461: Chapter 454: A Chance Encounter 461: Chapter 454: A Chance Encounter Hearing the name Lin Lan uttered by Chen Hai, the woman in the middle clearly showed signs of shock.
She halted in her steps and stopped as well.
“Chen Hai…” Merely glancing over him a few times, she recognized him right away.
Compared to twenty or thirty years ago, Chen Hai hadn’t changed much.
Perhaps due to the mismatch in age, although the woman called out Chen Hai’s name, she was clearly astonished, her eyes filled with doubt.
“It really is you, right, you should be called Yang Huilan now, not Lin Lan anymore!”
After confirming that she hadn’t mistaken him for someone else, Chen Hai brushed off the yes-men surrounding him and stepped forward with confidence, approaching the woman and greeted her.
Yang Huilan, compared to her soft and fragile self back in the day, was a completely different person in terms of demeanor.
With a piercing gaze, she merely locked eyes with the pushy men around Chen Hai for a moment, and they were so frightened that they broke out in a cold sweat and quickly stepped aside.
Then, she gestured with authority, signaling to the people next to her to wait ahead, before turning her attention back to Chen Hai.
“You really haven’t changed, have you?
I swear you must’ve taken the Elixir of Immortality, so many years have passed and you still look like this, just like some youngster!”
“Not like me, the moment I get time, I rush to the beauty salon.
Yet in front of you, I still look like an auntie!”
“If you hadn’t called out to me, even if we ran into each other, I would’ve only thought you looked like Chen Hai.
I would have never believed that you really were Chen Hai!”
With a complex expression and another assessing glance at Chen Hai, Yang Huilan let out a sigh, reflecting on the past.
“There’s no such thing as an Elixir of Immortality, I just take better care of myself!” Chen Hai shrugged nonchalantly, responding with a smile.
His story was complex, something the average person couldn’t comprehend.
In front of Yang Huilan, there was no need to speak of these things; he could only make up some excuse to brush it off.
The naive love from back in the day, after so many years, had long since faded from Chen Hai’s heart.
To him, the current Yang Huilan was merely an old classmate with whom he used to have a good relationship.
Among old classmates, greeting each other after many years was normal.
As for other thoughts, he surely wouldn’t have them!
“How do you maintain yourself like that?
Teach me some time?” Yang Huilan joked, covering her mouth and chuckling.
Before Chen Hai could react, she continued, “Are you staying at the Fuhua Hotel?”
“No, I’m just wandering around!” Chen Hai hesitated for a moment before shaking his head and denying.
“I understand!” Yang Huilan nodded thoughtfully.
She waved to a girl not far away, who seemed to be her assistant, beckoning her over.
“Fang, do we still have available rooms at the Fuhua Hotel that our group booked?
Give me a room card!” Once the assistant approached, Yang Huilan ordered.
“Chairman, indeed, there are two rooms still available!” The assistant quickly found a room card and respectfully handed it to Yang Huilan.
After that, the assistant withdrew to her spot, understanding her place.
“Chen Hai, there’s no hurry about looking for a job.”
“It’s rare to bump into you, and I’ve got some things to take care of.
Later, let’s catch up properly!”
“Here’s the room card, I’ll come find you later!”
After stuffing the room card into Chen Hai’s hand, without giving him the chance to refuse, Yang Huilan greeted him and turned to walk towards the group of people that had been waiting for her.
It seemed like she had misunderstood something!
Chen Hai’s college days were unknown to most of his high school classmates from his hometown in Liuyuan County.
In the eyes of most classmates, Chen Hai was the one who had only scored one hundred and eighty-six points; they all thought that attending college was an impossible dream for him.
They all thought so, and needless to say, after the college entrance examination ended, they immediately went to Yang Huilan in Yuedong.
People like Chen Hai, who came from a rural background with no education or connections, and managed to become successful entrepreneurs after working for some years, certainly existed, but were definitely not many.
Most people, even after so many years, were still running around for a living!
Perhaps, in the eyes of Yang Huilan, what Chen Hai called “just wandering around” was another subtle way of saying he was looking for a job!
Otherwise, how could a person from Xiangnan have the leisure and elegance to wander around Yuedong, thousands of miles away?
Looking at the room card in his hand then at the hurried figures of Yang Huilan and the others, whose silhouettes had already become a blurry backdrop, Chen Hai really felt like crying and laughing.
“If I were looking for a job, I would only look for one back in Liuyuan County, right?”
“I came to this hotel expressly to dine, how did I accidentally become someone looking for a job?”
He sighed and talked to himself.
It would be impolite to throw away the room card the others had kindly given him, stuffing it into a trash bin!
After pondering, he put away the card and headed straight into the hotel.
When it came to eating Cantonese food, he liked seafood.
After enjoying a bowl of steaming shark’s fin soup and ordering some sea cucumbers and lobster, his mood improved significantly following the hearty meal.
Returning to the room Yang Huilan had arranged for him, he took a cold shower and soaked in a bath.
He had thought Yang Huilan, who had been eager for a gathering, would contact him directly through the room’s phone.
Unexpectedly, from around one or two in the afternoon until more than eight at night, the phone didn’t ring, but the doorbell of his room did.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Chen Hai!”
“There were so many things to handle with the group, I only managed to finish a short while ago.”
“Have you had dinner?
I’ve brought two bottles of foreign liquor, if you haven’t eaten, I can have someone prepare some snacks to accompany the drinks and send them to the room!”
When the room door opened, the person who appeared before Chen Hai was undoubtedly Yang Huilan.
At this moment, Yang Huilan was wearing a figure-flattering, patterned short skirt.
Not only had she applied light makeup, but she had also styled her long hair, exuding a full sense of femininity.
Compared to the powerful businesswoman image from the afternoon, she seemed like a completely different person.
“Old classmate, bringing over two bottles of foreign liquor, are you planning to get me drunk?”
“As for snacks, I don’t need any, but feel free to order whatever you like!”
As he invited her in, Chen Hai took the two bottles of foreign liquor from Yang Huilan’s hands and said with a smile.
He took an extra moment to examine the bottles of foreign liquor he had just received.
His knowledge of liquor brands was limited; he couldn’t recognize what brands these two bottles were.
However, he did catch a glimpse of the alcohol content on the labels, which was 68 degrees.
For such a high proof, if it were the old Chen Hai from his school days, just two or three drinks would have probably left him unconscious.
He distinctly remembered the day after the college entrance examination, during the celebration meal with Li Ying, Zhang Yong, and the others, he had gotten completely drunk and had no idea how he ended up in the hotel.
In their class, if there had been a WeChat group or QQ group, the embarrassing things he did when he was drunk would probably have been frequently mentioned…
Coming to his room, claiming she wanted to catch up.
And then Yang Huilan especially brought two bottles of foreign liquor when she came…
Chen Hai was honestly suspicious that she might have the ulterior motive of getting him drunk intentionally.