Chapter 224: His Face

Lu Shanshan: ???

She was full of confusion.

What did he mean by "how did she come back"? Shouldn't she have come back?

It was so late; if she didn't come back, where would she go?

"Of course I should come back, I was just asking casually," Zhao Ying quickly corrected herself.

In fact, Zhao Ying had already prepared for the possibility that Lu Shanshan wouldn't return to the hotel that night.

Her plan was for that brat Zhang Jian to take her daughter away tonight and seal the deal; that way, no one could deny it later.

But she hadn't expected Shanshan to actually return.

That meant things hadn't gone very smoothly between the two of them.

"Hmm... it was a bit rough."

"I ran into Zheng Qian while I was eating."

Lu Shanshan said in a low voice.

"Zheng Qian?!"

"He's in Jiangnan too?"

Zhao Ying was extremely puzzled. How did this brat end up in Jiangnan too?

"Yeah... he seems to be here on a business trip. I even shared a table with him."

When Zhao Ying heard this, she felt like things were going wrong.

She had only brought her daughter to Jiangnan after having basically smoothed things over with Zhang Jian, all because she wanted to play matchmaker between her daughter and him.

Now Zheng Qian had popped up in the middle of it, and her daughter had even shared a table with him.

Could it be that... she had taken a liking to Zheng Qian?

That absolutely wouldn't do!

Zhao Ying couldn't accept that.

"My good daughter, why on earth would you share a table with him?"

"That brat is no good. He invested such a small amount of money, yet he wants to take away control of our company. He's too scheming and greedy; you absolutely cannot associate with someone like that!"

Zhao Ying got angry whenever Zheng Qian was mentioned now.

That money wasn't borrowed from Zheng Qian; it was an investment, and they had agreed to give him shares.

He wasn't even satisfied with 40% and insisted on 51%.

"You must not forget why we came to Jiangnan this time!"

Zhao Ying didn't want to waste this opportunity and end up just working for Zheng Qian's benefit.

A few days ago, Zheng Qian had seized control from her, and Zhao Ying was incredibly resentful, but she had no other choice.

With the company in dire straits right now, she could only focus on the immediate situation.

Her plan was to have her daughter interact more with Zhang Jian; as long as they could establish a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, she would have Kangming Shipping as her backing.

Zhang Lekang had clearly stated that as long as this worked out, he would be willing to invest not just tens of millions, but even one or two hundred million.

"Your mother went through so much trouble to set this up for you; don't let your mother's hard work go to waste."

"I'm doing this for our family's sake."

"Please try to understand your mother."

Following that, Zhao Ying went on to say a whole lot of nice things about Zhang Jian.

Lu Shanshan was getting annoyed listening to it.

She had interacted with Zhang Jian and felt that his charm didn't even amount to one-tenth of Tang Xingyu's.

Compared to Zheng Qian, he was even further behind.

Take tonight's incident, for example: Zheng Qian clearly hadn't done anything, yet Zhang Jian had called people to block him, and he wouldn't listen to reason.

This matter had started because of her, and Lu Shanshan hadn't even found a chance to apologize to Zheng Qian.

Lu Shanshan didn't dare tell her mother about the conflict that happened tonight; otherwise, she would just start taking Zhang Jian's side and nagging incessantly.

Her mother had made their purpose for coming to Jiangnan crystal clear.

Lu Shanshan was extremely resistant to associating with Zhang Jian, especially after what happened tonight.

Instead, her Favorability toward Zheng Qian had increased quite a bit.

Staying calm in the face of trouble and remaining unflustered even if Mount Tai were to collapse before one's eyes—that was the demeanor a real man should have.

Wasn't what her mother doing essentially selling her off to the Zhang family of Dongyi?

Using her as a bargaining chip to exchange for financing from Kangming Shipping.

Honestly, Lu Shanshan felt very uncomfortable.

But she didn't dare bring it up to her mother and could only keep stalling and making excuses, attempting to sabotage her dates with Zhang Jian.

If her mother found out she was doing it on purpose, there would definitely be arguments and a cold war.

She knew her mother's tactics—crying, making a scene, and threatening to hang herself; even her father, Leader Lu Xinghe, couldn't do anything about her.

Lu Shanshan thought it would be better to just change the subject.

She remembered the woman she met today.

"Mom, do you know a girl with the surname Jiang? She looks about my age, and even Zhang Jian has to respectfully call her 'Sister Jiang'."

"She seems to be a local from Jiangnan."

Lu Shanshan asked, puzzled; she was very curious about Jiang Yanran's identity.

"About your age?"

Zhao Ying frowned, lost in thought.

In her twenties, a local from Jiangnan, and even Zhang Jian had to respectfully call her 'Sister Jiang'.

Wait.

Surname Jiang?

There was only one person who fit the description her daughter gave.

The most powerful shipping company in Jiangnan, the leader of the Five Shipping Alliance, the helm of Asia Shipping!

Jiang Yanran!

"My good daughter, you ran into Jiang Yanran?" Zhao Ying said excitedly.

Speaking of Jiang Yanran, she was a young legendary figure. At the prime age of twenty-something, after taking over Asia Shipping, she became famous for her tough tactics and outstanding ability.

It was a pity that Jiang Yanran was a woman.

If she were a man,

Zhao Ying would personally send her daughter to her bed.

However...

Rumor had it that her suitors were as numerous as carp crossing the river, constantly coming one after another.

Yet Jiang Yanran didn't give the time of day to countless elite men.

Could she be a lesbian?

Zhao Ying made up her mind to find an opportunity to inquire about it.

Actually, being a lesbian wasn't so bad either.

Most men nowadays were unreliable, and it was easier to form a stable, true love with the same sex.

"She... she's that amazing?"

"Of course. She is the only daughter of the Jiang family in Jiangnan. After taking over Asia Shipping, she was impartial and ruthless, not giving face to anyone, and brought those department oligarchs to heel."

"Her ability is also surprisingly strong; in just a few short years, she has taken Asia Shipping up two more levels."

As an entrepreneur herself, Zhao Ying knew this all too well.

At the scale of Asia Shipping, even a tiny bit of progress was a huge success.

Let alone the fact that Jiang Yanran led Asia Shipping to take two more steps up, becoming the top dog in Jiangnan, Northern Zhejiang, and Shanghu, as well as the leader of the Five Shipping Alliance!

Lu Shanshan felt a sense of immense shock in her heart.

Such a woman could simply be called a business legend, the kind of big shot that countless writers would study in her later years and write biographies about!

She had personally stepped forward to help Zheng Qian out of a jam—that showed just how much face Zheng Qian had, right?

It was so big that Lu Shanshan couldn't even imagine it.

She had originally thought she had figured out Zheng Qian's background: Chairman of Qianhe Group.

But it wasn't until tonight that she suddenly realized what she had seen was merely the tip of the iceberg of Zheng Qian's true strength.

Just how much else he was hiding, Lu Shanshan had no way of knowing.

"What's wrong, daughter? Why do you look a bit off? Did she ask you for your contact information?"

"Mom... are you just desperate for me to get married off?"

"Why are you even asking about a woman?"

"I'm telling you, my sexual orientation is perfectly normal!"