Chapter 448 Extra: Modern Arc 4 (Meng Wan x Song Tingzhou)

Chapter 448 Extra: Modern Chapter 4 (Meng Wan x Song Tingzhou)

They came down from the mountain, and Song Tingzhou ignored the group of subordinates waiting by the car, heading straight for the Zhangs' place with Meng Wan.

Zhang Yu turned back to look at the middle-aged men who looked like they wanted to say something, like they'd just been left in the dust, and said enthusiastically, "Secretary Song, why don't you invite the town chiefs and everyone to come along too? We've got a big table at our place—could easily fit two or three tables' worth of people."

Indeed, besides the county government personnel, there were also several town chiefs and township party secretaries from the surrounding areas.

Song Tingzhou must have had a pang of conscience, slowing his steps a little. Seeing this, the middle-aged man behind him quickly stepped forward with his briefcase, "Secretary, there's still a meeting in Luwu Town this afternoon."

He was indeed very busy, and Song Tingzhou knew where his priorities lay, but this was the first time this cold fish had ever felt his heart stir, so he still felt somewhat unwilling to let go.

"Luwu Town's vinegar rice noodles are quite famous. How about I take you... all of you out for a bite in town?" Song Tingzhou invited Meng Wan and Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu still had work to do at home, but when the County Party Secretary invited him, who's gonna say no to that? He agreed cheerfully. Meng Wan still wanted to dig for more info on the Pinglu Canal, so he naturally didn't object either. And just like that, the two of them ended up in Song Tingzhou's car.

His car had a driver—a big, burly guy who was probably doubling as driver and bodyguard. The middle-aged man from earlier was Qiao Xingyuan, the head of the County Party Committee office and Song Tingzhou's right-hand man.

Zhang Yu sat in the town chief's car in the back. Meng Wan originally wanted to sit with him too, but Song Tingzhou was standing right by his own car and had even specially opened the door for Meng Wan. He couldn't exactly brush off the secretary's gesture, right? So he had no choice but to sit down.

It was pretty awkward right then. The village was probably quite far from Luwu Town, and if he pulled out his phone, it might come off as rude. The guy next to him just had way too much presence. In school, people always joked about someone being like a hall monitor—but now he was sitting next to the real deal!

"Secretary, these are the paperwork on the administrative divisions for Luwu, Shaping, and Xinzhou towns." Qiao Xingyuan handed a stack of documents from the front seat to Song Tingzhou.

The sedan was a little tight for a guy as tall as Song Tingzhou. He tried to stretch out his long legs but still couldn't quite get comfortable.

Taking the documents and placing them on his lap first, Song Tingzhou slowly undid his cufflinks and rolled his sleeves up twice. When he raised his wrist—lean and sharply defined—the line of it was as clean as a brushstroke. After rolling up his sleeves, he undid another button at his collarbone before lowering his head to focus on the documents in his hands.

Meng Wan glanced a few more times at the watch on Song Tingzhou's wrist. It wasn't like the thick, rugged men's watches one usually saw—the dial was small and elegant, the style gentle and understated. It didn't really fit Song Tingzhou's vibe—more like something a girl would pick out.

So, probably his girlfriend bought it for him to mark her territory.

At his level, his age, with looks like that, it'd be totally normal for him to have a girlfriend—maybe he was even married already.

Meng Wan relaxed a little. Seeing that Song Tingzhou was focused on his documents and not paying him any attention, he pulled out his phone and searched for information about the Pinglu Canal in Lingzhou County. Online, there was still just the same scraps of info as before.

He figured he'd better keep his lips sealed—Secretary Song had been polite, but Meng Wan knew not to go blabbing to anyone.

"Want to swap WeChat?"

A deep voice came with a black phone held out toward him. No case on it, but the edges were in great shape—not a single scratch.

"Sure." Meng Wan immediately opened WeChat and scanned Song Tingzhou's QR code. His phone was a hand-me-down from when he used to do delivery gigs—an old iPhone that was years out of date. His earphones were also castoffs, supposedly a big brand, but just as outdated. Everyone used wireless buds now.

Song Tingzhou stared at the new contact on his WeChat, thinking: Kids these days all seem to like that brand of phone?

Meng Wan's WeChat handle was "Moonlight Postman," with an anime-style avatar—a silver crescent moon against a night sky. Song Tingzhou fought the urge to check Meng Wan's Moments, put his phone away, and went back to the documents, a quiet bitterness in his downcast eyes.

He wasn't looking to start anything with Meng Wan. Sure, he was gay, but that didn't mean everyone else was. Still, he couldn't stop himself from wanting to know everything about the guy.

Arriving at Luwu Town, the car stopped by the roadside. Qiao Xingyuan and the driver stayed put, planning to wait in the car for the boss. Zhang Yu from the car behind was let out. The town chief tried to sidle up to Song Tingzhou with a question, but Song shut him down: "We'll talk at the three o'clock meeting."

The town chief's feelings were all over the place—he looked like he wanted to speak but held his tongue, and not wanting to piss off the new secretary, he headed back to the town office.

Luwu Town was very large—Meng Wan thought it was almost as big as the county seat back home. It was his first time in Guangxi, and everything beyond the village felt brand new.

Zhang Yu hit Luwu Town all the time and knew it better than Song Tingzhou, who was supposed to be the one treating. He had no trouble finding a legit spot for vinegar rice noodles.

Meng Wan and Zhang Yu ate vinegar rice noodles, while Song Tingzhou ordered a bowl of pig's trotter noodles. He didn't act all high-and-mighty, but he wasn't much of a talker either—mostly just sat there quietly while Meng Wan and Zhang Yu shot the breeze.

When Meng Wan bent over his bowl to slurp noodles, a few strands of hair fell across his forehead, half-hiding his eyes. There was a tiny dark mole near his eye that shifted as he chewed—really cute, with this weird kind of charm.

Song Tingzhou did his best not to be obvious about it, only sneaking a glance at Meng Wan when nobody was looking. But some things just can't be hidden, no matter how hard you try. He accidentally locked eyes with Meng Wan's gorgeous peach-blossom eyes. The second their eyes met, Song Tingzhou's face didn't even twitch—he just looked away like it was nothing.

Meng Wan's expression flickered. He ducked his head, grabbed a tissue to wipe his mouth, and when he looked up, he was all smiles and politeness again. "Secretary Song, I'm done eating."

"Mm." Song Tingzhou set down his chopsticks. "Where do you two wanna go? I'll have the driver drop you off."

Meng Wan tugged on Zhang Yu, who was still hunched over his noodles. "No need to bother. We'll just walk around a bit and head back."

Song Tingzhou didn't get up. He ordered another bowl of noodles. "Go on, then."

Zhang Yu wolfed down the rest of his noodles, shot Song Tingzhou a goofy grin, and headed out of the shop with Meng Wan.

Before leaving, Meng Wan looked back at the man still eating his noodles. His upper body in that white shirt was straight and solid, his profile sharp and clean, with deep brows and bright eyes, and a calm, reserved air about him. Normally, a guy like that wouldn't be easy to read, but Meng Wan somehow picked up on something lonely and almost pitiful about him.

Once they were out of the shop, Meng Wan shook his head with a dry laugh. He had to be out of his mind to feel sorry for a county official.

—

Over the next few days, Meng Wan didn't reach out to Song Tingzhou again, but he wasn't in any rush to leave either. His uncle's fruit trees needed fertilizing and spraying, and the family mostly handled it themselves. Meng Wan figured he'd stick around to help them finish up before heading out.

After a long, exhausting day, Meng Wan showered and was just about ready to collapse into bed. He forced himself to stay up and grabbed the book he'd been halfway through from the nightstand. Ten minutes later, the *Practical Handbook for Earthwork and Building Materials Transport* smacked him right in the face.

"Ding-dong... ding-dong."

A WeChat message notification sounded, followed immediately by a second one.

Eyes still shut, Meng Wan fumbled for the phone charging on the nightstand. That phone was ancient—the battery barely lasted half a day. Wherever he went, the first thing he did when he got back was plug it in.

He rolled over and checked WeChat. The contact saved as "Secretary Song" had a little red "2" bubble on it.

Meng Wan's eyes moved. He flipped onto his stomach and opened the chat.

"Secretary Song": Are you asleep?

"Secretary Song": So about that thing you mentioned before—wanting to do some small business in Guangxi—how's that coming along?

Meng Wan was wide awake in an instant. He typed out two lines, thought better of it, deleted them, and mulled over his reply before sending.

"Moonlight Postman": Secretary Song, I'm still up. I've been helping my uncle with his fruit trees, so I haven't had time to think about business. Why are you still up so late, Secretary?

After sending it, Meng Wan stared at the screen. A minute later, Song Tingzhou's video call came in.

There was no nightlight on the bedside table. Meng Wan didn't hesitate—he pressed answer while getting out of bed to turn on the light by the door.

Half of Meng Wan's face appeared on the screen, blurry and shot from below. A real beauty could pull off any angle—even from this killer angle, Meng Wan looked sharp and almost intimidatingly gorgeous.

Click—the light came on, showing Meng Wan with his hair all messy. Song Tingzhou's face stayed perfectly still, but his heart was going crazy.

"Construction in Lingzhou County is gonna start soon." Song Tingzhou's voice was flat, no real ups or downs.

It hit Meng Wan—did that mean the bidding was already done? He hadn't expected it to move this fast. This secretary really was a man of action.

"Brother Zhou." The words "Secretary Song" were right there on his tongue, but at the last second he switched to "Brother Zhou." He asked a little awkwardly, "Can I ask which companies won the bids? I mean, if that's not something you can share, no worries."

If it weren't for his official duties, Song Tingzhou would've handed the whole project to Meng Wan on a silver platter. A few phone numbers were nothing to be cheap about. "Grab a pen and write these down—I'll go through them one by one."

"Ruidai Building Materials Trading Co., Ltd., Jin Jun, 155... Chen'an Construction Engineering Co., Ltd., Wang Zichen, 138..."

There was no paper or pen nearby, so Meng Wan immediately minimized the video window and opened his notes app, jotting everything down one by one. After he had recorded them all, the other end stayed silent for a long while. Meng Wan clicked the video window back up and found Song Tingzhou with his eyes lowered, his thick dark lashes casting a faint shadow in the light, his expression looking somewhat weary.

"Brother Zhou?" he called out tentatively.

"Yeah." Song Tingzhou looked up, his gaze cutting straight through the screen. "Got it all written down?"

"Got it. Thanks, Brother Zhou." Meng Wan sat up straight and proper to express his gratitude. "Sorry to bother you this late."

Song Tingzhou was presumably at home too now, wearing a gray loungewear set, his hair soft, his features gentle. "It's no trouble. This info will be public in a couple days anyway."

"Either way, I owe you one, Brother Zhou. Whenever you're free, I'll take you out for a meal in Lingzhou County." Even though Meng Wan had never done business, just from reading up on things these past few days, he understood that government bidding was serious business with plenty of hidden strings attached. A few days earlier or later could make a world of difference—every second counted.

After hanging up the video call, Song Tingzhou was still thinking about Meng Wan's words—favor—he'd taken it to heart? Did he even know what kind of feelings he had? Song Tingzhou let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh.

What could fifty grand even do?

Meng Wan had never aimed too high from the start. He'd never had any exposure to business opportunities before, but having worked part-time since middle school, he'd seen countless shops and companies rise and fall.

Going straight for a big loan to do something big—that never even crossed his mind. The smaller the shop, the better for a newbie like him. He'd already made up his mind the day he got back from Luwu Town: if Song Tingzhou could really give him a hand, he wanted to be a middleman supplier, hooking up with sand and gravel plants to scrape together a little profit.

All those days of waiting around hadn't been wasted. Meng Wan had researched a wealth of relevant information—he'd already done his homework on paper. Now it was time to get down to the real deal!

While others were stumbling around in the dark, he had Song Tingzhou's connections behind him, which made things surprisingly smooth. His very first phone call had already shown promise.

Jin Jun was the young heir of Ruida Building Materials, only a few years older than Meng Wan, but his speech was remarkably seasoned: "Ah, I think I recall something like that. Hard to discuss over the phone. Tell you what—next Wednesday our company is hosting a reception in Yongzhou. Come on over, and we'll talk face to face."

"That's wonderful—thank you so much, President Jin, for the opportunity. I'll see you next Wednesday." Meng Wan agreed with a smile over the phone, then moved on to contact the second company.

Beyond that, Meng Wan also started getting out there, scouting every legitimate sand and gravel plant in the area. He sold loose goods haphazardly for a few days and actually managed to turn a small profit.

He knew he was a novice, and he didn't expect to succeed like a prodigy on his first try. But he only had this much capital, and the first step to avoiding failure was not putting all his eggs in one basket.

With that mindset, Meng Wan headed to Yongzhou. To avoid looking too thin on the ground, he brought his cousin Zhang Yu along.

The reception hosted by Ruida Building Materials at this particular time was an unspoken signal—those with sharp sources of information, or those Jin Jun favored, had been invited in.

Meng Wan and Zhang Yu stood out among the crowd like a couple of greenhorns, conspicuously raw and inexperienced next to these seasoned veterans. No one paid them any mind, and Meng Wan didn't foolishly charge in either.

He was observing. He was reading people. When it came to business, Meng Wan knew next to nothing, but he was fairly sharp at judging character.

"President Jin is truly a young talent! I hear the Jin family is one of the top commercial giants in S City. With this Pinglu Canal project, President Jin, as an up-and-comer, secured such a massive piece of the pie for Ruida without relying on his family—your future in Guangxi is boundless!" A middle-aged man with a paunch waddled up to Jin Jun, wine glass in hand, grinning broadly with sincere words. He even nodded approvingly as he spoke, as if Jin Jun's success were somehow his own doing. If anyone who didn't know better walked by, they'd surely call him "Uncle" with warm familiarity.

"Is that Jin Jun's dad?" Zhang Yu's eyes darted around nervously, the rented three-piece suit feeling a bit tight around his neck.

Meng Wan: "..."

"No, don't talk nonsense," he cautioned Zhang Yu. "Don't say anything—just stand behind me."

Zhang Yu obediently pressed his lips together. Ever since they'd entered the hotel, he'd been completely deferential to Meng Wan, because his cousin, despite never having been to such an occasion, was far more composed than he was.

Jin Jun replied modestly: "President Wei, you flatter me. The real titan in S City is Magic Cube Technology. The Jin family can't compare to a top-tier conglomerate like that—otherwise, I wouldn't have come all the way to Guangxi to start a company."

"President Jin is too humble. Magic Cube Technology is in the internet business; we in the manufacturing sector can't compete with them."

"Manufacturing is getting harder and harder. I heard that for this canal project, Secretary Song pushed aside all objections to select Ruida. President Jin, when you hit it big, don't forget to look out for the rest of us."

The group traded probing remarks back and forth. Midway through the reception, after all the necessary greetings had been exchanged, Meng Wan casually rose, adjusted his sleeves, took a glass of champagne from a waiter, and made his way toward Jin Jun.

"President Jin, pardon the interruption." Meng Wan gave a slight bow, raising his glass to eye level—neither overly deferential nor dismissive. "I'm Meng Wan. We spoke on the phone last week."

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