RMM – Chapter 74 The Unpleasant Neighbor

Feng Weijia walked into Liang Bo’an’s office, looking helpless, holding a stack of documents in his hand.

“Bo’an,” he called as he approached the desk where Liang Bo’an was absorbed in reading, placing the documents down with a miserable face. “Auntie called me again.”

“Mm.” Liang Bo’an didn’t even lift his head.

“Hey, can you at least react a little?” Feng Weijia sat down across from him, clearly annoyed.

“What reaction do you want? It’s just the same thing again.”

Liang Bo’an finally looked up at him, but after hearing that, Feng Weijia almost wished he had stayed ignored.

“You… I’m saying, could you at least go take a look this time? Just to appease Auntie a bit.”

“No. What’s the point?” Liang Bo’an signed a document, leaned back in his chair, crossing his hands over his lap, utterly indifferent.

“What’s the point? The whole point is so she’ll stop calling me all the time to bug me into convincing you!”

Liang Bo’an didn’t care about Feng Weijia’s rising frustration and coldly snorted, “Didn’t I already teach you how to block her number?”

“…Damn it, I really got the short end of the stick in this life. Totally got screwed because of you.” Feng Weijia grumbled, utterly depressed.

Liang Bo’an shot him a sidelong glance and tossed the documents on the desk toward him. “I’m the one funding your living. All your money comes from me. Get to work.”

Feng Weijia hurriedly caught the flying documents and flipped through them quickly. After barely scanning a few lines, he shouted, “This much?! Are you treating me like a workhorse or something? You think you pay me enough for this? I’m going on strike!”

“Fine. Then I’ll invite He Wen to dinner tonight. I’ve been meaning to talk to her about something.”

Liang Bo’an chuckled lightly. But somehow that smile felt anything but innocent.

“Damn you! That’s your only trick—so petty and despicable!” Feng Weijia cursed as he stormed out. Damn, was he being forced to do all the work in the company?

Hell, so what if he’d been young and dumb in the past? Did that mean he had to be blackmailed forever? He hadn’t even managed to woo He Wen yet. If she ever found out about all this, wouldn’t he be as good as dead?

Back in the day, Young Master Feng had certainly lived a flashy, flirtatious life—handsome, wealthy, with a girl in each arm. But now he was paying the price for his ignorance. If he’d known he’d fall for He Wen later, he’d never have played around.

After Feng Weijia left, Liang Bo’an sighed and turned in his chair, gazing out the window. He knew what his mother had told Weijia—it was just another attempt to push him into blind dates. She’d tried the same with him many times before, but he’d always made excuses to avoid them. Now she was pestering Weijia, hoping he’d talk him into it.

He knew his mother was anxious and that there was no hope for Su Ruo anymore. But that tiny space in his heart—Su Ruo already filled it completely. Why force himself into marriage and drag some innocent woman into a loveless union? Being alone like this was just fine.

Xi Yuechen had told him not to get involved in the Hong family matter last time—said he would handle it himself. Such a cold and distant man, and yet, to think he’d care so deeply about someone. People like him, once they fall, they fall for life.

Liang Bo’an smiled bitterly and forced himself to stop thinking about Su Ruo. He turned back to focus on work, but as he lowered his head, his eyes landed on a certain file—it was related to the Hong family.

Right, during his investigation into the Hongs, he had discovered a hidden force targeting them. It all started after Su Ruo’s incident. It was likely Xi Yuechen’s doing. But Xi had always been in the military, with no apparent focus on business. Given his current development path, it made no sense for him to have commercial influence.

So—where did this mysterious power come from?

Liang Bo’an knew the company going after the Hong family had been publicly listed for years. Its performance had always been average and steady. But recently, it had shown an unusual aggressiveness, dragging the Hongs into crisis. Only after secretly investigating did he realize how powerful the company actually was. It was like a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

If that power didn’t belong to Xi Yuechen and he had merely borrowed it from someone else—who could it be?

He frowned in thought, and then suddenly, inspiration struck. He remembered the phone call Xi Yuechen made that day when they were looking for Su Ruo. Could it be… Gu Jiawei?

Impossible. That man had been in politics for years. And with his personality, why would he let someone use his resources so easily?

This Xi Yuechen was becoming more and more of a mystery.

Liang Bo’an casually tossed the file back on the desk. Forget it. The Hong family was doomed anyway under Xi Yuechen’s hand. It didn’t make sense for him to intervene.

As for Hong Shirong—he had plenty of ways to be taught a lesson.

As usual, Xi Yuechen left early. By the time Su Ruo woke up, the pillow beside her was already cold.

She glanced out at the red national flag fluttering in the wind, then lowered her eyes to her palm, troubled.

The scab on her palm was about to fall off. It was unbearably itchy, and she couldn’t resist the urge to pick at it. Just looking at it made her feel like a compulsive patient.

Without Xi Yuechen around, the house felt especially empty. Su Ruo felt bored. If she went outside, she would feel out of place walking through the base—everyone else was busy with training, while she, an idle outsider, wandered aimlessly. Besides, a military base wasn’t a place one could freely roam.

Maybe she should just go back. She wasn’t much help here anyway. She couldn’t even eat on her own—it was all too inconvenient.

Just then, the doorbell suddenly rang.

Who could it be now?

Puzzled, Su Ruo opened the door and was surprised to see the woman from next door—the neighbor she had met yesterday.

“Sister-in-law!” the woman greeted cheerfully, her tone overly friendly.

“Oh, it’s you. Please, come in.” Although surprised, Su Ruo kept her polite façade intact.

“I meant to come by yesterday to visit, but you came back late, so I didn’t want to bother you,” the woman said as she walked in, her eyes scanning every corner of the room. She handed over a small gift. “Just a little something from me. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not. I should’ve been the one visiting you.” Su Ruo didn’t like this woman from the start. Since stepping inside, her eyes hadn’t stopped wandering—what was there to examine? It wasn’t some palace.

“I’m Lian Yunfen. You can just call me Yunfen,” the woman said, plopping down on the couch without any hesitation.

Su Ruo poured her a glass of water before replying, “Alright. You seem older than me by a few years, so I’ll call you Sister Fen. Just call me Su Ruo.”

“Sure! Then I’ll call you Little Sister Su Ruo from now on! Just treat me like a real sister.”

Lian Yunfen was visiting Xi Yuechen’s house for the first time and was incredibly curious. Even though they had been neighbors for a while, she had never even seen him properly, let alone gotten a glimpse of how this high-ranking military officer lived.

She had a younger sister—beautiful and proud—already twenty-seven or twenty-eight and still unmarried, wanting to marry only the best. Lian Yunfen, growing anxious, would mentally assess every unmarried man she met: “Is he good enough for my sister?”

After moving into the military district with her husband, she saw Xi Yuechen and couldn’t help but start scheming. She’d heard a lot about him—so young, yet so accomplished. Some people couldn’t achieve that even in a lifetime.

And his family? Apparently powerful figures in Beijing. Tsk, how could a man like that not have a great future? Handsome, imposing—he’d be perfect for her sister. If her sister married him, it’d be the perfect match. Her own family would benefit too—her husband couldn’t stay a mere battalion commander forever.

But she had no way to make a move. Despite being neighbors, they had no interactions, and her husband wasn’t even one of Xi’s subordinates, let alone close.

Intimidated by Xi Yuechen’s aura, she didn’t dare approach him directly. She even considered bringing her sister into the base to introduce them, confident that Xi would take notice of her sister’s beauty.

But before she could act—Xi Yuechen got married!

She was devastated. What a missed opportunity. With their family on the verge of promotion, she had naturally developed a strong dislike for Xi Yuechen’s unknown bride.

Yesterday, she finally met her—a young, pretty girl. She was filled with resentment. Aside from being a bit younger than her own sister, what else did this girl have? How did she end up as the regimental commander’s wife? What a lucky life. Who knew what means she used to climb up.

That night, after venting to her husband, he scolded her. “Stop gossiping all day. Still thinking about your sister? Do you even know who Xi’s wife is? She’s the daughter of General Du, Don’t you dare stir up trouble.”

Lian Yunfen was shaken. That high-ranking?! No wonder.

Today, she quickly brought over some fruit as a peace offering and chatted away with Su Ruo about this and that. But Su Ruo soon began to feel annoyed.

Why did this woman come over? First, she kept prying about their household affairs. Then she started blabbering about her own family’s trivialities. Fine, talk if you want—I can tune you out. But what the hell is she saying now?

“Little Sister Su Ruo,” Lian Yunfen said with a self-important air, sipping her water. “As your older sister, I’ll speak honestly from the heart. You need to be cautious with men. Sometimes you never know when they might cheat. Even the good ones, after seeing the same woman at home day after day, can get tired and look elsewhere. It’s easy to end up with a mistress outside. Honestly, good men like my Minqiang are rare these days.”

Su Ruo forced a smile. This woman clearly came to stir trouble. Her words barely veiled the insult: no matter how pretty Su Ruo was, it wasn’t enough to stop Xi Yuechen from cheating. Seriously?!

Lian Yunfen had originally planned to cozy up to Su Ruo—after all, both husband and wife came from powerful families. Gaining their favor could only benefit her.

But the more she saw of Su Ruo, the more uncomfortable she felt. Young, beautiful, born to a powerful family, married to the perfect man—it was just too perfect. That should’ve been her sister’s life! The bitterness in her heart spilled into her words, though she told herself she was “just being honest.”

Already annoyed by her itchy palm, Su Ruo now had to endure this nonsense. Her temper flared. Holding back the urge to throw her out, she smiled and said, “Sister Fen, I have something to take care of. How about I come visit you when I have time?”

Lian Yunfen wasn’t stupid. She immediately understood that this was a dismissal. She gave an awkward laugh. “Ah, look at me taking up so much of your time. Don’t mind me. We should definitely visit each other more often from now on. I’ll take my leave then.”

Su Ruo smiled politely, saying it was no trouble—while mentally cursing her own fake niceness.

Xi Yuechen, cheat? As if. When would he even have the time?

Back in her own home, Lian Yunfen frowned. Did I say something wrong? Just like that, she got mad? Rich girls sure were hard to please.