"What a coincidence, you're eating here too?"
With a face full of surprise at bumping into a friend, Chen Zhou sat on the bench next to the table, pretending not to know, greeting Ivan in awkward Russian.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the smile vanished from Ivan's face.
He shook his head, raised his glass of bright red wine, and surprisingly spoke fluent Chinese.
"No, Mr. Chen, I came specifically to find you."
Ivan's voice was loud, seemingly unbothered about eavesdropping, which made Chen Zhou instinctively observe his surroundings.
Only then did he realize that most of the men and women who were dining when he entered the hotel had left their seats, and the closest person to Ivan's table was five tables away.
Further away, tall strong men stood in every corner, either standing sideways next to the columns in the lobby or guarding the entrance, looking very much like bodyguards.
