The young lady hired me to help her and the young master have an online romance.

The first day after the breakup.

A classroom at Harvard Business School in Boston.

The professor stood on the podium, flipping through the PowerPoint presentation, while densely packed financial statement data scrolled across the whiteboard.

Shang Shixu sat back in his chair, textbooks spread out in front of him, and pen twirling in his hand.

The professor asked a question, and someone raised their hand to answer, their voice echoing in the classroom.

Shang Shixu's gaze fell out the window.

Scenes from yesterday flashed through my mind.

"Shang Shixu?" The professor's voice came from the front row, and Shang Shixu snapped out of his daze.

"What do you think about this problem?" The professor pointed to a report on the whiteboard, and all the students' eyes were on him.

Shang Shixu glanced at the whiteboard; it was a cash flow analysis question related to an acquisition.

His casual reply—

"The cash flow on the books looks ample, but 35% of it is the renewal of short-term financing that has matured, and the actual free cash flow that can be used for acquisitions is only 40% of the figures on the financial statements."

After answering, he turned his head and continued to look out the window.

The professor paused, adjusted his glasses, nodded, and said, "Absolutely correct."

After saying that, he continued the lecture.

……

The bell rang to signal the end of get out of class.

Shang Shixu did not get up, but continued to sit in his seat.

Pei Heyun, being his good brother, naturally noticed his unusual behavior.

Instead of asking directly, he patted Shang Shixu on the shoulder and said, "Brother Xu, let's go play basketball?"

"I'm not going."

"Shooting? That new gun you mentioned wanting to practice with has arrived. Shall I go with you to try it out?"

"I'm not going."

"How about swimming? You said the new swimming pool on Birkenstock Street was pretty good, shall we—"

"I'm not going."

Pei Heyun's words were cut off halfway.

He looked at Shang Shixu's face, a face that was usually aloof and unapproachable, but now it was even more so.

Pei Heyun hesitated for two seconds, then lowered his voice, "Did you... have a fight with Gu Manning?"

"Snapped!"

Shang Shixu closed his textbook and said coldly.

"We broke up."

"what?"

Pei Heyun was greatly surprised!

Several questions flashed through my mind in an instant—

When did this happen?

Why?

Who suggested it?

He picked out the question he most wanted to ask from the three.

"Why?"

Shang Shixu's tone was extremely cold and hard. "She said it's inappropriate."

"That's such a flimsy excuse!" Pei Heyun blurted out, then immediately covered his mouth.

Shang Shixu glanced at him coldly, picked up his bag, and left.

Pei Heyun stood there, frowning and muttering to himself.

"Not suitable?"

"How could this happen?"

......

It was past midnight.

Shang Shixu leaned against the headboard, holding her phone up to her eyes, the screen displaying her pinned Facebook chat.

One by one, messages from the past came into view.

After reviewing the past chat history, Shang Shixu scrolled the progress bar to the bottom.

Their final conversation—

Lie: [You'll regret this]

Nice Rabbit Squid: [Mmm, I definitely won't regret it]

Night was falling outside the window, and the fog over the Charles River was thick.

Shang Shixu stared at the screen for a long time until the fog outside had cleared considerably.

He opened his contacts, found Di Wenjun's number, and dialed it.

The phone rang three or four times before it connected.

Di Wenjun: "Feed?"

"Help me investigate something."

"Investigate what?"

"Gu Manning".

"Investigate whether she has recently had any related property transactions with her father."

Di Wenjun asked with a puzzled tone, "What happened between you and her?"

"We broke up."

Di Wenjun remained silent for a moment.

Knowing that Shang Shixu was in a bad mood, he wisely refrained from asking further questions.

"Okay, I'll go check it out now."

I'll let you know when I have news.

*

Haicheng, S University cafeteria.

Jiang Wan and Zhou Feiyan carried their trays and found seats by the window.

Sunlight streamed in through the glass window, landing perfectly on the plate in front of Jiang Wan, making the sweet and sour pork ribs shine.

Zhou Feiyan picked up a piece of braised pork and stuffed it into her mouth, vaguely recounting the details of Wang Yurong and her boyfriend living together.

As Jiang Wan listened, she took out her phone and took a picture of the plate.

I opened Facebook, instinctively preparing to send it to Shang Shixu.

My finger hovered over the chat box, and I suddenly realized that the task was over.

She no longer needs to share her life with him.

A sense of loss welled up within me.

"Wanwan?"

Zhou Feiyan's voice pulled her out of her daze.

Jiang Wan looked up at her. "What's wrong?"

What were you filming just now?

"It's nothing."

Jiang Wan turned off her phone and put it down, then picked up her chopsticks and took a bite of the sweet and sour pork ribs.

The sweet and sour taste stimulated my taste buds, suppressing the discomfort in my heart.

*

The day after the breakup, at 8 a.m. in Boston.

When Di Wenjun sent the message, Shang Shixu had just entered the classroom.

He clicked on it, and it was a screenshot of a document.

The equity transfer agreement of Gu's Group stipulates that the transferor is Gu Jianping and the transferee is Gu Manning, with 20% of the shares being transferred.

The contract was signed on April 13th and will take effect on April 16th.

Shang Shixu looked at the line of text, a mocking smile curving his lips.

They officially became a couple on April 3rd.

She broke up with me on April 13th.

From the start of their relationship to their breakup, it only took ten days.

She broke up with him less than 24 hours after signing the share transfer agreement.

Oh.

They're too lazy to even pretend anymore.

Shang Shixu recalled the words she had once said.

She said, "At first, pragmatism took precedence, but later emotions prevailed."

Now it seems her subtext was: she wanted to break up with him after she got the shares.

She didn't "fall in love later," she just kept it hidden even deeper.

Countless greetings, every shared moment of life, and even every emoji were all part of the plan.

She succeeded.

She used his influence to acquire shares in the family business, and then decisively withdrew from his side.

It took three months.

He had to admit, he admired her to some extent.

They only wanted to secure their own property and didn't want to get any more benefits from him.

She was able to control her greed and shower him with sweet words for so long, yet in the end, she wasn't moved at all.

Is her blood cold?

Shang Shixu felt as if his body had been pierced by countless holes, with cold wind whistling through them.

Anyone who dares to toy with his feelings must bear the corresponding consequences.

He opened his phone and looked again at the effective date of the share transfer—

4 month 16 number.

Tomorrow is the last day.

Shang Shixu pulled out Gu Jianping's phone number and dialed it without hesitation.

The phone rang twice before being answered.

"Hello, who is it?"

The middle-aged man spoke in a cold tone.

"Shang Shi Xu" (商時序).

There was a two-second silence on the other end, then the cold tone suddenly became warm.

"Oh, it's Mr. Shang! Hello, hello, what can I do for you?"

Shang Shixu was too lazy to beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

"Regarding the transfer of Gu Manning's 20% stake, I suggest you withdraw it immediately."

"what?"

Gu Jianping was stunned. After a couple of seconds, he asked, "Mr. Shang, may I ask why?"

Shang Shixu said in a cold tone, "Your daughter wants to break up with me."

"No, to be precise, they've already broken up."

Gu Jianping remained silent.

As a seasoned veteran in the business world, the other party's words at this point no longer required further explanation.

The meaning of the Shang time sequence is very clear—

Your daughter is with me only to get shares.

I'm really unhappy right now.

Anything obtained in my name must be with my consent.

Gu Jianping's face was grim, and his tone was serious.

"Don't worry, Mr. Shang, I'll take care of the share transfer right away."