Chapter 83 Inviting the Enemy into the Trap

"Hmm? You have something to tell me?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Liu Ruyan's eyelids twitched, and her heart skipped a beat. Her body's instinctual reaction triggered instantly, as if she were on high alert.

"Hmm? Why did you suddenly get so serious?"

Seeing Liu Ruyan straighten up with a start, Chen Yan was momentarily stunned. Unable to curb his curiosity, he asked.

"Otherwise what? I know your habits all too well. Anything you mention offhandedly is just some trivial matter, or you wouldn't even bother to bring it up. Anything you specifically bring up must be something you consider very, very important."

Upon hearing this, Liu Ruyan spat with a look of disdain.

"Snap."

Following that, she closed the blue folder in her hands. With the crisp sound echoing, she looked up at Chen Yan.

"While it's still early, hurry up and say what you have to say. I have a pile of matters at the Liu Group waiting for me to handle."

Subsequently, Liu Ruyan's soft voice sounded. Listening closely, there was a faint trace of fatigue within it.

It seemed that her position as the heir to the group was not only difficult to sit in but perhaps even a bit precarious.

Chen Yan did not speak immediately. He sat in the chair, his gaze lingering on Liu Ruyan's face for a moment before shifting to the floor-to-ceiling window behind her. Outside the window was the skyline of Shanghai City, with high-rises standing in great numbers. The glass curtain walls reflected a blinding white light, like a forest made of steel and glass.

This was the financial center of the Far East, the super-metropolis, Shanghai City.

"Just now at the IFC, I happened to overhear two people talking." Chen Yan's voice was flat, as if he were reading a work report. "One was your Liu Haoran, and the other was your... old acquaintance, Qin Shi."

Liu Ruyan's expression did not change. At least, not on the surface. Her fingers were still crossed, her posture remained relaxed, and even the frequency of her breathing had not changed. But Chen Yan noticed that her crossed thumbs were no longer rubbing against each other—they had stopped, like two suddenly frozen strings.

"You went there!!!"

Unexpectedly, as soon as the words fell, Liu Ruyan stood up with a "whoosh."

"No. Is there a problem with going there? You don't need to be so worked up."

Liu Ruyan's intense reaction surprised Chen Yan. And the words Liu Ruyan spoke next left him completely dumbfounded.

"You... you went to find Su Muxue, didn't you?"

"Hmm? What? You woman."

Chen Yan was speechless; how was this woman's train of thought like this?

"Then what did you go there for? Running off to the IFC for no reason, when the Su Corporation headquarters is right next to it."

Liu Ruyan questioned him, her tone carrying a hint of jealousy she hadn't even realized herself.

"I went to... Hmm? No, that's not the point. Besides, we are just a contract couple under the three articles of agreement; why the hell should I explain anything to you?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Yan felt a rush of heat to his head and was just about to explain, but as the words reached his throat, he immediately sobered up.

"Tch, you react fast."

Seeing this, a flash of astonishment crossed Liu Ruyan's eyes, and she said expressionlessly.

Yet in her heart, she felt some regret—just a little, she was just that close.

"What did they say?"

Immediately, Liu Ruyan stopped dwelling on the matter and directly changed the subject. Her voice was steady, so steady it didn't sound like she was asking about something concerning herself.

"Are you sure you want to hear it?" Chen Yan looked at her.

"Speak."

Chen Yan recounted the conversation he heard in the coffee shop word for word. He added no embellishments, made no subjective speculations, and even restored about seventy or eighty percent of the casual tone Qin Shi used when speaking. When he mentioned the tax files, Liu Ruyan's brows twitched; when he mentioned "causing a little trouble," her jaw tightened; when he mentioned "proving your sister's innocence," her lips pressed into a thin line.

After Chen Yan finished speaking, the office was quiet for a few seconds.

Liu Ruyan did not fly into a rage, did not slam the table, and did not even curse. She just slowly unclenched her crossed fingers, placed her hands flat on the desk, and looked down at her neatly trimmed nails, as if looking at something that required careful identification.

"Is that all?" she asked.

"Yes, that's all."

"No recording?"

"No."

Liu Ruyan looked up, her eyes filled with a hint of scrutiny as she looked at Chen Yan: "You have no recording, just your word; do you think I will believe you?"

"You won't believe me." Chen Yan said, his tone as flat as if stating a law of physics, "So I am just 'telling you,' not 'reporting' anyone. Whether you believe it or not is your business; whether I say it or not is my business. I have said it, so my obligation is fulfilled."

Liu Ruyan stared at him for several seconds, her gaze like a scalpel, peeling away his expression layer by layer, attempting to find the true intention hidden beneath this calm face. But Chen Yan's expression was a blank sheet of paper; there was nothing there.

"Why are you telling me?" Liu Ruyan changed her angle, "The Liu Haoran is trying to mess with the short drama project. If the short drama project fails, it won't do you any good either. It is right for you to tell me. But don't you find it strange—why would Qin Shi help the Liu Haoran? What is he after?"

"You shouldn't ask me that question." Chen Yan said, "He is your white moonlight; you understand him better than I do."

white moonlight.

These three words were like a needle, piercing Liu Ruyan's ears neither lightly nor heavily. Her expression finally cracked—not with anger, not with sadness, but with an indescribable, indefinable feeling akin to the embarrassment of being exposed.

"He is not my—" Liu Ruyan started to retort, but swallowed the words halfway.

Because she realized she couldn't deny it. At least not in front of Chen Yan. This man had seen her staring blankly at Qin Shi's photo in their marital home, had seen her call out that name after getting drunk, and had seen her at her most unbearable, most fragile, and least like "CEO Liu."

"Fine." Liu Ruyan took a deep breath and brought the topic back, "Even if what you said is true. Then what do you think I should do?"

"You are CEO Liu; you make the decisions." Chen Yan stood up, "I've said what I needed to say. The short drama side is still waiting for the editing, so I'll go first."

As he turned around, Liu Ruyan suddenly spoke.

"Chen Yan."

He stopped, not looking back.

"You just said, 'Whether you believe it or not is your business; whether I say it or not is my business.'" Liu Ruyan's voice came from behind him, speaking very slowly, as if deliberating over every word, "Have you ever thought that if you didn't tell me, and the Liu Haoran and Qin Shi really succeeded with the tax files, and the short drama project stopped, you would actually have a reason to get away from me? You wouldn't need to play this lousy role anymore, wouldn't need to watch my face, wouldn't need to be a substitute for a substitute. Haven't you always wanted to leave?"

Chen Yan stood where he was, back to her, silent for about three seconds.

"A person must have integrity." He said.

Then he pulled the door open, just about to walk out, when he was called back by Liu Ruyan.

"CEO Liu, is there anything else?"

Chen Yan asked, turning his head.

"Then... then according to your thoughts, what do you think should be done about this matter?"

Liu Ruyan pursed her lips. In the end, she chose to trust Chen Yan. Although she didn't explicitly state it, the meaning was clear.

"What to do? Of course, it's luring the enemy into the trap. Instead of having a headache right now about how to guard against your Liu Haoran, it's better to just set a trap and let the other party obediently fall into it. When the time comes and all those monsters and demons jump out, you can just wipe them all out in one go. How easy."

Chen Yan certainly saw things very clearly.

"Wipe them all out in one go? That's easy for you to say. The Liu Haoran is no fool, and Qin Shi is even less of an idiot. How can things be that simple?"

Hearing this, Liu Ruyan gave Chen Yan a sorrowful look. These words were easy to say, but in actual operation, how could it be so simple?

Everyone was no idiot. Since they still wanted to play at the poker table, they had to follow the rules of the poker table.

Dimensional reduction strikes are not that easy.

"No, are you a moron or an idiot? You can't even think of this?"

Hearing this, Chen Yan couldn't help but feel a bit disgusted. A ready-made opportunity was right in front of her, yet she didn't use it and still needed to have a headache?

"What do you mean?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Liu Ruyan's face changed. She began to feel a bit unsettled. The vast span of Chen Yan's words made her feel a bit overwhelmed.

"Of course, the short drama. You moron. I just have a feeling that there must be a spot for you, Liu Ruyan, in the Museum Twins."

Looking at Liu Ruyan's clear yet stupid eyes, Chen Yan was instantly speechless.

"What did you say!!!"

Liu Ruyan started to get agitated; Chen Yan actually called her a moron.

"Alright, alright, let's get back to the point."

Chen Yan curled his lips and spoke in a muffled voice.

"Everything will go smoothly. Once the short drama is released, it will definitely go viral on the internet and become a hit. As for what this means, I assume there's no need for an ordinary person like me to say more."

"At that time, regarding the financial side, CEO Liu, you can completely do such and such... hehehe."

As he spoke, a cold smile appeared on Chen Yan's face.

What scheme could be more satisfying than the opponent jumping into the trap themselves?

"I understand."

After listening to Chen Yan's description, a look of realization appeared on Liu Ruyan's face.

"Alright, I'm done and finishing up. You can arrange the rest yourself."

Seeing Liu Ruyan nod, looking as if she half-understood, Chen Yan didn't care about so much anymore and left immediately.

The moment the door closed behind him, the air conditioning in the hallway hit his face, causing the collar of his shirt to flutter slightly. He did not pause, did not look back at the closed door, and walked straight toward the elevator bank.

He was the only one in the elevator. The metal walls reflected his face, blurred, distorted, like a painting soaked in water. He looked at that face and suddenly felt a bit strange.

This sentence reminded him of a page in the Original Owner's diary. The corners of that page had been repeatedly folded, and there were marks left by dried water stains on the paper. The handwriting was so sloppy it was almost illegible, but one sentence had been traced over heavily several times, the ink bleeding through to the back of the paper:

"He said he would come back to pick her up, but she couldn't wait, so she chose me. But I know, from beginning to end, she was never looking at me."

When the Original Owner Chen Yan wrote this, he probably already knew he was a substitute. But what he didn't know was that he was not just a substitute, but a substitute of a substitute—in Liu Ruyan's heart, he didn't even count as Qin Shi's shadow; he was just the residual image of Qin Shi's shadow cast on the ground, stretched and distorted, barely recognizable.

And the current Chen Yan didn't even count as Chen Yan's shadow.

This realization made him feel absurd and yet amused. What was absurd was that he, Chen Yan, had lived for twenty-eight years, only to end up competing with a dead person over who was more like someone else's shadow.

What was amusing was that this trap was much larger than he had imagined—Qin Shi was playing a game of chess, the Liu Haoran was a chess piece, Liu Ruyan was the target, and he, Chen Yan, in everyone's eyes, probably didn't even count as a chess piece, at most an insignificant speck of dust on the edge of the chessboard.

But dust also has the uses of dust.

Now was the time for his, Chen Yan's, show time.

The elevator reached the first floor, and the doors opened. Chen Yan walked out, crossed the lobby, pushed open the door, and the noon sun smashed down on him again. He couldn't help but squint.

Luring the enemy into the trap.

He said it lightly, but this matter was not that simple to execute. The Liu Haoran was not a smart person, but Qin Shi was.

An unintelligent person paired with a smart brain—this combination was the most dangerous—because the unintelligent person was responsible for action, the smart person was responsible for planning, the division of labor was clear, each performed their own duties, and the efficiency was actually higher than two smart people working together.

The idea he had just given Liu Ruyan had a core of four words: Luring the snake out of its hole.

After the short drama went online, the financial data would be very beautiful. What Liu Ruyan needed to do was to leak the news internally—the profits of the short drama project would be accounted for separately, directly credited to the performance of Liu Ruyan's branch, and decoupled from the group's other businesses.

Once this news spread, the Liu Haoran would definitely be anxious. What he was anxious about was not money, but status. In a wealthy family, performance was the right to speak, and the right to speak was the bargaining chip for inheritance. If Liu Ruyan achieved a complete victory on this project, he would never be able to hold his head up in front of the old man again.

At that time, without needing Qin Shi to incite him, the Liu Haoran would jump out to cause trouble himself.

And if he wanted to cause trouble, the methods he could use were nothing more than those few. Tax issues were the most effortless entry point—the Liu Clan's tax filings had always been handled on a consolidated basis, and the short drama project's revenue was mixed in, making it difficult to extract separately.

But if someone "accidentally" listed the short drama project's data separately and highlighted it during the filing process, and then "accidentally" tampered with the data a little, the tax bureau would not just be targeting the short drama project, but the entire Liu Clan.

In this way, Liu Ruyan's opportunity would come.

However, this had nothing to do with him; he just wanted to get the money that was agreed upon...