Although when listening to "Peony Pavilion" and "Long Life Temple", three meals of snacks were almost all destroyed by Chen Ergou, at the dinner table, Chen Ergou still had a very gluttonous and domineering air, drinking and eating without any gentlemanly demeanor. After drinking with Meng Donghai, he ate the dishes that Chen Yuanshu gave him, not stopping for a moment, afraid of being hated by Chen Yuanshu like a fish in a pond. Meng Donghai was eager to warm up the scene, so after self-penalizing three cups, he started clinking glasses with Chen Ergou. As a secretary, it's natural that his alcohol tolerance is not weak, and Meng Donghai's desperate drinking won over some of Chen Yuanshu's favor. Although she is a native of Nanjing, she is not very interested in Jiangsu cuisine, eating only a few bites before almost giving up on watching Chen Ergou wolf down his food like a hungry tiger. Seeing the beautiful waitress behind him with a stunned expression, Chen Yuanshu also smiled slightly. Indeed, there are rarely people who come to eat at the 21st club and don't care about appearances. After Chen Ergou finished eating and Meng Donghai apologized, Chen Yuanshu had Meng Donghai take Chen Ergou to the cigar lounge for a sit-down. She went to a quiet place to make a phone call, hung up, and came to the secluded cigar lounge, where she saw a large classical oil painting of "Peony Pavilion" with a guy smoking a cigar under it. The beautiful woman who had been following him from the ancient opera stage to dinner and then to the cigar lounge was standing in the corner, stifling her laughter. Chen Yuanshu laughed and scolded: "Country bumpkin, you don't know how to smoke cigars, just take it slow, why are you smoking so hard? Are you afraid others won't know you're a poor guy? It's clear that Meng Donghai is not willing to be dominated by you at the dinner table, he's been drinking a lot of wine and now he's deliberately teasing you. Cigars aren't smoked like that."

  Chen Ergou let out a light belch, spat out a smoke ring and smiled: "How can you always have the upper hand?"

  Meng Donghai burst out laughing, and after two plays, a meal, a box of beer, and a bottle of Maotai, he felt that he had seen through Chen Ergou's true nature and city, so he was no longer as cautious as before. He even dared to make one or two harmless jokes with Chen Ergou. Earlier, when Chen Yuanshu hadn't arrived, Meng Donghai joked that he would take Chen Ergou to a private club in the evening to find a Suzhou slim horse. Chen Ergou didn't understand what "slim horse" meant and asked about it. Meng Donghai didn't explain, but just smiled mischievously. Chen Ergou finally understood that "slim horse" was probably a euphemism for a high-end prostitute. It's said that there are also Yangzhou swallows, which are all high-end ladies only found in private clubs. Although Chen Ergou was tempted, he didn't dare agree verbally, fearing that if Chen Yuanshu became unhappy, she would leave him stranded and alone in the Nanjing city district. Offending the eldest miss of the Chen family wasn't a problem, but taking a taxi back to Shanshui Huamen would cost dozens of yuan!

  After leaving the 21st Club, Chen Yuanshu and Meng Donghai, who looked drunk, went their separate ways. Once Chen Ergou got in the car, Chen Yuanshu slowly started the engine and said: "Meng Donghai must have asked you out for a night of romance, I didn't let you go because I was afraid you'd fall into his trap. For now, he might not be able to take advantage of you, but it's not good for your future development. He's just like Lu Jiulei who left the club halfway through, nothing but a yes-man. No matter how arrogant he is, he can't make decisions on his own. When you get into the circle later, you'll know that official positions and wealth aren't the most important things. What matters most is being able to make a decision with one word. Otherwise, it's just empty talk. If you have the means, then it's fine. Meng Donghai is the kind of person who can only do 100,000 yuan worth of business even if you give him 1 million yuan. It doesn't make sense for you to be friends with him now."

  "Sister Chen, got it." Chen Ergou said with a smile.

  Chen Yuanshu nodded, driving carefully. She never sped in the city and drove extremely slowly. After decades of grinding and interacting with only two or three remaining close friends, they all said she was a person with dual personality and split personality. She didn't deny it and didn't think it was inappropriate either.

  As for telling Chen Ergou this, half of it was considering Chen Ergou's well-being, and the other half was her own private motives. Chen Ergou had long since stopped being part of her circle, but he was also someone she had taken over from Wei Duan Gong, and after his unexpected rise to fame, she couldn't let Meng Donghai take all the credit. In fact, apart from being a bit oily, Meng Donghai wasn't a bad person, and in the Nanjing circle, he was considered relatively clean. If Chen Ergou followed him, even if he didn't become extremely famous, he could at least get some leftovers. But Chen Yuanshu had blocked this path for him, and she would rather see Chen Ergou die a heroic death than let this young man who seemed more and more pleasing to her eyes follow Meng Donghai's type of people in their half-dead, half-alive, chaotic lives.

  Chen Yuanshu glanced at Chen Erdog through the rearview mirror, who was quietly gazing out the window at the city's night scene. It was a face that seemed to never have any killing intent, with a cleanliness that was outside of the circle. Chen Yuanshu found it quite comfortable to look at, but then thought again, a man, especially a young male who hadn't yet reached middle age, without a bit of reckless and sharp energy, was always a kind of regret. She sighed, turned on the stereo, and classical symphonic music filled the air, saying: "Tonight you'll be sleeping at the Hilton Hotel, do you have any objections? If not, I can also arrange for someone to take you out to experience Nanjing's nightlife."

  "How much per night?" Chen Ergou joked, "Sister Chen, if it's cheap I won't stay."

  "Less than a thousand, Nanjing is like that. No matter how expensive the place to live is, it can't compare with Shanghai and Beijing. If you want to live in an expensive place, I'll invite you out of Shanghai next time." Chen Yuanshu smiled, she liked this kind of conversation, which was a fresh feeling that people in her circle couldn't bring to her. Young people all liked the thrill of dramatic ups and downs, but she wasn't like that, stability outweighed everything, yet she was also willing to accept small changes within limits.

  "I've got this memorized, Sister Chen, you can't deny it." Chen Ergou still had the harmless expression of a good citizen, but it was unclear whether he had become too used to being a low-ranking employee at Ah Mei's restaurant and Shan Shui Hua Men, playing the role of a small fry who always lowered his head and bowed. It was no wonder that Zhang Sanqian couldn't stand him; in the past, Chen Ergou had been a well-known figure in Zhangjia Village, famous for peeking over walls to watch beautiful women bathe, starting fights with his fists, and spreading rumors.

  "You just remind me." Chen Yuanshu smiled and said, not too worried about it. For a matter of 5,000 or 6,000 yuan, she didn't bother to quibble over such a small amount of money. She was driving the car, with Chen Ergou in the back seat. The two families' assets might be different by five zeros, and what she thought about and what Chen Ergou thought about were probably not synchronized, which would be a huge joke.

  After passing by Nanjing City Museum, Chen Yuanshu and Chen Ergou both fell into a tacit silence.

  Arriving at the Nanjing Hilton International Hotel, Chen Ergou got out of the car and stood in front of the building, looking up with a silly expression. The doorman was puzzled for a minute, unable to understand why this man who could afford a Maserati was standing there in a daze. After entering the hotel and taking the room card, Chen Yuanshu accompanied Chen Ergou into the elevator and arrived at their room, opening the door for him but not entering herself. She smiled and said: "Take a look at the hotel's introduction, if you're interested, try everything out. All expenses will be charged to your card, so don't worry about asking me for money or feeling uneasy about spending my sister's money. Just spend away! Drink the best wine, order the best midnight snacks, soak in the hot springs, wash up in the sauna, play bowling - go ahead and try everything out. When you leave, just don't forget to take your room card."

  "Thank you, Sister Chen." Chen Ergou also said without hesitation, with a bright smile.

  After sending off Chen Yuanshu, Chen Ergou entered the hotel room with a cautious attitude, no longer bouncing around like he did in Chen Yuanshu's Maserati. He opened the curtains, sat down on the comfortable chair, and sat up straight, looking more formal and solemn than he had at the 21 Club, to the point of being inexplicably serious. He quietly gazed out the window at the bustling scenery outside, his face taut with a seriousness that was rare during the day. The high-rise buildings and endless stream of cars outside the window - none of those things belonged to him today. What about tomorrow? And in the future?

  The next morning, Chen Yuanshu drove her Maserati to the Hilton Hotel and dialed a number. The person on the other end was her private investigator planted in the hotel, a top-notch detective who had retired from the army and couldn't bear the quiet life, so he started this line of work. He had an excellent reputation, and since he used to be under Chen Yuanshu's uncle's command in the army, there were no worries about him handling things properly. He told Chen Yuanshu that after Chen Erdou arrived at the hotel, he never left his room and didn't make any phone calls. Through a temporary camera installed beforehand, he only saw the young man quietly staying in the hotel room, sitting by the window looking out at the street scene for two hours, then watching TV for an hour, before going to the bathroom to wash up and sleep.

  Chen Yuanshu was a bit surprised after hearing the whole report, wondering how Chen Erdou, who seemed to be quite careless, didn't recklessly swipe her card and indulge in some lavish spending. She thought he must have known she wouldn't mind the few thousand yuan spent, and instead chose to quietly watch the street view for two hours. After hanging up the phone, Chen Yuanshu couldn't help but chuckle at what an interesting guy he was. Then it occurred to her that since this young man could sit through four hours of boring Kunqu Opera, it wasn't surprising that he would behave in such a way.

  In the hotel lobby, Chen Erdou, who had already returned his room card, sat down and ordered two cups of coffee. Chen Yuanshu smiled and asked, "How was your sleep? What did you do?"

  Chen Ergou scratched his head and said with a silly expression: "Didn't sleep well, the big bed was too comfortable, didn't want to get up. Didn't play anything either, took Chen Jie's card, afraid of losing face for you when the time comes."

  Chen Yuanshu couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time, sipping her coffee, and her impression of Chen Ergou improved by a notch or two.

  Send Chen Ergou back to Shanshui Huamen, receive a call from a private detective, saying that there is something to show her, and meet at a remote tea house. A steady man with an ordinary appearance that can blend into the crowd hands Chen Yuanshu a crumpled paper ball, whispering: "Sister Chen, he sat in the window and wrote something with the hotel's pencil, then threw it into the trash can. I didn't notice at first, but after checking the room immediately after he checked out today, I found this. Although I couldn't understand it, I quickly called you. This paper is crumpled because when the trash can was discovered, it was a paper ball."

  Chen Yuanshu, who was not paying attention, didn't blame him for being surprised. After all, this was his professional ethics. He opened it and looked at it, first stunned, then bewildered, finally narrowing his eyes, heavily exhaling a mouthful of air, without saying a word, slowly folding the paper, putting it in his bag, sandwiched between a copy of "China's High-Level New Think Tank".

  That sentence is:

  "There is a fierce tiger in my heart, sniffing the rose."