30. Want to try something thrilling?

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“Uh.”

A radiant smile blossomed across the beauty’s youthful, sensuous face, spreading like a fresh flower. As it reached the corners of her brows, her lips curved ever so slightly upward.

She smiled faintly, her expression as intoxicating and ambiguous as the lingering spring rain of Jiangnan, while her beautiful eyes shimmered with shifting emotion.

Seeing this, Chen Ze knew that with a suitable excuse, he would be able to taste this cake.

To spend the night bringing her sweet dreams…

It was already as easy as reaching into his own pocket.

“Clink.”

The crystal glasses touched. Gong Bingyan ordered another bottle of Hennessy XO, twice the price of the VSOP.

When it came to foreign liquor, its classification system was even broader and more chaotic than that of Chinese spirits.

Hennessy VSOP was a cognac brandy, and not particularly expensive—unless one was drinking at a nightclub.

Foreign liquor differed from Chinese liquor in many ways.

The most typical distinction was that with Chinese liquor, the more expensive it was, the better it generally tasted. With foreign liquor, that was not necessarily true, and it was not meant to be stored for long periods.

The more expensive the foreign liquor, the more fragrant and mellow it became.

But that did not mean it tasted better.

Especially for Chinese drinkers, expensive foreign liquor was often purchased purely for show. It was not necessarily any better than an entry-level bottle.

VS, VSOP, XO, XXO.

These were the grades of cognac brandy. Compared with Martell and Rémy Martin, Hennessy’s distinctive light fragrance was more suited to Chinese women, especially those who did not drink much.

Open a bottle of Rémy Martin, and good fortune would naturally follow.

It was better suited to business negotiations.

Martell, deep and rich with melancholy.

It was more suitable for drinking alone or for seasoned drinkers.

Gong Bingyan had ordered the VSOP earlier, and Chen Ze had not thought much of it. Even the wealthiest person would usually spend only a few thousand yuan on a bottle for solitary drinking. Who would casually order Louis XIII?

In the past, the most Chen Ze had ever ordered was Blue Label. He also drank Jägermeister often because of its refreshing taste.

Now that Gong Bingyan had ordered an XO costing 3,798 yuan, he could not help but wonder whether this woman had run out of money.

She was covered in luxury goods, but they might all have been bought in the past. Having money before did not mean she had money now.

If she currently had money, she should have ordered XO from the beginning. And she did not look like someone who cared much about value for money.

Perhaps after realizing that she still had money and that she was pleased with herself, she had generously ordered a more expensive bottle.

Thinking more deeply, was Gong Bingyan looking for outside support to stand against her uncle?

Otherwise, why would she have immediately asked him—

What does your family do?

Damn. It was true after all: the finest hunters in the world often appeared in the form of prey.

According to the information he had seen, Gong Bingyan had already been a trainee in South Korea for two years. She could practically be considered part of a debuting group.

With her looks, figure, financial resources, and the scheming she had displayed, it was impossible for her to remain unknown in the future.

Could it be that Gong Yaowu and she had failed to divide the spoils fairly, leaving her with an unfavorable ending?

Of course, there were two other possibilities: Gong Bingyan’s life might have turned out completely differently, or she might have given up on debuting.

Before Chen Ze now stood three possible futures for Gong Bingyan. He could eliminate them one by one.

In truth, he hoped the first possibility was the correct one. That would give him far more room to maneuver.

Suppose Gong Yaowu and Gong Bingyan had fallen out.

Suppose Gong Bingyan was a hidden shareholder.

“What are you thinking about so intently?”

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A voice called out beside him. Chen Ze looked up and saw Gong Bingyan take out a cigarette.

“I’m fine. My thoughts wandered just now.”

Playing to her preferences, Chen Ze accepted the slim cigarette, then pulled a S.T. Dupont lighter from his pocket.

“Wandered?”

Gong Bingyan sounded surprised. Then she lowered her eyes to glance at the ample curve of her breast, only partially concealed by her tight short-sleeved shirt.

Before she could silently scold him, a flame sprang up before her. Furrowing her brows with mild curiosity, she asked,

“That lighter is quite beautiful.”

The music in the room drowned out the lighter’s pleasant click, but it could not conceal its exquisite appearance.

Chen Ze naturally closed the cap, placed the lighter in his palm, and gave it a puzzled glance before saying casually,

“It’s a S.T. Dupont Cohiba. Do you like it?”

S.T. Dupont made the lighter, while Cohiba was the cigar brand. It was a joint product designed specifically for cigars.

He handed the lighter over. Gong Bingyan accepted it without hesitation, running her fingertip over the lacquered finish.

“It doesn’t look very cheap.”

“About twenty thousand yuan. If you like it, I’ll give it to you.”

It had actually cost slightly less than twenty thousand—around eighteen thousand. It was a limited-edition lighter.

“Twenty thousand?”

Gong Bingyan’s gaze sharpened slightly. After murmuring softly to herself, she let her beautiful eyes drift toward him and handed it back.

“How could I take something you like?”

A lighter worth twenty thousand yuan—truthfully, it immediately revealed the gap between the wealthy and the poor.

Gong Bingyan did not recognize this particular model, but she naturally knew the S.T. Dupont brand. She simply had never bought one.

A lighter was just a lighter. A Zippo was good enough.

“Hey, someone gave it to my father. There are other models at home, and I happened to start using a brand-new one today.”

Seeing Gong Bingyan return it, Chen Ze acted as though he did not care. He took her smooth, delicate hand and gently enclosed it in his own.

Every word he said was true.

The lighter had appeared in his family’s home and had been placed somewhere suitable for display. His father must have known its value.

Chen Tianhong certainly would not have bought it. So either one of the subcontractors working under him had given it to him—his father had once smoked—or a property developer had used it to settle a debt. In that industry, repaying debts with houses and cars was common enough.

Besides, Chen Ze truly did not care about it.

To him, a one-yuan lighter worked just as well. Some things should be put to better use.

In his hands, it was no different from a one-yuan lighter. But if he gave it to Gong Bingyan, it might bring him far more money in return.

Besides…

Who said that once something was given away, it had to belong to the recipient? She could always give it back.

“We’ve only just met, yet you’re giving me such an expensive gift.”

Gong Bingyan did not appear surprised or delighted, but her eyes grew even more alluring, as though she had set her sights on tempting prey.

“In my eyes, there’s no distinction between having just met and knowing someone for a long time. I only trust my instincts.”

Chen Ze withdrew his hand, picked up his glass again, and exhaled a mouthful of gray smoke. Then he leaned toward her ear and murmured,

“And besides, what’s yours is mine, isn’t it?”

The double meaning was exquisite.

From the moment Chen Ze gave her the lighter, he was no longer satisfied with merely the Banghe Club and Mansion. He had set his sights on…

The much larger Bangyuan Real Estate.

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Although persuading Gong Bingyan to transfer shares to him was somewhat unrealistic, everything depended on human effort.

A real estate group in my hands!

In his previous life, Bangyuan Real Estate had been driven into bankruptcy by Gong Yaowu. And in truth, it had been no small enterprise.

“You’re right. What’s yours is mine.”

Gong Bingyan smiled sweetly. Her fingers traced across Chen Ze’s chest before she picked up the dice cup, still not quite satisfied.

“This time I’ll shake. You guess.”

“Go ahead.”

After taking only a few more drags, Chen Ze tossed his cigarette into the stainless-steel ashtray and blew a thin veil of smoke across the beauty’s face.

“Since you guessed one, I’ll guess zero.”

“One? Zero?”

Gong Bingyan repeated the words instinctively. But the moment she understood, her beautiful eyes shifted, and a faint, amused smile spread across her lips.

“I guess your number must be very large.”

Her gaze, seductive and almost bewitching, swept over that particular part of Chen Ze’s body. Tall men were generally said to be somewhat better endowed.

Chen Ze paused, then refused to yield.

“Then I guess yours must be both very white and very red.”

“All right, all right. Let’s play.”

Perhaps it was because they were sitting so close, or perhaps because Chen Ze’s voice was so pleasant, but Gong Bingyan had just felt—

A tingling sensation spread through her entire body like an electric current. Even the smoothest, most sensitive places seemed ready to grow wet.

“Clatter, clatter, clatter.”

As she shook the cup, Gong Bingyan lifted the lid with her long, manicured fingers.

Chen Ze exclaimed in delight,

“Sure enough, it’s both white and red. What a pity.”

“The pity is that you lost.”

Gong Bingyan smiled coyly. Once she understood what Chen Ze meant, she could not help shooting him an alluring, reproachful glance.

There were three possible dice colors: white and black, white and blue, and white and red. Both of their guesses had been accurate.

There were five dice in total.

The final result was twenty-three.

That was quite high.

Moreover, there were many white-and-red dice showing one, four, or six. At a glance, they truly looked both white and red.

“Let’s play a more daring game this time.”

The two of them drank a glass in unison. Chen Ze leaned back openly and confidently against the sofa.

Gong Bingyan’s heart stirred at his words. She tossed her cigarette into the ashtray, leaned close to his ear, and breathed softly,

“Want to play something more exciting?”

When he looked up and saw the moisture in Gong Bingyan’s eyes, Chen Ze furrowed his brows slightly in surprise, then relaxed.

“Something exciting? Let’s hear it.”

Gong Bingyan pressed back a smile and leaned against Chen Ze, greedily drawing in the scent of the man. With a coquettish air, she whispered,

“Then suck the places on me that are white and red.”

“Suck?”