Haishi, and again the Qinhe Royal Hotel.
Mu Yiran handed the makeup bag to Ai Ni for safekeeping, then got out of the car first and stood silently in front of the Chinese restaurant for a long time.
Compared to the Qinheyu Hotel in the capital that belonged only to her, the Qinheyu Hotel in Shanghai was the place that held all the memories of her first half of life.
Somewhat dazed, she reached out and touched the twin dragon pillars at the entrance, following the dragons downwards, feeling a small indentation every few centimeters.
There are 10 dishes in total.
Only Ms. Wenqie would use a million-dollar antique as a measuring stick.
But Mu Yiran couldn't criticize her for being wasteful.
After all, Ms. Wen measured her height.
The bottom one is less than a meter high, while the top one is only about 1.5 meters high.
...It was still more than ten centimeters short.
But no one painted it for her anymore.
The woman was standing next to the pillar, groping around, and many passersby noticed her suspicious behavior.
If it weren't for the project, Li Bu Huo would have loved to pretend he didn't know her. He walked over awkwardly.
"Hey, what are you doing? Let go right now! Can't you see the security guards are staring at you?"
Mu Yiran's eyes darted around, meeting the gaze of the security guard to her left.
I've seen people sneakily rummaging through antiques in restaurants, but I've never seen anyone like this woman, so openly and secretly doing it!
Very suspicious! Extremely suspicious!
Both security guards simultaneously reached for the stun guns at their waists.
Mu Yiran: "..."
She withdrew her hand demurely, took out her phone, and posed for a selfie.
"I've never seen it before, so I'm just curious to take a look."
"I'll buy the same one when I get the project!" She seemed to really want the pillar, and actually went to ask the hotel manager for the link.
Under the manager's and bodyguard's disapproving gazes, which seemed to say "even nouveau riche aren't this tacky," Li Bu Huo forcibly dragged the person away.
"You better behave yourself!"
Li Bu Huo said with a headache, "If Li Bingcheng sees you doing this, he'll think you're buying land through demolition to build a mental hospital so you can live there yourself!"
Mu Yiran nodded seriously and patted him on the shoulder in a very righteous manner.
"Don't worry, I'll reserve a private room for my best assistant, Li!"
"..."
Li Bu Huo was so angry that he didn't want to talk to her. The group followed the waiter up from the front hall's casual seating area.
It wasn't until he stepped out of the elevator that Li Bu Huo realized something was wrong.
He looked at the woman beside him who was touching up her lipstick. "Why didn't you ask why we met here for dinner?"
After all, Cheng Ran had an incident at Qinheyu before. Although it wasn't the same place, given her spoiled personality, shouldn't she feel it was bad luck and insist on changing places?
There's not a sound at all.
He remained calm and composed.
"It wasn't you who said the location was arranged by that secretary-general."
"Click!" The lipstick cap snapped shut.
Mu Yiran turned to him and smiled, "If you want to curry favor with someone, you have to cater to their preferences, and the restaurant is one of them."
"Humans too."
Li Bu Huo was stunned when he looked at the woman's gentle features.
Cheng Ran's makeup today seems different from before.
But before he could react, the waiter had already pushed open the door to the private room.
"Please come in, everyone."
"Please press the bell if you need anything."
Before Li Bu Huo walked away, he addressed the man in the head seat, saying, "Vice Mayor Li, I've long admired you."
"Nice to meet you all. I am Li Bu Huo, and this is our CEO, Mr. Cheng."
Mu Yiran took a deep breath, gathered her hair to her chest, and smiled at the man sitting in the middle seat:
"Vice Mayor Li Bingcheng, hello, I am Cheng Ran."
"Chairman Wang, it's nice to meet you, Chairman Chen."
The quiet conversation at the dinner table instantly ceased, and everyone's gaze fell upon the woman in the bright yellow dress.
The chandelier shone on her, making her look stunningly beautiful. Yet, the woman's soft features softened that beauty, making her appear innocent and sweet.
The secretary-general sitting next to Li Bingcheng secretly took a breath; he hadn't expected Cheng Ran to be a fraud!
If Cheng Ran in the photo is as beautiful as a red rose...
But Cheng Ran before me was more like that white moonlight.
Yes... that white moonlight.
The secretary-general secretly glanced at the man beside him who was staring into a daze.
It turns out he wasn't the only one who thought that way.
The woman in front of me also had a mole on her nose, also liked to wear long, curly hair that flowed down her chest, wore bright-colored dresses, and also liked to accessorize with small jewelry brooches.
It's not that face, but it looks exactly like it.
They look so alike.
She looks just like the eldest daughter of the Wen family, Wen Qie.
"Ahem...please have a seat, everyone." The secretary-general took the initiative to break the awkward silence and invited Cheng Ran and the others to sit down.
As soon as Mu Yiran sat down, she heard the man beside her ask in a hoarse voice:
"You said you are Cheng... Ran?"
Mu Yiran turned her head and met Li Chengbing's stunned gaze.
"Yes, I am Cheng Ran."
Before the secretary-general could remind the man of his lapse in composure, he heard him say urgently:
"Which ran?!"
Mu Yiran saw the turbulent emotions in his eyes, tilted her head slightly, and smiled:
"Graceful and charming, like the delicate and graceful 'Ran'."
Lee Byung-seung's pupils suddenly contracted.
"Bingcheng, you're the most knowledgeable, can you think of a name for my daughter? It should sound beautiful, like I'm beautiful!"
—"Then let's call her Ranran, the Ran of charming and graceful."
Ranran...
Ranran is just as beautiful as her senior!
"Deputy Mayor...Deputy Mayor!"
"ah."
Li Bingcheng snapped out of his daze, his eyes still lingering in that hazy memory, the light and shadow dappled, the woman before him repeatedly overlapping with the beautiful face in his memory.
Mu Yiran asked, "Is something on your mind, Deputy Mayor?"
"..."
Li Bingcheng closed his eyes briefly. "I'm sorry... Mr. Cheng looks somewhat like one of my friends. I apologize for my rudeness."
Yeah...
My senior's daughter, Ranran, is only 13 years old and is currently in England relaxing. How could she possibly be here?
Perhaps it's because I haven't dreamt of my senior classmates in so long, that I suddenly found myself dreaming...
Lee Byung-seung suppressed a bitter smile.
Mu Yiran observed this and said, "It's alright. I suppose he's a very important friend of the deputy mayor?"
"So that you can think of her immediately."
Mu Yiran knew that Li Bingcheng was her father's direct junior, and that the two of them had entered the same master's supervisor's class and even got jobs in the municipal government.
Even more coincidentally, he was also his mother Wen Qie's junior from high school, and his parents had always had a good relationship with Li Bingcheng.
When Mu Yiran was a child, all she knew was that Li Chengbing would always secretly stare at his mother in a daze.
It wasn't until many years later, when I had grown up, that I belatedly realized what kind of feelings were hidden behind those words, "senior sister."
She was the person who cried the most at her parents' funeral, besides herself.
We met in this way after so many years.
"..."
Lee Byung-seung shouldn't have paid attention to such vague and ambiguous words, but he opened his mouth and spoke in a low, trembling voice.
"...is very important."
It was the only spark in his lonely, burning life, how could it not be important!
There was another moment of silence at the dinner table.
Everyone around was exchanging glances.
Sitting next to Mu Yiran, Li Buhuo suppressed his surprise. No wonder...
No wonder Cheng Ran changed her makeup and clothing style today; it was all to "cater to his preferences."
Who says that Lee Byung-sung can't get close to people now that he's all alone? He can just find someone who resembles the person he remembers.
The phrase "as beautiful as you" is no joke.
Everyone present knew of Lee Byung-seung's aloof personality. He never spoke first, and even when he was exempt from social interaction and had to speak, he would never say a word unless someone approached him.
Everyone present was shrewd and could see through it.
From the moment Cheng Ran entered the room, Li Bingcheng's unusual behavior was entirely due to her. What could motivate Li Bingcheng to be so proactive, regardless of the other party's intentions?
It's estimated that the green light has already been given at the Haikou Municipal Bureau of Justice, making things much easier.
And that was indeed the atmosphere afterwards.
Even though the secretary-general handled all the negotiations at the dinner, and Li Chengbing remained silent, his attention was never leaving that young CEO Cheng.
He would often stare blankly at the woman's profile.
Vice Mayor Li, who is usually very strict in officialdom, was seen staring blankly at a woman. If word got out, the disciplinary inspection commission would probably be the first to summon him for questioning!
So the people around only dared to look and not take it to heart, and could only sigh inwardly that this young CEO Cheng from the capital really had some tricks up his sleeve.
After several rounds of tea and when the others had finished speaking, Li Bu Huo finally brought up the important matter.
“Vice Mayor, I have something to say about Nagulin Village…”
Lee Byung-seung's dark eyes flashed as he twirled the teacup in his hand, glancing at the woman who was still drinking juice.
Even those who don't like tea but crave sweet things are the same.
Is this really a coincidence...?
Li Bingcheng lowered his eyes: "As long as you submit all the required materials for the Gulin Village matter, there won't be any problems with the other procedures."
Li Bu Huo was secretly delighted, and even Mu Yi Ran, who was guzzling juice on the side, breathed a sigh of relief.
It was worth it for her to be possessed by Ms. Wen for two hours.
My mouth is practically agape from laughing so hard!
Now the matter is settled with the city; all we need to do is get the consent forms from the remaining residents in the village!
Mu Yiran maintained a composed demeanor and exchanged a few more polite words with Li Bingcheng before the dinner party came to an end. The group then went downstairs and headed out of the restaurant.
Lee Byung-seung's gaze was no longer on Mu Yi-ran, but instead he kept looking at the walls on both sides of the corridor.
The Chinese-style restaurant has ancient and elegant landscape patterns on the walls.
Each stroke is exquisite and beautiful.
Seeing his focused expression, Mu Yiran's eyes flickered, and she cleared her throat to begin chanting:
"I heard that the Qinheyu Hotel in Haishi is the most luxuriously built, and even the patterns on the walls are hand-painted by a specialist."
Mu Yiran touched the wall in a pretentious manner. "Look at this brushstroke, this texturing technique, tsk tsk, the painter is definitely a genius. The painting expresses emotions perfectly, and the aesthetic sense is so good. Without a doubt, she must be a beautiful painter."
Lee Seung-byung was taken aback by the affected praise, but the more he listened, the more familiar the tone seemed. He paused for a moment, then gave a cryptic smile.
"Young Master Cheng seems to know quite a lot..."
"Young Master Cheng? What a coincidence."
Upon hearing the voice, before she could even react to who it was, Mu Yiran's right eyelid twitched, and then she saw the silver-haired man walking towards them.
Shibian Ji?
What is he doing here...?
Shi Bianji was followed by several people, who seemed to have come to eat and happened to run into them.
As the man approached, he raised an eyebrow in surprise when he saw the man beside Cheng Ran: "Vice Mayor Li?"
Lee Byung-seung nodded only once: "Professor Shi."
"I asked my assistant to invite you to a gathering earlier, but you declined. It turns out that Vice Mayor Li already has an appointment."
Shi Biji held her coat in her left hand and unbuttoned her white shirt with her right, speaking softly.
The few glasses of sweet juice she had just drunk immediately went down her throat, and Mu Yiran looked away.
She was afraid that if she looked at Shi Bianji's face again, she would kiss his face.
Shi Bianji: "The two of you seem to be getting along quite well, which makes me a little envious. After all, I've been trying to get an appointment with Vice Mayor Li for half a month and haven't been able to."
"As expected, the presence of a beautiful woman makes all the difference. Even our Vice Mayor Li couldn't resist her and ended up in President Cheng's seat."
"..."
The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere froze, especially the secretary-general, whose usually refined face darkened.
Shi Bianji was practically shouting through a megaphone that Li Bingcheng had been bribed by Cheng Ran and was indulging in debauchery!
The secretary-general didn't dare look at his superior's face. Just as he was about to reprimand Shi Bianji, he was careful with his words when he heard a clear, sweet laugh.
"Shouldn't the professor have reflected on his own actions back then?"
Tokibe Ki: "What?"
Mu Yiran raised an eyebrow: "This gathering wasn't organized by me alone. I also hitched a ride with Chairman Chen and Chairman Wang."
Ah, sure enough, my left eye twitches with a peach blossom, and my right eye twitches with a chrysanthemum!
She said that nothing good could come from this guy showing up here!
Mu Yiran stepped aside, revealing the people standing behind her.
“Vice Mayor Li responded to the responses of the rest of us, but not to you. Isn’t that something wrong with you, Professor Shi?”
Even a beautiful woman was sent to help.
Behind him, the inexplicably transgender and beautiful Ms. Wang touched his beer belly and sneered, "I spent almost a month trying to get an appointment with Vice Mayor Li. Who do you think you are, daring to cut in line!"
Shi Bianji's face stiffened.
It's all because Li Bu Huo is too tall, blocking the faces of the group. He didn't even see that there were actually several CEOs of state-owned enterprises in Shanghai behind them!
My words were practically a slap in the face to those CEOs!
Shi Bianji was publicly humiliated and lost face; he had never experienced such disgrace before.
It was all because of this woman, Cheng Ran!
With a pale face, he still apologized to Li Bingcheng: "I'm sorry, Vice Mayor, I'm sorry, Chairman Wang and Chairman Chen. It was my subordinates who conveyed unclear information, which offended you all. I will definitely come to apologize in person another day."
Chairman Wang and Chairman Chen continued to scoff.
Lee Byung-seung, who had remained silent, withdrew his complicated gaze from Mu Yi-ran and looked indifferently at Shi Bian-ji.
"There's a lot of official business in the city. If Professor Shi doesn't have anything important to do, he shouldn't be calling my subordinates. If he were to give in to your personal relationship and the disciplinary committee finds out, they'd probably be sealing off my house tomorrow."
puff-
Mu Yiran suppressed a laugh.
Just now, Shi Bianji had subtly mocked him for using his charm to bribe Lee Byung-sung, but now the very person in question has come out on top of him and slapped him in the face, making him eat the shit he had spat out.
You pervert, you deserve it!
Shi Bianji's face turned sour, and she couldn't even maintain her usual smile.
"I was too abrupt, and I'm very sorry for disturbing you."
Lee Byung-seung ignored him and stepped out of the corridor first.
Mu Yiran followed suit, not even glancing at Shi Bianji.
Shi Bianji lowered his head, his eyes filled with barely concealed hatred. He stared intently at Cheng Ran's departing figure, then rubbed his cheeks and took out his phone.
"Hey, Cheng Ran has already met Li Bingcheng. If you don't make a move soon, that land will be hers!"
"..."
…
Outside the restaurant.
Mu Yiran respectfully saw Li Bingcheng into the car. Just before they parted, he spoke softly to her through the car window:
"Lai Jiansheng, the largest resident of Gulin Village, is a troublesome person."
Mu Yiran was taken aback and looked at him with surprise.
Li Chengbing didn't say anything more, rolled up the car window, and left.
"What? What did Li Bingcheng say to you?" Li Buhuo asked nervously.
Mu Yiran shook her head quietly, "He's a good person."
She thought that Lee Byung-seung had seen through her using Ms. On-cheol to get close to her, and probably didn't intend to pay any attention to her anymore.
I didn't expect them to even give me a hint.
"..."
Li Bu Huo: "Just because he helped you scold Shi Bianji?"
Mu Yiran chuckled but didn't say anything.
She got into the car without a second thought, clicked her tongue, and said, "Let's go, tickets in hand, brothers! Let's head into the village!"
"..."
Li Bu Huo and Ai Ni exchanged a speechless glance.
This guy was clearly just delivering money to someone else, so how did he manage to portray himself as a ruthless bandit instead of a sugar daddy?
Li Bu Huo felt that Cheng Ran had become increasingly strange these past few days.
She seems to have become smarter!
They always seem to be full of tricks.
This is a world of difference compared to the lazy bum who used to only seek advice from others.
Has he really turned his life around?
Or was it Shi Yan who was guiding her from behind again this time?
Mu Yiran had no time to pay attention to Li Buhuo's silence.
Because her phone was bombarded by Shi Youxi again!
On her way there, she wrote to Shi Youxi, saying that she was going to Haishi to take care of some business and would be back in a few days.
After that, I stopped paying attention to his news.
Looking at it now...
Good heavens!
More than 30 video and voice calls.
99+ messages.
The messages kept popping up, and Mu Yiran's eyelids twitched wildly, oblivious to the fact that Li Buhuo was still beside her.
He answered the phone call from Shi Youxi again.
"Hello?!"
"Sister! Why won't you answer my calls!"
The boy's voice was angry, but it didn't sound like he was out of control and couldn't be calmed down.
Mu Yiran: "I'm having dinner with some important people! I didn't check my phone, didn't you know that?"
Shi Youxi snorted coldly: "How would I know?"
Mu Yiran mercilessly exposed him, "Hasn't Ai Ni been taking pictures and showing them to you all along?"
Shi Youxi choked, but continued to be stubborn: "I don't know what you're talking about, sister! You abandoned me and went off to enjoy a life of luxury by yourself!"
Mu Yiran raised an eyebrow.
OK!
That pretty girl is stubborn as a mule.
In the front row, Ai Ni, who had just imitated Mu Yiran's selfie pose, was holding her phone high.
She found the right angle, and then she saw the woman in the camera suddenly lean in!
Ai Ni immediately put on a serious face: "Madam, I wasn't taking a picture of you! I was taking a selfie!"
Shi Youxi, who heard everything clearly on the phone, was speechless.
Mu Yiran smiled and made a peace sign, then pressed the shutter for the frozen Ai Ni.
Then he said to the girl:
"Come on, give this to our young master."
"..."
Ai Ni was startled by her gentle, oily voice and obediently sent the photo to Shi Youxi's WeChat.
Ai Ni: [Young Master, Madam said she just finished eating and is going to work.]
Ai Ni: [Image.]
Mu Yiran nodded in satisfaction and said into the receiver:
"Now you know, my young master?"
"..."
Shi Youxi reached out and placed his hand on the bridge of his nose, his lips moving up and down.
After a long while, she pouted and muttered:
"Hmm... I understand now."
When someone offers you a way out, take it slowly.
Our young master Shi is different. If our daughter makes a gesture of offering him a step, he can immediately perform a spectacular slide-down descent!
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