Chapter 270: Looks & Wealth
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The atmosphere seemed to have frozen the moment this man sat down.
Xiang Wan looked at Bai Muchuan.
His casual greeting indicated that he didn’t seem surprised to see this stranger.
“Let’s all sit down.
“Get them to serve the dishes faster.
“The guests are hungry!”
The owner, Abdul, instructed the waitress outside the private dining room and joined them by taking a seat with the beautiful girl sitting beside him.
As they were not familiar with each other, it was especially awkward to sit together.
Thus, although the hotpot before them looked good, it seemed to suddenly lose its flavor.
Apparently, the amount of curiosity was greater than hunger. Everyone was guessing the identity of this man and did not feel hungry at the moment.
Was he Brother Steel? Or someone from the Dark Clan?
They were quiet as they were filled with questions in their stomach.
Bai Muchuan had a calm expression and would definitely not open his mouth first.
It was as though a battle of silence in that few seconds till Abdul broke the ice with his laughter.
“Hahaha, my distinguished guests, I almost forgot—”
Abdul got up from his seat and pointed at the graceful, well-dressed man. “This is my friend, Mr. Meng Chi.”
He added after a momentary pause. “CEO of the Meng Entertainment Group.”
What the! Domineering CEO?
This was the first reaction of Xiang Wan.
She had read too many romance novels that she was very sensitive to the title of CEO.
Almost immediately, she glanced at the calmly seated CEO as fast as she could.
He did not look at Xiang Wan and remained as composed as he was. Although he looked approachable, at the same time, there seemed to be a distance that was hard to close.
Well…
Bai Muchuan saw her reaction.
In that split second, Xiang Wan did not notice that there was a slight change in Bai Muchuan’s expression.
…
Abdul laughed again when he finished the introduction of Meng Chi and looked at Bai Muchuan and his group before sitting down.
He was a friend of Meng Chi and did not know about Bai Muchuan.
However, under his expectant glance, Bai Muchuan did not seem to have any intention of giving a proper introduction of himself.
“Nice to meet you!”
Bai Muchuan only said that as a response, showing an appropriate smile as he stroked his glass slowly.
“So CEO Meng will be buying us dinner tonight!”
“…”
Just earlier, Abdul had already said he would give a 50 percent discount for them.
In the end, Bai Muchuan directly made Meng Chi bear the dinner expenses.
Moreover, he did not ask why Meng Chi was there…
“My pleasure!” Meng Chi laughed. “I’ve long heard about Captain Bai’s name. It is my honor to be able to dine with Captain Bai tonight!”
Thump! It was as though Xiang Wan heard her own heart sank.
Meng Chi directly addressed Bai Muchuan as “Captain Bai”, that meant he knew who Bai Muchuan was.
In other words, this guy could easily turn the plans that Bai Muchuan had so far to naught.
The tension in the room suddenly seemed to have increased.
For a good while, nobody spoke a word.
The electromagnetic cooker below the hotpot had been turned on and the soup in the pot was beginning to boil, the faint aroma of the boiling soup started to fill the room.
This was supposed to be a regular dinner, but the current atmosphere was so nervous as though they were on a battlefield.
“I didn’t expect that I would be recognized by someone after traveling so far away from home.”
When it comes to manners and adaptability, Bai Muchuan was second to none. Even though Meng Chi called him “Captain Bai” openly, there was no nervousness on Bai Muchuan’s face.
Instead, he asked Meng Chi a question, “CEO Meng, what do you want?”
“I don’t have any other intentions.” Meng Chi looked at him. “I just happened to be your fan, wanting to treat my idol to a meal since I met you here. But I don’t want to appear as too abrupt, so I got my friend here to help me out.”
A fan…
Everyone looked at Bai Muchuan.
Bai Muchuan showed a half-smile, his eyes slightly darkened.
When he looked at Meng Chi, it felt like a dagger trying to pierce through Meng Chi’s eye.
The two of them looked at each other for almost half a minute long.
Bai Muchuan took a bite of the food on the table, as well as a sip of the soup. His movements were elegant and relaxed, yet his aura started to be imposing.
“CEO Meng flattered me too much. But from your looks, you don’t seem like a person who’s worried about being abrupt?”
Is this the battle between two formidable rivals?
Meng Chi showed a smile. “It’s natural to feel uneasy when facing one’s idol.”
One was unable to tell if he was being truthful due to his emotionless tone.
From the beginning till now, even though this whole thing was filled with strangeness, they found no flaws in his words.
He knew who Bai Muchuan was. It could be due to this case or they knew each other further back. They happened to bump into each other at Nanmu and he wanted to give a treat… It sure sounded reasonable.
Nevertheless…
For someone who didn’t seem to be a friend that knew Bai Muchuan’s real identity in Nanmu, that somehow made Xiang Wan felt chilly all over.
“I see.” Bai Muchuan just smiled and did not pursue further.
“So is CEO Meng here in Nanmu for a holiday?”
This was such a remote place, certainly not a good place to go to for a holiday.
Meng Chi sighed a little helplessly. “I’m here for work. Just like you, Captain Bai.”
The way Meng Chi put it would make one chew over his words.
If he didn’t include the latter part of the sentence, the first half would have sounded normal.
The addition of the latter half of the sentence somehow just gave the creeps.
Bai Muchuan remained silent, but Quan Shaoteng couldn’t hold back his tongue anymore.
He couldn’t stand the enigmatic aura of this man. “How could you know about Captain Bai’s purpose in Nanmu? This is confidential.”
Quan Shaoteng was also not someone to be trifled with. He imitated Meng Chi’s style of talking thoroughly.
His sentence, coupled with the last few words, was enough to frighten the other party.
Meng Chi’s eyes shifted slowly onto Quan Shaoteng’s face. There wasn’t much change in his expression besides his eyelids twitching a little.
“Friend, I know the job nature of Captain Bai. This is just a wild guess of mine. I do not want to get myself involved in any confidential matters.”
“Oh, this is just my wild guess, too.” Quan Shaoteng laughed coldly. “And by the way, we’re not friends.”
He was a person who did not care about the embarrassment his words could cause to another.
Most people would not be able to tolerate such tone and would normally end up fuming with anger.
Meng Chi, however, merely laughed and didn’t have much reaction.
“Please excuse me for being abrupt.”
With that, he ignored Quan Shaoteng and shifted his focus back on Bai Muchuan.
“I came to Nanmu because of an important project on hand! Nanmu happened to be the filming location.”
Project? Filming location?
When Xiang Wan connected the name of Meng Chi’s company with these words, her heart skipped a beat.
True enough, in the next moment, Tang Yuanchu raised his doubt.
“You’re the investor of ‘The Grey List’?”
“…”
Tang Yuanchu’s interruption was sudden and unexpected.
The rest of the group gave him a weird stare.
Most people only knew the actors and actresses of “The Grey List”, yet Tang Yuanchu actually knew about the investor.
From what Xiang Wan knew, Tang Yuanchu was not someone to follow closely on entertainment news. How did he know so much about “The Grey List”?
Tang Yuanchu probably noticed his abruptness and laughed to save some face.
“I’ve always been a fan of Second Young Master Mu. I pay close attention to his works and that’s why I know about all this.”
Xiang Wan felt like frowning at him.
They had been colleagues for so long, yet she never knew he was a fan of Second Young Master Mu.
This fellow was more likely to be a fan of Xie Wanwan!
He must have watched all this news about “The Grey List” closely because of Xie Wanwan.
For him to know this much, it clearly showed that he was really into Xie Wanwan.
Maybe Xie Wanwan was also in Nanmu? Xiang Wan took a deep look at Tang Yuanchu.
She didn’t want to diss him in front of outsiders, so she kept quiet.
At that moment, Meng Chi suddenly let out a chuckle. “What a coincidence! Me too!”
His laughter successfully alleviated Tang Yuanchu’s awkwardness. Everyone didn’t think much of it but instead find this handsome and rich CEO to be a thoughtful and considerate person.
They even started to feel that this dinner did not seem to be that strange anymore.
“This brother is right,” said Meng Chi who took a glance at Tang Yuanchu, “however, I’m not only the investor of ‘The Grey List’, my company also handles the production and distribution of the film as well. ‘The Grey List’ is the biggest project that our company has taken on this year as we single-handedly took care of all aspects of the project.”