Chapter 540: She Posted on Weibo! Number One Trending Topic!
by cnwebnovelsChapter 540: She Posted on Weibo! Number One Trending Topic!
An Menglan had wept until her strength was spent, leaning against Wu Chen with quiet sniffles, her tears having thoroughly soaked his collar.
Wu Chen retrieved his phone without disturbing her position, tilting his head slightly to press the device to his ear before answering, “Uncle.”
“You haven’t arrived yet, have you?” Li Maoren inquired.
“I haven’t even set out,” Wu Chen replied.
“Good, good,” Li Maoren said hurriedly. “Come to the private club on Shidao Street. There is no sign on the venue; across from it stands an old Western-style house…”
He was describing an exceptionally discreet rendezvous point. Fearing Wu Chen might not recognize it, he elaborated further; even “private club” was merely an informal descriptor rather than an official title.
“I know the place,” Wu Chen cut him off smoothly. “I’m heading over now.”
The call concluded.
Clutching his phone, Wu Chen gazed down at An Menglan in his embrace, a gentle smile gracing his lips. “I must be off.”
An Menglan sniffled and tilted her head up to look at him. After weeping so long against his chest, her hair hung in disarray and her makeup was thoroughly ruined, yet it endowed her with an unconventional, striking beauty. True beauties were simply built differently; any woman rated an eight or higher could drape herself in a burlap sack without looking unsightly, to say nothing of a transcendent beauty like An Menglan.
The expression she wore as she looked up was enough to wrench anyone’s heart with pity.
Mwah!
An Menglan pressed a kiss to Wu Chen’s cheek.
Mwah, mwah!
She kissed him several more times.
Only then did she sniffle and sit upright. Holding her in his arms, Wu Chen rose to his feet, turned, and settled her back into the cushioned makeup chair, mindful of her injured leg.
Stepping before the mirror, Wu Chen wiped away the lipstick traces on his cheek.
He then reached for the hair dryer, drying the damp tear stains clinging to his collar.
Smoothing out his lapels, Wu Chen planted a final kiss upon An Menglan’s forehead and turned to take his leave!
An Menglan stared fixatedly at the doorway through which Wu Chen vanished, her gaze mirroring the desolate terror of someone who believed she might never see him again, her sorrow and despair deepening by the second. Gradually, she curled into a ball upon the chair, wrapping her arms around her legs and burying her head.
A few minutes trickled past.
Suddenly, she jerked her head up as if struck by inspiration, produced her phone, and launched Weibo…
She appeared intensely agitated, typing out a passage of text only to delete it, typing again and clearing it once more, repeating the frantic cycle over and over…
More than twenty minutes later.
Outside the entrance to the private club.
Wu Chen had just brought his car to a smooth halt and unbuckled his seatbelt, and gotten out when Gu Ruibo, who had been pacing near the doorway, hurried forward to receive him, waving his arm. “Mr. Wu, over here!”
“Young Master Gu.” Wu Chen smiled and raised a hand in return.
Wu Chen rarely addressed Gu Ruibo as “Young Master,” finding “Boss Gu” far more natural on the tongue. Yet the moment they met today, he deliberately corrected his form of address, knowing the Gu family could never dispatch a junior like Gu Ruibo to participate in an affair of this gravity. What was Li Maoren’s status? The Gu family would inevitably send a heavyweight of the second-generation direct lineage!
Wu Chen was about to meet the true “Boss Gu”!
“Mr. Wu, please, this way!” Gu Ruibo gestured warmly toward the entrance.
The two were well acquainted, allowing them to dispense with superfluous formalities.
With Gu Ruibo personally leading the way, Wu Chen stepped into the foyer and mounted the solid wooden spiral staircase toward the second floor…
The interior exuded the distinctive ambiance of an old Western-style mansion, draped in woodwork throughout. It was neither the fashionable European aesthetic nor modern Chinese luxury, but rather the classic aristocratic elegance of Modu’s grand estates from the 1930s and 1940s.
The second floor was exceptionally spacious, with an expansive hall situated away from the street-facing side.
A short flight of steps led up into a space with solid wooden flooring, the varying elevations granting the entire space a sophisticated sense of depth.
A tea table, four armchairs, and a steeping pot of tea.
Li Maoren sat opposite a broad-faced, middle-aged man, with a male assistant standing silently behind each principal. As Gu Ruibo escorted Wu Chen over, the broad-faced man uncrossed his legs, rose to his feet with an easy smile, .
“Dad, Mr. Wu has arrived,” Gu Ruibo announced.
“Hahahaha! Mr. Wu, young and formidable indeed! This is our first time meeting, is it not? Hahahaha! Over these past weeks, your name has been practically thundering in my ears… Ruibo, you must learn from Mr. Wu in the days ahead. Look at what he has accomplished…”
It seemed that no matter how exalted or powerful a patriarch might be, he could never resist comparing his progeny against the brilliant youth of his peers!
Naturally, in this setting, Gu Hongtu’s words were purely polished courtesy.
“Boss Gu is far too generous. Young Master Gu has achieved immense success in the commercial arena! Having never engaged in business myself, I cannot hold a candle to him.” Wu Chen smiled as he shook Gu Hongtu’s hand.
After a few brief exchanges of pleasantries, Wu Chen traded glances with Li Maoren and offered a subtle nod.
The four men took their seats.
Wu Chen and Li Maoren sat along one flank, while Gu Ruibo and his father, Gu Hongtu, took the other.
“I gave him a brief outline of the situation just now, but you’ll have to lay out the finer details yourself; I’m not entirely clear on them either,” Li Maoren leaned in slightly, tilting his head to whisper into Wu Chen’s ear. “Gu Hongtu originally had an important engagement tonight, which he discarded upon receiving my sudden call. When we spoke earlier, his words constantly circled around your relationship with An Menglan alongside the An family. He seems even more fascinated by you than by the Ans…”
Whispering in private was commonplace.
Even in solemn corporate conferences, leaning over to brief a late arrival was standard practice.
Yet watching this unfold, Gu Hongtu sensed that something was deeply amiss.
Wu Chen did not resemble Li Maoren’s “son-in-law” in the slightest!
When a son-in-law faced his father-in-law—especially one whose status was terrifyingly exalted—he would ordinarily display respect, restraint, humility, and strict adherence to decorum. Yet not a trace of such deference could be found on Wu Chen.
And stranger still, Li Maoren did not appear to find it odd at all.
“Weibo! Miss An has posted on Weibo! It’s the number one trending topic!”
“Weibo’s servers have completely crashed!” Peng Wei burst out urgently from the side!