Zhou Dequan had three subordinates following him. The three of them were all tall and slender. Only heâa fat man of good fortuneâhad a pot belly and round face. When he sat on the VIP area, it felt like a huge lump of meat on the seat and that made the eyes hurt.
However, although he was ugly, he had an imposing aura.
The moment he sat on the VIP seat after his subordinates ushered him to it, the surrounding neighboring seats started to offer their greetings to him. Their attitude was very respectful as they fawned over himâŠ
âHaha, today must be a good day as Brother Six is here!â
âPlease sit down, please sit down.â Zhou Dequan waved to these people in a friendly manner. âThank you, thank you.â
âI remember Brother Six disliked such crowded and noisy occasions. It seems like this yearâs Mid-Autumn Festival Gala is not ordinary. Haha.â
The few of them tried to strike a conversation with Zhou Dequan.
Zhou Dequan held his prayer beads throughout, smiling amicably at everyone.
âIâm already so old, I need to go out more often. Otherwise, who knows how long my legs can bring me freely aroundâŠâ
âBrother Six, you shouldnât crack such jokes? How can your age be considered old? Youâre still young. Even those young 20-year-old lads canât be compared to youâŠâ
âHaha!â Zhou Dequan laughed, but it was just fake laughter. He seemed to have become immune to all these words of flattery and took a glance at that person who said that. âI actually did not want to participate in such events. But a couple of leaders called me up personally to get me to come,â he sighed as if it was from the bottom of his heart, âI canât refuse their invitations repeatedly!â
âOf course, of course, Brother Six is the leading entrepreneur in our province. Now that you showed up in this event, it has become more prestigious and important.â
âNah, Iâm just a normal person, a normal person. Itâs the leaders who think highly of me and wanted to show their appreciationâŠâ
âBrother Six, youâre too modest, too modestâŠâ
Such flattery sounded too awkward.
However, those in it totally did not feel that way. They could say it so naturally and smoothly without a tinge of guilt.
As the saying goes, âone would not wake up early if there are no benefitsâ. These people must be trying to ride on Zhao Dequanâs bandwagon and turn some moneyâŠ
Xiang Wan was focused and looked at the audience. She stroked on the noise-cancelling intercom headset in her ear as she stood quietly but her attention was mainly on Brother Six.
The distinguished guests had came in from the reception.
Very soon, several important personnel of âThe Grey Listâ appeared, guided by the female ushers as they walked towards the seats for the distinguished guests.
As they walked, they smiled and waved gracefully to the audience.
The scene was filled with shouts of surprise and excitement, louder than anyone else who had entered earlier.
Under the screams and shouts of the audience cheering for their favorite celebrity, the host laughed and bantered about it to break the ice with the audience. At this moment, Zhou Dequan exchanged glances with a guest sitting on his left.
The guest seemed to understand what he wanted. He seemed to give him a congratulatory nod, and made his way to another seat.
With that, Zhou Dequanâs left seat become empty, and it happened to be on the same row with the film crew of âThe Grey Listâ, but separated by an aisle.
As the guests from âThe Grey Listâ proceeded to take their seats, one of the men took a glance at the direction toward Zhou Dequan then suddenly walked to Xie Wanwan and talked to her at the ear.
As there was music playing in the hall and Xiang Wan was standing very near to the stage, even though Xiang Wan had worn the noise-cancelling headset, she was unable to hear the conversation as she was also a distance away from them.
But she could clearly feel that after Xie Wanwan finished hearing the man out, her expression sank and looked stiff, as though frozen on the spot.
That man put his palms together, bowed to her, and talked to her at the ear, relentlessly. His eyes full of pleading and his face almost breaking into a forced grin as he begged herâŠ
Seeing him, Xiang Wan could not help but thought of the conversation she overheard in the afternoonâŠ
Could this man be that Mr. B from the film crew that she eavesdropped on? She looked from the corner of her eye instead of looking directly at them.
Xie Wanwan seemed to bicker with him, but about two minutes later, she got up unwillingly from her seat, smiling as she made her way to sit beside Zhou Dequan, on the left.
âŠ
That sight startled Xiang Wan.
It felt as though her heart felt goosebumps and she tried to search for Bai Muchuan.
âAttention, all teams take note.â
She heard Bai Muchuanâs voice from the ear piece.
âThe guests are entering one after another. Please keep your spirits up and concentrate on your work. No sneaking off allowed.
âPay attention to observe and identify suspicious personnel.
âIn case of any accident, activate the emergency plan immediatelyâŠâ
Xiang Wan was unable to see him but she could his stern and attractive voice. Her ear⊠felt itchy.
She did not know how the others were feeling after listening to him, but she knew very well that she always thought her manâs voice was too flirtatious, too enchanting that could make one burn with righteous ardor.
Thinking of this, she exchanged a glance to a fellow police officer who was standing close to the VIP seats, the section closest to Zhou Dequan. She walked over quietly and changed her position with him.
âŠ
The man whom Xiang Wan suspected to be Mr. B followed Xie Wanwan over and sat on her left seat, separated by the aisle. Throughout, he had a fake looking smile as he did a simple introduction on Zhou Dequan and Xie Wanwan respectively.
By now, Xie Wanwanâs expression had recovered to her usual natural expression. She smiled and extended her hand to Zhou Dequan.
âIâve heard a lot about Brother Six⊠Iâve arrived in Jin City not too long ago. Brother Six, please take care of me.â
The meat on Zhou Dequanâs face were all squeezed together to form a very pleased smile. He held Xie Wanwanâs hand tightly for a moment. âDefinitely, definitely, with Miss Xieâs, if anyone else dared to make trouble for you in Jin City, that is equivalent to finding fault with me, Zhou Dequan!â
âThank you, Brother Six!â
Xie Wanwanâs acting skills were good. She smiled without much emotion and tried to retract her hand quickly.
However, Zhou Dequan held her hand tightly.
The first time, she was unable to pull her hand away and was slightly taken aback. Her beautiful watery eyes looked at Zhou Dequan in hesitation. âBrother Six?â
Zhou Dequan looked at her straight in the eye and smiled meaningfully. He slowly let go of her hand and twiddled his fingers.
âHow old is Little Xie this year?â
Such simple conversation seemed as though the elder of a family was talking to the younger generation.
Xie Wanwan smiled, pursing her lips. âBrother Six, asking a woman her age is a sensitive topic. Just take it that Iâm 18 years old.â
âOh,â responded Zhou Dequan as he looked at her amicably. Suddenly, he asked jokingly in a soft voice. âLittle Xie should have left that home for youths around 18 years old, right? When you arrived at your new home, do you get nightmares?â
In no time, Xie Wanwanâs face was drained of color.
She looked at Zhou Dequan, her face stiff and did not say a word. Zhou Dequan, on the other hand, looked natural as though he was really just concerned about her.
By comparison, it was obvious who could act better.
Xie Wanwan suddenly chuckled and looked a little cold. âBrother Six, thank you for your concern. I donât do things that go against my conscience so I donât get nightmares. How about you, Brother Six?â
Zhou Dequan narrowed his eyes to a squint as he glanced at Xie Wanwan for a moment and a somewhat disgusting smile slowly formed on his face. He suddenly lifted his hand that held Xie Wanwanâs hand earlier. He brought it up to his nose, closed his eyes, and smelled it, heaving a sigh as though he was besotted by it. âI like the way you talk now. I like this smellâŠâ
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