Rebirth and Conquest

Chen Yan spent almost the entire holiday in B City, only returning to visit his grandparents for a few days during the Lunar New Year. The group's affairs had all moved here, and there were many things to handle. Although Di Wenjin and the others were currently in charge, Chen Yan didn't want to do nothing; it was time for him to gradually take over company affairs.

Chen Lirong was busy with social engagements all day long and could hardly pay attention to Chen Yan. Yan Haobo did try to contact Chen Yan a few more times, but Chen Yan responded indifferently, neither giving her a cold shoulder nor warmly welcoming her.

In her spare time, Chen Yan developed a habit of going to the bar where Tong Yu danced. Since Chen Yan came, Tong Yu had stopped performing. Chen Yan had booked him out. Actually, "booked" wasn't quite accurate. Chen Yan just didn't want to see this person who looked just like Wen Mu selling smiles and his body in a place like this.

Tong Yu doesn't have a job and usually makes a living by dancing erotic dances. In fact, apart from his face, he is very different from Wen Mu. He accepts what Chen Yan gives him without any qualms and will even try to get more from Chen Yan in various ways, as if he has caught a fat sheep to be slaughtered.

As for Chen Yan, he could give Tong Yu whatever she wanted. In fact, all Tong Yu wanted was money and material things, which Chen Yan did not lack.

When the holiday ended, Chen Yan took Tong Yu away from the bar and bought her an apartment in a nice neighborhood. It was a three-bedroom, two-living-room apartment.

After Chen Yan brought Tong Yu here, she handed him a set of keys, saying, "You can live here from now on. The house is registered in your name."

"Thanks," Tong Yu said with a smile, grabbing the keys and turning to look around the room. As she looked, she asked, "This house is quite nice. Are you going to keep me as a mistress?"

“I won’t be coming anymore. I’ve contacted a school for you. You can go there to study and find a decent job after you graduate.”

Tong Yu stopped abruptly, turned to look at Chen Yan, and asked incredulously, "Not coming? What do you mean? You're not going to see me again? Heh, you've already gotten tired of me?"

“I’ve already said it, I just don’t want to see you dancing for people in a bar with a face that looks exactly like his.”

"Then should I thank him!" Tong Yu sneered, suddenly feeling angry. He walked over to Chen Yan and questioned, "You treat me like this because I look like him. You like him a lot, don't you? You like him so much that you can be this nice to someone who looks like you!"

"I don't know if he likes me or not, but what I do know is," Chen Yan curled the corner of her lips, "that he loves me."

"Love you?" Tong Yu was taken aback for a moment, but quickly put on an indifferent expression. "Haha, since you two love each other so much, have you slept with him?"

"No."

"No?" Tong Yu's face turned ugly. He suddenly grabbed Chen Yan's collar and fell backward onto the bed. Chen Yan was also pulled down onto him. "Since you like him so much, let's do it. I'll let you feel what it's like to be on top of him." Tong Yu looked at Chen Yan on top of him and said provocatively.

“No need.” Chen Yan pulled away from Tong Yu’s hand and stood up from the bed. “Besides your face, you don’t resemble him at all. He only gives and never takes. More importantly, he has a very gentle temper.”

"He's so great, why did you come and hang out with me?" Tong Yu scoffed.

Chen Yan chuckled and said with a touch of emotion, "That's true. He's good in every way, but he just can't express himself well. Sometimes he can be a bit boring. If he were like you, saying whatever he wants and getting whatever he wants, I might be with him right now."

"Alright." Chen Yan's smile faded. "You can stay here from now on. I've transferred some money to your card; it'll be enough for you for a long time. We won't have to see each other again." After saying this calmly, Chen Yan walked out the door.

Tong Yu suddenly sat up in bed and yelled at the door, "Chen Yan, you bastard!" But Chen Yan had already walked out and closed the door.

Tong Yu collapsed onto the bed as if she had lost her mind, cursing herself fiercely, "I knew we would break up, so what the hell was the point of having any hope?"

Despite thinking this, he couldn't help but feel sad. Tong Yu gave a bitter smile. He had always thought that a male prostitute like himself would never fall in love with anyone. But he never expected that in just a few days, he would be so thoroughly played by someone who wasn't even as old as him. He had only been nice to him for a few days, and he couldn't bear to let go. He was such a fool, such a fool.

***********

After the start of the semester, Chen Yan returned to school, but Wen Mu did not come. After Chen Yan called Wen Mu, she learned that Wen Mu's mother, Wen Qian, had become more ill and had been ill for several days, so Wen Mu had to stay at home to take care of his mother.

"Since so many days have passed, why didn't you tell me anything? Did you not want me to know about your affairs?" Chen Yan asked on the phone.

"No, no, I just didn't want you to worry." Wen Mu was startled and quickly explained. He wondered if it was just his imagination, but Chen Yan seemed a little angry. He had never told Chen Yan about his family affairs, and Chen Yan had never asked about them. Why did Chen Yan suddenly seem so concerned about him after just one holiday?

"Okay, I understand. I'll head over right away."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Yan went straight to Wen Mu's house. Actually, Wen Qian's health had never been very good, and this serious illness was not sudden. There was always a family doctor taking care of her.

When Chen Yan saw Wen Mu, he had lost a lot of weight and looked somewhat haggard. His whole family was nervous and worried because of Wen Qian's situation. However, upon seeing Chen Yan, Wen Mu's face lit up immediately. "Chen Yan, you've come so quickly," Wen Mu greeted Chen Yan with a hint of surprise.

"Hmm, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Wen Mu said. "It's just that my mother..." When he said this, Wen Mu's face showed a little sadness. Although Wen Mu was not Wen Qian's biological son, and Wen Qian usually did not show much maternal love and warmth to Wen Mu, and was even somewhat indifferent, Wen Mu respected and loved Wen Qian very much.

"Don't worry, everything will be alright," Chen Yan said, hugging Wen Mu to comfort him.

Chen Yan stayed at Wen Mu's house for a day and was preparing to go back to school the next day. However, before leaving, she unexpectedly ran into Lu Mengli, who was there again.

"Mr. Lu, what brings you here?" Chen Yan greeted Lu Mengli politely upon seeing him.

"I heard my cousin was sick, so I came to see her," Lu Mengli said.

Speaking of which, Lu Mengli and the Wen family are somewhat related, though not particularly close. The Wen family runs a jewelry business, while Lu Mengli works for the Xi family's entertainment company. Jewelry is indispensable in the entertainment industry, so the two families have always cooperated. The Wen family has sponsored jewelry for the Xi family's artists, and the Xi family's artists have done advertisements for the Wen family. Moreover, this kinship relationship only developed after they started cooperating.

However, although they became close because of their cooperative relationship, Lu Mengli seemed to have genuine feelings for the Wen family. As soon as he heard that Wen Qian was in trouble, he immediately rushed over to visit her.

Chen Yan initially thought Lu Mengli had only come to offer his condolences, but to her surprise, Lu Mengli not only seemed concerned about Wen Qian's condition but also appeared to care more about Wen Mu. He only asked about Wen Qian's illness perfunctorily, but upon seeing Wen Mu, he showed a concerned expression and asked, "Xiao Mu, are you alright?"

"Thank you for your concern, Mr. Lu. I'm fine," Wen Mu said.

"That's good. You should take good care of yourself too. Don't worry too much about your cousin's condition. There are doctors here, and besides, I'll be with you."

"kindness"

Listening to their conversation, Chen Yan couldn't help but sneer inwardly. It turned out that Lu Mengli's visit was not for the sake of the wine. He looked at Lu Mengli with a half-smile and asked, "Mr. Lu seems to care a lot about Wen Mu?"

Lu Mengli glanced at Wen Mu, smiled indulgently, and said, "Xiao Mu and I are like family, so it's only right that I care about him."

Chen Yan's smile faded. "In that case, I won't worry anymore. I'll head back now."

"Then let me see you off." Wen Mu immediately replied. Actually, Wen Mu was a little disappointed when Chen Yan left, but he was used to obeying Chen Yan. When Chen Yan said she was leaving, he didn't dare to say a word to stop her.

Chen Yan nodded and said "Okay".

**********

After leaving the Wen family, Chen Yan went straight back to the apartment he shared with Wen Mu. Now that Wen Mu wasn't there, he was all alone in the apartment. He hadn't realized it before, but now he felt that the room was quite deserted without Wen Mu. Thinking of this, Chen Yan couldn't help but chuckle.

He used to dislike being disturbed, and Wen Mu would always stay quietly and take care of everything for him without making a sound. But now that Wen Mu isn't here, not to mention anything else, there's no one to cook the meal he'll be eating later.

Chen Yan sat on the sofa in the living room, took out his phone and dialed a number, but after dialing, he didn't call. He glanced at the phone and tossed it aside. Just then, the phone suddenly rang.

The caller ID on her phone showed it was from He Yichen's company. Chen Yan picked up the phone and pressed the answer button. "Hello, what's up?"

Chen Yan listened to what the person on the other end of the phone was saying, then frowned and coldly replied, "Leave him there and don't let him leave. I'm coming right now."

...