Chapter 27 A Calculated Encounter

Chapter 27 A Calculated Encounter

Rarely did Chen Wan find himself at a loss for words, so he forced a sheepish smile. He couldn’t say that Mr. He’s luck wasn’t as good as yours, nor could he say that he’d rather rely on your luck. The former would make him sound like a drunkard, and the latter, a madman.

It had been a long time since he had seen this face up close. It was strikingly handsome, and he wanted to savor every glance.

Fortunately, Zhao Shengge didn’t push the issue.

"How’s your project going?" he suddenly asked.

Chen Wan was still smiling, but his mind cleared at the question. It was at this moment, in the quiet and spacious room, that his slowed thoughts seemed to finally connect the true meaning of the previous sentence.

During the card game, He Shengyuan had mentioned that they were destined to cross paths, and after Chen Wan won the third round, he said it seemed they were meant to collaborate.

As one of the backers of Wanbao Shipping, their faction had been struggling to find a scapegoat to pin the blame on Luo Qiansheng. Who would have thought that a bold Chen Wan would appear out of nowhere, making it all too easy.

The fruit wine he had just drunk turned cold in his stomach. Before this, Chen Wan truly hadn’t known He Shengyuan. It was only during the card game, when it was casually mentioned, that he found out.

Before tonight, He Shengyuan had been, to Chen Wan, a controversial figure with a competitive business relationship with Zhao Shengge.

Thinking about it this way, he did seem to have acted a bit like a calculating, fawning opportunist.

The chilled wine sat like a rock in his stomach, and Chen Wan sighed inwardly.

His throat felt tight, so his voice was lower, striving to sound earnest and truthful: "I didn’t know about Mr. He’s connection to Wanbao Shipping before."

Zhao Shengge furrowed his brow, looking somewhat puzzled, as if he didn’t understand why Chen Wan suddenly brought up He Shengyuan again.

He had only intended to remind Chen Wan not to attend dangerous events like hearings in the future. If he didn’t want to seek help from him, he could always talk to Zhuo Zhixuan or Tan Youming.

But Luo Qiansheng was no longer a concern; he wouldn’t be able to make a comeback.

However, since the hearing was confidential, Zhao Shengge shouldn’t have known about it, so he could only hint at Chen Wan: "There are many factions within Wanbao Shipping. Shi Zhangmin must have told you about them. You should weigh your options before acting."

In truth, Zhao Shengge had already decided not to pay attention to anything related to Chen Wan in the future, and he had almost succeeded. But this situation was… over the line. Anything involving politics was serious and dangerous. Zhao Shengge felt that Chen Wan didn’t fully grasp the severity of the situation, or perhaps he did but was still willing to take the risk.

Zhao Shengge probably also knew that Chen Wan was a bit intimidated by him, so his tone and attitude weren’t as stern and cold as during the card game. It could even be described as soft, almost… affectionate.

Of course, neither the speaker nor the listener realized this.

Chen Wan’s throat constricted, and his voice was low but respectful: "Alright, I understand. Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Zhao. I’ll be more careful in the future."

Zhao Shengge thought Chen Wan was quite open to guidance. Though he seemed unassuming, he wasn’t as stubborn and reckless as his secretary had described. Still, Zhao Shengge felt there was something amiss about him, something subtle. Perhaps he should say something more.

At that moment, someone entered.

It was the young man who had been sitting beside Zhao Shengge earlier.

"Mr. Zhao, Mr. Chen?" The young man seemed surprised to see the two of them together here, his eyes widening in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized he had spoken out of turn. He quickly walked over, lowering his gaze and addressing Zhao Shengge deferentially: "Apologies, Mr. He noticed you were missing and was worried something might have happened, so he sent me to check."

Zhao Shengge looked down at him, his expression unchanged, but his calm gaze was unsettling.

Zhao Shengge was different from every other guest the young man had encountered. Some people didn’t need to flaunt their wealth or status to command respect and instill fear.

Chen Wan felt the icy wine in his stomach harden into a stone, lodging in his gut and hindering his blood flow.

But he still smiled and said, "I came out to wash my face and ran into Mr. Zhao. There's no need for Mr. He to worry."

Zhao Shengge was about to ask the boy to leave when Chen Wan's phone vibrated.

Since he'd been away for a while, Zhuo Zhixuan was worried that he might have collapsed in a corner from the alcohol, unnoticed by anyone.

Then came Tan Youming, who sent him a message with three exclamation marks, roughly saying that He Shengyuan was a tough old fox to deal with, and Shen Zongnian was also very assertive. Unlike Zhao Shengge, who was more accommodating, the current atmosphere was quite tense, and he asked if Chen Wan was free to come over now.

Tan Youming's voice chattered on, and Zhao Shengge kept looking at Chen Wan, waiting for him to hang up.

Chen Wan announced he was heading back.

When returning to the banquet hall, Chen Wan and Zhao Shengge walked separately, so he didn't hear Zhao Shengge say to the boy, "You don't need to come in," as they entered.

Chen Wan stayed at the card table for a while longer, and the rain outside was heavier than before.

Guests began to leave one after another, some taking their companions with them, staying over for a romantic evening.

There was only one road down Xiaotan Mountain, with several cars lined up one after another. The rain's silver streaks blurred the license plates and emblems. Zhuo Zhixuan's Land Cruiser was at the front, followed by Tan Youming's Bentley, with Chen Wan trailing behind, so he knew there was no Maybach among them.

The rain slowed their drive, and a strong mountain wind blew, causing the trees and wild grass on the stone slopes to sway wildly.

Chen Wan rested against the window, his gaze hazy, feeling as if the wind and rain outside were directly seeping through the glass.

When turning a corner, the glaring high beams shone over, and the chilled berry wine sloshed in his stomach. Chen Wan finally remembered, oh, he had forgotten to take his medicine today.

The meeting with He Shengyuan was very successful, and rumors soon spread in major business and financial media that Minglong was going to collaborate with the shipping magnate. The official media TCB even directly claimed that if the news was true, it would be a landmark alliance of titans in Haishi.

Haishi's geographical location was uniquely advantaged, and since the 1970s, it had become the pearl of the bay area with strong foreign investment and foreign trade support policies. This also resulted in serious dependence on foreign capital in terms of import and export trade, shipping logistics, etc., with underlying risks amidst the prosperity.

If Minglong made a move, the foreign capital market would be severely squeezed, and economic dominance and tech barriers would significantly ease, while also forging stronger mainland connections and reclaiming economic influence.

The swirling rumors continued, and Minglong seemed neither to clarify nor confirm, letting the speculation reach its peak. Then, He Shengyuan personally sent an invitation to major media—a wine tasting and press conference unveiling the new shipping plan.

The previous meeting was arranged by Tan Youming and others, and the two sides reached a private agreement. This time, it was He Shengyuan's public statement, as well as a response and a gesture of sincerity towards the collaboration with Minglong.

After the initial meeting at Xiaotan Mountain, Chen Wan and He Shengyuan met again at the promotion meeting of the Wanbaohang project. Chen Wan's funding eased some leverage pressure, giving him a temporary breather.

The matter with Luo Qiansheng was also gambled on by him. It was probably the power group on He Shengyuan's side that exerted force to suppress the person, so Chen Wan was safe.

At the promotion meeting, Chen Wan personally poured wine for He Shengyuan. Both publicly and privately, he should toast the other party. Publicly, the other party was one of his future clients; privately, it seemed that they used Chen Wan to accuse Luo Qiansheng, but it was also Chen Wan who took advantage of their power to get revenge.

He Shengyuan held Chen Wan in high regard. Without him, the first meeting with those young masters might not have gone so smoothly. Moreover, after Chen Wan accused Luo Qiansheng, they managed to bring down the other party before they could even act.

So on this day, He Shengyuan personally handed the invitation to Chen Wan, emphasizing that his presence was essential.

The press conference was not only a response to the upcoming collaboration with Minglong, but He Shengyuan also conveyed his plan to shift focus to the new Northern Europe shipping plan. Therefore, Felipe was also invited to the wine tasting event after the press conference.

Felipe was a member of the Norwegian royal family.

Coincidentally, Felipe was an alumnus of Tan Youming and others at the Royal Institute of Technology, and they had a good relationship back then. Of course, Tan Youming had a good relationship with everyone.

The wine parties of Northern Europeans were full of elaborate rituals. Tan Youming said that when Felipe invited them to a private royal wine party, there was an unwritten quirky tradition within their ancient family called secret exchange.

Each guest had to bring two bottles of fine wine. One bottle was to be given to the waiter and placed in a blind box for others to take, depending on fate, whoever got it was theirs, thus making friends.

The other bottle could be signed and directly placed on the wine rack for guests to taste.

Every guest who entered the venue got a label, which they could attach to their favorite wine. In the end, the wine’s owner would decide which guest to give it to.

He Shengyuan probably wanted to take this chance to lay the groundwork for the expedition to Northern Europe. The wine tasting event followed this tradition to show respect and courtesy to Felipe.

Chen Wan heard about this rule for the first time and thought it was pretty cool. He went to great lengths to select the right wines.

Zhao Shengge didn’t smoke often, but he seemed to have an interest in wine and tea.

Chen Wan had limited sources of information, relying entirely on observation and deduction.

After much deliberation, he finally settled on a bottle of Mulan Duo M218, produced from the eastern slopes of Helan Mountain in Ningxia.

The other bottle was a Chardonnay from the Chablis region. Though similar in style, Chen Wan was more satisfied with the Mulan Duo in terms of fermentation duration, craftsmanship, and aroma.

Chen Wan handed the two bottles over to the wine steward carefully, instructing him to place the Mulan Duo on the display rack and the Chardonnay in the blind box for selection, emphasizing not to mix them up.

The steward took them carefully, but Chen Wan, still a bit worried, watched his retreating figure carrying one bottle in each hand. He wanted to remind him again, but another guest had already called the steward away.

Seeing how busy he was, Chen Wan decided not to press further. This was He Shengyuan’s show, and it wasn’t Chen Wan’s place to step in. Zhuo Zhixuan and Tan Youming were still stuck on the road and hadn’t arrived yet. Chen Wan stood alone by the wine cabinet for a while, not actively seeking out social interactions.

All of a sudden, a voice, not too loud or too soft, came from above: “Chen Wan.”

Chen Wan looked up. The second floor had a low rotating platform, and Zhao Shengge was leaning against the railing, chatting with a foreign man with slightly long curly hair. The man was speaking in a British accent, and Zhao Shengge listened attentively with one hand on the railing. Noticing Chen Wan looking up, he gave a slight wave and mouthed, “Come up.”

His words and gestures were so subtle that Chen Wan doubted whether he had seen correctly, so he didn’t move.