Chapter 413: What Big Shot Is Coming?

Chapter 413: What Big Shot Is Coming?

The two of them went over a good deal of what Wu Jiao should say once she got home.

As Wu Chen saw it, she could mention the bag Li Ruobing had bought her, along with the clothes, shoes, and everything else he had bought her, perfectly normally. There was no need to hide any of it.

The same went for the scarf and bracelet from Li Ruotai. Only the watch had to stay a secret. Wu Chen had told her to keep it, and as long as their mother never saw it and started asking questions, there would be no problem.

To Wu Jiao, that already seemed incredibly bold. She had accepted a bag worth over fifty thousand yuan from Li Ruobing. For a family like the Wus, that was an extraordinarily lavish gift.

Yet Wu Chen wanted her to tell the truth about it, and insisted it would be fine.

And there was something bolder still.

He wanted her to tell their parents, as though it were only her own guess, that her brother’s girlfriend, Li Ruobing, was probably worth at least a hundred million yuan… With a company that size, how could she not have at least a hundred million?

That was…

Li Ruobing’s personal net worth was two billion. A hundred million was a mere twentieth of it. He was deliberately lowballing.

But.

To an ordinary family, a hundred million or two billion, either one put a person impossibly far out of reach.

How was that any different from telling them the truth?!

After her brother’s earlier reminders, Wu Jiao understood now. With his current family background, his credentials, even the money he had… next to Li Ruobing, the gap was as wide as heaven and earth.

No parents would object to their son finding a rich girlfriend. Usually they’d be delighted.

But there had to be limits.

If the woman was too rich, everything changed.

Could it last? Could they ever marry? Even if they did, could an ordinary husband really hold on to a wife who was fabulously rich, stunningly beautiful, and fiercely ambitious?

With a gap like that, would they even have anything to talk about?!

The two families were nowhere near matched.

The whole thing felt unreal. Their parents knew their son inside and out; nobody knew better what kind of person he was… So how on earth had the two of them gotten together?

Even now, Wu Jiao had no idea how her brother and Li Ruobing had really ended up together. She didn’t believe that love-at-first-sight nonsense for a second… so she could easily picture how their parents would react.

“It’ll be fine. Just say it like that, and leave the rest to me,” Wu Chen said softly, smiling.

“But…” Wu Jiao frowned. She was thinking of what was best for him.

Hadn’t they agreed to take it slow?

Why spring “good news” this thrilling on Mom and Dad all at once?

What Wu Jiao hadn’t realized was that what she said at home mattered less than her attitude. That was what counted most. She was already wholly on her brother’s side. In that frame of mind, once she started talking at home and their mother pressed her for more, she was bound to praise Li Ruobing to the skies.

Not for being rich.

She’d talk about how much Sis-in-law and her brother loved each other, how Sis-in-law cooked with him, how at home Sis-in-law did whatever he said… how they were practically glued together. Her attitude would shape what she said and did at home, and what she said and did would put their parents’ minds at ease for now.

After that, the rest would be easy to handle.

And there were things Wu Chen could say and do himself once he went home.

“If Mom and Dad suddenly find out Sis-in-law is that rich, they’re definitely going to overthink it…” Wu Jiao said hesitantly.

“They have to go through it sooner or later,” Wu Chen said with a smile.

There were things he left unsaid. In truth… even if he told his sister to say nothing, and said nothing himself on the day he brought Li Ruobing home, their parents would still find out. And they would hear the full figure straight off: two billion.

Someone would make sure to tell them.

That would be far more frightening than a hundred million.

So having Wu Jiao mention a hundred million was really laying the groundwork.

“Then… what about you singing and writing songs? Should I tell them?” she asked.

“No. Leave that until I’m home. I’ll tell them myself…” Wu Chen said. That was one thing she absolutely couldn’t be the one to explain, because it went straight to the question of how he had suddenly come into money, and a great deal of it.

The last thing he wanted was his parents suspecting he’d done something bad. That would mean no end of trouble.

Wu Jiao wasn’t nearly as good with words as he was, either, so it was safer for him to explain it in person. Besides, he would be making some “new moves” over the next couple of days, which he would also have to tell his parents about. Those hadn’t happened yet, so Wu Jiao couldn’t possibly know about them… Better that she said nothing at all.

He went over a few more fine points with her, and told her he would be going to Modu that afternoon to follow up on his work with An Menglan…

Five minutes later.

Ring, ring…

His phone. He took it out. Tang Xinbao.

“Go help in the kitchen.” He and his sister were about done. He waved her off, then answered. “Hey, Xiaobao.”

“Master, you’re going to Modu?” Tang Xinbao called him Master the moment he opened his mouth, as smoothly and naturally as anything. In fact, it was the first time.

“Yeah. Coming with me? If not, that’s fine too. Stay put. I’ll be back in a couple of days.”

“Well… then Qiqi and I’ll head back too. We’ve stayed so many days already. We’ll go together. What time, Master?”

“Get ready, then. I’ll be home at twelve-thirty,” Wu Chen said.

A few more words, and they hung up.

Wu Chen went back to the kitchen.

They cooked together.

Then ate lunch together.

Soon it was close to noon.

Lunch was more or less over, and Wu Chen had to leave first. Li Ruobing was in no hurry to get to work; the company was close by, and if she went in too early, everyone would still be on lunch break and the office empty.

Wu Jiao and Chen Xue had only just finished eating, so they weren’t in a hurry to catch a ride home either. Getting back by two or three in the afternoon would be fine.

“Bro! Don’t forget my autograph!” Wu Jiao called just as he started down the stairs.

Just a reminder. During their “secret conference,” when she’d heard he was going to Modu, she had asked him to bring back An Menglan’s autograph.

On his way down, Wu Chen raised a hand and made an OK sign.

Twelve-thirty.

North District, Zunrong Donghai Huafu.

Wu Chen got home.

He had driven Li Ruobing’s Bentley Continental back and planned to take it to Modu as well. The Lamborghini was out of the question; there was no room for luggage. Wu Chen had none, but Zhuang Xiaodie did.

By the time he arrived, Zhuang Xiaodie, Tang Xinbao, and Guo Qiqi had already eaten and were ready to go.

Also worth mentioning: Tang Xinbao’s modified GTR had been repaired. Crooked Zhao had found someone to fix it and had it delivered to Wu Chen’s house the morning before last.

The tens of millions in compensation had been handed to Tang Xinbao along with the car.

That business was finally, completely settled.

Luggage loaded.

They set off.

——

3:40 p.m. Modu.

Wu Chen drove through the toll station and officially crossed into Modu.

They’d gotten on the expressway at one, and just two hours and forty minutes later they were in Modu, hardly slower than the high-speed train. Normal driving could never have managed that… Wu Chen and Tang Xinbao had been racing.

Just for fun.

They never settled a winner, though. There was still traffic on the expressway that got in the way now and then, especially near the toll station, where the cars grew thicker and thicker…

Once off the expressway, the two cars parted ways. Tang Xinbao and Guo Qiqi were going home first, while Wu Chen took Zhuang Xiaodie straight to An Menglan’s company.

After they reached the city, he called An Menglan ahead to let her know he was nearly there.

A little over twenty minutes later.

No. 102 Qingyang Road, Dongpu District, Modu. An eleven-story office building stood on a street corner.

Two enormous characters rose from its roof: Menghua.

Menghua Music was the independent music company An Menglan had founded herself after coming to the mainland to build her career. Every one of the building’s eleven floors belonged to it.

At the building’s entrance.

A dozen-odd people stood outside, watching the road. Their average age looked to be over forty. There were men and women; some wore sharp suits, others were casually dressed… all of them Menghua Music’s senior management.

Among them were several of the company’s biggest-name songwriters and music producers.

An Menglan was there too, watching the road like the rest, pacing now and then, visibly on edge.

The others kept a close eye on her every move… They had been in the middle of a meeting. She had taken a phone call, abandoned the meeting entirely, and led everyone in the room straight downstairs.

She was obviously there to welcome someone.

Every important person in the company standing at the entrance, An Menglan included. What kind of “big shot” called for a reception like this?

They had been guessing the whole time. Some had even begun to wonder whether the boss’s own father had dropped in unannounced.

Vroom…

The deep growl of an engine sounded down the street.

A Bentley Continental came racing toward them.