WHI – Chapter 37

Chapter 37

It had been raining continuously for a while, making the air feel thin and stifling.

Finally, the sky cleared today, sunlight piercing through the thoroughly washed heavens and falling onto the computer screen, past Wen Lan’s shoulder.

Today marked the start of college application submissions.

He didn’t know what score Lin Ting had achieved, nor which schools he had applied to—though that answer was no longer his concern.

“Wen Lan, come down once you’ve filled out your application!” his father urged anxiously from downstairs.

Wen Lan had discussed his choice of university with his father, Wen Tan, long ago. However, compared to this matter, tonight’s dinner was far more important to Wen Tan.

Recently, Wen Tan had been overwhelmed by his company’s cash flow problems, even almost arranging a marriage alliance for him with the granddaughter of the Liu Group.

Fortunately, she had looked down on him, a ‘notorious’ spoiled brat, and used the excuse of wanting to study abroad to decline the match herself.

Tonight, Wen Tan was meeting an old classmate, Zhuang Zhuo, who had just returned to the country this year. Zhuang Zhuo was planning to transfer his family’s industries from North America to China and was looking for a reliable company to invest in, to test the waters of the domestic market.

If they could secure this equity financing, the company’s operational issues would be resolved. Even if the old men on the board were displeased, they could only raise a few pointed questions at the board meeting, but ultimately, their votes would be in the minority.

Wen Lan closed his laptop, changed his clothes, and went downstairs.

This dinner was being held under the guise of a ‘class reunion,’ where both families would meet and dine, and ‘incidentally’ discuss the financing. That’s why he had been dragged along.

As dusk settled, the setting sun cast a layer of golden sand in the west, enveloping the black Maybach, creating a play of light and shadow like an old movie poster.

The driver turned the steering wheel quietly.

Wen Tan, in the back seat, squinted for a moment before opening his eyes again. “Which university did you say you were applying to again?”

Wen Lan gazed quietly out the window, the orange-red streetlights flashing past his face, his eyes holding an unfathomable darkness. “Capital City, Aeronautical University.”

Wen Tan nodded. “That’s good. By the way, your Uncle Zhuang’s father-in-law lives in Capital City. He’s in the medical equipment business. You could visit him then.”

“Mhm,” Wen Lan responded softly through his nose.

There was some traffic, but they still arrived twenty minutes earlier than the appointed time.

The dinner venue was on a cruise ship located a short distance from the city center.

This was once a bustling pier. Wen Lan had seen it in Republican-era films, with crates of goods piled at his feet, then transported to all parts of the country.

But time erodes everything. With the decline of the pier, this land was leased and transformed into a seaside restaurant. Several small cruise ships were quietly sailing at a very slow speed along a specific route not far from the pier.

A waiter led the two of them onto the cruise ship and then stood back at the serving station, taking a bottle of red wine from the ice bucket with one hand and wiping away water droplets with a white cloth in the other.

“May we serve the cold appetizers now?” the waiter asked, placing a gyroscope-shaped decanter in the center of the round dining table and leaning slightly.

Wen Tan checked his phone and nodded. “Please do. Three more people will be here shortly.”

The waiter poured red wine into the five wine glasses in front of them, which gleamed like rubies under the bright lights inside the ship.

The sky had completely darkened. The neon lights around the pier had all lit up one after another. Wen Lan stared at a large screen on the opposite bank, displaying advertisements that changed tens of thousands of times a minute, through the cruise ship’s glass window for a long time.

It wasn’t until Wen Tan’s greeting voice pulled Wen Lan’s attention back.

“Old Wen! It’s really been a long time!” A middle-aged man, appearing to be around Wen Tan’s age, approached with a hearty laugh.

This man, dressed in what seemed casual but was meticulously detailed, must be Zhuang Zhuo.

Behind him were two women. One, appearing older, was likely his wife. The other, about twenty years old, was probably his daughter.

“Hello, Uncle Zhuang,” Wen Lan said, standing up behind his father and greeting him.

“This must be… Wen Lan! Your father has mentioned you. You truly are a talented young man!” As a businessman, Zhuang Zhuo had likely already figured out everything about the Wen family.

Wen Tan responded with a few humble words. Zhuang Zhuo then introduced his wife and daughter separately, and the five of them sat down.

The cruise ship slowly set sail. A violinist in a long red silk dress gave a slight nod and began to play a piece of Massenet’s Méditation.

Wen Lan had little interest in such gatherings. While eating the unappetizing food in front of him, his gaze occasionally drifted to the night sea view outside the window.

The colorful neon lights reflected on the sea, shimmering with the gentle waves.

The crisp clinking of glasses reached his ears, sounding even more luxurious in this setting.

Wen Lan listlessly answered Zhuang Zhuo’s irrelevant questions, only to find himself sadly full.

He had just raised his chopsticks when he put them down again, watching Wen Tan skillfully steer the conversation towards equity financing.

“Brother Wen, but I heard that Wen Group’s cash flow had a net outflow of over a billion in the past two quarters…” Zhuang Zhuo understood Wen Tan’s intention and no longer concealed his thoughts, taking a sip of his red wine.

Wen Tan’s expression remained calm. “Do you know that Deep Sea Group is building a medical technology park in the Western Suburbs at the end of the year? We’ve secured that project.”

A fleeting look of surprise flashed in Zhuang Zhuo’s eyes. “Director Gao of Deep Sea Group is very difficult to deal with. Old Wen, you’ve still got it.”

Wen Tan pressed his advantage. “Old Zhuang, I won’t hide it from you. Director Gao asked me when we last met if I knew of any domestic companies doing medical equipment. I haven’t replied yet…”

Here it comes again, the exchange of interests between old foxes. Wen Lan’s ears were about to grow calluses listening to this.

Wen Lan could accept classmates catching up, and he could accept business cooperation, but he couldn’t accept business mutual aid disguised as friendship.

When emotions are no longer pure and interests are not clearly defined, everything becomes awkward and out of place.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have a habit of storming off in a huff, so he could only idly twirl his wine glass.

“I think the two children must be bored. Wen Lan, why don’t you take Miss Zhuang upstairs to look around?” Wen Tan suggested.

Zhuang Yian? Who?

Ah, it must be Zhuang Zhuo’s daughter. She had probably finished eating too and was casually looking at her phone.

Before Wen Lan could refuse—he had always been too lazy to interact with these boring young ladies—Zhuang Yian picked up her handbag and stood up, heading towards the stairs. As she passed Wen Lan, she casually said, “Let’s go.”

He had no choice but to grab his phone and follow her.

The second floor of the cruise ship was a semi-open space. The summer breeze was cool and refreshing. Wen Lan walked to the edge of the deck, leaning on the railing, quietly enjoying the sea breeze.

Zhuang Yian leaned on the railing a short distance away, showing no intention of talking to Wen Lan. She was holding her phone, which she could finally play with openly, her thumbs flying across the screen, a silly smile on her face.

Wen Lan looked at his own phone. His messages with Lin Ting were still stuck on his last sent message: ‘I like you.’

Damn it, the anger in his heart was growing.

“Could you please stop smiling?” The railing under Wen Lan trembled with Zhuang Yian’s laughter. He couldn’t help but offer an unfriendly suggestion to the young lady he had just met.

It was mainly that he had nowhere to vent his pent-up emotions recently, and she happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“Sorry. I was chatting with my boyfriend.” Zhuang Yian realized her lapse in etiquette, put down her phone, and smiled at Wen Lan. “My name is Zhuang Yian. I’m a sophomore at Capital City Aeronautical University. I came to S City with my dad for the summer. How about you?”

Wen Lan felt increasingly that this person was stepping on his nerves. His expression involuntarily darkened slightly. “Wen Lan. I’ll be at the same school as you starting in September.”

Zhuang Yian, completely oblivious to Wen Lan’s attitude, became even more excited. “Whoa, what a coincidence! What’s your major? I’ll take you around Capital City then.”

Wen Lan looked at Zhuang Yian, feeling that the person in front of him seemed a bit… low in emotional intelligence, no, low in intelligence. “Thank you, but no. I’d rather not get beaten up by your boyfriend.”

Zhuang Yian paused, then burst into laughter. “It’s okay if the two of us take you around, haha.”

Wen Lan said, ‘We’ll see,’ and cut off the conversation. The two quickly retreated into their own little worlds.

One looking at her phone and smiling, the other looking at the night view… dispirited and gloomy.

Soon, a waiter came up to the second floor, saying they were being called downstairs.

When Wen Lan returned to the first floor of the cruise ship, the atmosphere at the dining table had changed from tense to harmonious. He didn’t know what consensus they had reached.

But he soon found out.

“Wen Lan, have you and Miss Zhuang exchanged contact information?” Wen Tan asked Wen Lan kindly.

Wen Lan had to admit, he was unaccustomed to hearing such a caring tone from his father after so long. He quickly shook his head. “No.”

Zhuang Zhuo called out to Zhuang Yian. “Yian, I just found out that Young Master Wen is going to the same university as you!”

“I know. He just told me upstairs,” Zhuang Yian said, pointing towards the ceiling.

The three at the table seemed to get excited and urged the two to exchange contact details, then joked, “If we become in-laws, the first child must be surnamed Zhuang.”

“That won’t do. Old Zhuang, that’s unfair. He must be surnamed Wen.”

“What are you saying…”

Wen Lan quickly realized something was wrong. “What are you talking about? I don’t want an arranged marriage.”

Zhuang Zhuo’s expression stiffened, and Wen Tan also looked flustered. “This is something for us adults to decide. It’s not like we’re asking you to get married now. You should get to know each other first…”

Wen Lan’s intention was firm. Knowing he couldn’t reason with his father, he turned to Zhuang Zhuo. “Uncle Zhuang, I’m sorry, your daughter is excellent, but she and I are impossible. Besides, doesn’t she already have a boyfriend?”

As soon as he said this, Wen Lan felt a sense of foreboding. It might be an underground relationship, and he had just exposed it. Just as he was about to backtrack, he heard the girl on the opposite side speak.

“It’s a girlfriend, so… it doesn’t prevent us from having an arranged marriage, does it?” Zhuang Yian said with a smiling face.