Trapped in the Same Day for a Thousand Years: What a Coincidence!

Welcome to Trapped in the Same Day for a Thousand Years, exclusively produced by Feilu Novel Network, written by Sang Ze and narrated by Wang Xiaomo and Lao He. The matter was settled. Wu Chen needed to tell Li Ruobing what had happened and have her transfer the twenty million. The question of making her kneel and apologize could wait.

Wu Chen wasn't sure he would visit Li Ruobing's company tomorrow morning, but Lei Cheng would definitely send Tao Manying there. Li Ruobing needed to be ready to receive her.

"Sorry, the number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable."

Wu Chen listened to the recorded message, then frowned at his phone. It had rung twice before the message played, which meant the call had gone through.

She had hung up on him.

Was she so angry that she wouldn't even take my call?

Wu Chen blinked, then smiled crookedly.

His phone suddenly vibrated with a text message.

He opened it. It was from Li Ruobing, and it contained just three words: "In a meeting." Another meeting.

Li Ruobing had been in a meeting that morning too. It was only natural that she would hold another one in the afternoon. Something major had just happened at the company; gathering the executives to discuss a response made perfect sense.

But when Wu Chen had called during her morning meeting, she had answered. This time she hadn't. Clearly, her attitude had changed.

Wu Chen had said he would handle the matter and proposed a bet, and she had agreed. When he asked for operating funds, he named ten million outright, and she gave it to him without hesitation.

But then Wu Chen took the money to an internet café to play games. That was something Li Ruobing couldn't understand.

Women.

Wu Chen smiled and lifted his teacup again. He was pleased. This was good. Very good.

The less Li Ruobing understood his actions right now, the better. That was how he created an air of mystery, a sense that she couldn't control him.

And the less she understood now, the more surprised and stunned she would be tomorrow. He wondered whether she would obediently kneel in the corner afterward, holding her earlobes like a wronged young wife and saying, "I'm sorry. I was wrong."

The thought was rather amusing.

Wu Chen took another couple of sips of tea, then picked up his phone and called Wang Zhuangyuan.

The call connected immediately. "Mr. Wu," Wang Zhuangyuan said first.

"Who told A Tai I was playing games?" Wu Chen asked directly.

He knew—was virtually certain—that Wang Zhuangyuan hadn't volunteered the information to Li Ruotai. Telling Li Ruotai about something so seemingly irresponsible would have gone against Wang Zhuangyuan's intention of building a relationship with Wu Chen.

But Li Ruotai must have heard first. People in East Sea's underworld had no direct connection to Li Ruobing, so the news could only have reached her through him.

Wang Zhuangyuan should know who had told Li Ruotai. Once Li Ruotai heard, he would surely have called Wang Zhuangyuan to confirm whether Mr. Wu was one of Zhao Guai's people.

Wang Zhuangyuan hurriedly explained, "I suddenly sent a lot of my men to an internet café near the Hua River. Zhao Guai has been keeping an eye on me. He might've thought I was looking to start trouble, so he told Young Master Li. Young Master Li called me afterward, and I told him the truth."

"Mm. All right. No problem."

Wu Chen hung up after saying that. He had only called to check.

It was much as he had guessed. No one involved had meant him any harm.

Zhao Guai had simply been wary of Wang Zhuangyuan, thinking he might be planning something.

Wu Chen stayed at the teahouse for another ten minutes or so before leaving. Though he was the last to go, he naturally didn't have to pay. Everything was on Lei Cheng's tab.

Wu Chen drove his Lamborghini toward home. He had originally planned to make another connection today, but the emergency at Li Ruobing's company had made him abandon that plan and turn his attention to Lei Cheng instead. With most of the day gone, he no longer had enough time to carry out his original plan properly. He might as well go home and work out, then choose someone else to approach.

It wasn't particularly good or bad for him. It changed nothing. There were still plenty of people worth getting to know. Apart from a few specific connections, the order in which he approached them didn't matter.

In East Sea, if connections were ranked by importance, the Li siblings, Lu Guangning, and even Mu Qianqian's father, Mu Sihai, would all count as top-tier.

What made Mu Sihai special was that the strength of a person's connections didn't always depend on how much money he had. It also depended on his line of business. Lu Guangnian was in real estate, and his ties to East Sea's authorities were exceptionally strong.

Mu Sihai was in pharmaceuticals, an industry with even deeper waters than real estate. His wealth didn't match Lu Guangnian's, but his connections and influence were no weaker.

As for Lei Cheng, whom Wu Chen had met today, he was probably a tier below them in East Sea. He might call Lu Guanglian his brother in private, but he wasn't an East Sea native and lacked the powerful family background of the Li siblings.

That was only the Lei Cheng who had been lying low, though. Even while holding himself back, he had attained that standing. He still had assets worth several billion, after all.

Wu Chen had now given him crucial information. Lei Cheng could choose to stop enduring his situation, and he would surely begin laying plans at once to bring down his brother and seize power.

Once Lei Cheng toppled Lei You, he would be the Lei family's sole direct heir. Lei Zhenghui would have no other choice. Lei Cheng would return to Hongfa Group headquarters in triumph and inherit the entire family business.

By then, Lei Cheng would no longer be a second-tier connection in East Sea. His authority and influence would surpass Lu Guangning's and the others' entirely. The only business family in East Sea that might still be able to contend with him would probably be the family of East Sea's richest man.

Wu Chen looked forward to that day. Given what his newfound brother was capable of, he believed it wouldn't be far off.

The light ahead was red. Wu Chen slowed the Lamborghini and brought it to a gentle stop.

Several cars were waiting ahead of him. Behind him, a private car had stopped a good twenty meters back, leaving an enormous gap. There was no special reason: Wu Chen was driving a Lamborghini Aventador, and the other driver was afraid of rear-ending it. Even a slightly serious collision would cost more than the car was worth. They might have to sell their house to pay for it.

Wu Chen suddenly noticed that several cars ahead in the lane to his left looked familiar. More precisely, their license plates did.

He turned to look farther back along that lane. It was a convoy of more than a dozen black Mercedes-Benz vehicles: S-Classes, business vans, and SUVs. Even their license plates formed a matching set. It was conspicuous, to say the least—almost ostentatious.

Wu Chen knew whose convoy it was. So did anyone in East Sea with a little knowledge of the city. It belonged to Su Ruiwen's household. Su Ruiwen was chairman of Jinfu Jewelry Group and the richest man in East Sea.

The convoy was often seen on East Sea's streets, though not every day. It usually came out for important events.

Wu Chen looked back to his left. The convoy had more than a dozen vehicles, with the principal car in the middle. Its passenger would be either Su Ruiwen himself or East Sea's Number One Heiress, Su Qingying.

"What a coincidence," Wu Chen murmured. He thought for a moment. It really was.

Now that their paths had crossed, how could he let the opportunity pass?

He shifted into reverse. The car behind had kept its distance from the Lamborghini, leaving him plenty of room. After backing up over ten meters, he was level with the middle of the Su Family convoy. The principal car was directly to his left.

Wu Chen glanced over. It was a black Mercedes-Maybach, just like Li Ruobing's. It wasn't that wealthy people all had the same taste; the car was suitably formal and businesslike. No one drove one around privately unless they wanted to look like a chauffeur.

The sunshade over the right rear window was half drawn, revealing a profile as lovely as a fairy's. Long, wavy hair partly obscured her face, but it did nothing to hide her beauty.

There were no more than a handful of young women in all East Sea whom Wu Chen would rate a 9.5. Su Qingying was one of them.

As Wu Chen looked at Su Qingying's profile, he felt a sudden pang of nostalgia. He remembered the thousand years he had spent reliving the same day, and all the things he had done with her.

Among all the women he had known, Su Qingying had left a particularly deep impression. It wasn't simply because of her looks. Wu Chen had seen too many beautiful women. That was why his standards were so strict, and why appearance was merely a starting point for him, not the deciding factor. Beauty alone wouldn't make him linger. Most of the women he had slept with, he had never sought out a second time. He also never went near faces altered by cosmetic surgery. It was why, throughout those repeated days, he had slept with Li Ruobing hundreds of times.

Li Ruobing's personality and abilities gave Wu Chen a sense of achievement: even a woman like her could end up in the palm of his hand.

Su Qingying had made such a strong impression for a different reason. She was breathtakingly beautiful, but her inner self was nothing like the person she showed the world. The two were almost complete opposites.

Like Li Ruobing, Su Qingying was seen by the public as a formidable businesswoman. She was also an only child who would inevitably inherit the family business. One day, she might even become the richest woman in the country.

But Li Ruobing's image as a formidable woman was more than ninety percent genuine. Her forceful personality and domineering way of doing things were real.

She was strong-willed to the core. Su Qingying was not.

Of all the beautiful women Wu Chen had met, Su Qingying had the greatest contrast between her public and private selves. In private, she was also among the most obedient, accommodating, and gentle.

Is something wrong with him?

Inside the car, Su Qingying looked up from the interview notes she was reading. She seemed to have noticed Wu Chen watching her.

She looked out the window, then lowered her gaze.

The Lamborghini was a low-slung sports car.

Their eyes met. Su Qingying saw an unfamiliar young man in a Lamborghini, dressed neatly and looking at her. He seemed to be the son of a wealthy family.

She had no idea whose family he belonged to. Wu Chen gave her a polite smile, and she returned it. Her smile appeared and vanished just as quickly. Then she raised her hand and drew the sunshade all the way shut.

Smiling back was simple courtesy. Her upbringing taught her to answer a smile with one of her own, but that was all. She didn't want to be stared at.

The light changed, and traffic began moving. The Su Family convoy went straight through the intersection, while Wu Chen turned left.

Of course he wouldn't follow them. That would make his interest far too obvious.

He could guess where the convoy was headed: probably another press conference or media event.

The day before yesterday, a Jinyinfu Jewelry store in East Sea had been the scene of a major robbery.

The case had been solved that same day, but there was still plenty to deal with afterward.

Once he had made the turn, Wu Chen picked up his phone again, entered a number, and sent a text message.

He wouldn't follow her, but their meeting had been too much of a coincidence to ignore.

There was no harm in reaching out first.

Inside the Mercedes-Maybach in the middle of the convoy, Su Qingying sat behind the fully drawn sunshade, still reading her interview notes.

At the upcoming media event, reporters would ask her many questions, including ones about Jinyinfu Group's security and compensation for the store employees injured during the robbery.

The notes listed the questions she could expect. They had naturally been prepared for her in advance.

Her phone sounded with a new message. Su Qingying frowned faintly and took it out. The message was from an unknown number: "When Will the Moon Be Clear? That's you, isn't it? It's my first time seeing you in person. You're much prettier than you are on the news."

Su Qingying's pupils contracted sharply. Thanks to her distinguished family background and careful upbringing, she rarely showed strong emotion. She was usually calm, restrained, and unfailingly courteous.

But now her expression changed completely. She even looked a little frightened.

At first glance, there was nothing troubling about the message. Most of it truly was harmless. What alarmed Su Qingying wasn't the compliment at the end, but the first five Chinese characters: "When Will the Moon Be Clear?"

That was one of Su Qingying's online usernames, but not one she used regularly. She had used it in only one place: an unusual private forum where she had registered anonymously.

She had read many posts there, but rarely replied. She had made only one post of her own.

In that post, she had expressed the confusion she felt deep inside and laid bare her feelings.

It was an intensely private matter to Su Qingying. Outside the internet, she was the only one who knew about it. Even online, no one should have been able to connect it to her.

She was "When Will the Moon Be Clear?"

When registering the account, she hadn't entered any real personal information. She had even created a temporary email address just to receive the verification code.

More importantly, she hadn't stood out on that forum. There were many people like her. She mostly read without speaking, rarely posted, and her replies drew no attention.

Logically, she had thought she could keep it secret for the rest of her life. No one would ever know.

So what was this text message?

Su Qingying stared at it, her face drained of color. After several seconds, she whipped around to look through the rear windshield. She knew who had sent it: the man in the Lamborghini who had just smiled at her.

She didn't know who he was, how he had obtained her phone number, or how he had discovered she was "When Will the Moon Be Clear?" on the forum. That last question frightened her most.

The only thing she could be sure of was that the message came from him. It said he had seen her in person for the first time and that she was prettier than on the news.

He seemed to know her secret. He even knew her phone number, while she knew nothing about him.

Panic surged through Su Qingying. She understood that if this became public, it could ruin her. She hadn't actually done anything; she had only said a few things online. But it would be enough to destroy her reputation.

"Qingying, what's wrong?"

"What are you looking at?"

Su Qingying wasn't alone in the back seat. To her left sat a middle-aged man who was extraordinarily fat. Seated there, he looked like the Laughing Buddha.

Fortunately, the car was spacious and Su Qingying was slim, so they weren't pressed together.

The man was around fifty. He called her Qingying, but he wasn't her father.

He was one of her father Su Ruiwen's most trusted associates: Tang Deyang, a senior vice president of Jinfu Group, president of its operations division, and the group's fourth-largest shareholder.

Tang Deyang was one of the brothers who had joined Su Ruiwen at the start. They had traveled to Myanmar together in their early years and weathered countless hardships. Their bond had been forged through life-and-death experiences.

Tang Deyang had watched Su Qingying grow up from birth. Though they weren't related by blood, they were close.

Su Ruiwen had gone to the capital for a meeting. The trip had been arranged long ago, and he had flown out yesterday afternoon. That was why Tang Deyang was accompanying Su Qingying to today's media event.

"N-no, it's nothing."

Su Qingying turned back and concealed her emotions. She hadn't seen the Lamborghini behind them. Whatever was going on, she had to set it aside for now. Tang Deyang said, "You need to do well today. That robbery made headlines across the country."

"There'll be plenty of foreign reporters at the media event. If you handle it well, you might turn a bad thing into a good one. It'll reflect well on you personally and show everyone how capable Jinfu Group's successor is at handling an emergency."

Tang Deyang kept talking.

"You're right, Uncle."

Su Qingying gave a brief reply.

"Your dad and I are getting old. My health isn't good, either. I might go before he does. The whole group will be counting on you someday, so you've got to do your best!"

Tang Deyang sighed. His breathing was labored because of his weight.

"That's enough, Uncle. If you have time, lose some weight instead of talking like that."

"What's this about going before anyone?"

Su Qingying pretended to study her notes as she answered.

In truth, she couldn't take in a word. Her mind was filled with that text message.

She had been born into privilege, and great expectations had been placed on her since childhood. The greater those expectations grew, the more afraid she became.

A few minutes later, Su Qingying picked up her phone as if she had just remembered something. She quickly sent Wu Chen a reply.

It said, "Who are you?"

This episode has ended. Thank you for listening!