Chapter 544: How the Hell Did You Come to Such a Ridiculous Conclusion?

Chapter 544: How the Hell Did You Come to Such a Ridiculous Conclusion?

Tang Jingbin was a seasoned operator.

He was well aware that posing this question, and the answers it would yield, might spark an awkward tension down the line.

Yet he couldn’t care less.

He wanted An Huaiguo to recognize who was orchestrating this affair—and whose side Tang Jingbin himself truly stood on!

He was entirely willing to let An Huaiguo realize that the inquiry was deliberate.

The mere mention of the matter made An Huaiguo’s molars grind with simmering fury.

The chaos Wu Chen had unleashed was almost secondary; what truly tore at his vitals was that his treasured daughter had been manipulated to such an agonizing degree. He recalled Wu Chen brazenly wrapping an arm around her waist, his daughter chasing after him and dropping to her knees to beg through tears, and now this public spectacle on Weibo, whipping up nationwide attention solely to defy her own father…

His heart bled!

Wu Chen had even demanded that his daughter become his “other woman”!

A scion of a financial dynasty! The premier superstar of Chinese-language music!

And you want her to be your other woman?!

Worse still, his daughter had actually consented!

A suffocating sense of humiliation choked An Huaiguo’s throat. Nothing cut deeper than a betrayal by one’s own flesh and blood!

“He…”

An Huaiguo started again, yet the words stalled on his tongue.

What was he supposed to say?

That the man came from an ordinary background, armed with nothing more than youthful insolence and a silver tongue, deliberately preying on wealthy women? That his actions were deranged, his schemes even crazier, yet he had completely deceived his daughter?

Wouldn’t that make his daughter sound completely brainless?

“My daughter was taken in by that man,” An Huaiguo finally said, falling back on an explanation reminiscent of classic Hong Kong television dramas. “He’s after her fortune and her body, yet she remains utterly blind to it. It’s true she has never been in love before, so she lacks experience in these matters… and now she’s turned against me on his behalf.”

By steering clear of the finer details, he could at least preserve a shred of his daughter’s dignity.

“After her fortune and her body?”

Even Tang Jingbin was momentarily stunned.

He genuinely felt the urge to seize An Huaiguo by the lapels and demand: How the hell did you come to such a ridiculous conclusion?!

“In any case, the scandal is already out in the open; there’s no point fretting over lost face.”

An Huaiguo sighed like an exhausted patriarch. “In families of our standing, our children—especially the girls—are perpetually targeted by opportunists with ulterior motives. There is never a shortage of scavengers scheming to taste swan meat, calculating every conceivable angle to worm their way in… That is why I maintain that marriages between families of equal standing remain the finest arrangement! Then one never has to worry about hidden agendas; both sides perceive the world from the same elevation, and neither can lead the other by the nose…”

“Ah, well…” Tang Jingbin took a beat to steady his expression.

He truly found it difficult to formulate a polite response to that.

“To be frank, I carry some regrets. Years ago, among Xiangjiang’s four major property developers… two of the families had promising young heirs who wished to court our Menglan. Their elders even visited my home in person to propose the match, yet I turned them down… That was many years ago. Looking back, I should have agreed—at least enough to let my daughter meet them. Who knows? Perhaps she would have taken a liking to one of them.”

“A match arranged by the family is not necessarily the wrong path!”

“That is true enough,” Tang Jingbin conceded with a nod.

Marriages of convenience among prominent dynasties certainly produced genuine affection on occasion. Both partners were often exceptionally accomplished, and after an arranged introduction, sparks could easily fly. There was nothing inconceivable about it. There were plenty of instances where the pair had initially despised each other, only to end up raising three children together.

“Had I permitted Menglan to experience romance earlier, granting her some seasoning in such affairs, perhaps matters wouldn’t have degenerated to this point.” An Huaiguo drew on his cigar, slowly exhaling a cloud of gray smoke before offering another heavy sigh, turning his eyes to Tang Jingbin. “Boss Tang, I’m afraid I’ve made a spectacle of myself.”

Having voiced the grievance, his mood seemed to recover somewhat.

“No, no, not in the least. Every household has its cross to bear,” Tang Jingbin said, waving a hand dismissively. “There’s a young fellow in our family who appears well-mannered on the surface, yet possesses a passion for street racing and has sparked his fair share of disasters. Back when he first entered university, his romantic life was an utter catastrophe—breaking off his engagement multiple times, then groveling to win her back, carrying on as though life were no longer worth living… I felt secondhand embarrassment just watching him!”

Tang Jingbin’s tone was saturated with profound understanding.

An Huaiguo could not be certain whom Tang Jingbin was referring to.

The Tang family was a prominent military clan boasting numerous members serving in the armed forces. They supported one another closely, their familial ties markedly tighter than those of many other mainland dynasties.

Thus, Tang Jingbin might not have been discussing his own son; it could easily have been a nephew or a sister’s child.

Regardless, trading stories of their children’s antics had noticeably bridged the distance between them. For men of their elevation, this was a classic tactic to dissolve unfamiliarity and lower their respective guards.

In reality, they were hardly intimate acquaintances.

An Huaiguo had arrived for this dinner carrying monumental hopes for a partnership, yet natural reservations had lingered beneath the surface.

After all… why would such a lucrative windfall simply fall into his lap?

Moreover, Tang Jingbin was a renowned smiling tiger—a consummate diplomat capable of ruthless maneuvers behind a polished smile!

By this stage of their conversation, however, even if An Huaiguo hadn’t entirely shed his vigilance, he felt Tang Jingbin was a thoroughly decent individual!

A man who made those in his company feel remarkably at ease!

He was the absolute antithesis of Wu Chen!

An Huaiguo didn’t know why Wu Chen had crossed his mind, yet the comparison surfaced unbidden. What he had yet to realize was that Tang Jingbin and Wu Chen were cut from the exact same cloth.

If they wished to make you feel comfortable, you would be floating on air!

If they wished to make you suffer, they could torment you beyond endurance!

“Ah! Enough, enough…” An Huaiguo waved his hand, flashing a forced smile as though it were all water under the bridge. “Let us speak of it no more. Resolving children’s follies can be as simple as it is challenging, provided one possesses the heart to be ruthless… Ah, let it be.”

He claimed he wished to drop the subject, yet couldn’t resist a final lament before finally abandoning it.

“Boss Tang, perhaps you could grant me a hint beforehand. The other esteemed gentlemen joining us tonight… who might they be?” An Huaiguo inquired.

“Don’t be impatient, Boss An! Hahaha! Before you arrived, I spoke with him… on the phone. He was on the road, needing to make a brief detour elsewhere first. It won’t be long, won’t be long at all… He’ll be walking through the door any second!” Tang Jingbin teased, deliberately keeping his guest in suspense.

Meanwhile, outside the entrance to Jingcui Garden.

A luxurious motorcade glided smoothly to the curb, pulling to a halt before the main gates.

Across the street, inside a black commercial van, Peng Wei sat watching the entrance. The instant he spotted the motorcade, he grasped a document envelope and hurried out into the evening air.

On this side.

Wu Chen and Li Maoren stepped out from the same vehicle.

From the trailing car emerged only Gu Hongtu. As for Gu Ruibo… Gu Hongtu had barred him from following!

It wasn’t that he was unwilling to introduce his son to a confidential gathering of this elevation; rather, without the explicit consent of the other principals, he simply lacked the license to bring him along.

Consequently, Wu Chen stood as the only young man attending this confidential gathering.

As Peng Wei, his face shadowed beneath a baseball cap, hurried toward them, the black-suited bodyguards flanking Li Maoren reacted instantly. Several closed ranks, while others slipped their hands inside their jackets, fixing razor-sharp stares on the approaching figure clutching the envelope.

“He’s with me,” Wu Chen stated mildly.

Peng Wei reached Wu Chen’s side without impediment, delivered the document envelope into his hands, tugged the brim of his cap lower, and hurried away.

The party turned and strode through the entrance.