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The reason Su Daqiang didn't let Su Ning go home was because he encountered a big problem, a big problem that made him restless.

Zhao Sanjin actually found Su Daqiang's wife and children who had immigrated to Australia. Looking at his son whom he had been longing for day and night, Su Daqiang was overwhelmed with emotion.

"Xiao...Xiao Qiang?"

"Dad, I'm back."

"Xiaoqiang, you've made me miss you terribly." Su Daqiang immediately hugged his tall and strong son.

“Su Daqiang, that Zhao Sanjin gave us two million RMB and asked Xiaoqiang and me to come back and persuade you to tell the truth.”

"Hmph! Two million to bribe you."

"Su Daqiang, I hope you can be more rational! Consider it a legacy left for Xiaoqiang."

"..." Seeing his son in front of him made Su Daqiang lose his temper.

Just then, Zhao Sanjin walked in with Qi Dongcao and Zhao Dabiao.

As Su Ning's maternal uncle, Zhao Dabiao naturally hated Su Daqiang to the core. "Su Daqiang, how could you be so heartless? I really want to smash you to death with a hammer."

"Da Biao!" However, Zhao Sanjin stopped Zhao Da Biao from exploding.

"Su Daqiang, our grudges are meaningless now! I just want to know the secret from back then."

“It’s not complicated! Su… your son Zhao Balang fell into the reservoir. Although I recognized him immediately, he suffered a brain injury and amnesia. In addition, because of my hatred for you, I kept him by my side and kept telling him that you are my greatest enemy.”

"Su Daqiang, you deserve to die!" Zhao Dabiao angrily lunged at Su Daqiang again.

"Da Biao!" However, Zhao Sanjin stopped his brother-in-law again.

“Zhao Sanjin, I advise you not to acknowledge Su Ning as your father, because you will only bring him trouble.”

"But he is my son, Zhao Sanjin's son!"

"..."

……

Autumn 2004, the old Zhao family residence in Tangshan.

Grandma Zhao trembled as she slipped a jade bracelet onto Qi Dongcao's wrist.

The bracelet is entirely emerald green, with the Zhao family crest engraved on the inner wall, gleaming softly in the sunlight.

“The eight taels have been found, so this bracelet should be yours.” The old man’s withered fingers gently stroked the surface of the bracelet. “When my mother-in-law passed it down to me, she said it was to be worn by my eldest granddaughter-in-law.”

Qi Dongcao looked down at the priceless family heirloom, her throat tightening: "Grandma, Ba Liang... he's called Su Ning now, and he still won't acknowledge us."

"Foolish!" The old woman slammed her cane heavily on the ground. "That's a member of our Zhao family!"

"Cough cough cough..." Qi Dongcao was startled and quickly supported him.

Outside the window, Zhao Sanjin was strolling in the garden with his new wife, Huang Fangfei, while ten-year-old Zhao Yange chased butterflies around.

This heartwarming scene made Qi Dongcao feel bitter. Less than half a year after Ba Liang disappeared, Zhao Sanjin brought the mother and son into his home.

My phone vibrated; an international text message popped up: [Flights booked. Protect him. —The Queen]

Qi Dongcao gripped her phone tightly.

The girl who was kidnapped along with Suning back then is now a high-achieving student at the University of British Columbia in Canada.

Meanwhile, the boy who disappeared in a pool of blood is now building his own business in Shanghai.

The opening ceremony is underway in the auditorium of Shanghai International Studies University.

"Students!" Principal Yang exclaimed passionately, banging on the podium, "Do you know who's number one on the library borrowing list? It's Chen Jing from the class of 2000! She supported herself through work-study programs back then, and now she's the president of a multinational corporation's China division!"

The applause of the audience was thunderous.

Suning sat in the French department's group, revising the business plan for "UnionPay Payment" on his laptop.

He had little interest in these motivational speeches; after experiencing Su Daqiang's grueling training, the struggles of ordinary college students were simply not enough to satisfy him.

"Next up, please welcome Mu Hongli from the Music Department to perform a guitar and vocal piece!"

Amid applause, a girl in a white dress walked onto the stage.

When she strummed the strings and sang "Olive Tree," the boys in the front row visibly became restless.

Su Ning glanced up – round face, almond eyes, bulbous nose, indeed pretty, but far less stunning than Lin Xiaoyu had been.

"Brother Su, you don't know Mu Hongli?" Qi Shugen leaned closer and whispered, "She's said to come from a scholarly family in Jiangsu, and she's definitely a top-tier school beauty?"

Suning gave a perfunctory "hmm" and continued typing with his head down.

He didn't notice that the gazes on the stage repeatedly swept over the French department area, nor did he know that this ordinary, unfamiliar girl had already noticed him.

After the performance, Mu Hongli deliberately went around to the exit of the French department and pretended to accidentally knock over Su Ning's laptop.

"I'm sorry..." She bent down to pick it up, her delicate collarbone just showing. "Are you a freshman?"

Suning politely took the computer: "It's alright."

He turned and left, not noticing the girl's hand frozen in mid-air.

This scene was witnessed by Qi Dongcao, who had just arrived.

She quickly caught up with Su Ning: "Ba Liang, can't we have a proper talk?"

"Here we go again." Su Ning sighed. "Miss Qi, firstly, my name is not Ba Liang, and secondly, please don't follow me."

Qi Dongcao persisted: "I have a paternity test report here, which I think you will find interesting."

“What does this have to do with me?” Su Ning interrupted her. “I have to go see the president of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to discuss a project. I don’t have time to listen to your family feuds.”

"Don't you want to find your biological parents? Aren't you even a little bit curious about your family?"

"Beautiful lady, I really don't have time to play with you here, please just leave me alone, okay?"

"Eight taels..."

……

The small conference room at the headquarters of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Lujiazui was filled with smoke.

“Young man, you know Alipay was only established last year. It’s too early to talk to us about third-party payments,” said Director Liu of the credit department, exhaling a smoke ring. “Besides, you haven’t even registered your company yet.”

Suning calmly opened the PowerPoint presentation: "Director Liu, Taobao's transaction volume was 34 million last year, and it is expected to exceed 100 million this year. Without electronic payment, how long can we rely on postal remittances?"

He clicked on the next page, which displayed a solution for integrating with the campus card system: "Shanghai International Studies University has agreed to try using UnionPay for tuition payments. If ICBC is willing to cooperate, this will be the first case of electronic payment in a university."

The conference room door suddenly opened, and a middle-aged man in a sharp suit walked in: "Xiao Su! I've reviewed the proposal; it's very forward-thinking."

"..." Su Ning pretended to be bewildered as he stood up to show his respect.

Director Liu immediately stood up: "President Zhang!"

President Zhang waved his hand and sat down: "But there are a few problems. First, the central bank's policy is still unclear; second, the cost of connecting the banking system..."

"The policy should be clear within three months," Suning said confidently. "As for system integration, I have already contacted the technical team from Alibaba in Hangzhou."

He handed over a document, saying, "This is a technical feasibility report from a professor in the Computer Science Department of Shanghai International Studies University."

"Yes, the preparations are indeed very thorough."

Two hours later, Suning walked out of the bank building, clutching the preliminary cooperation agreement. The autumn wind tousled his hair, taking away the composure and maturity he had displayed during the negotiations.

He excitedly pulled out his phone: "Dad! ICBC agreed! We... Hello?"

The phone rang with the sounds of cooking and Su Daqiang's booming voice: "What? Soy sauce? The restaurant has it!"

Suning hung up with a smile.

Over the years, Su Daqiang has become more and more like an ordinary father, no longer the cold-blooded instructor who trained him in combat.

As he turned around, he bumped into Mu Hongli coming out of the coffee shop next door, accompanied by a young man wearing Armani.

Women are never short of suitors. Once they have a lot of people praising them, they may even start to think of themselves as the most beautiful girl in school.

Mu Hongli felt particularly uncomfortable looking at the dashing Su Ning, thinking to herself, "She's the campus belle of Shanghai International Studies University! How can she be ignored like this?"

……

One month later, in an office building in Jing'an.

The bronze plaque of "Jiuzhoufang Network Technology Co., Ltd." gleamed in the morning light.

Su Ning stood in front of the conference table, facing more than a dozen energetic faces, including senior students from the Computer Science Department of Shanghai International Studies University, programmers who had left Alibaba, and even two returnees from studying in France.

"Today is the launch and testing of our 'UnionPay Pay' beta version." Suning clicked on the projector, "In addition to Ganweiju, the first batch of merchants to be connected includes 12 stores on Nanjing Road."

Technical Director Xiao Wang raised his hand: "President Su, Alipay has also been expanding into the university market recently..."

"Therefore, we focus on differentiation." Suning pulled up a map, "There are 72 universities in East China, and Shanghai International Studies University is just the starting point. The student population has three characteristics: they are quick to accept new things, have high consumption frequency, and have a strong sense of credit—perfect for electronic payment."

"clear?"

"In addition, our greatest asset as 'UnionPay Pay' is that it is backed by banks, which will definitely earn the trust of users."

"Yes, Mr. Su."

After the meeting, Qi Dongcao appeared at the office door without anyone noticing.

Today she wore jeans and flats, which is unusual for her, and she looked a few years younger than her actual age.

"Eight ounces? You've already secured deals with three banks so quickly?" She handed him a cup of coffee. "Even when Dad was starting his business, he didn't move this fast."

Suning took the coffee but didn't respond.

During this period, Qi Dongcao acted like a human intelligence station, constantly providing him with information about the Zhao family.

How Zhao Sanjin amassed his fortune, how Zhao Dabiao embezzled, and how unpopular Huang Fangfei and her son Zhao Yange were...

Although he said he wasn't interested, this information did help him avoid a lot of business risks.

The main reason is that Suning simply had no way to deal with Qi Dongcao, so they simply stopped paying attention to her.

"Here." Qi Dongcao handed over another file folder. "Information on Chen Hongxiong and the others! According to reliable sources, they've already taken notice of you."

Su Ning frowned: "I've said I don't want to get involved in the Zhao family's mess. My name is Su Ning, not Zhao Jiadi."

“But others don’t think that way! You need to know who wants to harm you! You can’t escape it, just like when you and Bajin were kidnapped nine years ago.” Qi Dongcao suddenly grabbed his wrist.

The office glass reflected the overlapping silhouettes of the two people.

Su Ning vaguely recalled the ponytail-wearing girl who protected him in his dream; she must have grown up by now.

However, Suning did not ask anything, because he felt that doing so would be pointless.

"Why did you help me?" he finally asked the question that had been lingering in his mind for a long time.

Qi Dongcao shook the jade bracelet and smiled bitterly: "Grandma said this is for the eldest grandson's wife."

"Strange! You're just going to give in to the Zhao family's demands like that?"

“I was adopted by my father when I was little. I met you when you were eight years old, and then you became my younger brother. Unfortunately, we only spent a year together before you were kidnapped and disappeared.”

"So you don't want to comply with the Zhao family's arrangements?"

"..."

"Why bother? I don't know your relationship with the Zhao family, but there's really no need to jeopardize your life."

"I don't regret it! I did it willingly."

"What a pity! I'm not that Zhao Jiadi. If I had you as my child bride, I would be overjoyed."

"you……"

"Qi Dongcao, stop bothering me! I don't know any of you at all."

“Ba Liang, you just have amnesia. Dad has already contacted the best neurosurgeon in the world for you, and he will definitely cure you.”

"Even if you invited a great immortal, it wouldn't help! Because I'm not sick at all, I'm really not Zhao Jiadi."

"..."

……

At the same time, at a private club in Tangshan.

Qi Fengnian pushed a stack of photos to Huang Yuyang across from him: "The evidence of Zhao Dabiao embezzling public funds to speculate in futures is enough to give him a hard time."

At this time, Huang Yuyang, the financial vice president of Jinhai Industrial and Zhao Sanjin's cousin, harbored resentment because he had been suppressed by Zhao Dabiao for many years.

He greedily flipped through the documents and asked, "Brother Qi, does President Zhao know about this?"

"Are you stupid?" Qi Fengnian sneered. "Zhao Sanjin is notoriously protective of his own. If you want to mess with his cousin, you'll have to make sure he can't take care of himself first."

He pushed another envelope over, "Take a look at this."

Huang Yuyang pulled out the photo and almost jumped up in shock: "This, this is... Zhao Balang? Wasn't he missing?"

"He's alive and well, currently attending university in Shanghai." Qi Fengnian's one eye gleamed. "Tell me, how would Zhao Sanjin feel if he knew his son had been kidnapped again?"

Huang Yuyang suddenly realized: "He'll go crazy! He won't care about Zhao Dabiao's affairs at all!"

"clever."

As the two clinked glasses, a waiter came in to refill their tea.

Outside the club, Chen Hongxiong took off his waiter uniform and dialed a phone: "Mr. Nalan, the fish has taken the bait."

He gazed at the Zhao Group building in the distance, a cruel smile curving his lips. "It's time to close the net."

As night fell, dark clouds covered the skies over both Shanghai and Tangshan.

Suning stood in front of the company's floor-to-ceiling windows, watching the lights on the Bund gradually illuminate.

The first-day test data of "UnionPay Pay" far exceeded expectations, but he felt inexplicably uneasy, as if it were the calm before a storm.

On the desk, the documents for Chen Hongxiong left by Qi Dongcao were blown away by the wind.

The last page reads: Chen Hongxiong, an enemy lurking in the shadows, and Zhao Jiadi's greatest rival, is extremely cunning and has plotted against Zhao Jiadi multiple times. His background is terrifying; the Chen family is a rapidly rising family that emerged in the 1980s, and the father's status as a ministerial-level official is evident from the description of him riding in an Audi with the license plate starting with "京A8" (Beijing A8).

Nalan Changsheng, the "strategist" of the Chen family, known as Prince Nalan by people in Northeast China, is resourceful and intelligent, but in reality, he was the mastermind behind the kidnapping case nine years ago...

"Nalan Changsheng? So you were the mastermind behind it all."

...(End of chapter)