Three o'clock in the afternoon.
Shang family villa.
Dressed in suits and shirts they’d specially bought for the occasion, Professor Gordon Gu and Old Man Liu stood outside the villa gate.
Old Man Liu, carefully groomed, looked much more energetic than before, but right now, both he and Professor Gu seemed uneasy.
“Gentlemen, whether you’re a professor or the president from Clearwater University’s Department of Mathematics, this is private property, and today is the lady of the house’s birthday. If you don’t have an invitation, please leave immediately.”
Standing in front of them, a thirty-something man looked down his nose at Professor Gu and Old Man Liu, his words full of disdain and cold indifference.
“How many times do I have to tell you? It was Mason Shang and his wife Helena Meng who personally invited us! Why can’t you understand plain words?”
“And the invitation—what do you think this is, if not an invitation?”
Professor Gu’s face turned pale with anger. He pointed at the man, clutching the invitation Helena Meng had given them, visibly agitated.
“Sorry, but this invitation is different from ours. It’s probably a fake.”
The middle-aged man spoke coldly.
His attitude made Professor Gu tremble with rage.
“This is a real invitation! Helena Meng gave it to us herself! If you don’t believe me, just ask her—go ask Helena Meng!”
“Go ask her, go ask!”
Professor Gu pointed at the man, glancing again and again toward the villa behind him.
Luxury cars filled the area around the villa, and the long tables in the courtyard were piled high with drinks and desserts.
Anyone invited to Helena Meng’s birthday banquet was bound to be someone of high status.
At this moment, more and more people in the courtyard noticed the dispute at the gate, and many turned to look at Professor Gu and Old Man Liu.
To the onlookers, Professor Gu’s face, pale from arguing, made him look like an anxious monkey, while Old Man Liu’s weathered face, covered in wrinkles, seemed almost comical.
“Do you two really think you’re worthy to even say the names ‘Madam Helena’ and ‘Master Mason’?”
The middle-aged man blocking their way looked thoroughly impatient, waving his hand as if shooing away flies: "Don't come here causing trouble, you think this place is for people like you? Old geezers like you have no right to enter!"
"I'm being polite by letting you leave now. If you keep pushing your luck, I'll have someone throw you out!"
His tone was anything but friendly, full of disgust.
"Two loser nobodies, coming here for a free meal? Dressed up like big shots—what a joke!"
His voice echoed loudly.
Loser nobodies.
The words made Professor Gu explode with anger—after so many years as a professor at Clearwater University, he'd never been humiliated like this.
The guests nearby couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Pretty accurate."
Someone joked, setting off a roar of laughter as more people waited to watch the spectacle.
Shang Yue Shan stood behind her.
It was a bedroom, shirts and clothes scattered everywhere.
Helena Meng bent at the waist in front of him, bracing herself for some kind of impact.
Shang Yue Shan's lips curled up in a mocking arc. Watching Gu Qingjie and Old Man Liu fluster about downstairs, he found it hilarious.
"This old geezer's so naive—he really thinks I'm gonna apologize to them?"
Shang Yue Shan kept talking, never stopping his movements: "A washed-up loser, the kind who once tried to compete with me for a woman, back in the day. This kind of trash, I almost didn't want to waste my time killing him."
"If he knew the real reason you invited him was to humiliate him—right now he's down there looking like a monkey, waiting to get played. And you're planning to use his only so-called star student to deliver the final blow. Wouldn't that drive him completely mad?"
Shang Yue Shan chuckled, his words dripping with the vibe of giving Old Man Liu a green hat.
"Them? They're just cannon fodder. If you wanna kill, just do it."
Helena Meng's voice was soft and sweet: "Back then, I just meant—if you wanted to kill him, go ahead, as long as you were happy."
"How's it going? Get Helena Meng out here, let her personally welcome us inside!"
Gu Qingjie was absolutely fuming. He'd come here to back up Old Man Liu, hoping to finally settle Liu's decades-long regrets and grievances.
Helena Meng said Shang Yue Shan would definitely apologize. Gu Qingjie naturally dragged Old Man Liu over to wait for her apology. After all his years in math research, Gu was a real straight-shooter—never expected to get stonewalled at the door like this.
"I called, but nobody picked up."
Old Man Liu listened to the phone's dead silence, his face suddenly darkening. He looked totally defeated and awkward: "Maybe... maybe her phone's not on her?"
As soon as he said that, Gu Qingjie jerked upright.
"Oh, so nobody's picking up, huh? That's weird. If you were really invited by the lady herself, how come you can't even get through to her?"
The middle-aged guy let out a cold chuckle, his eyes flicking toward a window on the second floor.
There, half of Helena Meng's face showed through. Her eyes were shy and watery, making the middle-aged man feel a moment of flutter—he quickly looked away.
Helena Meng lowered her head, peeking at Old Man Liu and Gu Qingjie from an angle they couldn't see, like watching little clowns. She gently bit her lip, sighing softly now and then.
Shang Yue Shan stood behind her.
It was a bedroom, shirts and clothes scattered everywhere.
Helena Meng bent at the waist in front of him, bracing herself for some kind of impact.
Shang Yue Shan's lips curled up in a mocking arc. Watching Gu Qingjie and Old Man Liu fluster about downstairs, he found it hilarious.
"These old geezers are so naive—they really think I'm gonna apologize to them?"
Shang Yue Shan kept talking, never stopping his movements: "A washed-up loser, the kind who once tried to compete with me for a woman, back in the day. This kind of trash, I almost didn't want to waste my time killing him."
People nearby watched curiously, all eyes on the scene.
Madam Meng Xiuxiang of the Shang family isn't easy to meet—very few people know her private phone number.
When they saw Old Man Liu pull out his phone, some people were shocked, waiting to see what would happen.
Old Man Liu dialed the number.
"You were the one who decided to let him go, saying you wanted him to suffer for a lifetime..."
Helena Meng tried to say something else, but Shang Yue Shan burst out laughing and slapped her hard.
"Exactly—making him suffer for a lifetime is the best punishment."
"Too bad, today he's gotta die."
After speeding things up, Shang Yue Shan stopped and straightened his clothes.
Let them clown around a bit longer, then let them in. If those two dumb old men get pissed and run off, it'll be a pain to catch them later.
Shang Yue Shan finished speaking and walked out, leaving Helena Meng half-faced at the window.
Helena Meng squinted, looking down at Old Man Liu and Gu Qingjie—the coldness in her gaze deepened.