Chapter 141 — Old Buffon's Origins

How capable Mingyang Entertainment was, Miss Xu did not know for certain, but the name Mingyang Heavy Industries was already thunderous even in Hong Kong—all-around cooperation with famous European helicopter and automobile manufacturers, the first case of its kind in the country.

One could well imagine how deep the background and strength of Mingyang Heavy Industries must run. But since this entertainment company was also called Mingyang, that suggested both companies likely belonged to the same parent corporation.

Miss Xu was not very familiar with the structure and organization of mainland companies, but she reckoned that the big boss behind Mingyang must be a man of extraordinary power.

Miss Xu shook hands with Hou Lin and Wang Jinde in nervous awe, then turned with a puzzled look and extended her hand to Yang Ce: "Hello, and you are—?"

"Hello, Miss Xu. My name is Yang Ce," Yang Ce said with great ease, though he did not say what he did for a living.

"Hello, Mr. Yang." Miss Xu was all the more puzzled. Just what was this young man's background? Could he be some rich young master hoping to use the occasion to meet Shu Ya?

Miss Xu could hardly be blamed for thinking so, for such things had happened before. When Shu Ya held concerts in other cities, sons of local dignitaries would find their way to the organizers and pull strings to get close to her, hoping for a taste of her charms.

But Shu Ya paid them no heed. After all, she was a Hong Kong star, and those who knew the inside story had some vague understanding of her background, so no one dared make too outrageous a move.

After the handshakes, Shu Ya and the rest of the party came over as well. When Shu Ya caught sight of Yang Juehuan, she was visibly startled and parted her lips—the two words "Yang Ce" nearly slipped out.

Yang Jiyan did not know Shu Ya's true thoughts. Seeing the strange look on her face, Yang Ce assumed she had spotted him and was thinking of what had happened aboard the Alice. So he gave her a mysterious smile and, without changing expression, made a gesture for silence.

Seeing Yang Juehuan's gesture, Shu Ya obediently nodded and walked over this way.

"Miss Shu, allow me to introduce you. This is Mr. Hou Lin, general manager of Mingyang Entertainment, and this is Mr. Wang Jinde, assistant to the chairman of Mingyang Heavy Industries." When she came to Yang Juehuan, Miss Xu hesitated. She held such rich young masters in contempt, but she also understood that on someone else's turf she could not afford to be too dismissive. So she said, "This is Yang Ce, Mr. Yang."

"Hello, President Hou, Assistant Wang." Shu Ya nodded to Hou Lin and Wang Jinde, then turned to Yang Ce and extended her hand with a smile. "How do you do, Mr. Yang Ce."

"How do you do." Yang Ce frowned. What was Shu Ya playing at? He had told her to pretend she did not know him, and here she was, ignoring everyone else's hand and shaking only his.

Surely she wasn't afraid he would silence her for good? That was the thought that crossed Yang Ce's mind, though his face betrayed nothing. He reached out politely, shook her hand, and let go at once.

Even Miss Xu standing nearby was taken aback. Shu Ya had always turned her nose up at the rich young men who pursued her—let alone touching skin to skin in a handshake, she would not even spare them a word more than necessary.

How could she know that a handshake with Yan was nothing at all—in the old days they had often held hands.

"You must all be tired. We've already booked the hotel, so let's go and rest first, then work out the details of the concert. We still have three days before it opens—there's no need to rush." Hou Lin could see that Shu Ya and her party were rather worn out, so he spoke up.

"Miss Shu, what do you think?" Naturally Miss Xu had to defer to Shu Ya.

"All right, then. Let's all go to the hotel first." What concerned Shu Ya now was not rest, but why Yang Ce had come to meet her at the airport.

Could her guess be right? Mingyang Heavy Industries—was it really the company of Yang Ce's father, Yang Juehuan? Now it seemed highly likely. Otherwise, why would Yang Ce be here?

On the way here, Shu Ya had been in a state of excitement the whole flight. After so many years away from Songjiang, she had finally set foot on this land again. Of course, that was not the main thing. What excited her most, what she could scarcely contain, was that on this trip to Songjiang she might see the man she thought of day and night—her only love.

So Shu Ya, who ordinarily dozed a little on every flight, had for the first time in her life not slept at all. She had been restless on the plane, like a child on her first flight.

This struck Miss Xu, her manager, as very strange. But since Shu Ya would not rest, she could not rest either, and had to sit and talk with her. That in turn left the other staff members unable to go off and rest on their own—which was why the whole party looked a little the worse for wear when they got off the plane.

As she disembarked, Shu Ya was still wondering: when would she see him? She prayed in her heart that the very first person she saw upon setting foot on Songjiang soil would be him.

To be continued.

692. Shu Ya's Thoughts

Of course, Shu Ya was only daydreaming; she did not truly expect to see Yang Ce the moment she got off the plane. After all, her status and her looks were not what they had been in those years—Yang Ce might pay her too much attention.

Even if Yang Ce were a fan of hers, he would not possibly come to the airport to welcome her. Yet to Shu Ya's surprise, Yang Ce really had appeared. She did not know why he had come, but it was obvious that Yang Ce certainly did not know her true identity.

Perhaps he was there on behalf of the Mingyang Company, Shu Ya thought.

Hou Lin had already notified the airport in advance. To ensure Shu Ya's safety, a great many Mingyang Company security men were stationed inside.

The party left the airport through a private passage and came to the place outside where the cars were parked. A stretched Q7 was waiting there. Yang Ce had fallen in love with the model after seeing it once in Hong Kong, and had told Hou Lin to find a way to bring one over from a conversion factory in the United States.

Many people assume that stretched cars are produced by the original manufacturer, but that is not so—many automakers do not make stretched versions at all. These stretched cars are built afterward by specialist conversion shops. Even in China there are auto repair garages that can convert a car into a stretched version. The Lincoln stretch limousines used by so many wedding companies nowadays, for instance, are converted in small workshops in the southern coastal cities from second-hand smuggled Lincolns, and sell for anywhere from eighty thousand to three hundred thousand—cheap to a degree, to be sure. These are what people call knockoff cars.

The stretched Audi Q7, however, was different from those. It had been converted by a professional customizing firm, designed and built with the careful calculations of many engineers, and far surpassed the knockoffs in both performance and safety.

Moreover, though this Q7 was a converted car, it came with a complete set of factory inspection and certification papers, unlike those unregistered cars with borrowed plates.

To show how much importance was attached to this concert, and with Yang Juehuan's tacit approval, Hou Lin had brought out this stretched Q7. Ordinarily the vehicles used to receive guests were the stretched Hummer or the Rolls-Royce Phantom. Without Yang Juehuan's say-so, no one would dare touch this Q7.

"Miss Shu, Miss Xu, please get in." Hou Lin went to the side of the Q7, and the driver, who had been waiting inside, hurriedly opened the automatic door.