KN | Chapter 27

He Forgot to Take His Medicine

It was rare for Chen Wan not to know what to say, so all he could do was give an awkward little smile, because he could neither say that President He was less lucky than you, nor could he say that I actually want to rub off on you even more.

The former would make him sound like a drunk. The latter would make him sound like a lunatic.

It had already been a long time since he had looked at this face from such close range. It really was devastatingly good-looking. Every extra glance counted as one more glance gained.

Fortunately, Zhao Shengge did not actually hold onto the matter and press him further.

“How is your project going?” he asked suddenly.

Chen Wan was still smiling, but the moment he heard that, his mind abruptly cleared a great deal. It was at just such a moment, in that instant, that his slowed thoughts finally seemed to connect the real meaning of the previous sentence in the quiet, empty space.

During the card game, He Shengyuan had said they had fate on their side, and after Chen Wan won the third round, he had even said that it looked like they were destined to work together.

Because he was one of the investors behind the Wanbaohang project, and his faction had long been suffering from a lack of a scapegoat they could use to accuse Luo Qiansheng. Who would have thought that a fearless Chen Wan would suddenly appear halfway through? It was practically something delivered right into their hands.

The berry wine he had just drunk turned a little cold in his stomach. Chen Wan truly had not known He Shengyuan before this. It was only because he had been mentioned by chance during the card game that Chen Wan found out.

Before tonight, as far as Chen Wan was concerned, He Shengyuan had only ever been a sensitive figure whose identity was tied to a business rivalry with Zhao Shengge.

Thinking of it that way, he really did seem to have behaved a bit like a weather vane, bowing and scraping, currying favor while calculating everything for his own advantage.

The chill in the wine sat in his stomach like a stone sinking downward, and Chen Wan let out a sigh to himself.

His throat felt a little tight, so his voice came out lower as he tried his best to make what he said sound sincere and genuine. “I didn’t know before about President He’s connection to Wanbaohang.”

Zhao Shengge frowned, slightly puzzled, as if he did not quite understand why Chen Wan had suddenly brought up He Shengyuan again.

He had only intended to remind Chen Wan not to go to dangerous things like hearings again in the future. If he did not want to ask him for help, then he could tell Zhuo Zhixuan or Tan Youming instead.

But as for Luo Qiansheng this time, there was no need to worry anymore. He would never be able to get back on his feet.

However, because the hearing was confidential, Zhao Shengge should not have known about it, so he could only warn Chen Wan obliquely. “There are a lot of factions inside Wanbaohang. Shi Zhangmin should have already told you that. You still need to think things through before you act.”

In truth, Zhao Shengge had already made up his mind that he would no longer pay attention to anything concerning Chen Wan in the future, and he had almost succeeded. But this matter was still… too much.

Once politics got tangled up in something, it became extremely serious, extremely dangerous. Zhao Shengge felt that Chen Wan fundamentally did not understand the severity of it all, or perhaps he did understand, but still intended to take the risk.

Zhao Shengge probably also knew that Chen Wan was a little afraid of him, so his voice and attitude were no longer as hard and cold as they had been during the card game. They could be called gentle, and were even a little… tender.

Of course, neither the person speaking nor the person listening realized that.

Chen Wan’s throat bobbed. In a low voice, humble and respectful, he said, “All right, I understand. Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Zhao. I’ll be more careful in the future.”

Zhao Shengge felt that Chen Wan was actually quite open to advice. Even if he was a round-headed one, he was not as stubborn and crazy as the secretary had described. But then Zhao Shengge also thought he seemed a little off somehow, very subtly so, and wondered whether he ought to say something more.

Just then, someone came in.

It was the boy who had earlier been arranged to sit beside Zhao Shengge.

“Mr. Zhao, Mr. Chen…?” As if finding it very strange that these two people would appear here together, the boy’s eyes widened slightly. “Why are you here?”

The moment the words left his mouth, he knew himself that he had overstepped. He immediately walked over and, with lowered brows and a compliant manner, explained to Zhao Shengge, “Sorry, Mr. He didn’t see you and was worried something might have happened, so he asked me to come out and take a look.”

Zhao Shengge lowered his eyes and glanced at him. His expression did not change, but the calm look in his eyes made a person’s heart sink.

Zhao Shengge was unlike every other guest he had ever encountered. There were some people who did not need to flaunt wealth or status, nor did they need to raise their voices harshly, and yet they still made others feel authority and fear.

Chen Wan felt as if that cup of icy wine in his stomach had turned into a hard stone, lodged somewhere inside his body, and even the flowing blood in his veins was blocked because of it.

But he still smiled and said, “I came out to wash my face and happened to run into Mr. Zhao. President He doesn’t need to worry.”

Zhao Shengge was about to tell the boy to go out first when the phone in Chen Wan’s hand vibrated.

Because he had been gone for rather a long time, Zhuo Zhixuan was worried that the alcohol might have overstimulated his nerves and made him pass out in some corner where no one would notice.

Then there was Tan Youming, who had sent him a message consisting of three exclamation marks. The rough meaning was that old fox He Shengyuan was extremely hard to deal with, Shen Zongnian was very forceful too, and unlike Zhao Shengge, he was not the sort to give face. The atmosphere at the moment was rather delicate, so he was asking whether Chen Wan had time to come over now.

Tan Youming’s chattering voice came through, and Zhao Shengge kept looking at Chen Wan, waiting for him to hang up.

Chen Wan said he had to go back.

When they returned to the banquet hall, Chen Wan and Zhao Shengge walked separately, so he did not hear Zhao Shengge say to the boy at the door, “You don’t need to come in.”

Chen Wan remained at the card table for a while longer. Outside, the rain was falling even harder than before.

The guests also began leaving one after another. Some of them took the companions beside them away and simply stayed the night, passing one spring night together.

There was only one road down Xiaotan Mountain. Several cars were lined up nose to tail, and the silvery-white flashes of lightning in the rain blurred their license plates and logos. Zhuo Zhixuan’s Land Cruiser was in front, Tan Youming’s Bentley was behind it, and Chen Wan was bringing up the rear, so he knew that among them, there was no Maybach.

In rainy weather, cars could not go fast. The mountain wind at night was strong, and the trees and wild grass on the rocky slopes swayed madly.

Chen Wan leaned against the car window, his gaze unfocused, feeling as if the wind and rain outside were drifting straight in through the glass.

As the car took a turn, blinding high beams shone over. The cup of ice-cold berry wine sloshed back and forth in his stomach, and Chen Wan finally remembered. Oh, he had forgotten to take his medicine today.

His meeting with He Shengyuan had been very successful. Rumors soon spread through the major business and financial media that Minglong was going to cooperate with the Shipping King. The state media outlet TCB went even further and directly declared that if the news were true, then in Haishi this would be a landmark alliance between two giants, one with epoch-making significance.

Haishi’s geographical position was blessed by nature. Since the 1970s, it had become the pearl of the bay area thanks to strong policies for attracting foreign investment and supporting foreign trade. But this had also caused it to become heavily dependent on foreign capital in both economic and technological terms, especially in import-export trade, shipping, and logistics. Beneath the prosperity, hidden dangers had always lurked.

If Minglong stepped in, the space occupied by foreign capital in the market would be severely compressed, economic control and technological barriers would be greatly eased, and links with the mainland would be opened up at the same time, bringing economic discourse power back under local control.

The rumors flew everywhere. Minglong showed no signs of either clarifying them or confirming them, and just as the gossip was being pushed to its peak, He Shengyuan personally sent an invitation to all the major media outlets, a wine tasting event, as well as a press conference concerning the new shipping route plan.

That earlier meeting had been arranged by Tan Youming and the others, and the two sides had reached an agreement in private. This time could be counted as He Shengyuan making a public statement, as well as a response to the cooperation with Minglong and a display of sincerity.

After that first meeting on Xiaotan Mountain, Chen Wan met with He Shengyuan once more at the Wanbaohang project advancement meeting. The capital segment Chen Wan was responsible for eased part of the leverage pressure, allowing things to relax for the moment.

He had also won his gamble on Luo Qiansheng’s matter. Most likely, the faction behind He Shengyuan had stepped in and crushed the man for good, which meant Chen Wan was safe.

At the advancement meeting, Chen Wan personally poured He Shengyuan a glass of wine. Publicly or privately, he ought to offer him this toast. Publicly, the man was one of his future Party A clients. Privately, it might have looked as though they had used Chen Wan to accuse Luo Qiansheng, but by the same token, had Chen Wan not also borrowed their strength to avenge himself?

He Shengyuan thought highly of Chen Wan. Without him, that first meeting with the young masters might not have gone so smoothly, and after Chen Wan accused Luo Qiansheng, they had not even had the chance to act before the other side was already brought down.

So on that day, He Shengyuan personally handed this invitation to Chen Wan and asked him to be sure to attend.

The press conference was not merely meant to respond to the upcoming cooperation with Minglong. At the same time, He Shengyuan was also conveying his plan to shift his focus to the new Nordic shipping route, and so Felipe was invited to attend the wine tasting after the press conference as well.

Felipe was a member of the Norwegian royal family.

Coincidentally enough, Felipe had been Tan Youming and the others’ schoolmate when they were studying at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and they had gotten along very well in those years. Of course, Tan Youming got along very well with everyone.

Nordic wine receptions involved quite a few formalities. Tan Youming said that back when Felipe invited them to a private royal wine reception, there had been an unwritten little amusement within that old family called secret exchange.

That meant every guest had to bring two bottles of fine wine. One bottle had to be given to a server and placed into a blind box, to be taken away by someone else according to fate. Whoever picked it got it, and that was how people made friends.

The other bottle could be put on the wine rack with the owner’s name attached for guests to sample directly.

Every guest who entered would have an event sticker, and everyone could stick their own label onto any wine they liked. In the end, the owner of the wine would choose which guest to gift it to.

He Shengyuan was probably trying to take this opportunity to lay a solid foundation for his northern expedition into the Nordic route, so the wine reception also adopted this system to show Felipe importance and courtesy.

It was Chen Wan’s first time hearing of such a rule, and he found it quite interesting, so he put quite a bit of thought into choosing wine.

Zhao Shengge did not smoke often, but he seemed to have at least some interest in wine and tea.

Chen Wan had very few sources of information and could only rely entirely on observation and deduction.

In the end, after selecting with extreme care, he found a bottle of M218 from Mulando that satisfied him, produced in the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains in Ningxia.

The other bottle was a Chardonnay from Chablis. Their general styles were similar, but whether in terms of fermentation time, craftsmanship, or aroma profile, Chen Wan was much more satisfied using that bottle of Mulando.

Chen Wan carefully handed the two bottles over separately to the wine attendant, and repeatedly instructed him that the Mulando was for placing on the display wine rack with a label, while the Chardonnay was to be put into the blind box for people to choose from, and that he absolutely must not mix them up.

The wine attendant took them carefully. Watching his back as he carried one bottle in each hand, Chen Wan still did not feel entirely at ease, and wanted to go up and remind him again, but another guest had already stopped the man.

Seeing that he was very busy, Chen Wan did not keep fussing over it. This was He Shengyuan’s home ground, not his affair. Zhuo Zhixuan and Tan Youming were still stuck on the road and had not arrived yet. Chen Wan stood alone by the wine cabinet for a while and did not take the initiative to seek anyone out for conversation.

Suddenly, a voice, neither high nor low, dropped down from overhead. “Chen Wan.”

Chen Wan looked up. On the second floor was a revolving platform with a rather low ceiling, and Zhao Shengge was leaning by the railing, talking with a foreign man with slightly long curly hair.

The other man was speaking away in a British accent, and Zhao Shengge, one hand resting on the railing, listened attentively. When he saw Chen Wan look up, he gave the slightest little wave, and his lips formed the words: “Come up.”

His words and movements were so slight that Chen Wan suspected he might have seen wrong, so he did not move.