Campus Ace Girl-Chapter 471 - 472: You’re taking a casual friend home?
Shen Congwen hummed in agreement. "That’s just how he is."
Shen Jun looked at his elder brother, and after a long pause, he finally asked slowly, "Then, Brother, how do you know?"
Shen Congwen was momentarily stumped.
He sighed and said nothing more; instead, he offered to drive the girl—was her name West Asia or Yaxi?—home. West Asia sensed his reluctance and didn’t press, softly telling him her address.
As Shen Congwen was ready to leave with his car keys, Zhou Yunchen stood up. "Let me take her."
Shen Congwen frowned. "Isn’t it inappropriate to ask a guest to do that?"
Zhou Yunchen had already taken the car keys from him, his demeanor nonchalant. "What’s inappropriate about it?"
Father Shen was also taken aback. This... indeed wasn’t proper.
It was only when Zhou Yunchen left that he asked in a low voice, "Congwen, what exactly is the nature of your relationship with Zhou Yunchen?"
Shen Congwen sat on the couch and rubbed his forehead. "Just casual acquaintances, that’s all."
Father Shen looked at his son and spoke gently, "And you bring a casual acquaintance home?"
"Dad." Shen Congwen looked helpless. "We happened to be having dinner together, and since you asked me to come home, I brought him along. Plus, you know him as well."
Father Shen nodded. "Actually, I think Yunchen is very good. Your sister..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Shen Congwen interrupted him, "They’re not suitable."
Father Shen sighed. "Yunchen already has a girlfriend, so let’s drop the matter. Oh, right, next time, have him bring his girlfriend home for a meal. It would be a nice gesture from us as elders."
He recalled the past, his voice softening. "That boy has had a tough life, and he doesn’t have any elders left in his family. Congwen, you should bring him over for meals more often in the future."
Shen Congwen agreed.
Elsewhere, Zhou Yunchen was dropping the young woman home. During the drive, she quietly asked him what kind of woman Shen Congwen liked. Zhou Yunchen gripped the steering wheel and let out an alluring chuckle. "I’m not sure either. I’ve never seen him fancy any woman! Perhaps... he’s not interested in that sort of thing."
The young woman looked quite dejected but tried to keep her spirits up.
Zhou Yunchen was feeling a bit sleepy, so he lit a cigarette. "You don’t mind if I smoke, do you?"
He rolled down the window a little, and the young woman quietly said it was fine.
As Zhou Yunchen slowly smoked, this handsome and mature man naturally exuded charm. The young woman couldn’t help stealing a few more glances at him, but he showed no reaction, acting as if she wasn’t there.
After dropping her off, he drove back to the Shen residence.
Mother Shen and Shen Jun had already gone to bed. Father Shen was talking with Shen Congwen when Zhou Yunchen naturally joined Father Shen for a game of chess.
Father Shen asked a few casual questions, and Zhou Yunchen respectfully answered, holding a cigarette in one hand while placing a chess piece with the other, exuding a strong masculine aura.
Shen Congwen discovered that this man was one way in front of others and completely different in private. He was truly quite devious.
Shen Congwen went to bed first. Zhou Yunchen stayed up playing chess with Father Shen for another hour or two, during which Shen Congwen came downstairs once. This made him wonder. Wasn’t that man very tired?
「...」
The next day, when Shen Congwen came downstairs, he found Zhou Yunchen already up, chatting with Father Shen over breakfast.
He went and sat down, casually flipping through the newspaper.
Zhou Yunchen then said quietly, "I have a meeting at nine. I’ll drive you to your company first."
Shen Congwen took a bite of his sandwich. "It’s my car."
"I know, just borrowing it." Zhou Yunchen stood up. "I’ll wait for you in the car."
After finishing, he bid farewell to Father Shen and Mother Shen, his every gesture perfectly natural.
Shen Congwen silently finished his breakfast and then went out after saying goodbye to his parents.
Father Shen looked at Mother Shen. "These two boys seem to get along well, don’t they? How could they just be casual acquaintances?"
Mother Shen chuckled. "Zhou Yunchen indeed is quite good. He runs a big business, you know."
Father Shen chuckled along. "Then in the future, our son will have to learn a lot from him. Yunchen doesn’t have any relatives, does he? We’ll be his family then. Congwen is usually attentive; perhaps they should live closer to each other so they can look out for one another."
Mother Shen also thought this was a good idea, but a moment later, she grew worried again. "Old Shen, do you think Congwen might be averse to marriage? He’s almost thirty and doesn’t seem worried at all."
Father Shen was more open-minded. "The boy is busy with his career, what’s the rush!"
Men understand men best. Once a man has a career, what kind of young woman can’t he find?
Hearing him say this, Mother Shen chose to remain silent.
Meanwhile, Shen Congwen sat in the passenger seat. After a while, he couldn’t help but speak up, "Let’s go to your company first. I’m not in a hurry."
Zhou Yunchen pulled out a cigarette and lit it, then chuckled. "Are you sure you don’t want me to drop you off?"
"I can drive," Shen Congwen murmured.
Zhou Yunchen laughed. "Alright! We’ll go to my company first."
He drove while smoking but, unusually, didn’t tease Shen Congwen as he had before. Shen Congwen actually felt a bit unaccustomed to this. He leaned back against the seat, remaining quiet until Zhou Yunchen parked the car in front of the Anpu Company building.
An Pu was no small company now; it boasted two 68-story towers, a veritable twin constellation, quite imposing.
As soon as Zhou Yunchen stepped out of the car, a secretary approached. "President Zhou, here are the materials for today’s meeting."
Zhou Yunchen took them and exchanged a few words with her, then turned back. "Congwen!"
Shen Congwen rolled down the car window. "Anything else?"
Zhou Yunchen walked over, rested his elbow on the car window frame, and murmured, "Regarding Mr. Wang’s matter, please don’t tell Gu Yuanshan."
Shen Congwen paused. So, it was for Gu Anxi’s sake.
He sat there and chuckled. "Don’t worry. Mr. Wang isn’t someone I can afford to offend. I still have that much sense."
Zhou Yunchen knew he had misunderstood and quickly clarified, "I’m just worried you’ll be caught in the middle. Congwen, if you ever figure things out, come find me anytime. The Vice President position at An Pu will be kept for you."
"Why?" Shen Congwen’s voice was very low, making it sound unusually hoarse.
Zhou Yunchen lowered his gaze, and after a moment he smiled faintly. "Like I said, it’s because of the care you showed me in the past."
As he spoke, Shen Congwen’s gaze remained fixed on him. Only after a long moment did he look away, his voice faint. "Actually, there’s no need to dwell on it."
He fastened his seatbelt and started the car, about to drive off.
Zhou Yunchen called out to stop him. After a good while, he murmured, "Angry again? Congwen, you..."
Before he could finish, the secretary came over to remind him, "President Zhou, the meeting is about to start."
Zhou Yunchen had no choice but to step aside.
Only after Shen Congwen’s car had driven away did his expression darken as he looked at the secretary. "Didn’t you see I was talking to Mr. Shen?"
The secretary felt quite aggrieved. Isn’t President Zhou usually very career-focused? Why the double standard now? Tch!
Zhou Yunchen walked straight into the elevator. Throughout the company, people passing by all greeted him as "President Zhou."
Gu Anxi rarely came here. In this building, Zhou Yunchen was the top dog. Plenty of young women tried to curry favor with him, but everyone at Anpu Company knew—President Zhou wasn’t particularly interested in women.
