choose
"Come on, let's celebrate Xingzilou taking 3% of the profits from Lu's North City Second District branch." Shen Ming praised generously, "I always hear Chu Lin talk about your achievements at Stanford. He speaks highly of your junior. Last week, when he went back to his alma mater to visit his teachers, Professor Al heard that you two were interested in collaborating on the 2.1 series robot model and was overjoyed."
Chen Li smiled, pretending to be drunk and swaying slightly before tilting his head back and downing the last sip of wine in his glass.
"Mr. Chen has a good capacity for alcohol." Shen Ming put down his glass and draped his arm over Chen Li's shoulder. "So it's settled then?"
Gu Nan picked up a peanut, popped it into her mouth, chewed slowly, and then asked, "What did you agree on?"
Shen Ming smiled and said, "Nannan, I'll thank you again later. You've been a great help to me. Thanks to you, otherwise I wouldn't have met such an outstanding person as President Chen."
Chen Li waved his hands repeatedly, his swaying body requiring his assistant's support.
"How should I thank you?" Gu Nan deliberately interrupted, raising her chin to wait for Shen Ming to give his answer.
"It's up to you, what do you want? There's nothing in Beicheng that I, Shen Ming, can't handle... Hey, hey, hey," Shen Ming quickly went to help Chen Li up when he saw him almost fall.
Assistant: "Young Master Chen, I'm sorry. Our CEO Chen usually doesn't drink at all, but he had a very pleasant chat with you today and drank a bit too much. Please don't mind."
"No, no, please take your General Manager Chen home to rest. Be careful on the road, and call me anytime if anything happens."
"Thank you, Young Master Shen."
The assistant helped Chen Li out the door. The moment the door closed, Chen Li's eyes cleared, showing no trace of his earlier drunkenness. Inside, the lively atmosphere gradually changed. Warm-toned lighting elongated the shadows of the two people, and the small lamps shone obliquely, creating a somewhat romantic atmosphere.
Gu Nan stared at the shadow in a daze, then raised her hand and grabbed at the air, crushing the hazy light and shadow.
"How is it?" Under the influence of alcohol, Shen Ming became more and more satisfied with the woman in front of him.
"Not so good. Lu Yushi knows I'm working with you to frame him. I wonder what he'll do to me." Gu Nan dodged his right hand that was reaching out, lowered her head, and in the shadows where she couldn't see, her lips curled up slightly. "Master Wan warned me last time."
"Warning you?"
"Tell me to behave and not to sow discord between you and Lu Yushi." Gu Nan looked up and asked, "Did I sow discord? If Master Wan didn't know that Lin Haoyu was cheating, why did he help to fabricate evidence at Xingyin Temple? Knowing how much you love Miss Shen Manman, you still watched her marry a scumbag like Lin Haoyu... Never mind, I won't say anymore, or I'll be accused of sowing discord again."
“You’re standing up for Manman, how could that be considered sowing discord?” A faint smile appeared in Shen Ming’s eyes, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He then changed the subject, “However, you do have to make a choice between me and Lu Yushi.”
"Um?"
"I had someone put the contents of the cargo box there. Lu Yushi can find out with a little investigation, but he will most likely be more curious about where I got the information from."
Gu Nan narrowed her eyes, her tongue sweeping across her lower teeth, a cold smile playing on her lips. Shen Ming thought it would be easy to do something without anyone noticing or leaving a trace. The fact that he deliberately exposed himself was probably to force her to do something. Perhaps if she didn't agree to help him, he would hand over the "evidence" of her leaking information to Lu Yushi.
However, since she had come here today specifically for this purpose, she silently endured it and watched how Shen Ming would persuade her.
She picked up her cup and took a sip of water, saying sarcastically, "It seems that Lu Yushi is indeed more capable than I imagined. Even Shen Shao's behind-the-scenes moves cannot escape his keen eyes."
"Forehead……"
“I really need to think carefully about whether I should continue working for Young Master Shen, lest he take everything from me one day.”
Shen Ming's expression changed several times, his voice deep and resonant: "A wild goose leaves a trace in its wake. If Lu Yushi wants to investigate, it's only a matter of time."
He stared intently at Gu Nan's changing expression, deliberately lowered his voice, and leaned closer to say, "Have you heard the story of Lu's youngest uncle? He lost to Lu Yushi in a power struggle, and Lu Yushi cut off both his legs, crippled both his hands, and cut his throat. He's still lying in a sanatorium, wishing for death but unable to."
The restaurant was brightly lit. Shen Ming turned to the side, blocking most of the light in front of Gu Nan. His dark shadow fell down, completely dispelling the romantic atmosphere and adding a touch of eeriness.
Gu Nan scoffed, "Do I look like someone who was scared out of their wits? No hands or feet, turned into a human pig? Is he that free?"
"It's more aesthetically pleasing than a human pig, only the hands are unusable, but the arms are still there," Shen Ming said lightly. "Don't believe me? The sanatorium is open to the public; just ask around and you'll know if I'm lying to you."
Gu Nan's eyes flickered, and he took out a lighter from his pocket and played with it.
She didn't have much of an impression of Lu Yuanzhi. She remembered that Lu Yuanzhi was the heir the old master of the Lu family had initially chosen. In order to consolidate his position in Beicheng, Master Wan had repeatedly tried to curry favor with this designated heir and sent him a lot of valuable porcelain, including the vase with peony scroll pattern that she had seen at Lu Yushi's house.
Unexpectedly, Lu Yuanzhi was too useless. He stayed abroad for a while and never came back. After returning to China, Lu Yushi forcefully entered the Lu family group headquarters and completely took control of the Lu family's discourse power in just five years.
“Just for blocking his way, he was treated like that. If it were betrayal,” Shen Ming looked at Gu Nan’s barely visible hesitation with satisfaction, his smiling eyes looking more like a threat, “Old Master Lu values Lu Yuanzhi, and he can torment people to the point of wishing for death right under Old Master Lu’s nose, let alone outsiders.”
Gu Nan: "..."
“It’s been five years, and Lu Yuanzhi has been in a sanatorium specializing in prosthetic rehabilitation, but he still hasn’t found a suitable prosthesis. Do you think it’s because he’s unlucky, or is it because someone doesn’t want him to be able to stand up?”
The lighter clicked as it was turned, and the food on the table had long since gone cold. Gu Nan didn't even need to look up to feel Shen Ming's naked gaze, like a wolf waiting for its chance to strike, its eyes gleaming with excitement and the thrill of its prey about to be caught.
"From what you're saying, it sounds like you're advising me not to go against Lu Yushi." Gu Nan crossed her legs and leaned back, her gaze lingering briefly on his face before landing on the lighter on her fingertip.
The flame was weak, its shape distorted by the airflow from their breath.
Shen Ming frowned imperceptibly, surprised that Gu Nan didn't understand his implied meaning, so he could only be more direct: "If Lu Yushi finds out that you were the one who told me about this batch of mining machines, he won't let you off the hook. Perhaps..."
He deliberately left the conversation open, waiting for Gu Nan to respond, but Gu Nan still pretended to be clueless: "How about what?"
"If you stay with me, you'll have to let me know in advance if Lu Yushi makes any moves."
"?"
"Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you."
Gu Nan thought to herself, "Even if I'm not smart, you can't treat me like an idiot."
"Lu Yushi was able to seriously injure Lu Yuanzhi within Lu Laotou's sphere of influence, so I'll be fine?"
"If I'm unlucky and Lu Yushi finds out, I'll spread the word that you're my girlfriend and the young mistress of the Shen family. He won't dare to declare war on my Shen family."
"...I think I'm Lu Yushi's girlfriend now."
Shen Ming rubbed his fingertips, tapping them on the table, and chuckled softly: "Does Lu Yushi know that his girlfriend betrayed him?"
"Threatening me?"
Seeing Gu Nan's cold expression, Shen Ming put away his smile and softened his tone: "Don't say such harsh things. No matter what, you have special privileges here. Didn't I cover for you when you helped Wan Yi frame Wan Sizong? I'm just reminding you that Lu Yushi isn't so easy to fool. He will find out sooner or later that you betrayed him. What will you do then?"
"Smack!"
With the two admission tickets tossed aside, Gu Nan glanced at them sideways, her face displeased, and said coldly, "I know your sister is upset about breaking off the engagement, so she specially asked someone to get two tickets to Yun Ting's show, and this is how you treat me?"
The thin admission ticket was creased from the rough handling, and Shen Ming picked it up hesitantly and examined it repeatedly.
In the clean and elegant lower right corner of the ticket, the signature of Yun Ting is graceful and unrestrained.
There are at least eighty or a hundred renowned jewelry designers in China, but none can compare to Master Yunting. And not only in China, Yunting's international popularity far surpasses that of many other designers.
Firstly, Yunting's designs are bold and innovative while also being practical and aesthetically pleasing; secondly, the person himself is quite mysterious.
She only releases one or two exclusive designs each year. Countless wealthy merchants and nobles have spent lavishly on Yunting, yet she has never received a glance from them, and they don't even know Yunting's gender.
The only way to get up close to Yun Ting is at the annual appreciation event held at Yun Ting's private residence. Each event only allows 50 people to view past seasons, next seasons, or unreleased works that are kept as collectibles.
Their rarity means that sometimes even a single admission ticket can fetch an astronomical price.
Shen Ming held the admission ticket in his palm, smoothed out the wrinkles, and then put on a wide smile as if his expression had changed.
"I thank you on behalf of Manman."
Gu Nan scoffed and crossed her arms, remaining silent.
Shen Ming pushed his chair over in a conciliatory manner, looked at Gu Nan, and said earnestly, "Nan Nan, don't misunderstand. I'm only being so clear because I consider you one of my own. Lu Yushi is not the kind of person who takes things lightly. He can even do that to his own blood relative, his uncle. How could he possibly let you off the hook?"
"I know these words are unpleasant to hear, and may even offend you, but honest advice is hard to swallow, so think about it carefully."
"So you're planning to report me to Lu Yushi for being a 'good Samaritan'?" Gu Nan sneered, shaking off his arm that was draped over her shoulder in a conciliatory gesture. "Then, if you were to pack me up and hand me over to Lu Yushi one day, I'd have to thank you for letting me be reborn sooner?"
Shen Ming twitched the corners of his mouth, inwardly blaming himself for being too hasty. He lowered his gaze, his fingertips stroking the tickets. These tickets were priceless, and Gu Nan had found two for him. In his heart, she was on his side. Let's take it slow.
"Alright, alright, it's my fault. I shouldn't have made you angry. If you don't like it, just consider it drunken talk."
Gu Nan continued tidying her clothes, barely glancing at anyone.
"Alright, Nan Nan, don't be angry." Shen Ming tugged at her sleeve. "If you need anything in the future, just come to me anytime. No matter what it is, I'll help you. As for those mining machines, I'll find a way to make sure Lu Yushi can't trace them back to you, okay?"
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