Chapter 118 Shen Pianran's Blind Date

The bentley drove out of the Financial Center's underground parking garage and turned onto the main road.

Chen Ang rested one hand on the steering wheel, while the other tapped lightly against the edge of the car window.

Shen Pianran sat in the passenger seat, applying lipstick while looking into the mirror on the sun visor; her movements were unhurried and patient.

"Yo, are you afraid the other party won't like you?" Chen Ang curled his lip in mockery.

Shen Pianran paused her movements, glanced at him sideways, and said, "A woman's love for beauty is instinctual; it has nothing to do with trying to please anyone."

Chen Ang didn't commit to an opinion.

She put away her makeup kit and turned to examine Chen Ang. "Let me ask you a question: would you rather see me meticulously dressed up, or would you prefer to see me disheveled, looking like a dowdy housewife?"

Chen Ang turned back, smiled, and said, "Fine, you have a point."

"Regardless, maintaining a dignified posture and a clean appearance is a part of respecting others and respecting oneself."

She paused for a moment before adding, "Even if I don't actually want to participate in this blind date."

Chen Ang chuckled and nodded in agreement. "I misunderstood, okay?"

The bentley slowed to a stop at a red light, and Chen Ang asked, "What's the background of this person?"

Shen Pianran unlocked her phone, took a look, and replied, "Mr. Zheng, the vice president of the municipal state-owned enterprise Binjiang Holdings. He was born in '92, has an annual salary of over 800,000, and is said to be quite handsome."

Shen Pianran closed her phone and tossed it into her bag. "My mom's exact words: 'If you miss this village, you won't find this shop.'"

"Then why are you dragging me along? Aren't you afraid I'll smash your shop?"

"You promised." Shen Pianran leaned back against the seat and tilted her head to look at him. "Besides, I'm only dragging you along to act as a shield because I don't want it to work out. You said it was fine back in Hong Kong; do you want to back out now?"

"I'm not backing out. Helping you ruin the blind date is no problem. However..." The red light turned green, and Chen Ang shifted gears and started driving. "The vice president of Binjiang Holdings—his qualifications are indeed not bad."

"Are you jealous?" Shen Pianran suddenly leaned in a bit closer and asked.

"Me? Jealous? What a joke." Chen Ang coughed, then let out a laugh and looked over at her. "I was just wondering, you've expressed your reluctance to your parents for so long, so why do you keep getting set up on blind dates? Does your mom even know what you want?"

Shen Pianran stared at him for over a dozen seconds, and only after Chen Ang began to feel uncomfortable did she withdraw her gaze.

"She knows. But she thinks what I want is wrong."

She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, revealing the pearl stud on her earlobe, and turned to look at Chen Ang. "What do you think? Is what I want right or wrong?"

Chen Ang didn't answer immediately.

He felt this woman was particularly aggressive today, unlike before, and he couldn't quite figure out what was on her mind.

The red light ahead lit up again, so he stepped on the brake, bringing the car to a halt before the crosswalk.

The car interior was very quiet—quiet enough to hear the sound of both their breathing.

He turned his face to look at Shen Pianran; today she was wearing a beige Burberry white cashmere coat, with a black Gucci turtleneck sweater underneath.

The curve of her cheek was exactly the same as it had been that morning when they woke up in the hotel in Hong Kong.

Taking a slow breath, Chen Ang said, "As long as you know what you want, that's all that matters. Other people's opinions aren't important."

"Then what about you? Are you really not considering getting married again?"

"What do you mean?" Chen Ang's grip on the steering wheel tightened, caught off guard by her sudden change of topic. He turned his head and said, "Are you trying to marry me?"

"I'm asking you a serious question." Shen Pianran's tone remained as professional and efficient as ever, but her earlobes were already starting to turn red.

She turned her head, pretending to look at the street scene outside the window, while her fingers unconsciously tightened around the seatbelt.

"Then I'll ask you too: you said that night was a misunderstanding?"

"Wasn't it?" Shen Pianran didn't look at him; she just lifted her chin slightly, her expression struggling to maintain the calmness and composure of a lawyer facing cross-examination.

"Fine, then it was a very beautiful misunderstanding." Chen Ang stepped on the gas, and the bentley glided across the crosswalk. Keeping his eyes on the road, he said in a low voice, "I've tasted the sweetness and want more."

The layer of professional lawyerly coldness on Shen Pianran's face finally cracked.

She withdrew her gaze from the window and lowered her head; the flush on her earlobes had spread to her neck, and her fingers, resting on her knees, were unconsciously twisting the hem of her coat.

"Just drive your car. Say anything like that again and I'll throw you out."

"Lawyer Shen, this is my car, you know."

"Then I'll jump out." After saying this, she couldn't hold back anymore; the corners of her mouth curled up slightly before she quickly pressed them tight again.

The blind date was set at a private kitchen restaurant in the new district called Jinlu Restaurant. The storefront wasn't large, but the interior decoration was exquisite, making it one of Bin City's high-end restaurants where private rooms usually required advance booking.

Chen Ang parked the car, and Shen Pianran opened the mirror on the sun visor again to fix her hair one last time before taking a deep breath and pushing the car door open.

Chen Ang followed behind her at a steady pace.

When they pushed open the door to the private room, six people were already seated inside.

Seated in the main seat facing the door was a couple around sixty years old; the man was wearing a crisply ironed grey Zhongshan suit, and the woman had a string of pearl necklaces around her neck.

Another middle-aged couple was sitting by the window; Shen Pianran's features could be traced on their faces, so they were undoubtedly her parents.

A man in his early thirties was sitting next to Shen Pianran's father.

He was dressed in a sharp suit with his hair parted to the side, and from head to toe, he exuded the high-spirited confidence typical of an elite within the system; he certainly deserved to be called handsome.

"Pianran is here." Mr. Zheng's mother stood up and walked over with a beaming smile, grabbing Shen Pianran's hands to look her over. "Oh my, this girl has grown more and more beautiful. I thought she looked good in the photos last time, but she's even prettier in person."

Mr. Zheng also stood up and pulled out the chair next to him. "Pianran, sit here. We haven't seen each other in over twenty years; the last time we met, you were still wearing your hair in two pigtails."

Shen Pianran did not sit in the chair he had pulled out; instead, she pulled out an empty seat next to her parents and sat down, casually placing her bag on the empty chair on the other side.

This position effectively kept Mr. Zheng at a distance.

Chen Ang stood at the entrance of the private room for a moment, then walked over and sat down in the seat opposite Mr. Zheng, right next to Shen Pianran.

Shen Pianran's mother looked at her daughter, then at Chen Ang, her expression somewhat awkward.

She hadn't expected her daughter to bring a strange man into this setting.

The atmosphere immediately became a bit awkward.

"Mom, this is my friend, Chen Ang." Shen Pianran's tone was very casual. "We happened to have something to discuss today, so we came together. You don't mind, do you?"

Calling him a friend in this setting—who would believe that?

"Not at all, not at all; the more the merrier." Mr. Zheng's mother reacted quickly, but her eyes swept over Chen Ang.

From Chen Ang's black down jacket, which had no visible logo, down to his leather shoes, which were stained with a bit of dust, the curve of her smile tightened slightly.

Mr. Zheng smiled with great grace and nodded at Chen Ang. "Since you're here, you're a friend. My name is Mr. Zheng, vice president of Binjiang Holdings. Pianran's friends are my friends."

As he spoke, his gaze had already moved past Chen Ang and landed back on Shen Pianran.