After the divorce, the aloof CEO begged me not to withdraw my investment.

Last year, the father and son took on a renovation job in another city. During construction, the homeowner insisted on removing a load-bearing beam. Yu Xiaoshu strongly objected, but Uncle Yu, not wanting to lose the business, eventually agreed to the homeowner's request.

Unexpectedly, this knock directly damaged the building's overall earthquake-resistant structure, leading to its being identified as a dangerous building and requiring compensation of two million yuan.

In the end, the two parties went to court and each bore half of the responsibility.

The one million yuan compensation completely crushed Uncle Yu.

He passed away not long after.

"One million! How long will it take to pay it off!" Yu Xiaoshu's eyes reddened.

He remembered his father holding his hand before he died, and anger burned within him like a raging fire.

Ye Feng silently refilled his glass.

"Don't think too much about it, take it easy." He didn't know how to comfort Yu Xiaoshu. One million yuan was nothing to him now, but to Yu Xiaoshu's family, it was like a mountain.

Therefore, he could understand Yu Xiaoshu's suffering.

"Once things calm down, I'll go with you to sweep your father's grave," Ye Feng said, patting his shoulder.

Yu Xiaoshu nodded, and tears finally streamed down his face.

He knew that Ye Feng genuinely wanted to help him.

Watching this scene, Li Tingting silently added some dishes to their plate, then sat quietly to the side without saying a word.

After the atmosphere eased a bit, Li Tingting joined their conversation, chatting about interesting things in the army and the outside world. The atmosphere among the three gradually became more relaxed.

Ye Feng's phone suddenly rang; it was Sun Shangxiang calling.

"Ye Feng, can you come to the hospital now?" Sun Shangxiang's voice was very weak.

"Okay, I'll be right there." Ye Feng hung up the phone, his brows furrowed.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Yu Xiaoshu asked with concern.

"A friend of mine is in the hospital, and I have to go see her," Ye Feng explained simply.

"Let me take you." Yu Xiaoshu stood up and picked up his coat.

"No need, I can just take a taxi myself."

"It's okay, I'm free anyway, I'll just take this opportunity to clear my head," Yu Xiaoshu insisted, glancing at Li Tingting as he said, "Tingting, we're leaving now."

Ye Feng noticed how Yu Xiaoshu addressed Li Tingting and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Are you and Tingting very close?"

"She's alright. We eat here often, and we've gotten to know each other pretty well," Yu Xiaoshu said with a smile. "She's a nice girl."

He paused, then tentatively asked, "Brother Feng, you and Tingting?"

Ye Feng understood what he meant and shook his head: "I have a girlfriend."

Yu Xiaoshu gave him a meaningful look. "Are you afraid of your wife, or is your sister-in-law so outstanding that you dare not approach other women?"

Ye Feng readily accepted his teasing: "I guess so."

Liu Qingyi's excellence made him proud, but also put him under pressure.

"Tsk tsk tsk, it seems your sister-in-law is really a beauty. Bring her out sometime so we can see what kind of celestial being she is that can make you, Brother Feng, willingly become her slave." Yu Xiaoshu joked, then suddenly remembered something, "Oh right, I saw the class monitor on the street a few days ago."

"The class monitor? How is he? What is he doing now?" Ye Feng asked curiously.

"It's incredible. He's in a public office now, but as for his character, I have to be incredibly humble to ask him for favors," Yu Xiaoshu exclaimed.

"Ask him for a favor? What do you need him for?" Ye Feng looked at Yu Xiaoshu with a puzzled expression.

Yu Xiaoshu gave a bitter laugh and said in a muffled voice, "What else can we do? Beg him to be lenient."

Ye Feng was even more puzzled: "How can he control you? Doesn't he work in a government department?"

"Sigh." Yu Xiaoshu sighed deeply, "Now that I drive for Didi, I'm under his jurisdiction!"

Ye Feng was stunned.

The former squad leader is now in charge of his brothers' livelihoods.

After a moment of silence, Yu Xiaoshu suddenly laughed, "Do you remember? That time we waited for him at the back door of the dorm, and he was so scared..."

Ye Feng couldn't help but laugh.

Looking back on those absurd things, I feel a strange sense of nostalgia.

The once arrogant class monitor was so scared by them that he wet his pants. Looking back now, it's quite ridiculous.

“He asked you about it later,” Yu Xiaoshu continued, “saying he wanted to throw a party and invited us to join.”

Ye Feng was somewhat surprised: "After all these years, he still remembered to call me?"

He was puzzled, because his relationship with the class monitor back then was just so-so, not particularly close.

Yu Xiaoshu curled his lip: "Thinking of calling you? You wanted to call the two of us to pay the bill!"

Ye Feng raised an eyebrow, and a surge of anger welled up in his heart.

Seeing this, Yu Xiaoshu quickly advised, "Brother Feng, don't be impulsive! Last time my car was impounded, if it weren't for the squad leader speaking up, I would have been fined tens of thousands of yuan!"

Ye Feng was silent.

Yu Xiaoshu was telling the truth.

In this society, sometimes, personal relationships are more important than anything else.

The two chatted casually, and before they knew it, they had arrived at the hospital entrance.

Yu Xiaoshu's phone rang. He accepted a Didi order, said goodbye to Ye Feng in a hurry, and drove away.

Ye Feng entered the hospital and went to Sun Shangxiang's ward.

He placed the fruit basket and a bunch of lilies on the bedside table.

Sun Shangxiang was pale and leaned weakly against the hospital bed. She forced a smile when she saw Ye Feng.

Ye Feng adjusted the angle of the hospital bed for her and poured her a glass of water.

"how do you feel?"

Sun Shangxiang took a sip of water and said softly, "Much better. You know what happened, right?"

Ye Feng didn't answer directly, but silently peeled an apple for her.

"Don't think too much about it, just get some rest."

Sun Shangxiang felt touched by Ye Feng's attentive care. But she knew that a relationship between them was unlikely, and she could only treat him as a younger brother.

Ye Feng said calmly, "I know about Lao Liu's matter."

“Old Liu’s background is complicated.” Sun Shangxiang’s voice was soft. “He will take over from Old Han by the end of the month at the latest.”

Ye Feng paused while peeling the apple, and the peel broke off.

"Succession? What kind of succession?"

Sun Shangxiang sighed, "Old Han has retired early."

Ye Feng handed the peeled apple to Sun Shangxiang, his eyes filled with inquiry: "Did you offend him again?"

Sun Shangxiang took the apple, but didn't eat it; she simply placed it aside.

“He already came to cause trouble this morning, but he doesn’t dare to do anything here.” She paused for a moment, then added, “However, Yun Qing is quite nice; she takes good care of me.”

"Yang Yunqing?" Ye Feng smiled bitterly. He recalled past events related to Yang Yunqing.

The atmosphere in the ward became a little awkward for a moment.

Sun Shangxiang looked at Ye Feng and suddenly said, "You should leave. If Old Liu comes again, it will be hard to explain."

Ye Feng raised an eyebrow. "According to the agreement, I have to protect you."

Sun Shangxiang shook her head, her tone pleading, "I don't want you to offend him. He wouldn't dare do anything to me. Please don't get involved."