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Those who met Shen Heng's gaze instinctively looked away, then secretly sized him up again with complicated expressions.

Putting Shen Heng's shameless behavior aside, the man did cut a fine figure. At a full six-foot-three, he stood out sharply in a crowd, an obvious visual impact that carried an overwhelming sense of pressure. Years of outdoor exercise had honed his body into a lean, powerful form. Broad shoulders, a narrow waist, long legs—even the defined muscles bulging along his arms radiated intimidation. Combined with his close-cropped hair, his features appeared all the more handsome and sharp.

Yet what drew the most attention to Shen Heng was not his face, handsome enough to play the male lead in an idol drama, but the reckless, uninhibited air about him that no one could ignore. No one could predict what this man might do the next second.

"Please make your choice!" Seeing the increasingly heated looks directed at him, President Shen smiled faintly, elegantly flicked the invisible large tail behind him, and asked with reserved poise, "Do you want to touch my muscular body, or do you want my gift?"

Gu Jiuque, who had always been remarkably composed, felt his scalp go numb at this sudden shameless stunt. He wanted neither!

Before everyone's eyes, they watched Gu Jiuque—tall and graceful, refined as bamboo, capable of discussing antiques and history with ease before hundreds of tourists—somehow get reduced to looking a little thin and helpless.

"You must make a choice. Otherwise, I'll spend the rest of my life anxiously regretting the offense I committed against you." Before Gu Jiuque could react, President Shen once again brought his sturdy arm before him. With a sincere expression and earnest tone, he said, "Mr. Gu, I believe you're a good person. You wouldn't want a young man who is sincere and brave, full of hope for the future, to spend his entire life living in regret because you refused to forgive him, would you?"

He gazed deeply into Gu Jiuque's eyes. "Just imagine it. Before today, he was a sunny, lively, passionate, cheerful young man, filled with trust, kindness, care, and love for human relationships! But after today, he'll be burdened by guilt for an unintentional mistake for the rest of his life! If you truly refuse to forgive his offense—"

"I choose the gift!"

"Then please let him spend the rest of his life atoning for his mistake!"

Their voices rang out at the same time.

After being frozen for quite some time, Gu Jiuque's expression finally changed. He looked deeply at the man before him, dressed in a suit and utterly oblivious to everyone around him, and wondered whether there was something wrong with his brain—or something wrong with his brain. The deep suspicion in his gaze gradually turned into the resolute determination of a man facing death. He repeated firmly, "I choose the gift!"

"...Are you sure you don't want to reconsider?" After a long pause, Shen Heng said somewhat dejectedly, "Actually, I'd be quite willing to spend the rest of my life making up for the mistakes I made when I was young—"

"There's absolutely no need!" This time, the usually composed Gu Jiuque did not even wait for Shen Heng to finish. He impatiently snatched the broken porcelain shard Shen Heng was holding in his other hand as an apology and casually stuffed it into the hands of the restorers behind him.

Then, blessed with an excellent memory, Gu Jiuque walked to another stall nearby, casually picked up a copper coin priced about the same as the broken porcelain shard Shen Heng had given him, and named a price to the stall owner. The owner was an expert as well. Upon hearing Gu Jiuque's offer, he did not hesitate at all and simply waved for Gu Jiuque to take it.

Gu Jiuque had come out for a walk after lunch to aid his digestion and had not brought much money with him. He said, "Put it on my tab for now. When you close up, come to Antique Appreciation Studio, and I'll pay you."

The stall owner nodded, then looked at Shen Heng, who had wandered over behind him, along with the string of onlookers trailing behind. He lazily raised an eyebrow. "Got yourself tangled up with a rogue?"

Gu Jiuque shook his head but said nothing more. He casually handed the copper coin to Shen Heng, who had sauntered over with his tail wagging. "This is my return gift."

Before Shen Heng could speak, Gu Jiuque added, "If you don't accept it, it means you look down on me."

Shen Heng: "..."

Having his own logic thrown back at him word for word, President Shen grinned. "How could I possibly refuse? This is a gift from Mr. Gu."

After saying that, Shen Heng asked the stall owner for a length of red cord. Right in front of Gu Jiuque, he tied the copper coin into a lover's knot and eagerly put it on.

The coin rested directly over his heart.

The onlookers let out another chorus of "Wow!" and all declared that they had learned something!

The next second, President Shen showed off his biceps in front of Gu Jiuque again. "My body really is pretty good. How about you give it a touch after all? Look, you accepted my apology and were even so polite as to give me a gift in return. I really am happy to receive it. But thinking about it again, doesn't that still mean you're the one losing out?"

Gu Jiuque was silent for a full ten seconds before he finally said with difficulty, "...Since I was little, my mother has told me that suffering a loss is a blessing."

"...Are you sure you don't want to reconsider?" Shen Heng said sincerely. "My mother often taught me that honesty is the foundation of business. You absolutely cannot let others suffer a loss."

When Shen Heng's assistant and bodyguards finally struggled through the crowd, what they heard was their boss spouting this complete nonsense.

The accompanying representatives from the contractor company looked as though they had seen a ghost. One of them even took off his glasses, carefully wiped them, and put them back on, unable to believe that the man going on and on about honesty and never letting others suffer losses was the very same person who had ruthlessly targeted SR Company in the stock market last month, forcing SR's board of directors to pay 225 million to buy back 10% of SR Company's shares from Shen Heng at a premium price of 18.6 per share!

And just three months earlier, Shen Heng had taken advantage of SR Company's internal turmoil and the scandals involving its management to acquire 10% of SR Company's shares on the secondary market for an average of only 8.7 per share! In just a few months, he had made hundreds of millions in net profit. There was nothing at all about that which suggested he did not let others suffer losses.

—They had always thought President Shen's motto should be, "As long as others are willing to suffer losses, there'll be no end to the losses they can suffer!"

Sure enough, shameless people did not even blush when they lied!