KN | Chapter 36

Da Hong Pao

Chen Wan was not sure whether Zhao Shengge was only being polite, so even though he really wanted that gift, he still said courteously, “It’s alright, Mr. Zhao. Please don’t think that way. You’ve already helped me by arranging security guards and an auntie to take care of me.”

Zhao Shengge shook his head. “Those were things I should have done in the first place. They don’t count as thanks.”

Chen Wan was about to say more when the server came in and set tool after tool onto the tea table.

They were tea cigarettes.

Yinzhen, Dancong, and Tieguanyin were lined up in a neat row.

After everyone had thoroughly enjoyed themselves last time, they were all very interested and immediately started trying their hands at it. Only Zhao Shengge did not move.

Chen Wan asked, “Mr. Zhao, would you like to give it a try? Their tea leaves here are quite good, roasted very dry, but they won’t scorch your throat.”

Zhao Shengge looked at the different tea leaves. For some reason, after thinking of something, he shook his head.

Not knowing what was wrong, Chen Wan said considerately, “Are you worried about getting your hands dirty? If you don’t mind, I can roll one for you.” His rolling skills were actually pretty good.

Only then did Zhao Shengge finally raise his eyes to look at him. After a moment, he asked, “You’ll roll one for me?”

Chen Wan nodded.

Zhao Shengge bent over to look at those different teas, one elbow resting on his knee, one hand supporting half his face, angling himself toward Chen Wan. “What will you roll?”

“Anything you want,” Chen Wan said good-temperedly.

Zhao Shengge turned his head back to the tea again. After a moment, with his head lowered, he said, perhaps to Chen Wan, perhaps to himself, “Da Hong Pao.”

Zhao Shengge looked at him and repeated it in a very low voice, “Da Hong Pao.”

Chen Wan froze for a moment.

He had originally intended to roll Da Hong Pao for Zhao Shengge anyway, but when he asked that question, he had been prepared to receive a “Whatever.”

Because Zhao Shengge had never revealed his own likes, dislikes, or hobbies.

In the past, Chen Wan had had to guess, investigate, observe, infer, even dream, just to speculate that Zhao Shengge liked Da Hong Pao. But this time, Zhao Shengge had personally said that he wanted Da Hong Pao.

Smiling, Chen Wan said alright. He put on a pair of disposable gloves, rolled a Da Hong Pao cigarette, and held it out in front of him. Zhao Shengge did not take it. He lowered his head slightly and simply took the cigarette between his lips straight from Chen Wan’s fingers.

His lips parted, catching it between his teeth. He pressed lightly with his lips, the tip of his tongue touching the cigarette holder, and the whole cigarette moved up and down slightly.

Chen Wan was a little slow to react. Zhao Shengge’s movements had been too natural, as though this was exactly how it was always supposed to be.

His warm breath spilled directly across Chen Wan’s fingers. The base of his fingers turned hot, and that heat ran all the way into his palm and up his arm. Then some corner of his heart began to burn too.

With the cigarette between his lips, Zhao Shengge lifted his eyes to look at Chen Wan. Chen Wan then took out his own lighter and respectfully lit it for him, his expression and movements both open and natural.

At the instant the flame flared up, Zhao Shengge’s face was lit up too, and Chen Wan felt as though he were lighting birthday candles.

Only, he no longer had any other wish.

Chen Wan felt so content. His heart had never felt this unburdened before. A cigarette he had rolled with his own hands, lit with his own hands, Zhao Shengge drawing it into his lungs little by little.

Chen Wan lit one for himself too and held it between his lips.

Tieguanyin.

Its clear fragrance kept overflowing all the way into his heart and lungs.

Zhao Shengge looked at his lighter. “New?”

With the cigarette between his teeth, Chen Wan made no sound and only nodded.

Holding the tea cigarette between his index and middle fingers, Zhao Shengge said, “Very distinctive.”

Chen Wan wanted to say, Then I’ll give it to you, but that felt too abrupt, so he merely named the brand and slipped the lighter back into his pocket.

“…”

Anywhere Tan Youming and Zhuo Zhixuan were, it was always lively, lively to the point of being a bit noisy. After Zhao Shengge was interrupted several times when he tried to bring up something serious, he suddenly tapped Chen Wan’s teacup with his knuckle and said in a low voice, “Come outside with me for a moment.”

Chen Wan did not understand why.

The others were busy playing cards and chatting. They assumed the two of them were stepping out to use the restroom or walk off the alcohol, so nobody paid much attention.

The open-air terrace.

Zhao Shengge leaned against the railing, both hands resting on the crossbar. The wind blew his shirt into loose disarray, and he looked very relaxed.

“Mr. Zhao.”

The light was dim, and Chen Wan could not see his expression clearly. He could only vaguely make out those sharp brows and eyes, and the straight, high bridge of his nose.

“Come here,” Zhao Shengge said softly.

Chen Wan obediently walked over.

The Da Hong Pao cigarette in Zhao Shengge’s mouth had not gone out yet. The rich fragrance of rock tea drifted into the wind, twining together with the lighter Tieguanyin and floating far away.

Chen Wan did not know what Zhao Shengge wanted to say to him, so he simply stood beside him quietly.

The hotel had been built inside a mountain estate. Beyond the open-air terrace were dark green mountains. Cicadas shrilled thickly. The sound of pines rolled like waves across vast slopes. The moonlight was like frost. The night wind carried the cries of insects and birds. The two of them said nothing, yet it did not feel awkward.

After they had stood there in the mountain wind for a while, Zhao Shengge tilted his head and asked, “Chen Wan, you work in energy transfer?”

“Yes.” Chen Wan did not know why Zhao Shengge had suddenly become interested in his profession, and said, “If Mr. Zhao needs any help in that area, you can come to me.”

The distance between them was not very great. When Zhao Shengge moved the cigarette, he would occasionally brush Chen Wan’s elbow by accident.

He asked, “Do you like doing this?”

Chen Wan blanked for a moment. From childhood to now, no one had ever asked him what he liked. So he thought seriously for a while before answering Zhao Shengge, “I do.”

“Do you lean more toward technology or business?”

“Technology, more.”

But if you could not do sales and public relations, then there was no way to do technology at all, so the things he was mainly responsible for now were all on the business side.

In truth, Chen Wan’s research ability was very strong. He had already applied for several patents while he was still an undergraduate. If he had been able to quietly focus on technical work without going out to socialize or cultivate connections, he would already be a senior engineer by now.

Zhao Shengge asked him a few more things. It was not a very formal conversation, more like the relaxed, offhand small talk of friends.

They rarely had moments like this between them, stepping out alone from a group gathering to chat.

Chen Wan answered each question patiently, one by one. He spoke sincerely and did not hide anything.

Every question Zhao Shengge asked received a very detailed answer, but not a single matching question came back the other way.

Chen Wan appeared to have very little interest in Zhao Shengge’s affairs and made no attempt whatsoever to ask about him.

As a result, this felt more like a one-sided “interview” than a two-way exchange.

After waiting a while, Zhao Shengge saw that Chen Wan truly had no such intention, so he said, “Your résumé is very impressive.”

“Minglong Baoli Bay has a derivative project coming up, the Offshore Oil Tunnel. It needs higher-speed transfer and equipment engineering for oil storage and production. Are you interested?”

Chen Wan looked at him in some surprise. A project from Minglong was no different from heaven dropping a rice bowl straight into Kexiang’s hands. More importantly, it was a chance to work with Zhao Shengge. Chen Wan was very tempted, but he was still extremely cautious. After thinking for a few seconds, his expression turned serious too.

“Mr. Zhao, thank you very much for thinking of me, but Kexiang is a small company that’s only been established for a few years. If we take part in a project this large, I’m afraid we’ll be lacking in funding, reserves, experience, and staying power. You should be careful.”

Zhao Shengge looked at Chen Wan quietly. So many people exhausted their brains and schemed in every possible way just to latch onto Minglong, yet Chen Wan was the only one who said, You should be careful.

The corner of Zhao Shengge’s lips seemed to curve a little, then maybe not, because he still had the cigarette between his teeth.

Chen Wan could not be sure.

Zhao Shengge rubbed his fingers together and took the slim cigarette out of his mouth. In a warm, deep voice, he asked, “Chen Wan, are you questioning my judgment?”

“…” Chen Wan hurriedly explained, “No, that’s not what I mean, I just…”

“Minglong has a very professional evaluation team.” Zhao Shengge had already seen Chen Wan’s stubbornness and his tendency to get hung up on things. After thinking about it, he changed the way he put it. “Right now, I’m only asking you to participate in the bidding. Whether you win the bid or not will be decided by the evaluation team. I won’t interfere.”

Zhao Shengge had already run a background check on Kexiang. It was a classic high-end, highly specialized small-to-medium enterprise, low-key, but with genuinely hard strength. The projects it handled were all highly sophisticated ones.

“This line was originally in Baihetang’s hands. Now Minglong and the Xu family are taking over. I don’t trust anyone else.”

Projects like this had long timelines, high risks, and technology was the lifeline. Zhao Shengge was deeply suspicious by nature and had a strong desire for control. Inevitably, only someone with Chen Wan’s character and gentle, compliant temperament would satisfy him.

“And besides,” Zhao Shengge looked at him directly, stepped closer, his gaze dark as ink as he lowered his voice with pointed meaning, “you were the one who crashed into this yourself.”

Chen Wan suddenly understood. So helping Xu Zhiying calculate things that day on a whim had, by a strange twist of luck, dragged him into these waters. Even so, he still had some concerns. “I’m worried Kexiang can’t keep up with something this…”

“With Minglong backing you up, what are you afraid of?”

It was such an ordinary sentence, but coming from Zhao Shengge, it suddenly carried just a hint of, With me backing you up, what are you afraid of?

Of all the people in this world, Zhao Shengge was the one Chen Wan found hardest to refuse, but even so, he still did not agree right away.

Holding the cigarette in one hand, Zhao Shengge flicked the ash. The wind tousled his hair, making him look casual and unrestrained, like a movie poster.

Standing in the night wind, he tilted his head. “You dared to cut across three lanes and the central divider to ram straight into the engine of that beast, a Jeep and a Grand Cherokee, but you don’t dare accept Minglong’s invitation?”

Chen Wan froze.

How did Zhao Shengge know?

That night had been too dark. Even he himself was not very clear on those specific details.

“Hm?” Zhao Shengge did not let him off.

On the very night of the incident, he had immediately sent people to investigate the road conditions and gather clues. He had even driven that stretch of road himself.

Sometimes Chen Wan was like a gentleman, sometimes like a madman, and he was exceptionally good at disguising himself with that gentle, soft exterior. But once he truly went mad, he was the sort who stopped caring much about his own life.

The hearing had been one time. The racing incident on the Ring-Sea Expressway had been another.

What would the next time be?

Zhao Shengge did not want to see it again.

“There’s no need to rush your answer to me, think it over carefully.” Zhao Shengge had grown up beside negotiation tables. He was very skilled at balancing advance and retreat, tension and release, favor and pressure. Even something this major sounded light in his mouth.

“And there’s no need to think I’m compensating you. I’m only suggesting that you can give it a try. If you really do win the bid, Minglong is also a very strict client.”

“The person in charge of this project is also extremely difficult to deal with. If, during the cooperation, you can’t deliver plans and results that satisfy them, then the accountability and compensation that should be pursued will not be reduced in the slightest.”

He bit the cigarette between his lips again and said indistinctly, “Call me once you’ve thought it through.”

After a brief pause, he slanted him a glance. “You have my number, don’t you, Chen Wan?”

“Chayan” (茶烟, cháyān; literally “tea smoke”) refers to smoke-like vapor or aroma rising from brewed tea.