"What's going on? I thought he was going to make trouble for Wang Congcong—why did he suddenly leave?"
"Didn't you notice the guy in the middle looks anything but ordinary? Xu Zhi raised his glass to him the moment he walked over."
"Right, who is he? Besides him, we all know the other three, yeah?"
Just then a girl scrolling on her phone held it out to the guy with his arm around her: "Bro Lin, look—this him? I swear it's the same face."
The guy took one look and swore under his breath: "Bloody hell, it really is."
At that the rest crowded round for a peek.
"I saw that hot search too—they say he's the big boss of Xingchen Company."
"Definitely not simple. Anyone who can sit with Xu Zhi's old man… no wonder Xu Zhi let Wang Congcong off today."
"What's his background, though? My dad and his buddies were talking about the same hot search at dinner."
"No idea, but he must be someone huge. Did you see him whistling while ignoring even Xu Zhi's dad? I've replayed that clip loads."
"You think that's why Xu Zhi didn't dare touch Wang Congcong?"
"Highly likely. Anyone Xu Zhi treats that respectfully can't be normal."
"I was saying yesterday the Xingchen boss must have serious backing—otherwise who'd care who he is in that crowd, right?"
"Well duh."
…Watching the chattering pack, Shen Shuang rolled her eyes and said to Jiang Churan, "Chu Ran, let's go say hi too?"
Jiang Churan hesitated. "Sister Shuang, isn't that a bit much? After all…"
Shen Shuang understood, patted her shoulder lightly and smiled. "Stop over-thinking—look over there."
Jiang Churan followed her gaze.
The Second-generation rich kids who'd just been bad-mouthing Jiang Cheng were already drifting toward the VIP booth in twos and threes.
Glasses in hand, they wore fawning smiles as they toasted Wang Congcong and Jiang Cheng.
The sight rocked Jiang Churan's worldview like nothing before.
"This…"
Shen Shuang read her mind,
grinned, took her hand and declared brightly,
"Come on! I know you're not into guys like Xu Zhi, but with your face-hound habits the Xingchen boss is definitely your type—maybe you'll even snag his WeChat in a bit!"
Jiang Churan teased, "Sister Shuang, who was it that told me to hold back a minute ago?"
"Haha, that was about Principal Wang and Xu Zhi—famous playboys. Sure they're generous and you can earn quick cash, but their attention spans last about five seconds; how could I let you suffer that? As for this Handsome Guy—still an unknown quantity. Let's go investigate; maybe a nice surprise. Worst case, you leave with his WeChat—no harm done~"
Laughing, Shen Shuang towed Jiang Churan toward the booth.
Moments later they stood at the table.
Seeing Shen Shuang and Jiang Churan, Wang Congcong didn't wave them off like the other heirs.
He'd already spotted the hunger in Jiang Cheng's eyes when Jiang Cheng looked at Jiang Churan.
"Come, come, sit! I told you to join us earlier—took you long enough," Wang Congcong beamed.
Shen Shuang smiled politely and greeted Jiang Cheng,
then said hello to He Youjun and the rest before explaining, "Brother Wang, sorry—we'd promised the others first, didn't dare ditch them. They left early so now we're here to steal your seats—hope you don't mind~"
"Cut the crap, your family owns half the malls in town; it's not like they're closing tomorrow. Steal seats? Your dad'd kill you."
After the banter Wang Congcong parked the two girls right beside Jiang Cheng,
then shot Jiang Cheng a smug raised-eyebrow look.
Jiang Cheng silently gave him a thumbs-up for the assist.
Seeing a girl suddenly seated next to Jiang Cheng, the other women burned with envy,
but since it was Wang Congcong's arrangement none dared make a scene.
They could only sway to the club music and shift their sights to He Youjun and Zheng Zhigang.
Noting Jiang Churan's shyness, Shen Shuang took the initiative: "Young Master Jiang, you two share a surname—talk about fate."
Jiang Cheng smiled. "You're right—kismet. We look about the same age; just call me Jiang Cheng—already introduced myself."
His lack of airs finally put Jiang Churan at ease.
She smiled. "I'm nineteen, and you?"
Though Jiang Cheng already knew every stat about her from his people-scanner,
he played surprised.
"Whoa, you're older than me by a year?"
The remark drew priceless looks from Jiang Churan and Shen Shuang.
They'd assumed Jiang Cheng must have graduated college—twenty-something at least—
never imagining he was only eighteen!
An eighteen-year-old boss of Xingchen Company?
Who drops seven-figure bar tabs between classes?
"Only eighteen?" Jiang Churan blurted.
"Still think eighteen's too small?"
Unlike the others, Jiang Churan missed the innuendo completely.
Watching Shen Shuang clamp a hand over her mouth and laugh, Jiang Churan blinked innocently. "Sister Shuang, what's so funny about my question?"
Jiang Cheng put on a straight face. "Weird—no idea what she's laughing at."
That cracked Shen Shuang up even harder; when she finally caught her breath she gasped, "He's—he's pulling your leg!"
Jiang Churan stared, wide-eyed. "Huh? Why would he tease me?"
Before Shen Shuang could answer, Jiang Cheng jumped in: "Honestly, I still don't get the joke."
Anyone else and Shen Shuang would've rolled her eyes sky-high,
but with Jiang Cheng's invisible clout and that dead-serious expression she was momentarily stumped.
She could only shrug and tell Jiang Churan, "Nothing, I just remembered something hilarious."
.