A pleasant conversation

Things are going against the rules.

Even though Chen Chuxuan had experience in tackling tough situations at countless negotiation tables, he still couldn't help but notice the tense atmosphere.

So he once again glared at the assistant standing next to him with dissatisfaction.

Just now, when Xin Yuqing mentioned that she wanted to meet the new employee, she could have easily brushed it off with a "Miss Mu felt a little unwell and went back to rest," but who would have thought that Jack, who was always good at observing people's expressions, would have a brain short circuit and directly tell the truth -

"Miss Mu is dancing with Doctor Guan, so I'm afraid it's not very convenient."

Then, because of this sentence, the third brother, who was originally uninterested, suddenly changed his expression and directly ordered Mr. Tanaka to find someone.

Now, five people with their own thoughts sat together. It would have been fine if they couldn't find a topic to talk about, but what was more serious was that Shen Chuxuan could see that Dr. Guan was not a good person, and his brother's disdainful look was almost materializing.

"Vice President Shen, it's rare for me to meet you. I think I should still offer my apologies for your uncle's matter. Please accept my condolences."

Vasile Guan was the first to break the silence and even picked the most suitable person to talk to. However, the topic was a bit too serious and inexplicably abrupt.

Shen Chuxuan immediately became serious, with a very businesslike attitude:

"I can't accept this apology, Dr. Guan. You only acted as a mediator at the request of the public. It's a thankless task, I know. And—"

She took a bottle of wine from the assistant and poured it for the good doctor herself.

"No matter who it is, no matter what they have done, there is a cause and an effect. This is the sin that my uncle must atone for. I have no intention of interfering too much, so please rest assured."

The word "rest assured" meant that Shen Chuxuan, as the head of the Shen family, had laid out all future business and personal relationships between him and his family. Vasile Guan couldn't help but take a few more glances at him and raised his glass to the young and decisive Vice President Shen sitting across from him, expressing his rare appreciation.

He glanced at Mu Qingyan beside him again, and he began to understand why the other party was willing to join Shen's and work for Shen Chuxuan.

However, the young master of the Shen family opposite him has a completely different personality from his sister.

From the moment they met to the moment they sat down to now, Vasile could feel the hostile gaze and the inexplicable and subtle attitude of Mr. Kinsley towards Yan.

As far as he knew, the two should have known each other for a long time, and Yan had been greeting each other normally from beginning to end, but this moody young master created this weird atmosphere of being close yet distant.

He looked at Kinsley for a few times and deliberately raised his voice:

"Vice President Shen is right. Beyond money and power, technology can also breed darkness. Cause and effect depend entirely on our own choices. We never know what we're facing until the very end, so it's best to keep our eyes open. Speaking of which, I just had a small chat with Yan, and we seem to be on good terms. If the Guan family's hospital and the Shen Corporation collaborate in the future, could Yan directly handle the situation?"

Vasile's words were indeed meant to be probing, and as he expected, before the person concerned could react, someone on the other side suddenly interrupted:

"What did you say?"

Tanaka saw his master change his lazy sitting posture and start questioning, so he quickly put his hand on the other's shoulder to comfort him.

But this did not stop Kinsley from being aggressive.

He leaned forward with his arms on the table. Although he was nearly ten years younger than Dr. Guan, he still had the aura to hold his own against tens of thousands of people. He wasn't at all inferior to them. His handsome face was filled with disdain.

"My sister asked Miss Yan to come here for business. Her time is extremely valuable. Unlike you, Dr. Guan, who has so much free time to come out and discuss business in person, so I advise you to give up this idea!"

After saying this, his gaze shifted slightly, and his tone became tentative and inquiring:

"What do you think, Miss Yan?"

"Master Shen underestimated Yan a bit..."

Kinsley was interrupted by Dr. Guan before he could get the answer from the person he wanted.

"Even if Yan's skills are more favored by the Shen family, I'm afraid everyone can see that she is definitely an all-round talent with top-notch skills. Even if she is needed to participate in coordination or negotiation, it will definitely not be difficult for her. Yan, is that right?"

Mu Qingyan, who had been shaking her wine glass with her head down, looked up when she heard this.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, his gaze passed over Dr. Guan beside him and looked diagonally across.

From the time they met until now, no matter if it was a casual greeting pretending to be unfamiliar or asking about her health under the pretext of "I heard", Mu Qingyan had captured all the countless emotions that flashed across that face and remembered them all in his heart without missing a single one.

It's rare that this kid is obviously not as depressed tonight as he was the last time we met. Perhaps it's the stimulation of objective factors that made him forget his disguise?

Mu Qingyan could figure out most of the information about a stranger within 10 seconds, not to mention Kinsley, who she thought was quite easy to understand.

So, now this person was staring at her with his beautiful big eyes, just for the answer he wanted to hear, so she naturally couldn't refuse.

"Kinsley has a point. After I join the company, I'm afraid I'll spend more time in the lab and won't have the opportunity to participate in business negotiations. The vice president will arrange for the relevant department of Shen's to connect with you, Doctor Guan. Don't worry."

Even Xin Yuqing noticed the corners of Kinsley's mouth curled up because of this speech, and the brows raised when he glanced at Vasile Guan. Surprisingly, the latter did not feel embarrassed about being rejected. Instead, he casually leaned over to Mu Qingyan beside him, took the opportunity to put his arm on the back of the other's chair, and jokingly said:

"Yan, you're really hurting my feelings by saying that, aren't you?"

Dr. Guan, who is known to everyone as a dignified and decent doctor, suddenly behaved like this. I don’t know if it was because he drank too much.

Mu Qingyan gave an awkward smile to the man standing so close to her, and quietly distanced herself from him.

"Ms. Mu, it seems you are very familiar with Dr. Guan?"

With this little episode, Xin Yuqing finally found the opportunity to speak.

Directly in front of her, across the table, was Mu Qingyan, whom she had met before at the LIANGSHE night banquet.

But now she is not sure whether the woman she saw at that time was the one in front of her.

Was it the dress? The makeup? Or the disappearing scar?

Sometimes, a cane, a pair of glasses or a scar can, under certain conditions, greatly attract a person's attention, causing him to ignore other important things.

Xin Yuqing didn't know whether Mu Qingyan was well versed in psychology, but she had to admit that at that time she really thought that he had become cautious and deliberately hiding because of the injury on his face. She didn't realize that there was a huge disparity between the Mu Qingyan at that time and the Mu Qingyan she had just seen on the top floor of LIANGSHE, who was looking out the window alone and thinking silently.

And now, although her face has regained its original clear and delicate appearance, with the addition of light makeup and an expensive dress, she is probably not inferior to the many beautiful actresses in the entertainment industry.

But she also knew that these external appearances were of no importance at all.

Mu Qingyan tonight, even when she lowered her head and didn't speak, her presence could not be ignored. This was not because of her appearance, but the kind of oppressive feeling that she gave off even though she was trying to appear indifferent, but could still overwhelm the entire audience with just a nod, a raise of the glass, or even just a raised eyebrow.

Just like now, when Mu Qingyan turned to look at her because of these words, the nonchalant look he gave her made Xin Yuqing clench her fists under the table before she dared to look back.

"Ms. Xin, you misunderstood. Dr. Guan and I have only met twice, and we just met tonight."

Mu Qingyan's tone was gentle and polite, which more or less dispelled Xin Yuqing's nervousness.

But before he could say anything, Vasile Guan took over the topic.

"Although we've just met, Yan, even though my Chinese isn't very good, I know the saying 'feel like old friends at first sight'. So, apart from business matters, I'm also willing to be friends with you in a personal capacity. Or is it that Yan is afraid of me and doesn't want to get close to me?"

"How could that be? I have great respect for Dr. Guan, both as a person and as a scholar."

Mu Qingyan complimented Vasile Guan a few times without putting him off, and then brought up the latest research in his field, changing the subject.

"I recently read your article in The Lancet titled "Improving the Prediction of Spontaneous Closure of Perimembranous Ventricular Septal Defects in Children." Based on an AI model combined with natural language processing and machine learning, it provides new insights into nanotechnology research. I have a few questions for you..."

"Oh really? Please go ahead."

The two chatted a little more about the paper.

Xin Yuqing had no way of joining in on this kind of topic, but the result was exactly what she wanted.

She picked up her wine glass and leaned back in her chair, pretending to move to the left unintentionally. She covered her lips and whispered softly to the person next to her:

"Kinsley, Miss Mu and Dr. Guan are chatting so happily, why don't you give them some space? You must be tired too, why don't we go back and rest first?"

It was precisely because of the close distance that she could clearly see Kinsley's normal expression, his increasingly tense chin, and the bulging veins on his neck.

He did not respond to his own words, his eyes fixed on the two people in front of him who were talking happily, and then raised his hand and gestured to the assistant behind Shen Chuxuan.

The assistant understood and stepped forward to pour the wine, but he didn't expect the bottle to be snatched away by the young master.

Kinsley seemed to have lost all regard for social etiquette. He poured all the remaining wine in the bottle into his own glass and said to Tanaka dissatisfiedly:

"Go get a new bottle. We're having such a great time chatting, how can we not enjoy it?"

Xin Yuqing knew that Kinsley could not drink so much alcohol in his current physical condition, but she had no confidence in persuading him at the moment.

The thoughtful butler just stood there without moving. He certainly knew the consequences of going against his master's wishes. Fortunately, he was lucky enough today as there was a "savior".

Almost the next second after Kinsley finished instructing Tanaka, Mu Qingyan stopped talking to Vasile Guan and said calmly:

"Why bother Mr. Tanaka to get the wine himself?"

Then, he casually raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

A waiter who was shuttling between the guests appeared very promptly after receiving the order, poured the light brown wine smoothly into the empty glass in his hand, and placed it in front of Kinsley.

"Please."

A voice that only appears when the sound device is turned on, and a light blue string of characters flows through those eyes.

No wonder it reacted so quickly, it turned out to be a robot.

This wasn't surprising, but even a low-level robot wouldn't make such a mistake nowadays, because there was already a glass of wine in front of Kinsley.

"Oh, sorry—"

Mu Qingyan stood up, and seemed to be the first to notice this little mistake. He nodded politely to Kinsley who was sitting across from him:

"Master Shen, the bottle of wine you just poured has been opened for a long time, and the taste is probably greatly reduced. Why don't you try another glass?"