a mistress.

Having a mother like that means you're destined to never be part of a wealthy family.

The powerful and wealthy are like prejudices in people's hearts, like a mountain that you can't move no matter how you try to move it out.

It won't change because of your efforts, nor will it change in the slightest because of your childhood relationship.

To Chen Lu's mother, all of this appeared to be a deeply sinister scheme.

She can still meet with Chen Lu normally because he has the most open-minded and wisest father in the world.

She wouldn't hate Chen Lu's mother either, because she wasn't wrong either; her mother had indeed been scheming for her since she was little.

Su Xiaoxi envies every girl who has a father to teach her, and she envies Chen Lu even more for having such a great father who is willing to spend time with her every day to accompany her as she grows up.

A sensible girl like Su Xiaoxi is the envy of countless parents.

But what they didn't know was that besides being sensible, there was endless internal strife.

They also feel confused and experience a variety of emotions, but they hide everything behind their sensible exterior.

This is a form of mental torture and mental anguish.

An'an was sensible from a young age, but she did not suffer the same pain as Su Xiaoxi.

Because she has a father who can take on all her burdens and will carefully nurture her as she grows up.

It is obvious that Su Xiaoxi did not have such an elder accompanying her.

Everything depends on her alone.

Or perhaps it was her mother, who was always looking out for her but ended up causing her even more pain.

(End of this chapter)