Walking away wasn't an option, nor was staying.

In the end, Ye Chen decided to stick around and see what Zhang Jingshan was up to.

During Ye Chen's monotonous wait, about ten minutes later, a bright red Porsche Panamera pulled up in front of him.

"What do you want from me?"

Frowning at Zhang Jingshan as he stepped out of the car, Ye Chen asked.

"Mr. Ye, shall we find a place to talk?" Zhang Jingshan suggested.

"I don't think that's necessary. If there's nothing important, I'll be leaving—I've got things to do," Ye Chen replied, shaking his head.

"Mr. Ye, where are you headed? How about I give you a ride, and we can talk on the way?" Zhang Jingshan asked hurriedly.

Ye Chen thought for a moment.

Free ride? Why not?

Without hesitation, he nodded and got into the front passenger seat.

As the Panamera began moving again, Zhang Jingshan noticed the brown envelope Ye Chen was still holding—the one he had given him yesterday.

"Mr. Ye, weren't you going to the bank to open an account? Why is the money still with you?"

"Who said opening an account means I have to deposit money?" Ye Chen glanced at him, looking a bit exasperated.

He couldn't figure out the reason behind Zhang Jingshan's strange enthusiasm.

Was it because of the string of prayer beads?

That was just a chance transaction between strangers.

It didn't add up!

"Ahem, fair enough. Mr. Ye, where are you headed?" Zhang Jingshan changed the topic.

"To Jinlin Mansion on the west side," Ye Chen replied directly.

"Jinlin Mansion? The development with the lowest housing prices in the entire city of Jiangzhou?"

Noticing the envelope in Ye Chen's hand again, Zhang Jingshan was dumbfounded.

Was he really going to use the money from selling prayer beads to buy a house in Jinlin Mansion?

"Mr. Ye, you're not planning to buy a house there, are you? Sure, the prices are low, but the surrounding area is a mess—dirty and chaotic. It's unlikely to develop within the next ten years. Buying a house there—"

Before Zhang Jingshan could finish, Ye Chen interrupted, "Why don't you just tell me why you're looking for me?"

Cut off mid-sentence, Zhang Jingshan could only give up his advice.

He shifted to a serious tone. "Mr. Ye, after your warning yesterday, I found a hidden camera in that woman's room last night. As you said, it was a trap—a setup to use the footage to blackmail me!"

Ye Chen was quite surprised.

Zhang Jingshan had resolved the situation so quickly?

"So, you're here to thank me?" Ye Chen said with a faint smile.

"Thanking you is part of it."

Zhang Jingshan paused and then continued, "But more importantly, I want to ask—how did you know someone was setting a trap for me?"

That was his true intention!

Although he knew Ye Chen wouldn't give him a direct answer, he wanted to gauge his reaction for any clues.

Little did he know, the person he was dealing with had once been an 89-year-old man worth billions.

To Ye Chen, Zhang Jingshan's probing was as childish as a toddler's curiosity.

In Zhang Jingshan's peripheral vision, Ye Chen remained calm and indifferent.

"As I said, I noticed something unusual about your appearance—an intuition that you were about to face a romantic misfortune. And in your Yunshan Network Company, romantic entanglements are everywhere," Ye Chen said flatly.

"Just like that? Mr. Ye, don't you think that's a bit far-fetched?" Zhang Jingshan replied.

Had it not been for last night's incident, he might have thought of Ye Chen as merely a passing acquaintance.

At most, he'd owe Ye Chen a favor over the prayer beads transaction, and that would have been the end of it.

But after what happened, not only did he owe Ye Chen a huge favor, but he was also genuinely curious about how Ye Chen had known.

Forget about fortune-telling—it was too absurd!

"Then what would make it less far-fetched? That I'm working with the people who set you up? That I'm trying to get close to you with ulterior motives?" Ye Chen chuckled indifferently.

"No, no, no, Mr. Ye, you misunderstand. What could you possibly gain from me? All I have is a mediocre network company and a retired former municipal party leader as my grandfather. There's nothing for you to gain from me! Plus, without your warning, I might have fallen so hard that I'd never recover and even dragged my family down with me. I'm just curious how you knew there was a trap waiting for me, that's all!"

Zhang Jingshan hurriedly explained, adding, "That's it!"

"Still intuition! If you're determined to get to the bottom of it, I'll just get out of the car, because I really don't have anything else to say!" Ye Chen replied.

Intuition, again with the intuition!

How ridiculous was that?

A random stranger could intuitively sense a trap targeting him, Zhang Jingshan?

Nonsense!

Even if he were a devout believer in the supernatural, he wouldn't buy such an unbelievable story.

Silence fell in the car.

After a moment, Zhang Jingshan broke it, "Mr. Ye, aren't you curious about the nature of the trap?"

"I'm not interested in gossip about things unrelated to me."

After a pause, Ye Chen added, "But if you want to talk about it, I'm all ears."

"It's my company's top female streamer. Out of all the female streamers in the company, she's the only one I've had a private relationship with. No one knew about it! She installed a hidden camera in her bedroom and pretended that I forced myself on her. She planned to use the footage to blackmail me, demanding that I go to my grandfather and use his connections to get a drug dealer with a ten-year sentence released. The drug dealer is her ex-boyfriend's younger brother. Her ex-boyfriend is blackmailing her with her past to coerce her into setting me up. Does that make sense, Mr. Ye?"

As Zhang Jingshan spoke, he carefully observed Ye Chen's expression.

To his disappointment, Ye Chen remained as calm as ever.

"Yes, I understand. Congratulations, Mr. Zhang, on resolving the crisis and avoiding disaster," Ye Chen said with a faint smile.

But inwardly, he was amazed by the intricacies of the situation.

In his previous life, he only knew that Zhang Jingshan had been ruined by a streamer named Yiyi, causing his family's downfall.

He never knew the full truth. Even when Zhang Jingshan was vindicated years later, the details remained undisclosed—or perhaps his past self hadn't paid attention to the aftermath.

As Ye Chen maintained his composed demeanor, Zhang Jingshan's curiosity about him deepened.

Setting aside Ye Chen's sharp eye for spotting antiques and his critical warning about Yiyi's setup, how could someone so calm and impenetrable be just another degenerate gambler?

Unlikely!

For a moment, Zhang Jingshan felt that Ye Chen carried an air of mystery.

"Forget congratulations, Mr. Ye. I really have to thank you—without your warning, I can't imagine what would have happened next! Mr. Ye, how about this? Let's have lunch together as a gesture of thanks. I'd also like to introduce you to a friend of mine—the boss of Huaxing Trading," Zhang Jingshan said with an awkward laugh.

Ye Chen initially wanted to refuse, but upon hearing that he'd meet the boss of Huaxing Trading, he changed his mind.

It wasn't for himself, but for the benefit of Yinuo, who worked at Huaxing. Having a good relationship with the boss would undoubtedly make her job easier and her position more secure.

"Alright, but let me finish paying my down payment for the house first," Ye Chen agreed.

At that moment, the Panamera reached its destination—the sales office of Jinlin Mansion, as indicated by the navigation system.