Chapter 69 Liu Ruyan's Strange Behavior

"I'll drive you to the set."

Outside the club, in the parking lot.

Liu Ruyan, her voice muffled, said to Chen Yan, who was about to open the passenger door.

"This... sure."

Hearing this, Chen Yan didn't hesitate and nodded quickly.

However, what left Chen Yan feeling somewhat speechless was that as soon as he sat in the car and closed the door, Liu Ruyan immediately locked it.

"Huh? CEO Liu... what are you..."

Chen Yan slightly frowned, a hint of surprise and curiosity in his tone.

This Liu Ruyan had been acting strangely just now; what kind of show was she putting on this time?

"I'm asking you one last time: how did you meet Shen Qinglan?"

As if she hadn't heard Chen Yan's words, Liu Ruyan stared intently at him with her beautiful eyes, her voice muffled as she asked.

The interior of the car wasn't spacious to begin with, and now, under her gaze, it felt even more cramped. Chen Yan felt unnerved by her stare and instinctively leaned back, his head resting against the car window.

"CEO Liu, what do you mean..." He forced a dry laugh. "CEO Shen and I only met today."

"Today?"

Liu Ruyan's brows furrowed even tighter, her tone filled with obvious suspicion. "You met today, and she just willingly handed over such a big contract? Chen Yan, do you think I'm stupid?"

"No, please let me explain..."

"Then explain."

Liu Ruyan cut him off directly, crossing her arms in front of her chest, adopting the posture of interrogating a criminal. "Earlier at the private room door, I asked you, and you stopped halfway. Now it's just the two of us in the car. Go ahead and make yourself clear."

Chen Yan opened his mouth, momentarily unsure where to begin.

He couldn't very well say, 'I just beat her in a game of pool, and she personally said she owed me a favor, so the deal was sealed,' could he? If he said that, not only would Liu Ruyan not believe him, even he himself wouldn't quite believe it.

But that was exactly what happened.

"CEO Liu, here's how it happened..." Chen Yan carefully chose his words, trying to make the story sound as plausible as possible. "After leaving the hospital today, I had some free time and went to a pool hall to kill time. I happened to run into CEO Shen there for a challenge match, so I signed up. And then..."

"And then what?"

"And then I beat her in one game," Chen Yan said honestly. "She said she hadn't played so enjoyably in a long time and owed me a favor. Later, she got a call about a contract she needed to handle and asked if I wanted to tag along to see what it was about. So I went with her, and then..."

"And then you ran into me?"

Liu Ruyan took over, her tone not easing in suspicion but instead growing stronger. "Chen Yan, do you think I can believe that? Who is Shen Qinglan? The Iron Lady of Shanghai City's business world, a powerhouse with billions to her name. Would she casually owe a stranger a favor just because she lost a game of pool? And then bring that person to a business club?"

"I know it sounds a bit far-fetched..." Chen Yan scratched his head.

"Not just a bit far-fetched—it's completely unreasonable." Liu Ruyan stared at him for a long moment before suddenly changing the subject. "Are you hiding something from me?"

The question made Chen Yan's heart skip a beat, leaving him speechless.

With just this little bit of business, how could he possibly be hiding anything else from her?

However, neither of them knew that at that moment, in the club's surveillance room, Shen Qinglan was sitting in front of the main control panel, calmly watching several surveillance screens.

The surveillance room was dimly lit, the screens emitting a faint blue glow.

Shen Qinglan sat in a swivel chair, her slender fingers resting on the armrest, her gaze never leaving the central screen.

On the screen, the red ferrari had been parked for several minutes. The windows were tinted one-way, so it was impossible to see what was happening inside from the outside, but the car remained completely still. The engine hadn't been turned off, and occasional puffs of white vapor came from the exhaust pipe.

"CEO Shen, should I pull up the audio?" the security supervisor beside her asked cautiously.

"No need. Even if you pull it up, you won't hear much clearly."

Shen Qinglan waved her hand dismissively, a slight smile curling at the corner of her mouth. She didn't need to hear what they were saying; just seeing the car parked there, unmoving, was enough for her to guess about seventy to eighty percent of it.

Liu Ruyan was questioning Chen Yan in the car.

Questioning him about what?

Most likely about her, Shen Qinglan.

Shen Qinglan chuckled softly, unlocked her phone, and scrolled through her contacts a few times.

After watching for a few more minutes, Shen Qinglan unlocked her phone and dialed a number.

Her contact list was very streamlined, with no more than fifty numbers saved, each carefully selected. The number her finger stopped on now had been added not long ago.

She looked at it for a few seconds, pressed the dial button, and raised the phone to her ear.

*Beep—beep—*

It rang three times before the call connected.

"CEO Shen?"

Chen Yan's voice came through the receiver, the background noise quiet, clearly still in the car.

"Young Master Chen, sorry to disturb you," Shen Qinglan's voice was unhurried, carrying a hint of laziness. "The matter you asked me to keep an eye on seems to have produced some results now."

Unlike her earlier cool demeanor, Shen Qinglan now spoke with exceptional gentleness, as if she were admiring someone.

"Mm. Go ahead, I'm listening."

A full thirty seconds passed after Shen Qinglan finished speaking before a voice devoid of any discernible emotion came through the receiver.

"Miss Liu seems to be paying unusually close attention to that stand-in, Chen Yan, you found."

Only after receiving the other party's permission did Shen Qinglan begin to speak, carefully choosing her words.

"Sigh... I understand."

After Shen Qinglan finished speaking, all she heard from the receiver was a faint, melancholic sigh.

"CEO Shen, keep an eye on things for me. If there's any business, look out for her. My Chen family won't treat you unfairly."

Then, Chen Yan added indifferently before hanging up the call directly.

*Beep beep beep*

Listening to the dial tone in the receiver, Shen Qinglan felt somewhat bewildered. She was only following orders.

And this series of actions by the sole heir of that top-tier family... she truly couldn't make sense of it...