Li Ruobing Lost Her Composure

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. "Come to Building 7 in the South City CBD." As soon as the call connected, Li Ruobing spoke, her voice cold and leaving no room for refusal.

"I'm already downstairs," Wu Chen said calmly.

Li Ruobing's breathing caught. Then she said, "I'll send someone to bring you up."

"Underground parking garage. White Lamborghini."

Wu Chen hung up as soon as he finished speaking.

For a stranger, getting a meeting with someone as important as Li Ruobing was next to impossible.

But for Wu Chen, meeting any important figure in Donghai City was easy. All it took was a phone call and a few words.

He knew the secrets of everyone who mattered. He only had to mention one, and they would take the bait.

And during their earlier call, what had truly prompted Li Ruobing to call him back was the Bet.

Very few people knew about the Bet. An outsider had no way of knowing.

Before long, a tall, thin man in a black suit and sunglasses came to the parking garage and knocked on the white Lamborghini's window.

Wu Chen knew him too. He was Zhou Huan, one of Li Ruobing's top bodyguards, a former reconnaissance soldier from an elite special forces unit. He was married and had a five-year-old son.

"Let's go," Wu Chen said as he got out.

Zhou Huan sized him up. Wu Chen was dressed plainly and looked especially young, like a college student without much money.

He wondered why his boss had sent him downstairs to meet someone like this, but he asked no questions.

"This way, sir." Zhou Huan gestured and led the way.

The South City CBD was Donghai City's business district, filled with high-end office buildings. Security was strict; without an employee card, there was no getting upstairs.

Zhou Huan took Wu Chen into the elevator, and they eventually reached the thirty-first floor.

Rent here was exorbitant. A new company would normally lease a small office, but when Li Ruobing had started her company here three years earlier, she had leased five entire floors.

And this was only part of her company's operations. She also had a massive factory in the industrial district, built with an investment of one billion yuan.

Since all five floors belonged to the same company, they had been decorated as a whole.

Illusion Fashion's logo was everywhere, as were people hurrying back and forth.

The offices were bustling, with attractive men and women everywhere.

The bodyguard then led Wu Chen up the stairs to the thirty-third floor. Few employees could be seen here. Instead, Black-Suited Bodyguards stood everywhere.

If Wu Chen had not known whom he was meeting, he might have thought it was some underworld boss.

Li Ruobing was certainly powerful, but she had no ties to the underworld. To the public, she was simply a star entrepreneur in Donghai City and a female CEO. At the President's Office on the thirty-third floor, two black-suited bodyguards stood on either side of the door like sentries.

"Boss, he's here," Zhou Huan called inside.

"Come in!" A cold voice came from the office.

Zhou Huan led Wu Chen in.

The office was enormous, with a beautiful view through its floor-to-ceiling windows, but there was little furniture. The sofas for guests stood far from the desk.

"You're the one who called me." Li Ruobing set down her pen and studied Wu Chen.

She was surprised. Wu Chen looked nothing like she had imagined. A stranger had called her out of nowhere, spoken of things only a handful of people knew, and remained perfectly composed despite knowing who she was. She had expected a mature, steady man, perhaps someone middle-aged. Instead, Wu Chen looked far too young, like a student.

Wu Chen studied Li Ruobing too. She was tall and slender, with long, straight black hair, gold-rimmed glasses, and strikingly cool makeup. Her presence was formidable.

Even sitting there in silence, she radiated authority and seemed hard to approach. Her commanding air made it easy to overlook her beauty.

"A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Li."

Wu Chen smiled, then began strolling around the office as he pleased.

He looked around as though he were in his own home, walking wherever he liked and examining whatever caught his eye.

He even circled the desk, passing behind Li Ruobing.

Zhou Huan looked to Li Ruobing, silently asking what she wanted him to do.

Wu Chen was being far too brazen. He had not done anything overt, but acting so casually in front of Li Ruobing was brazen enough.

"You can go," Li Ruobing told Zhou Huan.

Zhou Huan left.

Li Ruobing looked at Wu Chen, who had settled onto a sofa and crossed his legs.

"Wu Chen, was it?" Li Ruobing picked up a document from her desk.

"Twenty-two years old. Graduated from Donghai University's Computer Science department. Your father is Wu Dahai, and your mother is Zhang Xiujuan. They run a Ramen Shop in a small county town."

"You also have a younger sister named Wu Jiao. She's currently in high school."

Wu Chen smiled and applauded.

"Ms. Li really does have impressive reach. You found out all that in less than an hour."

Wu Chen was not surprised. He knew what Li Ruobing could do. His phone number was registered under his real name, so someone with power and connections could easily look into his background. It was only a matter of how long it took.

"Hmph. I thought someone had gotten hold of your phone number. I didn't expect it really was you, an ordinary college graduate."

Li Ruobing tossed the document aside and stared straight at Wu Chen. She was, of course, deeply puzzled.

Wu Chen had no connections. He was unremarkable. "Who I am doesn't matter, does it?" Wu Chen tilted his head and smiled. "I'll get straight to it. Give me ten million yuan, and I'll tell you who the traitor is."

"Who sent you?" Li Ruobing asked. She seemed uninterested in the traitor Wu Chen had mentioned; instead, she remained convinced there was something suspicious about him.

"I came alone. Think of me as an information broker. I know a great deal, including things you care about. You pay me, I give you the answer. A fair trade," Wu Chen said.

"A stranger turns up out of nowhere, tells me I have a traitor, asks for ten million, and calls it a fair trade. Do you really think that will work?" Li Ruobing smiled, then her expression instantly turned cold. "I'm warning you. If you don't give me a satisfactory answer, you won't leave here alive today."

As she spoke, Li Ruobing pulled open a drawer, took something out, and set it down.

Bang!

She slapped a black handgun onto the desk.

This woman was always direct. And she really would kill someone in her office.

"Wow. You want to kill me?" Wu Chen made a show of drawing a sharp breath, then laughed in surprise.

He raised his hand and waved what he was holding. "How are you going to kill me without this?"

In Wu Chen's hand was a magazine.

Li Ruobing's expression changed. She glanced at her gun. Sure enough, the magazine was gone.

"When did you—?" Li Ruobing shot to her feet.

She stared wide-eyed, disbelief flickering across her face.

She remembered Wu Chen wandering around when he first entered, even circling her desk. That had been the only time he came near it. But how had he taken the magazine?

The gun had been in a drawer. How had he known it was there?

Even if he had known, how could he have removed the magazine in the instant he walked past while leaving the gun in the drawer?

"Calm down, Ms. Li. This isn't like you." Wu Chen smiled and tossed the magazine onto the coffee table. "I mean you no harm. I came to you for money. It's a business deal. I hope you understand."

Li Ruobing slowly sat back in her chair. She realized she had lost her composure.

Losing her composure in front of a strange man—Wu Chen was right. That was not like her.

"Can we talk now?" Wu Chen asked.

"The traitor?" Li Ruobing had regained her composure completely.

"You're saying..."

"There's a traitor close to you. For ten million, I'll tell you who it is." Wu Chen named his price again.

In truth, he had brought up money and stressed that this was business only to lower Li Ruobing's guard.

Everything needed a motive. If Wu Chen was going to approach Li Ruobing out of the blue, he needed one. Money made perfect sense.

To grow close to someone quickly, he needed more than an understanding of them. He also needed exactly the right moment.

First impressions mattered enormously.

During the endlessly repeated July 7, Wu Chen had slept with one beautiful woman after another soon after meeting them. He had succeeded because, after looking into each of them, he could find the best opportunity—one where she would have no reason to be wary of him.

But he could not lay that kind of groundwork before meeting Li Ruobing this time, nor did he want to Reset July 8 over and over. So he had chosen a different way to approach her.

It had made Li Ruobing extremely wary of him, but given how well Wu Chen knew her, sleeping with her would still be easy.

It had been more than a hundred years since he had last slept with Li Ruobing. Come to think of it, Wu Chen missed her.

"Ten million?"

"What kind of traitor do you think is worth ten million to me?"

Li Ruobing gave him an assertive smile. "And even if you're telling the truth—even if there really is a traitor close to me—I can investigate it myself. I don't need you."

"You've been investigating the traitor for quite a while now, haven't you? Have you found them?" Wu Chen asked.

"You..." Li Ruobing's expression changed again.

He was right. She had known for a long time that there was a traitor close to her. She had been investigating, but had found nothing.

"There's only half a month until the new product launch. Before then, that person will try to get hold of the research materials. Your competitor will get ahead of you and ruin your launch. You don't want to lose the Bet, do you?"

Wu Chen looked certain he had her cornered.

To win over a forceful woman like Li Ruobing, he had to be even more forceful. Not through empty arrogance, of course, but by backing up every claim and keeping her under pressure.

Li Ruobing stared at Wu Chen without expression.

"Ten million, and I'll tell you who the traitor is." Wu Chen went on, "Add another ten million, and I can tell you something about your younger brother. His safety is at stake. He's about to be in trouble. Did you know?"

"Trying to scare me?"

Li Ruobing raised an eyebrow and adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses. "No, no. I'm not trying to scare you," Wu Chen said. "I know threats and persuasion don't work on you. You even dared to confront your grandfather in public. How could I threaten you?"

Wu Chen kept smiling. "You seem to know me very well," Li Ruobing said, narrowing her eyes.

"Of course. I'm an information broker. I know a great deal about anyone I approach," Wu Chen said with a smile.

"Then tell me. What else do you know about me?"

"Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"Li Ruobing, twenty-seven years old. Chairwoman and CEO of Illusion Color Fashion Group. Graduated from Harvard Business School."

"You returned to China at twenty-three and founded Illusion Color Fashion Group, which mainly sells high-end cosmetics. Your current net worth is around two billion yuan."

Wu Chen seemed to be finished. "That's all?" Li Ruobing asked mockingly. "You can find all that online. What kind of intelligence is that?"

"You're the eldest granddaughter of the Li Family Heir, but because you're a girl, you were never favored."

"Your grandfather values boys over girls. You noticed the difference in how you were treated when you were very young, but you refused to accept it. You resolved to prove yourself—to show everyone that a woman could be stronger than a man."

As Wu Chen continued, Li Ruobing's expression changed again and again.

"You've had a tough, boyish temperament since childhood. When you were young, you got into group fights, and even the boys were afraid of you. Your own younger brother, who grew up with you and whom you doted on most, was afraid of you too."

"You refused to submit to your fate, so you studied hard and did well."

"But in the end, you couldn't escape the curse of a powerful family."

"When you were twenty-three, your family lured you home by claiming your mother was seriously ill. In reality, they wanted to bring you back to get married."

"Your grandfather had arranged for you to marry Ding Ruilong, the young master of the Nanguang Ding Family."

"Your mother had always taken your side. She came from the Northwest Sun Family and had married your father for a family alliance. Her family had influence, so she had some say in yours. But this time, even your mother stood against you. She wanted you to marry Ding Ruilong. You refused. When your family tried to force you, you overturned the table in front of everyone and cursed your grandfather as an old bastard. Your uncle slapped you, and you slapped him right back."

"Honestly, I admire you for that."

Wu Chen smiled at that, then continued. "You wanted to walk away, but your mother used herself to pressure you. In the end, you and Ding Ruilong made a Bet. You would each start a new business in an industry neither family had entered. You would rely on your own abilities, and after five years, whoever had built the bigger company would win. That's why you founded Illusion Fashion."

"You said you would never marry. Later, you changed your mind and said that if you did marry, it would have to be to a man stronger than you. So if you lose, you'll have to marry Ding Ruilong."

"But if you win, you'll be free to live your own life. No one will try to force you again."

"You've worked incredibly hard these past few years. Perhaps you really do have a gift for it. You've made a name for yourself in fashion cosmetics."

"You've also had three boyfriends over the past four years. All three eventually left you. One committed suicide, and the other two lost everything."

"They weren't real boyfriends. You deliberately used them as shields."

"But Ding Ruilong is petty. Even though he knew they were only pretending to date you, he went after them anyway. Now no man dares get too close to you."

Wu Chen paused and watched Li Ruobing's expression, which had become quite a sight.

"You're not nearsighted."

Wu Chen studied her, then added, "You wear those glasses to put distance between yourself and other people. Your forceful manner, your domineering attitude, the way you never smile—much of it is an act."

Li Ruobing suddenly clenched her fists, a dangerous light in her eyes. "I know that after telling you all this, there are only two ways it can end for me," Wu Chen said. "I know too much about you, and that makes you feel threatened. So you'll either try to control me or make me disappear. Right?"

Wu Chen had laid bare exactly what Li Ruobing was thinking.

"If you know that, why would you say it?" Li Ruobing asked.

"No risk, no reward, right?" Wu Chen smiled. "I also know you usually keep three guns in your office. Want to guess whether the other two are on me now?"

Li Ruobing clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white. She hated this feeling—being seen through, being kept under someone else's thumb.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door, easing the tension in the office.

"Come in," Li Ruobing said coldly.

The man who entered was a formidable fighter.

The middle-aged man carried a folder. He glanced at Wu Chen in passing, then hurried to the desk.

"Boss, I need your signature on this document."

The middle-aged fighter spoke.

He was Li Ruobing's senior assistant, Feng Yan. If he dared interrupt her while she was talking to someone, he was naturally one of her trusted people.

Li Ruobing quickly scanned the document, flipped through a few pages, and picked up a pen to sign it.

Just then, Wu Chen sprang up, snatched the magazine from the coffee table, and strode to the desk. He grabbed the handgun, slid in the magazine, chambered a round, and flicked off the safety—all in one smooth motion.

Too fast. Too sudden!

Wu Chen seized Feng Yan by the collar, slammed his head onto the desk, and pressed the muzzle against the back of his skull.

"How much did Ding pay you to betray your boss?"

As Wu Chen spoke, he struck the back of Feng Yan's head hard with the gun, drawing a gush of blood.

Li Ruobing jumped to her feet, stepped back, and shouted, "Someone, get in here!"

The door flew open. The bodyguards outside saw what was happening, drew their guns, and aimed at Wu Chen's back.

That concludes this installment. Please keep listening!