KN | Chapter 38

Planting Grapes

On the day the bidding results came out.

After Chen Wan’s initial negotiations with Minglong, his assistant suggested that he get in touch with their headquarters as well.

Chen Wan finally placed that call in a proper, aboveboard way. He had made a rule for himself, only after accomplishing this could he make that call.

The line was almost about to disconnect before the other side picked up.

Zhao Shengge said, “Chen Wan.”

“Mr. Zhao.”

Zhao Shengge seemed to let out a soft laugh. “Congratulations.”

Chen Wan was not sure whether there was a trace of gratification in it, but he smiled openly and accepted the congratulations.

The two fell silent. Zhao Shengge spoke first. “I heard the proposal was excellent.”

The exhaustion and weariness from working day and night, forgetting food and sleep, all dissolved completely in that instant.

Chen Wan had never wanted any return from Zhao Shengge. He needed neither material repayment nor emotional reward. As long as he could truly, tangibly be of help, that was enough to satisfy him. Any extra praise or recognition was an unexpected delight.

There was no way Chen Wan could bring himself to mention how much heart and soul he had poured into it. He only modestly said it was because the evaluators thought too highly of him.

When the topic turned to cooperation, Zhao Shengge said it was not suitable to discuss over the phone, and told him to come to Minglong to talk in person.

“Alright, Mr. Zhao. When would it be convenient for you? I’ll come by your company for a visit.”

Zhao Shengge said, “I’ve finished my meeting.”

Chen Wan took a moment to process it, then caught on, inwardly marveling at the efficiency and decisiveness of an industry titan. “Then I should arrive in about forty minutes.”

His business partner happened to be in his office just then, and asked, “Leaving now? I’m heading out, I can drop you off.”

Before Chen Wan could answer, Zhao Shengge said over the phone, “I’ll have someone pick you up.”

Chen Wan said, “It’s fine. I can drive myself.”

“It’s your first time here. You won’t get through security in the core area. And,” Zhao Shengge said, with very little false modesty, “you might get lost, and you probably won’t be able to find parking either.”

Only then did Chen Wan realize that he really did not know the exact location of Zhao Shengge’s office. Minglong occupied half the complex. Several of the towers were only for employee offices. Zhao Shengge’s work location was confidential, with multiple layers of security screening. He could only say, “Then I’ll trouble you.”

The person Zhao Shengge sent arrived very quickly, carrying Chen Wan past Prince Edward Road West, around a section of the Central elevated road, and into an underground parking garage through a non-public access route.

After he got out of the car, that rumored second assistant, the one who had spoken with him on the phone, was already waiting there.

The bright, elegant city beauty smiled and said, “Mr. Chen, my name is He Yun. Just call me Assistant He.”

“Assistant He, pleased to meet you.”

Assistant He selected one elevator out of a whole row of identical ones and pressed it open, then gestured for him to enter.

After Chen Wan stepped inside, she unlocked it with her fingerprint, and the elevator slowly began to rise.

Chen Wan had thought the assistant would take him to a conference room, but it looked as though they were heading to Zhao Shengge’s office instead.

The office was on the seventy-second floor. It was neither ostentatious nor extravagant. There were not many things in it. The space was broad and imposing, and outside the window was Repulse Bay, the sea calm and open, the view extremely good.

“Mr. Zhao.” Chen Wan had not seen him for several days. Now that he suddenly did, he felt a little nervous inside, though none of it showed on his face.

Zhao Shengge rose from behind his desk. Today he was wearing a black shirt, crisp and clean-cut, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His rolled sleeves exposed faint veins along his forearms.

Chen Wan had never seen anyone wear black with such force of presence, a kind of gentle, understated authority.

Behind him was Haishi’s landmark skyline, every inch of it worth a fortune, with the deeply blue sea and an impossibly high, distant horizon.

“Coffee or tea?”

“Tea, please. Thank you.”

When Assistant He went out, she pulled the door mostly shut behind her. For some reason, neither of them spoke first, and the office fell quiet.

They had not seen each other for quite some time. Standing two meters apart, they looked at each other for a moment, and the relationship that had only just become slightly familiar seemed to have turned distant again.

Over the phone, when there was only voice, it was not as obvious. But once they were face to face, that unfamiliarity surfaced immediately.

It was unavoidable.

In truth, their acquaintance had always been shallow to begin with, and their relationship fragile. As long as either one of them stopped being quite so proactive, everything would return to the starting point.

Although both of them tried hard to appear natural, they both understood the change between them. So they were both very polite. But that change was not entirely just estrangement either. Mixed into it was something subtle and inexpressible.

Zhao Shengge was the first to speak. “Sit.”

He walked over to the guest sofa and said, “This is the first version of the contract drafted by Legal. Take a look.”

Chen Wan said alright, but his steps slowed slightly.

The guest seating area was laid out with one broad single main seat and one slightly longer side seat for guests. Zhao Shengge did not go sit in the main seat. He sat directly on the side seat instead.

Naturally, Chen Wan could not go sit in the main seat either. But sitting on the side seat next to Zhao Shengge, shoulder to shoulder, felt a little too intimate, a little too much of an overstep.

Zhao Shengge looked up and asked, “What is it?”

Chen Wan weighed it for a moment, then had no choice but to pretend nothing was wrong and walk over to sit beside him, though he still left an appropriate social distance between them.

Zhao Shengge seemed not to notice, and went straight to business.

Chen Wan considered himself a fairly responsible and professional person, but today Zhao Shengge was making his mind wander. Even though they were not sitting that close, Chen Wan could still feel the warmth coming from his arm.

Zhao Shengge’s arms must be very strong.

He could not help thinking that.

Chen Wan’s peripheral vision gradually drifted to Zhao Shengge’s lips and Adam’s apple. Every part of him seemed saturated with a sensual, almost excessive sexuality.

He must have gone too long without seeing Zhao Shengge.

Zhao Shengge leaned over and pointed at the sixth line on page twelve, asking for his opinion.

Chen Wan’s breathing turned lighter. Only then did it belatedly occur to him, why did such a massive company as Minglong need Party A and Party B to look over a single contract together?

Communication between smart people was extremely efficient. Very few people could keep up with Zhao Shengge’s train of thought and logic.

He was a born negotiator, steeped in the world of fame and profit for years, deeply versed in how to press down and restrain an opponent.

But Chen Wan possessed a rare kind of altruistic quality, one that was seldom seen in modern businessmen, and that instead made Zhao Shengge want to treat him even more generously.

Zhao Shengge pointed it out directly. “You don’t have to yield profit everywhere. If there are terms you should ask for, then ask for them, because I will ask for mine too.”

Chen Wan smiled. “The price Minglong is offering is already very sincere.”

“Then do you have any other questions?”

Chen Wan looked at the section listing the project lead. “May I ask, when the time comes, who from Minglong will be in charge of this project?”

Zhao Shengge raised his brows slightly and looked at him. “Me.”

Chen Wan parted his lips. He had assumed Zhao Shengge would only lend his name to it, and that once the contract was signed, it would be handed down to a vice president below him to execute.

“As for the Baoli Bay project, I’ve always handled it personally.”

Seeing that Chen Wan was staring at him in a daze, Zhao Shengge put on a rather serious tone to scare him a little.

“I’m the kind of person who has a lot going on. If the project requires it, I might call you or send you messages at irregular hours to ask about progress.”

“Of course.” Chen Wan was a very dedicated partner. “Of course. That’s only as it should be.”

By the time they finished settling the details, it was already after work, right at dinnertime.

Logically speaking, Chen Wan ought to be the one inviting the prospective client out for a meal. If it had been anyone else, he would already have said it.

But this was Zhao Shengge. Today’s meeting had already exceeded his expectations by far. To push further and extend an invitation now would inevitably seem a little greedy, a little insatiable.

He had never had a meal alone with Zhao Shengge before. This might be the only chance.

This project did not involve only Kexiang and Minglong. The Shen family and the Tan family were only investing capital and would not participate in actual operations, but the Xu family and an engineering team would also join later. Xu Zhiying and that chief engineering designer would be coming in afterward as well.

Just as Chen Wan was preparing to speak, Zhao Shengge closed the contract and said, “Chen Wan.”

Chen Wan looked up.

“Are you free tonight?”

Chen Wan’s mind exploded for a moment. “I am.”

Zhao Shengge closed the contract, stood up, and very naturally extended a hand. “Then let me treat my prospective partner to a meal.”

Chen Wan smiled faintly, also extended his hand, and shook his with formal politeness. “Then I’ll have to trouble President Zhao.”

Zhao Shengge drove personally, and Chen Wan sat in the front passenger seat, feeling as though it was all a little unreal.

With the hand hidden at his side, he secretly, almost reverently, lightly touched the leather seat. The in-car fragrance was faint, but strangely bewitching. His nose twitched slightly, and he even wanted to lean closer and smell it.

That would be too much of a loss of composure, Chen Wan thought as he lowered his eyes and fastened his seat belt.

If only this were a kidnapping. He might be the only hostage in the world who loved the kidnapper with complete devotion, and would willingly offer himself up as a sacrifice.

Dusk was gathering, and the lights were just coming on. Zhao Shengge drove Chen Wan through red lights and sunset glow, all the way from the Central interchange into the undersea tunnel, the forest of the city giving way one stretch after another to blue sky and open sea.

Inside the car, it was unusually quiet. A strange, restless atmosphere spread through the cabin.

Zhao Shengge turned on the radio and said, “Pick one.”

Chen Wan casually turned it to a rather old Cantonese song, then paused.

“You ask when the grapes will finally ripen. You must wait quietly, and wait again. Even if the harvest fails, you still have to keep watch.”

Zhao Shengge switched on the right turn signal and asked, “What is it singing about?”

Chen Wan thought for a moment and said, “Singing about… planting grapes?”

“…”

Zhao Shengge turned his eyes back to the road, suppressing the slight upward curve of his mouth as he turned the wheel. “Is that so?”

Chen Wan straightened a little and nodded. “Probably. I’m not very sure either.”

That little bit of idle talk swept away quite a lot of the awkwardness and unfamiliarity from the start of their meeting.