After returning to his hotel room, Alexander sat on the sofa, deep in thought about his next conversation with Zhao Min.
To secure cooperation with the Marching Ant Company, his team had taken control of a telecom operator in a small European country. Their goal was twofold: first, to initiate partnership; second, to seek financing from Marching Ant to help expand the telecom company.
Chen Mo's response earlier that day hadn't been a clear "yes," but neither had it been a rejection. He simply redirected the matter to Zhao Min.
As long as Zhao Min approved, Marching Ant's financial support, combined with the Roche Group's network and influence, would provide a powerful engine for growth—and lay the groundwork for even deeper cooperation.
This visit to Marching Ant's headquarters was a key step in strengthening their ties.
As Alexander weighed his next move, his phone suddenly rang. He glanced at the caller ID. A moment later, his expression darkened.
"Understood. I'll return as soon as I can."
He ended the call, leaning heavily into the sofa. His face remained calm, but tension hung in the air. After a long silence, he picked up the phone and made another call.
…
At home, Xiao Yu stood in front of Chen Mo, helping him remove his tie. Her movements were natural and gentle—clearly a routine they were both used to.
These small gestures were part of their daily life. Just like Chen Mo often helped blow-dry her hair, doing little things for each other added warmth and color to their relationship.
After showering, the two of them sat together on the living room sofa.
Xiao Yu curled up in Chen Mo's arms, holding a fruit platter while watching TV. Chen Mo, with a tablet in hand, continued thinking through the design of the miniature holographic projector.
"Honey, the villa at Xiangluotan Beach is finished. They're ready to start interior renovations. If you want to change the design style, I can speak to the contractors," Xiao Yu said suddenly.
The villa's structure had been based on a design by Mo Nu, tailored to Chen Mo's preferences. After finalizing the blueprints and structural load calculations, he'd handed everything over to the construction team.
Since then, Xiao Yu had handled the process, and Chen Mo hadn't followed up at all.
The construction team was part of China Construction Group, the same company that built Marching Ant's headquarters. Their efficiency was impressive—renovation was already about to begin.
"I should be the one asking if you want to change anything," Chen Mo said. "Mo Nu designed it based on my ideas, so the style is obviously something I like. But if you have suggestions, feel free to ask them for changes—as long as it makes you happy."
"No need. What you like is what I like." Xiao Yu smiled and fed Chen Mo a slice of apple.
"Then we won't change anything," Chen Mo replied.
The villa's design was futuristic, full of technological elements, and themed around the ocean—something Xiao Yu loved. She was bound to like it.
"Why did you want to build such a huge villa?" Xiao Yu asked curiously.
"Because I had too much money lying around," Chen Mo said seriously.
Xiao Yu rolled her eyes. "That's your answer?"
"And," Chen Mo added with a smile, "the villa is meant for after we get married."
Xiao Yu froze for a second, looking up at him with wide eyes. A dazed smile slowly spread across her face.
"You're picturing yourself in a wedding dress, aren't you?" Chen Mo teased, seeing the dreamy look in her eyes.
"I'm not!" Xiao Yu said quickly, her face blushing as she tried to hide her thoughts.
"You blush every time you lie. You're hopeless at hiding things."
"You're such a jerk. I'm not talking to you anymore!" Xiao Yu turned away, pretending to be mad.
"I'll design your wedding dress myself," Chen Mo said.
"Really?" Her voice immediately lit up with joy, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
She didn't even ask whether he knew how to design one—she simply believed he could do anything. After all, he had Mo Nu helping.
"Didn't you just say you were going to ignore me?"
"I never said that! You must've misheard," Xiao Yu replied quickly. "Now say it again—did you really mean it?"
"Of course I did. I promised you'd be the most beautiful bride ever, remember?"
"Then here's your reward: my favorite strawberry!"
…
The next morning at the company, Zhao Min brought surprising news to Chen Mo.
"Alexander booked a flight back to Europe last night," she said.
Chen Mo raised an eyebrow. "Already? That's unexpected."
They'd only had dinner the previous night and were supposed to continue discussions about the telecom operator today. This sudden departure caught him off guard.
"What happened?" he asked.
"He contacted me last night," Zhao Min explained. "Wanted to discuss letting them hold shares in the telecom operator—but I refused."
"That alone wouldn't make him flee. Don't tell me you scared him off?" Chen Mo joked.
"Of course not. I only found out this morning myself." Zhao Min handed her phone to Chen Mo, opening a news article.
"Last night, a senior executive at Rothschild Bank reportedly committed suicide. At least that's the official story—for now. The real situation isn't entirely clear yet.
"More importantly, this executive was in charge of a major investment plan—including Roche's cooperation with us—and the entire plan has now been leaked. For an investment institution, these plans are their lifeblood—like tech is to us. This leak is essentially a trade secret breach.
"Roche's primary business is now investment and consulting. The leak has severely damaged their credibility. Investor trust is plummeting, especially from the companies mentioned in the plan. They're furious.
"Alexander's still young and newly appointed. Within the family, there are probably people unhappy with him. I'd say they're heading into serious trouble."
"Sounds more complicated than I thought," Chen Mo murmured.
"It is. Business is war. And intelligence is the foundation of warfare. Know yourself, know your enemy, and you can win a hundred battles. Now that Roche's investment plan has been leaked, it's like their troop movements have been exposed. It'll be easy for enemies to sabotage them."
Zhao Min continued, "Rumors are flying that other financial groups are targeting Roche. Some of their large-scale investments are already showing signs of trouble. The situation's about to get messier."
"How exciting," Chen Mo said with amusement. "Their plan involved us too—will this affect us?"
"Not really."
Zhao Min placed a document in front of him.
"I got a copy of the leaked plan this morning through my channels. The part concerning us involves only the mobile phone business and the telecom operator partnership.
"I already rejected their proposal to hold shares in the telecom company. If the mobile phone collaboration is impacted, the worst that can happen is we fail to break into the European market again. It won't affect our core business or internal operations. For us, it's just another juicy story to watch unfold."
After their discussion, Chen Mo returned to the lab.
Roche's troubles weren't their problem—and there was no point getting involved. In such a tangled web of interests, sticking your hand in carelessly could only lead to unnecessary complications.