Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Zhou Dequan had three subordinates following him. The three of them were all tall and slender. Only he—a fat man of good fortune—had a pot belly and round face. When he sat on the VIP area, it felt like a huge lump of meat on the seat and that made the eyes hurt.
However, although he was ugly, he had an imposing aura.
The moment he sat on the VIP seat after his subordinates ushered him to it, the surrounding neighboring seats started to offer their greetings to him. Their attitude was very respectful as they fawned over him…
“Haha, today must be a good day as Brother Six is here!”
“Please sit down, please sit down.” Zhou Dequan waved to these people in a friendly manner. “Thank you, thank you.”
“I remember Brother Six disliked such crowded and noisy occasions. It seems like this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival Gala is not ordinary. Haha.”
The few of them tried to strike a conversation with Zhou Dequan.
Zhou Dequan held his prayer beads throughout, smiling amicably at everyone.
“I’m already so old, I need to go out more often. Otherwise, who knows how long my legs can bring me freely around…”
“Brother Six, you shouldn’t crack such jokes? How can your age be considered old? You’re still young. Even those young 20-year-old lads can’t be compared to you…”
“Haha!” Zhou Dequan laughed, but it was just fake laughter. He seemed to have become immune to all these words of flattery and took a glance at that person who said that. “I actually did not want to participate in such events. But a couple of leaders called me up personally to get me to come,” he sighed as if it was from the bottom of his heart, “I can’t refuse their invitations repeatedly!”
“Of course, of course, Brother Six is the leading entrepreneur in our province. Now that you showed up in this event, it has become more prestigious and important.”
“Nah, I’m just a normal person, a normal person. It’s the leaders who think highly of me and wanted to show their appreciation…”
“Brother Six, you’re too modest, too modest…”
Such flattery sounded too awkward.
However, those in it totally did not feel that way. They could say it so naturally and smoothly without a tinge of guilt.
As the saying goes, ‘one would not wake up early if there are no benefits’. These people must be trying to ride on Zhao Dequan’s bandwagon and turn some money…
Xiang Wan was focused and looked at the audience. She stroked on the noise-cancelling intercom headset in her ear as she stood quietly but her attention was mainly on Brother Six.
The distinguished guests had came in from the reception.
Very soon, several important personnel of “The Grey List” appeared, guided by the female ushers as they walked towards the seats for the distinguished guests.
As they walked, they smiled and waved gracefully to the audience.
The scene was filled with shouts of surprise and excitement, louder than anyone else who had entered earlier.
“Ye Lun, Ye Lun, love you forever!”
“Wanwan… Wanwan… Xie Wanwan… AHH… Here, here!”
“Look at me, look at me… Look over here!”
“Qi Ke! Qi Ke! You’re so handsome!”
“…”
Under the screams and shouts of the audience cheering for their favorite celebrity, the host laughed and bantered about it to break the ice with the audience. At this moment, Zhou Dequan exchanged glances with a guest sitting on his left.
The guest seemed to understand what he wanted. He seemed to give him a congratulatory nod, and made his way to another seat.
With that, Zhou Dequan’s left seat become empty, and it happened to be on the same row with the film crew of “The Grey List”, but separated by an aisle.
As the guests from “The Grey List” proceeded to take their seats, one of the men took a glance at the direction toward Zhou Dequan then suddenly walked to Xie Wanwan and talked to her at the ear.
As there was music playing in the hall and Xiang Wan was standing very near to the stage, even though Xiang Wan had worn the noise-cancelling headset, she was unable to hear the conversation as she was also a distance away from them.
But she could clearly feel that after Xie Wanwan finished hearing the man out, her expression sank and looked stiff, as though frozen on the spot.
That man put his palms together, bowed to her, and talked to her at the ear, relentlessly. His eyes full of pleading and his face almost breaking into a forced grin as he begged her…
Seeing him, Xiang Wan could not help but thought of the conversation she overheard in the afternoon…
Could this man be that Mr. B from the film crew that she eavesdropped on? She looked from the corner of her eye instead of looking directly at them.
Xie Wanwan seemed to bicker with him, but about two minutes later, she got up unwillingly from her seat, smiling as she made her way to sit beside Zhou Dequan, on the left.
…
That sight startled Xiang Wan.
It felt as though her heart felt goosebumps and she tried to search for Bai Muchuan.
“Attention, all teams take note.”
She heard Bai Muchuan’s voice from the ear piece.
“The guests are entering one after another. Please keep your spirits up and concentrate on your work. No sneaking off allowed.
“Pay attention to observe and identify suspicious personnel.
“In case of any accident, activate the emergency plan immediately…”
Xiang Wan was unable to see him but she could his stern and attractive voice. Her ear… felt itchy.
She did not know how the others were feeling after listening to him, but she knew very well that she always thought her man’s voice was too flirtatious, too enchanting that could make one burn with righteous ardor.
Thinking of this, she exchanged a glance to a fellow police officer who was standing close to the VIP seats, the section closest to Zhou Dequan. She walked over quietly and changed her position with him.
…
The man whom Xiang Wan suspected to be Mr. B followed Xie Wanwan over and sat on her left seat, separated by the aisle. Throughout, he had a fake looking smile as he did a simple introduction on Zhou Dequan and Xie Wanwan respectively.
By now, Xie Wanwan’s expression had recovered to her usual natural expression. She smiled and extended her hand to Zhou Dequan.
“I’ve heard a lot about Brother Six… I’ve arrived in Jin City not too long ago. Brother Six, please take care of me.”
The meat on Zhou Dequan’s face were all squeezed together to form a very pleased smile. He held Xie Wanwan’s hand tightly for a moment. “Definitely, definitely, with Miss Xie’s, if anyone else dared to make trouble for you in Jin City, that is equivalent to finding fault with me, Zhou Dequan!”
“Thank you, Brother Six!”
Xie Wanwan’s acting skills were good. She smiled without much emotion and tried to retract her hand quickly.
However, Zhou Dequan held her hand tightly.
The first time, she was unable to pull her hand away and was slightly taken aback. Her beautiful watery eyes looked at Zhou Dequan in hesitation. “Brother Six?”
Zhou Dequan looked at her straight in the eye and smiled meaningfully. He slowly let go of her hand and twiddled his fingers.
“How old is Little Xie this year?”
Such simple conversation seemed as though the elder of a family was talking to the younger generation.
Xie Wanwan smiled, pursing her lips. “Brother Six, asking a woman her age is a sensitive topic. Just take it that I’m 18 years old.”
“Oh,” responded Zhou Dequan as he looked at her amicably. Suddenly, he asked jokingly in a soft voice. “Little Xie should have left that home for youths around 18 years old, right? When you arrived at your new home, do you get nightmares?”
In no time, Xie Wanwan’s face was drained of color.
She looked at Zhou Dequan, her face stiff and did not say a word. Zhou Dequan, on the other hand, looked natural as though he was really just concerned about her.
By comparison, it was obvious who could act better.
Xie Wanwan suddenly chuckled and looked a little cold. “Brother Six, thank you for your concern. I don’t do things that go against my conscience so I don’t get nightmares. How about you, Brother Six?”
Zhou Dequan narrowed his eyes to a squint as he glanced at Xie Wanwan for a moment and a somewhat disgusting smile slowly formed on his face. He suddenly lifted his hand that held Xie Wanwan’s hand earlier. He brought it up to his nose, closed his eyes, and smelled it, heaving a sigh as though he was besotted by it. “I like the way you talk now. I like this smell…”