Before Nan Yu could answer, Li Nan caught sight of the man following Tan Linyuan and shouted, "Brother!"
The older man was Li Nan's elder brother. He politely introduced Li Nan to Tan Linyuan, and then they left together.
Li Nan was still as enthusiastic as ever. "Big girl, come and visit Jingbei some time. Remember to give me a call!"
Nan Yu waved at him.
Tan Linyuan lowered his eyes, his gaze resting lightly on Nan Yu's face. He said nothing.
"Are we going back?" Nan Yu guessed that Tan Linyuan must have finished his business. Glancing at the door, she added, "My handbag is still in the lounge."
"We still need to wait for Liang Yi." His tone was flat.
Nan Yu didn't mind. She simply nodded. "Then I'll go back to the lounge and wait for you to finish."
However, instead of sending her back to the lounge, Tan Linyuan took her to the executive lounge.
The lounge was mainly decorated in a Chinese style, with food and drinks prepared. There was a huge emerald green screen in the room.
Behind the screen was a round table, presumably for business discussions.
It wasn't long before Liang Yi rushed in, still holding a stack of documents in his hand.
Pushing the door open and seeing Nan Yu sitting in the wheelchair, he was startled for a moment. Then he stroked his chin, his tone full of meaning. "Tan, you... have been hiding your cards well."
"Did you bring the stuff?" Tan Linyuan was too lazy to talk nonsense with him and got straight to the point.
"Sure, I did." Seeing his serious tone, Liang Yi immediately stopped joking around and walked behind the screen with the documents.
Tan Linyuan had just taken a step when he hesitated.
Nan Yu saw his hesitation and immediately understood. She turned the wheelchair away. "I'll just take a stroll. You guys talk."
Tan Linyuan frowned. He had wanted to say that wasn't what he meant, but she had already averted her gaze.
"I'll be quick." He promised in a low voice and then walked behind the screen as well.
Their voices gradually rose, but they weren't very loud. Only some vague words could be heard, mostly related to Jingbei.
Originally, Nan Yu hadn't intended to eavesdrop, but after a while, she suddenly heard her own name in their conversation.
Liang Yi's voice was the loudest. "For such an important business deal, why did you bring Nan Yu along?"
"I don't feel at ease leaving her alone." This was Tan Linyuan's answer.
Liang Yi wasn't convinced by this excuse. "Just hire someone to take care of her if she sprained her ankle. What's there to be worried about?"
Tan Linyuan rubbed his temples. "The agreement is fine. You can take it back. The project will start next month."
"If there's anyone good at kicking someone when they're down, it's our Buddha Tan."
Liang Yi was so angry that he laughed. "You called me here to run errands for you, and you won't even offer me a glass of water."
Tan Linyuan ignored him.
Liang Yi was used to Tan Linyuan's cold - naturedness and didn't argue with him. "This business deal was arranged by the Qu family. You owe them a huge favor. How do you plan to repay it?"
"Let him make the request." Tan Linyuan's tone was casual. "He'll need the Chamber of Commerce in the future too."
Since Qu Gaolin had given him a helping hand, he should surely reciprocate.
In the business world, it was never the fleeting money that mattered most, but the interpersonal relationships.
The value of favors was more precious than tens of millions.
As an onlooker, Liang Yi could see much more clearly. "What if the Qu family isn't after the Chamber of Commerce but you?"
When it came to this topic, Liang Yi clearly got excited. "I heard my brother mention once that Qu Gaolin said at a drinking party that he was going to start preparing for his daughter's wedding."
Tan Linyuan still remained expressionless. "So?"
"Don't play dumb with me." Liang Yi crossed his arms and looked smug. "Don't you know who his daughter has a crush on?"
"I don't know." Tan Linyuan didn't even lift his eyelids.
Liang Yi was almost spitting blood in anger. "Let's see how you'll still worry about Nan Yu when the Qu family proposes an engagement."
Hearing this, Nan Yu suddenly stopped turning the wheelchair.
She held her breath, and her heart skipped a beat.
"An engagement won't affect my private life." Tan Linyuan said calmly, defining the possibility raised by Liang Yi.
Even if the Qu family proposed an engagement with him, he wouldn't refuse. Instead, he would be happy to accept this alliance.
By then, with the combination of the Tan and Qu families, no one else in Jiangcheng would have a chance to compete.
Thinking of this, Nan Yu felt a wave of emotions welling up in her chest. The sense of blockage was even stronger than before.
...
It was only after Liang Yi left that Tan Linyuan came out from behind the screen.
"Are you hungry?" Tan Linyuan knew that Nan Yu hadn't eaten much. "Shall I take you to that restaurant we went to last time?"
Nan Yu pursed her lips and looked at Tan Linyuan. "Will Uncle Tan get engaged to Qu Jiaran?"
She asked straightforwardly, and Tan Linyuan was taken aback.
He had wanted to give a perfunctory answer, but the look in her eyes was so clear that it didn't allow for any concealment or falsehood.
Tan Linyuan was silent for a moment and didn't answer immediately.
"I see."
Before he could speak, Nan Yu quickly answered for him. "Uncle Tan has no intention of marrying Qu Jiaran, but if the Qu family proposes this, you won't refuse, right?"
Sometimes she even admired her own self - taught understanding.
Tan Linyuan remained calm. He pulled up a chair and sat down, looking at Nan Yu at eye level. "Have you always been this smart, or did you suddenly become so?"
Although she could tell he was joking, Nan Yu couldn't force a smile.
Tan Linyuan curled his lips, his tone light. "It seems you heard quite a lot."
"Uncle Tan didn't try to avoid anyone."
"I didn't intend to hide it from you."
Tan Linyuan looked into her eyes. "The Chamber of Commerce has reached saturation internally and urgently needs to open up new cooperation channels."
Nan Yu pursed her lips, understanding what he meant.
The resources in Jingbei were still a blue ocean. If Tan Linyuan could seize this opportunity to bring opportunities to the Chamber of Commerce, he would surely make great contributions.
His position in the Chamber of Commerce would be more stable, and his chances of winning in the competition with Shen Suhai would be greater.
"In a sense, this is a normal exchange of values."
Tan Linyuan said it calmly. "If you want to obtain useful values, you must surely return the values that the other party needs."
Nan Yu pursed her lips.
She wanted to say she didn't understand.
But she had also grown up in this environment and of course understood the helplessness of people like them.
Marriage autonomy? It didn't exist.
There were also enlightened parents like Nan Yu's, who had already rejected many marriage proposals for her, even though the offers were tempting.
Otherwise, with Nan Yu's age and looks, she would surely be married by now.
But such cases were rare.
The more special and noble one's status, the more one lost the right to choose in marriage.
One thing was for another, and one debt was repaid with another.
No one could escape.
Nan Yu lowered her eyes. For a moment, she didn't know what to say. Although he had patiently explained it to her, her chest felt more and more blocked.
Tan Linyuan took her hand and patted it in his palm. "Don't worry. I'll handle it properly."
Nan Yu couldn't help but wonder: How could he handle it properly?