Chapter 289: Climbing the ladder by any means necessary—he

"Mr. Gu, which unit are you currently serving in?"

"I'm unworthy of mention; I serve as the Deputy Director at the Capital Railway Bureau. May I ask what rank Mr. Jiang holds in the military?"

"Me? I'm just a Regiment Commander, nothing worth mentioning."

"Mr. Jiang, you are too modest."

"Mr. Gu, you are the one who is truly modest."

At the dining table, the two men conversed, exchanging hollow pleasantries and compliments with fake smiles.

The others listening felt goosebumps rise; even the hot-tempered Lu Xiu Bai couldn't help but retreat far away, terrified that if these two had a disagreement and started a fight, he would be dragged into it!

"Little sister, your husband is a bit abnormal. You should stay further away."

"It's fine. With me here, he won't make a move."

"You trust him that much?"

"Otherwise? He is my husband. If I don't trust him, who should I trust?"

Shen Man wasn't overly worried and focused on eating her knife-cut noodles.

How to describe Grandfather's cooking? It was edible, and the taste of the noodles was normal, but they were a bit thick—one bite required quite a bit of chewing.

The dough lumps were cooked through, so eating them was fine.

That made so much sense that Lu Xiu Bai couldn't refute it.

He could only tearfully finish two more big bowls!

The mission this time had been truly perilous.

It was only because his constitution had played a role that he survived, but the process had been grueling!

Later, they had run out of food entirely and gone hungry for three days, relying solely on the energy bars his sister made to barely hold on until rescue arrived.

Was he a starving ghost reincarnated?

Oh no, before he returned, he had already devoured two basins of rice.

Now, it was an instinctual desire to store energy for his body—eat more, eat more.

"Brother, this is your second bowl. Stop eating for now; I'll make you a portion of refreshing sweet soup."

Shen Man noticed something was wrong. Although her brother's appetite was large, one soup bowl used to be enough. Why was he still devouring food even on his second bowl?

So, she hurriedly interrupted her brother's eating, planning to wait until Gu Tingchen, this outsider, left before questioning what had happened to them!

"O-okay."

*Hiccup. *

After saying that, Lu Xiu Bai let out a full burp and actually stopped eating.

"Tingchen, are you full? There's still more in the pot; don't be a stranger."

Old Master Lu was polite on the surface, but in reality, he was reminding the other party that once he was full, he should leave and stop being an eyesore in his house.

"Yes, many thanks for the hospitality, Old Master Lu. I am full. It is getting late, so I will head to the guesthouse to check in and come back tomorrow morning to bid farewell."

How could Gu Tingchen not understand the order to leave? Even though he was unwilling in his heart, the pride in his bones did not allow him to act irrationally.

As the host, Jiang Ye should have properly entertained this "distinguished guest" from afar, but he had just returned from a mission and his own body needed rest; it was understandable that he had no time to attend to a "distinguished guest."

Gu Tingchen picked up his briefcase and conveniently took along his clothes that hadn't fully dried yet.

Only after leaving the Jiashuyuan far behind did his smiling expression turn gloomy.

To be a Regiment Commander at such a young age—it must be Old Master Lu helping from the shadows!

No wonder they were cold and indifferent to him while in the Capital; the Lu family had completely abandoned their stepdaughter, Lu Manman.

So, they had already prepared a retreat in secret!

He even suspected that the Lu family had planned it all along, letting Lu Manman take the place of another, arranging for Shen Man to be sent to the Sea Island to marry the rootless Jiang Ye, all to keep them under control...

The more he thought about it, the more he felt the possibility was high.

Once he thought about how Shen Man was far more beautiful than Lu Manman, and that her temperament and fertility were both superior to Lu Manman's, he grew even more disgusted with Lu Manman!

It seemed he had been too benevolent!

When he returned, he would cut off the funding for the Qingshan Mental Hospital!

A divorced ex-wife did not deserve for him to spend this unnecessary expense!

He still had a current wife and child to support; even if Lu Manman ran out of the mental hospital, she would never be able to shake his reputation and status...

"Finally gone. That man showed up suddenly, leaving me completely unprepared."

Old Master Lu let out a long sigh, feeling that the dough lumps—oh no, the knife-cut noodles—tasted delicious again!

"Grandfather, that's not what you said just now. You were so affectionate when you called out: 'Tingchen, are you full? There's still more in the pot; don't be a stranger.'"

Lu Xiu Bai mimicked his grandfather's tone from just a moment ago with a sarcastic air, making everyone's skin crawl!

Old Master Lu was so angry his beard stood up. He crooked his finger and said with feigned good temper:

"You come here, I promise I won't hit you!"

"Grandfather, listen to what you're saying. Do you even believe yourself?

If you put down the chestnut-sized fist in your right hand, I might have almost believed you."

Lu Xiu Bai not only didn't go over, but he also cleverly hugged his daughter tight, using her as a human shield—there was truly no one like him.

"Yi ya ya."

Lian Lian thought her father was playing with her and danced with joy.

How could a child understand the love and hatred of adults? They only knew that Daddy was home!

The big tiger went "Aowu aowu" as it played with them, holding them as they giggled and flew!

"Grandfather, was there any other reason for Gu Tingchen to come?"

While his wife was in the kitchen tinkering with the after-dinner dessert, Qingbuliang, Jiang Ye took the opportunity to openly make some inquiries.

Gu Tingchen—he saw ambition written all over that man.

A Deputy Bureau Chief of the Railway Bureau; if he were only local, he wouldn't be worth fearing.

But the man was at the General Bureau in the Capital, and his future prospects were certainly much stronger than those of a local official.

A person like that was destined never to be a friend.

Therefore, he had to plan early and be on guard early.

"He's mourning; his grandfather, Old Gu, passed away not long ago."

Facing his grandson-in-law's questions, Old Master Lu naturally told him everything he knew, holding nothing back.

He not only sorted out the past events and old friendships between the Lu, Shen, and Gu families for his grandson-in-law, but also clarified the current situation in the Capital.

He did not avoid his grandson while saying these things.

He also hoped his grandson could listen and use his head a bit more.

Political layouts and key positions—pulling one hair affects the whole body.

Jiang Ye had memories of his past life, so his political instincts were exceptionally sensitive.

Just as he had expected, Gu Tingchen was no pushover.

The man didn't seem to have much genuine affection for his wife, his childhood betrothed; it was more about exploitation—he wanted to use his wife's maternal family to help him take root in the Capital's circles.

Unfortunately, he had married the wrong person, marrying an impostor.

He had offended his grandfather to the death, and his grandfather had directly cut off all possible channels, providing not a shred of assistance.

In fact, his grandfather had directly severed all of the Lu family's ties in the Capital and moved straight to the Sea Island...

After Lu Manman was exposed, Gu Tingchen tried to negotiate with the Lu family and threaten them.

But his wife's deadbeat father—whether he had come to his senses or what—politely refused.

This man hadn't gained a single advantage from the Lu family, yet in order to climb the social ladder and advance his career, he had actually married his sister off to his superior's mentally challenged son...

Such a ruthless person, ambitious and stopping at nothing to climb upward—he was quite the character.

Shen Man brought out two bowls of Qingbuliang and placed them on the table in front of her husband and her brother, respectively.

Seeing them both talking about Gu Tingchen, she couldn't help but offer some comfort:

"Stop worrying about outsiders; we're on the Sea Island, and we won't have any intersection with him in the future anyway.

A-Ye and Brother aren't even in the same system as him, so there's almost no chance of meeting again. Let's not worry about things that aren't our concern and just live our lives well in the present."

The main thing was that both she and Tangyuan had seen that the man's heart-qi was that reddish color—not only was he prone to anger and irritability, but his physiognomy also indicated he would have no descendants!

Plus, with green qi hovering over his head, this man was truly miserable!

Just ask yourself: if you spent your whole life struggling, only to find out your children weren't your own and your family business and career would all be left to outsiders—if he knew the truth, wouldn't he be choked with rage?