After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future
Chapter 410 - 407: Unwelcome and Utterly Outrageous

"West Africa, may I sit here?"

During their conversation, a girl approached them at this moment, dressed in an off-shoulder sling top, with a head full of blonde hair.

Her eyes were a deep blue, and her face bore a sweet smile, resembling the standard sweetheart look of an American princess like Ivan.

At around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, for a white woman, she was on the downhill side of her youth, but her delicate features and carefully made-up look compensated for this.

Lu Liang furrowed his brows, Long Fei and Sun Yutao exchanged glances, none of them knew whom she was addressing.

Little Wang cleared his throat a few times and quickly introduced, "Lu, this is Emma, who has starred in American Horror Story."

Emma Roberts, an actress and singer, hailed as the pinnacle of Hollywood's 'bitch series' actresses.

Little Wang was a longtime fan of hers, and the only female star he followed on Instagram was her.

He had just met her that morning, and she was his type.

Although he heeded Liangzi's advice not to mess around when traveling, it didn't prevent him from getting to know a few girls first for deeper interaction in the future.

Lu Liang looked at Little Wang and saw his fawning, smile-filled face, he couldn't help but laugh, and turned his head to tell Long Fei and Sun Yutao to pack up their documents.

"Please sit, our serious business is over." In order to make it up to Little Wang tomorrow, he decided to play wingman for him tonight.

However, Emma ignored Little Wang and focused all her attention on Lu Liang, asking, "Lu~ Liang, that name is a bit of a mouthful, do you have an English name?"

"He doesn't, but everyone calls him Mr., or MR," Little Wang said with a sycophantic smile, clearly showing he was quite smitten.

"Mr.? That's a strange name."

Emma frowned, and Lu Liang smiled and said, "You can also call me Lu Liang, but don't mix it up with Lu Liang."

"Lu Liang, Lu Liang, is there a difference?" Emma was puzzled and repeated it a few times, but eventually, they all turned into Lu Liang.

Perhaps it was also related to tone, 'liang' goes downwards, 'liang' goes upwards, Westerners generally tend to pronounce with an upward tone.

"Of course, there's a difference. 'Liang' means 'brightness', while 'liang' means 'conscience.'" Lu Liang explained with a smile, pointing to his chest.

"Forget it, I really can't tell them apart, I'll stick with calling you Mr.," said Emma puzzled.

She couldn't grasp the pronunciation at all, let alone understand why 'liang' would mean having a moral heart.

"Mr. Lu, Mr. Wang, we'll head back first."

The subordinates were very understanding, knowing one boss was flirting and the other playing wingman, they wouldn't act as third wheels.

"Go ahead, we'll have a meeting at noon tomorrow to review everything one last time," said Lu Liang with a slight nod, turning his head to Little Wang.

He was playing wingman, so Little Wang should at least show some response; otherwise, people would think he was the one hitting on her.

"Emma, will you be participating in the eighth season of American Horror Story next year?"

Little Wang was brimming with enthusiasm talking about the TV series; he was a die-hard fan of the show, which premiered in 2011, and he never missed an episode through the seventh season.

"I will, but I won't be playing the same role," she replied absentmindedly, turning her head to ask Lu Liang about his recent return from Detroit.

Her father had said that Detroit used to be glorious, but with the industrial outsourcing, it gradually declined, becoming known as a cradle of crime and dubbed 'Ghost City.'

"A city of crime? I didn't really notice that, but it turning into a 'Ghost City' mainly stems from the industrial decline and the skyrocketing local unemployment rates."

Lu Liang pondered for a moment; he had heard of this issue more than once, but he didn't consider it a big deal.

It's employment that matters; East Country is at the forefront of the world in this aspect. For attracting investments, they stop at nothing.

Because if businesses settle there, they will bring a plethora of job opportunities, people set down roots, the government gets funding, and naturally, public security will improve.

"I believe, with an investment from Tianxing, this once industrial jewel will shine brightly once again."

Lu Liang talked confidently, although the investment was just to partner up with General Motors, the plight of the grassroots wasn't his concern.

But having done something that helped revive its past glory, he rightfully attracted the glory to himself.

Stars sparkled in Emma's eyes, and she couldn't help asking, "Mr., having achieved so much in finance, why are you still going through all the hardship of developing physical enterprises?"

She had been following Lu Liang for a long time.

With his current achievements in finance, if he continued along this path, he could at least reach a synthesis of the Quantum Fund + Berkshire Hathaway, and even reaching the heights of Vanguard and BlackRock wasn't impossible.

"Emma, you shouldn't be an actress, you should have become a journalist."

Lu Liang couldn't help chuckling, not answering her question, and discreetly giving Little Wang a look.

As a wingman, he shouldn't steal the spotlight, leaving the eye-catching opportunities for the lead while being ready to go down with the enemy when necessary.

He had figured out this woman, although she was in the entertainment industry, was more interested in business matters.

Little Wang shouldn't just happily chat about American entertainment.

Talking about tomorrow's roadshow, or about going public in a while, and the sensation that Panda caused in the financial circles of Europe and America, might be more in line with her interests.

Emma's eyes widened in surprise, "Mr., how did you know my childhood dream was to be a journalist?"

She sighed, "But when I was ten, my father took me into a film set, and I officially entered show business."

"I remember, wasn't your debut called 'Mold Country Drug Lord'? Did you play Depp's daughter in it?"

Little Wang was beyond excited, clearly having lost contact with his wingman and not receiving the relevant signals, he still hoped to win her favor based on his understanding of Emma.

"Seems so," Emma replied with a polite smile that nearly had impatience written all over her face.

Lu Liang's smile stiffened as if a mouthful of old blood was stuck in his chest, and a hint of confusion flashed in his eyes.

How did he get so many girlfriends?

Why did he feel like a raw recruit?

Or was it that love is blind?

Emma waved over a waiter with a brilliant smile, looking at Lu Liang, "What would you like to drink? The mojitos here and the martinis taste quite good."

"You guys drink, I won't. I have a video conference with back home later."

Lu Liang glanced at his watch, his face apologetic, "I should be going; it's about time."

Now it was Little Wang trying to charm her, not him. Staying longer would mix up their roles, with the guest taking over the host's duties.

Emma stopped Lu Liang, her voice petulant, "Mr. Lu, it's very impolite for a lady to have to ask for your contact information, you know."

"Indeed, it's very impolite."

Lu Liang couldn't help but laugh and cry as he looked at Little Wang, who appeared like a woman wronged, and reluctantly added Emma on Instagram.

"Hope you two have a nice chat."

Lu Liang hurried off as Little Wang let out a long sigh of relief and put on a beaming smile, "Emma, I also opened a bar back in the country, and we hired the bartender from the UK. I wonder how it compares to the bartenders here."

Finding common topics and hobbies was a mutual accommodation.

If Shan Ruo wouldn't come to him, then he would go to Shan Ruo.

Emma was utterly bored and preoccupied, seemingly eager to go back and chat with Lu Liang, but felt too bad to burn bridges after crossing.

She could only engage in awkward chit-chat with Little Wang, and after drinking about half her drink, she hastily summoned the waiter.

Leaving behind five hundred US Dollars for the bill, and a message:

"West Africa, thank you, you are a good person for letting me meet Mr."

Emma left, and Little Wang's heart shattered to pieces.

He went to Lu Liang's room, and Lu Liang, who had just finished showering and was wearing a bathrobe, laughed, "How did it go? Did you have a good chat?"

"Foreign girls are too hard to charm. I can only say it was not meant to be; no point in forcing it," Little Wang replied with a smile, showing no hard feelings.

"Cultures differ, so it's normal if it's hard. Her dad is pretty much the Yuan Hua of Hollywood, a worldly man," Lu Liang said, barely holding back his laughter, seeing the situation but not saying anything.

Suddenly, his phone on the table buzzed. Emma had sent him a message, asking how busy he was and why his Instagram showed as blank.

Seven or eight messages came in a row, each one quite long.

Little Wang, sitting beside him, saw it too, and his newly pieced-together heart broke again.

That morning, he had added her on Instagram.

They had chatted for a while, but the one sending long messages was him, and her replies were mostly non-committal "mm," "oh," and "ah."

"Eh, should I reply or not?"

Lu Liang felt a bit awkward. Honestly, he was somewhat interested in Emma; after all, he had never tried with an American sweetheart, and princesses were his type. But being a princess, she was also married.

Little Wang maintained his smile, "Don't be a chicken; I'll think less of you. It's all just for fun; why overthink it?"

"I'll introduce you to someone nice."

Lu Liang couldn't help but chuckle at the double entendre.

The Japanese American Sakura Girl was his choice, handpicked by Ota Renjun, who meticulously selected from Little Wang's past 13 girlfriends and rumored first love using big data.

"Please, who am I? The great Mr. Wang doesn't need your introductions," Little Wang scoffed with disdain.

With a handsome and carefree wave, he added, "I'm off, won't disturb you anymore, heading for a midnight snack with Old Piao."

Lu Liang was speechless, picking up his phone again to reply, "Just finished up, I seldom use Instagram."

"Do you always use WeChat?"

"Yes."

"How come you haven't updated Twitter? I've been following you for a while now."

"Don't really feel like using it."

"Have you seen my profile? I just did a photo shoot; you think they're good?"

"Pretty good."

"Is it because of West Africa? Why do I feel like you're always so cold to me?"

"It's not that."

"Tomorrow is Panda's roadshow, and it should go public after a while. Are you staying in New York until it lists?"

"Still not sure."