Chapter 123: The Invisible Transaction

  Pei Jin's eyelashes drooped slightly, and his gaze fell back onto the mist in his cup. His thin lips were pursed into a faint smile, with an almost imperceptible arc of light at the corners of his mouth.

  Bai Liwei was a bit anxious, Pei Jincheng had already stood up, "As for the matter of Yuannuo's place, I will arrange it. Once it is cleaned up, we can let Xiaoshan move in. Just don't forget the condition that Uncle Bai agreed to earlier."

  Bai Liwei was taken aback, and slowly stood up. "The condition we agreed on earlier was that you would register first before giving you the evidence. You wouldn't be thinking of letting Xiao Shan move into the Pei's house and then kicking her out after getting the evidence, would you? I told you not to think about it."

  "Of course not," Pei Jin Cheng smiled lightly, "Uncle Bai is overthinking."

  Pei Jin Cheng left the teahouse and called Sunny again, "Has the restaurant been booked?"

  Sunny hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Chairman, according to Secretary Lin's meaning, it is still at Junyue. However, you mentioned last time that all future catering services would stop signing with Junyue, how should this be handled?"

  (By the way: by ranking, the municipal party secretary is higher than the mayor, did you guys know that? I'm afraid some of you might be confused, if there's something you don't understand, feel free to ask me, maybe it's because I made a mistake in my text, thanks for your support.)

  Pei Jin Cheng's rejection of Jun Yue Hotel came from Pei Jin Rui. On this point, he did not deny that the Pei family had its own rules, and Jincheng Holdings' overall catering and hotel business could only be signed with brother companies like Jun Yue. He didn't want to make a big deal out of it so that the whole Pei family would know about it. Therefore, he couldn't cut ties with Pei Jin Rui's industry, but he himself did not want to set foot in Jun Yue again.

  But this Lin Zhiyuan...

  A fleeting scene flashed through his mind, causing him to suddenly lose his smile.

  "Then it's settled, according to your previous request, a private room with floor-to-ceiling glass walls, the view should be good."

  "Okay, I'll go book it right away."

  The sun sets in the west, casting a reddish glow over the city's buildings, with waves of residual heat radiating from their walls.

  Half past six in the afternoon.

  The 58th floor of Junyue still has bright and transparent glass walls, the sunset is still dazzling, but the delicate gauze curtains have not been pulled up. The tables in the private rooms are close to the window, overlooking the densely packed metropolis, with countless scenes of life, and the city's vibrant atmosphere.

  The orange-gold sunlight on the west side cast a faint layer of orange-gold fluff on people's skin.

  Two men were stripped of their suits, wearing only shirts, but their ties still hung around their necks like a dog's collar.

  When cutting steak, they are all elegant gentlemen, but one after another, they treat each other as the steak on the plate, wanting to cut and swallow slowly.

  The two of them talked about some trivial matters over the past couple of days.

  Pei Jin Cheng put down his knife and fork, raised his cup, the crimson liquid inside slightly tilted, slanting towards the person opposite him.

  Lin Zhiyuan also raised his red wine glass.

  A hollow, metallic "clink" sound echoed, accompanied by a faint reverberation. Pei Jin Cheng's lips curled up slightly as he said, "Lin Ge, if I raise this cup and you bump into it, doesn't that mean our hearts are in sync?"

  "Haha, if it's like this, isn't it fate?"

  "Shall we clink glasses and toast each other then?" Pei Jin Cheng raised an eyebrow with a confident yet subtle smile.

  "...mutual respect?" Lin Zhiyuan was taken aback for a moment. As a businessman, he had met people like Pei Jincheng very rarely. People who flattered him were a dime a dozen every day, but Pei Jincheng always gave you an illusion that he wanted to be on an equal footing with you.

  Mutual respect! Isn't it just equality?

  "What he heard most was 'Comrade Lin, I respect you.'"

  Even if he called Pei Jin Cheng brother last time, what was the mutual respect for? What capital did Pei Jin Cheng have to say these two words?

  He's just a businessman, yet he wants to be on an equal footing with the municipal party secretary?

  But the young man's eyebrows were not arrogant and reckless, but a heavy self-confidence. This confidence did not come out of nowhere, and even this confidence made him grow a thread of ominous premonition in his heart.

  Lin Zhiyuan was also a profound person, at the time when he didn't understand why the other party had such confidence, he naturally wouldn't show his emotions, and then smiled gradually, the sound of clinking wine cups rose again, "Cheers."

  The wine in the cup flowed into his mouth, and Pei Jin Cheng's smiling gaze fell on Lin Zhi Yuan's wine cup. The two of them exchanged a glance, and then downed their drinks in one gulp.

  It is said that when wine meets a bosom friend, a thousand cups are too few, but at this table, even if they are not bosom friends, there is still the intention to get drunk and then rest.

  Pei Jin Cheng knew the sensitivity of Lin Zhi Yuan's work, so there were no service personnel in the room. Moreover, he was also somewhat apprehensive about Pei Jin Rui, so before entering the room with Lin Zhi Yuan, Sunny used anti-eavesdropping devices to sweep the private room thoroughly.

  Pei Jin Cheng put down his wine glass and took a bottle of red wine from the wine rack to pour for Lin Zhi Yuan.

  Downing this cup of wine, it's another round of polite but insincere words.

  "Jin Cheng, I heard you're getting married again?"

  Lin Zhiyuan said with a smile, and Pei Jincheng also smiled, "I don't know if the cities Lin brother has been to before have such customs?"

  Pei Jin Cheng asked lightly, but in his heart, he had already crushed the three words "Bai Li Wei" into powder. He didn't want to make this matter a big deal, known to everyone, otherwise after Shen Xuan's matter was settled, it would be embarrassing for everyone to go out, especially Bai Shan, how could she face people in the future?

  Lin Zhiyuan had already heard the news, and indeed, this city was a place where there were no secrets.

  Lin Zhiyuan said, "It's true that there are many cases of men in wealthy families having multiple women, but it's not as prevalent as in G city. What's more, using foreign registration to guarantee the legitimacy of concubines is something I've never seen before."

  "So have you adapted?"

  "I'm a person who adapts to local customs very quickly, and I don't have any difficulties adapting." Lin Zhiyuan said with a big smile, "When you get married in the future, don't forget to invite me, and prepare red envelopes for sure."

  Pei Jin's eyes flashed with a hint of light, and he also laughed heartily, "Then thank you, Brother Lin." After finishing his words, he smiled self-deprecatingly, "People say that men should prioritize their careers. I'm only 29 years old, but I got married at 26, and now at 29, I'm even taking a concubine... yet Brother Lin, who is successful and dignified, is still single. It seems what they say about 'golden bachelors' and 'diamond-studded old fifth' is really... this makes me feel a bit embarrassed."

  Pei Jin Cheng helplessly grasped the stem of his red wine glass, gently swaying it back and forth. Although his gaze didn't directly fall on Lin Zhi Yuan's eyes, he still wanted to capture even a fleeting change in emotion from the man across from him with the sharp glint in his own eyes.

  Ke Lin Zhiyuan has always been calmly sitting in the chair, not eating or drinking at this time. His casual chatting posture appears to be completely unguarded, but every sentence he says doesn't get to the point, just some bland and insipid nonsense. "These years have been busy with my career, the path of being an official is not easy to walk, romantic love stories are more suitable for young people like you."

  Lin Zhiyuan is 36 years old, Pei Jincheng is 29 years old.

  A seven-year age gap is also a dividing line for an age group. In today's society, men aged 29-36 who are successful in their careers do not seem to have much difference.

  But in a sentence, you young people have revealed the vicissitudes of his heart.

  "I think Brother Lin will eventually go on a blind date one of these days, haha."

  "Haha, you're teasing me again."

  "It's not that, it's just that I think a great guy like Lin should have a beautiful partner, you know? And if you really decide to go on blind dates, I'd be happy to help you find someone, haha."

  As he spoke, Pei Jin Cheng reached out and took a briefcase from the adjacent seat.

  Lin Zhiyuan looked at Pei Jincheng's actions, just smiled and said, "Jincheng, such things, don't worry about it, let the old folks help me with that. Haha."

  Pei Jin Cheng shook his head, having already opened his briefcase. "I don't know if Big Brother Lin has heard of a saying: 'Eye fate is the best part of fate.' I'll introduce you to some people, maybe you can find someone with good eye fate."

  Pei Jin Cheng took out a stack of photos from his hand, looked at them himself, there were over ten, and handed them to the person opposite him.

  This time, Lin Zhiyuan was helpless. He didn't expect Pei Jincheng to take this route, which made him disgusted. His impression of Pei Jincheng suddenly fell from high-end to low-end.

  Hesitating for two seconds, Pei Jin Cheng said, "Well, even if Big Brother Lin doesn't like it, at least take a look, otherwise it would be too discouraging for me. If I get discouraged the first time I act as a matchmaker, it will leave a psychological shadow."

  Lin Zhiyuan smiled, took the photo, and thought to glance at it perfunctorily. One by one, one by one... He flipped through the photos quickly, not even getting a clear look at the woman in them.

  Pei Jin Cheng sat calmly across from him, and unexpectedly began drinking alone with a carefree expression.

  Until he was satisfied with seeing Lin Zhiyuan suddenly pulling out the photos from the bottom one by one, one by one, one by one...

  The woman in the photo has long hair as black as ink, gently tied back behind her ear and flowing out to rest on her chest. Her face is turned towards the camera, a slight smile on her lips, exuding serenity and tranquility, like a lake formed at the foot of a snow-capped mountain, crystal clear and transparent.

  Pei Jin Cheng clearly heard the man's breathing across from him, although it was extremely restrained and not urgent or heavy, but more chaotic than before.

  He stood up in time, pretended to be kind and leaned over to take a look, then put down his wine glass, pulled the photo from Lin Zhiyuan's hand, pulled it halfway, and was pulled back by Lin Zhiyuan.

  Pei Jin Cheng saw Lin Zhi Yuan raise his head and look at him, finally tearing apart the layer of elegance and hypocrisy. He sighed and said, "Lin Ge, sorry about that. At the time, I just wanted to make up the number, so I included my friend's photo as well. She doesn't quite fit in, you're single, but she has a five-year-old son."

  Lin Zhiyuan's hand tightened around the photo again, "What do you want?"

  Pei Jin Cheng loosened his grip on the photo and slowly sat down, hearing Lin Zhiyuan ask again, "What do you want?"

  "Lin, I'll be straightforward with you. I want that piece of land by the sea." Pei Jincheng said, squeezing a small plastic bag from his briefcase and waving it, "This is my friend's son's hair, follicles intact..."