"Sis, Senior Chen—so you were both trying to trick me, huh?""Still pretending you're just ordinary friends? I totally caught you!"
Xia Mengmeng stood at the kitchen doorway, wide-eyed and grinning smugly.
She had just returned to the villa when she heard sounds from the kitchen and came to check—only to witness her sister Xia Ruoshui feeding Chen Fan with her own chopsticks.
Xia Mengmeng knew her sister far too well.
With her sister's personality, she would never do something like that unless there were feelings involved. Definitely not something she'd do with just a normal friend.
"Well… President Chen had both hands full with the lobster, so I… just fed him out of convenience…"Xia Ruoshui cleared her throat awkwardly and tried to explain.
"No need to explain, Sis. I get it."Xia Mengmeng smiled mysteriously, then turned to leave—graciously giving the two of them some privacy.
"So, how's the taste?"
Watching Chen Fan sample her first dish, Xia Ruoshui asked with anticipation.
"Not bad. Considering you haven't cooked in years, this first attempt is already quite good."
Seeing her eager expression, Chen Fan suppressed the urge to be brutally honest.
"Really?"Xia Ruoshui beamed with joy.
Encouraged, she quickly got to work on her second dish.
Chen Fan, having finished prepping the lobster, was ready to begin making the Typhoon Shelter-style Lobster dish.
Half an hour later, both of them brought two dishes each out of the kitchen.
"Whoa!"Xia Mengmeng's eyes lit up, already itching to dig in.
"Mengmeng, guess which two I made, and which two President Chen made."Xia Ruoshui asked playfully.
"Sure!"
Xia Mengmeng eagerly picked up her chopsticks, sampling each dish one by one.Moments later, she gave her verdict—and got everything right.
"How did you guess so accurately?"Xia Ruoshui asked curiously.
"Sis, come on. Two of the dishes taste... very average. About the same as mine. But the other two? Easily the best Typhoon Shelter Lobster and Cola Chicken Wings I've ever had."
That was all the evidence Xia Mengmeng needed. The difference was night and day.
"Really? That big of a difference?"
Xia Ruoshui, now curious, took a few bites herself.
First, she tasted the dishes she had made... Hmm…Edible, but far from impressive.
Then she tried a bite of Chen Fan's lobster—and her expression froze.
"President Chen, your cooking skills are this amazing?"
Her beautiful eyes widened in disbelief.
"It's... passable, I guess."Chen Fan answered modestly.
He had already tasted the dishes in the kitchen.As expected of the system's top-tier culinary skill—it far surpassed even the best chefs at Wangjiang Pavilion.
"President Chen, you're incredible."Xia Ruoshui looked at him with sincere admiration.
A young man with such talent in the kitchen—whoever married President Chen in the future would truly be blessed.
Unconsciously, Chen Fan's position in her heart quietly rose again.
After dinner, Chen Fan stayed a while before eventually leaving the villa.
The next morning, the system's voice chimed in again.
[Ding!][Day 5 of severed ties: Reward – 100% Ownership of Yongjia Shopping Center]
"Hmm? Yongjia Shopping Center?"
Today's reward took Chen Fan by surprise.
Yongjia Shopping Center was one of the top-tier malls in Jiangzhou, home to numerous international luxury brands, and well known throughout the city.
And now, the entire mall belonged to him.
Based on his estimate, the mall's market value was around 1.4 to 1.5 billion yuan.
In an instant, his net worth not only surpassed 5 billion—but soared past 6 billion!
"Five days—and my assets are already over six billion. This is unreal."
Chen Fan grinned with satisfaction.
At this pace, in four more days, he could break the 10 billion mark and become a billionaire.
Once that happened, he'd officially join the ranks of Jiangzhou's elite—the city's youngest billionaire!
Just imagining it gave him a rush of excitement.
From his calculations, the entire Chen family's assets totaled around four to five billion.
If his current growth continued, he'd surpass the entire Chen family's wealth in just over a month.
And if the system leveled up during that time, he might not even need the full month—he could crush the Chen family in less than that.
At that point, he would become Jiangzhou's new richest man.
And then, he'd watch with satisfaction as everyone who once looked down on him came to regret it!
As Chen Fan was envisioning his future, a sudden call came in from an unknown number.
"Hello, is this Mr. Chen Fan? I'm the former owner of Yongjia Shopping Center. The funds have been received. May I ask when you'll be available to sign the transfer contract?"
"How about today at 4:30 PM?"
"4:30 PM is perfect."
They agreed to meet at the mall that afternoon to finalize the transfer.
Elsewhere, rumors of a new owner taking over Wangjiang Pavilion were already spreading across Jiangzhou's upper circles.
The identity of the new owner remained a mystery, sparking intense curiosity among the city's elite.
At 2 PM, a man wearing a black suit and sunglasses—looking very much like a bodyguard—walked into Wangjiang Pavilion.
"I need to see your boss."
Straight to the point.
"Huh?""Our boss?""I'm sorry, our boss isn't here at the moment. May I ask what this is about? I'm the manager, Zhao."
Manager Zhao looked puzzled.
"Here—"
The man in sunglasses handed over a formal envelope.
Manager Zhao took it, opened it—and his heart almost stopped.
He couldn't believe the name written on the invitation...