All eyes in the hall focused on Su Qianmo as she entered. Her appearance left everyone stunned.
Su Qianmo walked in with Gu Chenan, and the servers outside closed the banquet hall doors. This usually unremarkable sound of closing doors acted like a morning alarm, waking everyone from their trance.
People finally came to their senses and began greeting Su Qianmo.
"Hello, CEO Su."
"CEO Su is so stunningly beautiful. I never imagined our city would have such a gorgeous female CEO."
"We deeply admire CEO Su's abilities. Please, CEO Su, don't hesitate to give us some guidance."
Flattering words surrounded Su Qianmo. Perhaps because she was too dazzling, no one noticed Gu Chenan beside her.
"You're too kind, everyone," Su Qianmo smiled. Under everyone's gaze, she suddenly grabbed Gu Chenan's arm and held it close.
The crowd was startled, finally noticing Gu Chenan beside Su Qianmo.
"Wasn't CEO Su supposed to come alone today? Who is this man?" someone whispered.
The previous speaker explained from within the crowd, "Damn, no way, this guy is the driver I mentioned earlier - CEO Su's driver!"
"D-driver?" someone stammered in disbelief.
CEO Su was holding his arm! How could he be just her driver?
Had anyone ever seen a female CEO publicly holding her driver's arm like that?
"CEO Su, who might this gentleman be?" someone finally asked aloud.
Su Qianmo had been waiting for this question. She insisted on bringing Gu Chenan today precisely to announce to the world that she was Gu Chenan's girlfriend before any other woman could claim him!
She looked up at Gu Chenan, smiled sweetly, and said, "He's my fiancé, Gu Chenan."
"F-fiancé?!"
The crowd was shocked. They lamented inwardly, "Such an outstanding CEO already has a fiancé. What a pity!"
However, one person in the crowd had the most exaggerated reaction. Upon seeing Gu Chenan and hearing Su Qianmo's words, her jaw dropped to the floor, her eyes seeming to have an epileptic fit as her pupils shook violently.
"Gu-Gu Chenan is CEO Su's fiancé?!"
This person was Liu Wan.
She stumbled backward in disbelief until she grabbed a pillar in the banquet hall to steady herself.
Shock, surprise, confusion, and disbelief cycled rapidly across her face, as if she had suddenly mastered the art of face-changing.
"Something's not right here," she thought. "How could someone as capable as CEO Su be interested in a useless homebody like Gu Chenan?"
"Moreover, Gu Chenan and CEO Su aren't even from the same world. How on earth did he meet her?"
"I admit Gu Chenan's looks are impressive, but CEO Su doesn't seem like the type to date a pretty boy, does she?"
Liu Wan wasn't the only one confused; everyone else was puzzled too.
Hadn't they said earlier that CEO Su came with her driver? How did he suddenly become her fiancé?
How could someone who could buy a company as big as Caiying not have a dedicated driver?
Or... could this man be both CEO Su's fiancé and her driver?
Uncertain, they decided to observe further.
"CEO Su, with your impressive abilities, your fiancé must be quite capable as well?" someone asked politely, then turned to Gu Chenan. "Mr. Gu, may I ask what you do for a living?"
What do I do?
Seeing the expectant look, Gu Chenan pondered for a moment before replying, "I usually stay at the company, helping Qianmo with various tasks. Nothing worth mentioning."
Hearing this, the crowd's expressions immediately turned strange.
Obviously, the "company" Gu Chenan referred to was Caiying, and his statement about staying there suggested he had no real job.
As for his claim of helping CEO Su with various tasks, everyone naturally assumed he meant trivial matters.
Hiss~
So, CEO Su's fiancé really was her driver?
Damn, a kept man!
Having reached this conclusion, the crowd's gaze towards Gu Chenan immediately dimmed, with some even shifting their attention back to Su Qianmo.
This misunderstanding wasn't entirely the crowd's fault.
Gu Chenan hadn't disclosed his identity to the public, and what's more misleading was that he had driven Su Qianmo here today. In these people's eyes, it was natural to assume Gu Chenan was Su Qianmo's driver.
And then Su Qianmo had introduced him as her fiancé.
So in everyone's eyes, Gu Chenan's identity became driver-cum-fiancé = kept man.
In the crowd, Liu Wan gazed languidly at Gu Chenan.
She still couldn't believe that Su Qianmo, such a capable female CEO, had fallen for Gu Chenan, this useless homebody, and even become engaged to him.
The man she herself had deemed unworthy had suddenly become the fiancé of Caiying's CEO?!
This was too ridiculous!
If she hadn't witnessed Caiying's recent moves, she might have thought Su Qianmo was a fool.
It was precisely because of what she was seeing now that Liu Wan felt her assumptions about Gu Chenan during their blind date were confirmed.
This Gu Chenan was essentially just a pretty boy trying to live off a rich woman!
......
"CEO Su, please come this way. We'd be honored if you could share some insights."
"Yes, CEO Su, I have many questions I'd like to ask you."
The representatives from other cosmetics companies gathered around Su Qianmo, making her the center of attention.
Hearing their flattering words, Su Qianmo knew it was mere small talk and shouldn't be taken seriously. She smiled and said, "There's no need for me to give any insights. You're all veterans in the beauty industry, I'm just here to pay my respects."
"CEO Su, how can you say that? We should be the ones..."
Seeing Su Qianmo engage in conversation with the crowd, Gu Chenan grabbed a cocktail for her, gave her a knowing look indicating he'd be nearby if needed, and then sat down in a corner of the banquet hall.
Before coming today, Gu Chenan knew Su Qianmo would become the focal point once she appeared, not just because of her looks, but also due to Caiying's current reputation.
If other companies could establish a good relationship with Caiying, they might be able to benefit from its influence.
"I never thought we'd meet here," Liu Wan said, holding a glass of red wine as she approached Gu Chenan.
Surprised to see Liu Wan, Gu Chenan shrugged, "Yeah, what a coincidence."
Liu Wan glanced at Su Qianmo, who was chatting animatedly with the other CEOs and executives, then turned back to Gu Chenan. "How does it feel to have climbed the social ladder?" she asked.
"That's the CEO of Caiying, you know. You must be grinning in your sleep, right?"
Gu Chenan frowned, "What's it to you?"
"Nothing, really," Liu Wan shook her head and smiled. "I just despise men who live off women, that's all."
"Hah," Gu Chenan scoffed. "Well, excuse me, but I despise presumptuous women. Please don't talk to me, I have an allergy to stupidity."
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
