After the Protagonist Ascended, I Set My Eyes on His Woman - Chapter 24:

Chapter 24: Business Is Hard, Gu Qingning Performs to Make Ends Meet

“Hahaha, even if I’m a bastard, all I did was ruin your reputation, but you—you’re trying to kill someone.” Li Wanji said coldly, “Truly worthy of being siblings. One loves to exterminate entire families, and the other enjoys killing people too. Both born with inherently evil genes.”

“If you hadn’t bullied me, why would I want to kill you!” Chen Lanyi’s eyes were red, her beautiful eyes brimming with tears.

“I never provoked your brother, yet he killed my father and wiped out my entire family,” Li Wanji said.

Chen Lanyi fell silent.

“As another punishment, you’ll bear a child for me. Can you do that?” Li Wanji let go of her chin.

“No!” Chen Lanyi turned her face away, firmly refusing.

“If you can’t, then I’ll do it every day until you get pregnant. If you dare take any medicine, I’ll kill your sister-in-law.” Li Wanji threatened viciously.

“You!” Chen Lanyi’s eyes turned red again. She had just calmed down, but Li Wanji’s words made her cry once more.

“Enough. I’m going to the company. If I catch you playing these little tricks again, don’t blame me for being ruthless with all of you!” Li Wanji said coldly. Then he got up, got dressed, and hurried out the door.

“Wuwuwu…” Chen Lanyi sat naked on the bed, hugging her knees as she cried.

…

Li Wanji arrived at the company.

“Today is the opening of Qinglan Residence. You need to make an appearance, maybe do the ribbon-cutting or give a speech,” Xiao Dai said.

“Alright, got it,” Li Wanji nodded, then headed to the venue.

After the ribbon-cutting, the grand opening began.

Li Wanji then accepted an interview with the reporters.

“CEO Li, is the establishment of Qinglan Residence meant to counter Tilting City Tower?”

“Absolutely not. Qinglan Residence focuses on ingredients, while Tilting City Tower focuses on ambience. We have different emphases and target groups,” Li Wanji replied.

After answering a few more questions, the interview concluded.

Li Wanji waved his hand generously, treating all guests, reporters, and media personnel to a meal.

“Hmm, this chicken soup smells amazing. Did you add some kind of advanced tech flavor enhancer?”

The waiter smiled and explained, “We used wild Ficus simplicissima, air-shipped this morning, which gives it that rich aroma.”

Everyone was stunned upon hearing this.

“Zhao Xueji is here!”

Soon after, the big celebrity Zhao Xueji arrived at the venue and even planned to dine there.

Then Zhao Xueji helped promote Qinglan Residence—highlighting the free-range mountain chicken, organic vegetables, and wild medicinal herbs.

In the South, these things were already popular. With this promotion, Qinglan Residence quickly became famous across Mingyun City.

…

At the same time, Mingyun University.

Many students who had listened to that recorded conversation broke down on the spot.

“You damned bastard, what have you turned my goddess into!”

“Wuwuwu… Goddess, why did you do this? I’m rich too, won’t you be with me? I don’t care about your past!”

“Noooo!”

Countless people were emotionally crushed.

That day, Chen Lanyi walked around campus under many strange stares.

“Tsk tsk, look at her—long dress all wrapped up tight, not even showing a bit of thigh. You guys think she’s really conservative?”

A few guys stood at a distance, watching Chen Lanyi’s graceful back and whispered.

“Of course she is. The campus belle is the purest—an otherworldly fairy who doesn’t eat mortal food.”

“I still think she’s pure. Look at other girls—shorts, sleeveless tees, baring almost everything except the essentials.”

“But the campus belle? Modest and reserved, you can tell she’s extremely pure at a glance,” a guy with glasses analyzed.

“Hahaha, you didn’t check today’s forum, did you?” the brawny guy next to him laughed.

“No, what happened?” the glasses guy asked.

“See for yourself. Her goddess persona has collapsed. Damn, she’s so provocative, who would’ve thought!”

“I’m going to look.” The glasses guy took out his phone.

After reading, he was devastated.

“No way… The usually cold and aloof goddess… is so secretly wild behind the scenes, even begging to have a baby!”

“Damn, that man is so lucky!”

Several guys were consumed with envy, jealousy, and resentment.

But there was nothing they could do—poor guys don’t deserve high-end women.

“What do you expect? The campus belle is still a woman. Honestly, I’m extremely jealous of that guy,” the brawny guy clenched his fists, clearly frustrated.

“Brother Wu, why not use your family connections to investigate who that guy is? So we can find out who’s got the campus belle.”

The group of buddies looked toward the brawny guy.

“Yeah, Brother Wu. If it turns out he’s a super rich guy, fine, I won’t be jealous. But if he’s worse than me, I’ll make a move!”

“Yeah, exactly!”

Brother Wu nodded. “Alright, I was thinking the same.”

…

A few days later, at Tilting City Tower.

The gentle sound of piano music drifted through the hall.

There were around a dozen tables of guests in the lobby, dining on exquisite dishes while listening to the beautiful piano melodies.

Of course, it also mattered who was playing.

The pianist was an absolutely stunning beauty in a cheongsam, with a graceful figure.

As the music came to an end, the woman in the cheongsam stood up and bowed to the guests.

“Thank you all for your support. For the next three months, I’ll be here every night at eight o’clock to play piano. I hope you’ll honor me with your presence.”

“I, Gu Qingning, thank you all.”

After speaking, the breathtaking woman bowed again and slowly stepped off the stage.

That’s right—the pianist was none other than Gu Qingning, the owner of Tilting City Tower!

Originally, business at Tilting City Tower was booming. But ever since the opening of Qinglan Residence, most of the customers had gone there.

You see, Tilting City Tower was high-end, with daily net profits in the tens of millions. The clientele consisted of Mingyun’s wealthy elite, and nearly all major banquets were held there.

A single meal could cost a million yuan, with drinks starting at several hundred thousand.

But now, those rich folks were hosting their banquets at Qinglan Residence.

Tilting City Tower’s revenue had dropped to just a few million, making Gu Qingning extremely anxious. Every day after work, she came personally to play piano and attract customers, hoping to retain her true fans.

The beauty effect was still powerful.

Since Gu Qingning began performing nightly, Tilting City Tower gradually regained some of its popularity.

Many CEOs and wealthy guests were eager to see this stunning beauty perform live.

Bringing clients or foreign guests to enjoy the music of a beautiful boss left a deep impression and showed how much they valued them.

Li Wanji had also picked up on this piano trick.

“Ruyan, I heard you can play the guqin. From now on, dress in traditional clothing and play at the restaurant,” he said.

“No way,” Mo Ruyan pouted and rejected it outright.

“Just occasionally. You and Xueji can take turns,” Li Wanji said.

“Nope. No rewards, yet you want me to work?”

Mo Ruyan turned her small head away with a snort.

“Didn’t I already give you a share of the profits? What more do you want?” Li Wanji frowned.

“I… I…” Mo Ruyan stammered, unable to say it aloud.

“Alright then, go out. If you won’t go, I’ll just find someone else,” Li Wanji said, waving his hand helplessly.

“Who said I wasn’t going? Fine, I’ll go!” Mo Ruyan stomped her foot and walked out.