My stepmother forced me to donate bone marrow, so I retaliated by slapping my scumbag father in the

Shen Jianjun panicked completely.

He strode forward and blocked Tao Peng's path: "President Tao, please give me another chance."

"We can change venues, but not here. Let's go to another hotel."

"If you don't want the hassle, you can come to my house to talk, and I'll have someone arrange it right away."

"I have been preparing for the Chengxi New Area project for several months. The supply chain, production capacity, capital calculation, and risk model are all ready."

"Just one look and you'll see the value of Jianjun Group!"

His voice grew increasingly urgent, and sweat streamed down his forehead and temples.

This is no ordinary collaboration; it's an opportunity that could propel his net worth to the 500 billion level.

To prepare for this day, he ran around building relationships, met with investors, developed plans, and pushed projects forward. He barely slept a wink for months.

All the top executives of Jianjun Group are waiting for tonight's results.

If Tao Peng gives his approval, the entire business district of Shanghai will know tomorrow that Jianjun Group has partnered with Shenghe Fund.

But now, everything is about to end in this private room.

Shen Jianjun couldn't accept it, and neither could Sun Mei.

For this collaboration, she accompanied Shen Jianjun everywhere, pulling strings, meeting people, and smiling obsequiously. Even when Shen Cong was seriously ill and bedridden, she couldn't stay by his side every day.

She was preoccupied with the idea that once the project was completed, the Shen family would truly enter the top echelons of society.

At that time, Shen Ze's assets will be nothing compared to the Shen family's.

But now, as she watched Tao Peng get up, she felt as if a piece of her heart had been ripped out.

"No, Mr. Tao, you can't just leave like this!"

Sun Mei rushed forward, her voice trembling, "Tonight was truly an accident; it was all Shen Ze's deliberate sabotage!"

"He just can't stand to see the Shen family doing well!"

"Don't be fooled by his words; Jianjun Group's strength is real!"

Looking at the two disheveled individuals, Tao Peng's face showed only disappointment: "President Shen, Ms. Sun."

"From the moment I entered tonight until now, I haven't seen the strength of the Jianjun Group."

"It's chaos, it's out of control, it's boundless personal grudges."

"If you can't even handle a simple banquet, how can I believe you can manage a cooperation worth hundreds of billions?"

Shen Jianjun's lips trembled: "President Tao..."

Tao Peng didn't give him another chance to speak, his voice turning cold: "Whether it's your character or your ability to handle things, it's hard for me to trust you."

After saying that, he left the private room.

After Tao Peng left the private room, Shen Jianjun felt as if all his strength had been drained.

He stood there, motionless for a long time.

The sound of that door closing wasn't loud, but to his ears, it felt like it had completely blocked the most crucial path for the Jianjun Group.

He spent three whole months working on this collaboration.

He put on countless smiling faces for Qiming Capital.

He used countless connections with Shenghe Fund.

He personally oversaw the team revise the materials for the Chengxi New District project more than twenty times.

He had thought that tonight's dinner would be the starting point for Jianjun Group to break into the top circle of wealthy people in the country.

As long as Tao Peng nods in approval, the multi-billion dollar cooperation will be finalized, and his net worth will skyrocket.

The figure is around 500 billion.

That was a level of excitement he used to suppress even in his dreams.

But now, it's all gone.

It wasn't snatched away by competitors, it wasn't blocked by policies, and it wasn't a problem with the project itself.

Instead, Shen Ze personally snapped it in front of Tao Peng.

Sun Mei stood to the side, her face even more unpleasant than Shen Jianjun's.

Her carefully applied makeup was already ruined, and the lipstick on her lips was bitten and smudged.

She stared at the untouched tableware and the banquet that hadn't even been set out yet, her fingers clenching until they turned white.

"That's all..."

Sun Mei's voice trembled, "Jianjun, is he really gone?"

Shen Jianjun didn't answer. He didn't want to admit it, but the facts were already laid bare.

Tao Peng left, and the cooperation ended.

In that private room, he lost all face and his chance to turn things around.

Sun Mei suddenly turned to look at Shen Ze, her voice shrill: "Shen Ze, are you satisfied now?"

"Are you satisfied now?"

"You ruined Jianjun Group's most important cooperation and destroyed your father's three months of hard work!"

How could you be so cruel?

Mr. Chen stood to the side, his face tense.

Zhao Jie and several other hotel executives dared not utter a sound; they could all see that Sun Mei had lost control.

But Shen Ze just stood there, calm, as if watching a farce that had nothing to do with him.

Shen Jianjun finally raised his head.

He looked at Shen Ze, his voice hoarse: "Shen Ze, do you know what this cooperation means for Jianjun Group?"

Shen Ze looked at him and said, "I know."

Shen Jianjun's chest heaved slightly: "You knew and you still did it?"

"I spent three months working on this collaboration."

"I meet with several groups of people every day, and I have to keep going even if I drink until I have a stomach hemorrhage. I'm still revising plans at two or three in the morning."

"Qiming Capital, Shenghe Fund, and Chengxi New District—I've put a lot of effort into each of these areas."

"You ruined it all with just one sentence and a whole farce."

As he finished speaking, his voice betrayed his despair: "Shen Ze, what exactly do you want me to do?"

After those words were spoken, everyone in the private room fell silent.

President Chen glanced at Shen Ze, and his heart tightened a little.

People of Shen Jianjun's stature seem to have aged ten years in an instant.

If it were just a typical father-son conflict, seeing this scene might actually soften one's heart.

But Shen Ze didn't.

He found Shen Jianjun's words laughable.

"You've been running for three months?"

Shen Ze slowly asked, "Is it very tiring?"

Shen Jianjun was taken aback: "What did you say?"

Shen Ze looked at him, his voice not loud, but it silenced the entire private room.

"They travel in luxury cars to meet people, stay in five-star hotels, drink wine that costs hundreds of thousands of yuan a bottle, and are always accompanied by secretaries and drivers."

"Someone is responsible for developing the plans, someone is responsible for compiling the data, and someone is responsible for making the connections."

"What you call hardship is nothing more than running around in a life of luxury."

Shen Jianjun's face froze.

Sun Mei retorted angrily, "You make it sound so easy! Do you think doing business is easy?"

Shen Ze turned to look at her: "Then do you know what real suffering is?"

Sun Mei's heart skipped a beat under his gaze, but she still gritted her teeth: "Stop pretending to be pitiful!"

Shen Ze's voice turned cold: "After my mother was forced away by you, she took me to live in the most dilapidated building in Anpingli."

"The windows let in drafts in winter, so I have to wear a coat to bed at night."

"In summer, the hallways smell terrible, and rats can run from the kitchen to under the bed."

"When I was in elementary school, we couldn't afford the tuition. My mom washed dishes at a restaurant during the day and sewed clothes for others at night."

"Her back hurt so much that she couldn't straighten up, yet she still had to go to the vegetable market at four in the morning to pick up discarded vegetable leaves."

"I couldn't afford tutoring fees in junior high, so she secretly went to collect recyclables. Her hand was cut by glass, and blood flowed all the way."

No one spoke in the private room.

Zhao Jie felt a chill run down his spine.

He was used to seeing the respectability of the wealthy in Caesar, but rarely heard of such a miserable life trampled by respectable people.

Shen Ze continued, "Sometimes my mom would only eat one steamed bun a day and save the money to buy me books."

"When she was at her worst, she told me, 'Don't blame your dad, he probably has his own difficulties.'"

"But before she died, all she wanted was to see you one last time."

"Shen Jianjun, have you arrived?"