KN | Chapter 8

Sunset Drift

On the drive back, Chen Wan was heading down the winding mountain road perfectly normally when a Rolls-Royce that suddenly appeared in the left passing lane flung a tail of mud all over him.

The afternoon auction had been held at a hillside exhibition hall on the outskirts. It had rained too, and the lingering rainwater on the asphalt ring road had mixed with dust and mountain grime. In an instant, the body and windows of his BYD looked absolutely disastrous.

At first, Chen Wan ignored it. He had always been a law-abiding driver and an unfailingly courteous gentleman on the road. He merely switched on the wipers.

But after being maliciously cut off twice in a row, even the best temper would flare.

He had just had the car washed before coming. Yet when the other car overtook and ran parallel, instead of pulling farther away, it pressed even closer. Amid the spray, the side mirrors of the two cars even clipped and scraped against each other for a split second.

He almost saw sparks. But only for a second.

The other party’s driving skills were excellent and caused no real damage, apart from placing enormous pressure on the person behind the wheel and inflicting intense psychological stress.

This was nothing less than naked intimidation and provocation.

After fully overtaking him, the Rolls-Royce then brazenly used its higher chassis to fishtail through a puddle. A crashing sheet of water slammed head-on into the BYD’s windshield. To Chen Wan, it felt as though he himself had been splashed full in the face with a basin of water.

Chen Wan’s mouth set. Tightening his grip on the steering wheel, he floored the accelerator and gave chase.

In summer, the sky darkened late. The sunset had not yet fully sunk, and in the twilight he could just make out the final digits of the Rolls-Royce’s plate. Ordinary digits, utterly unremarkable, so unremarkable that no one would have guessed the person inside was someone who had slipped his shell like a cicada. When he had arrived, he had been riding in his usual Maybach.

Yet even that plain string of numbers radiated an unbridled arrogance. The other car sped up and slowed down by turns, like a crafty cat toying with a mouse.

The Rolls-Royce was very new. Chen Wan ran through his memory and confirmed that he had never seen this car at any important function anywhere in Haishi. Nor could he imagine having offended anyone, given how low-profile and uncontentious he usually was.

Several times, he floored it and nearly closed the gap to a third of the other car’s length, but the tightly concealed one-way glass did not let him catch the slightest shadow inside.

On the empty road, with the orange sunset hanging over the mountain ridge and evening clouds spread across the sky, the two cars raced one after the other, neck and neck, locked together.

They drifted through turns, sometimes drawing close, sometimes opening the distance. Great palm leaves by the roadside were whipped into ragged disarray by the speed.

A race at the limit. Adrenaline surged. Chen Wan’s lips pressed tight. For the first time, the BYD he usually used only for commuting was being driven like a supercar in a life-or-death sprint.

But against overwhelming superiority in both speed and machine, driving skill meant next to nothing. For a BYD to catch a Rolls-Royce was sheer fantasy.

And because Chen Wan had deliberately kept a low profile, this BYD was an outdated model from years ago, never upgraded. He drove this old car to and from work every day.

In the end, Chen Wan could only watch helplessly as the Rolls-Royce swaggered off and disappeared into the far edge of dusk.

By the time the sky had completely darkened, his was the only car left on the long, desolate highway.

Chen Wan simply lowered the window. Wind rushed in. The air in this maritime climate always carried a lingering dampness that never seemed to disperse. Palm trees and silvergrass on both sides of the road flashed under the headlights, accompanied by a chorus of cicadas and frogs.

At that moment, Zhuo Zhixuan called. He said that in a few days it would be the auspicious opening day for his hotel on Mi Wong Road, and he asked Chen Wan to make sure to come and offer his congratulations.

Chen Wan had only just survived that life-and-death sprint and had not fully caught his breath yet. Holding the steering wheel with one hand, he exhaled, adjusted his Bluetooth earpiece, and said, “Good location.”

“I spent months begging the old man before he was willing to step in. I nearly wore my lips out talking,” Zhuo Zhixuan said. He never bothered putting on airs in front of Chen Wan. Back in school, he used to dump his homework straight onto Chen Wan. “Your red packet better be sincere.”

Chen Wan’s heartbeat gradually settled. He switched to another radio station. “Of course,” he said, always generous with friends, then joked, “I’ll even hire you a whole lion dance troupe and have them parade from Finley East Road all the way to Prince Edward West.”

Zhuo Zhixuan did not mind the teasing. He laughed out loud, then after a moment fell quiet and said, “Zhao Shengge will be there too.”

Chen Wan did not tell him that he had already been at the same auction house as Zhao Shengge earlier that day. His tone stayed ordinary. “Mm.”

“…That’s all?”

Chen Wan did not understand. “What?”

“…Forget it.” Zhuo Zhixuan did not know what he had wanted to say either, so he changed the subject. “By the way, are you free that day? Come early and help me out.”

Chen Wan let out a short laugh. “Putting me to work like the boss, are you?”

“This time I bragged in front of my father. If I don’t pull it off beautifully, then just wait for Zhuo Yujian and Zhuo Shengyan to stab me in the back.”

“I don’t trust anyone else,” Zhuo Zhixuan said seriously.

In Haishi, he knew quite a lot of people, but he truly had never met anyone more reliable than Chen Wan.

Chen Wan also knew very well about the Zhuo brothers’ fraternal strife and open and covert fighting. He had an important contract to settle that day, but if he squeezed his schedule a bit, he could still make it over.

Just as Chen Wan was about to agree, Zhuo Zhixuan added mysteriously, “And I had a master cast a divination. On opening day, I need someone with a Wu-Wu water-aspect fate to sit there and hold things down. A harmonious fate, with auspicious solar influence meeting a prosperous monthly command. Isn’t that you?”

“…” Businesspeople in Haishi all paid some attention to feng shui, and Chen Wan could understand that. “What time?”

“Ah Wan, now that’s loyalty,” Zhuo Zhixuan said with a grin. “Just come around three.”

The opening day brought good weather. When Chen Wan arrived, it was still long before the first guests would be admitted.

He took a rough look around. The hotel backed onto Kadoorie Hill and faced a shallow bay on the southern shore. It had been built to the highest luxury standards and even had its own private pier. Guests staying there could go directly by yacht to nearby Ding Island to see schools of fish or visit tropical orchards.

No wonder even the usually careless Zhuo Zhixuan was taking it so seriously. He had invested heavily in it.

Used to being a hands-off boss, the second-generation heir Zhuo Zhixuan trailed behind Chen Wan, watching him calmly and methodically go through the ribbon-cutting process, guest reception arrangements, and seating confirmations with the manager. Chen Wan also swapped out some of the dishes and wines for the evening banquet. As Zhuo Zhixuan watched, his own heart gradually settled.

Chen Wan suddenly turned back and asked, “What are you looking at?”

Zhuo Zhixuan shrugged. “Nothing.” He merely thought Zhao Shengge must be blind, unable to see anything at all.

Parched and exhausted, Chen Wan collapsed onto a long bench and casually picked up a glass of sweet liqueur, downing it in one go. He waved a hand lazily. “No need to be too moved. Just set aside a share for me.”

Zhuo Zhixuan took the empty glass from his hand and poured him another. He said that once he turned things around and became the one truly in charge, definitely. For now, the most authority he had was enough to reserve Chen Wan a permanent private room in the top-tier luxury sea-view suites.

Toward evening, the sunset over the shallow bay was beautiful, and guests began arriving one after another.

Chen Wan had already helped Zhuo Zhixuan get through the daytime preparations, so now he faded into the crowd, careful not to overshadow the host and leaving the spotlight to his friend. Only when he noticed something amiss did he occasionally remind the manager to pay attention.

Tan Youming sent Zhuo Zhixuan flower stands. Two truckloads of them. Even three people could not finish moving them all. There was also a long congratulatory scroll couplet, supposedly inscribed by a master personally and ritually blessed.

Zhuo Zhixuan was delighted, and Tan Youming was equally satisfied.

Chen Wan could understand why Haishi’s businesspeople liked talking about feng shui, but the sight of those red couplets pasted onto Roman columns, neither properly Chinese nor properly Western, still left him at a loss for words. For the first time, he found himself wondering what sort of circle he had been painstakingly plotting and maneuvering his way toward.

Among the people around that man, only Shen Zongnian seemed even remotely normal.

Zhao Shengge and Shen Zongnian arrived exactly on time. Zhao Shengge did not easily make appearances to lend others face, but this time he had brought a fairly valuable gift as well.

People like them, how to put it. The pull of interests in the world of fame and profit was real, but so was the bond of having grown up together. Which weighed more and which less depended entirely on how each person measured it in his own heart.

The private rooms and seating were assigned according to status.

Chen Wan was arranged at Tan Youming’s table, in a separate private room. There were not many people there, only the few who moved within their usual circle. Put bluntly, it was a faction.

Chen Wan had been placed at this table entirely because his relationship with the host of the day was solid enough, and because he did not actually belong to any of their circles. To tell the truth, among the guests present that day, his status was not really enough for any table there.

Chen Wan did not feel embarrassed. He sat beside Tan Youming with calm composure. This time, he and Zhao Shengge were no longer separated by another table, yet they still were not all that close. The round table was huge. Judging from the angle, he might well have been sitting in Zhao Shengge’s blind spot.

On top of that, he did not speak much. Zhao Shengge might not even have noticed there was such a person at the table.

That night Zhao Shengge barely lifted his chopsticks a few times, and he only tasted the wine lightly. Chen Wan was somewhat at a loss.

He had drafted this menu himself, and it differed slightly from the other tables.

That afternoon, Zhuo Zhixuan had said that this table counted as one of their own, so there was no need to choose the same formulaic dishes as the other tables, the sort that looked impressive but served little purpose. He told Chen Wan to order whatever he wanted and take the chance to test the skills of the seven-star chefs the hotel had spent heavily to bring in from Italy and Chengdu.

So Chen Wan had not held back much. But this time Zhao Shengge seemed not to be buying it, and Chen Wan did not know where the problem lay.

Zhao Shengge was difficult to please. That was why most people could never quite get a read on him. Chen Wan could not either.