Chapter 43: Why

In the restaurant’s private room, one could overlook the twinkling neon lights of Ningcheng through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Cheng Mingye’s platinum-blonde head was particularly dazzling under the lights, almost reflective.

He used his limited vocabulary to describe the thrilling scene.

“My Pagani consort has never run so slowly in her life. Just before I floored it, quick as a flash, I had a stroke of genius. I tried tapping the gas pedal, thinking, what’s the use of guessing when practice is the sole criterion for truth!”

Lu Jiming, holding a knife and fork, swallowed a large bite of steak and nodded vigorously, “Right, right, you’re so clever! A normal person wouldn’t have thought of that!”

Cheng Mingye was proud, yet still a little scared, “Hey, I didn’t expect it, but the feel of the pedal was really off! I knew then that things were going to be bad, so I quickly called for help!”

Lu Jiming continued to praise, “Your reaction was so fast! That’s what you call calm in the face of danger!”

“You summarized it quite well. Your language grades in school must have been very good, right?” Seeing that Lu Jiming had finished his steak again, Cheng Mingye called the waiter to bring another one.

Adjusting his tone, Cheng Mingye said respectfully to Shen Xici, “Brother, master, your calculation was too accurate!”

Shen Xici thought to himself, I heard it with my own ears three years in the future, how could it not be accurate?

But he had to maintain his composure on the surface. He covered his tracks, “It’s not always accurate. Only when I have a premonition can I vaguely glimpse a bit of heaven’s secrets.”

Those words sounded exceptionally profound! Cheng Mingye and Lu Jiming nodded in unison.

Being stared at by the two of them, Shen Xici felt that both of their eyes were urging him to say a few more words. After thinking for a moment, he continued, “I’ve met so many people without triggering any premonition, but when I met you two, the premonition came. Doesn’t that mean—”

Cheng Mingye’s face lit up, “It means if we were in a metaphysics novel, we’d be the sons of heaven!”

Lu Jiming looked excited, “In an urban male protagonist novel, we’d be the domineering CEOs who control the economy!”

They looked at each other, a feeling of having met too late in the air between them.

“…”

It seemed he didn’t need to say anything more. Shen Xici speared a cherry tomato with his fork and nodded, “Mmm, that’s what it means!”

The more Cheng Mingye thought about it, the more hyped he got. Heaven had sent a master like Shen Xici to enlighten him and help him avoid a fatal disaster. In the future, he would achieve a brilliant career. According to the law of conservation of energy, he must make some contribution in return!

He asked magnanimously, “How much more investment do you need for this movie?”

Hearing this, Lu Jiming stopped being in a hurry to eat his steak. He wiped the corner of his mouth, his smile immediately becoming fawning, “A little bit.”

Cheng Mingye frowned, “A little bit? You only need a little bit? Then is there any need to find me? What, are you looking down on my strength?”

“No, no, of course not!” Lu Jiming quickly corrected himself, “It’s that, apart from a little bit, we’re lacking everything! That little bit is the two hundred thousand you transferred to me when we first met.”

Cheng Mingye’s eyes widened, “So you guys have no money at all!”

“Oh my, you’ve discovered it!” Lu Jiming was not burdened by any psychological or face-saving issues due to his poverty. “Young Master Cheng—”

Cheng Mingye was disgusted, “What Young Master Cheng? We are the Sons of Heaven Alliance! Call me by my name!”

Such a good opportunity to get closer, of course Lu Jiming wouldn’t let it go. He went with the flow, “Mingye, although our movie hasn’t started filming yet, it has a very promising future! We not only have an exciting and captivating script, a talented director, and visually impactful cinematography, but also a trump card lead actor in Shen Xici. Investing is definitely not a loss! It will surely make you a fortune, and the money you invest will come back to your pocket several times over!”

Whether it can be realized or not, when you’re fundraising, you have to blow your own horn as much as possible and paint as big a picture as you can!

Cheng Mingye had a “don’t try to fool me” expression on his face. Then, thinking of something, he lowered his voice, “Your crew, is it one of those money-laundering crews?”

Lu Jiming shook his head like a rattle-drum, “How could it be! Of course not! We are a law-abiding, good crew!”

Although the crew currently consisted of only two people.

“Then that’s that. Do you think I’m stupid? Making money? How could such a good thing happen to me?” Cheng Mingye had a long history of failed startups and bad investments; he was used to it.

He patted Lu Jiming’s shoulder, “It’s fine! I’ve already said, the money I invest is my life-saving money. Don’t feel any psychological pressure. It’s just losing money. You can lose it boldly! I’ll cover however much you lose!”

Lu Jiming’s eyes grew hot. He never thought there would be an investor who didn’t want to make money, didn’t even expect to break even, and told him to lose money as he pleased!

What kind of angel investor is this?

“The little bit of money lost from making a movie, my brother will earn it back in no time. It just means I’ll buy one or two fewer cars,” Cheng Mingye said with confidence. At this point, he looked cautiously at Shen Xici and asked somewhat nervously, “Um… most importantly, Master, can you sense anything else? Can I drive next year? I’m planning to send my Pagani consort back to the factory, but I don’t dare to drive it anymore. I’ll see if anyone is willing to take it off my hands. But next year, I still want to buy the Aston Martin Valkyrie. I’ve been on the waiting list for a long time.”

With Lu Jiming taking the lead in fundraising, he could just sit back and be a good luck charm. After listening, Shen Xici asked, “Driving or racing?”

Cheng Mingye waved his hands repeatedly, with an expression of complete avoidance, “Racing? How could I! No one will ever see my heroic racing posture again! Driving, really just driving. I’ll just take my newly acquired Valkyrie consort out on the city roads to cultivate our relationship, definitely won’t speed. Is that okay?”

Shen Xici just said, “I have no premonition right now, so I can’t calculate it. In any case, you must be careful.”

Cheng Mingye had already learned his lesson once. The feeling of his heart pounding in his ears, his mind going blank, the fear of death appearing in the next second—it hadn’t completely dissipated yet. He said repeatedly, “Definitely, definitely!”

During the meal, Lu Jiming ate four servings of steak. Shen Xici was worried he would get a stomach ache in the middle of the night. Seeing that they were almost done eating, Lu Jiming put down his napkin and stood up, “I’m going to the restroom. You two take your time.”

Less than two minutes later, Shen Xici’s phone lit up with a new message.

[Lu Jiming: Quick, quick, you come to the restroom too!]

Go to the restroom? Shen Xici sent a question mark back.

[Lu Jiming: You’re clearly not experienced in this. The best way to avoid paying the bill—’I’m going to the restroom, I’ll be back in a bit!’]

Shen Xici thought to himself, A new piece of knowledge, learned!

After Cheng Mingye paid the bill, Lu Jiming returned. Seeing the waiter who had taken the payment walking away, he pretended to be shocked, “Mingye, look at this. Oh my, how embarrassing! Why did you pay the bill?”

He turned his head and quickly called out to the waiter who had reached the door, “Hey handsome, can you bring me a few takeout boxes? I want to pack up the leftovers!”

Standing on the side of the road, watching Cheng Mingye get into the car driven by his family’s chauffeur, the traffic weaving on the road, Shen Xici asked Lu Jiming, “Going home or?”

“What home! Quick, quick!” Holding a stack of high-end takeout boxes in one hand and grabbing Shen Xici’s clothes with the other, Lu Jiming quickly returned to the restaurant. He first signed up for the mall’s membership, then found the restaurant’s front desk staff to get points for their meal. Staring at his phone screen, his eyes lit up, “This meal cost twenty thousand, that’s twenty thousand points. I can redeem a lot of things!”

Shen Xici looked at the redemption interface. None of the items seemed like something Lu Jiming would use himself. He guessed, “And then, sell them on Xianyu?”

“Xianyu won’t work, they’re not the target customers.” Lu Jiming opened the fake socialite group chat he had joined. “This is a luxury mall. There’s a wide variety of things to redeem, with all the logos. You’ll see, someone will definitely want them! Maybe my living expenses for the next few days are covered!”

Shen Xici hadn’t expected that group to still be useful!

He summed up his feelings in a few words, “Director Lu, you’re truly one of a kind!”

---

After being busy in New York for almost a week, Sheng Shaoyan finally returned to Ningcheng.

In his office, the small cards that had been sent over were already placed on his desk.

Taking off his dark, long overcoat, Sheng Shaoyan casually picked one up.

In the picture, Shen Xici was wearing the coarse white robe from filming. The collar was a mandarin style with frog buttons, a style that was hard to pull off, but it made his neck look long and delicate. The wide sleeves were tightened at the cuffs with blue cloth, revealing slender wrists. A loose black washed-denim jacket was draped over his shoulders.

That was his jacket.

He had personally draped it over Shen Xici’s shoulders.

A certain emotion deep in his heart was easily stirred up again, causing him to feel a sense of restlessness.

His fingers involuntarily touched Shen Xici’s face in the photo.

At that moment, they were walking together. Shen Xici had turned his head and was smiling at him.

His skin was snow-white, his profile flawless. Because he was smiling, the dimples at the corners of his lips deepened. His clear black and white eyes looked as if they had been washed by a mountain spring, clean and beautiful.

Thinking back now, so this was the expression Shen Xici had when he looked at him.

Intimate, familiar, focused, yet completely relaxed.

Involuntarily, Sheng Shaoyan picked up his phone and dialed the number he knew by heart. His finger hovered over the “call” button, but in the end, he didn’t press it.

He switched to another contact.

After a short while, Song Xinghuai’s somewhat surprised voice came through, “You’re back from New York? Why are you calling me?”

Without answering his question, Sheng Shaoyan paused for a moment and asked directly, “These past few days, has he come to the club again?”

“You mean that mysterious Mr. Shen? He hasn’t been back these past few days.” Song Xinghuai understood immediately. After all, the only person Sheng Shaoyan would personally give instructions about was this one. He was very enthusiastic, “Do you want me to have my people keep an eye out? If he comes, I’ll tell you right away.”

His long fingers tapped lightly on the desk. Sheng Shaoyan lowered his eyes, “No need.”

“Really no need?” Song Xinghuai then remembered, “Oh right, there’s something else. Doesn’t Cheng Weishen have a younger brother? Named Cheng Mingye, pretty much a good-for-nothing, but he’s not a complicated person. A few days ago, he went racing on a mountain road, and his brakes failed. He almost got into a serious accident. He was probably scared out of his wits. He doesn’t dare to race anymore. I heard he’s planning to invest in some movie.”

Sheng Shaoyan remembered Cheng Weishen. The two were not close friends; he just admired Cheng Weishen’s methods in handling the board of directors. He had no interest in what Cheng Weishen’s younger brother was up to.

Just as he was about to say a few words and hang up, Song Xinghuai’s voice came again, “I’m mentioning this Cheng Mingye because your mysterious Mr. Shen, the day he came to the club, didn’t he use your ID code?”

Hearing this, Sheng Shaoyan’s back relaxed, and he leaned back in his office chair.

His fingertips held a small card, his gaze fixed on the person in it. He hummed in agreement, “Mmm, what about it?”

“He asked the manager to arrange a room for him, and the requirement was that it had to be next to Cheng Mingye’s.”

His body instantly tensed like a bowstring. Integrating the words “investment” and “movie,” Sheng Shaoyan could easily guess that Shen Xici had gone to the club specifically to… get Cheng Mingye to invest in his new movie?

The call ended. The deep blue arc in his eyes darkened. Sheng Shaoyan called Yu Zhou in, “Have there been any new check cashing records at the bank recently?”

“Still none,” Yu Zhou answered cautiously.

Before entering the office, President Sheng’s mood wasn’t good, but it wasn’t bad either, same as usual. How did it happen that in such a short time, the entire office felt like the sky before a storm, with lightning about to strike overhead?

Unconsciously, on the phone screen, that string of numbers was dialed out again.

Sheng Shaoyan looked at the numbers he had repeated in his mind countless times.

Unlike when he had amnesia, he now had a lot of money.

Shen Xici, why won’t you spend my money?