Chapter 1041 — The Real Face of Sun Jingyan

"All printed! Just as you instructed, boss — gold-plated business cards. They look top-notch!" Xiao Wangba said hurriedly.

"And the sports car? Did you buy it?" Wu Chengtian asked.

"Bought that too — the Audi, just like you told me, Brother Chengtian!" Xiao Wangdao said. "Brand new, hasn't even been registered yet!"

"Good, no need to register it for now. It's a gift," Wu Chengtian said. "I'll pick it up first thing tomorrow morning! But when people ask, you're to say the company earned this car — understand?"

"Understood!" Xiao Wangba said at once.

After finishing his call with Xiao Wangba, Wu Chengtian dialed Sun Jingyan's number.

Sun Jingyan was soaking in the bathtub just then, quietly savoring the warmth of the moment.

A young woman, starting a business all alone in Songshan City, holding up an entire company on her own — it was simply too hard! Every day she had no choice but to disguise herself, to play the part of a mature, cold-eyed female CEO. But deep down, she was still a rather delicate girl.

With the mature makeup washed away, Sun Jingyan at this moment was nothing but a pure-hearted girl of twenty — big eyes, long lashes, her lovely hair spilling loosely down, and with the bubbles in the tub all around her, she looked like a little princess out of a fairy tale.

If Wei Zhao were here, he would surely have stared in astonishment. Was this Sun Jingyan? However you looked at her, she seemed like the girl next door.

As it happened, Wei Zhao's judgment of people was remarkably sharp. Though he had never seen Sun Jingyan without her makeup, he had guessed that she was putting on an act — which had surprised Sun Jingyan a great deal at the time.

Sun Jingyan's life was false through and through, but what could she do? She had to survive. She had to carve out a place for herself and show her family — show them that Sun Jingyan, without relying on the clan, was still a woman of ability, and not merely a tool for an arranged marriage to secure the family's interests!

Only, without the Sun family's backing, Sun Jingyan was just like any other self-made merchant, quietly running a small company, inching her way forward through fierce competition.

Faced with the family's pressure to marry — or rather, the pressure from a few particular members of the family — Sun Jingyan had resolutely chosen this hard road. She would walk it, and she would have to produce some results to show for it!

Picking up her phone, Sun Jingyan idly flipped through the photo album, and came upon a few pictures of Wei Zhao. She could not help frowning slightly. It had been a long time since she'd been in touch with Wei Zhao... but since Wu Chengtian had stopped pestering her, she had no reason to go looking for Wei Zhao either.

As for Wei Zhao, Sun Jingyan was full of curiosity. As for liking him — it hadn't come to that. Sun Jingyan knew that even if she refused to marry into the Wu family, she still could not casually take a boyfriend. If she did, her grandfather might be furious.

The Sun family's younger generation was not large, and those who had successfully cultivated their internal arts to break through to the first level were very few indeed. If the Sun family did not find itself a powerful ally now, they would not be driven out from the ranks of the great clans, but they would gradually decline.

So Sun Jingyan's standards for a partner were clear: she had to like him, and he had to be capable! She wanted to show her eldest uncle, her second uncle, and her little aunt — no need for them to rush to introduce suitors; the boyfriend she found for herself would be outstanding too!

At present, Sun Jingyan's feelings for Wei Zhao amounted to no more than curiosity. Perhaps there was a touch of fondness, but it was only fondness. Sun Jingyan was a very rational person — her daily disguises proved as much.

"Hah..." Sun Jingyan sighed to herself. Wei Zhao had entered her field of vision, but as things stood, he was not yet outstanding enough. True, his martial skills were formidable, but compared with cultivators... the difference was like heaven and earth.

Sun Jingyan was poorly informed. She had little contact with her family and none at all with the police, so she hadn't heard a single thing about the momentous events that had shaken Songshan City a few days ago — much less that Wei Zhao had nearly fled back to his hometown to hide.

Just as she was mulling over these scattered thoughts, a shrill ringtone cut through the air and gave her quite a fright! Sun Jingyan glanced at the caller ID on her phone, and her brow furrowed at once. After a moment's hesitation, she answered anyway.

"This is Sun Jingyan," she said coolly, as though she hadn't even looked at the caller ID.

"Jingyi, it's me, Wu Chengtian!" Wu Chengtian's voice came through the line, sounding rather excited. "I'm back in Songshan City!"

"Oh. You're back," Sun Jingyan said mildly.

"Yes, I've invested in a company here — haha, looks like I'll be stationed in Songshan City from now on. But that just means more chances for us to see each other!" Wu Chengtian said, putting on quite the show of importance.

"Oh..." Sun Jingyan had not the slightest interest in whether Wu Chengtian had invested in some company. A scion of a great house — if he used his family's connections to go into business, anything he touched would turn a profit. So if Wu Chengtian truly wanted to make money, it would be easy enough for him. But Sun Jingyan could not compare!

In Sun Jingyan's eyes, anyone with a great house's connections who still couldn't make money had to be a fool, no?

"Haha, it's been so long since we've met. How about morning tea together tomorrow?" Wu Chengtian suggested, barely able to contain his eagerness.

"Tomorrow morning? I have to go to the office. I probably won't have time." Sun Jingyan turned down Wu Chengtian's suggestion coolly.

"Haha, come out and sit with me a while — it's been ages since we've seen each other. Let's invite Wei Zhao along too!" Wu Chengtian deliberately brought up Wei Zhao. In his mind, so long as Wei Zhao went, Sun Jingyan would surely go as well — and then he would have the perfect chance to let Sun Jingyan see Wei Zhao's ugly two-timing face.

"Wei Zhao?" Sun Jingyan was slightly taken aback, and a ripple inevitably stirred in her heart. Setting aside all her criteria for a partner, she actually thought Wei Zhao was a decent person — only, a great bandit... If she brought a great bandit back to the Sun family, would her grandfather die of rage?

"Yes, I met Wei Zhao when I was in Yanjing. I even treated him and his friends to a meal — we had a wonderful time together!" Wu Chengtian said. "So now that I'm back in Songshan City, I was thinking of finding them for another meal! Join us tomorrow?"

"Then... all right..." Only upon hearing that Wei Zhao would be there did Sun Jingyan reluctantly agree. She was liking Wu Chengtian less and less. Though her family wanted her to spend more time with him, she mostly just humored them.

"Great, then I'll pick you up at your office tomorrow morning!" Wu Chengtian was rather displeased that Sun Jingyan had only agreed to morning tea the moment she heard Wei Zhao's name. But at the thought that tomorrow he could expose Wei Zhao, he held his temper in check.

"Mm." Sun Jingyan gave a murmur of assent and hung up. RO