Chapter 1: Fury Beats the Refined Beast

  In Liu Yan's memory, every major turning point in life would be accompanied by strong winds and impending storms.

  In the summer of 2003, before Liu Yan graduated from university, the leaders of Binan No.1 Middle School in his hometown came to Ice City Normal University for recruitment. Two excellent students from the Chinese Department entered the school's vision, one was Liu Yan and the other was his good friend Chen Piaoxue.

  This matter made Liu Yan extremely distressed. In 2003, the pressure of employment was already heavier. As a child of the working class, he knew how important this opportunity was. If he gave up lightly, it would not only be bad for himself but also for his parents back in his hometown. However, his competitor Chen Feixue was the girl he had been secretly admiring since his youth. From the day he first fell in love, he had her in his heart. The first time he got up in the middle of the night to change his underwear was also because he dreamed of Chen Feixue.

  Liu Yan forgot how many laps he ran around the playground for a recommendation letter, and finally made up his mind to give up the opportunity to Xiao Xue. After all, he was a man who wasn't afraid of hardship, and besides, Xiao Xue's parents were both laid-off workers, she needed this opportunity more. After making the decision, Liu Yan wanted to go find Chen Xiao Xue to talk to her, but Xiao Xue's roommate told him that Xiao Xue had gone to see the department head.

  Liu Yan's heart skipped a beat. The department head was over 40 years old, with profound knowledge, but his character was not to be admired. It was said that he had originally been destined for great things, but because of his improper behavior with female students, he had been unable to get promoted several times. This had given him a "broken pot" mentality, making him even more unscrupulous in his treatment of women. How could Xue Xue possibly go see such a person alone?

  Liu Yan nervously arrived at the floor where the department head's office was located and saw Xia Zhe holding his mobile phone, pacing back and forth at the stairway entrance. Xia Zhe hadn't expected to see Liu Yan and looked flustered, greeting him in a somewhat incoherent manner.

  "Is it snowing inside?"

  "Ah... the director wants to talk to her about something..."

  "What kind of person is our director that you don't know? How can we let Xiaoxue go in by herself? How long has she been gone?" Liu Yan was getting anxious.

  Xia Zhe glanced at the time on his phone: "It's only been half an hour, we agreed that if Director dares to make a move, Feixue will call me."

  Liu Yan furrowed his brow: "No! I have to go take a look!"

  Although Xia Zhe tried his best to stop Liu Yan, he was no match for him in terms of physical strength. Liu Yan rushed to the door of the department head's office, which was locked from the inside. Liu Yan didn't know where he got the strength from, but with a loud kick, he kicked open the door. Inside, they saw Xue Xue being pressed down on the desk, her clothes almost completely torn off, leaving only a few strips of fabric hanging loosely on her body. Her mouth was taped shut, and she couldn't make a sound. She was struggling with all her might, despite her weak and frail physique. As for the phone Xia Zhe had mentioned, it was smashed in the corner, its battery separated from its body. The department head, a fat man, still wore a shirt and tie on his upper body, looking very refined, but his pants were pulled down to his ankles, revealing his thick legs and massive buttocks that could rival those of a pig.

  The department head did not expect the locked door to be kicked open, and for a moment he was stiffened there, maintaining a motion like a fat toad, his belly full of lard pressed against Chen Feixue's body, his pig-like plump hands tightly hugging Feixue's wildly kicking legs, that black thing relying on past experience to find a breakthrough.

  This image seems to perfectly interpret those so-called cultured people, with the upper body dressed up and the lower body shameless and indecent.

  "Ah!" Liu Yan roared, three words spilling out of his mouth as he kicked the department head's waist, which was as wide as his shoulders. The fat belly rippled with a seductive wave, colliding with the corner of the desk and causing the department head to rebound slightly. It seemed that this thing, full of embezzled food and drink, had a decent shock-absorbing function.

  The department head wasn't unwilling to run, but his pants were tangled around his ankles. He let out a miserable cry as he fell to the ground, nosebleed flowing freely. The yellow liquid that sprayed out from the thing that had previously looked ferocious was not the essence of life, but rather a metabolic byproduct, commonly known as urine.

  Liu Yan, furious beyond control, ignored the department head's wails and continued to punch and kick him wildly. Meanwhile, Xia Zhe helped Chen Feixue put on her clothes and escorted her out of the office.

  The department head did not pursue the matter of Liu Yan beating someone, but the recommendation letter was completely out of his reach. Chen Piaoxue also didn't get it, instead it was given to a pretty girl with average grades. The school's decision caused an uproar, many people felt sorry for Liu Yan and thought it was unfair. Liu Yan had thought about fighting back, but the counselor came to hint to him that if he dared to make trouble again, neither he nor Chen Piaoxue would be able to get their graduation certificates. Without a graduation certificate, they wouldn't be able to find jobs, wasn't all those years of hard studying for that red diploma? This handle was grasped in the department head's hand, Liu Yan had no choice but to lower his head and remain silent. However, he had one condition: the department head must not harass Chen Piaoxue again, otherwise he would rather die than let the department head get away with it.

  With both sides taking a step back, the fight was settled and Liu Yan and Chen Piaoxue graduated smoothly. As they were recommended by their school to become "bubble shadows", they had no choice but to enter the talent market.

  After graduation, Xia Zhe registered an advertising company in his hometown of Binan City and became the boss. This made many classmates extremely envious. Liu Yan was very envious, and through repeated job applications, he had already experienced a huge psychological gap. Liu Yan was born into an ordinary working-class family, and there was no money for him to venture into the business world. Fortunately, Xia Zhe still remembered this old classmate, "Follow me, what's mine is yours." With just one sentence, Xia Zhe became Liu Yan's boss.

  The full name of the advertising company is Binan City Xia Zhi Xue Advertising Co., Ltd. Originally, Xia Zhe wanted to call it "Xia Ri Xue", and when he proposed this idea, he had a sly smile on his face. The pure and innocent Chen Piao Xue foolishly said that this name was good, while Liu Yan strongly opposed it without giving any reason. In the end, the three of them went to see a famous fortune teller in Binan City. The old man muttered for half a day before saying that the name "Xia Ri Xue" was not good, as "ri" means sun and snow would melt under the sun. Xia Zhe compromised and changed the name to "Xia Zhi Xue". The fortune teller initially wanted to object but saw Xia Zhe's gloomy face and feared he wouldn't get paid, so he immediately changed his tune and praised the new name, saying it would bring wealth and prosperity.

  The fortune teller was skilled at reading people and saw that Xia Zhe was the leader of the three, with a complicated emotional relationship between them. He took liberties and told their fortunes, saying that Xia Zhe was born to be rich and noble, young and carefree, but would become more serious and devoted to his family as he grew older, eventually reaching the pinnacle of success.

  He said Liu Yan's fate was fraught with difficulties and calamities, but after turning 30, he would suddenly rise to prominence. However, he couldn't escape the "peach blossom curse" and was destined to be a philanderer, unfaithful in love. In other words, Liu Yan seemed honest now, but would become a playboy later.

  After telling Chen Piao Xue's fortune, the fortune teller said she would definitely become Xia Zhe's wife. Xia Zhe was overjoyed and gave the fortune teller an extra 500 yuan as a reward. No one expected that the fortune teller's words would come true one day, but that's a story for later.

  Xia Zhi Snow Advertising Company was founded with only three people. Xia Zhi is the chairman and general manager, holding 80% of the company's shares; Piao Xue is the assistant to the general manager, in charge of finance, with 10% of the shares; The remaining 10% stake belongs to Liu Yan, whose business card has a string of titles including planning director, creative director, customer director, media director, administrative director... In addition, he is also responsible for the company's environmental sanitation and security work.

  The company was very small, and in the early days of the advertising industry, companies were emerging and collapsing every day. Xia Zhi Xue, however, managed to rise above the chaos during this period of great upheaval, thanks largely to the connections of the Xia family. Many times, even if Liu Yan spent all night brainstorming ideas or exhausting himself to the point of vomiting blood, he couldn't compare to a casual hint from Xia Zhe's father, Xia Wen Zhong. This kind of thing is probably nothing new to readers, so there's no need for further explanation. In short, Xia Zhi Xue Advertising Company continued to grow and prosper, making Xia Zhe rich beyond his wildest dreams.

  The company's business has increased, and naturally, it needs to expand its team. Xia Zhe rented a more luxurious office building, replaced the old boss's desk with a larger one, exchanged his comfortable big rocking chair for an even more expensive silver dragon, and put out more exquisite tea sets. Of course, the assistant general manager remained unchanged - still the only one below Xia Zhe and above everyone else, Xue Feng, whom the newly recruited employees secretly called "boss's wife". Under the influence of the fortune teller, Xia Zhe and Chen Xue Feng's love affair entered the public eye without any suspense. Liu Yan was very painful and helpless; he clearly knew that between him and Xia Zhe, apart from being "old classmates", it was more of a boss-employee relationship. Having been in the advertising industry for a long time, one would naturally understand the power of money and authority - these were all Xia Zhe's trump cards. Liu Yan didn't know what he could use to compete with Xia Zhe.

  The Xia family strongly opposed the love between Xia Zhe and Chen Piaoxue because Xia Wenzhong was trying to curry favor with the richest man in Binan City, Xiao Shi, in order to arrange for Xia Zhe to marry Xiao Shi's niece, Xiao Xiao. The Xiao family not only dominated the business circle of Binan City but also had connections with many high-ranking officials in the central and provincial governments. If they could establish a relationship with the Xiao family, Xia Wenzhong believed that his own career would definitely advance further. Due to his strong utilitarianism, Xia Wenzhong would not consider who his son truly loved; in other words, if Xiao Shi's daughter were not too young, he would certainly encourage Xia Zhe to pursue her, after all, a daughter is closer than a niece.

  In the second year after Xia Zhe's advertising company was founded, Wang Chunling, Xia Zhe's mother, took the initiative to find Liu Yan. Before that, the vice mayor's wife had always been disdainful of Liu Yan, and their encounters were limited to a slight nod of the head. This time, she invited him over, which was unprecedented. Liu Yan guessed that Aunt Wang's visit must be related to Xia Zhe's marriage, and indeed it was. Wang Chunling first talked about the situation at home, then emphasized the importance of Xia Zhe marrying Xiao Xiao, and finally asked Liu Yan to persuade Xia Zhe not to give up his family's good prospects for a laid-off worker's daughter.

  Wang Chunling's last sentence made Liu Yan feel very dissatisfied. What's wrong with being the daughter of a laid-off worker? Is the daughter of a laid-off worker inferior to others? Does receiving low-income relief mean she doesn't qualify as a relative of the Xia family? Out of politeness and the smoothness he had learned in society, Liu Yan did not directly refute the vice mayor's wife, but neither did he agree to persuade Xia Zhe. Although Liu Yan also selfishly hoped that Xia Zhe and Xiao Xiao would become a couple, so that he could have the opportunity to pursue Feixue.

  Wang Chunling failed to persuade Liu Yan, so she went directly to Piaoxue. The two women chatted in a coffee shop for an entire afternoon. No one knew what they said. Anyway, when they left, Wang Chunling's face was iron-green, while Piaoxue's eyes were red, obviously having cried painfully.

  Although the negotiations were fruitless, Xia Wenzhong and his wife had already made a unilateral decision, ignoring their son's opposition, and arranged a blind date at the Jiangnan Hotel, a five-star hotel in Binan City. There was another reason for choosing this location: the hotel was part of Xiao Zhipeng's vast business empire, and Xia Wenzhong and his wife wanted to use this method to make their son "return from his mistakes". Xiao Zifeng had given away his niece as a bride, with a dowry far exceeding the value of a five-star hotel.

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  Warm reminder:

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