KN | Chapter 29

Side Effects

When He Shengyuan gave his speech, everyone returned to the main banquet hall. Only Zhao Shengge and Felipe did not need to go downstairs. Their identities made it inconvenient for them to appear casually under the media’s cameras, and the VIP lounge had been specially prepared for them.

He Shengyuan was not someone who spoke in empty platitudes. The entire speech only lasted a few minutes in total.

But when an important figure spoke, even a few short lines could contain worlds within worlds.

Everyone below took away their own interpretation.

“If Minglong and Baisheng are really going to spread their network across Northern Europe, then this is the Yao family’s chance.”

The Yao family might not count among the very top in Haishi, but they were one of the earliest great families to immigrate to Europe, and their roots overseas ran deep. If they could hitch themselves to the two great ships of Zhao and He, then restoring the Yao family’s former glory in Haishi would only be a matter of time.

“Baisheng generally doesn’t reject third-party capital injections. Minglong is harder to say.”

In the end, what was hard to predict was Zhao Shengge.

“Hey, Mr. Zhao and Xiaonan have the bond of the same school. You don’t know this, but back when they were competing, every time they went off to a match, Mr. Zhao brought Xiaonan along.”

Someone hoping to use this chance to get on good terms with the Yao family chimed in, “If I remember right, Xiaonan’s skiing was taught by Mr. Zhao too, wasn’t it?”

That is, if Zhao Shengge serving as president of the ski club and giving all the freshmen a uniform two-day group training camp counted.

Yao Jianan said a little shyly, “The captain took care of me.”

Chen Wan put down his wineglass, took a work call, then went over to greet Zhuo Zhixuan before leaving first.

He had drunk alcohol, so his driver was waiting in the parking lot behind the villa.

As he walked out the door, a beautiful young woman passed by him.

“Chen Wan?”

Chen Wan paused, gave a slight nod, and politely asked the lady, whose clothes and hair accessories were bolder and more striking than anyone else’s at the event, “May I ask who you are?”

The other party smiled and extended her hand. “Xu Enyi. Perhaps your mother has mentioned me to you.”

“…Hello.” Chen Wan remembered at once. Without changing expression, he shook hands with her, the blind date that had never actually worked out. “I didn’t expect to meet you here.”

Xu Enyi was bright and outgoing. “Ming-zai is my classmate from German class. We were also schoolmates abroad before.”

They had never met in person. Chen Wan did not know how she had recognized him, but he still smiled faintly. “Then that’s quite a coincidence.”

Xu Enyi could not stand the dull wine party either, and she was also heading to the parking lot, so the two of them walked together. “I’ve seen your photo before, Mr. Chen. You’re very easy to recognize.”

Chen Wan did not know how much information Song Qingmiao had already shaken out about him to other people. He sighed helplessly inwardly and politely said to the lady, “Miss Xu has sharp eyes.”

Xu Enyi burst out laughing.

After He Shengyuan finished his speech, Zhao Shengge accompanied Felipe to speak with him for a while about serious business, which counted as a favor he was doing for He Shengyuan.

Once that was done, he returned alone to the quieter second floor. The person at Zhuo Zhixuan’s side had already changed.

Zhao Shengge walked to the railing and swept his gaze once across downstairs, then returned to the VIP room to collect his wine.

Queen of Parma.

His wine did not need to follow the rules. It did not participate in the exchange. That little bit of fate would not be diluted into one percent mysticism. Who he shared it with depended entirely on his own wishes.

The attendant outside the VIP room knocked and came in to ask for instructions. “Mr. Zhao, there’s a gentleman outside asking whether you have time. He would like to see you.”

Zhao Shengge was looking at the wine tag. He did not even lift his head, only said coolly, “Don’t let him in.”

The attendant said, “Understood.”

Zhao Shengge closed the cooler and prepared to go downstairs.

The VIP room connected to the open-air terrace. The second floor was not high, and the floor-to-ceiling windows were huge. Zhao Shengge saw Chen Wan walking toward the open-air parking lot with a young lady, chatting and laughing happily.

The lady’s outfit was somewhat exaggerated, and the hem of her gown was very long. Her high heels made it hard to walk. She got tripped up for a moment, and Chen Wan courteously let her hold onto him while she adjusted her skirt.

No one knew what they said, but both of them laughed.

The pair, so well matched they looked like a perfect couple, disappeared into the night. Zhao Shengge put the Queen of Parma back into the cooler. The cold condensation on the bottle dampened his entire hand, turned to water, and dripped onto the carpet, drop by drop.

The door was knocked on again. It was still the attendant. “Mr. Zhao, the wine label you asked for has been delivered. Where would you like me to put it?”

This ribbon, which should have taken away that bottle of Chardonnay under the gaze of countless eyes, had lost its color under the lights. Zhao Shengge said softly, “No need. Please take it back. Thank you.”

The attendant had seen plenty of guests like this who changed their minds on a whim, so he replied smoothly and naturally, “Certainly, then I’ll put it back,”

“Forget it. Give it to me.”

The day after the wine party was the date for Chen Wan’s follow-up visit. Chen Wan postponed work and went to Monica’s clinic as promised.

During this period, he had been seriously following the doctor’s instructions, taking his medication and getting rest, except for the unavoidable overtime and social engagements.

Monica said that his condition had remained fairly stable, but during his emotional assessment, she discovered that Zhao Shengge’s side effects were very strong.

The first time Chen Wan heard that description, he found it a little funny. Half laughing and half at a loss whether to laugh or cry, he said, “He’s not medication.”

Hand on heart, Chen Wan had never once treated him as some kind of medicine or tool for healing his illness.

Monica did not find it funny. She sighed and said she would help Chen Wan find a sustainably dependable substitute before he decided to stop.

Both of them knew that this current stability had no long-term future.

Chen Wan nodded, then shook his head. Zhao Shengge had no substitute. He probably did not need one either.

Even at this moment, Chen Wan still stubbornly believed that he could completely control his own feelings and emotions.

Monica sighed inwardly, but did not refute him. She only wrote him a new prescription.

In early August, exchange rates rose, and Haishi’s overall economic conditions for the second quarter were trending upward.

When a storm comes, the ones caught up in it are always the little shrimp soldiers and crab generals. The giant ocean liners remain unaffected.

TCB heavily reported on He Shengyuan’s wine party from the previous day. Zhao and He joining forces was already a nailed-down certainty.

After settling He Shengyuan’s side, Minglong Group was not willing to lag behind either. Striking while the iron was hot, they selected a date for the launch conference and groundbreaking celebration for Baoli Bay Pier.

Chen Wan was a little surprised when he received the invitation.

His company was a small temple. Others gave him face by calling him one of the new tech elites, but in truth, in front of these old-money families, he was basically nobody at all.

But when he saw that the inviter was not Minglong Group itself, and that the invitation had instead been issued in the name of one of its very remote subsidiaries, Chen Wan did not think much of it.

Kexiang did indeed have some business dealings with the other party, but this subsidiary, Tianqing, had very little name recognition. Even the letterhead and signatures on its contracts did not carry Minglong’s name, so many people did not know it was backed by Minglong.

Probably even Minglong itself did not always remember it still had such a forgotten “youngest son.”

Zhuo Zhixuan stared at the gold-embossed invitation, slanting his eyes at him. “You’re not going to skip it, are you?”

“Why wouldn’t I go?” Chen Wan asked, puzzled.

“…” Zhuo Zhixuan could no longer predict his thinking or behavior at all. “How would I know.” After all, when invitations were sent out in Zhao Shengge’s name before, this man usually did not go.

“I’m going.” Chen Wan carefully put the invitation away.

Strictly speaking, this was public business. Tianqing was their partner, and Kexiang was not just his own labor of love. Chen Wan would not mix private and public matters. He had to be responsible for the entire company.

The banquet was held at Baoli Bay.

Because the area had not yet been fully developed, and because it lay in the outer suburbs backed by mountains, the pitch-dark coastal highway was lit up by the headlights of the arriving cars.

At the banquet, the one presiding over the whole event and going onstage to speak was one of Zhao Shengge’s clansmen, an elder male cousin from the Zhao family, and also a Minglong director, one of the few younger members of the Zhao family who could truly be entrusted with important responsibilities.

In this sort of setting, Zhao Shengge generally did not speak in person. At most, he showed his face.

Together with Shen Zongnian, who likewise disliked lively occasions, he sat drinking beside the drapery in an inconspicuous corner on the second floor, looking down over the sea of elegant clothing below and the glittering exchanges of raised cups.

From that vantage point, the view was completely unobstructed. Who was socializing with whom, whose eyes met whose, everything was perfectly clear.

Zhao Shengge idly turned the metal on his finger.

Shen Zongnian took a sip of wine. “Why are you suddenly wearing that?”

Set into the tail ring was the Zhao family crest, representing the highest level of authority within Minglong. Zhao Shengge had never used that kind of thing to flaunt his background or pressure people in business negotiations. There had been no need for it, and he did not like doing it, not even back when he had just been starting out.

Zhao Shengge said, “On a day like this, sending someone to the hospital wouldn’t look good.”

“…”

The moment he said that, Shen Zongnian understood at once.

Zhao Maozheng had told him to wear it. This counted as Minglong’s biggest project in nearly ten years. It involved not only the cooperation of the Shen, Tan, and Xu families, but also a heavyweight government-backed tender. At an occasion so dazzlingly high-profile, the family’s glory could not be absent.

If Zhao Shengge refused to put on this golden headband and the old man threw a fit and brought in a doctor, then the paparazzi, whose noses were sharper than dogs’, would probably start sniffing around and using the opportunity to blow things out of proportion again.

The two of them looked down at the multitude below. Every last person wore a mask, held up the same standardized smile, and busied themselves with socializing and pleasantries.

At such a grand occasion and such a weighty moment, Zhao Shengge and Shen Zongnian were both sitting in a very relaxed posture. If anyone happened to pass by, they might think, from the way they sat, that they were discussing a project worth several hundred million, when in truth they were only gossiping about whoever was downstairs.

Before long, Tan Youming and Zhuo Zhixuan came up carrying drinks.

“Have you seen Chen Wan?” Zhuo Zhixuan asked.

Tan Youming did not think anything of it. Shen Zongnian took his own phone back from Zhuo Zhixuan’s hand and asked Zhao Shengge evenly, “You invited Chen Wan?”

This was not one of their usual private gatherings.

Although he acknowledged Chen Wan’s abilities, to put it bluntly, Kexiang was still far from qualifying for a place on Minglong’s guest list.

Without changing expression, Zhao Shengge said that he did not know.

“Since when has Minglong’s guest list become something I manage?”

“…”

It was Zhuo Zhixuan who came out to explain. “No, it was a business invitation sent by Tianqing Company. They worked together before on that project in Tingquan Bay.”

Shen Zongnian had nearly forgotten that Minglong still had a Tianqing under it. He glanced at Zhao Shengge and did not ask any further.

Tan Youming said, “Call him again and see where he is now.”

“He didn’t answer. Two hours ago he already said he was heading out.”

At most, it only took an hour and a half to get here from downtown.