Chapter 114: The Game is Over

Chen Feng put down his phone, feeling a little speechless.

Wu Mengting was actually testing him by retreating to advance. Was that necessary?
They were all adults. If it worked, it worked. If not, then forget it. Was there any point in playing such a childish love game?

Chen Feng’s time was short, he really didn’t have time to play with her.

Also, Chen Feng suddenly felt that Wu Mengting was a bit immature. Maybe he really wasn’t suitable for some kind of life-and-death love with her.

It was too tiring!

Thinking about Sun Xiaorui, who was beautiful, considerate, and understanding, wasn’t that good enough? There was really no need to play any love games with a girl like Wu Mengting who had just graduated from school and was several years younger.

He hadn’t wanted to be in a relationship or have any emotional entanglements in the first place. Now that she had taken the initiative to break up, it seemed not bad.

This way, after he suddenly passed away, he wouldn’t have any lingering attachments.

Sitting in the shop, after thinking through these things, Chen Feng felt relieved, and also a little bored.

Maybe he had long passed the age of being in love.

And from this matter, it could be seen that there was obviously a generation gap between him and Wu Mengting.

He might as well just go along with her “retreating to advance” tactic and break up.

Before things became irreversible, it was good to get back on the normal track.

Looking at the time, it was eleven in the morning. Chen Feng closed the shop and went home.

Downstairs, Sun Xiaorui was mopping the floor. Wu Mengting and Lin Wan were nowhere to be seen.

Seeing Chen Feng return, Sun Xiaorui said happily, “You’re back. Should I start cooking now?”

Chen Feng shook his head, “No need. Let’s go out to eat.”

Sun Xiaorui’s eyes lit up. She quickly lowered her voice and asked, “Just the two of us?”

Chen Feng nodded with a smile.

“Okay. Then I’ll go upstairs and change my clothes and come down.”

Sun Xiaorui immediately became cheerful, her face full of excitement. She casually put down the mop and hurried upstairs.

In less than two minutes, she had changed her clothes and walked down quickly.

“Let’s go.”

Sun Xiaorui had a happy expression on her face. She came over, linked her arm with Chen Feng’s, and led him out.

At the same time, she glanced back at the upstairs with a slightly guilty conscience.

Wu Mengting and Lin Wan were in their own rooms. They might have heard, or they might not have.

But Chen Feng couldn’t be bothered to care.

---

The first thing Chen Feng did was drive to the nearest hotel and book a deluxe suite.

More than an hour later, the two were lying comfortably side by side on the bed.

It was a pity Chen Feng didn’t smoke. Otherwise, having a post-coital cigarette at this moment was a classic scene in countless movies and TV shows.

It was also something many men did after becoming “sages.”

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other. Have you missed me?”

Sun Xiaorui’s face still had a rosy glow from the heat of passion. She asked with a slight shyness.

“Of course I have,” Chen Feng smiled faintly and changed the subject. “Have you ever thought about continuing our previously interrupted trip across the country?”

“Ah? Really? Just the two of us?” Sun Xiaorui asked with great surprise.

“Of course,” Chen Feng said calmly. “We had planned it so well at the beginning, but it was interrupted right after it started. It’s really a pity. Anyway, we both have time now, so let’s just continue. It’s always been my wish to see the great rivers and mountains of our motherland.”

Sun Xiaorui couldn’t help but turn her head to look at Chen Feng suspiciously and asked in a low voice, “Have you told Mengting about this? Will she agree?”

Chen Feng didn’t want to tell her about his decision to break up with Wu Mengting, lest she have ideas of becoming his official girlfriend again.

He just said very domineeringly, “My business doesn’t need her approval. I just need to approve it myself.”

Sun Xiaorui’s eyes rolled. She said with a seemingly concerned tone, “Then what if she doesn’t agree and throws a tantrum at you? Will it make things difficult for you?”

Chen Feng reached out and pulled her into his arms, smiling, “You don’t need to worry about that. From now on, you just need to accompany me well and take care of my daily life. You don’t need to worry about anything else. Of course, I won’t treat you unfairly. Didn’t you want to open a clothing store? After we come back from our trip, you can look for a suitable shop. I’ll pay for it and let you open the shop, rent-free.”

Sun Xiaorui’s expression flickered. She said coquettishly, half-jokingly, “Isn’t this shop a gift for me?”

Chen Feng had originally thought about giving her a shop after he died, but he certainly couldn’t say it so easily at this time. He smiled and said, “As long as you stay with me for three years, I can consider giving you a shop.”

Hearing this, Sun Xiaorui wasn’t excited, or rather, she was a little disbelieving. She just chuckled, “You say it as if it’s real. If I take it seriously, can you really do it?”

“Do you think I’m just coaxing you?” Chen Feng asked back with a straight face.

“What else? Are you really planning to give me a shop? A shop in Xiuzhou, as long as the location is decent, costs at least a million. Are you willing to spend so much money on me?” Sun Xiaorui pretended to have a look of suspicion.

Chen Feng wasn’t so easily trapped either. He teased, “Are you deliberately trying to provoke me?”

“Yes. Are you provoked?” Sun Xiaorui looked at him with a smile.

“I’m not falling for it. If you don’t believe me, then forget it. Now let’s get back to business.”

Chen Feng smiled and rolled over.

---

More than an hour later, the two left the hotel and then picked a nearby restaurant that looked clean and had a good meal.

After eating, the two didn’t go back to the East Lake villa right away.

Instead, they held hands and strolled along the embankment of East Lake.

It was past three in the afternoon, the temperature was in the teens, and the warm sun was high in the sky, shining on their bodies, making them feel indescribably comfortable.

Looking up at the lake, the water was sparkling. Two or three tour boats were leisurely cruising on it. From time to time, tourists with various accents walked by, adding to the flavor of a tourist city.

The two of them strolled and chatted, feeling indescribably content.

When they got tired, they sat down on a bench. Sun Xiaorui snuggled up to Chen Feng, her head resting on his shoulder.

The two of them watched the sparkling surface of East Lake together. Even though a cold wind blew, their hearts felt warm.

After a good while, Sun Xiaorui finally spoke, “How is the art shop you opened? I heard from Lin Wan before that you’ve been acquiring but haven’t sold anything yet. Will you lose money?”

Chen Feng smiled and said, “Art, you know, it’s a business where you don’t make a sale for three years, and then one sale feeds you for three years. I’m buying at a low price now, and it will definitely appreciate in the future. It’s a kind of medium-to-long-term investment. I’m not short of money now, so there’s no need to rush to sell them.”

“That’s good. I was really worried that you’ve acquired so many artworks and they’re all stuck in your hands, unable to be sold. It would be bad if it affected your cash flow.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. I’m not bragging, but if I want to make money now, I can easily make a lot of it. But I’m a lazy and low-key person. I don’t want to do anything that’s too mentally taxing or too high-profile.”

What Chen Feng said wasn’t bragging, but the truth.
His luck was so good now, it was really too easy to make money if he wanted to.

But he had a terminal illness and could die at any time. There was really no need to make too much money for himself. Otherwise, after he died, it might bring disaster to his family, or disrupt their originally peaceful and quiet life.

This was also the reason why he had never dared to tell his family that he was now worth tens of millions.

In a big city like Xiuzhou, a net worth of tens of millions was nothing. But in Chen Feng’s rural hometown, a net worth of tens of millions, and one that was suddenly acquired, could very well bring disaster to himself and his family.

And after his family knew he was so rich, the originally harmonious family atmosphere might be destroyed.

Even with one’s own relatives, it was best not to test their feelings with money.

So, he had been thinking recently about whether to set up some kind of foundation to manage his posthumous assets and pay his parents, brother and sister-in-law, two nieces, or even Sun Xiaorui a monthly salary.

But domestic foundations were really hard to trust. As for foreign ones, he had no connections and was completely clueless.

So for now, he could only think about it.

“Are you really making so much money from stocks now? Why don’t you teach me too?”

Sun Xiaorui asked with a smile.

“Stock trading isn’t something you can make money from just by being taught. I don’t really understand stock trading either. But I can make money because my luck is very good, and I know how to choose which stocks.”

“Then just teach me how to choose stocks.”

“I really can’t teach that. I choose stocks mainly based on intuition and luck. How can I teach you that?”

“Hmph, if you don’t want to teach, then forget it.”

“Really, I’m telling the truth. If you don’t believe me, I can’t help it.”

Sun Xiaorui said with a smile, “I believe you (as if).”

“That’s good.”

The two sat for a while longer, then got up and walked back.

---

When they returned to the East Lake villa, it was almost five o’clock.

This time, Wu Mengting and Lin Wan were both in the living room downstairs.

“Where did you go?” Wu Mengting looked at Chen Feng and asked with a slightly resentful tone.

Lin Wan sneered, “Isn’t it obvious? The two of them went to get a room.”

Sun Xiaorui’s face turned red, but she held back her embarrassment and instead had a bright smile on her face, standing there without speaking.

Chen Feng, on the other hand, was very calm. He smiled and said, “We went out to eat and also took a walk by the lake. What did you guys have for lunch?”

“Noodles,” Lin Wan said with a resentful tone. “Tiantian didn’t eat at noon, and she didn’t cook for me either.”

Chen Feng curled his lip and said, “You’re living and eating here for free, what are you still not satisfied with?”

Lin Wan fell silent, but she still looked at Chen Feng with a resentful expression.

Chen Feng ignored them and led Sun Xiaorui upstairs, one after the other.

As they passed by Wu Mengting, Sun Xiaorui gave her a sweet smile.

After the two went upstairs, Lin Wan immediately pulled Wu Mengting and said, “You see, he’s not even paying attention to you now. He must be angry at you. So much for retreating to advance, you’ve just made it easy for Sun Xiaorui. I think you should stop playing this ‘retreating to advance’ game and go win him back. As for Sun Xiaorui, we can slowly think of a way to drive her away later.”

Wu Mengting’s face was ashen. She sat down on the sofa again, her mind racing. After a long time, she finally sighed and said, “It seems I’ve overestimated myself. I thought Brother Feng would eventually make that woman leave for my sake. But now it seems I’ve overestimated my position in his heart.”

Lin Wan quickly said, “You might have misunderstood Brother Feng. He just got divorced not long ago. He must hate it when women force him to do things he doesn’t want to do, or try to control him. A straight-laced man like him, who isn’t short of money, how could he easily give in? And you’ve just hit both of his taboos. One is forcing him to choose one of the two, and the other is that you want to control him. Well, as a result, you’ve messed up the game.”

Wu Mengting fell silent, her expression somber.

Lin Wan sighed and put her arm around her, “I think you should stop pushing him. The more you push him, the further he’ll get from you.”

“I know.”

After Wu Mengting said this, she fell silent.

Seeing this, Lin Wan knew the time was right. She took out her phone and said to her, “I’m going to the bathroom,” then opened WeChat and sent a new message to Chen Feng as she walked.

[I’ve already persuaded Tiantian. I think she already knows her strategy has failed. She should be coming to you to make up soon.]

Upstairs, Chen Feng, who was just lying on the bed scrolling through his phone, saw this message. A playful smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

This woman, Lin Wan, under the temptation of a raise and a bonus, had undoubtedly sold out her best friend, Wu Mengting.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Feng replied.

[You don’t need to persuade her anymore. I’ve already thought it through. Whatever decision she makes, I will respect her. Also, I need to inform you that I’m temporarily closing the art shop. I’ll transfer your salary for these past few days to you in a moment.]

Lin Wan was shocked when she saw this message.

In fact, she was very satisfied with this job that paid five thousand a month.

She just had to sit in the shop every day. There were few customers all day, and she could even do live streams while minding the shop.

Where else could she find such a good job?

So, she really didn’t want to lose such a leisurely job.

[??? What are you doing? The shop has only been open for a few days, and you want to close it? Are you worthy of Tiantian’s expectations for you? Are you worthy of my trust in you?]

Chen Feng didn’t explain anything and directly transferred 5,000 yuan to her on WeChat.

Lin Wan had been working for almost half a month. If her salary were to be calculated, it would be at most 3,000 yuan. The extra two thousand was equivalent to a severance pay.

This art shop wasn’t very meaningful to keep open now. The useful calligraphy and paintings that could be collected in the province had basically all been collected. Even if there were any omissions, there probably weren’t many.

Besides, Chen Feng was planning to continue his trip across the country with Sun Xiaorui. He could take the opportunity to visit calligraphers and painters all over the country and acquire the calligraphy and paintings he wanted.

Also, the success rate of the works by the two painters, Li Chungang and Zhang Lidong, was quite high. Chen Feng believed they would soon be able to produce enough “spiritual food” for him.

So, after thinking about it, there wasn’t much point in keeping the art shop open. It would only take up his energy and time, which was unnecessary.

And when Lin Wan received the five thousand yuan from Chen Feng, she was happy at first, then a little depressed.

[It’s really a pity that you’re not continuing to run this good shop. Even if you don’t want to continue acquiring artworks now, you can still sell them to the public. I can continue to run the shop for you and guarantee that I can attract customers for you. I can also help you promote it during my live streams.]

After looking at it, Chen Feng replied: [No need]

Seeing these two words from Chen Feng, Lin Wan was so angry her teeth itched, but she could do nothing about him.