Judging from how much Sang Yu cared for Shen Peichuan, there was no way Su Zhan would believe that she was not attracted to him. They must be into each other as they would not have made out so passionately in public otherwise.
Sang Yu inferred from his expression and guessed as much what was on his mind. She explained, “I must have gotten Chief Shen into trouble. This is probably going to affect him badly, am I right?”
“Most definitely I think. After all, his status is quite special.” Su Zhan was very perceptive when it comes to people so he intended to exaggerate the gravity of the situation in order to guilt-trip Sang Yu. He reckoned that by doing so, it ought to be able to help accelerate the development of the relationship between Shen Peichuan and her.
He then quietly thought to himself that he might just be the best person ever, as no one else in the world would possibly have devoted as much effort towards securing his buddy’s future happiness as he did. Su Zhan felt that anyone who could deservedly hail him as a friend must have had attained some good karma.
“At best, Shen Peichuan might be getting a tongue lashing right now… and at worst, it could dampen his career prospects,” Su Zhan sighed as he purposely made things sound dismal.
Sang Yu bit her lip as she felt at fault for dragging Shen Peichuan down.
It did not take much from Su Zhan to reduce the young and impressionable Sang Yu to a bundle of nerves as she fell for his ruse easily. “Would I be able to see him?”
Su Zhan said, “I’ll have to take you to see someone first. We could contact him now but I’m not sure if he’d be able to make himself available.”
With that, the duo left the school compound and stood together by the roadside as they waited for a ride. He turned to Sang Yu, “I’ll be looking to you for your cooperation should the need arises.”
“You can count on me for anything that would offer Chief Shen some relief,” Sang Yu responded quickly as she was worried Su Zhan might doubt her commitment were she to appear indecisive.
“Relax. I’m sure we’ll be able to help him.” Su Zhan smiled broadly. When he noticed the paleness on Sang Yu’s face, he was concerned that he might have saddled her with too much pressure.
A taxi approached and Su Zhan raised his hand to flag it down. He opened the door for Sang Yu and followed her in after he saw that she was properly seated. As he closed the door, he looked ahead and said, “To Wanyue Group.”
“Sure,” replied the driver. Soon, the taxi was on its way.
En route to Wanyue, Su Zhan began to introduce himself to Sang Yu, “You already know that Peichuan and I are close friends.”
Sang Yu nodded. Preoccupied about Shen Peichuan’s well-being, she held her hands together in unease.
“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Su Zhan. You can call me Su Zhan just as Peichuan does. I’m a lawyer by profession at my own firm, but I have not been handling cases personally for a while now.”
Sang Yu listened to Su Zhan but pursed her lips without replying. That day at the shop, she had already known that the three of them were no ordinary individuals.
“How about you? Why don’t you tell me about yourself?” Su Zhan smiled as he asked.
Sang Yu instinctively kept her head bowed, self-conscious of the fact that she did not walk in the same social circles as them. She replied meekly, “I don’t have any relatives. My father is dead and my mother is currently serving out a prison sentence.”
Su Zhan did not probe Shen Peichuan about Sang Yu’s background as he was not particularly class conscious. He thought that given a choice anyone would have wished for both of their parents to be present so that they may have a happy childhood growing up with a complete family.
He understood that when it comes to circumstances surrounding one’s birth, no one gets to choose what family they would be born in. Outsiders may envy that he was young, good-looking, successful, and seemed to lack for nothing save a woman to marry and start a family with. But even he too had struggles of his own that he would rather not speak of.
Su Zhan placed a reassuring hand on Sang Yu’s shoulder, “We are not so different, you and I. Beneath mere appearances, we are all human beings with our fair share of struggles.”
He usually came across as articulate and highly competent, able to dissect matters with clarity and handle them dependably. But when it came to dealing with Qin Ya, he just could not seem to get anything right.
Due to Su Zhan’s talent for conversations, Sang Yu had become visibly less nervous.
They continued to chat for a while more before the taxi stopped in front of Wanyue Group’s premises. Su Zhan paid the fare and got off, but held the door as he waited for Sang Yu to alight.
Sang Yu lowered her head when she stepped out. As she stood by the roadside, she raised her head and took in the view of the towering skyscraper in front of her which had become an architectural landmark in B City’s financial district.
Never before had she been so close to this sort of place which she used to only gaze at from afar, and never had she imagined that she could one day have an opportunity to go inside.
Su Zhan smiled at Sang Yu, “There’s no need to stand on ceremony. The person we are here to see is no stranger and someone very much like Peichuan and myself. I had to bring you here as we would need to ask him for help for the situation at hand.”
Sang Yu acknowledged this and reiterated her stance, “I understand. I’m willing to do anything so long as it helps.”
Su Zhan was delighted for Shen Peichuan, as he saw in this girl a certain strength and sense of responsibility that belies her diminutive stature. It doesn’t matter what her family background was as it was not like Shen Peichuan was going to marry her parents, so who they were did not matter so long as she was good for him.
He smacked himself for thinking so far ahead when the focus should be on what was happening right now, “Come on. Let’s head inside.”
Su Zhan was a familiar face hence the reception did not intercept him and they were able to make their way up to the top level with no trouble. They then chanced upon Guan Jing as he was coming out of the President’s office. Su Zhan called out to him and asked if Zong Jinghao was around.
“He just got back in and is aware of the current situation,” Guan Jing said as he looked past Su Zhan and smiled at Sang Yu who was standing behind him, “Ah, that must be Shen Peichuan’s best-kept secret.”
Guan Jing had no idea that Shen Peichuan got attached, and with a young one at that. I heard that she’s a freshman at a university. My, my, who would have thought that old rascal, Shen Peichuan would snag himself a woman so much younger than him? If not for Sang Yu’s emergence, Guan Jing would have been convinced that the notorious bachelor Shen Peichuan was only interested in men.
Su Zhan wore a humorless expression as he warned Guan Jing, “Behave yourself.”
It’s not a done deal yet. Don’t spook her off.
Guan Jing cleared his throat as he realized how his excessive eyeballing might have made Sang Yu uncomfortable. “Go on ahead,” he exhaled, “I still have plenty of work waiting for me to attend to.”
Su Zhan playfully poked fun at Guan Jing who had been slogging like a horse all day, “Somebody should give this man a raise!”
Guan Jing wore a straight face, “I have no time to mess around you.” He then went on to attend to his own affairs.
Guan Jing was a rather wealthy man himself. With an annual income comparable to that of small business owners, his net worth might rival or even exceed that of Su Zhan.
Su Zhan had no time for idle banter either. He took Sang Yu with him and rapped on the office door. Zong Jinghao, who was in the middle of reading the news, answered in an even voice, “Come in.”
Su Zhan pushed through the door with Sang Yu in tow. Zong Jinghao did not redirect his attention to the visitors as he continued to scan through the articles about Shen Peichuan which had been pulled up on his browser. He had returned to the office straight off the flight from C City and still had the same clothes he had worn from before on him. His button-up shirt was crumpled and he looked haggard as he had not been able to get in much rest over the past two days.
“This issue is rather thorny and with the way information about it is spreading, the ramifications on Peichuan could be considerable.” Su Zhan’s eyebrows perked up at the sight of the rare stubble on the jaw of the man seated in front of the computer but thought that the rugged look did not look half bad and rather accentuated his manliness.
He nearly slapped himself at that thought. I’m a regular heterosexual man. I must have gone mad to find Zong Jinghao gorgeous…
He thought to himself that perhaps this was the sort of legendary charm associated with “bad” boys.
Zong Jinghao finally peeled his eyes away from the screen and shifted them briefly onto Su Zhan, then to Sang Yu who stood quietly to Su Zhan’s rear. He then dialed the extension to the secretary’s seat and instructed them to connect him with the Department of Public Relations, “Get me their chief.”
With the landline phone in hand, his attention was instead tuned to his cellphone screen.
On the lock screen display was a photograph of Lin Xinyan.
It was taken while he sat awake by the bed and watched her sleep peacefully, with her hand in his. Her hand was small and delicate in comparison as it rested on his palm. With her slender fingers and defined joints. There were no varnish applied nor fancy work done on her nails, and he very much liked how they were neatly trimmed and clean.
By simply looking at the photograph, Zong Jinghao could remember how it was like just to hold her hand back then, and that made him feel warm inside.
