Are you speaking arrogantly?

???

What on earth are you boasting about, big shot?!

Ye Mian could never have imagined that she would be the bashful one. She closed her eyes, and after a long pause, finally managed to say, “That won’t be necessary.”

Jiang Chen chuckled softly, letting it go right away, only smiling faintly as he said, “Is that so? What a pity.”

A pity for what…?

As Jiang Chen’s words faded, Ye Mian was briefly stunned. He was so close, his breath lingering around her, and some indescribable tension seemed to fill the spacious car to its brim.

Slowly, Ye Mian’s thoughts began to wander, drifting into a shameful direction she couldn’t control.

No matter how she tried to suppress it, her mind wouldn’t obey, and the blush on her cheeks was impossible to hide.

She could sense the teasing undertone in Jiang Chen’s words—something the gentle, courteous Jiang Chen of the past would never have done.

Naturally, her heart started racing again, even harder than when she did cardio on an empty stomach.

But she couldn’t let herself panic!

She lifted her eyes to look at him, enunciating every word, “Mr. Jiang, please have some self-respect.”

Jiang Chen was briefly taken aback, as if not immediately grasping her meaning. After a few seconds, he let out a low laugh and asked, “And what kind of title is ‘Mr. Jiang’?”

Ye Mian’s heart pounded at his laughter. “My roommate said the bar we went to the other night is yours. Honestly, it’s impressive—being a boss while still in college.”

The more Jiang Chen listened, the more amused he seemed. He kept his gaze forward, chuckling quietly, his hand reaching for his cigarettes before pausing and putting them down. “So, you think being a boss is impressive?”

Ye Mian hesitated, then answered, “Not necessarily.”

There were plenty of business owners in the world, but not all of them could accomplish what Jiang Chen would in the future.

A faintly distracted look came over Jiang Chen, his eyes merging with the night, shadows covering half his face.

“Then what kind of person do you consider truly remarkable?”

Faced with such a question, Ye Mian’s mind instinctively went to the Jiang Chen of her previous life—a man who held half the world in his grasp, opened banks, ran venture capital firms, and by twenty-five was the talk of the entire financial industry, accolades pouring in from all directions.

The headlines of financial news always belonged to him.

The name Jiang Chen alone was enough to draw every eye.

With such a vivid image in her mind, Ye Mian didn’t hesitate: “Someone who makes the financial news a few times before turning thirty, I suppose.”

After a long silence, Jiang Chen lowered his gaze, and inexplicably smiled. “Not bad.”

Since starting college, Ye Mian had noticed, Jiang Chen’s words had grown increasingly ambiguous.

What exactly did he mean by “not bad”?

If she wasn’t certain Jiang Chen had no idea whom she was referring to, she would have thought he was shamelessly praising himself.

But she had no chance to ask. Suddenly, the car’s digital screen lit up with an incoming call.

Jiang Chen glanced at her, and without the least hesitation, pressed the decline button.

Ye Mian saw the caller too—a person named Xiang Sheng.

Less than two minutes later, the phone rang again.

Ye Mian hesitated, then turned to ask, “Aren’t you going to answer?”

He was focused on the road ahead, both hands resting casually on the steering wheel, his chin pressed down in a relaxed manner. “I’ll call him back later.”

“Oh,” said Ye Mian, glancing out at the endless nightscape. The wind blowing through the window carried Jiang Chen’s unique scent, and she couldn’t help but breathe it in.

Though her cold hadn’t quite cleared up, she felt full of energy at this moment.

The car stopped in the parking lot at the mall entrance.

By seven, the sky was completely dark, the streetlights blazing on either side. The city’s prosperity showed not just in its economy, but in its nightlife.

Even at four or five in the morning, people could be found eating late-night snacks on the streets—something Ye Mian would never have imagined before.

Beside the mall lay a snack street, filled with people from nearby neighborhoods.

It was rush hour, and the mall was packed.

Passing a milk tea shop, Jiang Chen bought her a cup—mint green tea, half sugar, no ice.

Once they entered the hotpot restaurant and Ye Mian started ordering, he went out to make a call.

Stepping outside the mall, Jiang Chen looked a little distracted, a cigarette pinched between his fingers.

Under the glaring lights, Xiang Sheng’s voice came through the phone. “Hey, what time will you be here today?”

Jiang Chen glanced at his watch, face calm. “Nine o’clock.”

“Okay, don’t be late. This is your first investment, you know. I’m worried—will it work out?”

White smoke curled from his fingers as Jiang Chen replied coolly, “It will. I don’t do anything I’m not sure about.”

Xiang Sheng respected that. Back when his bar was on the verge of shutting down, he’d all but given up, sold the business, and contented himself with just being a manager, at least freed from the financial pressure.

But to his surprise, the bar had actually turned around.

He was truly convinced, and naturally wanted to take a gamble with Jiang Chen.

In the hotpot restaurant, Ye Mian followed the recommendations and ordered a few dishes.

Remembering how Jiang Chen always managed to pay before she could, shattering her dream of treating him, she decided to be clever this time. As soon as she finished ordering, she grabbed the receipt and, while Jiang Chen was still outside, hurried to the counter. “Hello, I’d like to settle the bill, please.”

The cashier glanced at her receipt, then at the empty table it corresponded to—clearly, the food hadn’t even arrived yet.

The cashier apologized instinctively, “I’m sorry, ma’am, is there something you’re dissatisfied with?”

“Huh?” Ye Mian blinked, realizing the misunderstanding, and quickly smiled. “No, I just want to pay in advance. I don’t want a refund, and there’s nothing wrong.”

The cashier breathed a sigh of relief and took the receipt with a smile. “Alright, that’ll be 380 yuan.”

Payment done, Ye Mian returned to her seat. It struck her as odd that every time she saw Jiang Chen, it always seemed to be at night, and yet they never did anything in particular.

She’d wanted to ask Jiang Chen about the matter with the clock last time, but never found the chance.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt Jiang Chen was a tough nut to crack. She even considered getting him drunk to loosen his tongue.

But then again, he owned a bar—where else could she take him for a drink?

Trying to pull something on his own turf—that would just be foolish.

Under the bright ceiling lights, Jiang Chen walked in. As the light grew stronger, Ye Mian’s eyes never left him.

Once he sat down, the dishes arrived.

Ye Mian looked at him. “Finished your call?”

Jiang Chen nodded, his long, pale fingers picking up a plate of meat, slipping it into the soup to cook, then fishing it all into Ye Mian’s bowl.

“Eat.”

Ye Mian stared at the mountain of meat in her bowl—too late to stop him.

She couldn’t help but wonder what kind of image she had in Jiang Chen’s eyes.

Was he trying to fatten her up like a pig?

She’d ordered an extra-large plate of beef rolls—who in their right mind eats a whole plate by themselves???

(End of this chapter)