My father's inheritance is my mortal enemy.

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Bo's phone rang.

It was Ning Zhi who called. This call eased the deathly silence in the space, and everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Bo answered the phone, tucked his suit jacket back onto his arm, gestured for his secretary to stay, and then walked out while still on the phone: "Um, I'm not at the hotel; I'm out socializing."

Li Bo kept his head down, his nose stinging with tears: "No need to trouble yourself, I didn't drink much."

Li Bo had no interest in dealing with anyone and hung up the phone hastily.

He hated the feeling of being used.

This seemed to be telling Li Bo that under the pressure of power, as long as he had any use, he had to willingly become a puppet, and there was no room for him to resist or refuse.

The helplessness and pain of his childhood were like a stick that repeatedly struck him.

Li Bo always felt that he was the one who drove Lin Yi'an's mother insane.

So he desperately wanted to return the bodies of Lin's mother and Lin Yi'an to the Li family, to give them a legitimate identity, to let them live in the sunlight, and to let the descendants of the Li family know that such a mother and daughter existed.

Li Bo thought that after that fire, he should be a free man.

He no longer needed to live for anyone, no longer needed to risk his life to scheme, and could finally be himself. But the reality was that once he returned to the capital, he was back in that vortex of manipulation, deeply trapped within it, with no control over his own destiny whatsoever.

Li Bo neither wanted to nor could he get any closer to Zhou Yanshao.

When he was unwilling to retaliate, he was afraid that he might do something impulsive again.

Li Bo hailed a taxi at the entrance and told the driver the name of the hotel.

Before the car had even reached the halfway point, Li Bo changed the destination. "Driver, let's go to the North Gate of Xiyuan on Xubei Street."

This is where Li Bo used to live.

It's more than ten kilometers away from here.

Li Bo had drunk too much. The distance was far and there was some traffic, so he fell asleep in the car. The driver had to wake him up when they arrived at their destination.

After Li Bo woke up, he paid the fare and got out of the car. He felt extremely dizzy and leaned against a street lamp for a long time. He felt very nauseous but couldn't vomit. He went from standing to squatting down and stayed by the street lamp for a long time.

The expensive suit was hanging on the ground, but Li Bo didn't bother to pay attention to it.

After finally calming down a bit, he swept his still-wet hair back, revealing a full forehead, and looked up at the two seventeen-story buildings in the distance.

The white smoke exhaled from his mouth rose under the streetlights, like a sigh.

Li Bo staggered into the residential complex, went upstairs, and collapsed drunk at the entrance. The landlord came up from the other elevator, rushed over, and helped him up, exclaiming, "Oh dear, how did you get so drunk?"

The landlord took out his keys and helped Li Bo inside.

Before Li Bo went home, he heard a cell phone ringing near the elevator. He glanced in the direction of the sound and saw motion-sensor lights on in the crowded stairwell, but he couldn't see anyone.

The landlord, a short man nearing fifty, struggled to support Li Bo, saying, "Hurry inside, hurry inside..."

The landlord staggered and helped Li Bo into the bedroom, took off his shoes, and covered him with a blanket.

Back in his familiar bed, Li Bo felt exceptionally at ease. He reached under the pillow and rummaged around, but found nothing. He sat up in bed.

The landlord brought in hot water and saw Li Bo sitting up, rubbing his temples. He placed the cup on the bedside table: "Lie down. The cup is here. It's warm water; you can drink it right away. The hangover medicine is in the drawer. Remember to take it when you wake up. Call me tomorrow morning if anything comes up..."

"Hmm." Li Bo frowned slightly, not really listening. He took his medicine, lay down again, and quickly fell asleep.

He could fall asleep faster than usual after drinking, especially tonight, having seen Zhou Yanshao again and lying in his familiar bed. In his hazy state, Li Bo seemed to have returned to a long time ago, to the time before he left the capital, when he was still dating Zhou Yanshao.

Seeing that Li Bo was behaving himself, the landlord breathed a sigh of relief, closed the door, and left. He tiptoed into the elevator before daring to make a phone call.

Tonight, Li Bo, unusually, fell asleep without medication and slept soundly.

In his sleep, he curled up, his fingertips touching something unfamiliar. A faint, somewhat familiar smell of tobacco wafted into his nostrils. He hugged the object tightly and crumpled it.

In the middle of the night, the bedroom door opened.

A faint light shone in from outside, but the shadows quickly obscured it.

Zhou Yanshao placed a bunch of keys on the table, replaced the water that had been cooled on the table, and looked at Li Bo, who was tightly hugging his suit jacket.

This coat was left on the chair by Li Bo after he had dinner with Ning Zhi six years ago. Zhou Yanshao took it and kept it for many years.

Zhou Yanshao lifted a corner of the blanket and took the suit jacket from Li Bo's arms. Li Bo moved slightly because he hadn't taken off his clothes. His lean waistline and firm hips were clearly outlined by the vest and trousers.

After drinking alcohol, it's easy to have difficulty breathing.

Li Bo slightly parted his lips.

Her long, slender, fair fingers unbuttoned the buttons one by one, from her waist to her neck, revealing her flushed skin.

All of this came into Zhou Yanshao's view.

Zhou Yanshao felt a burning sensation in his lower abdomen.

Anger, and the emotions that have been aroused.

He stood by the bed, watching Li Bo unbutton his vest, loosen his shirt, and roughly loosen his tie, revealing that his neck was chafed red.

Zhou Yanshao wanted to reach out to help, but just as his fingertips were about to touch her, he withdrew his hand.

Li Bo has started a new life after six years away from home.

Zhou Yanshao disliked Li Bo.

Despite saying he disliked her, Zhou Yanshao lingered, standing there until his legs went stiff, muttering under his breath, "What's so good about Ning Zhi...?"

Zhou Yanshao covered Li Bo with the blanket, turned to leave, and Li Bo suddenly groaned, "Water..."

They're thirsty.

Drinking too much alcohol can easily cause a dry mouth, and you'll often wake up in the middle of the night to drink water.

Zhou Yanshao didn't want to get involved.

After taking a couple of steps, I heard the sound of the cup moving on the bedside table as Li Bo touched it. It sounded like the cup was about to touch the edge, which was quite alarming.

Zhou Yanshao paused, turned around, caught the cup that was about to be knocked over, picked it up, sat on the edge of the bed, and supported Li Bo's neck with one hand, pulling him close to his chest to feed him water.