Chapter 78: What Do You Think You Are

At night, the hotel was brilliantly illuminated. Its exterior was magnificent, with luxury cars constantly entering and exiting.

"Damian, did you say someone was joining us for dinner today?"

Wen Yuche held his phone in one hand while closing the car door with the other, handing the keys to the valet.

Damian's excited voice came through the phone.

"Yes, Rowan. I told you he is incredibly formidable. I came here this time specifically to see him."

Damian was a renowned financial investment tycoon abroad. Wen Yuche had been studying and collaborating with him overseas, and had indeed heard him mention such a formidable figure—someone whose investments never lost money and whose methods were ruthless.

Damian said even he was wary of the man, but the person just didn't like making public appearances.

To think such a powerful person was also in Jing City?

Hanging up the phone, Wen Yuche followed a waiter to a private room.

As soon as he pushed the door open, Damian's less-than-fluent Chinese drifted from inside.

"Svein, it's really hard to see you nowadays. I heard you got married earlier, is it true or false?"

A man's faint "Mm" came from within.

Wen Yuche stepped inside, but when he saw the scene in the room, his expression slightly froze.

Seeing him arrive, Damian stood up with a smile. "Rowan, you're here."

He turned to introduce him to the man in the seat of honor. "Svein, this is the student I told you about, Rowan."

"Rowan, this is Svein. You should know him, right? Svein is quite famous domestically too, hahaha."

The man had a straight posture and an outstandingly noble temperament. He leaned casually against the back of his chair, exuding the oppressive aura of someone in power, and lazily lifted his eyelids to look at him.

Wen Yuche thought to himself that he was indeed famous—so famous that he never expected it to be this person.

The heir of the Shen family, Shen Linyan.

He quickly recovered, a polite and customary smile appearing on his face. He stepped forward and offered his hand. "Hello, President Shen. I am from the Wen family..."

"I know."

The man interrupted him with no intention of shaking his hand. He looked down and took out a cigarette, his tone calm. "Wen Yuche, right?"

With a click, a flame danced in the air, and smoke carrying the scent of cedar curled upward.

Biting the cigarette, the man raised his eyes, his careless gaze sweeping over the suit Wen Yuche was wearing before he let out a low chuckle.

"This suit on President Wen looks quite nice."

Wen Yuche's face stiffened.

This suit was bought by An Ling.

He wasn't entirely sure if Shen Linyan was making a veiled reference to yesterday's blind date.

Weren't these two already divorced?

Damian wasn't quite sure what had happened, but seeing Shen Linyan's expression, he spoke up hesitantly, "Svein, have you and Rowan met before?"

Had Rowan offended him?

Shen Linyan flicked his cigarette ash and said lightly, "Never met. Damian, the branch company you're setting up domestically—you want him to manage it?"

Damian nodded. "Yes... I invited you over, but you insisted on going to that Shen Corporation. Svein, I can offer you a much better opportunity than the Shen Corporation. That place restricts you too much."

Shen Linyan slowly raised his eyes and glanced at Wen Yuche.

"I don't think he is capable."

As soon as the words fell, the other two were stunned.

Damian murmured in repetition, "You don't think he's capable..."

He signaled Wen Yuche, asking how he had provoked Shen Linyan.

Wen Yuche's expression was ugly.

He could tell that Shen Linyan was intentionally targeting him because of yesterday's blind date.

It seemed the previous news reports were true.

The marriage between An Ling and Shen Linyan had indeed been unhappy. Even now that they were divorced, Shen Linyan would deliberately target An Ling, and even the people around her.

Was it really necessary?

Those news reports claimed An Ling was the party at fault, but after spending time with her yesterday, he clearly felt she wasn't that kind of person. The problem must have been with Shen Linyan.

It was hard to imagine what kind of life An Ling lived during her marriage. No wonder his mother told him to just be friends with An Ling first and not to rush.

He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "Is Chairman Shen acting like this because of what happened yesterday? If so, then I think I made the right choice by going to that date yesterday. Even if Chairman Shen speaks of me this way, I don't regret it. An Ling is a very good person. Can't Chairman Shen just let her go?"

Shen Linyan's movements paused.

The private room fell quiet, the atmosphere heavy.

After an unknown amount of time, the man suddenly let out an ambiguous chuckle. He stood up and unhurriedly pressed his cigarette into Wen Yuche's suit.

"Sizzle—" The sound of burning fabric crackled right by his ear.

The man's thin lips curled up, his dark eyes bottomless. There was not a trace of a smile in his eyes, only a bone-chilling coldness.

"What the hell do you think you are?"

Seeing Shen Linyan get angry, Damian hurriedly rushed over and covered Wen Yuche's mouth, his Chinese stumbling in his anxiety. "Svein, don't be angry, my student might... uh, be sick in the head!"

Shen Linyan tossed away the cigarette in his hand, lowered his eyes, and took a wet wipe to clean his hands.

"Damian, your student is very interesting."

He gave Wen Yuche an indifferent glance and strode out of the private room.

After Shen Linyan left, Damian let go of his hand. "Why did you have to make Svein angry!"

Wen Yuche frowned. "He started it..."

Damian looked at him with exasperation. "Svein said 'he thinks'. He was warning you! If he truly didn't want you to manage it, he wouldn't even need to say it to your face. Great, now Svein is angry, and your family better watch out."

Wen Yuche's face was still a bit pale. After a moment of silence, he took out his phone and sent a message.

[An Ling, when will you be free? Can we meet?]

An Ling had just gotten out of the car when she saw the message.

"An Ling, what are you doing?"

An Zhou's urging voice came from ahead, so she had to put her phone away for now.

Taking a few quick steps to catch up, she shot a speechless glance at the man beside her. "I should be asking you what you are doing. Why did you insist on dragging me along to your own blind date?"

An Zhou was holding a bouquet of flowers. "Didn't I tell you? If the situation gets too awkward, you call me and say something like the gas at home wasn't turned off, and I'll use that as an excuse to bail."

"Is that necessary?"

"Of course it's necessary!" An Zhou looked serious. "You have no idea, my biggest fear is trying to chat with the opposite sex when they don't talk."

An Ling was truly defeated by him. She crossed her arms. "Fine, fine. We have a deal. I'll help you this one time, but you are not allowed to bring up Shen Linyan ever again."

"Deal." An Zhou raised his wrist to check his watch. "I'll go in first. You sneak in a bit later. Remember to find a hidden spot where you can still see me, and don't get caught."

Quite cautious.

"Just go in already." Seeing him enter the restaurant, An Ling stepped to the side so as not to block others.

She took out her phone again to reply to Wen Yuche.

[Work might be quite busy next week, so I'm not sure when I'll have time. Is there something you wanted to say?]

Before the other side could reply, a familiar voice sounded by her ear.

"Madam."