Chapter Seventeen: The Gathering

When Wen Ganan and her team arrived in Yancheng, Cheng He was indeed still away on a business trip. They planned to stay in Yancheng for about a month. The group consisted of six people—four women and two men. After discussing with Wei Mingshang, Wen Ganan rented a three-bedroom, two-living-room apartment online to serve as their temporary office.

The location wasn’t far from Quanten, making commuting convenient. This had been a necessary condition included in the previous bidding process; Quanten required them to establish an office on-site according to real-time project needs.

The team members were mostly young, except for Chen Ling, whose situation was tricky. Wen Ganan had considered being understanding, but Chen Ling had asked for two days to handle family matters and settle her daughter before joining them in Yancheng.

They arrived in Yancheng around noon, checked into the apartment, grabbed a quick meal downstairs, and in the afternoon visited Quanten’s office for an in-depth face-to-face meeting with the liaison team. The whiteboard in the conference room was filled with notes after several rounds of discussion. Though everyone’s throats were dry from talking, significant progress had been made on the project.

Wen Ganan arranged with their liaison to visit the R&D lab on the following day and possibly the factory afterward. Quanten also had factories domestically, which were established a year earlier than the branch office and were currently stable.

The meeting ended close to six o’clock, and since the next day was a weekend, Wen Ganan initially planned to take a few team members out to dinner. Unexpectedly, Lin Li, the liaison from Quanten and one of the operations team leaders, approached with a smile and was the first to invite them to join a group dinner.

“Consider it a welcome meal for you all.”

Perhaps it was because they had never encountered such a congenial client before that Wen Ganan and her team were somewhat surprised. Just as they were about to politely decline, Lin Li was already busy organizing the group and choosing the restaurant.

Wen Ganan opened her mouth to respond but then closed it again. The others glanced at her, pleasantly surprised but too shy to speak up.

After Lin Li finished the call, Wen Ganan smiled and thanked her, saying, “Well then, I gratefully accept.”

“No big deal—it’s only right,” Lin Li said, patting Wen Ganan’s shoulder and tidying up before leaving first.

For some reason, Wen Ganan found her smile particularly meaningful, though she couldn’t quite grasp why.

Lin Li was about 1.6 meters tall, not especially tall, but her appearance and manner were decisive and efficient. She had consulted everyone in the liaison group and finally settled on a Turkish restaurant for the dinner, which had been around for many years and was reputedly quite good.

Apart from Wen Ganan, none of them had been to a Turkish restaurant before, so they were all quite interested.

By 6:30, about ten of them prepared to head downstairs. Lin Li was counting heads and checking whether the number of cars available could accommodate everyone. Some had their own vehicles, but if there weren’t enough seats, they’d have to take taxis.

Absorbed in her calculations, Lin Li entered the elevator but forgot to press the down button. Before she realized it, the elevator was ascending. When the doors opened, they revealed Liang Yuxiu’s cold, deep expression—he looked tired, his brows furrowed. Seeing them, he appeared startled.

Everyone inside the elevator instantly became awkward; for Wen Ganan, it was a shock that made her heart skip a beat, because she and Lin Li were standing at the front, only a step away from Liang Yuxiu.

Lin Li put on a professional smile. “Good evening, President Liang.”

Wen Ganan forced herself to stay calm, replied with a faint greeting, and then averted her gaze.

Liang Yuxiu responded with a grunt but didn’t move, his face still deep and unreadable.

As the elevator doors were about to close, Lin Li reached out to stop them and asked, “President Liang, aren’t you coming in?”

“Is it convenient?” he asked.

Wen Ganan inwardly rolled her eyes, unsure what attitude he was putting on.

Lin Li smiled. “It’s convenient, why wouldn’t it be?”

She then moved aside to make room for Liang Yuxiu.

During the descent, no one else got on, as they were already at full capacity; one extra person would exceed the limit.

“We have three cars, enough for twelve people,” Lin Li whispered to Wen Ganan.

Wen Ganan turned to count heads and then exclaimed softly. There were thirteen people—neither more nor less.

How could it be such a coincidence?

She couldn’t help but smile wryly.

Suddenly, Liang Yuxiu turned his head, his gaze falling on Lin Li, though Wen Ganan was physically closest to him. Their shoulders nearly touched, and Wen Ganan tensed up, feeling suffocated.

After all these years, she still couldn’t shake this habit.

She silently scolded herself for being so weak.

“Are you all going to dinner?” Liang Yuxiu’s voice sounded above her.

Wen Ganan lowered her head.

“Ah? Yes, the colleagues from Feidu Advertising are here for their first day today, so we’re treating them to a welcome dinner,” Lin Li said with a smile.

But when had a client ever treated a contractor to dinner?

Wen Ganan couldn’t figure it out.

She was lost in thought when Liang Yuxiu calmly said, “Then count me in. I’ll bring someone along for you.”

Everyone was stunned.

It was an honor to ride in the big boss’s car, but how many dared to actually get in?

Lin Li didn’t mind, but since she had to drive her own car, after some back-and-forth, the task fell to Wen Ganan.

When the elevator reached the underground second-floor parking lot, Liang Yuxiu glanced at Wen Ganan and was the first to step out.

Lin Li comforted her from behind, “Don’t worry, President Liang just looks difficult to get along with. No need to be nervous.”

Chen Ling laughed and patted Wen Ganan’s hand. “Then I’ll take Team Leader Lin’s car.”

Soon, Liang Yuxiu’s car pulled up first.

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Wen Ganan climbed in with an expression that seemed ready to face death.

Inside the car, the atmosphere was awkward to say the least.

Wen Ganan realized that their sparring after reuniting was sharper than this current strained silence. If only she hadn’t tried to reconcile that night.

“Another car is coming up behind; please help me input the address for navigation,” Liang Yuxiu suddenly said.

Wen Ganan glanced back and awkwardly took the phone from his hand, inputting the restaurant’s address before handing it back.

But Liang Yuxiu didn’t take it; he merely nodded toward the dashboard, signaling her to place it on the car’s central console holder.

She complied.

After leaving the parking lot, she rolled down the window halfway. The breeze swept in, stirring away the awkwardness and unease inside.

Actually, she had done this sort of thing many times before, often in fact, but now it felt very strange.

She couldn’t quite explain it—she was simply a little regretful for getting into his car.

Along the way, Lin Li occasionally checked the group chat to confirm everyone’s whereabouts, and Wen Ganan replied a few times.

Half an hour later, Wen Ganan and Liang Yuxiu arrived at the restaurant first.

While Liang Yuxiu parked, Wen Ganan, not wanting to be alone with him waiting, gently urged Lin Li and the others in the chat.

“Almost there, about five minutes. Someone rear-ended another car ahead, so we’re taking a detour and it’s delaying us a bit,” Chen Ling sent a voice message.