Old Mrs. Song is reborn; get out of here, you scumbag husband and illegitimate child!

The Peninsula Hotel's restaurant.

As Fu Qingnian stepped out of the elevator, four bodyguards in black suits stood at the door of the private room, their gazes sweeping over him like blades.

He tugged at his collar and pushed open the door to the private room.

Across from me sat a man in his fifties, his hair neatly combed, his dark gray suit with subtle patterns perfectly tailored. Half of his shirt cuffs peeked out, and a pair of solid gold cufflinks inlaid with black onyx reflected a cold light under the lamp.

Shi Changrong held a wooden pipe in his hand.

He kept his head down, slowly and deliberately filling his cigarette with tobacco.

Fu Qingnian stood at the door, and no one invited him to sit down.

The crackling sound of a match being struck was particularly loud in the quiet private room. Shi Changrong lit his pipe, took a drag, and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.

"You are Fu Qingnian."

His voice was deep and resonant, carrying the imposing quality that came from years of issuing commands.

"That's me." Fu Qingnian stopped, his gaze sweeping over the other person. "And you are?"

"Yao Hong's father." Shi Changrong's gaze swept over Fu Qingnian from top to bottom.

It's like looking at a worthless item.

Yao Hong was not lying.

Her biological father, who had been so remorseful and indulgent towards her, had truly returned.

"Hello, Uncle." Fu Qingnian immediately put on a familiar smile. "Honghong always talks about you to me. I'm so glad to finally meet you today."

Shi Changrong fiddled with the pipe in his hand and gently tapped it twice on the edge of the blue and white porcelain ashtray.

Name your price.

Fu Qingnian's smile froze.

He didn't understand.

"How much money would it take for you to leave her?" Shi Changrong leaned back in his chair. "My time is very valuable. It wouldn't matter if Honghong just played around with you. But she's so love-struck that she wants to marry you, and that's something I can't accept."

Fu Qingnian's mind raced.

The old man got straight to the point, not giving him a chance to beat around the bush.

Under the table.

Fu Qingnian's hands tightened slightly.

"Uncle, you may have misunderstood me. I truly love Honghong. Feelings cannot be measured by money."

Shi Changrong chuckled.

"sincere?"

Shi Changrong, with his pipe between his fingers, pointed at him and said, "I just kicked her ex-husband out of the picture a couple of days ago. I thought she'd learned her lesson after the divorce. Turns out her taste in men is still terrible."

My ex-husband got kicked out?

Fu Qingnian's heart skipped a beat.

The old man returned to China and, within a few days, turned Yao Hong's husband into her ex-husband.

The methods were tough enough.

"Uncle, I'm not like her ex-husband," Fu Qingnian tried his best to explain. "I didn't want anything from her. I felt sorry for what she went through and wanted to take care of her for the rest of her life."

Shi Changrong interrupted him without hesitation.

"Trying to get rich by living off a woman. I've seen this kind of thing countless times." Shi Changrong's eyes were unusually cold. "Isn't it just that you think the pocket money she dangles out of her hands is more than you could earn in ten years of hard work?"

When someone pointed out his sore spot to his face, Fu Qingnian's face instantly turned red.

"No, I'm not. I'm a top student from Peking University, and I also have experience studying abroad. I can do a great job no matter which company I apply to."

"So what? Can you compare to my daughter? I just acquired several hundred acres of land in Haishi." Shi Changrong exhaled a smoke ring. "All the business in the country will be handed over to her from now on. In my eyes, your degree from Peking University is worthless."

Fu Qingnian's Adam's apple bobbed forcefully.

Several hundred acres of land.

All businesses within the country.

These two pieces of information exploded in his mind like thunder.

The piece of meat was so big that it made his blood boil.

"My daughter is no stranger to second marriages," Shi Changrong said with a sneer. "Even if she were to be married twelve times, the line of men wanting to marry her would stretch from here to the Huangpu River. A few scraps she leaves behind would be enough for someone like you to live on for generations."

Shi Changrong shook his head.

His tone was tinged with a mixture of disappointment and indulgence. "It's a pity, my daughter is just a hopeless romantic."

Hearing the words "love-obsessed".

Fu Qingnian's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down.

As long as Yao Hong follows him wholeheartedly, no matter how rich the old man is, he will eventually have to compromise.

For example, Yao Hong's ex-husband.

Fu Qingnian straightened his chest. "I admit that my current financial situation is not as good as yours. But I am not useless. I am a top student who graduated from Peking University; I have brains and abilities."

Fu Qingnian tried to regain his pride.

"You can't just look at the present. Go back ten or twenty years, everyone was living pretty much the same life, and no one was any more noble than anyone else. Give me time, and I'm confident I can make something of myself and give you an explanation."

Shi Changrong burst into laughter.

"Young people," Shi Changrong said, his smile fading, "you're just fooling yourselves with that kind of talk. Did you think everyone was doing pretty much the same thing a decade or two ago? Do you think just because everyone rides a bicycle, it means everyone's the same?"

Fu Qingnian gritted his teeth and remained silent.

"Ten years ago, some people couldn't afford meat even once a month. Others could feed their dogs the best pork." Shi Changrong's tone was filled with absolute class contempt. "No matter the era, there are always social classes you can't reach. Your so-called high level of education is nothing to me."

"While you were riding your bike, someone was already riding in a car."

"Yao Hong is my daughter. Even if she's an illegitimate child, she's still my bloodline," Shi Changrong said, each word dripping with conviction. "You're not good enough for her."

Illegitimate daughter.

These three words completely dispelled Fu Qingnian's last doubts.

No wonder Yao Hong can't speak English and has always stayed in China, while her father lives abroad.

Shi Changrong took out a checkbook from the inside pocket of his suit.

I unscrewed the gold pen and scribbled a string of numbers.

Tear it off, hold it between two fingers, and push it to the edge of the table.

"This money is enough for you to buy several nice apartments in Haishi." Shi Changrong leaned back in his chair. "Take the money and get out of her life. Don't let me see you again."

Fu Qingnian's gaze was uncontrollably fixed on the check.

Five followed by five zeros.

Five hundred thousand.

To say I wasn't tempted would be a lie.

With this 500,000, he can immediately dominate the stock market again.

But he immediately thought of those hundreds of acres of land and the vast domestic industry.

If he takes the 500,000 now, he will forever lose the inheritance rights to those hundreds of acres of land.

He would never do something like picking up a sesame seed while losing a watermelon.

Fu Qingnian suddenly laughed.

He reached out and pushed the check back.

"Uncle, please take the check back. Don't try to insult me ​​with money. My feelings for Honghong cannot be bought with money."

Shi Changrong raised his eyebrows.

"Free of charge?"

"Yes." Fu Qingnian stood up straight. "I will not leave her."

Shi Changrong snorted coldly.

"She has backbone." Shi Changrong put the check back into his pocket. "Her ex-husband had the same backbone as you back then. He kept saying he could withstand the test and that he didn't want money, just her."

"It's a pity that I supported him in his business, but he actually cheated on me. And not only that, he even fathered an illegitimate child."

"My daughter suffered hardships outside from a young age. After coming back to me, she got used to spending money extravagantly." Shi Changrong slowly cleaned his pipe. "Since you don't want money, we'll see. I'll see if you can hold out for long."

Shi Changrong stood up.

"I'll cut off all her financial resources. I'll confiscate her cards and shut down all her cash flow." Shi Changrong looked down at Fu Qingnian. "I want to see if you can still stick together with her without money."

Shi Changrong didn't look at him again and walked towards the door.

The bodyguard immediately opened the door for him.

"Young man," Shi Changrong stopped at the door, "Don't overestimate yourself, but don't underestimate reality either."

The door slammed shut.

Fu Qingnian stood there, his tense shoulders suddenly slumped.

He loosened his tie and gasped for breath.

Cut off economic resources?

Test him?

Fu Qingnian's lips curled into a cold, triumphant smile. If he could just get through this period of financial hardship, the entire domestic industry would be his. He refused to believe he couldn't win over the heart of a woman starved for love.