The Master and His Wealthy Fiancée

Perhaps afraid Chen Dong would try to get the money back, Chen Tianyuan left directly without so much as a word to anyone from the Li Family.

This left Chen Dong with a thunderous expression first thing in the morning. 'Should I just charge back up Celestial Essence Mountain?' he wondered. In the end, he could only sigh helplessly while clutching his phone. 'I can't beat that old man!'

'All my happiness is gone. I can't even spend money on my games anymore. I might as well just quit. Now, even putting food on the table is a problem.'

During breakfast, Chen Dong ate with a vengeance, as if storing up provisions for the winter.

On the way to the office with Li Huiran in her Ferrari, Chen Dong was completely silent, looking like he had something difficult to say.

Li Huiran noticed something was off with Chen Dong. As they neared the office, she couldn't help but ask, "What on earth is the matter with you?"

Chen Dong gritted his teeth, his face grim. "I was robbed!"

"What?! Who could possibly rob you?"

"My master, that old bastard!"

Li Huiran covered her mouth and giggled. "How did he rob you?"

"He transferred all the money from my bank account. Which reminds me, when do I get paid?"

Never in his wildest dreams did Chen Dong imagine he'd be forced to live paycheck to paycheck.

"It's in a couple of days. If you're short on cash, you can just tell me!"

Short? He was desperately short!

But Chen Dong just shook his head. 'It's fine,' he thought. 'Worst case, I just won't play any games for a couple of days.'

When they arrived at the office, Chen Dong knew there wouldn't be a morning meeting, as Li Huiran was busy preparing a bid proposal.

He had barely been sitting at his desk in the general affairs department for a few minutes when Xuan Kexin, the finance manager, stormed up to him.

She wore a smug grin. "Chen Dong, I'm here to inform you that due to your recent unexcused absences, your entire salary for this month has been docked!"

"What?!" Chen Dong shot up from his chair.

'I'm already in this pitiful state, and now they're docking my entire salary?'

"You're not the one who pays me! What right do you have to dock my salary?" Chen Dong protested.

Seeing Chen Dong's angry reaction only made Xuan Kexin more smug. "As of now, the finance department issues the salaries for all company employees. You're no exception!"

Chen Dong slumped back into his chair, his eyes losing focus. 'Just my luck!'

'Should I sell the other ancient sword I brought out of the Fuyuan Tomb?' he wondered. He immediately dismissed the thought. 'That sword might have another use for Li Wang. I was already planning to buy the first one back someday, so I definitely can't sell this one!'

Just then, Li Huiran's secretary, Xiaoyu, walked in, looking sickly and listless. "Team Leader Chen," she said, "President Li is looking for you."

'Usually, she just sends a text if she needs something. Why send her secretary today?'

Finding this odd, Chen Dong looked up at Xiaoyu, and his brows instantly furrowed. 'How did she get tainted by something so strange?'

Chen Dong decided he would see what Li Huiran wanted first, then deal with this problem.

He followed Xiaoyu to Li Huiran's office. Xiaoyu returned to her own secretarial office, while Chen Dong pushed open the door and went inside.

The moment he entered, Li Huiran explained, "I saw Xiaoyu seemed really out of it today. I asked, but she said she wasn't sick, so I just wanted to give her an excuse to move around. I called you over because I wanted to discuss the bid proposal. Should we put serious effort into it, or just throw something together?"

Chen Dong's expression turned serious. "Just throw something together for the proposal. Your secretary is the real problem—she's been tainted by something terrible!"

Li Huiran froze, looking at Chen Dong in astonishment.

"If I'm not mistaken, it's a curse!"

Li Huiran immediately retorted, "How is that possible? She's just an ordinary office worker. How could she run into a curse?"

Chen Dong shook his head slightly. "Let's call her in and ask."

Li Huiran decisively pressed the button on her intercom and called Xiaoyu in.

Chen Dong got straight to the point. "Have you been to any strange places recently? Or encountered any strange people or objects?"

Xiaoyu shook her head weakly. "No, not at all. My life is just a straight line between my apartment and the office. I don't even have a boyfriend, so I haven't met any strange people, let alone gone to any strange places."

Chen Dong's gaze hardened. "In two hours at most, your body will start to react," he said gravely. "You had better think hard about whether you've encountered anything or been anywhere unusual!"

Xiaoyu said, a hint of impatience in her voice, "Team Leader Chen, I really haven't!"

Chen Dong and Li Huiran exchanged a helpless glance and had no choice but to let Xiaoyu go back to her desk.

After Xiaoyu closed the door, Li Huiran asked, "Are you sure you weren't mistaken? Other than looking tired, there's nothing strange about her."

Chen Dong shook his head. "I'm certain now. I wasn't mistaken. If she's not willing to talk, there's nothing I can do. The only question now is whether the curse is contagious. I'll just wait here. After two hours, I bet she'll be ready to talk."

After leaving the office and returning to her desk, Xiaoyu began to feel an unbearable itch in her legs. She started scratching them through her stockings, gently at first, afraid she might tear them. But the itching only grew more intense.

Finally, unable to bear it, she discreetly slipped off her stockings and began to scratch her skin directly. But it wasn't just her legs; her entire body began to itch—her back, her chest, her face, her hands.

The more she scratched, the more it itched, and the more it itched, the more she scratched. Her entire body was raw and bleeding before she even realized it. It wasn't until she scratched a bloody fish scale from her own leg that she snapped back to reality and let out a piercing scream. "AAAAH!"