Chapter 522: Winning This Woman Over Completely
by cnwebnovelsChapter 522: Winning This Woman Over Completely
An Menglan was panicking not only because she feared that a meeting between Wu Chen and her father would end in a complete breakdown, but also because she was afraid her father would discover the nature of her relationship with Wu Chen!
She knew she had been terribly weak-willed in that regard!
She had made a bet with Li Ruobing, yet she had still lost control and done those things with Wu Chen!
And she felt as though she could no longer pull herself away.
She knew she would never meet anyone as compatible with her as Wu Chen for the rest of her life! His musical talent and understanding of music drew her in deeply.
Sometimes people did things despite knowing perfectly well that the consequences would be serious.
That was exactly what An Menglan had done.
Now she feared not only Li Ruobing finding out what had happened between her and Wu Chen, but her own father finding out, too!
Because Wu Chen was not single!
He had an official girlfriend, Li Ruobing! Everyone in the circles of the great families knew it!
What would happen if her father learned that she had become the ‘other woman’?!
Wu Chen’s ordinary family background was actually a minor issue. Xiangjiang was different from the mainland: there were very few families that could be called politically powerful clans, but plenty of tycoon families!
Families might interfere in the marriages of their wealthy children, but that did not mean every marriage had to be an alliance!
When a male family member reached marrying age, the family might be more inclined to intervene. Marriages between wealthy families were common, but marrying outside those circles was hardly unheard of.
Marriages for love were not unusual.
There had been cases of the legitimate son of a top financial dynasty marrying a female celebrity from an ordinary family! Or even… a champion athlete who had become a celebrity!
Women in those families generally enjoyed even more freedom!
Stories of wealthy daughters marrying poor young men were not unheard of, either. As long as the man was outstanding enough and had decent character, it could work!
And Wu Chen was hardly some penniless nobody. He was extraordinarily talented, a genius blessed by heaven!
Had someone asked An Menglan whether she wanted to marry Wu Chen, the truth was that she had secretly considered it. She even believed her family would not seriously oppose it. Once they got to know Wu Chen, they would accept him!
But the problem was…
An Menglan knew perfectly well she had no chance of marrying him!
Wu Chen had many women, and most importantly, there was Li Ruobing, the eldest granddaughter of the Li family’s senior branch!
If An Menglan wanted to be with Wu Chen, she would not only have to get past Li Ruobing, but would also have to accept a secondary position! If her father found out about that… and given Wu Chen’s unyielding personality, An Menglan felt something terrible might happen!
Both sides were dear to her.
Her relationship with her father was good. She had depended on her family’s support throughout her years in music.
What was she supposed to do?!
Even if her father never discovered their relationship, a direct conflict between him and Wu Chen would still put her in a terrible position!
A little after five in the afternoon.
Kaisiqi Western Restaurant, Dongpu District, Modu.
A private dining room on the third floor.
Wu Chen and An Menglan were already ordering. Distracted, An Menglan chose a few dishes at random. Wu Chen ordered the restaurant’s signature beef Wellington.
During his thousand years in the time loop, the cities Wu Chen had visited most often, apart from Donghai, were Modu and the capital!
It took just over two hours to reach Modu by high-speed rail, and the trip to the capital was not much longer.
Although Wu Chen had not investigated Modu in quite as much detail, he had eaten at all its famous restaurants!
Even when he had no money during the thousand-year loop, that did not matter. He could simply eat without paying and disregard the consequences… He had even robbed a bank in the afternoon, gone to a restaurant for dinner that evening, and been shot dead on the spot by the police who tracked him down.
There had been far too many reckless acts during his wildest periods!
None of it was ‘real’ anyway. Back then, death meant the day would reset!
Kaisiqi’s beef Wellington suited Wu Chen’s tastes perfectly. During the loop, he had even asked its head chef to teach him how to make it, pretending to be an independent blogger filming a video interview.
They finished ordering.
Wine was served first. Two bottles were set aside to breathe, while another was opened for them to drink immediately.
They chatted.
“My father, he… Why don’t you let Peng Wei handle it? Just get through the meeting for now. I think…” An Menglan kept trying to say something, but her words came in fragments and trailed off.
“I know your father won’t be easy to talk to, especially after something this big. He’s got a lot of anger bottled up…” Wu Chen said with a smile, picking up where she left off.
“But people… no matter how angry they are, how principled, how worried… even how afraid! If the benefit is great enough, if the interests at stake are large enough, they can put all of that aside!”
“Human nature doesn’t stand up well to temptation. Apart from people who have completely seen through life and abandoned every desire—and in truth, many of them have some degree of mental illness—everyone else…”
“Suppose I offered you two billion yuan. Would you transfer Menghua Music’s remaining fifty percent to me?” Wu Chen asked.
An Menglan looked at him and slowly shook her head.
It was not about the money. That company was her life’s work!
“Five billion?”
“Ten billion?”
“One hundred billion?”
An Menglan fell silent! The reasoning was simple. If someone really offered her a hundred billion yuan, of course she would sell her business! She could always start another one!
“But what you’re saying is unrealistic. Who would ever pay a hundred billion for my company?” she asked.
“It’s just an example.” Wu Chen smiled. “Hypothetically, would you sell?”
“Of course,” An Menglan said with a nod.
“Then another question. If Huaxing Group were on the verge of bankruptcy, and selling your company could save the family business, would you do it?” Wu Chen asked.
“I would.” She nodded again.
“Exactly…” Wu Chen smiled.
Wu Chen had merely offered a few simple examples involving extreme hypothetical circumstances. An Menglan understood these principles whether he spelled them out or not.
But… they were rather far removed from reality!
She had no idea what Wu Chen intended to say or do to her father!
And at that moment, her mind was occupied by more than the possibility of Wu Chen and her father falling out…
“Ahem.” An Menglan suddenly cleared her throat softly, took a deep breath, and looked at Wu Chen more formally. “Mr. Wu, may I ask you something?”
“I’ll let him know,” Wu Chen answered immediately!
“Huh?” An Menglan froze. After carefully choosing her words, she said, “I wanted to ask… not about how you’re having Peng Wei handle things… I mean what happened between us, that… thing. Are you going to let my father know?”
“Didn’t I just answer you?” Wu Chen smiled.
“What?” An Menglan stared.
This was driving her crazy!
What on earth was Mr. Wu thinking?!
She did not know that Wu Chen merely wanted to speed things up. An Huaiguo’s direct contact with Peng Wei had prompted him to bring An Huaiguo into his plans earlier than intended. And his relationship with An Menglan was an important part of that!
“But… but that… Mr. Wu… then… what about Miss Li…” An Menglan was beside herself with panic.
She could imagine exactly how her father would react!
She was also afraid that if word reached Li Ruobing, Li Ruobing would certainly go after her! If superstar An Menglan really became someone’s ‘other woman,’ the higher she stood, the harder she would fall. Such a scandal would be enough to ruin her reputation and career!
Word would spread among the great wealthy families as well!
She, An Menglan, might even have to kneel before Li Ruobing, kowtow, and beg forgiveness!
It was just…
“Mr. Wu, I think…” An Menglan suddenly began speaking faster.
“Do you really think Ruobing doesn’t know?” Wu Chen asked with a smile.
“What?!” An Menglan was shocked again.
She knew Li Ruobing must have suspicions, but there was no way Li Ruobing had evidence! An Menglan had hoped to make it through the agreed-upon month!
“I’ve never told Ruobing. She hasn’t even asked me, and she won’t ask me to confirm it, because she knows I wouldn’t tell her. But… she knows!”
“She knows?!”
“She does.”
“You’re sure?!”
“Of course.”
An Menglan’s reaction was extreme. Her heart pounded as though it might leap out of her chest, and her eyes widened.
“Then why… why hasn’t she…” An Menglan suddenly sensed something did not add up. “Then why hasn’t she come after me? Wasn’t she going to…”
Li Ruobing’s personality and her attitude at that earlier dinner had convinced An Menglan that if she ever learned what had happened between An Menglan and Wu Chen, she would make her suffer terribly!
“First you need to understand why Ruobing has no objection to Zhuang Xiaodie, but reacts so differently to you…” Wu Chen smiled.
“Why?” An Menglan asked immediately.
“Because… Zhuang Xiaodie poses no threat to her.” Wu Chen unconsciously swirled the wine in his glass and turned toward An Menglan. “Simply put, you make her feel threatened!”
“Your family, your background, and your own abilities are all exceptional. Ruobing and I will marry someday. As for my rather unconventional private life, she isn’t interested in interfering, doesn’t want to interfere, and can’t really interfere. But your presence… makes her think you might take me away from her.”
“That’s why she’s been so hostile toward you from the beginning,” Wu Chen concluded.
An Menglan understood some of it, but other parts still puzzled her.
“Then… if she knows, shouldn’t she be even more determined to make trouble for me now?” An Menglan asked.
“What would be the point of making trouble for you now?” Wu Chen smiled. “Do you think I’d let her destroy your career? Or expose what happened between us and make it the talk of the city?”
An Menglan froze again, staring wide-eyed at Wu Chen as she thought.
She seemed to be beginning to understand.
She knew that whatever kind of person Li Ruobing was, Wu Chen was the stronger party in their relationship! Li Ruobing could not control his relationships with other women.
Including his relationship with An Menglan.
Even knowing about it, Li Ruobing would not make a fuss to Wu Chen.
Instead, she would go after An Menglan!
If An Menglan really did get together with Wu Chen, then from Wu Chen’s point of view, Li Ruobing could only watch and let things develop.
Li Ruobing did not seem particularly concerned that Wu Chen had other women.
What mattered to her was… whether a woman threatened her own position!
An Menglan had the standing to do that, which is why Li Ruobing had tried to suppress her in advance!
So that meant…
“You’re saying Li Ruobing wants to keep me beneath her? Humiliate me? Make me feel guilty for being the other woman, so that afterward… I’ll always have to yield to her?” An Menglan concluded.
She was certainly intelligent!
“Something like that.” Wu Chen smiled, then added, “But I think Ruobing is worrying too much… I will marry her. And I have to admit, the fact that she isn’t my only woman does make her feel somewhat less secure…”
This was the second time Wu Chen had told An Menglan that he would marry Li Ruobing in the future!
He was making things clear!
Wu Chen intended to let An Menglan make her own decision! Not that he would openly ask her to choose. He would not even bring up a decision directly! Besides… he had already predicted what she would decide!
He could tell from the fact that An Menglan had raised the share transfer herself that afternoon and immediately cooperated with him and Zhuang Xiaodie to complete it.
Wu Chen was absolutely certain!
“Then what… what am I supposed to do from now on?” An Menglan asked.
Her problem was no longer simply what would happen between her and Wu Chen.
Those things had already happened, and Li Ruobing knew.
Even if Li Ruobing did not trouble her now, she would certainly do so before the deadline! An Menglan was in the wrong and had no defense! If she stubbornly denied everything, who knew what Li Ruobing might do?
Besides, Li Ruobing might even possess ‘evidence’ that Wu Chen himself knew nothing about!
That was how An Menglan saw it. The more she thought, the more frightened she became. Li Ruobing was clearly far more calculating than she was.
“Actually, Ruobing is almost coming around,” Wu Chen said with a thoughtful smile. “I’m doing a great many things, and she considers many of them very dangerous. So her attitude toward you has actually changed.”
Wu Chen had never discussed this with Li Ruobing, but he understood her state of mind.
“Ruobing now feels she can accept anyone or anything that, in her eyes, might help me. In fact, that would also be helping her…”
Wu Chen did not explain what he meant by ‘helping her.’
An Menglan still had no idea how enormous a trap Wu Chen was setting for the Ding family.
“So… Ruobing won’t do anything terrible to you. As for kneeling and apologizing… if you’re willing to do as I suggest, you can avoid that!”
“How? How can I avoid it?” An Menglan asked.
Knock, knock!
A sudden knock interrupted their conversation.
The food had arrived!
But it was not a restaurant server who brought it in. It was one of An Menglan’s bodyguards. The server in the hallway handed each plate to the bodyguard, who delivered it to the room.
They did not want the restaurant staff to see An Menglan dining there.
She was far too much in the spotlight at the moment!
If word got out, a crowd of reporters would be blocking the restaurant entrance within half an hour at most!
The dishes arrived.
They ate.
They drank.
They chatted.
Wu Chen told An Menglan a few ways to deal with Li Ruobing. Though ‘deal with’ was not quite right; it was more about avoiding humiliation. Naturally, all of it depended on An Menglan not provoking Li Ruobing!
Come to think of it…
Before noon that day, Wu Chen had not intended to teach An Menglan any of this.
He had originally planned to let An Menglan and Li Ruobing work things out between themselves. Sooner or later, they would arrive at an outcome! And it would not be very different from the one Wu Chen was now bringing about ahead of schedule!
Once again, it was because of An Huaiguo.
There was no need to make An Menglan suffer so much!
During dinner, however, Wu Chen mentioned twice more that he would marry Li Ruobing someday! Since he was moving things forward, he needed to make that absolutely clear.
An Menglan had to understand.
Their dinner lasted until after nine that evening.
They had not eaten very much. Most of the time had been spent drinking and talking.
They had discussed not only Li Ruobing, but also An Menglan’s father, An Huaiguo, and music! When it came to An Huaiguo, Wu Chen had not explicitly said whether he would abandon his plans against Hezhong Media because of him!
As An Menglan continued drinking, she gradually stopped thinking so much about everything else. She was under tremendous pressure, and talking about music helped her relax.
Around 9:10 p.m.
Ring, ring…
Wu Chen’s phone rang. It was Peng Wei.
“Hello, Mr. Wu… Shang Yunlu has arrived in Modu. What would you like to do…?” Peng Wei asked.
“Tomorrow morning…” Wu Chen gave him a time and place to meet.
Then he hung up.
Putting down his phone, he looked at An Menglan again.
She was tipsy, but nowhere near drunk enough to lose her senses. She had been careful with her drinking that day and was only half-drunk. She was still quite clearheaded.
“It’s about time. Let’s go,” Wu Chen told her.
An Menglan nodded.
She gathered her things and put on her mask, scarf, and hat.
Wu Chen put his suit jacket back on and slipped his phone into his pocket.
“Are you going home?” he suddenly asked.
“Yes. What about you?” An Menglan replied.
“To a hotel,” Wu Chen said with a smile.
He could have gone to see Zhuang Xiaodie, but he had no intention of doing so. It was late, and she had been working overtime frequently, studying hard and trying to learn, understand, and improve herself.
They left the private room.
Wu Chen gave the slightly drunk An Menglan a hand.
They took the elevator downstairs.
One of the bodyguards would settle the bill.
The other bodyguards accompanied them out of the restaurant. There was an open-air parking lot to one side of the entrance, where all their cars were parked.
From the moment they came downstairs until they reached the parking lot, An Menglan kept casting strange sidelong glances at Wu Chen. She did it again and again.
Finally, as Wu Chen walked toward his Lamborghini with his keys in hand, An Menglan spoke.
“Mr. Wu, why don’t you… come to my place? I have spare rooms,” she said.
“Hm?” Wu Chen turned to look at her.
“You’ve been drinking. Driving would be rather dangerous,” An Menglan added, as though offering an excuse.
“Hmm… all right!” Wu Chen agreed.
He tossed his car keys to one of her bodyguards and had him drive.
Wu Chen and An Menglan got into the back of an Alphard minivan together! It was one of the vehicles An Menglan used regularly, large and comfortable, and a specially equipped, top-of-the-line model.
The rear compartment was separated from the front, and there was even a television.
A little over twenty minutes later.
Still in Dongpu District, Modu, beside the Huangpu River, stood three mid-to-high-rise residential towers amid landscaped gardens. This was one of Modu’s most exclusive luxury apartment developments, called Yuanda Binjiang Huafu!
The homes here were sold as individual apartments, all enormous single-level residences!
Even the cheapest cost around fifty million yuan!
The most expensive went for as much as two hundred million!
These were not villas, just apartments in high-rise buildings, yet they commanded such prices. That was unimaginable in other cities! There was no other city in the country with high-rise luxury apartments this expensive!
Not even the capital!
An Menglan owned an apartment in Binjiang Huafu. It was one of her homes in Modu!
She had rarely lived in this particular apartment before. But because of recent events, the address of the place where she normally stayed had been leaked, and reporters had surrounded it.
With no other choice, she had moved here a few days earlier!
Around 9:40 p.m.
Sixty-ninth floor of Binjiang Huafu, Apartment 6901.
Wu Chen pushed open the heavy front door, and he and An Menglan entered one after the other. Beyond the entrance was an enormous hall…
The apartment was a vast single-level residence covering more than seven hundred square meters! Seven bedrooms, four living and dining rooms, and eight bathrooms! Its decor was every bit as extravagant as its size and layout!
An Menglan had paid more than a hundred million yuan for it.
Someone visiting for the first time might even get lost inside, unable to tell which part of the apartment they were in!
And it was not even the largest residence in Binjiang Huafu.
Some apartments covered more than a thousand square meters, though those were duplexes rather than single-level homes.
An Menglan showed Wu Chen around.
Wu Chen had visited the apartment during the thousand-year loop, but pretended he knew nothing about it and followed her tour. She personally arranged a room for him.
It was directly across from her own bedroom.
Soon they reached her study.
It was called a study, but the room was astonishingly large. It looked as though it had originally been intended as a second master bedroom, which An Menglan had converted.
The desk, cabinets, and other furniture occupied only one corner.
The study also contained a great deal of equipment.
Including a piano.
Plink, plonk!
An Menglan walked to the piano and casually played a few notes, producing a clear, ringing sound.
“Can you still play?” she asked with a tipsy smile. “You’ve been drinking.”
“Being drunk… might make me play even better,” Wu Chen said with a smile.
A short while later.
A beautiful melody filled the room.
An Menglan knew that once Wu Chen started playing the piano, with both of them having been drinking, something might happen! Something had happened between them before!
She was doing it deliberately!
Not because she wanted something to ‘happen,’ but because she wanted to test herself. Could she walk away from the immensely talented Wu Chen? If she faced the same situation again, what choice would she make?
After drinking, people often became more willing to express themselves and sometimes acted on strange impulses. An Menglan had entered just such a state!
But this time was different from the last.
Once they returned home, neither An Menglan nor Wu Chen drank any more!
She was only half-drunk. She was conscious and aware.
They played the piano!
Wu Chen played a piece, then An Menglan played one, then Wu Chen again… They took turns like that, and even played several passages together, four hands on the same piano!
An Menglan was particularly excited during their duets.
The excitement was not written on her face; it was inside her! Outwardly, she looked happy, delighted, absorbed, with a rosy flush from the wine.
Before they knew it.
It was eleven at night.
They had just finished another four-handed duet.
“You got two notes wrong,” Wu Chen said with a smile, playfully finding fault.
“I’ve been drinking,” An Menglan replied with a smile. She lifted her hands from the keys but remained seated beside him. Tilting her head, she asked with a slightly tipsy smile, “Do you… have any more pieces I haven’t heard? Ones you’ve written…”
“Lots of them,” Wu Chen said, smiling.
“Then… play one for me. One I haven’t heard,” An Menglan said.
“Listen carefully.” Wu Chen gave her a teasing look, as if telling her to sit nicely and pay attention, then placed both hands on the keys—and began!
This piece!
The melody was extremely simple! It was a lullaby!
Gentle and sweet, soothing and natural, it made the listener feel wonderfully comfortable. There were no elaborate variations or dazzlingly fast passages. It simply evoked the stillness of a quiet night.
At first, An Menglan, whose musical accomplishments were exceptionally high, thought it was an ordinary piece. She could hear nothing profound about it, nothing particularly outstanding.
There seemed to be nothing to it. It made her sleepy!
It was already late, and she had been drinking. How could such an unassuming piece not make her drowsy?
But just as her attention began to wander, An Menglan suddenly started.
What was a lullaby, after all?
Lullabies had originally been meant to help people fall asleep! To soothe children to sleep!
Many modern lullabies seemed to have forgotten that purpose. Sudden changes of key or the addition of beautifully flowing melodies that made listeners marvel… such flourishes actually went against what made a lullaby exceptional.
Wu Chen’s piece could be called very ‘classical’!
And it truly made people want to sleep!
An Menglan turned to study Wu Chen’s face. As she watched him, she was once again astonished by his talent! In fact, it was no longer simply a matter of talent, but of understanding the different purposes of different kinds of music.
One detail was worth mentioning.
Although Wu Chen’s piece was ‘simple,’ it contained no repeated rhythmic passages, yet maintained its central theme throughout—a tranquil night!
Wu Chen continued playing.
An Menglan sat beside him, her head turned, studying him the whole time.
Suddenly!
Wu Chen missed a note.
It was because An Menglan had ‘ambushed’ him! She suddenly leaned over and kissed his cheek. Although she immediately drew back, her body accidentally brushed against his arm.
Wu Chen stopped playing.
“What are you doing?” he asked with a smile, turning to her.
“Kissing you,” An Menglan answered without the slightest embarrassment. She pressed her lips together and gazed straight at him.
“Ha.” Wu Chen laughed softly and closed the piano’s fallboard.
“It’s late. Time to rest,” he said. Turning toward her, he spread his arms, scooped her up in a bridal carry, and headed out of the study.
An Menglan did not refuse.
Far from resisting, she put her arms around his neck and began kissing it.
Everything felt perfectly natural.
At that moment, An Menglan could be said to have made her decision!
And Wu Chen had received precisely the answer he had predicted!
An Menglan knew Wu Chen had many women. She knew he would marry Li Ruobing someday. Yet she still wanted to stay with him, even if… she had to accept a secondary place.
Previously, her relationship with Wu Chen had been ambiguous. They had slept together, but still maintained a certain distance.
Today, however… she truly became Wu Chen’s woman. Or, more precisely, his lover!
For her, making that decision was far harder than for most others! She had so much to consider, so many reservations! Yet she had made her choice!
Of all the women around Wu Chen, she was undoubtedly the one most deeply captivated by him!
A new day.
August 5, 2020.
An Menglan’s home, the south-facing master bedroom.
At exactly seven in the morning, Wu Chen opened his eyes on time. He looked up at the classically decorated ceiling, with its gilded ornamentation in the center, and smiled.
Last night had been thoroughly enjoyable.
An Menglan had been extraordinarily proactive, almost as though she wanted to devour him. They had not truly settled down to rest until nearly four in the morning.
Beneath the blanket.
An Menglan lay with her arms around Wu Chen, her head resting against his shoulder. Her hair was a little disheveled, and she was still fast asleep.
Her extraordinary beauty was not diminished by her tousled hair. If anything, it gave her an even more alluring, intimate femininity.
Wu Chen turned to look at the sleeping An Menglan.
Without waking her, he got up.
He went barefoot into the bedroom’s attached bathroom. Naturally, he needed to wash up and shower. There were spare toothbrushes belonging to An Menglan in the bathroom, and Wu Chen knew where to find them without asking.
A little over ten minutes later.
Wu Chen had brushed his teeth and was finishing his shower.
In the bedroom.
Ring, ring…
An Menglan’s phone rang.
She woke with a start, turned her head, reached for the phone, and answered after glancing at the screen.
“Hello, Dad… What? Ah… No, it’s fine… Mm, okay…” Her expression looked distinctly wrong, though she tried to keep her voice under control.
After hanging up, An Menglan looked around. Hearing sounds from the bathroom, she got up and called out, “Mr. Wu, quick! My dad’s in Modu! His plane just landed!”