"Autumn, what a coincidence?" Ethan Chen feigned surprise, greeting her proactively. He'd seen everything that happened downstairs from his vantage point.
"Brother Yi, what brings you here?" Autumn walked over.
"Is it strange for me to be here?" Ethan asked, his gaze skeptically sweeping over the men behind her. "It's your presence here that's more peculiar."
"Here to handle some business." Autumn smiled. "Brother Yi here on a date? Which lucky girl has caught your eye? Let me see."
"Let's not." Ethan shook his head. "It's not convenient."
"Brother Yi, don't be like that. It's not like we're involved. What's not convenient about it? Let me have a look. I'm not trying to steal your woman." As she spoke, Autumn moved towards the private room, only to have Ethan grab her arm firmly.
Ethan's expression turned serious. "I said it's not convenient. Didn't you understand me?"
"Brother Yi." The smile slowly faded from Autumn's face. "Are you hiding something from me?"
"Are we that close?" Ethan snorted coldly. "Did you think just because The Boss said to let it go, I would forget about you setting me up?"
"Brother Yi, that's a separate matter." Autumn took another step forward.
The men behind her closed in, gripping Ethan's shoulders from both sides, their faces unfriendly.
"Don't make this messy," Autumn said, a comment that sounded like a reminder but carried a clear threat.
Ethan released Autumn's wrist.
A smile returned to Autumn's face as she walked towards the private room, saying, "Let me see what kind of stunning girlfriend our Brother Yi has found."
As the words left her mouth, Autumn pushed the door open and saw Mulan sitting there.
Mulan's gaze turned towards Autumn.
Autumn froze for a moment, then glanced at the place setting opposite Mulan. It was smeared with grease, and the bone plate held finished scraps.
Mulan picked up a napkin and dabbed her lips delicately, looking at Autumn. "A friend of Ethan's?"
"Ah! Yes!" Autumn nodded, her eyes still darting around the room.
"A friend of Ethan's is a friend of mine. I'm Mulan. Please, sit."
Autumn instinctively started to enter, but then she suddenly registered a crucial detail.
Mulan!
The surname Mu!
Yesterday, The Boss had called that meeting, explicitly telling everyone not to target Ethan. On the surface, it was about the money, but none of them were fools; everyone had done their digging.
The real reason The Boss made such a big show was that yesterday's incident involved the youngest daughter of the Mu family!
Autumn had never met the young Miss Mu.
But this woman's surname was Mu!
Her appearance, age, and the designer clothes she wore—it all matched up perfectly!
Autumn, who had been about to step inside, halted abruptly. "Miss Mu, I wouldn't want to disturb your evening. My apologies."
"It's no disturbance at all," Mulan said with a slight smile.
Autumn started to relax, bowing slightly as she backed away, her eyes still scanning under the table.
However, in the next second, Mulan's face darkened dramatically. She swept the wine glass from the table onto the floor.
Shards of glass and expensive red wine splashed onto Autumn's face.
"Ethan! You'd better have a damn good explanation for this!" Mulan's voice was thick with barely suppressed rage.
Autumn jumped, startled. She looked towards the doorway and saw Ethan striding in with a grim expression. Before entering, he shot Autumn a fierce glare, then stepped inside and slammed the door shut.
The moment the door closed, Ethan let out a long sigh of relief and gave Mulan a thumbs-up.
The anger vanished from Mulan's face in an instant, replaced by a sly smile.
Outside, Autumn's face was stormy. She had been sure the person hiding in the room was the little thief who had stolen the item. She never expected it to be a woman from the Mu family!
She was still suspicious; she was certain this was connected to Ethan. After all, they had followed his car the whole way—that was an undeniable fact!
Just as Autumn was considering whether to post people to keep watch, the sound of police sirens approached.
Several squad cars pulled up and stopped. Officers got out.
Autumn's enforcers instinctively backed away.
However, the police weren't there for them. Their target was the Range Rover.
"Is this the vehicle?"
"Yes, that's the one."
"Where's the owner? Who owns this car?"
The officers stood by the Range Rover.
"That's me." Wade Qi quickly responded. "Officer, what seems to be the problem?"
"Problem?" One officer snorted. "Hit-and-run. What do you think the problem is? Don't play dumb! You're coming with us!"
"Wait, Officer, you've got the wrong guy!" Wade became agitated. "When did I commit a hit-and-run?"
"Half an hour ago, driving the wrong way on Lakeside Drive. Then you hit a private vehicle on Liberation Avenue and fled. Do I need to remind you further?"
"Officer, you must be mistaken!" Wade insisted. "Look at my car! It's brand new, not a scratch on it! What accident? I'm a chauffeur for my boss. I have all my paperwork, I don't drink and drive. If I had an accident, I wouldn't run!"
"Enough talk. Come with us for questioning. The dashcam from the person who filed the report clearly shows your vehicle!" The officer walked over and showed Wade his phone.
However, what was displayed on the screen for Wade to see was just a few words:
«Cloned plates. Let us check the CCTV.»
"See? Let's go!"
"No! I can't leave!" Wade shook his head vehemently. "I'm driving for my boss. He's eating upstairs. If I go with you, I'll lose my job! The plate matches, but my plates must have been cloned! You said the accident was half an hour ago, but this car has been parked here for over an hour. Check the parking lot security footage if you don't believe me!"
The officer looked at Wade suspiciously, then waved his hand. "Two of you, go check the parking lot cameras."
Autumn and her crew watched from the side.
About ten minutes later, two officers came back.
"Sergeant, we reviewed some footage. This vehicle has indeed been parked here for over an hour. It's a case of cloned plates."
Just then, an officer's police radio crackled to life.
"Attention, all units. Silver A6XXXX Range Rover sighted moving eastbound on West Yellow River Street, approaching the intersection with Zhengyuan Road."
The license plate number mentioned was the exact one on the Range Rover in front of them.
"See, Officer? I'm right here!"
"My apologies, sir," the officer said. "Alright, let's move out! To your vehicles!"
With a wail of sirens, the police cars sped away.
"They're gone." Autumn led her people away as well.
Upstairs, Ethan pulled the curtain aside slightly and watched Autumn's group leave. He stepped out of the room to check the hallway, confirming no one had been left behind to watch, and finally relaxed.
Back in the room, he said, "Alright, they're gone. You can come out now."
The tablecloth was pushed aside.
"Sorry about that!" A voice came from the hallway outside the door.
Ethan quickly sat down, pressing the officer's head down and shoving her back under the table.
The door to the private room was pushed open. A handsome man stood in the doorway.
"Sorry I'm la—" The man's words cut off as he stared, his eyes shifting between Ethan and Mulan.
Mulan said to Ethan, "This is my blind date. It's fine."
Ethan sighed in relief and patted the officer, signaling she could come out.
Mulan started to explain to the man, "This is Chen—"
"No need to explain!" The man's eyes widened as he watched another beautiful woman climb out from under the table. She was attractive, wearing stockings and a sexy black slip dress.
Most importantly, Mulan had just said those three words: It's fine.
The man swallowed hard. "You people... your tastes are a bit too... adventurous for me. Sorry, I can't handle this."
With that, the man turned and left, slamming the door shut behind him.
Ethan stared dumbfounded at the closed door, then looked at Mulan. "I think I just caused you some trouble."
"It's fine." Mulan waved a hand dismissively. "It was a setup by my family. I told him clearly I wasn't interested in dating right now, but he kept pestering me, so I agreed. The reason I came early was to find a way to make him back off. This outcome is even better."
The officer, now fully out, gave Mulan a grateful look. "Miss Mu, thank you."
"I didn't do much," Mulan shook her head.
"Ethan, I owe you one," the officer said gratefully. "I'll buy you a meal sometime." With that, she hurriedly left.
Mulan opened her mouth, about to say something.
"She was just brushing me off," Ethan said preemptively.
Mulan covered her mouth with a light laugh and shot Ethan a mock-annoyed glance. "Well, I'll treat you then, how about that?"
"You're much more generous."
Ethan had a server bring a new wine glass and poured himself a full measure.
"A toast to you. I owe you for last time, and for this time."
Mulan raised her glass. "I helped you out of two tight spots. You helped me get rid of two nuisances. Let's call it even."
Ethan understood; the 'nuisances' Mulan referred to were both men.
Dinner lasted two hours.
On the way back to the hospital, Ethan checked his phone. Confirming there were no missed calls, he truly relaxed. It seemed the matter hadn't reached The Boss's ears.
Which meant that whatever happened at The Majestic club wasn't connected to The Boss. Otherwise, The Boss would have called, whether to ask about the car or about Mulan.
"Mr. Chen, I have to say, your actions today were extremely bold. What was your plan if we hadn't run into Ms. Mu? If any single part of today's plan had failed, they wouldn't have let it go so easily."
"Actually, there were many options," Ethan explained. "As the officer said, the key piece of information was that we knew her identity, but Autumn and her crew didn't. We just needed to create a situation where the police could stop me on the road and, through a specific channel, let Autumn's people know there was no one else in the car. That would have been enough."
Wade was puzzled. "Wouldn't that woman have been suspicious?"
"Yes," Ethan nodded. "But I figured she would be under suspicion herself. So, whether she suspected me or not wasn't the main point. After all, she, personally, isn't important!"