12: Chapter 12 An Encounter at West Lake

"I agree to the Rhode Island plan, Lawyer Colt. Please take full charge of pushing it forward.

Company registration, tax planning, and liaising with the auction house will all be led by your team.

Ensure any documents requiring my signature are transmitted via secure channels.

As for the transport plan, you and Mr. Sterling decide on it together; I want to know the final plan."

"Understood, Mr. Chen. I will send you the detailed execution timeline and draft documents as soon as possible. Also," Colt adjusted his sitting position slightly, "regarding the timing of the press conference and the public announcement, I suggest we only make the official global announcement after we have submitted all legal documents, finished setting up the company structure, and safely transferred the treasure to the Rhode Island warehouse.

This way, we can direct public attention straight to the epic discovery that will be auctioned in Providence, Rhode Island, creating maximum publicity and avoiding excessive interference during the preparation phase.

The timing can be set for two weeks from now, which aligns with our previous plan, but the location and narrative focus need adjustment."

"Very well. You handle the specific promotional strategy.

The core should be highlighting the results of the private expedition, the rediscovery of history, and the legal and compliant public auction."

President Chen Ran added, "For potential challenges from Spain or other parties, the contingency plans need to be more robust."

"We are already preparing for that. We will not only refute them legally but also shape our image as saviors of history in the court of public opinion.

We have professional media relations experts on the team," Colt replied confidently.

Ending the call with Colt, President Chen Ran leaned back in his chair, digesting the information he had just received.

Rhode Island, a 20% tax rate, 60 million in savings... The rules by which the world operated were unfolding before him in another complex and alluring tapestry.

The door was knocked on gently, and his mother's voice came through: "Xiaoran, lunch is ready. Auntie Wang just brought over some dried bamboo shoots from her hometown and insisted we try them... Come out and eat."

"Coming, Mom," President Chen Ran replied, putting away his phone, adjusting his expression, and opening the door.

In the dining room, the aroma of food wafted in the air.

His father was setting the table, while his mother came out of the kitchen with a plate of stir-fried bamboo shoots, muttering, "...Showing off that her relatives have some local specialties, as if nobody else has any..."

President Chen Ran sat down and took the rice bowl his mother handed him.

Ordinary conversation, trivial complaints, familiar flavors.

Outside the window, the sound of Auntie Wang loudly holding court with another neighbor downstairs drifted up, the content invariably being about how her son had reported to her on the phone about being praised by his superiors and winning project awards.

President Chen Ran ate his meal quietly, listening to his parents' idle chatter, a faint, meaningful smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.

Auntie Wang was still comparing the bonuses of companies in the provincial capital with a 200,000-yuan car.

Yet she would never know that just moments ago, right here in this ordinary apartment building, the President Chen Ran she described as "having no stable job" had just made a decision involving a sum of money large enough to buy over three thousand of those cars her son was so proud of.

And all of this was just the beginning.

Two weeks later, when Rhode Island and the 300 million-dollar shipwreck treasure hit global news headlines, the world would finally realize that the rules of certain games and the hierarchy of the players had completely changed.

"Mom, these stir-fried bamboo shoots are really good." President Chen Ran picked up a chopstick-full and said sincerely.

"Right? I told you, the heat control is crucial!" Qian Shuqing immediately beamed, temporarily casting aside her annoyance with the neighbor next door.

President Chen Ran smiled and continued to enjoy what might be his last peaceful lunch as an ordinary President Chen Ran.

It was a beautiful autumn afternoon in Hangzhou.

President Chen Ran politely declined his mother's nagging to take a nap and went out alone.

Four disguised security personnel—Gray Wolf, Lynx, and Fortress, who had rushed over from the hotel after being notified, along with another team member, Hawkeye—trailed him from varying distances in a formation that looked casual but was actually tight.

Their presence was deliberately minimized, like shadows blending into the streetscape.

President Chen Ran strolled along without a specific destination.

Leaving behind the high-pressure work and bidding farewell to the treacherous deep-sea journey, this rare moment of leisure reminded him that although he was a native of Hangzhou, he hadn't taken a good look at this city for a long time.

He thought of his younger sister. The family wasn't exactly wealthy, so his sister didn't have much pocket money. After a moment's thought, he transferred five thousand yuan to her bank card and sent her a message.

Let's start with this; too much would scare her.

His phone vibrated. It was a WeChat message from his younger sister, Chen Yan. It was a selfie of her standing at the entrance of the school library, making a peace sign and smiling brightly, followed by a voice message:

"Brother! Money received! Five thousand yuan, a huge fortune! Honestly, tell me, did you secretly buy a lottery ticket and win?

Or did you find Aladdin's lamp on the road?" The young girl's voice was crisp and lively, filled with undisguised surprise and teasing.

President Chen Ran smiled and pressed the voice button: "Better than winning the lottery. I made a... well, a huge sum that might end up on the front page of the newspaper." He was telling the truth, though it sounded like a joke at the moment.

"Pfft~~ Bragging doesn't cost taxes! Blehh!" Chen Yan sent a tongue-poking emoji, followed immediately by another message, "But thank you anyway, Brother! Love you! I'm coming home this weekend, Mom said she's going to make braised pork trotters! Are you coming to pick me up?"

"Pick you up? Of course. Friday night, right? What time is class out? I'll wait for you at the school gate."

"Five-thirty! Don't be late! Oh, and if you really make it into the newspaper, remember to save a front page for me as a souvenir! Haha!"

Finishing the chat with his sister, President Chen Ran's mood lightened even more.

He suddenly remembered that it had been a long time since he had walked by West Lake.

That lakeside, inscribed in countless poems and songs and carrying the thousand-year cultural heritage of this city, must have a unique charm under the clear autumn sky.

He didn't take a taxi, just walked along the familiar streets at a leisurely pace toward West Lake.

Passing through several bustling streets and alleys, and bypassing a few old neighborhoods undergoing demolition, the hustle and bustle were gradually left behind.

When that expanse of shimmering water jumped into his view through the gaps in the street trees, a familiar, tranquil aura mixed with water vapor and a sense of history rushed toward him.

"Dawn on the Su Causeway in Spring" is the first of the Ten Scenes of West Lake. Even though it wasn't spring, the Su Causeway on an autumn afternoon was still bustling with tourists, yet it didn't feel crowded.

The willows on the causeway still hung with some greenery, interspersed with some yellowing leaves.

The lake water was that calm, almost dark green-blue color, reflecting the distant Solitary Hill, the Baochu Pagoda, and the drifting clouds in the sky.

Painted boats glided slowly across the water, leaving ripples that gradually dissipated.

President Chen Ran strolled along the embankment, temporarily casting aside the billions in wealth, legal battles, and global headlines, simply feeling the breeze on his face and listening to the soft Wu dialect of the surrounding tourists and accents from all over the country.

The bodyguards fanned out twenty meters behind him, like ordinary tourists, but their gazes never truly left him.

Just as he reached the middle section of the Su Causeway, near a small arched bridge, his eyes inadvertently swept across a bench by the lake, and his footsteps paused slightly.

Someone was sitting on the bench.

A young woman.

She was wearing a light cyan, plain satin Chinese-style top with a mandarin collar, paired with a long skirt of the same color, and a moon-white thin woolen short coat over it.

Her long, jet-black hair draped softly behind her shoulders, loosely pinned up at the back of her head with a simple wooden hairpin.

She was bowing her head slightly, holding a thread-bound book in her hands, reading intently.

The afternoon sunlight filtered through the willow branches, gently spilling onto her, as if gilding her with a hazy halo.

President Chen Ran was still some distance away, unable to see the words in the book or her specific features.

But just this scene—the lakeside, the bench, the classical young girl reading—constituted a strange harmony and tranquility.

Her posture was upright yet relaxed, the line of her neck was beautiful, and her profile looked exceptionally soft in the light and shadow.

There was no breathtaking glamour, but rather a refined, otherworldly, and water-like gentle temperament, as if she were a noble lady who had walked out of an ancient painting, perfectly integrated with the landscape of West Lake and its thousand-year cultural heritage.

President Chen Ran's heart seemed to skip a beat.

He had seen many beautiful girls, including the flamboyant beauty of his ex-girlfriend, Lin Mengyao.

But this kind of beauty, as calm as water and steeped in the scent of books, was a brand-new, soul-striking touch for him.

He subconsciously lightened his footsteps and even turned slightly, not wanting to disturb this scene.

However, the beautiful tranquility was soon broken.

A tall black tourist wearing a flashy sports jacket and a baseball cap clearly noticed the girl on the bench as well.

His eyes lit up, he whistled, and swaggered straight over, loudly hitting on her in accented, grammatically broken Chinese: "Hey, beauty! Alone? Reading is so boring, want to be friends? Want to hang out? Hangzhou, very great!" As he spoke, he naturally prepared to sit on the empty side of the bench, his body leaning sideways, attempting to get closer.

The girl seemed startled by this sudden intrusion; she closed her book and looked up.

Only then did President Chen Ran see her face clearly: an oval face, with the smooth, fair skin unique to Jiangnan women, eyebrows as slender as distant mountains, and eyes as clear and bright as the surface of West Lake in autumn, revealing intelligence within their calmness.

Her nose was elegant and straight, and her lips were a natural, pale cherry-pink.

At this moment, those beautiful eyes held obvious alienation and wariness.

Her voice was soft but her tone was firm: "I'm sorry, I don't know you. Please don't disturb my reading." As she spoke, she moved to the other side of the bench to distance herself.

"Don't be shy! I just want to make a friend!" The black tourist persisted, leaning in even closer with what he thought was a handsome smile, reaching out as if to take the book from her hands, "What are you reading? Chinese history? I can learn! Teach me?"

"Please leave." The girl's voice turned cold, and she stood up, clutching her book, intending to leave.