From beginning to end, even up to the present moment, he had never believed that Jinlin Mansion had any room for appreciation in the near future.
That two hundred thousand was basically written off by him as money down the drain.
Ye Chen shook his head with a smile.
He said nothing more.
Champs-Élysées.
This was one of the absolute top-tier Western restaurants in all of Jiangzhou.
After all, Zhang Jingshan's purpose was to express his gratitude for Ye Chen's warning yesterday.
Compared to the crisis that had just been averted, picking just any ordinary place would have appeared far too petty.
However, he did have a slight concern—he worried that Ye Chen might never have been to a place like this and would feel completely out of his depth.
"Mr. Ye, while the Champs-Élysées might not be the absolute number one top-tier Western restaurant in Jiangzhou, when it comes to sheer luxury and high-end quality, very few places can compare!"
As he led Ye Chen into the exquisitely decorated Western restaurant, Zhang Jingshan chuckled.
Seeing Ye Chen taking in the luxurious surroundings, he assumed Ye Chen was like the country bumpkin Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden.
Little did he know.
In his past life, the Ye Chen of that time had actually acquired the entire Champs-Élysées brand.
Furthermore, he had transformed Champs-Élysées into the most high-end Western restaurant chain in the entire country, turning the brand into a true status symbol!
The only reason he was looking around now was simply because the memories had been stirred up once again for a brief moment.
Guided familiarly by Zhang Jingshan, the two of them quickly arrived at a table by the window.
There, a man of roughly Zhang Jingshan's age was already waiting.
"Old Zhang, you're still sticking to your old habit of always being late and never early. I've been sitting here admiring the scenery for ages!"
As soon as he caught sight of Zhang Jingshan, the man immediately spoke up with a laugh.
Then, turning his gaze to Ye Chen, he asked, "And who is this?"
Little did he know that at the very same moment he looked at Ye Chen, Ye Chen was equally stunned upon seeing him.
The legendary eccentric billionaire philanthropist and school-builder from his past life—the man with a lifelong limp—had actually appeared right before his eyes?
In the long river of memories from Ye Chen's past life, there was a deeply humble yet legendary philanthropist who, over the span of fifteen years, had built more than a hundred charity schools in mountainous regions and sponsored over five hundred rural students through university.
Yet all of this had remained unknown to the public until it was finally exposed fifteen years later.
In his past life, when a fifty-something Ye Chen learned of this, he had looked up the man's personal background.
He was an exceptionally low-key entrepreneur who normally kept entirely out of the limelight. In his early years, he ran a trading company, but lost one of his legs to amputation in a car crash caused by brake failure.
Wait—
As the details he had searched up in his past life vividly resurfaced in his mind, Ye Chen suddenly remembered that the date of the man's car crash was precisely the day Jinlin Mansion officially opened for sale!
Could it be today?
"Changfeng, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Ye Chen, Mr. Ye. It's regarding what I told you about late last night—thanks to Mr. Ye's warning, if it hadn't been for him, I probably would have been facing utter disaster myself very soon!" Zhang Jingshan hurriedly made the introduction.
"Mr. Ye, a pleasure to meet you! Jingshan told me about it last night—are you really one of those fortune-telling masters who can foretell the future?"
Without a trace of airs, Li Changfeng extended his hand toward Ye Chen with a half-smile.
"Director Li, a pleasure! I wouldn't dare claim to foretell the future; my intuition is just a bit sharper than most, that's all!" Ye Chen said as he shook his hand.
"Changfeng, I haven't even told you the half of it yet. Mr. Ye's wife, Chen Yinuo, works right there at your Huaxing Trading. If she hadn't come to my company yesterday, I wouldn't even have known that there was a rotten apple inside Yuntian Network who took it upon himself to sever the partnership between our two companies. We really have to thank Mr. Ye's wife for this, otherwise I truly wouldn't know how to answer to you!" Zhang Jingshan said.
"Jingshan, that's not quite how you put it. There were issues on my side as well. Knowing full well that our price quote was ten percent lower than the competition, my subordinate still gave strict orders that we had to secure the contract at all costs—that was clearly making things difficult for them! But just as you said, if it weren't for Chen Yinuo, we wouldn't have known a thing about that mess. To have the nerve to press on and keep fighting for it even when our quote was ten percent lower than the rival's... having an employee like that is truly Huaxing Trading's good fortune!" Li Changfeng chimed in.
Zhang Jingshan had deliberately invited him out to express his gratitude to Ye Chen, and even dropped the hint that Chen Yinuo was Ye Chen's wife.
Li Changfeng instantly understood what was going on in Zhang Jingshan's mind: he was trying to score a favor at no cost of his own, hoping to get him to look after his company employee, Chen Yinuo.
To him, none of this was a big deal. As long as Chen Yinuo's capability measured up, he was more than happy to grant Zhang Jingshan this favor!
"Alright, let's set this aside for now and not get bogged down in it!"
Knowing when to stop, Zhang Jingshan cut the conversation short, picked up the electronic ordering tablet, and handed it to Ye Chen. "Mr. Ye, take a look and see what you'd like to have!"
"President Zhang is too polite, anything is fine by me!" Ye Chen said.
However, this was interpreted by Zhang Jingshan as Ye Chen's lack of familiarity with high-end Western restaurants, making him hesitant to order on his own for fear of making a fool of himself.
At this, he silently felt a sense of understanding.
"All right then, I'll order for Mr. Ye instead!" Zhang Jingshan said with a hearty laugh.
Chapter 23: Calculated Again?
Australian Wagyu beef, French foie gras, caviar, black truffle.
Along with a dessert and drinks.
It didn't look like much, but the cost per person already exceeded ten thousand.
These dishes were quickly served to the table shared by Zhang Jingshan and his two companions.
Originally, Zhang Jingshan had intended to introduce the dishes to Ye Chen.
Little did he expect that the moment the food was served, Ye Chen picked up his cutlery and dug in without the slightest hesitation.
His practiced use of knife and fork, coupled with the effortless elegance he displayed while eating, abruptly left Zhang Jingshan feeling inadvertently inferior and completely dumbfounded.
Was this really supposed to be the profile of some idle, good-for-nothing gambling addict who only thought of getting rich overnight?
"Mr. Ye, how do you find the food here?" Zhang Jingshan couldn't help asking.
"The steak is alright, though the thawing time was a bit too long. As for the foie gras, they used a little too little brandy during the marinating process. The caviar is fine, quite fresh and sweet. The black truffle tastes decent, but the slices are cut a bit too thick."
With graceful movements, Ye Chen calmly offered his critique after tasting each item one by one.
Yet at these words, Zhang Jingshan froze.
Even though he was a young master born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he was essentially a rough-and-ready sort of guy when it came to his personality.
When it came to food, his concepts were limited to two categories: delicious and not delicious. If you asked him to explain the nuances and intricacies behind it, he definitely wouldn't be able to put it into words.
When he asked Ye Chen how the food tasted, he simply wanted to know whether Ye Chen could get used to it or not.
How could he have expected the man to rattle off a professional appraisal like that?
Was he just talking nonsense to fake expertise?
Subconsciously, Zhang Jingshan glanced over at Li Changfeng.
He might not understand those finer points, but Li Changfeng, a true gourmet enthusiast, certainly did!
However, when he cast his gaze over, Li Changfeng's expression appeared somewhat shocked!
This wasn't his first time at the Champs-Élysées.
Yet every single time, he had always felt that there was something slightly flawed about the flavors, but he could never quite put his finger on where the flaws came from.
Now, after hearing Ye Chen's breakdown, everything suddenly clicked into place!
The steak's thawing time was too long, the foie gras's brandy marinade was lacking...
The reason he had always felt something was off must have been precisely because of this—it had to be this!
"Does Mr. Ye also have a deep study of fine cuisine? I've been to the Champs-Élysées quite a few times, and I've always felt that the food here has certain flaws, yet I could never pinpoint where they were. After hearing Mr. Ye's explanation, it suddenly hit me that the flaws must stem precisely from the exact issues Mr. Ye just mentioned!"
As if he had finally found a kindred spirit, Li Changfeng pressed on eagerly with a string of remarks.
"I wouldn't call it a deep study, I just have a rather picky tongue, haha..." Ye Chen said.
Beside them.
Zhang Jingshan was utterly bewildered.
Was Ye Chen actually spot on?
A penniless, good-for-nothing degenerate gambler could actually taste the subtle flaws in high-end Western cuisine?
Impossible. It seemed the background check he had gathered earlier must have been completely wrong!
As for Li Changfeng, he took exception to Ye Chen's modest dismissal.
Could something like that really be tasted just by having a "picky tongue"?
He subconsciously assumed that Ye Chen was simply being modest and low-profile.
"May I ask what line of work Mr. Ye is in?" Li Changfeng asked.
"What line of work? For the time being, I'm just an unemployed vagrant drifting along," Ye Chen said with a smile.
"An unemployed vagrant?"
Li Changfeng looked over at Zhang Jingshan.
The latter let out an awkward, dry cough. "Mr. Ye and I only met yesterday, brought together by that string of prayer beads I told you about!"
"Oh!" Li Changfeng nodded.
For some reason, the more this went on, the more mysterious Ye Chen appeared to him.
Because just based on the fact that Ye Chen could identify the issues with the steak and foie gras the very moment it touched his tongue—looking across the entire upper-crust circle of Jiangzhou, he dared say you couldn't find more than a handful of people capable of that.
For a person like this, Li Changfeng didn't believe for a single second that he was just some ordinary nobody.
However, as for probing further into Ye Chen's identity, he decided not to push his luck.
At least for this first meeting, he held a favorable impression of Ye Chen.
This high-end culinary meal concluded amidst harmonious and cheerful conversation.
The trio of them walked out of the Champs-Élysées.
"Mr. Ye, are you heading straight home now, or do you have somewhere else to go? I can give you a ride!" Zhang Jingshan offered.
"No need, I'll just hail a cab back myself, no need to put you through the trouble!" Ye Chen declined with a smiling shake of his head.
Suddenly, he recalled the car accident Li Changfeng had suffered in his past life.
Unable to help himself, he looked toward him and asked, "Director Li, did you drive here today?"
"That's right, why do you ask?" Li Changfeng looked completely baffled.
Zhang Jingshan was equally at a loss, completely failing to follow.
"Nothing, it's just that President Zhang's—ah, I mean Director Li's aura between your brows looks a bit abnormal today. It would be best for Director Li to take someone else's car today. Also, if you have time, you might want to have someone thoroughly check over your own car, just to be safe!" Ye Chen said.
Throwing out lines about someone's "aura being abnormal" sounded rather far-fetched indeed, making him sound just like a charlatan street fortune-teller.
Yet Ye Chen had no choice. If Li Changfeng were merely some passerby A, B, or C toward whom he felt nothing, he certainly wouldn't bother warning him.
Aside from the fact that the man was a charitable eccentric whom he deeply admired and appreciated in his past life,
he was also the CEO of Yinuo's company.
Therefore, Ye Chen felt it necessary to help him avert this disaster. One good turn deserves another, and if he did this, Chen Yinuo's days at the company would undoubtedly go much more smoothly.
"Mr. Ye, you aren't joking with me, are you?" Li Changfeng furrowed his brow, his expression turning solemn.
"Mr. Ye, is this another one of your calculations?" Zhang Jingshan was utterly dumbfounded.
"I'm not joking. Director Li would do best to trust me; my intuition has always been quite accurate!"
With a smiling finish, Ye Chen cupped his hands in a salute toward Zhang Jingshan. "President Zhang, thank you for the treat today. I'll take my leave first!"
And with that, Ye Chen left.
He climbed into a taxi right under the bewildered and dazed gazes of Zhang Jingshan and Li Changfeng.
"Changfeng..."
Zhang Jingshan swallowed hard.
"Old Zhang, are you trying to make me believe what he said?" Li Changfeng's knitted brows remained unrelaxed.
"Better safe than sorry; you'd rather believe it's true than take chances. I think it's best to be cautious about this sort of thing!" Zhang Jingshan said.
"When did you become so superstitious? You're not that kind of person! Besides, I just took delivery of that car not long ago; all things considered, it hasn't even run five thousand kilometers yet!" Li Changfeng still found it hard to believe.
"It's not a question of superstition or not. If Ye Chen hadn't brought it up proactively, that would be one thing, but since he went out of his way to mention it, doesn't it leave a lingering doubt in your mind? If everything turns out fine, great—but what if something terrible actually happens? What then? It's not like waiting a day or two will kill you, just treat it as gaining peace of mind. Come on, I'll drive you back, and later you can have someone drive it in for an inspection!"
Giving Li Changfeng no room for refusal, Zhang Jingshan grabbed him and pulled him toward his flamboyant red Panamera.
Helpless, Li Changfeng could only offer a bitter smile, eventually giving up his resistance.
An hour later.
Two men drove that brand-new Ferrari 911 out of the Champs-Élysées parking lot.
"Damn it, slow down! President Zhang gave explicit instructions—slow down, you must drive slowly!"
As the Ferrari merged onto the highway, the man in the passenger seat immediately cried out in alarm the moment he saw the speedometer hit one hundred.
"Relax, what are you panicking for? If you ask me, President Zhang is just being overly cautious. It's a brand-new car with only five thousand kilometers on it, and the maintenance was just done not long ago—what is there to inspect?" the driver retorted dismissively.
"I only care about President Zhang's instructions. Two choices: either you slow down, or you pull over and let me drive!" the passenger said.
"Fine, fine, fine, I'll slow down, alright? Happy now?"
Left with no other option—since he certainly didn't want to hand over the steering wheel of this brand-new Ferrari 911—the driver eased off the gas pedal, and the car's speed began to drop.
Just as the speed dropped to sixty, a taxi suddenly veered over into their lane from ahead without signaling.
"Damn your ancestors! Changing lanes without a blinker, does this taxi think it can fly?"
Inside the Ferrari 911, the panicked driver slammed hard on the brakes.
Yet the brakes showed not the slightest hint of a response.
"What the hell!"
He slammed his foot all the way down to the floorboards.
Still, there was no sign of deceleration whatsoever!
Bang!!!
The Ferrari 911 slammed straight into the back of the taxi ahead.
Bang, bang, bang—!
Unable to stop, the Ferrari pushed the rear of the taxi forward before consecutively rear-ending three more private cars, finally grinding to a halt!
The scene was an absolute mess of wreckage!
Chapter 24: Proven True Once Again
Huaxing Trading.
Inside the office.
The hands-off boss Li Changfeng was currently reviewing Chen. Yinuo's resume.
Contemplating whether he could match her with a suitable promotion position.
Suddenly.
His cell phone rang.
"Did you get the car sent for inspection?" Li Changfeng answered as he glanced at the caller ID.
"Director Li, something's happened!" the voice on the other end stammered awkwardly.
Swish—!
Hearing this, Li Changfeng bolted straight out of his chair.
His expression shifting drastically in alarm, he demanded, "What did you say? Something happened?"
"Director Li, the brakes failed. We hit a taxi that changed lanes without a blinker, and then ended up rear-ending several private cars in a chain reaction. We're currently waiting for the traffic police on the South China Expressway!" the caller reported timidly and nervously.
Hearing this, Li Changfeng felt as though he had been struck by lightning!
Every single word Ye Chen had uttered outside the Champs-Élysées flashed rapidly through his mind over and over again.
"Director Li? Director Li?"
Hearing no response from Li Changfeng, the person on the other end grew even more frantic.
"Is everyone alright? Are you hurt or not?" Coming back to his senses, Li Changfeng asked urgently with a pale face.
"Director Li, nobody's hurt. Little Wang and I just banged our heads a bit, nothing serious. There were no passengers in the taxi that cut us off without signaling, and the driver's airbag deployed to protect the taxi driver, so he's fine too. As for the private cars we hit in the rear-end collision, nobody's injured—just some body damage to the vehicles!" the man reported.
"What was your speed when you were driving?" Li Changfeng pressed urgently.
"L-Director Li!"
Stammering, the caller finally confessed the truth: "Director Li, we really have Little Wang to thank. You gave strict instructions earlier to drive slowly, but I figured since it's a new car, nothing could possibly go wrong. So once we got onto the South China Expressway, I pushed the speed up to a hundred. Later, as Little Wang kept nagging me about it, I slowed down to sixty. Right at that moment, a taxi suddenly cut across our lane without signaling, and when I slammed on the brakes in a panic, I realized the brakes had failed and weren't responding at all!"
Inside the office.
Cold sweat had already soaked straight through Li Changfeng's back.
The South China Expressway was his daily commute route.
Heavy trucks and freight carriers frequented that road constantly.
And on that very South China Expressway, he almost never drove below a speed of one hundred!
If it hadn't been for Ye Chen's warning, and if Zhang Jingshan hadn't dragged him into his Porsche out of belief in Ye Chen's uncanny intuition—
He definitely would have driven back in his own Ferrari.
Assuming no traffic jams, he would have driven at his usual speed of no less than one hundred.
At that kind of speed on a road crowded with heavy trucks, once the brakes failed, what would that mean?
Li Changfeng didn't even dare to imagine it!
Even though he was safely sitting inside his own office right now, he felt as though he had just narrowly skirted the gates of hell.
"Director Li? Director Li?"
Hearing no movement from Li Changfeng, the caller at the accident scene called out once more.
"As long as everyone's safe, don't panic. The rest are minor issues; just stay put and wait there, I'm heading over right now to handle it!" Li Changfeng said, snapping back to reality.
"Okay, okay, Director Li, thank you Director Li, thank you Director Li!"
The caller, who had been expecting a furious reprimand, was practically on the verge of tears of gratitude.
Though the brake failure wasn't his fault, after all, it was a car worth two to three million—how could he not panic after seeing it smashed up like this?
Inside the office.
Li Changfeng collapsed back into his executive chair.
The lingering sense of terror felt as though someone had just dragged him back from the underworld.
Swallowing hard and exhaling a long breath,
he picked up his phone and dialed Zhang Jingshan's number.
"Old Zhang, what's up?" Zhang Jingshan's voice came through.
"Get down to my company building and come with me to the South China Expressway!" Li Changfeng said urgently.
"What's going on?" Zhang Jingshan felt his heart skip a beat.
"That Ferrari of mine had an accident. On the way to get it inspected, the brakes failed and caused a pile-up!"
"Holy crap, what? Ye Chen actually called it?! Is the situation serious?"
"By some stroke of luck, I told them to drive slowly. They said they were going at sixty when the rear-end happened, and nobody's seriously hurt! Get over here right now!" Li Changfeng said.
"Alright, alright, I'm on my way, coming right now!"
The call ended.
Though unaccustomed to such shocks, Li Changfeng felt a profound sense of surviving a catastrophe as he muttered dry-mouthed to himself:
"First he had a hunch that Old Zhang was going to be set up, and now he had a hunch that my car was going to have an accident..."
"And both were verified in less than two hours..."
"Mr. Ye... just what kind of background do you have? Are you a half-immortal? A prophet?"
"This time... it's not a favor I owe him anymore, it's my life."
Inside the rental apartment.
Ye Chen, who had just returned from the Champs-Élysées, had no idea that his warning to Li Changfeng had already been verified.
After taking another shower,
he sat down on the sofa, lit a cigarette, and began to ponder his life plans for the immediate future.
It was a pity that in his past life, he had never taken any interest in the lottery; even in his gambling-addict days, he had never bought welfare lottery tickets.
Otherwise, relying on the memories of his past life, simply buying lottery tickets would have been enough to make him the richest man alive—provided, of course, that the welfare lottery center had no dirty tricks and allowed him to clear out the jackpot pools every few days.
That said, and as much as he could imagine it, Ye Chen knew that the lottery route was definitely a dead end, nor did he ever intend to build his financial empire on welfare lottery tickets.
Yes, exactly.