Chapter 64: Falling Leaves Are Not Coincidental
When Chen Wan woke up, he was alone. The bruises on his arm and chest had turned a deep purple, and he touched them almost reverently.
A night had passed, but the pain still lingered as if Zhao Shengge were holding him in a vice-like grip.
Zhao Shengge had left either in the night or early morning. The other side of the bed still held a faint warmth, and Chen Wan buried his face in it for a while before leaving the house.
As he got into the car, his eyelid fluttered, but Chen Wan didn’t pay much attention. His schedule was packed today: meeting Liao Quan, whom he had left hanging for two days, handling the share transfer procedures with Chen Bingxin, and then going to Taiji to sign a shady contract with Ge Xi...
He picked up his phone and made a call: "Ah Xuan, could you do me a favor?"
After he finished speaking, Zhuo Zhixuan paused for a moment, then said, "Chen Wan."
"Are you still trying to win Zhao Shengge over?"
"Yes," Chen Wan said, pausing for a moment before adding, "I’ll pursue him with integrity."
"Then don’t pursue him. If you pull this kind of stunt, he’ll only destroy you."
Chen Wan put the medicine away and said, "I’ll explain it to him clearly."
Zhuo Zhixuan didn’t respond and slammed the phone down.
Chen Wan sighed. A moment later, the other person sent a long voice message filled with Cantonese and expletives.
After listening, Chen Wan smiled helplessly.
Central was eerily quiet in the early morning. Minglong stood proudly amidst the forest of skyscrapers, and except for the employees who had worked late the previous night and rested directly in the company, no one had come to work yet.
The standalone office building in the heart of the district was the first to illuminate.
Zhao Shengge glanced at his phone—silent. Chen Wan probably hadn’t woken up yet.
Last night had indeed gone too far. No matter what position he demanded, Chen Wan didn’t hesitate or refuse for even a second.
Even with tears welling in his eyes, he still asked Zhao Shengge, "Are you comfortable?"
"I can lift it even higher."
"..." Zhao Shengge’s fury burned hotter. He remained silent, his expression blank, but his movements became even more fierce.
The sun rose from the direction of the Pearl Bridge. After resting briefly for a few minutes, Zhao Shengge called Shen Zongnian.
The shell company they had looked into last time had gone cold. During yesterday’s event, Ge Xi, the head of Taiji, came over to chat with Xu Zhiying, and the two hit it off.
Zhao Shengge listened more and spoke less.
Xu Zhiying was clearly enthusiastic about securing Taiji’s sponsorship, while Chen Wan proposed the Yao family. However, Zhao Shengge wasn’t entirely satisfied with either option. The Yao family indeed had deep roots overseas, but that also made them harder to control.
Shen Zongnian didn’t answer the phone, so Zhao Shengge called again.
This time, the phone rang once and was immediately hung up.
"..." Zhao Shengge probably knew who it was and didn’t call again.
As the sun rose higher, people gradually started coming to work in the park, and the familiar bitter scent of coffee permeated the Minglong building.
The secretary came in to report to Zhao Shengge: "Currently, Ms. Song’s assets and Mr. Chen’s have almost no overlap, except for some real estate transfers or high-value insurance beneficiary connections. Ms. Song’s recent equity holdings haven’t changed much, so this bottom-fishing shouldn’t be related to her."
Zhao Shengge nodded.
Rongxin’s stock price had always shown a kind of false prosperity. Buying at the bottom was a tactic Zhao Shengge had used on Financial Street, but the rules were different domestically, and such tactics could be either minor or major infractions.
It was unclear whether it was Ge Xi or Xu Zhiying who had such a big appetite.
"However, it will take some time to investigate her recent equity transaction records. Rongxin’s management is very chaotic, and their disclosures are not transparent."
The secretary replied with a hint of guilt. Zhao Shengge wasn’t a harsh boss; although he lacked warmth, he was emotionally stable, focused on facts, and never made things difficult for others. However, this was already the second time Zhao Shengge had instructed him on this matter, and he hadn’t done well.
Zhao Shengge didn’t say anything, only: "Continue to investigate."
There were likely several forces taking advantage of the chaos. Rongxin, an un-reformed family business, suffered from severe internal conflicts, with each branch having its own agenda, making investigations time-consuming.
The secretary breathed a sigh of relief and left.
Wednesday, an ordinary workday.
As the workday neared its end, the expanded meeting of Minglong’s senior management was about to conclude when the secretary hurriedly entered the meeting room, stopped by the special assistant.
The secretary’s expression was extremely serious: "It's about Mr. Chen."
The special assistant was taken aback, hesitated for a moment, then let him through.
The secretary strode into the meeting room and, under everyone’s gaze, whispered a few words to Zhao Shengge.
Unfazed, Zhao Shengge calmly instructed the vice president to continue chairing the meeting and then stood up to leave with the secretary.
Zhao Shengge walked briskly, his tone calm, instructing the secretary as they went: "Contact He Yide immediately."
He Yide serves on the Haishi Supervision Commission.
Moments ago, Chen Wan was issued a notice by the Supervision Committee.
He has been ordered to appear for questioning within 24 hours.
Zhao Shengge walked briskly, his face expressionless, speaking methodically and logically: "Call Han Jin and tell him that if he attempts to sign a dissolution of partnership agreement with Chen Wan, Minglong will pursue Kexiang for breach of contract to the fullest extent."
Zhao Shengge had told Shen Zongnian he didn’t understand Chen Wan, but now he realized he hadn’t known him as well as he thought.
The fog in Zhao Shengge’s mind had never been so clear.
To his surprise, this risky maneuver was neither Ge Xi nor Xu Zhiying.
Financing in the tens of millions is no small sum.
Zhao Shengge blamed himself for overestimating Chen Wan’s moral standards—manipulating massive deals, shifting blame, and redirecting trouble—all hallmarks of Chen Wan’s style.
It wasn’t yet rush hour, so the overpass was clear. From the rearview mirror, the secretary noticed Zhao Shengge was constantly on the phone.
He remained calm and composed, methodical, though not quite as effortlessly poised as usual.
After he hung up the phone, the secretary personally handed him a file.
"Mr. Zhao, this came to light while investigating the Chen family’s branch shareholding ratios and Song Qingmiao’s personal asset transfers over the years."
After Song Qingmiao entered the Chen family, she intensified the internal strife in Rongxin, with the shareholding ratios and power shifts of the branches fluctuating.
However, during a specific period, Song Qingmiao frequently transferred assets to the second branch, the Liao family. The secretary found this suspicious and, upon closer inspection, discovered these assets might be 'compensation,' though more likely—
"Ransom."
The document was blurry, but the red-stamped "Secret" and the traditional characters "Xiaolan Mountain" pierced Zhao Shengge's eyes.
The secretary observed from the rearview mirror that Zhao Shengge had been motionless for a long time, holding the envelope in silence.
The silence stretched on until the Maybach passed the Mingzhu Bridge before he opened it.
Zhao Shengge felt it clearly and slowly, his heart sinking inch by inch into a pool of dark, stagnant water.
In fact, the file was only one page long, as it had truly been too long ago. The river of time had erased everything, leaving only the visible tip of the iceberg.
Zhao Shengge read it many times, then picked up his phone and made a call. The other end picked up quickly.
The red sun on the horizon was about to set, the afterglow blood-red. Zhao Shengge's voice was deep and heavy: "Zhuo Zhixuan."
"I know about all the things you did for Chen Wan."
Zhuo Zhixuan was stunned. The revelation came much faster than expected. He hadn't even decided how to respond yet, but he heard Zhao Shengge say, "From now on, every word I say, every question I ask, please answer them seriously, honestly, and in detail."
Zhao Shengge exuded a natural authority, and Zhuo Zhixuan was so intimidated by the cold tone he held his breath. He knew well that the mess was too big.
But he couldn't abandon Chen Wan. In this world, if even he didn't help Chen Wan, then no one would.
But Zhuo Zhixuan soon heard Zhao Shengge's voice again through the phone: "This is not an order or a threat... it's my request."
Zhuo Zhixuan paused, taken aback. In that moment, he knew Chen Wan had won.
He felt a surge of confidence and support. After a moment of consideration, he replied, "Xiaolan Mountain... I know very little about it. I only heard him say that, counting from your first meeting there. This year marks the sixteenth year since he's known you."
Zhao Shengge's expression darkened.
He frowned sharply, and a tangled thread suddenly appeared in his mind, as if tugging it would reveal an unimaginable past.
"Do you remember when you flew to California early after graduation, and Tan Youming called some friends to see you off at the airport? When you were going through customs, I asked if you could wait one more minute?"
Zhao Shengge had no recollection: "I don't remember."
"Chen Wan was on his way to the airport. He had escaped. At that time, he was being locked in the basement by Chen Bingxin. Song Qingmiao had gambled heavily, and Chen Bingxin was furious, beating them severely. Chen Wan had also been accepted into your school—" Zhuo Zhixuan didn't go into detail. "He knew you were leaving early, and perhaps wouldn't return for many years, so he wanted to see you one last time. Of course, it was just a distant glance from outside the boarding bridge. He wouldn't chase after you to disturb you."
The sun was setting, its final rays straining to shine.
"In the second semester of your sophomore year, you chose a rugby class. I said the extra wristbands I brought were prepared by him. Often, the drinks were too. You probably don't remember any of that."
"Chen Wan watched every one of your speeches and matches, except for the bowling alley and fencing hall, which he couldn't enter. That semester, I was on an exchange, so he didn't get to see any of them."
"In your senior year, the robot model you won an award for was displayed in the air exhibition hall of the Yifu Building. That semester, there were several typhoon warnings. Every time after the typhoon holiday, he would sneak in using my student card to clean the model bit by bit."
"He also had to clear the fallen leaves and sweep the garbage. Your model was always the cleanest."
"To avoid people, he would go very late after self-study or very early in the morning."
"He would talk to that robot model," Zhuo Zhixuan began to realize his friend's unusual behavior during that time, "saying many things... I couldn't understand."
Zhao Shengge had always thought this chase and trap was his own deliberate plan and interrogation.
But it turned out that the leaf that drifted into the window wasn't a coincidence.
The confiscated lighter wasn't, the twice-brewed Da Hong Pao tea wasn't, the messages and calls that always got a response weren't, the fireflies under the moonlight weren't, the one-in-a-million Christmas tree wasn't, and all the tiny details weren't either.
Zhuo Zhixuan was still talking, but Zhao Shengge had already tuned out.
"What was the time?"
"One minute and five seconds."
"Chen Wan, you didn’t actually time it, did you?"
"..."
"You weren’t paying close attention."
"I was paying close attention."
At this moment, Zhao Shengge remembered that Chen Wan's blurted-out "one minute and five seconds" was his personal best record during the high school sports meet. It stuck in his mind because it broke the athletic students’ record, but it wasn’t particularly memorable.
No one could recall a swimming final record from a schoolmate ten years ago so precisely, down to the second—not even Zhao Shengge himself.
What Zhao Shengge saw as mere coincidence was the result of Chen Wan’s long and difficult journey.
The red lights stretched endlessly, and the multi-level overpass looked like a grand hall. The last glimmer of the setting sun faded, leaving only a heavy silence in Zhao Shengge’s eyes.
"I can’t keep him in check anymore."
"He doesn’t care about anyone else."
"Zhao Shengge, you’re likely the only one who can rein him in, his last shred of rationality."
Zhuo Zhixuan didn’t know how Chen Wan’s pursuit of Zhao Shengge was going or where they stood, nor did he plan to interfere. Besides, he only knew the tip of the iceberg because—
"Chen Wan is someone who can endure immense hardship and suffering. It’s been a long, hard road for him to get to you."
The last rays of the setting sun lit up Zhao Shengge’s profile. He looked down and said quietly, "His suffering is over."
Author's note:
The Mandarin version of "The Letter from Keanu Reeves," titled "The Letter from Treasure Island," has vastly different lyrics.
If Chen Wan’s feelings were reciprocated, it would be like "The Letter from Keanu Reeves." If not, it would be "The Letter from Treasure Island."