On Top - Chapter 5

Section 1: Hijacking the Project

In all fairness, this project should never have fallen into Yan Chong’s hands.

Yan Chong had spent seven or eight consecutive years stationed at the overseas branch. If it weren’t for his grandmother, he probably would have long since established an independent empire abroad, paying no heed to the main headquarters back in Ronggang. His old man knew all too well that Yan Chong defied control. Thinking that since this son was unmanageable he might as well nurture another, the father had spared no effort over the years to groom his youngest son, Yan Youwei.

This project was originally meant to line Yan Youwei’s pockets. Yan Chong didn’t particularly care about this amount of money, but as luck would have it, he happened to find out about Yan Youwei’s past insolence toward the elderly Matriarch Yan.

Thus, today, just as Yan Youwei was dressed in a sharp custom suit and fully prepared to head out the door, Yan Chong called him to a halt.

“You won’t handle this project well.”

Yan Chong looked at his younger brother at his own leisure. His smile seemed genial, but the words that left his mouth were bone-chillingly cold. “Better leave it to me.” Yan Chong extended his hand toward him.

Looking at his rogue like eldest brother standing before him, Yan Youwei felt the blood throughout his entire body run cold. He had gone without sleep or rest for nearly a month to prepare for this project. What did Yan Chong mean by this? Demanding it just like that? What did he think he was?!

“I… I…” Yan Youwei’s eyes flushed crimson. But after straining for words, he could only counter with indignant resentment, “How does Big Brother know that I won’t do a good job?!”

“I have a hundred ways to ensure you don’t do a good job with this project.” Yan Chong watched him with easy composure, a cigarette held between his fingers. Amidst the swirling smoke, Yan Youwei noticed that his eldest brother was wearing a strand of Buddhist prayer beads around his wrist. Yan Chong smiled at him with absolute serenity. “Youwei, do you want to test me?”

Section 2: Meeting at the Conference Table

Su Xingyan watched Yan Chong walk toward him step by step.

Yan Chong looked quite different from their previous meetings. Likely due to the formal occasion, he wore a high-end tailored black overcoat. Though that pair of rimless glasses rested as always on his handsome face, Su Xingyan couldn’t tell if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the man carried a few distinct shades of sharpness compared to before.

“Madame, it’s you. Talk about fate.” While Su Xingyan was momentarily dazed, Yan Chong had already walked up to him in his gleaming leather shoes. The moment Su Xingyan lifted his eyes to meet Yan Chong’s gaze, he noticed a flash of surprise flit through Yan Chong’s dark eyes. Yan Chong leaned down slightly, speaking in a courteous yet ambiguous voice that only the two of them could hear: “I thought… the one coming would be your husband.”

Yan Chong offered a faint smile; he wasn’t actually lying. Before snatching the project proposal from Yan Youwei’s hands, he had investigated thoroughly. This was Wei Zhenning paving the way for the “Crown Prince.” If the Crown Prince wanted to return home, he needed some achievements under his belt. Yet, contrary to expectations, the one who showed up was the Crown Princess.

He wondered if this empire would also have to be won for him by the Crown Princess?

With this thought, a trace of disdain crossed Yan Chong’s dark eyes. He then intentionally knitted his brows as if in deep thought, speaking in an even lower, deeper tone, “Could it be that Madame knew I was coming, so…”

“Mr. Yan, please behave with self-respect.”

Su Xingyan snapped back to reality, tilting his chin up slightly to sweep a cold, piercing glance over him. Given Su Xingyan’s usual upbringing, since they were here to discuss a partnership, both sides should naturally show mutual respect. Right now, with Yan Chong standing while he remained seated, it was somewhat lacking in etiquette. But Su Xingyan figured that for a person like Yan Chong, no etiquette was necessary.

Su Xingyan narrowed his eyes slightly, studying Yan Chong with practiced ease. One stood tall while the other sat low, one was angry while the other smiled. The intersection of their gazes was entirely filled with an intense air of mutual probing.

Yan Chong was also looking at him with a smile. From the moment he learned that Su Xingyan was the Eldest Young Mistress of the Wei family, his curiosity and anticipation toward him had grown, he had already been brimming with curiosity about him. “What if…”

Yan Chong took a step forward.

“…I don’t behave with self-respect?”

Clatter!

Almost the exact instant the words left Yan Chong’s mouth, Su Xingyan stood up abruptly.

The crowd looked toward Su Xingyan in unison. Su Xingyan merely looked at Yan Chong with a fake smile, his voice completely steady and unhurried. “If Mr. Yan has no sincerity to discuss a partnership today, then we shall talk next time.” Leaving it at that, Su Xingyan turned sideways, intending to leave.

The crowd broke into a clamor. In truth, they didn’t know what Yan Chong and Su Xingyan had just muttered to each other, at this moment, they assumed Su Xingyan was using Yan Chong’s late arrival as a pretext to make a scene. However, this was also deemed unavoidable. Yan Chong had intentionally tried to give them a daunting display of authority upon arrival, so it was no wonder Su Xingyan chose to pay him back in his own coin. Otherwise, if they let themselves be overpowered right from the start, wouldn’t the future cooperation be led entirely by the nose by the Yan family?

Yan Chong also picked up on this meaning now. He narrowed his long, narrow phoenix eyes, looking at Su Xingyan with a touch of amusement.

Before coming here, he had specifically tasked Tang Chao with looking into things. Su Xingyan’s husband was a notoriously useless fool who lost money on everything he touched, a complete spendthrift. Although Su Xingyan had been sharp and intelligent in his early years, it was said that after marrying into the Wei family, he had become just like that fool, raised to be dull, lazy, and indulged in pleasure.

…Looking at it now, that didn’t seem to be the case at all.

Su Xingyan remained just as sharp.

Without fully realizing why, Yan Chong curled his thin lips into a smile, seemingly mocking himself for his rare error in judgment, it had been a long time since he misjudged someone. Seeing that Su Xingyan really intended to leave, Yan Chong let out a soft sigh and reached out to catch his arm.

“Hey, why so petty?” Su Xingyan turned his head slightly, only to hear Yan Chong whisper near his ear in that deep, chuckling voice: “There are so many people here, give me some face, alright? Director Su.”

Yan Chong’s voice was deep and magnetic, making it quite audible in this quiet office. Some of the attendees from the mainland didn’t catch it clearly, so they lowered their voices to ask the person next to them what Mr. Yan was saying.

Su Xingyan raised his eyes, only to see Yan Chong’s pair of phoenix eyes rippling, currently brimming with an affectionate charm as he looked at him. Others might not understand, but Su Xingyan had lived in Ronggang for nearly thirty years, how could he not know what Yan Chong was saying to him? At this very moment, in front of so many people, this man was lowering his posture while deliberately putting him on the spot, asking. Why so petty? With so many people around, give me some face, won’t you? Director Su.

A bout of spring rain silently swept across the entirety of Ronggang.

For some reason, the tips of Su Xingyan’s ears felt slightly hot. His gaze slowly shifted upward, finally landing on Yan Chong’s affectionately charming phoenix eyes. This man is most likely a philanderer, Su Xingyan suddenly thought.

Since Yan Chong had already lowered his stance to say this, there was no need for Su Xingyan to keep putting on airs, he never intended to terminate the partnership in the first place.

Section 3: The Ghost of the Past

The meeting was neither too long nor too short, precisely controlled within an hour. Yan Chong sat below, watching Su Xingyan, dressed in his sharp suit, eloquently discussing various execution plans for the project. The spring rain was still pattering outside. Yan Chong recalled the words Tang Chao had said to him on the road, and his expression grew somewhat dark and unreadable.

“The Su family and the Wei family are old family friends. The marriage between the two families was actually set before they were even born, even before they were conceived. In any case, the Su family and the Wei family were bound to cooperate. Back then, the Hong Kong media even joked that even if a dog were born in the end, the two families would still tie the knot.”

“Later, things did turn out exactly as they wished. Su Xingyan is the eldest son of the Su family and was born first, being about two or three years older than Wei Chengran. But for the sake of this marriage, Su Xingyan was made to wait two years. In the end, whether it was kindergarten, elementary school, or junior high, they were in the same school and even the same class. Of course, college was an exception.”

Tang Chao smiled meaningfully at this point. “Wei Chengran was incompetent and failed to get into the same college as Su Xingyan.”

Section 4: The Bandit’s Bloodline

Su Xingyan had already delivered his final summary. After a clean and crisp conclusion, he lifted his eyes to glance at Yan Chong, who sat in a lazy posture by the conference table, seemingly waiting for him to offer some brilliant insights. Yan Chong merely looked at him at his own leisure, curling his thin lips into a polite smile, saying absolutely nothing.

Yan Chong was thinking: How did he end up marrying someone like that?

“If Mr. Yan has nothing to add, then the project will preliminarily be executed according to the plan mentioned above.” Su Xingyan had his assistant roll up the projector screen, standing up to declare the end of the meeting.

Su Xingyan raised his eyes to scan Yan Chong, seeing him still sitting comfortably there without the slightest intention of leaving. Recalling the daunting display of authority at the start of the meeting, Su Xingyan curled his lips, intentionally piercing him with words: “Not leaving yet? Is Mr. Yan planning to spend the night here?”

“Can I?” Yan Chong asked back with a half-smile, feigning ignorance. “Director Su is so considerate, you even prepared a spot for me?”

“There are still empty beds in the employee dormitory. If Mr. Yan doesn’t mind, you can make do there for the night.” Su Xingyan didn’t indulge him.

Yan Chong let out a long sigh and said, “My back is stiff. I can only sleep on soft beds. I am afraid I don’t have the good fortune to enjoy your company’s dormitory.” He then asked, “It’s dinner time. Director Su, would you do me the honor of having a meal together?”

Su Xingyan opened his mouth to refuse, but the words died on his tongue as he suddenly remembered there were still a few detailed issues that required further communication with Yan Chong. This old fox had accepted everything wholesale during the meeting just now, and Su Xingyan didn’t know what trick he up his sleeve. Su Xingyan looked at him, and after a long silence, let out a soft breath. “Let’s go.”

Su Xingyan didn’t wait for him either. After speaking, he turned around and walked out.

Looking at Su Xingyan’s retreating back, Yan Chong broke into a silent, helpless laugh. He stood up lazily, preparing to follow, when his phone suddenly buzzed. Yan Chong answered it, and sure enough, his old man was furiously calling him to account for his actions.

“You went to Hongye? What is the meaning of this?! Don’t you know this is your younger brother’s project?! Have you lost your mind? What good projects haven’t been given to you over the years, why did you have to go and snatch your brother’s project?!” Master Yan seemed to be thoroughly enraged on the other end of the line.

Yan Chong only found it amusing. “I snatched it because I snatched it. Why does there need to be a reason?” Yan Chong narrowed his eyes, watching Su Xingyan’s departing back. This person was truly upright with excellent posture, like a pine tree growing against the wind.

Yan Chong smoothly switched the phone to his other hand, adding with casual self-possession amidst his laughter: “It’s not like you don’t know me. Since I was a child, whatever caught my eye, I would always snatch it into my hands.”

Master Yan’s fury suddenly lost its footing, yet his mind inexplicably recalled the time when Matriarch Yan had fought single-handedly to conquer the business world. His mother was a woman with a strong wolf-like nature. During the years she and his father shook the foundations of Ronggang, her life principle had always been that the winner takes all and the loser is entirely at fault. Yan Chong was raised entirely by Matriarch Yan, so his creed in life naturally had only one word left: “Snatch.”

Simply alike to a bandit, Master Yan thought, venting a breath of stifled air.