Mother Zheng personally wrote the names of the invited guests neatly onto each invitation. Her handwriting was beautiful, delicate and graceful, yet now carried a touch of freedom it had not had before. Once she finished, she had people deliver them.
Shenghui Group was one of the giants of the pharmaceutical industry, so naturally someone from Shenghui Group was among Mother Zheng’s invitees. An invitation soon reached Chairman Yu.
Rumors had already been circulating that the Zhou family would be holding a banquet. The Zhou and Zheng families were tied together, and attending a banquet at this level of high society was a matter of considerable prestige. Plenty of people were waiting to see whether the Zhou family would send them an invitation. Chairman Yu was one of them.
Shenghui Group was different from Zhou Group. Although both were leaders in the business world, Shenghui Group did not have Zhou Group’s advantage of being tied to the Zheng family by marriage. Even the high-ranking officials it knew were connected through straightforward interests. Attending the Zhou family’s banquet therefore meant a chance to meet more powerful and influential people.
“Dad, can Ning’an come to the banquet with us?”
The moment Yu Jing heard her father talking about the advantages of attending the Zhou family banquet, she thought of Wang Ning’an. If she could take him with her, would he agree to date her?
This time, however, Yu Hongming did not indulge her every request as he usually did. “Everyone attending this banquet is an important figure in the capital. Wang Ning’an’s current status isn’t enough to qualify. Besides, he still hasn’t agreed to date you. Are you planning to use this as a condition to make him agree?”
Yu Jing bit her lip. “But I just like him.”
“Sis, I really don’t think you need to keep chasing Wang Ning’an. He’s obviously after your shares too. He’s just playing hard to get with you. I’d advise you not to trust him.” Yu Hongzhi walked over from behind her and sneered when Wang Ning’an came up.
He was Yu Jing’s younger brother, only a year younger than her. He had entered Shenghui Group before even graduating from university. Barring any surprises, he would inherit Shenghui Group in the future. He did not like Wang Ning’an, however, and always felt the man had ulterior motives. At work, he sometimes even deliberately opposed him.
“Ning’an isn’t the kind of person you think he is.” Yu Jing frowned. She hated hearing her younger brother constantly speak badly of Wang Ning’an.
Yu Hongzhi had known she would say that. He shrugged. “If you don’t believe me, let’s make a bet.”
“What kind of bet?”
“Do exactly what you were thinking earlier. Call him later and tell him we received an invitation from the Zhou family. Tell him you can take him, but only if he agrees to be your boyfriend. The reason he’s never agreed to date you is simply that he hasn’t had an excuse to step down gracefully. If you put it that way, nine times out of ten he’ll agree. He gets to attend the banquet and gets a chance at your five percent stake. Anyone with even half a brain would take a deal that good,” Yu Hongzhi said confidently.
Yu Jing hesitated.
“Not confident? Then give up. Wang Ning’an isn’t right for you.” Yu Hongzhi deliberately provoked her.
“Fine, let’s bet.” Yu Jing could not resist the provocation. She also wanted to prove to her brother that Wang Ning’an was definitely not the kind of person he claimed.
Yu Hongming did not stop his children from making the bet. Although he approved of Wang Ning’an’s abilities, there were indeed still things about the man he had reservations about. If Wang Ning’an could truly withstand such a powerful temptation, Yu Hongming would approve of the two of them being together.
Wang Ning’an was not especially pleased when he received Yu Jing’s call. Quite the opposite. He was busy and did not want to discuss personal matters during work hours, so he told her to get to the point.
“Well…” Yu Jing polished the wording of what her brother had told her to say before repeating it to Wang Ning’an.
Wang Ning’an frowned immediately after hearing her out and criticized her without hesitation. “Yu Jing, is that really the kind of shallow person you think I am? Being able to attend a banquet hosted by the Zhou family is certainly tempting, but if the price is agreeing to date you, then I’m sorry. I don’t want to treat my feelings like a game. If that’s all you wanted to say, I’m hanging up.”
“Wait…” Before Yu Jing could finish, the line was already beeping. She angrily put away her phone and glared at Yu Hongzhi. “What do you have to say now?”
Yu Hongzhi smiled awkwardly, but a shadow passed through his thoughts. How had Wang Ning’an rejected the offer so decisively? Yu Hongzhi did not think he had misjudged him. Could Wang Ning’an be casting a longer line to catch a bigger fish? But after turning down an opportunity this good, there might never be another one.
Whatever happened, he would not let Wang Ning’an succeed. Whatever Wang Ning’an’s goal was, even if he truly was not after the five percent stake belonging to his sister, Yu Hongzhi still would not allow five percent of Shenghui Group to fall into an outsider’s hands.
What Yu Hongzhi could not understand was why his father had promised his sister five percent of the shares in the first place. His sister was not a man. She would marry sooner or later. As the saying went, a married daughter was like water poured out of the house. Why had his father been so irrational?
Shenghui Group Office.
After hanging up on Yu Jing, Wang Ning’an remembered the call his younger brother had made a few minutes earlier, and the corner of his mouth curved slightly. He had already heard about the Zhou family banquet, but the difference in status was simply too great. Even though he knew attending such a banquet would bring enormous benefits, he had never imagined he would actually be able to go. He certainly had not expected his younger brother to suddenly become the Zhou family’s heir.
Wang Ning’an stood and walked to the enormous floor-to-ceiling window, gazing out at the city under the daylight as he narrowed his eyes faintly.
He did not know Yu Jing’s call had been instigated by Yu Hongzhi. Even if he had known, and even if his younger brother had not called him first, his answer would have been the same.
After calling his own big brother, Wang Cheng called Tong Yangyang. Tong Yangyang was in Shanhai City. Although the two kept in touch, Tong Yangyang still knew nothing about what had happened to him recently. Wang Cheng condensed everything into a brief summary. Tong Yangyang did not ask for many details and merely sighed that the whole thing was ridiculously melodramatic. When he heard Wang Cheng was holding a birthday banquet for his real birthday, the former little fatty agreed immediately without even asking questions.
“That day happens to be Sunday, so you won’t need to take much time off. Once you get here, Huang Tong’an and I can show you around properly.”
Tong Yangyang was immediately tempted. “Travel expenses reimbursed?”
“Of course. Not just travel. I’ll pay for whatever we spend having fun too,” Wang Cheng said grandly.
Tong Yangyang sighed. “Having money really gives a person confidence.” Once upon a time, Wang Cheng had not even had enough money to buy clothes for himself.
“Of course I’m confident spending money I earned myself.” Other people might think that now that Wang Cheng was part of the Zhou family, he had endless money to spend, but from the beginning Wang Cheng had never intended to use the Zhou family’s money. His jam factory might not make as much as other people’s businesses, but what it earned was more than enough for him.
The two chatted for a while before hanging up. Wang Cheng then called Huang Tong’an.
These days, Huang Tong’an was dragged to the company by his father during the day and worked like a slave. Young as he was, he was already a department manager. His father had played a role in that, of course, but Huang Tong’an himself had worked hard too.
The moment he walked into the conference room, he heard several elders standing together talking. Their discussion revolved around the Zhou family, with occasional mentions of the Zheng family mixed in. When they saw him arrive, they stopped talking. Huang Tong’an’s second uncle, Huang Guanjun, gave him a smile that did not reach his eyes.
“Tong’an, where’s your father?”
“Dad’s outside taking a call. He’ll be here in a moment.” Huang Tong’an returned the same perfunctory smile. These people might all be his relatives, but each one coveted the company. Their intentions were so obvious that everyone knew them, yet every time they met they still pretended to be close with his family. That was one reason Huang Tong’an disliked coming to the company.
A while later, Huang Tong’an’s father, Huang Guanting, arrived. Everyone sat down for the routine shareholders’ meeting. Near the end, Huang Guanjun suddenly brought up the Zhou family banquet.
“Tong’an, I heard you’ve been hanging around with a bunch of rich second-generation kids lately. You should have a way to get an invitation to the Zhou family banquet, right?”
The question was shameless enough to be almost funny. Huang Tong’an did associate with a group of rich second-generation heirs, but most came from families on roughly the same level as his own. Why would children of truly first-tier families mix with them? Even if they did, an invitation to the Zhou family banquet was not something a junior could simply obtain. Huang Guanjun did not actually believe Huang Tong’an could get one. He was only using the topic to mock him.
Huang Group had been left behind by Huang Tong’an’s grandfather’s generation. Of the four Huang brothers, only Huang Tong’an’s father had real ability and did not spend all his time thinking about eating well and doing nothing. That was why his grandfather had handed the company to his father. The other uncles had received some property and company shares, but only two percent each. They had been unhappy, but those arrangements had been made while Grandfather Huang was alive. No matter how dissatisfied they were, they had no choice but to accept them or risk receiving nothing at all. After their grandfather died, the uncles began finding all sorts of ways to make trouble for Huang Tong’an’s family.
Before Huang Tong’an could speak, his third uncle, Huang Guanbo, cut in. “Second Brother, what kind of joke is that? What status does the Zhou family have? Tong’an may sound impressive as the young master of Huang Group, but in the Zhou family’s eyes he might not even count as a fart. What ability does he have to get one of their invitations? You should make fewer jokes like that.”
“Yes, yes, my mistake. I forgot Tong’an’s status is too low to even reach the Zhou family’s threshold.” Huang Guanjun immediately apologized with a smiling face.
Huang Guanting’s expression darkened. He was just about to rebuke them when a phone suddenly rang. Everyone turned and saw Huang Tong’an pull his phone from his trouser pocket.