I started as a spirited young man, and the system made me a male god.

Chen Fei met Jiang Che's gaze, his Adam's apple bobbing.

In the silence, only his own breathing sounded somewhat heavy.

The silence lasted a while.

Jiang Che's fingertips dug into his palms, his face expressionless, but his jawline tightened even more, as if he was resisting some kind of pressure.

But her gaze didn't leave him; it was fixed on him, even carrying a hint of impatience, as if to say: Hurry up, don't dawdle.

Finally, Chen Fei's shoulders slumped slightly, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

"OK."

In short, it's straightforward.

Jiang Che's eyelashes fluttered slightly as she softly confirmed, "Merged companies? Or... everything?"

He made his point very clear, a habit Jiang Che maintained in the business world, leaving no room for ambiguity and forcing him to take a stand.

"Yes, all of them," Chen Feiying answered just as readily. "We'll work together within the company. Let's give it a try ourselves."

The clouds in the sky were just blown away by the wind, and the light of the setting sun shone into the room again.

Chen Fei reached out and touched her forehead again.

The movements were neither fast nor slow; his fingers first touched her temples before his entire palm covered them.

"You still have a bit of a fever." Chen Fei sighed. "Don't push yourself so hard next time, I'll be here for you."

Jiang Che didn't move, letting his hand stay on hers. She simply raised an eyebrow and said nonchalantly, "You won't die."

Just as Chen Fei was about to say something more, his phone, which was lying on the bed, vibrated at an inopportune moment. The screen lit up and a video call invitation from "Shen Shaoting" popped up.

Jiang Che also saw the name on the screen, and gestured with his chin toward the phone, indicating that he should answer.

Chen Fei picked up the phone, answered the call, and switched to the front-facing camera.

"Brother Fei!" Shen Shaoting's energetic face immediately filled the screen. The background seemed to indicate she was already home; her hair was wet, suggesting she had just taken a shower. "What are you doing? Give me a report on the battle!"

She winked and her gossipy nature was almost overflowing.

"There's no battle going on, just a business trip," Chen Fei said, slightly tilting the camera away from Jiang Che. "Where's Lin Jingyi?"

Without Lin Jingyi around, Chen Fei was a little worried that Shen Shaoting might say something inappropriate.

Although I agreed to be with Jiang Che, it would be better to talk about such a sensitive matter in person.

"Jingyi went to take a shower!" Shen Shaoting said with a grin. "By the way, are you sleeping separately now, or—hmm?"

Chen Fei's forehead twitched; he knew this girl was up to no good. "Of course we'll sleep separately. What are you thinking? The sofa in the living room is big enough."

"Oh?" Shen Shaoting clearly didn't believe her, and continued to ask slyly, "Then... is Sister Jiang next to you now?"

Just as Chen Fei was about to casually say, "She's here," he caught a glimpse of Jiang Che making a "shh" gesture at him out of the corner of his eye.

Clearly, she was also very interested in what Shen Shaoting was going to say.

Chen Fei could only swallow back the words that were on the tip of his tongue and changed his answer to, "No, she's working outside."

As he said this, he felt his expression might have been a little unnatural, but fortunately, the oblivious Shen Shaoting didn't notice. Instead, she breathed a sigh of relief: "Phew, that's good! You scared me; I thought I was going to be broadcasting live!"

Immediately, her little mouth started chattering uncontrollably.

"Brother Fei, I'm not saying this to be mean, but Jiang Che's work ability is undeniable, but he's such a coward in this area! Look at me and Jingyi, it all came together so naturally!"

I have a feeling she's definitely interested in you. You two were alone together in a room, and not a single spark flew? You're nowhere near as good as me—"

"Shao Ting." A clear, smiling female voice suddenly came from next to Chen Fei's phone receiver.

On the screen, Shen Shaoting froze instantly, her eyes wide open, her mouth still forming the shape of the word "far," as if she had been put on pause.

She clearly recognized whose voice it was.

Immediately afterwards, in Shen Shaoting's eyes, she saw the camera on Chen Fei's side suddenly shake, and then another face forcefully squeezed into the frame—it was Jiang Che!

She leaned right in from the side, extremely close: "Are you praising me? What did you say about me again? A coward?"

Jiang Che smiled at the camera and asked in a gentle tone, but every word was like a knife.

"Sister Jiang?! What are you doing here... I... I didn't... How could this be! I was praising you for being so wise and capable, so beautiful and kind-hearted! Hehe, hehehe..."

Shen Shaoting was incoherent, her face flushed red to her ears, wishing she could disappear into the ground, and could only laugh awkwardly as she tried to make amends.

Jiang Che laughed even more happily. She stopped looking at Shen Shaoting, who was frozen in place on the screen, and suddenly turned her head to look directly at Chen Fei, who was standing right in front of her.

Chen Fei hadn't fully recovered from this sudden turn of events when he saw a provocative glint in Jiang Che's eyes.

The next second, under Shen Shaoting's astonished gaze that almost burst through the screen, Jiang Che suddenly grabbed Chen Fei's shirt and pulled him towards himself!

At the same time, she tilted her head back and kissed Chen Fei precisely and deeply!

"Ugh!" Chen Fei was caught off guard and let out a short groan, almost dropping his phone.

The camera shook violently, and the scene spun around, but you could still vaguely see the close profiles of the two people and Jiang Che's domineering posture that left no room for refusal.

The kiss was brief yet incredibly impactful, crashing onto the screen and completely shutting down Shen Shaoting's brain.

Instantly separate.

Jiang Che loosened Chen Fei's collar, slightly out of breath, his cheeks flushed, and a smile of triumph on his face.

She looked back at her phone screen, at Shen Shaoting who was completely stunned, and gently licked her lower lip:

"Now, do you still think I'm a coward, Shaoting?"

On the other side of the screen, there was a deathly silence.

Then, with a "beep," the video call was abruptly ended by the other party.

The bedroom was instantly filled only with the sound of their slightly disordered breathing.

Chen Fei held up his phone; the screen had gone dark, but he could still almost see Shen Shaoting's face, so shocked she seemed to have lost her soul.

He slowly turned his head and looked at the culprit.

Jiang Che had already leaned back on the pillow, her face still flushed and her chest rising and falling slightly, but her eyes were staring back at him without any attempt to hide it.

Chen Fei put down his phone, didn't say anything, and suddenly moved.

Instead of speaking, he leaned in close enough to see his own reflection clearly in Jiang Che's eyes.

"Jiang Che," Chen Fei began, his tone as calm as the calm before a storm, "after stirring up trouble, you have to take responsibility."

His gaze lingered on her moist lips for a moment, then he reached out and slowly moved his hand down.

Just as his hand was getting closer and closer to that mysterious area, Jiang Che suddenly spoke up: "I'm still sick, I'm dizzy."

Chen Fei paused, hovering there.

Whether it was genuine or intentional, Jiang Che, who was extremely assertive just a second ago, suddenly showed a tired expression the next: "Let me rest... I'm so tired."

Looking at the burning desire in Chen Fei's eyes that he couldn't extinguish, she whispered the last two words: "Honey, maybe next time."

Chen Fei stared at her, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, the warm breath brushing against her skin.

This woman...

It's a completely different approach from Shen Shaoting and Lin Jingyi.

She didn't even bother with roundabout tactics or testing the waters; she just arrogantly pinned Chen Fei down there.

"Okay, the patient comes first." Chen Fei gritted his teeth, stood up, and walked towards the bedroom door. "You rest first, I'm going to the gym to work out."

The setting sun shone on Jiang Che's face again. She was still lying there, her cheeks flushed and her chest rising and falling slightly, but the fire in her eyes seemed to burn even brighter.

She was curious to see how far Chen Fei would eventually be driven if things continued like this, and whether he would become even more insane towards her.

This can be considered a small tactic in business negotiations—first suppressing then elevating.