These days, 500,000 wasn't a sum Yi Anguo would lose sleep over, and he had no intention of taking advantage of the situation. Still, saving himself the trouble of chasing Chen Ting for rent in the future was a nice bonus.

However, before Yi Anguo could even get the bank card warm, Chen Ting called, demanding to know where he was.

Yi Anguo chuckled. "Your dad doesn't approve of me as his son-in-law, so he kicked me out. What was I supposed to do? I had no choice but to grab a taxi home. You didn't expect me to just squat at your place and refuse to leave, did you?"

"Cut the crap! I can't believe my dad sent you packing with just 500,000. You're so worthless! This is completely humiliating. You've made me lose all face in front of my dad. You're going to be the death of me!" Chen Ting said, fuming.

"I didn't want it, but your dad insisted on giving it to me. He wouldn't have been happy if I'd refused, so I reluctantly accepted," Yi Anguo said with a pleasant chuckle.

"In that case, you can live in that apartment as you please. I won't ask you for rent for the next twenty years."

"Dream on! Get out of the taxi right now and tell me where you are. I'll come pick you up. If you're going home, I should be the one driving you, not some taxi," Chen Ting asserted authoritatively.

"We're in Dragon City now, which is my turf," Yi Anguo countered. "The least I can do is show you a good time. If you just head back like this, what will that do to my reputation?"

Left with no choice, Yi Anguo had the taxi driver pull over. He paid the fare and got out, leaving the driver with a sour look on his face. After all, who wouldn't be upset about losing out on a big fare?

It wasn't long before Chen Ting arrived in her sports car. As soon as Yi Anguo got in, she stuck out her hand, making a clear "give it here" gesture.

"What are you doing? I don't owe you anything, do I? You don't actually expect me to strip off my clothes right here and give them back, do you?" Yi Anguo asked, feigning alarm. "I came to meet your dad just like you asked, and I met him. You said these clothes were my reward!"

"Hand over the bank card my dad gave you for the 500,000!" Chen Ting demanded bluntly.

"Didn't I just tell you? Consider it twenty years of prepaid rent. Why should I give it back? I'd rather not have to chase you for rent every month," Yi Anguo said with a smile.

"No way! You've already met my dad and accepted my token of affection. From now on, you're my boyfriend. Why should I have to pay rent to live in my boyfriend's apartment?" Chen Ting immediately retorted.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You can't just say things like that! I never agreed to be your boyfriend, and your dad would never approve of us! He'd rather give me 500,000 than let me even be friends with you," Yi Anguo said quickly. "Tell you what, I'll keep the card. But when I get back, I'll change into my own clothes and give these back to you. That should settle it, right?"

"Absolutely not! You've already worn them. Who would want them after you've taken them off? No one would take them back!" Chen Ting immediately objected.

"Well, this isn't okay either! I already have girlfriends, and not just one! If you became my girlfriend and your dad found out, he'd kill me!" Yi Anguo exclaimed. "Your dad is the local powerhouse, a real tycoon. I can't afford to mess with him, and I certainly don't dare to!

"Besides, I have a daughter to raise. If you were to marry me and become her stepmother, your dad would never agree in a million years. So please, spare me. Don't bring this trouble into my life."

It's better to avoid a fight you can't win. There are plenty of beautiful women in the world; as long as I have money, will I ever have trouble finding one? There's no need to get pricked by this thorny rose. Of course, if I were truly helpless, finding a woman like Chen Ting to take care of me and my daughter while I freeload wouldn't be a bad life. Soft rice or not, it would still taste delicious!

"So what if you have a daughter? I already knew about that. Your previous woman left you, right? She couldn't stand that you were poor?" Chen Ting said, completely unfazed. "What does it matter? I don't mind, and I don't mind your daughter. I can raise her as if she were my own!"

"As for you having a 'girlfriend,' which one are you talking about?"

"Is it that Li Sisi? Her parents never approved of you. They thought you were uneducated and not good enough for their daughter. More importantly, they definitely didn't want her marrying you and becoming a stepmother to your child. So you two broke up. Am I wrong?"

"As for the other one, you must mean Hu Jing, the owner of that convenience store, right? She even has a twin sister. But she's not really your girlfriend, is she? She's the woman you're keeping. Am I correct?"

Yi Anguo nodded. "It seems you've been planning this for a while. You've investigated everyone around me."

"But so what? Even though Li Sisi and I have officially broken up, we're still seeing each other in secret. And I could never abandon Hu Jing just for you and cut her out of my life. So, it's impossible for us to be together."

Chen Ting nodded. "I know! In fact, if you were the type of man to abandon Hu Jing and be irresponsible toward Li Sisi just to be with me, I'd actually look down on you. You wouldn't be the man I admire, the one I'm looking for."

Yi Anguo shook his head. "I don't understand what you're saying. You know all this, yet you still say these things. Isn't that a contradiction?"

"What's so hard to understand? What capable man doesn't have a few women on the side? Isn't that normal? But you can have several women on the outside, there can only ever be one at home. She is the true mistress of the house," Chen Ting stated with shocking audacity.

"My dad has other women, more than one. But so what? The woman he loves most is still my mom. My mom is the only woman who can appear by his side in public. When people talk about my dad's wife, they're talking about my mom, and only my mom."

"Look at all those businessmen from Harbor Island who invest on the mainland. How many of them don't keep a mistress here? Do you really think their wives back in Harbor Island are clueless? In reality, their wives tacitly approve of them keeping mistresses on the mainland, even having children with them. But how many of those men go back to Harbor Island and divorce their wives over it?"

"So, I don't care if you have two other women. But I must be the one you officially marry."

Yi Anguo was at a loss for words. Much of what she said was, in fact, true.

Having lived two lives, he had worked in many factories and met plenty of bosses from Harbor Island who had opened plants on the mainland. Many of them, even in their sixties and seventies, kept mistresses in their twenties who bore them sons.

In some areas, entire "Second-Wife Villages" had popped up—gated communities where men from Harbor Island bought property specifically to house their mistresses. Others just rented apartments. In fact, some of his own tenants were mistresses kept by men from Harbor Island.

These businessmen had wives and children back in Harbor Island, who would occasionally come to the mainland for short stays. And yes, these wives and children were well aware that their husbands and fathers were keeping mistresses. Some men, who only had daughters back home, were even encouraged by their wives to find a mistress who could give them a son to carry on the family name.

Of course, there were also those who hid their mainland families from their wives in Harbor Island. When those affairs were inevitably exposed, it usually ended in divorce, with the bulk of the assets being awarded to the wife and children back home.

"Maybe everything you're saying is right," Yi Anguo said after a moment of thought, "but I honestly haven't thought about getting married."

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