Fu Chen fell silent for a moment.
He furrowed his brows. “What’s the reason?”
Shang Wan replied, “I said I’d only help you once, and that’s exactly what I meant. I’m a person of my word.
“Besides, with all the drama in your wealthy family, who knows how dangerous it would be if I got involved? I’m just an ordinary actress—
“Unless you pay more.”
Fu Chen: “…”
The hesitation he had felt moments earlier vanished instantly. He looked at Shang Wan and, for the first time, understood what it meant to be speechless.
He took a deep breath and got straight to the point. “What do you want?”
Shang Wan met his gaze and countered, “What can you offer?”
Fu Chen lowered his eyes, thinking seriously for a full minute before answering, “Resources from an entertainment company, endorsements from high-end brands, and… shares in the Fu Group.”
A cold wind rustled past as Fu Chen spoke calmly and seriously.
The moment his words fell, Shang Wan felt deeply shaken.
She stared at Fu Chen in disbelief. “You can give me shares in the Fu Group?”
It was no wonder Shang Wan reacted so strongly.
In the original novel, the ultimate decision-making power over the Fu Group was the central battleground of the entire story.
Throughout the book, Fu Chen did only two things: pursue Shen Hui and seize control of the group.
In fact, the effort, difficulty, and sacrifices Fu Chen endured in his fight for the Fu Group far surpassed those he faced while pursuing Shen Hui.
While reading the novel, Shang Wan couldn’t help but suspect that the male lead’s true love was the group, while the female lead’s true love was acting.
They were just making do with each other.
And now, Fu Chen—who was still miles away from defeating Fu Jiayan and becoming the true authority of the Fu Group—was actually offering to share the group’s shares with her??
Shang Wan deeply doubted his motives.
She eyed him suspiciously. “Are you sure you have the authority to make such a promise?”
Fu Chen met her gaze without flinching. “When I said I’d handle everything in three months, I meant I would take control of the entire Fu Group within that time.”
Shang Wan: “…”
Listen to him! Was this still the male lead of a romance novel?
Why did his words carry the scent of an Overpowered Protagonist?!
She looked at Fu Chen with a complicated expression.
In the original novel, it had taken him a full three years to seize the Fu Group. How could he boast about doing it in three months without worrying about his tongue getting twisted by the wind?
Yet, as soon as this thought crossed Shang Wan’s mind, she met Fu Chen’s gaze.
It was calm, almost unruffled, yet unfathomably deep.
It was impossible not to believe him.
It was as if, before tonight, taking control of the Fu Group had never been Fu Chen’s obsession.
He didn’t care, so he didn’t need it.
But after tonight, his ambition had been ignited.
He wanted it, so he would get it.
Shang Wan was almost convinced by Fu Chen’s gaze.
Within that gaze, she heard him ask, “So, is this enough to discuss our cooperation?”
Shang Wan sighed. “I don’t need shares in the Fu Group.”
She didn’t need them.
Since her book transmigration, Shang Wan had to admit that she had once indulged in the beauty of this world.
The identity of a popular actress, a manager who always had her best interests at heart, no debt collectors knocking on her door in the middle of the night—she could even follow her heart and only act in roles she truly enjoyed.
It all felt like a dream.
But, deep down, Shang Wan knew that what she wanted most wasn’t this kind of illusory beauty.
What was real?
What she saw before her eyes and what she thought in her heart seemed unreal.
Yet Shang Wan knew that regardless of whether the outside world was real or not, the world within the book was an illusion.
She had to complete her mission, wake up, and face what remained of her life.
She refused to live cowardly in a fantasy.
Even if that life held little worth clinging to.
But at the very least, she had to return to sweep Shang Baoqin’s grave.
She didn’t need exorbitant shares; what she wanted had never been those things.
Fu Chen lowered his gaze to Shang Wan and asked, “So, the collaboration has failed?”
Shang Wan smiled faintly. “No, the collaboration is on.”
She met Fu Chen’s surprised gaze. “The condition is that I want a promise from you—President Fu, anytime I need it, you must do one small, not-too-demanding favor for me.”
Shang Wan didn’t need a lifetime’s worth of money from this book’s world.
She wanted to stand on the same front as Fu Chen.
She wanted to bind Fu Chen with a promise, using it to continuously gain Bond Points from him.
The condition didn’t need to be demanding.
As long as Fu Chen owed her this promise, he would never be able to sever the bond between them.
This promise would be like a faint thread, forever tied around his heart.
This was the perfect method to Capture Fu Chen that Shang Wan had just thought of.
Almost as soon as Shang Wan finished speaking, Fu Chen froze.
He looked at her with a complex expression, suspicion flickering in his eyes. But in the end, he chose to believe her words about “one small, not-too-demanding favor.”
He said, “Deal.”
At the same time, the System notified Shang Wan that Fu Chen’s Bond Points had increased by 0.1.
Just like that—
Shang Wan’s lips curved slightly: even though the Bond Points increased only a little, she clearly knew that her relationship with Fu Chen had undergone a qualitative change.
A bond that flows like a gentle stream begins with an inescapable, yet willingly incurred debt.
On the first winter night after their contractual relationship was established, Fu Chen personally drove Shang Wan home.
When the luxurious car repeatedly described in the original novel stopped in the underground garage of Shang Wan’s home, Fu Chen paused briefly and suddenly locked the car doors.
Shang Wan: “…”
Here we go again!
That ominous feeling was back!
The next moment, Shang Wan’s sense of foreboding became reality.
Fu Chen cleared his throat and began assigning tasks to Shang Wan.
“Tomorrow at 8 a.m., I need to go to the Fu Corporation. I’ll need you to make an appearance at the company then.”
“Tomorrow at 6 p.m., the results of a bidding project in City A will be announced. I’ll be involved throughout, and afterward, I have a dinner gathering with a few friends. I’ll introduce you to them—as my fiancée.”
“Next Monday at 7 p.m., there’s an important family banquet at the Fu family’s old residence. You’ll need to accompany me to deal with those old-fashioned relatives who oppose us.”
“Next Wednesday morning…”
Shang Wan listened in astonishment.
How was this the equal collaboration Fu Chen had spoken of?
This was clearly treating her like a workhorse!
She took a deep breath and looked at Fu Chen, saying earnestly, “President Fu, is it possible that I still have a job to go to?”
She was joking—she still had acting to do!
There was no way she could handle this schedule!
Fu Chen frowned. “Three months isn’t long, and we still have a lot to do.”
“Stop!”
Shang Wan swiftly cut off Fu Chen: “You—you have a lot to do, but taking over the Fu Group shouldn’t have much to do with me, right?”
Fu Chen took a deep breath.
He rubbed the nearly invisible scar on his palm forcefully and retorted, “If I remember correctly, it was you who said an hour ago that after our cooperation was finalized, you’d be available at any time without complaint.”
Shang Wan looked up at the sky, feigning ignorance. “Huh? Did I say that? I don’t think so.”
Fu Chen: “…”
Ever since this person had cut herself with broken glass, it was as if she had suddenly unlocked some hidden potential, dancing on his every nerve every second.
He rubbed his temples, completely shedding his domineering CEO persona at that moment, and began bargaining with Shang Wan like a market vendor.
They argued back and forth.
For a split second, Fu Chen looked at Shang Wan’s unyielding, lively demeanor and found himself momentarily lost in thought.
In truth, what Fu Chen wanted Shang Wan to do wasn’t as much as she imagined.
Shang Wan only needed to stand there quietly to become the perfect target for drawing fire.
Fu Chen thought that perhaps the person before him, who was all claws and complaints, hadn’t yet realized just what kind of madman his father truly was.
He hadn’t given Shang Wan a hard time at the banquet not because he was polite.
It was simply because he looked down on everyone with indifference.
And now, Shang Wan had become that stumbling block in his path.
He would kick her aside without hesitation.
Using the most convenient and cruel methods.
Fu Jiayan, the true master of the Fu Group, was the real reason Fu Chen had chosen to cooperate with Shang Wan.
Fu Chen wanted to package himself as a wayward man trapped by love, making Fu Jiayan focus more attention on Shang Wan.
He wanted Fu Jiayan to deal with Shang Wan so he could secretly maneuver and take over the entire Fu Group.
The temperature in the car was just right, but perhaps because Shang Wan had been exposed to the cold wind for too long, she couldn’t help but sneeze while arguing with Fu Chen.
Fu Chen felt the scar on his palm grow even hotter.
He was using Shang Wan.
The slight reluctance he felt while using her became the price he paid in the negotiation: he was willing to give Shang Wan shares in the Fu Group.
Fu Chen tried to tell himself that taking over the Fu Group was a joint plan between him and Shang Wan, not simply him using her.
But Shang Wan remained unmoved.
All she wanted was his ridiculous promise.
A small, not-too-demanding favor.
Fu Chen thought: What kind of cooperation condition was this?
Fu Chen’s sudden and uncontrollable sympathy eventually led him to make the first concession.
When Shang Wan insisted, “I can only spare you one meal a week,” he replied, “Fine.”
Shang Wan: “Huh?”
She asked the System in her mind, feeling conflicted: “Tongtong, has Fu Chen never been to a market, so he doesn’t know how to bargain?”
The System: …
It was hard to judge.
Not knowing what Fu Chen had imagined to make him look at her with such reluctance, Shang Wan ultimately smiled and finalized the cooperation with him.
Shang Wan: Only a fool would pass up a good deal.
This week, Shang Wan only needed to have one meal with Fu Chen tomorrow.
Miss Shang, who didn’t have to work overtime, was quite satisfied with this.
Satisfied, Miss Shang casually strolled from the underground parking garage back upstairs to her home.
The night was deep, and by the time Shang Wan arrived home, it was already half past ten.
After hurriedly washing up, she stepped out and was immediately drawn to the holiday-themed wallpaper that had automatically changed on her phone screen.
Shang Wan had been rushing around all day, constantly racking her brains for ways to increase the Bond Points of her mission targets.
Surprisingly, the process went smoothly.
Fu Chen’s Bond Points skyrocketed, and Fu Duo’s also rose steadily.
Looking at the Capture Progress of the two, Shang Wan was nearly overwhelmed by the sense of accomplishment from outwitting them and successfully advancing her mission.
However, the New Year’s fireworks wallpaper on her phone suddenly stirred a faint memory deep in her mind.
She remembered when she was ten years old.
At that time, Shang Baoqin was still working as a nanny for another family. Shang Wan’s illness fluctuated, and the treatment costs were astronomical. Their home was bare, so impoverished that anyone stepping inside could immediately feel the hardship.
Yet, when Shang Baoqin returned from work, she still brought Shang Wan a New Year’s gift—
a small bundle of sparklers bought from a corner store.
Beneath the overly saturated purple-red wrapping paper was a tiny thing that could only glow for thirty seconds.
It was cheap—Shang Wan knew that ten sparklers cost no more than one yuan and fifty cents.
But whenever Shang Wan recalled that small burst of flame from that night, she always felt it was the most beautiful fireworks she had ever seen in her life.
Shang Wan thought, if she stayed away from home for too long, Mother Baoqin would miss her.
As the hour hand on the wall clock gradually approached twelve, just before January 2nd arrived, Shang Wan’s phone chimed.
She received a text from an unknown number.
“Miss Shang, Happy New Year.”
Shang Wan stared at her phone, puzzled, and then saw the second message from the sender: “This is Gu Xun.”
Shang Wan froze.
The next second, the System notified her that Gu Xun’s Bond Points had increased by 1 point.