My father's inheritance is my mortal enemy.

Li Bo began working on the company merger, but the Li family did a lot of things to trip him up. Zhi Huai was relatively well-behaved, though there were constant minor squabbles. Zhou Qian even visited him personally, but was interrupted by Wan Zhong's unexpected arrival.

Zhou Qian was surprised by Wan Gong's arrival and protection.

Zhou Qian simply smiled. "When Master Wan was protecting this ingrate, did he ever think about Yan Shao?"

Wan Zhong laughed heartily: "Zhou Qian, it's not up to you, a junior, to tell me what to do."

Zhou Qian's face stiffened. He knew perfectly well that Wan Zhong doted on Zhou Yanshao and would never allow him to suffer any injustice. Wan Zhong probably wanted to "monopolize" power and wait until Li Bo merged Zhihuai and Qianyuan into a large group before taking action to seize Li Bo's power.

This way, Zhou Yanshao could finally vent his anger and reap all the benefits.

"Master Wan, it's up to each of you to rely on your own abilities."

"We'll be waiting."

Zhou Qian left, and Wan Zhong sat motionless on the sofa. After the door closed, Li Bo poured Wan Zhong a glass of water: "Thank you for your hard work, Wan Zhong."

Wan Zhong looked at Li Bo's water, knowing exactly what had caused Li Yao's illness. He didn't drink it, got up, and left. Before leaving, he turned back to look at Li Bo: "I hope you keep your word."

Li Bo stared at the water on the coffee table, a faint sadness in his eyes: "Well, could you do me a favor as well?"

"What?"

……

When Wan Gong left, his brows were furrowed. He had a new perspective on Li Bo: he didn't quite understand this young man.

But having lived to this age, he only cares about the outcome. Zhou Yanshao's outcome was good, so nothing else mattered.

Li Bo drank the water on the table and went to Qianyuan Capital at noon.

The busy work continued for more than half a year, and finally, under Li Bo's persistent efforts, the two companies embarked on the path of merger. Of course, it was only preliminary, but no one expected that one day in early June, Li Yao would run away—

Li Yao didn't know when he woke up. The caregiver said that when she went to the ward this morning, Li Yao was no longer there.

Li Bo's face was pale. After calming down, he thought that Li Yao's failure to return to the Li family meant that something unexpected had happened when he left the hospital. For example, his body might not have recovered immediately and he might have fainted, or he might have gone into hiding and was afraid to easily go to his former subordinates.

Rather than being passive, Li Bo preferred to take the initiative. He preemptively announced that Li Yao had developed a mental illness and had run away from the hospital. He was very worried and hoped that someone could find Li Yao and send him to Zhihuai or Qianyuan Capital, or even to the police station, promising a large reward.

Li Yao is a smart man; it's impossible for him to appear in the public eye at this critical juncture.

Li Bo sent men to keep a close watch on Li Yao's former subordinates, searching extensively throughout the capital for over a month, but still without any news. Suddenly, he thought of a place that had been easily overlooked—

The Li family's old house.

The drama of hiding the truth from the person in charge has reached its limit.

Li Bo returned to the Li family's old house.

That night, a massive fire broke out at the Li family's old house.

The Li family's old house was located in the suburbs, not near any water source. Someone saw the firelight, which looked like it was on the horizon, and called the police, who then dispatched many fire trucks.

The fire had just been extinguished when the wind blew it back up, and this went on for a whole day, until the Li family's old house was almost completely burned down.

Li Bo and Li Yao also died in the fire.

Some people in the capital lamented that Li Bo deserved his fate; human greed is insatiable, and he was too greedy—it was a case of evil people getting their just desserts.

Some have speculated that this was the end of a power struggle, and Li Bo probably never imagined that he would die in a fire at the height of his power.

Some people lamented that Li Bo, a promising young man, passed away before he could get married and have children.

Li Bo's death has made the Zhou and Li families eyeing the company covetously, with the Li family wanting to take over the huge conglomerate in the name of Li Bo's clan.

Finally, Wan Gong appeared.

The conference lasted for three hours, and the result was that Wan Gong took over the group.

Nobody knows why.

The entire capital was praising Lord Wan's swift and decisive actions.

The day after Li Bo and Li Yao passed away, the Li family ancestral hall changed Li Bo's name to Li Yi'an and buried him in the Li family ancestral tomb.

Lin Yi'an has finally found a place to belong.

Li Bo completed the three tasks assigned by Zhou Huiyuan.

No one knows that a memory was rekindled in that raging fire.

Li Bo seemed to see Zhou Yanshao looking at him angrily.

"Li Bo, can you choose me next time? You've never chosen me before!"

"If you never choose me, I'll be disappointed, I'll be sad, and I'll give up too, do you know that?"

Li Bo said he knew.

Li Bo said he would choose Zhou Yanshao next time.

In fact, Li Bo had chosen Zhou Yanshao a long time ago.

Zhou Yanshao is Li Bo's only option.

The year Li Bo graduated from high school, before filling out his college application, he found a part-time job and rented a very small, run-down house. He didn't feel it was hard work at all; he wanted to save some money, wanted to run away, wanted to escape from Beijing.

Perhaps his desire to leave was too strong, because at such a crucial moment, Li Bo developed a high fever that wouldn't go down. In his delirium, someone picked him up from the bed and took him to the hospital.

When Li Bo regained consciousness, he was already lying in the hospital.

Zhou Yanshao sat down beside him: "Awake?"

"...Hmm." Seeing Zhou Yanshao at this moment, Li Bo felt a mix of emotions, and inexplicably felt a little guilty.

Seeing that Li Bo was trying to get up, Zhou Yanshao stood up and supported Li Bo's head with his hand. Li Bo was too weak to stand up and relied on Zhou Yanshao's gentle support.

Zhou Yanshao picked up a pillow to support Li Bo's back and helped him sit up.

Sun Shengyang brought over some porridge. "Li Bo is awake! You have no idea how worried Shao Ge was about you. He went to great lengths to find you! How come you disappeared right after the college entrance exam? You vanished into thin air! We couldn't find you at the Li family's house either, and you don't even have a cell phone..."

Zhou Yanshao shooed Sun Shengyang away: "Alright, you can go ahead and get busy."

Sun Shengyang scratched his head: "My family needs to see me, I need to go back."

Li Bo: "Okay."

Zhou Yanshao opened the porridge container. "Open your mouth."

Li Bo obediently did as he was told, and Zhou Yanshao fed him spoonfuls of warm porridge.

Zhou Yanshao complained, "Why didn't you go to the hospital when you had a fever?"

"...It's nothing, I've had fevers quite often before."

"You said you were fine, but if I hadn't found you, you would have died in that shabby little house." Zhou Yanshao blew on the porridge for Li Bo and fed him slowly. After feeding him, seeing that Li Bo didn't speak, he adjusted his tone.

"Did Li Cheng bully you again?"

"no."

"Are you unhappy staying at the Li family's house?"

"no……"

"Li Bo, if you don't want to stay in the Li family, come live in Xizi Bay. I can support you." Zhou Yanshao's eyes were very serious.

Li Bo smiled and said, "No need."

Zhou Yanshao was a little annoyed: "Can't you be a little less stubborn? You're really making me angry."

Zhou Yanshao took his phone out of his pocket and placed it in Li Bo's hand: "Here you go. You can only add my contact information and send me messages, but you can't chat with other people."

Li Bo declined: "No need."

Zhou Yanshao got angry: "What do you mean, 'not need'! What if something happens to you one day and I can't find you?!"

"What do you want from me?"

"Li Bo, I've told you I'll take care of you from now on." Zhou Yanshao's tone was forceful: "Take good care of this, don't lose it! There's only one contact person, and that's me."

Li Bo's nose felt a little sore: "...Mmm."

Li Bo never expected that the person who said they would take care of him would end up blocking him.

All of this is his own fault; it's the path he chose.