Chapter 112: Private Chat

The middle-aged man approached Li Shishi from behind. “Shishi…”

Li Shishi turned around, smiling as she linked her arm with his. “Dad, what are you doing here?”

It turned out that this middle-aged man was none other than Li Ling, the CEO of the Li Group—and Li Shishi’s father.

“What’s wrong? Can’t the CEO visit his own company’s departments?” Li Ling smiled warmly, gently ruffling Li Shishi’s hair, his eyes full of affection.

“Dad, let me introduce you,” Li Shishi said, then proceeded to introduce every member of the Tiancheng Institute of Technology basketball team and the two basketball department managers one by one.

“My daughter can be a bit headstrong. I hope you all continue to be patient with her,” Li Ling said, though his expression was filled with indulgence as he looked at Li Shishi.

“Not at all,” Li Shishi coquettishly replied.

“Shishi, why don’t you take your friends around to look around some more?” Li Ling said, pointing to Geng Haoshi. “Your father has something to discuss with this young man.”

With that, Li Ling began to lead Geng Haoshi toward the elevator.

“What is it? Can’t you talk here?” Li Shishi asked, puzzled.

“That’s a matter between men,” Li Ling said, winking mischievously at Li Shishi before stepping into the elevator with Geng Haoshi.

“A matter between men?” Though puzzled, Li Shishi took the others to explore the area.

Since entering the elevator with Li Ling, Geng Haoshi noticed that Li Ling remained silent, standing with his back to him, hands clasped behind him, facing the elevator doors.

Though Geng Haoshi stood only about 170 cm tall, next to Li Ling, who was roughly 160 cm, someone unaware might have thought Geng Haoshi was Li Ling’s bodyguard.

The elevator’s floor numbers climbed steadily, but the interior was utterly silent.

“Sir, is there something you want to discuss with me?” Geng Haoshi broke the silence, feeling the atmosphere growing heavy.

“Oh… we’ll talk when we get there,” Li Ling replied coolly.

Geng Haoshi’s heart began to race. This was their first meeting, wasn’t it? Did the CEO already have some issue with him? He thought to himself, I’m charming enough—surely not!

The elevator continued its ascent, and Geng Haoshi’s thoughts spiraled.

Finally, the elevator stopped on the 366th floor—the very top of the Li Group Headquarters in the East District of Huaxia.

Looking out through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, Geng Haoshi felt as if he could see the skyscrapers of the West District of Huaxia from here.

He murmured to himself, Building something this tall… what if a typhoon hits? Would it hold?

A chill ran down his spine.

Following Li Ling into an immense room, Geng Haoshi took in its sophisticated, upscale design and guessed they were now in the CEO’s office.

Li Ling sat down in a leather armchair, holding a thick stack of documents.

“Sit there,” Li Ling gestured to the chair opposite his desk.

Nervously, Geng Haoshi took the seat, wondering, Is this some kind of interview?

Noticing Geng Haoshi’s unease, Li Ling smiled. “Son, don’t be afraid. I’m just going to ask you a few questions… you can get nervous after I’m done.”

Geng Haoshi’s heart skipped a beat. Was this a threat? If I don’t answer well, he’ll make me nervous later?

He nervously rubbed his hands together, muttering under his breath, “The CEO of a Fortune 500 company shouldn’t play games like this, bullying a precious little flower of the motherland…”

Li Ling began reading from the documents. “Geng Haoshi, male, 20 years old, 170 cm tall, 122 jin [about 61 kg], ancestral home: Shi’er Village, Xingguang Town, Qiyu County, Longcheng City, East District of Huaxia. Scored 456 on the college entrance exam and entered Tiancheng Institute of Technology, majoring in Ancient Microbial Evolution and Research; currently a sophomore…”

Listening to Li Ling recite all these personal details, Geng Haoshi’s heart pounded harder. He thought, Why is this big boss investigating me? Am I really such a nobody that I could threaten his business empire?

Li Ling rattled off the rest, then looked up with a serious expression. “My daughter studies at Huayu Design Academy, and you are at Tiancheng Institute of Technology… I want to know: how did you meet my daughter?”

After such a long preamble, that was the real question? Geng Haoshi pondered. Before I knew Shishi, one day she suddenly appeared right in front of me, even climbing onto me… since then, she’s been pestering me nonstop.

“Why aren’t you answering?” Li Ling’s gaze remained stern.

It wasn’t that Geng Haoshi was refusing to answer; he simply didn’t know how. After all, he couldn’t tell the CEO of a Fortune 500 company that his daughter met him by clinging to him relentlessly and practically forcing herself on him.

Yeah, no need to be that honest, he thought. I’ll just mention the trivial stuff—those unmentionable details, even if he was a big shot CEO, he wouldn’t be able to find out.

Reassured by this thought, Geng Haoshi calmly said, “Well, once I was competing at school, and she happened to come watch the game. That’s how we met.”

“So why did she run off to your school to become a basketball department manager?” Li Ling kept his serious tone.

“Well… our coach took an immediate liking to her, so he recruited her as a basketball department manager,” Geng Haoshi answered, unsure of the specifics himself. He just said whatever came to mind—he was quite skilled at bluffing.

“Why did she sneak out the day before last year’s New Year’s Eve and take a helicopter to your home?” Li Ling’s expression grew even more grave.

“That… I don’t know!” Geng Haoshi began to panic.

No, he can’t see through my nervousness! Scratching his head, Geng Haoshi forced out an explanation: “She said she wanted to see the beautiful rural nature, so she came to my house that day.”

Li Ling said nothing to contradict or challenge this, but reached into a drawer and pulled out something, placing it on the desk before Geng Haoshi.

It was a photograph of a man and a woman—the man in a suit, the woman in a wedding dress, her arm wrapped around his, posing in various cute and sweet expressions.

Wait, aren’t these the photos Shishi made me take with her when I was promoting the Li Group’s sports brand at the Chen Zhi Gymnasium? Could her father be misunderstanding something?

Geng Haoshi hurriedly opened his mouth…