In the heart of Shanghai, atop a Neo-Classical marble edifice on the Bund, Yuan Cha Xuan stood in solitary refinement amid the city's ceaseless roar. The air inside was heavy with the scent of auction-grade Longjing roasted chestnut notes mingled with the fresh, grassy scent of shoots after rain. Through panoramic windows, the Huangpu River carved its path through the metropolis, its surface glittering with Pudong's lights. The Oriental Pearl Tower loomed directly ahead like a sentinel of the future.
Wen Jie sat alone in the private lounge, slender fingers cradling a ceramic teacup as thin as an eggshell. His face was an emotionless carving, yet his eyes held depths impossible to fathom.
Creak…
The sliding wooden door parted with a whisper. AP Markrim
Adisorn stepped inside, moving with effortless grace, clad in a sleek black turtleneck, sans suit jacket.
"My apologies for keeping you waiting, Mr. Wen Jie. I had a few financial entanglements between ZX and VCC to untangle," Adisorn said with a soft smile as he settled opposite, maintaining a polite, calculated distance.
Wen Jie offered a faint smile, eyes fixed on the tea leaves drifting in his cup. "Early or late, it matters not. Like a fine Longjing, one must wait for the tea to settle cooled to precisely the right temperature before it touches the tongue. To sip in haste while it still seethes… not only do you lose the flavor, you risk scalding yourself for the rest of the day."
He poured slowly from the Yixing clay pot. Steam rose in thin white threads.
"The capital flowing through ZX is much like the Huangpu outside," Wen Jie continued. "Tranquil on the surface but the undercurrents are treacherous enough to shift direction without warning. Wouldn't you agree?"
Adisorn accepted the cup, feeling the gentle warmth radiating from the porcelain. He lifted it for a measured sip, expression serene.
"You seem far more adept at reading undercurrents than I anticipated, Mr. Wen Jie."
Wen Jie raised his eyes, a subtle smirk playing on his lips. "After the performance you gave the board this morning… I must say I was quite impressed."
The Chairman's son held his cup steady. The faint white steam curled against the backdrop of glittering skyscrapers a scene reminiscent of a Chinese ink painting colliding with a cyberpunk future.
"You invited me here for tea…" Adisorn murmured, voice smooth yet laced with piercing scrutiny. "…or is there a sharper purpose behind this?"
Wen Jie's smile deepened, just a fraction.
"You already know Mi Ling is planning to stab me in the back."
The bluntness of it drew a cold, fleeting smirk from Adisorn hidden at the corner of his lips.
"In truth… the person best equipped to answer that should be Mr. Ming Zhi, your strategist. Don't you think?" Adisorn replied, watching Wen Jie set his cup down with deliberate care before meeting his gaze measuring, testing.
"It is indeed a strategist's duty to answer such questions," Wen Jie conceded. "But in a game this complex… perhaps one strategist is no longer enough. Wouldn't you agree?"
Adisorn's eyes flashed with a chilling mirth that turned the warm, fragrant room glacial in an instant.
"Or is it…" He paused, locking eyes with unflinching intensity. "…that you've already begun to lose faith in your current one?"
The conversation stripped away its pleasantries and plunged straight into the core of ambition. Wen Jie straightened, meeting Adisorn's stare openly.
"Ming Zhi has served CK Group faithfully for many years true. But loyalty that endures too long can blind a man to the rising tide." His voice was flat and unwavering. "The politics inside CK are shifting. I need someone who moves forward… not someone anchored to the past."
"And you believe I could help redirect those currents for CK Group?" Adisorn lifted his cup again, sipping with terrifying patience.
Wen Jie gave a low, satisfied chuckle. "I've seen the change that follows in your wake. I need that." His dark eyes deepened like black holes consuming all light. "Join me. I need a strategist bold enough to slay the dragon. Accept… and together we will forge a new CK Group. Your name will be etched as the advisor who reshaped this empire under my leadership."
Adisorn set his cup down without haste. No flicker of excitement crossed his face only that enigmatic smile widening by degrees.
"Your offer, Mr. Wen Jie… is as tempting as offering the unattainable." His tone remained even, but his gaze lifted in quiet challenge. "Yet aren't you afraid… that I am the one standing behind Mi Ling's rise the one who placed her beside you as your equal?"
Wen Jie stilled for a heartbeat. Then he allowed a slow, satisfied smile. He had known for some time. But precisely because Adisorn had elevated a woman with nothing into a credible rival, he recognized the talent and craved it at his side.
"That," Wen Jie said, leaning forward until he nearly bridged the table between them, "is exactly why I want you. You've already proven you can lift the powerless to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with me. Why would I make such a man my enemy?"
Adisorn lowered his gaze briefly, then let out a soft, amused huff. "You think you can turn me to your side?"
"Nothing turns a man like you," Wen Jie replied, eyes gleaming with the hunger of certain victory. "You don't act for anyone else. You simply seek the highest stepping stone. If I become Chairman… you will be my sole advisor. Full authority. Even my father will have no right to interfere in our decisions ever again."
In that instant, Adisorn felt the raw pain laced with resentment in Wen Jie's voice the heir to the dragon, desperate to prove himself by devouring his father. Adisorn's lips curved higher.
He lifted his eyes a quiet flame igniting in their depths.