Chapter 523: Mr. Wu, What Do You Want Me to Do?

Chapter 523: Mr. Wu, What Do You Want Me to Do?

An Huaiguo had arrived far sooner than anyone expected—and quite suddenly.

Although the flight from Xiangjiang to Modu took only a little over two hours and An Huaiguo possessed a private jet that made the journey especially convenient, he had not told An Menglan of the exact time of his arrival. He called only after touching down in Modu.

As she spoke, An Menglan hurried toward the bathroom door. She looked anxious and tense.

“Did your dad say he was coming to where you’re staying?” Wu Chen asked, turning off the faucet.

“No. Huaxing’s Modu branch staff went to pick him up. I think he’ll probably head to my company a little later…” An Menglan replied.

“Then what are you so nervous about?” Wu Chen smiled. “Relax. It’ll be fine.”

“It’s just… when are you planning to meet my dad? Is it…” Her nerves made it hard for her to get the words out.

There were certain things she couldn’t easily say, either.

No matter how much she trusted Wu Chen, she didn’t think her father would be easy to persuade. And today, her father would find out about the two of them.

There was no time at all to prepare.

What if they clashed?!

“This afternoon,” Wu Chen said with a smile, looking An Menglan up and down. “If you haven’t had enough rest, sleep a few more hours. I’ll go to your company this afternoon… Before I meet your father, I have someone else to see.”

With things having come this far, An Menglan had no better solution.

She could only go along with whatever Wu Chen said.

After getting dressed, Wu Chen didn’t immediately leave An Menglan’s apartment. He didn’t think An Huaiguo would come looking for him just yet.

He borrowed the computer in her study.

At one point, An Menglan slipped on a robe and stood behind his chair, watching him type. But she couldn’t understand a thing he was doing. Wu Chen was writing a complicated program, his fingers flying across the keyboard!

After watching for a while, the sleep she had missed caught up with her. Her head ached terribly from exhaustion. She kissed Wu Chen on the cheek, then went back to bed.

Wu Chen spent a little over an hour finishing the program he needed.

That was already a very long time for him. The program’s function wasn’t especially complicated, and he had written the same program during his thousand years in the time loop!

He was merely writing it again.

Around 8:15 a.m.

Wu Chen packaged the finished program into a file, sent it to his phone, deleted the program from the computer, and left An Menglan’s apartment.

In the underground parking garage.

Wu Chen had just gotten into his car and fastened his seat belt. As he started the engine, gently pressed the accelerator, and pulled away, he dialed a number and held the phone to his ear.

He was calling Li Maoren!

“Uncle, there’s something…” Wu Chen went straight to business.

He deliberately drove a little slower. He intended to make all the calls he needed to make and say everything that needed saying while he was on the road.

He spoke with Li Maoren for more than ten minutes.

After hanging up, Wu Chen made another call.

“Boss Tang… Ha! I’m in Modu. Got here yesterday… Let’s have dinner tonight. Oh, by the way, there’s something…” Wu Chen began discussing business with Tang Jingbin.

Around nine that morning.

In Nanhui District, Modu, there was a teahouse called “Xingxiang.” It had an odd name, wasn’t particularly large, and was neither especially upscale nor particularly shabby. It was tucked deep inside an alley.

By Modu standards, it was an unremarkable midrange teahouse.

Business was fairly mediocre, too.

This was where Wu Chen had arranged to meet Shang Yunlu. Privacy was one reason for choosing it; the peace and quiet, free from interruptions, was another.

There was one more reason!

Three years earlier, Shang Yunlu had been in Modu on a business trip lasting half a month. Bai Nawei had brought her two daughters to the city for a visit and had taken the opportunity to meet him.

Her older daughter was already eighteen at the time and could take her fifteen-year-old younger sister sightseeing on her own.

Bai Nawei had met Shang Yunlu in secret, alone!

Both of them had needed to temporarily shake off certain people.

And the place where they’d met was this inconspicuous Xingxiang Teahouse!

Wu Chen parked the Lamborghini in a public parking space outside the alley entrance. Dressed in a suit, he got out and walked deeper into the alley.

He had barely stepped through the teahouse door when a young waitress in a qipao approached him. She was at least a six out of ten in looks.

“How many in your party, sir?” the girl asked in a clear, bright voice.

“I’m meeting someone,” Wu Chen replied with a smile. He gestured toward the stairs and headed straight for them.

Seeing how confidently he knew his way around, the waitress assumed he was a regular she didn’t remember very well and didn’t follow him.

Wu Chen went up to the third floor alone.

He turned left and walked to the end of the corridor.

The private room at the far end was called “Fragrance of Fresh Tea,” a very plain name. It was the very room where Shang Yunlu and Bai Nawei had met in secret three years ago.

Wu Chen pushed open the door and went in.

The private room wasn’t particularly large.

A long wooden table stood in the middle, with room for no more than six people to drink tea together. When Wu Chen arrived, only two people were inside.

Peng Wei… and Shang Yunlu!

Peng Wei rose when he saw Wu Chen enter. Shang Yunlu stood up as well, looking him over. Yesterday afternoon, he’d already used Wu Chen’s phone number to find out his real identity.

Only twenty-two years old!

Now that Peng Wei was seeing Wu Chen in person, though, he felt the young man didn’t look quite that young. The suit helped. It wouldn’t have been unreasonable to put him at twenty-three or twenty-four.

Of course, compared with Peng Wei and Shang Yunlu, Wu Chen belonged to an entirely younger generation!

“Mr. Wu, you’re here. I’ll leave you two to talk…” Peng Wei said, preparing to go out.

Wu Chen didn’t stop him, but turned slightly and raised a hand before Peng Wei could leave. “Bring me a laptop.”

Peng Wei glanced at him. He didn’t know what Wu Chen wanted a laptop for, but he didn’t ask.

“Sure thing, Mr. Wu. I’ll bring one over in a bit.” With that, Peng Wei went out.

He remembered to pull the private-room door shut behind him.

Only Wu Chen and Shang Yunlu remained.

Wu Chen sat down in the seat Peng Wei had occupied. He didn’t offer Shang Yunlu a handshake. Instead, after sitting, he raised a hand in invitation.

“Boss Shang, sit, sit,” Wu Chen said with a smile.

Shang Yunlu sat.

Shang Yunlu’s manner toward Wu Chen, and the way he looked at him, made it clear he was uneasy and frightened. He tried his best to conceal it, but it was still noticeable.

Under ordinary circumstances, Shang Yunlu would never have behaved this way.

After all, he was a business executive worth over a hundred million yuan! He’d spent so many years in entertainment and media. What hadn’t he seen or experienced? He shouldn’t have lost his nerve so easily.

Yet the fact was, Shang Yunlu was already afraid of Wu Chen himself!

Wu Chen could tell that Peng Wei must have said something more to him, perhaps offered a reminder or a warning. It had given Shang Yunlu a partial understanding of Wu Chen, and that was why he was behaving this way.

He didn’t dare look down on Wu Chen because of his youth!

That saved Wu Chen a great deal of unnecessary talk.

Peng Wei was dependable when it came to getting things done. He was also remarkably considerate! There were many things Wu Chen didn’t need to tell him to do. Once Peng Wei understood the situation, he would take the initiative to help.

“Boss Shang, you know why I arranged to meet you here, don’t you?” Wu Chen asked, smiling at him.

There was no hidden menace in his smile.

But to Shang Yunlu, it felt as though there was a knife concealed behind it!

Of course he understood why Wu Chen had chosen this place. It was a reminder, perhaps even a warning: Don’t try anything. I know everything! I even know about your secret meeting with Bai Nawei here three years ago!

“Mr. Wu…” Shang Yunlu gave a bitter smile. “Please, don’t beat around the bush. Whatever you want me to do, just tell me…”

He had surrendered outright!

“Ha.” Wu Chen chuckled, then said softly with a smile, “I like people who know which way the wind is blowing. Actually, for this matter… I originally wanted to approach Guan Hongrun. But after considering everything he’s done over the years, I gave up on that idea. To put it plainly, I despise him! He’s absolute scum!”

“Compared with him, Boss Shang, you’re much simpler to deal with, and a far better person,” Wu Chen added.

Shang Yunlu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the compliment.

“You and Ms. Bai are truly in love,” Wu Chen said with another smile.

Shang Yunlu’s expression changed.

Perhaps because of what Peng Wei had told him, he kept reading too much into Wu Chen’s words. So much so that he couldn’t tell whether “truly in love” was meant as praise for their relationship or as sarcasm!

After all, Bai Nawei was Guan Hongrun’s wife!

And he, Shang Yunlu, was the third party—the other man!

“Actually, Boss Shang, I bear you no ill will,” Wu Chen said with a smile. “May I ask you something?”

“Go ahead, Mr. Wu,” Shang Yunlu replied.

“Do you want to marry Ms. Bai?” Wu Chen asked.

“Marry her?!” Shang Yunlu froze, then looked startled. His expression grew complicated. The question was unrealistic, but if he only had to answer whether he wanted to…

“If it were possible, of course I would,” Shang Yunlu said.

“Then… what do you think of Guan Hongrun?” Wu Chen asked.

“President Guan is… he’s outstanding, very capable, especially when it comes to…” Shang Yunlu actually began praising Guan Hongrun. And indeed, his ability in business couldn’t be denied.

“No, no, no. I’m not asking about his business abilities. I mean in other respects. You know what I mean,” Wu Chen interrupted.

Shang Yunlu fell silent for a moment before finally offering two words.

“Human scum.”

After giving that assessment, Shang Yunlu went quiet again. Then he couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Guan Hongrun has hurt so many people, especially young girls who wouldn’t do as he wanted. Some were only eighteen or nineteen, others barely in their twenties… Some he had committed to psychiatric hospitals. Some really did suffer mental breakdowns… There were even girls who slit their wrists trying to kill themselves… He…”

“Do you want him to go to prison?” Wu Chen asked again.

“Yes!” Shang Yunlu answered without the slightest hesitation.

In truth, his desire to see Guan Hongrun imprisoned wasn’t primarily because he hated what the man had done. That was secondary. What really mattered was that if Guan Hongrun went to prison, Bai Nawei could divorce him immediately!

“I can put Guan Hongrun in prison!” Wu Chen said directly, still smiling.

The private room fell silent for a moment.

Beneath the table, Shang Yunlu unconsciously clenched his hand.

He couldn’t imagine how high a price he’d have to pay for Wu Chen to send Guan Hongrun to prison. Even if Wu Chen truly had that ability, Guan Hongrun was no ordinary figure. He was one of the founders of Hezhong Media!

Across the entire entertainment industry, he was one of the most powerful men at the top!

“Actually, I didn’t lure you to Modu to threaten you. Even if I had Peng Wei expose your affairs and ruin you, it wouldn’t do me much good.”

Wu Chen was being very direct again.

And it was true! Shang Yunlu was only a deputy head of one of Hezhong Media’s group-level departments, not even a group vice president. If something happened to him, it wouldn’t have much impact on Hezhong Media.

“However… there’s an opportunity before us, and it depends on what you choose. If you agree to work for me, I can guarantee that Guan Hongrun will go to prison, and Ms. Bai will receive half of Guan Hongrun’s assets…”

“On top of that, I’ll guarantee you a vice president position at Hezhong Media.”

“Of course, you can refuse. You can walk out right now.”

Wu Chen finished speaking, but he still hadn’t told Shang Yunlu what he wanted him to do!

Shang Yunlu listened in silence. Wu Chen said he could leave, but how could he possibly dare? He couldn’t entrust his own safety to Wu Chen’s character, especially when he knew nothing about it.

“Ahem.” After a long while, Shang Yunlu cleared his throat and looked at Wu Chen. “Mr. Wu, what do you want me to do?”