Chapter 465: Everyone Calls Him Mr. Wu!

Chapter 465: Everyone Calls Him Mr. Wu!

“You heard all that?” Li Ruobing turned to Wu Chen. “I really didn’t see
it coming, my dear Mr. Wu. Such clever methods. Two days in Modu, and An
Menglan is ready to hand you fifty percent of her shares on a platter.”

“As expected of my man!” The corners of her mouth curled up at the end.

It was hard to tell whether she was praising Wu Chen or herself.

“I only mentioned the shares in passing back then,” Wu Chen said with a
smile.

“Did you?” Li Ruobing was noncommittal. She wound her arms around his
neck again and leaned in until they were face to face, looking into his
eyes. “Wasn’t that one of your little schemes?”

“Am I that kind of person?” Wu Chen asked.

“Aren’t you?” Her smile bloomed.

Still talking, they sank back down together.

An Menglan’s call had killed her mood at first, but by the time it
ended, Li Ruobing was in high spirits.

It was a very complicated, very subtle state of mind.

An Menglan had “surrendered” to Wu Chen far too quickly, and was giving
far too much! Because of that, Li Ruobing’s wariness of her had dropped
sharply.

That woman could never be her rival!

True, An Menglan’s family carried even more weight than Wu Yurong’s,
which was exactly why Li Ruobing had been so hostile toward her.

But An Menglan herself, Great Demon King of the music world or not, was
formidable only in music, and nowhere else.

When it came to maneuvering, she was nowhere near Wu Yurong, the woman
they called the Black Widow.

Li Ruobing now felt all her earlier worry about An Menglan had been for
nothing.

The only truly difficult one was still Wu Yurong!

Her mood was excellent.

Such a fine morning, she decided, shouldn’t go to waste. She and Wu Chen
ought to finish what they’d left unfinished.

She bit down on the towel.

…

A little after ten in the morning, out on the balcony.

“Oh, this cigarette…” Chen Jinye had arrived more than half an hour
earlier. After chatting with Wu Dahai for a while, they’d only just
stepped out onto the balcony. He took the cigarette Wu Dahai offered,
lit it, and knew from the first drag that something was different. He
brought it closer to look. “This Yellow Crane Tower…”

“Bingbing bought them,” Wu Dahai said with a smile. He usually looked a
little older than his years, but today he seemed far livelier than he
had the day before.

Good news, as the saying went, puts a spring in a man’s step.

His son had made something of himself, and his “future daughter-in-law”
was every bit as capable.

Neither he nor Zhang Xiujuan had slept well last night, yet neither felt
the least bit tired. The excitement still hadn’t worn off.

Chen Jinye recognized the “Big Gold Brick.” He’d heard of it, but this
was the first time he’d seen one in person, let alone smoked one.

“That’s over a hundred yuan a cigarette. Old Wu, you really are
blessed,” Chen Jinye sighed, though he wasn’t surprised.

Who was Boss Li, after all? Giving cigarettes like these to her
“father-in-law” was perfectly natural!

What did surprise him was Wu Dahai. The man had always been frugal and
hated to indulge himself. Whenever Chen Jinye had given him good
cigarettes or liquor in the past, he’d never brought them out unless it
was a holiday or a special occasion.

Why was he suddenly willing to smoke these?

“Old Wu, this is how it should be! Your son’s made something of himself
and found such an impressive girlfriend. Stop denying yourself from now
on…” Chen Jinye said between drags.

“Yeah, my son really has made something of himself!” Wu Dahai sighed,
gesturing with his cigarette. “Oh, right, Old Chen. Bingbing brought
five cartons. Take one with you when you go.”

“No, no, I couldn’t!” Chen Jinye waved both hands. “Boss Li gave those
to you, her father-in-law, out of respect. It wouldn’t be right for me
to take one.”

“What’s right or wrong about it? You’ve helped our family plenty over
the years. A few years back, when people came making trouble at my
noodle shop, weren’t you the one who found people to settle it for me…?”

“What are you talking about, Old Wu? If you hadn’t scraped together
everything you had to lend me money back then, would I be where I am
today? Saying that is a slap in my face. Not another word. I’m not
taking it.”

The two old brothers very nearly started reminiscing about the old days
again.

A friendship like theirs wasn’t built in a day.

And a friendship that had never been tested would never run this deep.

Chen Jinye knew Wu Dahai might be generous with him, his old brother,
because of what was between them. They’d been helping each other for
years. With anyone else, Wu Dahai was no fool who started throwing money
around the moment he had some.

Still, Chen Jinye found him strange today.

Yesterday he’d worn a face full of worry. At the dinner table, loosened
up by drink, he’d even quietly confided his concerns.

How had he cheered up so completely overnight?

“I never saw it coming either. My son… he’s really something now!
Hahaha!” Wu Dahai laughed, cigarette between his fingers as he gestured.

Something was off.

“Old Wu, after my daughter and I left last night, did something else
happen? Why are you so…” Chen Jinye asked straight out. He’d never been
one to beat around the bush.

“Heh!” Wu Dahai only gave him a deliberately mysterious grin.

“Come on! Don’t do that. What happened last night?” Chen Jinye’s
curiosity was well and truly piqued.

“I’ll tell you, but don’t go spreading it around. Jiaojiao says it has
to stay secret for now. Those people online can’t find out…” Wu Dahai
lowered his voice.

“Huh?” Chen Jinye was thrown.

Wu Jiao had said so? Secret? People online couldn’t know?

Know what?

“Old Wu, tell me. You know you can trust me,” Chen Jinye said, puzzled.

“Oh, right, your daughter probably knows about this too…” Wu Dahai said,
and told him about Wu Chen making big money writing songs.

Chen Jinye listened, asked a few questions, and finally slapped his
thigh.

“Ah! That kid! I always said Xiaochen would do great things!” he
exclaimed.

It had nothing to do with him, yet he was genuinely happy for Wu Dahai.

He himself had prospered early, while Wu Dahai had always been the kind
of man who wanted stability, who didn’t take risks and didn’t dare to.
Chen Jinye had long wanted to help Wu Dahai prosper too, to repay the
kindness Wu Dahai had shown him back then, but the chance had never
come.

Now everything was different. Wu Dahai was still the same man, but his
son had truly made it. It wasn’t only that his girlfriend was
impressive. Wu Chen himself could make serious money.

The Wu family had well and truly risen!

“No wonder! No wonder Boss Li got together with Xiaochen. Xiaochen’s no
ordinary young man either! Hahaha!” Chen Jinye kept marveling.

The two of them smoked two cigarettes back to back on the balcony and
talked for quite a while.

“Oh, right, Old Chen. My son transferred thirty million to me yesterday…
Your sister-in-law and I talked it over all night. We don’t dare mess
around with that much money. Give me some advice. What should we do with
it?”

“Well…” Chen Jinye actually gave it serious thought.

“Old Chen, isn’t your factory short on money lately? How about I invest
it with you? I’d feel safe with it in your hands…” Wu Dahai added.

“No, no, that won’t do.” Chen Jinye waved his hands again and again,
then explained without being asked. “Old Wu, it’s not that I can’t bear
to part with shares. With your family’s situation now, and your
connection to Boss Li, if it were anyone else, I’d be dying to give them
shares just to build the connection. I’d pay out of my own pocket if I
had to…”

“But this is you!”

“Money… nothing ruins a friendship faster. You know how it ended when I
went into business with that guy back then… Ah!” Chen Jinye sighed.

Never go into business with a good friend!

That was the lesson Chen Jinye had learned the hard way.

There were countless examples of people turning into enemies over how
the profits were split.

“Tell you what, Old Wu… If you ask me, don’t go making trouble for
yourself. Buy property. Collect rent. Buy street-front shops, in the
best locations in our county. They hold their value… It’s stable, and
you can live off them for the rest of your life!”

Chen Jinye suggested it only because he knew Wu Dahai so well. The man
had spent half his life in a kitchen. He’d never adapt to the scheming
and double-dealing of business.

Besides, Wu Chen was so capable now that the family would never be short
of money.

Business was hard, and they didn’t need more money badly enough to take
risks. In that case, stability was the best choice.

If all thirty million went into commercial property, rent alone would
bring in one or two million a year.

“Buy property, huh…” Wu Dahai gave the suggestion serious thought.

Chen Jinye took another drag, stubbed out his cigarette, and looked at
Wu Dahai as though something had just occurred to him. “Oh, right, Old
Wu…”

“Hm?” Wu Dahai looked at him.

“It’s just… last night after I got home, something came back to me.
Maybe I’ve got it wrong, or maybe I heard wrong. I don’t really know
much about that side of things anyway…” Chen Jinye seemed to want to say
something but sounded unsure.

“What? Just say it,” Wu Dahai said.

“Well… a while back, a friend in the city mentioned it while we were
chatting. Just in passing. He said a pretty formidable young man has
turned up in Donghai lately…” Chen Jinye drew the words out.

Wu Dahai looked at him blankly, not seeing what that had to do with him.

“They… all call him Mr. Wu? Mr. Wu of Donghai?” Chen Jinye said.