money player

Sin Yiu-man took a step back and then sat down opposite Eileen Chang.

A waitress in a white maid outfit immediately stepped forward and asked softly, "Beer, Sir?"

"Sapporo."

"Yes, Sir!"

The waitress bowed and withdrew, and Sin Yiu-man's gaze returned to Eileen Chang's face, his tone calm and even: "I came to see you."

Eileen Chang frowned slightly, her eyes cool and indifferent, and looked directly at him: "You had someone watching me?"

"Don't ask such nonsense next time." Xian Yaowen's face darkened, his tone becoming increasingly imposing. "You came to Tokyo just to gather material for your research?"

A faint hint of sarcasm flickered across Eileen Chang's lips, her expression remaining aloof and detached as she met his gaze with neither servility nor arrogance: "Can't I come here?"

"Of course you can come. At most, you'll be dragged into an alley by a few American soldiers and molested. Then they'll hear you speak Chinese, search your bag, find your Hong Kong passport, curse you a few times, break your neck, and throw you into some wasteland."

Sin Yiu-man raised his hand and pointed at Eileen Chang, his tone heavy with disappointment, "It's my fault for protecting you too much, which has made you lose your sense of awareness."

Eileen Chang turned her face away, her fingertips lightly digging into the armrest of the chair. Her voice was low and gentle, tinged with a hint of reproach, "Since you're always there to protect me, I don't bother to be on guard. But if something really happened, how could you really let me put myself in danger?"

"Alright, I'll let bygones be bygones for the fact that you came here on your own. Let's settle another matter."

Eileen Chang looked up at him, her brows furrowing slightly: "What accounts are we settling?"

"You ran off from Singapore to Tokyo without a word, without even giving any prior notice. Is that polite of you?"

“I definitely sent you a telegram.”

Sin Yiu-man's expression hardened, and he said in a deliberately cold and serious tone, "That telegram you sent was to your lover, Sin Yiu-man, not to the boss of Friendship Film Studio. Officially, you did not ask for leave in a formal manner, which is unauthorized absence from work. From now on, you are suspended and dismissed, and you will not receive a single penny of your September salary."

Upon hearing this, Eileen Chang abruptly turned her face, a hint of panic flashing across her cool, aloof eyes, quickly followed by a touch of playful annoyance. She pursed her slightly cool lips, gazing at the man before her who feigned seriousness, her tone carrying a soft, argumentative quality, yet also concealing the tender confidence of lovers:
"You're clearly using your status to manipulate me. I was just out for a stroll and some research, not slacking off. How did it come to the point of being fired and having my salary docked?"

She leaned forward slightly, a hint of grievance in her eyes, and softened her voice: "Besides, I'm already in Tokyo. Aren't you afraid that if you scare me like this, I'll really get angry and never talk to you again?"

Sin Yiu-man nodded slightly to the waitress who brought the wine and thanked her. He then took the wine glass from Eileen Chang's hand and took a small sip.

Eileen Chang rolled her eyes at him, pursed her lips, reached for another glass of wine that had just been brought to the table, and then turned her face away.

Xian Yaowen chuckled softly, took another sip of wine, and then put down his glass. He reached into his briefcase, took out a copy of "Night-Blooming Jasmine," turned directly to the page containing the story "Christ of Nanjing," and gently placed it on the edge of the table beside Eileen Chang.

"Screenwriter Zhang, I have a new project for you."

Hearing the sound, Eileen Chang slowly turned her face, her gaze sweeping lightly over the open book "Night-Blooming Flower" on the table.

Are you familiar with Nanjing?

"I've been there a few times and even stayed there for a while."

"one person?"

Eileen Chang gently touched the edge of the book with her fingertips, her eyes slightly lowered, her expression calm and serene, a faint trace of bewilderment flitting across her lips, "No."

“Oh, him.” Sin Yiu-man said casually, “Not long ago, I had someone teach him a lesson. He injured his hand that was holding the pen and also lost eight teeth.”

Upon hearing this, Eileen Chang was neither surprised nor moved. She simply lowered her eyes, took out a cigarette from her bag, lit it, and exhaled a puff of smoke. The faint smile on her face gradually faded away, and her expression remained calm and composed, yet suddenly a thin mist veiled her gentle demeanor, revealing a hint of coolness.

There was no sudden change in his expression, no questioning about Hu Lancheng, and not a single word in his defense. He simply sat quietly, so quiet it was almost lonely, as if he had only heard about some vulgar street gossip.

She remained silent for a while before speaking softly, her voice flat and devoid of emotion: "Why bother? I've already severed all ties with him; we're no longer related. It's not worth getting tainted with the vileness of the marketplace for my sake."

She looked up at Sin Yiu-man again, her gaze indifferent to the point of being distant: "The people have already separated, and the feelings are over. To make things difficult for him by taking action would be like still caring about him. It's not worth it, and it's vulgar."

"I didn't reprimand him because of you, at least not primarily because of you."

"Why then?"

Do you remember Wu Sibao?

Eileen Chang's eyes flickered slightly, and she nodded gently: "I remember."

"Then you must still remember Madam Wu?"

Eileen Chang was silent for a moment, then a faint smile appeared on her lips. Her voice was as light as the wind brushing the pages of a book: "How could I not know? He never severed ties with me, and then turned around and got involved with She Aizhen. There was a lot of gossip about it in Shanghai back then."

"She Aizhen once had a lover, Li Zulai from the Li family in Xiaogang. He was Zhang Daqian's agent. He had a cousin, Li Zuyong, who worked at Yonghua Company."

Hu Lancheng's life in Tokyo was not easy. In order to make a living, he had an affair with his landlady, while maintaining contact with She Aizhen and frequently writing letters to her.

She Aizhen runs a mahjong parlor and helps others sell goods, earning a pretty good income. However, she has made enemies with the triads and may be killed at any time. She has the idea of ​​leaving Hong Kong and living somewhere else, and Tokyo is one of her choices.

She has an adopted son, former subordinates, and of course, Hu Lancheng here. Women her age don't seek men for love; they seek stability, respectability, and someone to take care of them.

Men are like dogs; if they misbehave, a little discipline will make them behave.

"So there were so many twists and turns underneath. Hu Lancheng has never been able to stand loneliness and always seeks some kind of entanglement wherever he goes. She Aizhen has spent half her life in the underworld and has seen through everything. She doesn't seek affection, but only a peaceful place to settle down in her later years, which is in line with her nature."

Eileen Chang raised her eyes and glanced at Sin Yiu-man, a faint self-deprecating smile playing on her lips. "Most men in the world are like this, drifting aimlessly, easily changing their minds."

"As you know, Ms. Huang and I have always been on equal footing. I call her Sister Huang, and she calls me Brother Yaowen."

Eileen Chang's grip on the wine glass tightened suddenly, and she glared at him coldly, "I can also learn to be a shrew."

Xian Yaowen smiled and waved his hand, "I'm not teasing you anymore, let's talk about the project."

He pointed to the book on the table, “The Christ of Nanjing, it tells a story that takes place in Nanjing, and I want you to be in charge of adapting it into a screenplay. Because the male lead is Japanese, and the film is mainly aimed at the Japanese market, while also taking into account the Chinese market, we need a Japanese writer as the main writer, and you can assist in the process.”

After saying that, he took an envelope from his briefcase and casually placed it on the table. “I know Miss Zhang is proud and arrogant. It must be hard for her to be happy to be subordinate to someone else. This is a small token of my appreciation for you.”

Eileen Chang glanced up and said with a hint of detached mockery, "Now there's extra compensation for revising a script? I've never received such treatment before."

"I was just looking for an excuse to give you some travel money, why did you have to point it out?"

A faint smile played on Eileen Chang's lips, her eyes sparkling with a cool light, and her tone carrying a hint of clarity and languor. "So it was a pretext she deliberately found to help me with my travel expenses. I'm such a smart person, yet I had to see right through her."

Sin Yiu Man nodded at her and said calmly, "I plan to register a new company. The English name is Eileen Media, and the Chinese name is Firefly Media. Firefly will be registered in the United States, but the first business we urgently need to start will be in Singapore. We will register Lion City Publishing House and publish a new newspaper called 'Singapore Daily'."

A publishing house in Singapore will want to collaborate on a column with you. They'll offer generous payment and even provide you with a villa and car in Singapore for your business trips.

"I don't want to be a caged bird."

“We’ve been together for quite a while now, and you still can’t figure me out. It’s impossible for me to spend money to keep a canary. I’m offering you generous terms because you’re worth it.”

Xian Yaowen gently shifted his chair closer to Zhang Ailing's side, then gently put his arm around her shoulder and whispered in her ear, "My dear Miss Zhang, Yingying, I understand you. I would never do something you don't like."

Zhang Ailing's shoulders stiffened slightly, then relaxed. She turned her head, her breath lightly brushing against his ear, "Thank you, Mr. Yaowen, thank you for everything you've done."

"You are welcome."

Eileen Chang's ears turned a light blush, her eyes filled with shyness, and she whispered, "I really like the name Firefly."

Sin Yiu-man chuckled softly: "Don't you like Eileen?"

She gently shook her head, her eyes warm and her tone softer: "I like them too, but Firefly is something that belongs only to the two of us."

Sin Yiu-man changed the subject, his expression becoming calm as he got down to business: "In running a newspaper, the financial investment isn't the biggest part; the truly valuable asset is the talent."

I plan to implement a partnership system for Lion City Publishing. Forty percent of the shares will go to the parent company, Firefly Media, and the remaining 60% will be allocated to a profit-sharing pool, distributed to each new partner according to their individual contributions.

He looked at her, his tone calm yet certain: "Write to the newspaper people you know, inviting them to come south to Singapore to work together. If your recommendations are effective and your contributions are significant enough, I will bring you in as a partner."

Eileen Chang frowned slightly, and softly declined, "I don't want to..."

"Don't be so quick to refuse," Sin Yiu-man interrupted her. "Becoming a partner isn't that easy. It's like taking a share of someone else's profits. If you don't have real achievements to convince everyone, why would the other partners willingly let you have a piece of the pie?"

The garden villa and the car will all be purchased through the publishing house's public funds. You're of a proud and aloof nature; you certainly don't want to one day find yourself kicked out in the middle of the night, do you?

"You really know how to manipulate me."

"It's not that I know how to manipulate you, it's that I understand you."

Eileen Chang tilted her head back and kissed Sin Yiu-man on the cheek. “For dinner, I only ate a little bit of cold pork and boiled pumpkin.”

Sin Yiu-man raised his left wrist and glanced at his watch. "Can we wait?"

"Is there anything else?"

"I have appointments with people."

"I'm waiting for you."

"Ah."

As they were talking, the waitress who had just brought the drinks approached slowly, looked at Eileen Chang, and said politely but with a hint of apology, "No smoking, Madam."

Zhang Ailing, with a nearly finished cigarette between her fingers, paused slightly upon hearing this. Her long eyelashes drooped, and a hint of shyness and helplessness crossed her face. She could only slowly extinguish the cigarette in the ashtray, a faint bitter smile playing on her lips, and sighed softly, "I forgot that smoking is not allowed here."

Sin Yiu-man apologized to the waitress and glanced to the side.

There was an ashtray on the table, and the waitress didn't come over to stop it immediately. Obviously, the beer hall has a no-smoking policy, but it's not strictly enforced. The waitress came over most likely because someone complained.

His gaze swept over the surrounding figures, and paused slightly when it landed on a woman wearing glasses.

The woman held a plain handkerchief, gently covering her lips. Her shoulders shrugged slightly as she suppressed a cough, her eyes revealing a hint of illness and weariness.

She was tall and slender, with porcelain-white, cool skin, a long, sculpted face, a high nose, and deep-set eyes, her icy blue gaze as still as a deep pool. Her flaxen curls cascaded smoothly over her shoulders, giving her an air of aloof elegance and noble bearing, characteristic of a traditional German woman.

Despite her illness, she could not conceal the elegance that had settled within her, her refined and self-possessed demeanor, untouched by worldly vulgarity.

She was probably not there when the Soviet Red Army liberated Berlin, so she didn't experience the hardships of the Ulrah Charge.

Perhaps his gaze was too intense, for the woman noticed and looked back at him. He nodded slightly in apology, then quickly looked away.

Have you ever been to Café St. Paul's?

"My first stop in Tokyo was the hotel, and my second stop was Café St. Paul's."

"I have to go now. Are you going to wait for me here, or go to the coffee shop?"

Why mention Café de Saint Paul?

"I just went there this afternoon and made an appointment with a waitress to have a late-night snack at 10 o'clock."

Zhang Ailing said calmly, "I'm leaving?"

"Don't be silly, she's just a little girl I've run into a few times."

“I’m going to the coffee shop,” Eileen Chang said, pointing to the book on the table. “I’ll read this article then.”

"Okay, they must be tired from following you all night. Stop being naughty and causing trouble."

"Understood."

Sin Yiu-man left the beer hall, stared at a car in the parking lot, and then asked Xie Zhanran to bring him a pack of cigarettes. Soon, the car door opened, and four men got out and bowed to him. He waved them off and got into his own car.

The car quickly arrived at the entrance of Kikumizu Izakaya. As soon as he got out of the car, Wakana, who was waiting in the entrance hall, immediately came to greet him with small, quick steps.

Igawa Aya bowed slightly and said, "Takano-kun, it's been a long time. How have you been?"

Xian Yaowen nodded in return, "Everything is fine, Miss Jingchuan, you look beautiful today."

"Thank you for the compliment, Takano-kun. Arowwood is already waiting for you inside."

"Please take me inside."

"This way, please."

Sin Yiu-man followed Igawa Aya into the backyard of Kokusui.

In the courtyard, there was a wooden terrace. Charlotte, dressed in a haori, sat quietly in front of a large water vat, holding half a piece of bread in her hand, breaking it into small crumbs and gently scattering them into the vat.

Sin Yiu-man stepped forward and looked into the water tank. Two koi were swimming in the water, one a Showa Sanshoku and the other a German koi.

"You're becoming more and more like a Japanese person."

“Adam, this is Tokyo.” Charlotte put down the bread she was holding and turned to look at Xian Yaowen. “When are you and Joan getting married?”

"It's not time for that yet. We plan to wait for her to take a vacation and go on a trip."

Have you decided where to go?

"Italy, France, anywhere."

“Everyone will be going home for Christmas this year, and Dad hopes you’ll be there too.” Charlotte pulled a cigarette case from her pocket, took out a cigarette, and lit it.

Xian Yaowen plopped down on the edge of the vat and said casually, "It should be fine."

"Are you going to South Korea?"

"I need to go there to sort out the business over there and have a drink with our partners."

"I'll arrange a private jet for you."

"No need for special arrangements, I only need three seats."

Charlotte shrugged. "Let me check the recent flight schedule."

“The people working in the inner circle of Taipei are not very clean. If it is not your or the Alliance’s intention, I plan to clean it up.”

"How do we rectify this?"

"Get rid of a few disobedient ones."

Are you free tomorrow?

"the day after tomorrow."

"Call me the day after tomorrow, I'll arrange a party."

"OK."

Charlotte silently held a cigarette in his mouth, his knuckles tightening slightly as he took several puffs. The pale blue smoke swirled between his deep-set brows and eyes, adding a touch of coldness.

A moment of silence filled the courtyard. Suddenly, he looked up, his gaze sharp yet calm, and abruptly asked, "Is Matsuda a partner?"

"of course."

"Where is Nagumo?"

"Without a doubt."

"They deserve some help."

"It's up to you."

"I won't let them down."

"I will spend most of next year in New York. I plan to buy a piece of land in the suburbs and build a manor."

Where do you like it?

"Golden Shore".

What style does the manor prefer?

“I really like the Farnsworth House designed by Mies van der Rohe. It’s minimalist and has a large, open-plan layout.”

"You find someone to design it, and I'll give you the land and construction funds."

"grateful."

Charlotte shrugged. "You asked me for it, how could I refuse?"

"Ha~" Xian Yaowen patted Charlotte on the shoulder, "I've achieved my goal, it's time to go."

"Another date?"

"uh-huh."

"Bye."

"Goodbye."

After Sin Yiu-man left, he immediately loosened his tie, relaxed his throat, and took a deep breath as he got into the car.

A simple confrontation, three confessions, two moves in tandem—he's locked onto the chariot of the US military. Whether he's being used as a tool, or he's using his opponent as a stepping stone, only time will tell.

At least for now, he has a solid backer in the United States and doesn't have to wander around alone.

To calm their nerves, the car drove to the St. Paul's Cafe, picked up Eileen Chang and Masako Yamaguchi, and headed to the upscale late-night snack area.

Shinjuku is the most lively place for late-night snacks, but it's a bit far from Ginza. With two women in tow, it's better to go somewhere closer.

In the French-style late-night snack area, I found a shop called "Torigin". It looked like they made yakitori. I went in for a quick look and immediately left. Their specialty was grilled chicken skin and chicken liver, which Eileen Chang wouldn't eat.

They went to a different restaurant with a wider selection of skewers, and the three of them sat down. After discussing it, they decided to eat to their hearts' content. They ordered nine skewers of each: scallion chicken skewers, chicken breast, chicken legs, chicken wings, chicken meatballs, and chicken gizzards. They also ordered two skewers of the "lantern" skewers, which only Xian Yaowen wanted to try. They also opened three bottles of beer in one go.

Japanese people enjoy yakitori slowly, often ordering just one skewer and sitting for an entire evening. The owner rarely encounters a big spender who orders dozens of skewers in one go. They give out all the side dishes they can, and there are seven or eight plates on the table filled with pickled vegetables that you have to kick two opponents to get the flavor from.

Although the comparison was limited to Tokyo and did not involve other countries, Sin Yiu-man did not complain; he simply focused on chatting with Eileen Chang.

Masako Yamaguchi was a little tired. What was supposed to be a sweet late-night snack had turned into part of a depraved couple's play. She could only try her best to savor the flavors, and most of the side dishes that were served ended up in her stomach.

Sin Yiu-man took out a twisted braided bracelet and put it on Eileen Chang's wrist, saying, "This is a belated birthday present for you."

Eileen Chang raised her hand and examined it closely under the dim, warm light.

The silver bracelet features intricate patterns, with two strands twisted into a smooth, braided design. Its delicate texture is not prickly to the touch, and under the light, it gleams with a soft, matte, aged silver luster.

She gently stroked the patterns entwined on the bracelet with her fingertips, her eyebrows and eyes were indifferent, but the corners of her lips curved slightly. She looked up at Xian Yaowen and said, "I heard that Soong Mei-ling had one."

"It is said that Soong Mei-ling got it from Du Yuesheng and it was previously worn by Meng Xiaodong."

"Where did you get this?"

"A sample used by an old jade craftsman in Myanmar to test his knife skills."

Zhang Ailing's gaze narrowed slightly, and the jade bracelet on her wrist shimmered with a clear and lustrous light under the lamp: "The jade is so clear and smooth, yet it's only used for testing?"

Xian Yaowen's gaze fell on her slender wrist, and his tone was calm and even: "In order to carve a better twisted bracelet."

She looked down at the lines entwined on her wrist and asked softly, "What are they for?"

"Give it away."

"Soong Mei-ling?"

"uncertain."

Eileen Chang raised an eyebrow slightly, lowered her voice, and asked with a hint of speculation, "Do you mean to give it to Jiang Fangliang?"

"possible."

Eileen Chang pursed her lips and fell silent. This topic could no longer be discussed; she didn't want to know the full extent of Sin Yiu-man's plans.

Xian Yaowen didn't elaborate further; the bracelet would be kept hidden away for several years before it could be given away. (End of Chapter)