I Have 10 Trillion Dollars only Usable For Simping
Chapter 323: Everything in books is deceptive.

Chapter 323: Everything in books is deceptive.

Jiang Chen nearly carried Li Shuru out on his shoulder.

Witnessing this forceful scene that resembled kidnapping a girl, some justice-minded customers in the bar were astonished and then rose angrily, wanting to play the hero and rescue the damsel in distress, but Yu Lan stopped them.

"Just a couple messing around, nothing to worry about, everybody keep drinking."

Looking back again.

A young couple had already left.

Yu Lan acted as if nothing had happened, continuing to chat and laugh with the other customers.

Jiang Chen, who had been unabashedly domineering, opened the car door and stuffed the girl, who was burying her head and too embarrassed to face anyone, into the vehicle.

Even with Li Shuru’s personality, her face was now so red it seemed almost to bleed; the tingling and pain on her backside made her wish she could faint away.

This time, she had truly lost all face.

"Bang."

Jiang Chen shut the door, got into the car, and said as if it were nothing, "Buckle your seatbelt."

"What are you doing! Sister Yu Lan is going to laugh me to death!"

Li Shuru finally lost her composure, screaming at Jiang Chen like a little girl who had lost her poise.

Jiang Chen was unmoved and, like a broken record, repeated, "Buckle your seatbelt."

Li Shuru breathed heavily, clearly dissatisfied, but still angrily pulled over the seatbelt, like a child who felt compelled to obey due to a teacher’s authority.

Jiang Chen smiled secretly to himself, keeping a calm facade, and drove away.

"So, tell me, what happened?"

Li Shuru remained silent without a word, seemingly protesting invisibly through her quietness.

Jiang Chen glanced at her.

"Even in death, one should make clear the cause. Where did I go wrong?"

Up to this moment, Jiang Chen still hadn’t figured out where the problem lay.

"You did nothing wrong."

Listen to that tone.

And to think.

Since he’d known Li Shuru, this seemed to be the first time she was in a mood.

Beyond being puzzled, he actually found it quite novel.

"If I’m not wrong, then let’s talk about your problem."

The thing was, Jiang Chen seemed to be the kind of straightforward man who truly didn’t sugar-coat things anymore.

"My problem? What problem do I have?"

Li Shuru finally turned to him, deigning to look him straight in the eye.

"What did you do this afternoon?"

Jiang Chen asked casually while driving.

"I went to the dance studio with Si Yi."

"Nothing else happened beyond that?"

Li Shuru turned her gaze back forward, "No."

Jiang Chen, driving the Panamera with one hand, smirked, "Didn’t have afternoon tea with a handsome guy?"

Li Shuru’s expression changed slightly, visibly uncomfortable, she pressed her lips together without saying a word.

Jiang Chen sighed.

"I never thought that someone like Sun Xiyu would go for stealing someone else’s girlfriend. Isn’t his last name Sun? How come he inherited Wei Wu’s style?"

Li Shuru almost laughed but forcefully held it back.

"Don’t talk nonsense, we just had a cup of coffee, that’s all."

Jiang Chen looked at her.

"You admit it?"

"What’s there not to admit? I haven’t done anything wrong."

Li Shuru hinted at something, then added, "Who told you? Was it Si Yi?"

Jiang Chen finding her meant that she understood who had tipped him off.

Thinking about it.

When Xu Siyi called to ask where she was, Li Shuru already guessed Jiang Chen might be around.

"She really is caring, always there to give you the full story and plenty of advice."

"She’s just looking out for you."

Li Shuru neither agreed nor disagreed, and turned to look out the window.

"What did Sun Xiyu want with you?"

"Can’t friends have a coffee together?"

Li Shuru lowered the car window, the incoming breeze playing with her hair, blowing away the heat from her face.

"It couldn’t have been just coffee that simple, could it?"

Jiang Chen has never been a petty man. Petty men can’t earn such a reputation for being loyal supporters. Of course, he couldn’t possibly doubt Li Shuru.

If Li Shuru were really interested in Sun Xiyu, the two of them would probably already be together. He wouldn’t have any place in it.

But after thinking it over, her uncharacteristically strange behavior seemed to point to that young master from East Sea as the issue.

"So, what else do you think it’s about?"

"Did he say anything bad about me?"

Jiang Chen probed.

Li Shuru smoothed her tousled hair, turned to face Jiang Chen, and said indifferently, "What bad things about you are there to talk about?"

Seeing her like this, Jiang Chen realized he might not be wrong.

He had always had a high opinion of that young master. Surely, he wouldn’t stoop to sowing discord? Right?

"I certainly don’t have anything bad for him to say, but he could make things up. We are rivals, after all—it’s only natural for him to slander me."

Jiang Chen tactically retreated, creating a buffer for himself without knowing what Sun Xiyu had actually said.

"He didn’t make up anything about you, it’s you who are slandering him right now."

Li Shuru played with her hair, "He didn’t say anything."

Jiang Chen was about to speak when he heard her voice again.

"He just showed me something."

"What?"

Li Shuru fell silent again and looked out the window.

Jiang Chen couldn’t help but chuckle.

"Shu Rui, can you just speak plainly?"

"Where were you today?"

Jiang Chen’s eyes flickered slightly, "...At the law firm, didn’t I tell you?"

"Were you alone?"

Because Li Shuru was leaning back and looking out the window, her expression was not clearly visible.

"Otherwise?"

"You were at the law firm the whole day, until evening?"

"Didn’t I still need to take someone out for dinner?"

Jiang Chen didn’t mean to lie on purpose.

But oftentimes, one really has no control.

Once you toss out a lie, it takes countless more lies to round it out.

Li Shuru was silent for a while.

"Which law firm?"

"..."

Jiang Chen’s thoughts raced, and he quickly made up a name, "Yonghe Law Firm."

"Where is it located?"

"..."

Jiang Chen’s face stiffened, never expecting the usually easygoing Li Shuru to suddenly ask for such details.

"At the intersection of Jia Ding Phoenix Road."

Of course, this was all made up on the fly.

But to Jiang Chen’s surprise, Li Shuru actually pulled out her phone, switched on the map and started searching.

Jiang Chen was caught off guard, but he had absolutely no reason to stop her.

"There is indeed a Yonghe Law Firm in East Sea, but it’s in Jing’an, not Jia Ding."

Li Shuru held up her phone, "Do you want to have a look?"

Jiang Chen was left speechless.

Li Shuru put her phone back down and didn’t say anything more, falling quiet.

"Alright, actually, I didn’t go to the law firm today."

Exposed so plainly, Jiang Chen naturally couldn’t keep up the facade.

"When you called me, I was actually out at sea."

"At sea?"

"Yes, a friend invited me, and it really was for company matters."

"Then why did you lie to me?"

"I was worried that you would get the wrong idea."

Li Shuru looked at him sideways, "Why would I get the wrong idea?"

That question was indeed profound.

Jiang Chen didn’t know how to explain at that moment.

But Li Shuru helped him out.

"Is it because that friend is Miss Shi?"

Jiang Chen looked surprised, and after looking at Li Shuru for a while, he still couldn’t help asking, "How did you know?"

Could it be that he also had a "spy" like Xu Siyi around him?

But that was impossible.

Li Shuru couldn’t possibly know the people on the yacht.

"Someone on your yacht took photos and posted them on their social circle. You and Miss Shi were in the frame. That’s also why Sun Xiyu came looking for me today."

Jiang Chen suddenly understood and fell silent.

So the problem lay there?

"Shu Rui, yes, I indeed spent today with Shi Qianxi, and you know she has extensive connections in East Sea. When you called me, I lied because I was concerned that you might feel uncomfortable because of the previous diamond incident."

Jiang Chen hurriedly tried to patch things up, focusing on the less important things.

"Do you think I would bear a grudge against her because of the diamond incident?"

"I know you’re not that petty, but I thought it would be better to avoid unnecessary trouble."

What Jiang Chen said was half true, half false. If he had known this would happen, he would have been straightforward from the start. Even if Li Shuru had some thoughts about it, it wouldn’t have led to such a big emotional reaction.

The only thing to blame was that he truly hadn’t expected someone to take photos and share them on their social circle.

Indeed, even the wisest can make errors.

"You know very well what kind of person that rich young lady is. Even someone like Sun Xiyu stays well clear of her. Do you think any man could put up with her?"

Jiang Chen was aware that his cover-up might have sparked huge suspicions in Li Shuru regarding his relationship with Shi Qianxi, so he tried to diffuse the situation from the side.

"But in the video, you seemed to get along quite well with her."

Jiang Chen laughed it off, "After all, she and I have common business interests right now. I can’t very well puff out my chest and glare at her, can I?"

Li Shuru fell silent again.

But Jiang Chen didn’t feel any relief.

Trust is hard to build, but it can collapse in an instant.

He had just told a series of lies, and if Li Shuru could easily trust him again, that would be a fantasy.

If it were him, he certainly couldn’t do it.

His reputation as an "honest and dependable" person might very well be lost from today onwards.

All the way home.

Li Shuru didn’t speak again.

Jiang Chen didn’t bother her anymore.

Both seemed to be lost in their own thoughts.

Back at Spring and Autumn Plaza.

After a glance at Li Shuru, Jiang Chen quietly went back to his room, like a sinner who had done something wrong.

After a shower, he lay on the bed and sighed inwardly.

All those fantasy novels he used to read, where each male protagonist was surrounded by women and enjoyed bountiful fortunes, and where his female friends got along so well they could sit down to play Mahjong together.

Indeed.

Everything in novels is just a goddamn lie.

He didn’t know how much time had passed.

The door creaked open, and a warm yet cool body carrying a faint fragrance snuggled into the bed, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind.

Jiang Chen opened his eyes.

The girl gently bit his shoulder and then rested against his back.

"Let’s sleep."

Different people have different views on life.

Yu Lan’s philosophy didn’t work for her.

But there was one thing she firmly believed in.

When love and ambition clash, people tend to choose ambition and abandon love.

So, for a relationship to last, the best strategy is to try hard to place yourself within the other person’s ambitions.