Chapter 477: It’s a Deal!

Chapter 477: It’s a Deal!

“A supernatural ability?” Wu Chen turned to look at Li Ruobing, a flicker of surprise crossing his smile.

“Yes! A supernatural ability. Do you have one?” Li Ruobing asked, looking him in the eye. Normally she would never ask him something like this, though she had long sensed there was something almost mystical about him.

She was asking now because she felt their relationship had reached that point. On this, she and Wu Chen were very much in sync. He, too, felt they had come that far, which was why he’d dared to carry her into the lounge against her protests and forcibly… coax her into a better mood.

“What makes you think that? It isn’t scientific.” Wu Chen’s smile turned a little odd.

“Since when have you ever been scientific?” Li Ruobing shot back.

“Ha.” Wu Chen laughed. “So do you think I have one?”

“You do!” she said at once. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

Wu Chen held her gaze. He was a man who never let anyone read his thoughts, and yet, for one exceedingly rare moment, he fell silent. And silence said something.

He did it on purpose.

That silence would make her hang on whatever he said next!

“You really do?” Her eyes went wide, as though he’d just confirmed it.

“Hmm… how should I put this…” Wu Chen murmured. After a pause, he smiled. “To be precise, I had some extraordinary experiences in the past, before I met you. They’re all over now. That’s all.”

It wasn’t quite an answer to her question. He had steered the conversation straight toward his past.

And caught her attention completely!

Nor was it a lie. His thousand years in the loop hadn’t been an ability of his. It had simply happened to him! He had been reset against his will every day, trapped for 365,000 days!

“Extraordinary experiences?” Li Ruobing took a moment to absorb that.

It felt as if he’d told her nothing at all! Of course Wu Chen had an extraordinary past. Everyone knew that. It was just that nobody had ever managed to uncover it.

“These extraordinary experiences of yours… what were they?” She leaned closer, wound her arms around his neck, and pressed him.

“Guess.” Wu Chen smiled.

Li Ruobing understood at once: he wasn’t going to tell her. Whenever he said that word to her in private, the subject was closed.

Even so, she was satisfied.

Not bad!

He had never spoken about his secrets before. Now he was finally willing to let slip a tiny bit. They really had grown closer, not in status or in body, but in heart.

They were more and more in tune!

In truth, she’d only asked out of curiosity. Given what they were to each other, it made no real difference whether she knew. There was no need to go digging into his past.

And even if she truly wanted to hear about those extraordinary experiences, there was no rush.

It even occurred to her that once she’d had his child, he would probably tell her more, wouldn’t he?

Mwah!

After thinking it over, she smiled and kissed him on the cheek. She was genuinely happy.

“Not going to ask anymore?” Wu Chen smiled.

“Hmph! Tell me or don’t. See if I care.” She gave a soft snort and made a show of not wanting to know, shooting him a reproachful glance that was entirely feminine. Then she checked her watch and stood.

“Hubby, let me tidy up. We’ll head home in a bit.” She walked toward her desk.

“Sure.” Wu Chen watched her go.

Around five thirty, Wu Chen and Li Ruobing left Huancai Fashion and went home!

They rode in her Mercedes-Maybach.

The Lamborghini Wu Chen usually drove was brought along by one of her bodyguards, who followed them to Wu Chen’s home.

…

A little after seven that evening.

Zunrong Donghai Huafu, North District, Donghai.

Night had fallen, and Wu Chen’s home blazed with light. Bodyguards patrolled outside the villa and beyond the compound’s main gate.

In the kitchen, two women were making dinner together.

“Ruobing, let me do the chopping.”

“I’ve got it… Qingying, pass me that rag.”

Li Ruobing bustled about in a casual nightdress and an apron. Su Qingying had arrived a little over half an hour earlier. She hadn’t changed and was still in her executive-style suit jacket and heels as she helped out.

In the living room, Wu Chen sat on the sofa.

“Hubby, hubby, hubby, I was wrong! I really was…” Mu Qianqian lay facedown across his lap. He’d spanked her and still wouldn’t let her up.

She’d started teasing Wu Chen the moment she arrived, so he had decided to “teach her a lesson.”

“You always call me a big bad guy behind my back, don’t you?” He pretended to scold her. Mu Qianqian could tell he was joking, but it really did hurt.

“I know I was wrong, dear big brother,” she pleaded again.

“You little brat.” Wu Chen laughed and let her go.

Mu Qianqian scrambled upright and immediately snapped, “Big bad guy!” Before he could grab her again, she darted in, looped her arms around his neck, and kissed him.

She really was a little rascal, and the longer she spent around Wu Chen, the worse she got.

Perhaps it came from holding it all in. At the company with Su Qingying, she had to do everything by the book. There were rules to follow, formalities to observe.

She was only eighteen!

Pretending to be a corporate high-flyer was exhausting.

She snuggled against him on the sofa, kicked off her heels, and kept playing around.

“Hubby, Qingying and I aren’t going back tonight. That’s okay, right? Sister Li won’t be mad, will she?” After a while she hugged him and whispered, deliberately keeping her voice down in case Li Ruobing heard.

“She won’t.” Wu Chen smiled and pinched her cheek.

“Then… how are we sleeping tonight?” she asked softly, gazing at him with shining eyes.

“You’re sleeping in the attic. By yourself,” he said with a smile.

“Nooo…” She gave him a pleading look at once.

“Just teasing.” Wu Chen laughed. “We’ll sort that out after dinner. Oh, by the way, Qianqian, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about…”

“What is it?” She perked up immediately. Wu Chen rarely discussed anything serious with her. She was young and didn’t have much ability of her own yet.

Still, she was sure he spoiled her the most, because she was the only one who could fool around with him like this.

“I’ll promise you one thing, the kind of promise I can’t take back. But in return, you have to promise me something too,” Wu Chen said with a smile.

“Hm? What kind of fun game is this? What sort of thing?” she asked.

“What sort of thing… you go first.” He smiled.

“Me first… So I can ask for anything at all?”

“Of course not. If you tell me to blow up the moon, I can’t do that.” Wu Chen laughed. “Keep it realistic. You only get one chance, so think it over before you say it.”

“Hmm… then…” She began to think in earnest.

She didn’t know whether he was just humoring her or up to something else, but he had clearly handed her an opportunity. She should be able to ask him for something enormous.

With all the power and influence “Mr. Wu of Donghai” now had, even a huge request would probably be easy for him.

As long as it was realistic, of course, just as he’d said.

A full minute went by.

“Got it!” she exclaimed suddenly, smiling at him. “I’m saying it now. It’s realistic, and you can’t take it back.”

“Of course. Go ahead.” Wu Chen nodded.

Mu Qianqian looked into his eyes, leaned in, and whispered, “I want you to like me! Spoil me! For the rest of my life! And whenever I run into trouble, you have to help me. Okay?”

She meant every word. But to Wu Chen, it wasn’t really a request at all. He would do all of that whether she asked or not.

He could also sense the insecurity buried deep inside her.

She refused to admit out loud that she liked him, or to acknowledge what they were to each other, but her body had always been honest.

Yet she was the youngest and the least capable, while the other women around him… Mu Qianqian was genuinely starting to worry whether she would still have a place at his side in the future!

“All right. I promise!” Wu Chen nodded. “My turn.”

“Go ahead. Anything you want, however you want it.” Her smile turned sweet. She truly wasn’t afraid of anything he might ask. She would give him anything.

“My condition is…” He leaned closer and said softly, “Qianqian, unless I say it’s okay, don’t tell anyone how we first met.”

“How we met? We met at the bar. You came over and chatted me up, and then you got into a fight with someone. Loads of people were there, they all know…” She plainly didn’t understand what he meant.

“Just don’t talk about it anymore. Can you do that?” Wu Chen said.

“Sure!” She nodded readily. What was so hard about that?

“It’s a deal?”

“It’s a deal!”

Smack!

They even slapped palms on it.

Mu Qianqian thought he was simply playing with her, handing her one big chance, which she’d used to win the promise that mattered most to her!

She hadn’t caught on.

What Wu Chen was really asking her to keep secret was this.

On the last night of his thousand-year loop, not knowing the loop was about to end, Wu Chen had told Mu Qianqian everything about those thousand years, holding nothing back!

Mu Qianqian was someone who knew the secret of his thousand-year loop!

At the time, she’d taken it as a joke. And when the loop ended the next day, she was all the more convinced that Wu Chen was just a very entertaining liar!

No one in their right mind would believe something like that.

But… since his new life began, Wu Chen had done far too many extraordinary things. Mu Qianqian was no fool. At some point, something was bound to make her think back to that night and the exact words they’d exchanged, and then she would start to wonder and suspect.

Mu Qianqian wasn’t the type to go around sharing his business anyway.

But if one day she happened to mention it in passing to Su Qingying or Li Ruobing… either of those two exceptionally intelligent women would surely start to think the thousand-year loop might actually be real!

Wu Chen was getting ahead of it.

If someday the truth suddenly dawned on her, she wouldn’t blurt it out to anyone else first. She would come and talk to him.

…

Meanwhile.

Tianhe Machinery Factory, in the industrial district on Donghai’s northern outskirts.

The factory had long since closed for the day and should have been dark and silent. Tonight, though, dozens of people had gathered near the parking shelters behind the production building, most of them carrying flashlights.

Canvas had been strung up around one parking shelter.

A group of bodyguards in black suits stood watch outside. Inside, others were using various tools to break through the concrete and dig down, searching for something.

On the factory grounds, a convoy of more than ten Mercedes sat quietly outside the office building.

In the Mercedes-Maybach at the center of the convoy—

“Boss Su, what exactly are you… looking for?” asked a balding, middle-aged man in the left rear seat, glancing warily at the man beside him.

His name was Wei Jianhe, and he owned Tianhe Machinery Factory.

That afternoon, just before closing time, the head of the group that was his factory’s biggest customer had called him personally and offered to introduce him to someone: Su Ruiwen, the richest man in Donghai!

Wei Jianhe had naturally jumped at the chance.

Just after dark, Su Ruiwen had arrived in person with his men.

And made some very strange requests.

Wei Jianhe had gone along with all of it, but he couldn’t stop wondering what Su Ruiwen was after. Could there be some antique buried under his factory?

“What we’re digging for… you’ll see soon enough.” Su Ruiwen frowned slightly and glanced out the window. He still couldn’t make sense of it.

He turned back to Wei Jianhe. “Boss Wei, over the past few years, has any part of your factory grounds or facilities been damaged? Has anyone ever come here on the quiet and dug something up?”