Wang Manni

The two of them arrived at a restaurant, ordered a few of its signature dishes, and chatted casually for a while.

The food came quickly. Before long, everything they had ordered was on the table.

"It tastes pretty good. Have some more." Wang Yan tried a bite, found it quite good, and said to Wang Manni.

"Mm, it really is delicious." Wang Manni picked up a bite of food.

With his salary, eating at this level was a bit of a stretch. People did invite her out now and then, but they couldn't do it every day, or every meal.

With Wang Yan guiding the conversation, the mood at the table was relaxed, and Wang Manni was in high spirits. No matter what she said, Wang Yan always knew how to pick up the thread, and the more they talked, the happier she became.

Wang Yan didn't believe a word Wang Manni said. Chasing a lifestyle beyond your means without working to improve yourself enough to afford it—whatever else you might call it, it was basically bullshit.

The mood was right, so they might as well have a drink.

With the alcohol loosening her up, Wang Manni opened up. She told him how hard life in Shanghai had been all these years, moving herself nearly to tears.

Though she'd had quite a bit to drink, Wang Manni was still perfectly clearheaded. She had a good tolerance. Besides, they were adults, not children. Getting completely wasted together on their first meeting would've been ridiculous.

They'd eaten their fill, had enough to drink, and talked to their hearts' content. It was getting late, so they tidied up and left after paying the bill.

Outside, Wang Yan looked at the hotel across the street and said to Wang Manni, "How about we go over there and have a proper chat?"

Wang Yan was being direct, but it wasn't really an insult or an imposition. For one thing, he'd seen plenty in his years selling homes.

No matter the time or place, rumors always spread fast.

Every so often, he'd hear about some agent or sales consultant at a property office who'd closed a deal by selling herself along with the house. Some people around him were brazen about it, too. Everyone knew what was going on.

After all, one night's fun could earn you tens of thousands. That paid a lot better than becoming a kept woman.

It was understandable. Some people wanted to sell themselves and couldn't even find a buyer. It was a kind of capital, wasn't it?

Struggling to get by in this materialistic society ultimately came down to money.

Just because people chose a way of making a living that the public didn't approve of didn't mean they deserved to be dismissed or condemned. That was neither rational nor intelligent. They were earning money through their labor, after all; the only difference was the kind of work they did.

Besides, supply and demand determined everything. If there was a market, there would be supply.

And it was pretty enjoyable when you got the whole package, wasn't it?

There was no shame in making money.

As for the current attitude toward sex and relationships, it was hard to say whether the prevailing culture was good or bad. People who were open-minded thought it was great; those who weren't thought it was rotten. There was no clear answer.

As for Wang Manni, she'd spent years selling luxury goods while setting her sights on a wealthy partner. This wasn't malicious speculation, but over the eight years she'd been in the business, common sense suggested that, given her looks, such things had surely happened more than once.

Of course, it was possible she'd really kept herself pure. But judging by her behavior in the story, that seemed highly unlikely.

Wang Manni followed his gaze and understood at once.

She'd thought of this when she agreed to dinner with Wang Yan. They were lonely city dwellers, after all. They both needed a little affection now and then.

Wang Yan was charming and composed. Even though he wasn't much to look at, he had a unique appeal.

And unlike the usual men, he didn't treat her like a woman for hire or assume that money alone would get him what he wanted.

She had a good impression of Wang Yan. They'd had a pleasant conversation, and she didn't dislike him.

She wouldn't call herself experienced, but she'd certainly been around. After a little wine, she nodded and didn't object.

When she nodded her consent, Wang Yan wasted no time. He put an arm around her and led her across the street.

Wang Yan didn't skimp on himself. He went straight for a presidential suite.

Once they were in the room, Wang Yan didn't waste time. They'd eaten, had their fill, and talked enough. What was the point of all the other formalities? Ever since he'd left Infernal Affairs and returned to the real world, he hadn't been with an older woman. He was already strong and full of energy, and he'd been pent up for quite a while.

The night's passion can be left unmentioned.

The next morning, Wang Manni woke up and looked around. When she didn't see Wang Yan, she assumed he'd already left. It had been a brief fling, a fleeting affair, and she didn't take it too seriously. That was mainly thanks to Wang Yan's kindness; he'd truly said the things she wanted to hear.

She wasn't stupid. She'd more or less figured out that Wang Yan had only been after one thing.

What she hadn't expected was that he'd simply leave, getting what he wanted without paying. She might not have wanted anything, but he could at least have given her something. Wasn't he supposed to buy her a few things, or at the very least give her some money?

She casually threw on a robe, got out of bed, and poured herself a glass of water.

Wang Yan had really worn her out the night before. She was exhausted, and even after sleeping through the night, she still hadn't recovered.

The hotel was nice, a proper star-rated place. It was a skyscraper, the sort of thing every big city had, and the suite was on the top floor, with an especially beautiful view.

Holding her glass, she walked out onto the large balcony and watched the rising sun, lost in thought.

Just then, Wang Yan opened the door and came in. He was used to getting up early. The hotel had a gym and a swimming pool, so he'd spent the morning exercising and getting his body moving to keep himself in shape.

As soon as he entered, Wang Yan started taking off his clothes. He'd worked up a bit of a sweat and needed a shower.

Hearing the noise, Wang Manni came in from the balcony just in time to see him undressing.

Looking at his body, all sharp lines and natural grace, Wang Manni couldn't help remembering the pleasures of the previous night. She shifted uncomfortably.

Wang Manni hadn't tied her robe very tightly, leaving a generous expanse of skin exposed. Combined with the way her legs shifted, she was irresistible to someone as energetic as Wang Yan.

"You haven't washed up yet, have you? We can do it together."

Wang Yan tossed his clothes aside. As Wang Manni cried out in surprise, he swept her into his arms and carried her to the bathroom.

For a while, the bathroom was filled with springtime warmth.

After a long while, Wang Yan came out carrying Wang Manni, who was still weak and trembling with lingering pleasure.

He set her on the bed, got himself ready, then took out his phone and transferred fifty thousand yuan to her.

"I sent you fifty thousand. Buy yourself something you like. I'm heading out."

He didn't wait for her to say anything pointless. They'd both gotten what they wanted. What was the point of dragging things out?

Wang Yan climbed out of bed without a hint of tenderness. Without looking at her again, he turned and left.

Wang Manni, limp and weak, watched Wang Yan's back and felt a jumble of emotions.

There was nothing more to it: her body had simply been conquered. Add Wang Yan's wealth, his character, and his unique charisma, and her good opinion of him was easily above ninety out of a hundred.

Women liked sex, too. Who wouldn't enjoy a little romance?

Even though she'd expected this before coming, she still regretted it a little.

No one treasured or valued what came too easily.

Wang Manni thought that if only she'd played hard to get instead of letting Wang Yan see through her so quickly, she could have put all her years of experience to work and spent more time with him. Could he have been the right man for her? Could her long-held wish finally have come true?

Sadly, her idea was destined to be a joke. Wang Yan knew the story and understood exactly what kind of woman she was. Even without that, his more than ten years of life experience in the first two worlds were enough to tell him what she was like.

Wang Yan had no time to worry about what Wang Manni was thinking. He still had corners to work on.

When he drove back to Junyue Mansion and was about to take the elevator upstairs, he happened to see Gu Jia coming out.

Wang Yan greeted Gu Jia as she walked toward him. "Ms. Gu, fancy running into you! Where are you off to?"

Gu Jia smiled warmly at Wang Yan. "It is a coincidence, Mr. Wang. I have something to take care of."

They were talking at cross-purposes—a standard Hua Nation greeting.

"Right." Wang Yan nodded to show he understood.

Then he said, "By the way, yesterday I mentioned treating your family of three to dinner."

"You've just moved in, so you must be busy. Are you free tonight? I'll arrange a dinner so we can get to know each other better."

Seeing how warmly Wang Yan invited her, Gu Jia found it hard to refuse. Besides, as someone highly ambitious, she wouldn't pass up a chance to expand her network.

She'd also made some inquiries the day before. Whatever the case, Wang Yan was a cut above them. And he worked in finance, so his connections were surely far better than theirs.

After a moment's thought, Gu Jia said, "I'm not sure whether my husband is free tonight."

"How about this? I'll ask him in a bit, and if he can make it, I'll get in touch."

Wang Yan readily agreed. "Sure. Let's add each other on WeChat, and I'll wait to hear from you."

After adding each other on WeChat, they politely said goodbye.

Back at home, Wang Yan changed his clothes and went to his company.

Selling off the stocks he already held wasn't simple. After all, they were worth tens of millions.

That much money could make waves in the market. If he pulled it all out at once, he could cause a stir. Setting aside whether he'd offend anyone, he'd lose a lot of money.

So it would take time to handle, and there was no point rushing.

After taking care of a few things, he gave one of his employees some information about US stocks and instructed him to keep an eye on them.

Because of the time difference, he adjusted the man's work schedule. He could rest during the day and monitor things from home at night, reporting to Wang Yan as soon as anything came up.

Knowing this employee, Wang Yan wasn't worried he'd get any ideas.

The chance that he'd run off with the money was slim. He was a local, after all, with his parents, wife, and children all here. In a country with thousands of years of filial tradition, no one but a madman would want to do that.

Then again, he might follow Wang Yan's tips and buy the same stocks. Wang Yan didn't mind. If he had the guts, he could buy in. The opportunity was there; whether he could seize it was up to him. It was all money from a free country, so what if he took some?

Wang Yan figured the man wouldn't dare to buy in at first. People couldn't handle the thought of failure. They wanted to make money but worried about the risks, so they hesitated. By the time they saw others making money and decided to follow, it was usually too late.

After giving his instructions, Wang Yan drove back to Junyue Mansion.

The study the system had furnished was something he hadn't tried out yet.

He gave the bookshelves a cursory look. They held a wide variety of books, covering all sorts of subjects. Wang Yan's mental attributes were now as high as eighteen, and his thinking and information-processing speed had both improved. That made him an extremely fast reader. Whether he could remember everything was another matter, but he could certainly understand the books' contents, even down to their deeper meaning.

His memory had also improved quite a bit. He couldn't remember everything after one glance, but if he made a point of memorizing something, he could retain it for a long time.

When Wang Yan read, he tried to understand the books thoroughly instead of memorizing everything. His mind was already cluttered enough; there was no need to cram it with even more.

There were enough books here to keep him occupied for quite a while.

After looking through them, he walked over to the large desk. The desk and chair were made of wood and had a classical feel, but Wang Yan didn't know what kind of wood they were made from. He'd never studied that sort of thing.

A complete set of the Four Treasures of the Study lay on the desk.

Although Wang Yan had seen plenty of antiques, he'd never studied them closely. So he couldn't tell whether that set of writing tools was antique or not.

Still, he figured the desk, chair, and Four Treasures of the Study were probably all of exceptional quality. After all, the system had given him assets worth over a hundred million. It couldn't be that stingy.

As for calligraphy, Wang Yan had some experience with it.

In the Infernal Affairs world, he'd learned from many masters of Chinese classics and Taoist experts. They all practiced calligraphy. It was a basic skill in those circles, and they were all quite good—some of them exceptionally so.

Wang Yan's own handwriting had looked like a dog had crawled across the page. There was no way it would pass muster. Asking those people to teach him would have been little better than humiliating them.

They couldn't stand his awful writing, so they'd occasionally offered him a few pointers. Mainly, they'd taught him the basics. Anything too advanced was beyond his understanding; his level was simply too low.

With all those pointers, and a lot of practice on his own, his handwriting had finally begun to take shape. More or less. It was just about readable.

Regular Script, Seal Script, Semi-cursive Script, Cursive Script, Clerical Script.

What Wang Yan truly liked was Emperor Huizong of Song's Slender Gold Script. Whatever else one could say about the old fellow, he'd certainly been good at calligraphy and painting. No arguing with that.

But Wang Yan was practicing Regular Script. It could be considered the foundation of calligraphy, and Emperor Huizong had started with it too.

If you couldn't manage straight horizontal and vertical strokes, there was no way you'd be able to write with sweeping flourishes and strokes as sharp as blades. It was like a child who couldn't walk yet wanting to run.

He had nothing but time. Just as he'd practiced Fighting, he worked on styles from calligraphy masters like Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan, and Chu Suiliang. He practiced all sorts of schools, and in time, his writing naturally improved.

After fussing with the tools for a while, Wang Yan picked up the brush and wrote a few large characters in Regular Script. He took one look, crumpled the paper, and tossed it in the trash. It was only just legible to people who didn't know better. Anyone who did would find it irritating—including him.

After sighing, "The road is long and arduous," Wang Yan picked up the brush and began to "keep moving, and you will arrive." He stood by the desk, practicing seriously and quietly.

Once he began, he became absorbed in it and didn't realize that the afternoon had passed.

Wang Yan put down the brush and stretched. It was almost four o'clock.

He picked up the phone on the desk and checked his messages.

One was from Gu Jia, saying Xu Huanshan had no problem with it and they could get together that evening.

Another was from Wang Manni. In short, she hoped they could meet again sometime. She'd gotten a taste and wanted more, which was understandable. Wang Yan hadn't led her on. He'd see her again if he ever felt like it.

The rest were from friends and such. He was a boss with assets worth over a hundred million, after all. How could he not have a few friends?

He replied to the ones that seemed worth his time or had something serious to say. The rest could forget it. Why bother responding to a bunch of pointless nonsense?

After replying, Wang Yan found a private restaurant with a good reputation and booked a table.

It wasn't one of the high-end places that required reservations several days in advance. He didn't have time for that now, so a place with a decent standard would do.

He replied to Gu Jia, sent her the address, and arranged to meet that evening.