Chapter 485: Talk About Him? What About Him?

Champagne in hand, Wu Chen turned his head toward Su Ruiwen with a smile.

Su Ruiwen’s question hadn’t only been startlingly direct. He’d timed it with care, too, asking it right after hinting that he knew about Wu Chen and Wu Yurong… It was hard to say there was no threat in that.

Wu Chen could understand how he felt.

As a father, and as the man at the helm of a business empire with little time left to live, Su Ruiwen naturally wanted to protect his daughter, and the vast fortune he’d spent decades fighting to build!

“Boss Su, I know what you suspect.” Wu Chen smiled and looked ahead, past the elm hedge to the gardens beyond. “But I think this is something you should ask Miss Qingying. Out of respect for her, it isn’t my place to say.”

Su Ruiwen plainly had no idea what Wu Chen meant by that.

He simply took it as a dodge.

If Wu Chen wouldn’t answer, there was little Su Ruiwen could do about it for now.

And Su Qingying… He had thought of asking his daughter, of course. But he knew the truth: he might have a way of dealing with anyone else in the world, but against his daughter he had none at all!

If she wouldn’t tell him, he would never get an answer out of her!

Because Su Qingying was his sole heir.

Su Ruiwen simply couldn’t force her!

“Hubby…” a voice called from behind them.

Both men turned. Su Qingying had come back with Madam Su, who walked up to her husband with a smile. “What are you two talking about?”

“Nothing. Just chatting,” Su Ruiwen said.

Madam Su came to his side, lifted her glass to Wu Chen, and smiled. “Mr. Wu…” There was something complicated in the way she looked at him.

Mostly because she had spent the previous night helping her husband organize the recordings.

It had struck her as very strange. All that information had been supplied orally by Wu Chen.

“Madam Su.” Wu Chen smiled and touched his glass to hers.

Su Qingying and Li Ruobing joined them, and the little group fell into small talk. Since everyone around them was still talking about the Qi brothers and Second Master Tang, Madam Su asked a question or two, and the conversation soon turned that way.

Su Ruiwen glanced at Wu Chen every so often, but said nothing more about him and Su Qingying.

He wasn’t going to raise it lightly in front of Li Ruobing.

“Hahahaha… Brother!” A booming laugh rang out.

They all turned.

Lu Guangnian had come over, and he clinked glasses with Wu Chen.

There followed a few pleasantries. Madam Su congratulated Lu Guangnian as well. By seniority, she called him Brother Lu and called Ma Huifang Sister-in-law.

“Oh! Young Master Li, you’re back.”

“Young Master Li!”

“Young Master Li!”

A stir broke out at one end of the grounds, a burst of eager greetings. A man in a sharp suit came in with two bodyguards, and at once he was the center of attention.

Li Ruotai had arrived!

At many banquets, Li Ruobing was the most dazzling presence in the room, because she was the eldest granddaughter of the Li family’s senior branch, and because she was beautiful enough to be!

But to the outside world, to all of Donghai’s upper society, the one who truly mattered most, the one people handled with the greatest care, was Li Ruotai!

He was the core figure of the Li family’s third generation!

And, at present, the only one!

As things stood, so long as Li Ruotai made no catastrophic mistake over the next few years, then once Old Master Li passed away and Li Maoren took full control of the family…

Li Ruotai was Li Maoren’s own son! His only son!

The rest of the Li family’s third generation wouldn’t stand a chance!

And so…

Li Ruotai’s position wasn’t quite like that of the third-generation core figures in other great families. Take Gu Ruibo. He still had an elder brother above him, and his standing in the Gu family couldn’t begin to compare with Li Ruotai’s in his.

Looking at the inner workings of the country’s great families, the young heirs who could match Li Ruotai could be counted on one hand. Ding Ruilong was one.

“Atai!” Li Ruobing raised a hand when she saw her brother.

“Sis!” Hearing her, Li Ruotai turned, hurriedly waved back, and quickened his pace.

His two bodyguards didn’t follow. They moved off to one side, where they wouldn’t disturb the other guests, and watched him from a distance.

Li Ruotai came over to his sister alone, at a brisk walk.

“Brother Lu! Congratulations! Hahahaha…” Li Ruotai laughed heartily, plucked a glass of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter, and clinked it against Lu Guangnian’s.

“Hahaha! Atai, why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I’d have come out to meet you…”

“It’s your big day, Brother Lu. Of course you’re busy…”

They traded a few hearty words, and both drained their glasses after the toast.

In one respect, Li Ruotai was very much like Lu Guangnian: he had a gift for making friends! He set great store by personal connections, and he knew how to cultivate them.

In Donghai, of all the top tycoons, Lu Guangnian was the one Li Ruotai was closest to.

His relationship with Su Ruiwen, by comparison, was fairly ordinary.

Not shallow, exactly, but far from deep, and the two had never truly opened up to each other.

That had a great deal to do with the kind of business Su Ruiwen was in, and the kind of man he was.

“Boss Su, Madam Su…”

“Miss Su…”

Li Ruotai greeted each of them in turn, took another glass, clinked and sipped, and traded a few polite remarks. With his own sister there was no need for formalities; a look between them was enough. At last, he looked toward Wu Chen.

“Brother-in-law.” Li Ruotai shifted around to Wu Chen’s side. He looked as if he wanted to say something, hesitated for a few seconds, then simply raised his glass.

He seemed to have something to tell Wu Chen, but with so many people around, perhaps he couldn’t.

Wu Chen clinked glasses with him.

Neither of them drank.

“Where have you come from, Atai?” Wu Chen asked, turning to him with a smile.

“Modu. I got into Modu yesterday,” Li Ruotai said.

Wu Chen understood at once. No wonder the kid had been acting strangely from the moment he arrived. He must have seen Gu Ruibo! Given his current situation, he’d have kept a low profile in Modu, and Gu Ruibo would certainly have been the first person he went to see.

“Come.” Wu Chen gestured to one side with the hand holding his glass and walked off.

“Sis, Brother Lu, you carry on…” Li Ruotai waved a quick goodbye, turned, and hurried after him.

They stopped side by side at a more secluded stretch of the elm hedge.

To talk alone!

“What’s up?” Wu Chen asked.

“Brother-in-law, Brother Gu told me…” Li Ruotai tilted his head toward him, his eyes instinctively darting around as though afraid of being overheard.

“He said you and Shuangqi Real Estate…”

Li Ruotai put his question briefly. The matter had nothing to do with him. He was simply curious what his brother-in-law was after, stirring up something this big.

In truth, Gu Ruibo hadn’t told him much.

Much of it touched on important internal family affairs. However close Gu Ruibo and Li Ruotai were, Gu couldn’t talk carelessly. On Tang Jingbin, on the Tang and Gu families joining hands, on every angle of it, he had kept a good deal back.

So Li Ruotai knew only bits and pieces.

All he knew was that his brother-in-law was behind it!

Gu Ruibo had left him with only part of the picture on purpose, so that Li Ruotai would go and ask Wu Chen himself. Whether any of it could be told was Wu Chen’s decision.

And one thing mattered a great deal: Gu Ruibo would never have dared tell Li Ruotai that he knew Wu Chen had other women. That alone meant many of the crucial points were things he couldn’t mention at all.

“…No special reason. It was because of Zhuang Xiaodie. Qi Chenghong was Xiaodie’s university classmate. He went after her once and got nowhere…” Wu Chen gave a brief account.

“Because of… her…” Li Ruotai listened, dumbfounded, his expression turning rather odd.

Li Ruobing had warned him long ago to stay out of Wu Chen’s affairs with other women. Given his sister’s attitude, he’d never dared to pry or meddle.

He knew she was afraid his brother-in-law would play him to death if he did.

And he knew even better that if he ever angered Wu Chen, he really might be played to death!

But he’d never imagined that crossing one of his brother-in-law’s women could bring consequences this terrifying, and this swift! The Qi family, struck down in a single blow?!

All for that girl. His brother-in-law had gone straight for the kill!

And yet… something didn’t sit right with Li Ruotai. Tang Jingbin was involved, and Tang had thrown an enormous amount of weight behind this from the shadows. Why?

“Brother-in-law… really? Just because of Miss Zhuang?” Disbelief was written all over Li Ruotai’s face, and he made no effort to hide it.

He felt he could be that frank with Wu Chen. He was his brother-in-law, after all.

Wu Chen didn’t answer right away. He smiled, gave Li Ruotai a meaningful look, and said, “Atai, if you really want to know, go ask your father…”

Li Ruotai froze again. And then… he understood!

The affair was even bigger than he’d imagined, and there was no point asking anything more. Whatever his father and his brother-in-law were working on together, even he, Li Maoren’s own son, might never get it out of them.

While the two of them talked…

Su Ruiwen had been watching all along.

Every so often, he kept an eye on the distant pair from the corner of his vision.

What he saw made him frown, and his alarm grew. More than anything, though, he was bewildered.

He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but their postures told him enough. Li Ruotai kept turning slightly, tilting his head to speak into Wu Chen’s ear. That, and the way he’d looked at Wu Chen earlier, made it plain: Li Ruotai genuinely held his brother-in-law in a certain awe.

Donghai had long whispered that Li Ruotai was afraid of Wu Chen. But the rumors all assumed that was mostly because of Li Ruobing. Everyone knew Li Ruotai was afraid of his sister!

Now it seemed that wasn’t the whole story!

One gesture, one word from Wu Chen, had been enough to call Li Ruotai away for a private talk, right in front of Li Ruobing, and Li Ruotai had followed without a second thought…

Fog upon fog!

Su Ruiwen felt less and less able to see through this young man!

A few minutes later.

Wu Chen and Li Ruotai finished talking and came back.

Lu Guangnian had already gone. The ceremony was about to start, and he had to make his final preparations before his formal entrance as the groom…

Small talk.

With that many people together, small talk was all there could be.

Before anyone noticed, it was past eleven in the morning.

Soft music drifted across the grounds. The master of ceremonies appeared on the raised platform at the north end, and the guests began to gather there, lining both sides of the red carpet that led up to it.

A sea of people!

At eleven thirty, to the strains of the most familiar wedding march of all, the ceremony officially began! Petals swirled over the grounds and fireworks burst high overhead. The couple walked the red carpet and took their places on the platform. The officiant began telling their story… The couple exchanged tokens of love…

Ma Huifang looked especially beautiful today.

She usually looked older than Lu Guangnian. But today her hair had been dyed jet black, she glowed with vitality, and in the hands of a top makeup artist, in her white wedding gown, she seemed twenty years younger…

The ceremony didn’t formally end until twelve thirty.

But the celebration wasn’t over.

It would go on all day.

The whole of Tangsha Club served as the venue. Guests could eat, drink, and amuse themselves however they pleased. There were live performances, bands and magicians, and rooms set aside for anyone who wanted a game of cards. Everything had been arranged.

One in the afternoon.

Lu Guangnian made the rounds with Ma Huifang, who had changed outfits, offering toasts and greeting guests.

A little after two.

Guests had begun to drift away. There was no need to spend the whole day eating, drinking, and playing here. Most of the ten thousand-plus guests would leave at various points through the afternoon. Only a small number would rest here overnight and leave tomorrow.

Around two thirty, the third-floor café on the east side of Tangsha Club’s main building.

It was a vast, open space with comfortable sofas and bright floor-to-ceiling windows, more lounge than café, and very sparsely furnished.

That was for privacy. Tangsha’s guests were all either rich or powerful, so the tables were set far apart.

The café was nearly empty.

Li Ruobing sat at a window seat in the southeast corner, coffee in hand, gazing out at the view. She’d had a little more to drink than usual today. It was the weekend, a rare chance to unwind, and she’d just finished a round of golf with Su Qingying and come up here to rest.

Madam Su had called Su Qingying away, so Li Ruobing was on her own.

Footsteps approached, neither quick nor slow.

Li Ruobing turned. It was Su Ruiwen.

“Miss Li, all by yourself? I don’t see Mr. Wu,” he said with a genial smile.

“He had something to take care of. He left early.” Li Ruobing smiled.

As they talked, Su Ruiwen took the seat across from her. He tugged at his tie and looked out through the windows. Next to Li Ruobing, he seemed a good deal more sober.

He’d only taken the smallest sips of alcohol all day. His health didn’t allow him to drink much.

“Is there something on your mind, Boss Su?” Li Ruobing asked, still smiling.

“Hmm…” Su Ruiwen weighed his words. He drew his gaze back from the view and looked at her. After a pause, he said, “Miss Li, I think we ought to talk about Mr. Wu.”

“Talk about him? What about him?” Li Ruobing seemed a little surprised.

But the look in her eyes was subtle.

Because before he left, Wu Chen had told her to stay and spend some time with Su Qingying, play a little golf, and then… Su Ruiwen would come looking for her!

And here he was!