Chapter 8: Chrysanthemum Tea
When Yang Chen walked out of the police bureau with a trace of confusion, he still couldn't figure out why a lawyer he didn't know had come to bail him out. From the bureau's attitude, that lawyer clearly had an extremely powerful background.
At the entrance, Lawyer Zhang, his hair already white, wore gold-rimmed glasses and shook Chief Cai's hand with solemn formality. "Thank you, Chief Cai, for your cooperation. It's rare to see someone as young as you sitting at the helm of the West District Police Bureau. You really do have a broad heart."
Cai Yan kept a poised, grave expression. Her striking face wore a formal smile as cool as frost. "Lawyer Zhang is a senior figure in Zhonghai's legal community. As juniors, of course we should treat you with the utmost respect." Though she was speaking to Zhang, her eyes couldn't help flicking toward Yang Chen, who was idly stretching a few steps away.
Cai Yan never would have guessed that Zhang's sudden visit was to bail out Yang Chen. Zhang would never say who the employer behind it was, but anyone capable of bringing out such an elderly, respected lawyer had to be a big shot with real clout in Zhonghai. For that kind of person to step in for a street vendor who sold lamb skewers in the market, her guess had to be right - Yang Chen was no ordinary man.
Once he was out of the police bureau compound, Yang Chen smiled politely at Lawyer Zhang and said, "Um... thank you, lawyer, for helping me out. Otherwise I'd have been stuck in the interrogation room for two days. You don't know this, but I'd already promised to visit a friend's place tonight. What a headache..."
Looking at Yang Chen's awkward smile, Zhang's curiosity grew. He had originally not understood why that person had sent him to bail out this young man, but now that he'd seen him in person, there really was something unusual about him.
From the calm ease he showed inside the bureau, to the composure he kept after coming out, to even his ability to joke around, this young man clearly possessed an extraordinary bearing.
Putting away his former contempt, Zhang laughed and said, "Mr. Yang, there's no need to thank me. I'm simply carrying out the request of the person who hired me. If you want to thank anyone, the person you should thank is waiting up ahead."
Following the direction Zhang pointed, Yang Chen suddenly spotted a red sedan parked in the lot by the roadside.
He only glanced once, and his interest was immediately piqued. The car was a Bentley Arnage, a model rarely seen in China. British cars like that carried a stately, almost royal aura, and even in China the starting price was well over four million yuan. Anyone who could drive one so casually had to be worth billions.
After saying goodbye to Zhang, Yang Chen strolled lazily over to the side of the Bentley. He peered through the driver's side window, and his gaze refused to move away. With a faint smile, he said, "It's you?"
On the pure black leather seat sat a city beauty in a pristine white pleated dress, leaning there with a cool, waterlike poise. Her jet-black hair was pinned up high, neat and meticulous, and her exquisite face was half hidden behind oversized crystal sunglasses.
The sharp contrast between the sunglasses and her snow-white skin gave off an air of cold, proud aloofness, yet she was so beautiful it made the heart tremble.
The window was rolled down, but the beauty didn't even spare Yang Chen a look. She said flatly, "Get in."
Yang Chen wasn't polite. With a sly grin, he climbed in and casually shifted himself around, adjusting the seat height and roominess. Wearing the warm expression of an old friend, he said, "You left this morning without saying a word. I was still wondering if I'd ever run into you again. Didn't expect you'd come to the police bureau and bail me out so quickly. Does that count as fate?"
This beauty was the stranger he'd spent one night with just recently. Seeing the frost on her face now, Yang Chen thought back to the wild tumble of that night, and the two of them felt like completely different people. He couldn't help feeling playful.
"If you don't talk, nobody's going to think you're mute."
Without wasting words on Yang Chen, the woman stepped on the accelerator and drove away from the police bureau. About ten minutes later, she pulled up at a cafe beside the West District plaza.
After crossing the huge fountain, Yang Chen followed the silent woman into the cafe. It looked as if she'd reserved a private room in advance. Under the waiter's guidance, the two of them were taken to a quiet corner on the second floor, where several lush green potted plants blocked them off from the surrounding tables and made the place feel secluded and peaceful.
"Miss Lin, sir, what would the two of you like to drink?" the courteous male waiter asked with a smile.
Clearly, she was a regular. She took off her sunglasses, revealing a peerless face that would set most men boiling with desire, and the woman with the surname Lin said coolly, "A Blue Mountain, with milk. No sugar."
Yang Chen flipped back and forth through the menu for a while, frowning as he thought it over. Then he showed his teeth in a grin and said, "Uh... I'll have chrysanthemum tea. Something to cool me down. Don't make it fancy - just the cheapest one you have."
The waiter's smile froze. "Sir, this is a cafe. We don't serve tea, and we certainly don't have chrysanthemum tea..."
"Then I'll have a glass of water. Water costs money?" Yang Chen asked in distress.
"Uh... we do have water, but sir, are you sure that's all you want?" The waiter looked at Yang Chen strangely. He couldn't understand how the companion of someone so goddess-like could be a customer who only ordered water.
The woman, who had been staring coldly out the window, suddenly glanced at Yang Chen and said to the waiter, "Get him a Naples-style coffee. American style."
"Yes, Miss Lin." The waiter fled as if he had been granted amnesty.
But Yang Chen wore a miserable look. "I say... miss, you surname is Lin, right? Miss Lin, I don't have any money. Why are you ordering me a Naples coffee? That's a few hundred yuan a cup. I'd have to sell thousands of lamb skewers to afford that!"
"I'm paying." Frowning, the woman said with some impatience.
"This isn't about whether you're paying or not. It's about the fact that my income doesn't allow me to drink coffee at that level. Besides, I'm a perfectly healthy, literate man. How could I possibly take advantage of a girl buying me coffee? You should know that although my family is poor, I'm still a decent man, not some little hoodlum who cheats and swindles. If I were going to drink coffee, I'd obviously earn the money myself. Though actually, I don't even like coffee that much..."
"I'm the one treating you, not you taking advantage," the woman said, nearly breaking down. She took a step back on her own; just buying someone a cup of coffee, and he had that much nonsense to say.
But Yang Chen's expression turned solemn. With great seriousness he said, "Miss Lin, the ancients said that a gentleman does not eat food handed to him as alms. This is charity. Looking down on my income is one thing; looking down on my social standing is fine too, since yes, I'm just a lamb-skewer peddler. But you can't insult my character or trample on my self-respect..."
"Enough!!!"
Lin the beauty slammed the table and stood up, her full breasts rising and falling sharply. "Are you done yet? I don't have time to listen to all this ridiculous nonsense from you!"
As soon as she finished, Yang Chen, who had been running his mouth non-stop, immediately stopped, as if he'd become a different person. A pleased smile appeared on his face. "That's more like it, Miss Lin. You're young - be a little more emotionally expressive. Don't keep your face so stiff all the time. I think you look much prettier when you're angry than when you're cold."
"You..." With no trace of ladylike grace, the beautiful Lin sank back into her seat and glared at Yang Chen with bright, sparkling almond eyes. "I don't have time for your nonsense. Right now, I need to talk to you about something."