Chapter 361: The Indestructible Cockroach

“Ding-dong~”

Xu Shaochen’s phone rang with a notification. He glanced at it and saw it was an image. Upon opening it, a smile spread across his face.

“What is it? Do you have some work to attend to?” Li Xiaoli asked with concern.

Xu Shaochen shook his head with a smile, “Nothing serious, someone just sent me a picture of a dog that got beaten up to the point of being crippled.”

“Oh my, that poor dog!” Li Xiaoli’s sympathy burst forth upon hearing this.

Hearing her reaction, Xu Shaochen only smiled. That dog wasn’t pitiful; it had brought this upon itself.

After a few rounds of drinks and dishes, the group dispersed. Xu Shaochen took his mother home.

“This house is enormous! Just how many people live here?”

Li Xiaoli was once again stunned by the sheer size of the Villa.

She had only seen houses like this on TV; she never imagined that one day she would live in one.

“Including you, now there are three people living here. The other is my housekeeper.”

Linda, who was in the office reading documents, had no idea that she had now unofficially become Xu Shaochen’s housekeeper.

In the afternoon, Linda returned.

Xu Shaochen introduced the two women to each other.

Li Xiaoli and Linda got along splendidly because, at the moment, Li Xiaoli viewed everyone as her potential daughter-in-law.

And since Linda knew she was interacting with the big boss’s mother, she naturally tried her best to ingratiate herself.

“Boss.”

That evening, Linda took Xu Shaochen’s mother out for shopping.

Long Yi knocked on the door and handed Xu Shaochen an envelope.

Xu Shaochen opened it and saw that it was about the young nurse he had asked Long Yi to investigate earlier.

Name: Zhou Shuang

Gender: Female Age: 22 Education: Bachelor’s Degree

Family Background: …………

After skimming through the details, Xu Shaochen concluded that the young nurse had no significant issues. She had good character, was compassionate, and her family background was clean. She was an ideal virtuous maiden, perfect for Mei Liangxin.

Indeed, Mei Liangxin had found a gem; this woman was undoubtedly the best candidate for a wife.

“Mr. Xu, there’s another document.”

Long Yi reminded him.

Xu Shaochen looked up at him before pulling out the last sheet of paper from the envelope.

Since it was just one sheet, it could have easily been overlooked.

As he read the contents, Xu Shaochen’s smile slowly faded, replaced by a grim expression.

The core point of the information was that Zhang Qingsong and Zhou Shuang were classmates in both middle school and high school, and they had maintained a close relationship, with many recent interactions.

“Interesting, very interesting indeed.”

Xu Shaochen murmured to himself, his eyes filled with a fierce light. Zhang Qingsong really was like an indestructible cockroach, always popping up at the most inconvenient times.

In just two days, Mei Liangxin and Zhou Shuang had become intimate. This seemed suspicious, especially given how fast things were progressing.

This made Xu Shaochen suspect there was a conspiracy at play.

However, this matter was tricky to handle because Mei Liangxin’s feelings needed to be considered.

“Investigate Zhang Qingsong. Find out who he’s been interacting with lately.”

After pondering for a moment, Xu Shaochen instructed Long Yi. He decided not to inform Mei Liangxin for the time being.

Whatever the case, he wanted to get to the bottom of it first. If there was no conspiracy, then everyone would be happy. But if there was…

“Yes, Boss.”

Long Yi responded and then turned to leave the living room.

Xu Shaochen sat silently on the sofa, staring at Zhang Qingsong’s name. His hand clenched the paper tightly, crumpling it into a ball.

For the sake of our history as classmates, I’ve turned a blind eye to you several times, but you just can’t be content, can you? You want to challenge me?

Well then, this time I’ll just smash you down with one slap, making sure you’re eliminated for good.

………………

In a private room of a restaurant.

“How are things going?”

Zhang Qingsong asked as he looked at Zhou Shuang across from him.

Instead of answering, Zhou Shuang said, “Qingsong, I don’t want to do this anymore. It just doesn’t feel… right.”

“Not right? There’s nothing wrong with it. If you pull this off, you won’t have to worry about money in the future. Besides, even if you want to back out, I might agree, but my boss definitely won’t.”

Zhang Qingsong frowned, growing slightly agitated. Then a thought struck him, and he suspiciously asked, “Xiao Shuang, don’t tell me you’ve really fallen for that guy. It’s only been a few days.”

“How could that be? You said it yourself, it’s only been a few days. How could I fall for someone so quickly?” Zhou Shuang hurried to defend herself, but her eyes betrayed a hint of panic.

Zhang Qingsong breathed a sigh of relief and said to himself, “Yeah, you’re right. Still, it seems that Mei Liangxin is quite fond of you.”

Zhou Shuang kept silent.

“Alright, Xiao Shuang. Don’t overthink it. Stick to the plan. Your family needs money, and so does your little brother for his education.” Zhang Qingsong said in a comforting tone.

Zhou Shuang remained silent for a while before finally nodding, “I understand. I should go now, I have a shift tonight.”

With that, Zhou Shuang picked up her small bag and left the private room.

Watching her leave, Zhang Qingsong frowned, feeling uneasy.

“Ring ring ring…”

Just then, his phone rang.

The caller ID indicated the number was from Hong Kong.

Zhang Qingsong’s face changed. He quickly answered the call, speaking deferentially, “Boss, what can I do for you?”

“How is the plan progressing, Zhang Qingsong? I have high hopes for your abilities because we share a common enemy. Don’t let me down.”

A low, raspy voice came from the phone, sounding like two pieces of metal scraping against each other, making it unpleasant to hear.

“Boss, don’t worry. Everything is going smoothly here, but we need a bit more time since we only just started.” Zhang Qingsong spoke humbly, his eyes flashing coldly at the thought of Xu Shaochen.

“Good, that’s what I wanted to hear. Be careful. Xu Shaochen has significant influence in Jiangzhou. If you fall into his hands, I won’t save you.”

“Yes, yes, I understand. But I highly doubt Xu Shaochen even suspects anything at this point.”

As Zhang Qingsong said this, a smug expression spread across his face.

“Beep… Beep…”

Hearing the call disconnect, Zhang Qingsong let out a long sigh.

His boss was someone he had met by chance during a trip to Hong Kong. They both happened to share a vendetta against Xu Shaochen, and their mutual hatred brought them close right away.

With his boss supporting him financially, Zhang Qingsong began drafting a plan to take revenge on Xu Shaochen.

Since it was difficult to directly target Xu Shaochen, he decided to focus on the people around him, using a roundabout way to achieve his goals.

“Xu Shaochen, oh Xu Shaochen. You have so many enemies that I ran into one even while on vacation. This just proves that even the heavens want you dead.”

Zhang Qingsong gritted his teeth as he spoke, glancing at his leg. If it weren’t for Xu Shaochen, his leg wouldn’t have been crippled.

So, no matter how many cuts it takes, Xu Shaochen deserves nothing less because he ought to die!

But for some reason, a sense of unease nagged at him.

He couldn’t pinpoint the cause and eventually chalked it up to overthinking.