Chapter 305: That Really Must Have Been Hard on You

Chapter 305: That Really Must Have Been Hard on You

“Ah!”

The scream outside the private room came piercing and perfectly clear.

All three people talking inside changed expression at once and turned toward the door. Lei Cheng even shot to his feet. Tao Manying had gone out and had not come back, and from that sudden scream there was no way to tell whether it was hers. All they could make out was that it belonged to a young woman.

Then more voices came from outside.

“Ah! Tao Manying! It’s Tao Manying!”

“It really is Tao Manying! Can I get an autograph? Please, could you sign something?”

Several girls, all talking at once.

Lei Cheng, halfway to the door, stopped short.

They all understood now. Tao Manying had been recognized by fans, and the fans had grown so excited at the sight of her that they had lost control and screamed.

Under those circumstances, Lei Cheng could hardly go out there.

That Tao Manying had a powerful patron backing her was no secret inside the entertainment industry. But as far as the general public was concerned, and her fans above all, she had never had a scandal in her life. Nor could she afford one.

Lei Cheng looked at Wu Chen.

Wu Chen met his eyes, then turned and glanced at Wu Yurong.

The three exchanged looks in an instant.

“I’ll go,” Wu Yurong said, rising.

One thing about Liuji Restaurant was worth mentioning. It was an extremely high-end private dining establishment, and it took its guests’ privacy seriously. Bodyguards were not permitted to stand outside the private rooms, since they might see other guests coming and going from neighboring ones.

Everyone who ate at Liuji was either rich or powerful. None of them wanted to be seen by other guests, and all of them respected the restaurant’s rules.

So none of Wu Yurong’s, Lei Cheng’s, or Tao Manying’s bodyguards and assistants had come upstairs. They were all waiting below.

In the corridor outside the private room.

Tao Manying had just come out of the restroom when she ran straight into three young women of about twenty, apparently guests from another room.

She had put her sunglasses and mask back on before going, and they had recognized her anyway.

That was the kind of eye only die-hard fans possessed.

The girls were beside themselves, practically bouncing where they stood.

Tao Manying took off her mask, helpless, though no trace of that helplessness showed on her face. She greeted them warmly.

“Hello.”

“It really is Tao Manying!”

“Teacher Tao, could you sign something for me?”

“A pen! Does anyone have a pen?”

Wu Yurong stepped out of the private room and stopped in the doorway. She saw the girls clustered around Tao Manying, chattering in uncontainable excitement.

Tao Manying was signing their clothes with an eyebrow pencil one of them had handed her.

Wu Yurong did not go over. She had only come out to see whether there was going to be trouble, and since there was none, there was nothing for her to do.

Soon Tao Manying took off her sunglasses as well and posed for a photo with the three girls. Only then was it finally over.

A short while later she and Wu Yurong came back into the private room together.

“Darling, everything all right?” Lei Cheng asked.

“I’m fine, Godfather.” Tao Manying sat down beside him, smiling and shaking her head.

“Just a few young fans,” Wu Yurong said brightly as she took her seat beside Wu Chen.

A little small talk, and they returned to their earlier subject.

The dinner ran until after seven, business included, and even so it had not lasted especially long. The main reason was that Wu Yurong had stated her relationship with Wu Chen outright, which made everything afterward far easier to discuss. A great many things could now be said plainly.

The greatest advantage of letting Lei Cheng know about the two of them was that Lei Cheng would understand that cooperating with Wu Yurong was, in effect, cooperating with Wu Chen.

If Wu Yurong made money, Lei Cheng would count it as Wu Chen making money.

Which meant that when it came to the depth of the partnership and the division of profits, Lei Cheng, who knew how to handle people, would make certain Wu Chen was satisfied.

Wu Chen had not even raised the question of the profit split at the table.

There was no need.

Lei Cheng was not the same kind of man as Gu Ruibo, and Wu Chen had done him an enormous favor. So Wu Chen saw no reason to negotiate such matters with him personally.

By the plan, it was enough to let Wu Yurong and Lei Cheng settle the split and everything else between themselves.

At seven-thirty the dinner broke up.

Time to go back and sleep.

Wu Chen got into Wu Yurong’s car. On the way to her villa in the West District he explained a few things and gave her some reminders.

Chiefly which matters she should handle with Lei Cheng, which with Gu Ruibo, and how to phrase certain things.

Once Gu Ruibo arrived, the three of them would meet, and Wu Chen wanted her to know what to say at that meeting, and what not to.

With Wu Yurong’s intelligence, a single hint was enough.

He did not have to explain in detail. Two pointers, and she understood what she should do and what he had in mind.

Wu Yurong knew that Wu Chen’s plan was growing larger and larger, drawing in more and more people.

And as for the profits involved—

Wu Chen was taking none of them.

She was.

The cooperation she had already discussed with Gu Ruibo was set to earn an astronomical sum. Now that Lei Cheng had entered the game, there would be another enormous amount on top of it.

All told, if everything succeeded, the final figure she earned might even exceed the total value of every asset the Wu family currently held.

Perhaps by far.

Wu Yurong no longer knew how she could possibly “repay” Wu Chen.

This had long since stopped being about money.

Around eight that evening.

West District, Donghai. Emerald Bay Villa Community, Villa No. 3.

This was another villa Wu Yurong owned in Donghai. The reason they had come here instead of the Lüyuan Waterside villa in the South District, where they had gone last time, was mainly to avoid running into her daughter, Song Xuan, again.

Who knew whether she might suddenly come home another time?

Song Xuan never came to the Emerald Bay villa.

It was very “safe.”

That night a torrential rainstorm swept over Donghai.

—

July 22, 2020. Seven in the morning.

Wu Chen did not wake.

His internal clock had failed him for once. He and Wu Yurong had reached the Emerald Bay villa a little after eight the night before, but the hour they actually went to sleep had been very, very late.

By the time he slept he was exhausted. He had expended a great deal.

A little after eight in the morning, a ringing phone woke him.

Gu Ruibo.

He told Wu Chen he was coming to Donghai today, was already on the road, and would meet Li Ruotai first.

Wu Chen hung up and went back to sleep.

A little after nine, another call woke him.

Li Ruobing this time.

She told him Ding Ruilong had called again, claiming he was about to board a plane and expected to arrive in Donghai around noon.

Ding Ruilong was still lying to her.

Playing his little games, and being tiresome about it.

“…All right, I know. If he’s coming, he’s coming,” Wu Chen said into the phone. “Do this—go to A-Tai’s place at noon. I’ll head over too.”

“You’re awfully calm,” Li Ruobing said.

She had no idea what he was thinking or what he had planned, and she was afraid things might get out of hand.

“When am I not calm?” Wu Chen asked with a smile.

“Fine… you’re amazing.” She sounded too lazy to press him.

Then, in a seemingly casual tone: “Where did you spend the night?”

What she was really asking was who he had slept with.

Wu Yurong had naturally been woken by the phone too. She lay nestled against his chest, listening.

When she heard the question, a sweet smile spread over her face, her expression faintly amused.

“At Sister Rong’s,” Wu Chen said.

There was nothing to hide.

“At her place, was it? Then that really must have been hard on you, my dear Mr. Wu.”

“Not too bad. I’m in good shape,” Wu Chen said, laughing.

“Hmph.”

She gave a soft snort and let it go.

“All right, that’s it for now. We’ll talk about the rest at noon.”

“Okay.”

He hung up.

Time to get up.

Wu Chen and Wu Yurong got out of bed and went to wash up.

More than ten minutes later, neither had come out yet.

Ring, ring, ring…

Wu Chen’s phone again.

Wiping his face with a towel, he came out of the bathroom, crossed to the cabinet, and picked it up.

An unsaved number he did not recognize at a glance. But he knew whose it was.

Tang Xinbao’s.

Tang Xinbao’s phone had been smashed the night before, though the SIM card had survived. Presumably he had bought a new handset.

“Hello.”

“Big Brother, it’s me. I got your number from Miss Zhuang,” Tang Xinbao said quickly. “Here’s the thing. My second uncle has come to Donghai. He wants to meet you…”