The moment he opened his eyes upon waking in the morning, he saw his elementary school classmate, Chen Bo—or rather, the morning erection.

After Chen Bo finally left following his ablutions, Wang Zhuo glanced out the window and saw the torrential downpour, knowing his morning training session would have to be moved indoors. He casually poured a bowl of oatmeal soaked in milk, sliced some ham to tuck into a piece of French bread, and tossed it into the oven to heat.

If Gan Lin were here, she could at least have boiled a bowl of handmade noodles, sprinkled some dried seaweed on top, and cracked in an egg—that would have been nice.

If it were Qi Fei, she would probably have already cooked plain congee and stir-fried two simple, home-style dishes, keeping them covered in the pot, ready to eat the moment he woke up.

But now, he was the sole, lonely commander. Wang Zhuo sighed, pulling the bread from the oven, weighing it dismissively in his hand, and carried his bowl of porridge toward the living room.

While eating, he set up his laptop to check the news online. Ever since the deeply flawed and intrusive Baidu News layout was revamped, netizens could click directly to browse the latest city news. Despite Baidu being utterly repulsive and vulgar, Wang Zhuo still used it out of necessity; there simply wasn't a better site to replace it.

As soon as the webpage loaded, he was snagged by the headline of the front-page story: Why is an Entrepreneur Publicly Accusing the Development Zone Secretary?

The subtitle named Jia Cheng and Shen Feng. Wang Zhuo immediately thought of that delicious soft-shell turtle and the confrontation that had occurred at the resort.

Wang Zhuo’s curiosity immediately spiked. Hadn’t this Jia Cheng been sucking up to Shen Feng? How had their official-business relationship suddenly soured to the point of mutual destruction?

Clicking the news link, he quickly understood the reason. Apparently, Jia Cheng had been brought in by Shen Feng’s predecessor as a key investor for the development zone, contributing significant tax revenue to the local government. However, after Shen Feng took office, he constantly obstructed Jia Cheng’s business, shaking him down for kickbacks and bribes. So, after quietly gathering evidence, Jia Cheng had reported Shen Feng to the Jiangzhou City Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Dogs eating dogs, a mouthful of fur, Wang Zhuo sneered. It was clearly a case of official-business collusion where the spoils weren't divided fairly. Shen Feng must have become so greedy that it reached a point Jia Cheng could no longer tolerate, forcing him to fight back desperately with this report. After this exposure, which official would dare collude with Jia Cheng now? This Mr. Jia had evidently resigned himself to changing careers if necessary, just to drag Shen Feng down with him.

One had severed ties with the public, the other with the officials. Neither looked set for a pleasant future...

Just as he was musing over this, the doorbell rang from behind him. He turned, peered through the door, and was instantly astonished.

Standing outside was Qin Siqing, looking like a drowned rat. She wore thin clothing, and water was still dripping incessantly from her fringe.

Wang Zhuo rushed to open the door, feigning surprise as he asked, "Why are you here?"

At that moment, Qin Siqing was soaked through, not a single spot dry. Her still-youthful face was somewhat pale, and her clothes clung tightly to her body. Because the fabric was thin, the contours were clearly visible, possessing a rather alluring, immature beauty.

"Don't even mention it," Qin Siqing said, walking into the room with a look between laughter and tears. "I just had a near-death experience; I almost perished right in front of your complex."

"Is it that dramatic?" Wang Zhuo chuckled, jogging into the bathroom to fetch a dry towel, which