At this moment, Hamid had not yet noticed Ye Chen.
He was embracing two women, a cigar in his mouth, utterly delighted, practically beaming with pride.
The family of three in front of Ye Chen was quite surprised, unsure how Ye Chen could know a Middle Eastern man who seemed to exude the aura of a wealthy tycoon.
Ma Lan, being impatient, asked directly, “Good son-in-law, how do you know a Middle Eastern tycoon? Married to two wives and bringing them both out, isn’t this guy a bit too smug?”
Ye Chen smiled, “As you said, it’s their custom, permitted by law.”
Then he explained, “This friend is a client of mine. Didn’t Hong Wu once ask me to check the feng shui for a large coal mine in the northwest frontier? That mine had an investment from this Middle Eastern tycoon.”
Xiao Changkun and Ma Lan suddenly understood. It seemed natural for a Middle Eastern tycoon to invest in mining in the northwest frontier, especially since it was closer to the Middle East.
Xiao Churan, however, kept her head down, silent. She knew Ye Chen was lying again.
Moreover, all the things Ye Chen had previously said about feng shui now seemed to be lies.
She felt helpless and melancholic, a pang of bitterness in her heart.
Ye Chen thought his explanation was flawless. He had mentioned Hamid as a friend first, worried that if Hamid saw him and greeted him proactively, it might expose the truth.
So, he said to the three, “You sit here, I’ll go say hello to him.”
With that, he stood up and walked towards Hamid.
Ye Chen knew Hamid wouldn’t use his real identity while on vacation. After all, he was a warlord, and an opposition one at that, so he couldn’t be that careless.
Thus, he deliberately avoided saying Hamid’s name, waving with a smile, “Hey, brother!”
Hamid, hearing someone greet him in Chinese, tensed up, thinking his hidden identity had been exposed during his relaxing vacation. But upon seeing Ye Chen, his eyes widened, and he exclaimed excitedly, “Oh, Ye, my brother! How… how are you here?!”
Ye Chen approached, grinning, “I’m on vacation with my wife and in-laws. What about you?”
Hamid quickly let go of the two women, smiling, “Both my wives are pregnant, one after the other. I brought them here for a holiday. You know my place, it’s just mountains and desert, the environment’s too harsh.”
Then, Hamid whispered a few words in Arabic to the women, asking them to find seats. He warmly put an arm around Ye Chen, saying excitedly, “Come, come, Ye, my brother, let’s talk outside!”
The two walked to the beach outside the restaurant, where no one was around. Hamid, thrilled, hugged Ye Chen, saying, “Good brother, we’re fated to meet! To run into each other here!”
Ye Chen laughed, “When did you marry these two wives, brother? Why didn’t you mention it?”
Hamid scratched his head, embarrassed, “Well, my previous wife ran off during the fighting, said it was too dangerous to stay with me. I didn’t have time to remarry after that. Thanks to you, brother, things settled down, stabilised, so I married two wives. I wanted to invite you to the wedding, but that godforsaken place isn’t easy to reach, and with the unrest earlier, I didn’t want to trouble you.”
