Chapter 652: You little rascal

Putting aside how the second young lady of the Shang family, Shang Rongyan, was currently obsessed with food and unable to extricate herself.

In the hotel where she was temporarily staying, Jiang Yanran welcomed two special guests.

"Apologies for the intrusion, Ms. Jiang, but you must come with me now."

Looking at Chen Chou, who was covered in blood outside the door.

She was somewhat at a loss.

It wasn't until she boarded the platinum princess cruise ship that she finally felt at ease. At the same time, she realized just how dangerous her trip had been. If Zheng Qian hadn't arranged for Chen Chou to protect her, heaven knows what would have happened to her.

Ever since the last meeting of The Group, Jiang Yanran had been sent out.

Facing the uncooperative attitude of many domestic ports that prohibited their merchant ships from docking, Zheng Qian had special arrangements. He didn't care about the immediate gains or losses; it was like playing a game of chess, where sometimes you intentionally let the opponent capture your pieces.

Sometimes, to win, you even have to sacrifice a large, established group of stones on the board.

For example, in Go in this era, many players usually memorize the first few dozen moves of an AI, and even South Korea's Xiao Shen can memorize over a hundred. It is an indisputable fact that the more one's opening resembles an AI's, the higher their win rate.

However, Zheng Qian's opening moves were not "the places where AI thinks the win rate is highest." He even intentionally avoided entanglements with Shang Yanxiong, proactively yielding many domestic ports and shipping market shares. Many people thought he was doomed to fail.

However, when it truly comes to the mid-game battle, it is the player's adaptability that is tested.

Because the variations are just too complex, there are no set patterns. Humans cannot always remember all the changes in the situation like an AI, and at the same time, this is the charm of human Go.

Now, it was the mid-game.

Even though he had previously played moves that AI considered to have a low win rate, he still managed to drag the situation into the mid-game. From the very beginning, he knew that since Shang Yanxiong was targeting the shipping sector, he would inevitably keep his eyes on Jiang Yanran.

As for Liu Shiqi, Chen Weiqiang, and so on...

Even his personal attempts to deal with Liu Shiqi were all smokescreens. From the day Chen Chou noticed that one of Shang Yanxiong's bodyguards had disappeared, Zheng Qian knew that those previous actions of his were just to confuse him.

The real target had always been Jiang Yanran.

After all, she was the boss of Asia Shipping and the person openly fighting Shang Yanxiong this time. Zheng Qian was merely providing funds from behind the scenes; she was the face of the operation. Jiang Yanran's sudden disappearance from the country would inevitably attract Shang Yanxiong's attention.

He thought that by going after the likes of Liu Shiqi and Chen Weiqiang, he could distract Zheng Qian.

But sorry, he really didn't succeed.

Not only that, but Zheng Qian was also very angry now, which was why he had placed the eldest young lady of the Shang family under house arrest.

Everything had a reason. Zheng Qian might have been just a nobody before, but after experiencing more, his vision had broadened. Whatever he did now, he always planned before taking action.

For this mid-game battle, he had prepared a big gift for Shang Yanxiong, a gift he could never have imagined.

However, many people did not realize this.

Including Jiang Yanran.

She only vaguely guessed some of it, but she always felt that the tasks Zheng Qian had currently arranged for her were not enough to defeat Shang Yanxiong in one fell swoop. In many strategies, this could only be considered a minor tactic, merely causing temporary trouble for Shang Yanxiong.

Relying on his deep background in the United States, he could immediately resolve it after being briefly troubled.

After all, those countries were not Kyushu; they didn't have the ability to go head-to-head with the United States.

But regardless...

The fact that Zheng Qian thought to send his most trusted Chen Chou to protect her still made Jiang Yanran feel somewhat warmed.

After a brief rest, she came to the deck and saw Chen Chou holding San Wu's hand, looking at the stars.

She fell in love with this little girl after just one glance.

Well-behaved and cute.

It was just a pity she couldn't see.

But she still tried hard to lift her head, and even though she couldn't see anything, she seemed to be watching with great interest. Chen Chou didn't explain anything to her either. The two of them were like two wooden blocks; it was a bit strange, but not jarring—it was truly magical.

Jiang Yanran came to her side, crouched down, and said with a smile, "Little girl, what is your name?"

"Big sister, my name is San Wu."

San Wu answered prettily.

This answer was perfect!

Jiang Yanran's originally uneasy and irritable heart immediately calmed down. This little girl really knew how to talk! Unlike those young people nowadays who even called her 'auntie'—it was truly speechless.

"What a good little sister! Big sister will give you some candy!"

As she said this, Jiang Yanran handed over a few colorful candies.

This was a habit she had developed over many years; whenever she felt unsettled, she liked to eat candy. This time, while traveling around several surrounding countries, she had bought some candy at every stop and put them in her bag, which happened to come in handy now.

"Thank you, big sister, it's so sweet."

San Wu raised her cute smiling face and said innocently.

Chen Chou glanced at her indifferently but didn't say anything. This little girl was truly too mischievous. She was clearly like a little adult, understanding everything. She could recite poetry and prose on command, yet now she seemed like an ordinary little girl.

She really had two faces.

"How do you plan to arrange things for her? This little sister is really quite pitiful." Jiang Yanran stood up and asked with a sigh.

"I will discuss it with the boss," Chen Chou answered indifferently.

Mentioning the boss, Jiang Yanran frowned slightly, "So, where are we going now? Hong Kong?"

"Yes, to a nearby island, Liwan Island. The boss is there."

As expected...

Was she going to see Zheng Qian?

Jiang Yanran frowned even more deeply. That day's meeting had left a deep "psychological shadow" in her heart. She had known before that Zheng Qian had a few women around him, but she really hadn't expected there to be so many!

Besides Jin Lu, there were so many other outstanding supportive partners.

So, subconsciously, she wanted to stay further away from Zheng Qian and keep a certain distance.

She didn't want to be like those women...

Falling into Zheng Qian's arms so easily.

However, people are sometimes so contradictory; the more they reject something, the more it subconsciously keeps popping up. Even she didn't understand what exactly she liked about Zheng Qian.

Perhaps, it was when he threw away money like dirt in Jiangnan back then...

"Big sister, have you read 'The Little Prince'?"

At this moment, San Wu tugged on the hem of Jiang Yanran's skirt and asked prettily.

Jiang Yanran shook her head and said with a smile, "Big sister isn't interested in such fairy tales; I read 'Time Magazine'..."

Before she could finish, San Wu laughed and shook her head, "Then let me tell you a story! 'The Little Prince' says that if you tell me you are coming to see me at 2 PM, then I will start looking forward to 2 PM from the morning. This feeling... is the sense of ritual in life! So, big sister, are you starting to look forward to going to Liwan Island now?"

You little rascal...