18: Chapter 18 The Showdown Between the Yellow-Skinned Monkey and the White-Skinned Wild Dog

After making the arrangements, President Chen Ran returned to his room, packed a light suitcase with just a few changes of clothes and necessary documents.

He carefully stowed away the encrypted phone and the file Victor had just sent, which contained detailed information and contact details for the security personnel.

At nine o'clock in the evening, an inconspicuous sedan stopped on time at the entrance of the residential complex.

President Chen Ran hugged his parents, patted his younger sister's head, picked up his suitcase, and walked into the damp night of Hangzhou.

Qian Shuqing stood at the doorway, watching her son's retreating figure until it disappeared around the corner of the hallway, before sighing, closing the door, and muttering to Chen Jianwei, "This child, acting all mysterious..."

In the car, Fortress personally acted as the driver, while another team member sat in the passenger seat. The car drove steadily toward the airport.

"Mr. Chen, the private jet has been arranged, flying directly to New York. Mr. Sterling's people will meet you at the airport in New York.

There are six people in the security team here in Hangzhou. Among them, Lin Wei and Zhou Qing have received instructions and will approach Chen Yan in an appropriate manner tomorrow morning.

The other four will be responsible for remote monitoring and emergency response for your parents' residence," Fortress reported concisely.

"Thank you for your hard work." President Chen Ran leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

The car passed through the neon-lit city and drove toward the airport, far from the city center.

Outside the car window, the familiar lights and shadows of the city receded rapidly.

President Chen Ran knew that when the plane soared into the sky and took him away from this land, the first half of the life of that ordinary Hangzhou youth named President Chen Ran would officially come to an end.

Awaiting him were the flashbulbs of New York, the auction gavel of Rhode Island, the pursuit of global media, the infinite possibilities brought by hundreds of millions of dollars in wealth, and the ensuing hidden daggers and stormy waves.

But he was ready.

Chapter 11: Shocking Change in the Clouds

The direct flight from Hangzhou to New York was flying steadily in the stratosphere.

The cabin lights were dimmed to a level suitable for rest, and the engines emitted a constant, low-pitched white noise. Most passengers were closing their eyes to rest or wearing headphones to watch the entertainment system.

President Chen Ran sat in the window seat, resting with his eyes closed, mentally organizing the schedule after arriving in New York and the potential media questions he might face.

Fortress and another team member were sitting diagonally behind him, maintaining vigilance.

The sound of slight footsteps and a faint, familiar, light fragrance approached.

President Chen Ran opened his eyes and looked toward the aisle, his gaze freezing for a moment.

A slender figure wearing a pale cyan knitted cardigan paired with off-white trousers was holding a boarding pass, looking somewhat hesitantly at the empty seat next to him.

Her long, jet-black hair hung softly over her shoulder, and in the soft light of the cabin ceiling lamps, her profile outlined features as clear and beautiful as a painting.

It was actually Shen Wanqing.

Shen Wanqing also saw him. A flicker of obvious surprise flashed in her clear eyes, which then turned into a polite and slightly distant gentleness. She nodded slightly and confirmed in a soft voice, "President Chen Ran? What a coincidence."

"Ms. Shen? It really is a coincidence." President Chen Ran stood up and turned to the side to let her in.

A strange feeling crossed his heart; he hadn't expected to meet again on a flight to New York.

She seemed to always appear at times he least expected, yet which were always striking.

"Going to New York?" Shen Wanqing sat in the aisle seat, fastened her seatbelt, and put away her small handbag, her movements elegant and calm.

"Yes, handling some matters. How about you? Are you also going to New York?"

"I'm going to attend an academic seminar on the protection and restoration of Eastern and Western ancient books held at Columbia University, and I'll be giving a small presentation."

Shen Wanqing's answer confirmed President Chen Ran's guess that she came from a scholarly family; her temperament was so well-suited to this kind of academic activity.

"That's impressive," President Chen Ran said sincerely, remembering the copy of *Dreaming of West Lake* she was reading by West Lake last time. "It seems you truly love ancient books and traditional culture."

A faint but genuine smile bloomed at the corners of Shen Wanqing's lips, like ripples on autumn water. "It's the influence of my family's academic background, and I have an interest in it myself. You could say... I'm just guarding a bit of the old times."

She paused and looked at President Chen Ran. "How about you?"

"I'm attending a rather important auction, and I might need to be there in person." President Chen Ran's answer was vague, but it wasn't a lie.

He was indeed the core of the Rhode Island auction.

The two chatted in low voices, one topic leading to another, from the technical difficulties of ancient book restoration to museums in New York, and back to the osmanthus flowers of autumn in Hangzhou.

Shen Wanqing didn't speak much, but whenever she did, her words were substantial and insightful, revealing good breeding and deep cultural foundations.

Her voice was soft and her speaking pace was calm. Listening to her speak, it felt as if even the stuffy air in the cabin became refreshing.

President Chen Ran, for his part, reined in his usual edge, playing the role of a patient and knowledgeable listener, with his occasional responses being just right.

The atmosphere was friendly and quiet, carrying a subtle tension between that of acquaintances and friends.

About halfway through the flight, Shen Wanqing softly said "excuse me" and stood up to go to the restroom.

President Chen Ran turned to let her pass, his gaze involuntarily following her pale cyan figure, his thoughts rippling slightly.

Such a woman was like an ancient scroll slowly unfurling—elegant, reserved, and lingering with charm. She seemed to belong to a different world than the cold gold beneath the deep sea or the noisy vanity fair awaiting in New York.

Yet, deep in his heart, an inexplicable impulse to explore, and even... to protect, arose.

However, this tranquility was soon broken.

A few minutes later, from the direction of the forward restroom, a discordant commotion suddenly erupted!

Mixed into it was a short, sharp scream from a woman. That voice...

President Chen Ran's brows furrowed instantly. It was Shen Wanqing!

He stood up abruptly, his movement so fast that Fortress, sitting diagonally behind, instantly tensed his body.

Looking toward the sound, he saw that in the small aisle outside the forward restroom, a huge white man with a burly build, wearing a tight T-shirt that revealed large tattoos and knotted muscles, was cornering Shen Wanqing!

He reeked of alcohol, his face was flushed red, and his eyes were lecherous. He was reaching out to grab Shen Wanqing's arm, spewing filth in English with a heavy Eastern European accent.

Shen Wanqing's face was pale, her back pressed tightly against the cabin wall. She struggled to dodge, her eyes filled with shock and anger.

A young flight attendant who tried to step forward to intervene was impatiently pushed aside by the brute, his large hand taking advantage of the chaos to fiercely grab her chest! The flight attendant let out a terrified scream, stumbled back while clutching her chest, and tears welled up instantly.

The cabin was suddenly in an uproar!

Someone was actually committing public indecency and harassment on a plane at ten thousand meters in the air!

"Damn it, what kind of trash is this!" President Chen Ran's eyes turned icy instantly.

He had experienced the dangers of the deep sea and faced difficult supervisors, but encountering such unscrupulous scum on a plane still made his blood boil with rage.

Several male passengers who looked physically fit, including both white and Asian men, couldn't stand it any longer. They stood up and surrounded the man, trying to stop him.

Seeing this, the burly white man was not afraid. Instead, he grinned hideously, as if his ferocity had been triggered.

He shifted his feet, his movements unexpectedly swift and professional. With a sharp right hook, *bang*, he directly smashed the face of the first Asian man who approached, causing blood to splatter from his nose and mouth as he fell backward!

Following that with a left hook and a low kick, clean and swift, the other two passengers who stepped forward were also knocked to the ground within seconds, screaming and curling up in agony.

Judging by his stance and force, he was definitely not an ordinary drunkard; he was very likely a professional boxer or fighter!

At this moment, an air marshal holding a stun baton rushed over and issued a stern warning.

The burly white man sneered and actually charged forward!

The air marshal's stun baton poked his body, blue light flickering, but he only had a violent muscle spasm. Roaring, he delivered a heavy, powerful, and cleverly angled right uppercut that precisely pierced through the air marshal's defense and slammed hard into his chin!

"Crack!" A teeth-aching sound of bone breaking was faintly audible.

The air marshal's eyes rolled back, and without even letting out a scream, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious, the stun baton rolling out of his hand.

In an instant, the front cabin fell silent, leaving only the roar of the engines and the moans of the injured.

All the passengers, including the several burly white men who had been indignant and eager to try, were now pale, silent as cicadas in winter, completely intimidated by this terrifying skill and brutality.

This was simply a human beast!

The burly white man shook his arm, which seemed a bit numb from the electric shock, breathing heavily. His gaze locked back onto Shen Wanqing, who was pale and had nowhere to retreat, and he leered as he approached again.

Seeing that no one dared to step forward again, a flash of despair crossed Shen Wanqing's eyes.

Just then, a figure parted the stunned crowd, walked over with steady steps, and blocked the path in front of Shen Wanqing.

It was President Chen Ran.

When the burly white man saw someone blocking his way again, and it was an Asian youth who didn't look particularly strong, his eyes, intertwined with drunkenness and ferocity, were filled with disdain and violence. He spat and roared in an extremely insulting tone, "Get lost! Yellow-skinned monkey! Want to play the hero saving the beauty? I'll crush your bones!"

Hearing the term "Yellow-skinned monkey," the last trace of warmth in President Chen Ran's eyes vanished, but a cold, almost mocking smile appeared on his face.

He slowly loosened his neck and responded in clear, fluent English, even with a touch of an elegant tone, word by word:

"Let me correct you, trash. First, for a hero to save a beauty, it usually requires a beauty in distress and a hero present.

Right now, I am just cleaning up a white-skinned wild dog that has wandered into the cabin and is barking and biting indiscriminately. Second," his gaze swept over the other man's thick arm, which had just committed the assault, "whose bones are you going to crush?"

"White-skinned wild dog!" The term echoed clearly in the cabin, more insulting than direct profanity, piercing straight into the most sensitive and hypocritical nerves of certain people.

"Fuck you!!" The burly white man was completely enraged. Alcohol and humiliation overwhelmed his reason. He roared, stopped talking nonsense, and like a crazed grizzly bear, took heavy steps, his sandbag-sized fist whistling through the air as he slammed it toward President Chen Ran's face!

This punch condensed all the power and rage of a professional boxer, enough to shatter an ordinary person's cheekbone!