Chapter 389

Chapter 389 Heaven Has a Road Yet You Refuse to Take It!

Zhou Anke turned around and saw that the person approaching was the head of Anglo-Eastern Bank’s China operations.

“Mr. Cousins, long time no see.” Zhou Anke said with a smile.

“Ann, you look absolutely stunning tonight. Would you do me the honor of dancing with me?” Cousins spoke fairly decent Mandarin.

“This…” Zhou Anke hesitated a little. She didn’t seem particularly keen on dancing with this foreigner, and glanced at Su Rui with a somewhat awkward expression, as if seeking his opinion.

Su Rui understood that this was probably an old acquaintance of Zhou Anke’s, so he smiled and nodded. Never mind that Zhou Anke wasn’t his woman, even if she were, he wouldn’t be jealous over some stranger inviting her for a single dance.

“Then wait here for me, we’ll dance in a few minutes.”

Zhou Anke felt it would be rude to turn Cousins down, so she said a few quiet words to Su Rui before heading to the center of the dance floor with him.

She had actually been looking forward to dancing with Su Rui.

The moment she appeared, her presence eclipsed nearly every other woman in the room, and the eyes of the men around her lit up.

A beauty with such an aura — even sharing one dance with her would be a privilege.

Cousins took Zhou Anke’s slender hand in his, his arm wrapped around her slim waist, a hint of smugness showing on his face.

“Ann, so many men here tonight admire you, yet I’m the one dancing with you.” Cousins made no effort to hide the gleam in his eyes. “They all just dream about it — I’m the one who actually made a move.”

“Mr. Cousins, you flatter me.” Zhou Anke had no idea how to respond to that, and could only manage a politely restrained smile. It was a little awkward.

“It seems Ann isn’t in the best mood.” Cousins pressed his large hand against the small of Zhou Anke’s back, the curve of her figure filling him with quiet satisfaction. “I heard there were some difficulties at Bikang’s financing roadshow last night?”

“There were some difficulties. Jeremy from Gaoqi Bank’s attitude influenced a lot of people. What should have been a smooth process was derailed by him.” Zhou Anke said honestly, her mood souring the moment the subject came up.

“I see. So it sounds like Bikang’s new project is having trouble raising enough capital? Gaoqi Bank and Jeremy do carry quite a bit of influence in the industry.” Cousins said, his eyes flickering.

“That’s true.” Zhou Anke shook her head. “I think I’ll find a way to work through it.”

“Ann, when no one else is willing to lend a hand, Anglo-Eastern Bank is ready to help you — to stand by Bikang Group through this difficult time and build something great together.” Cousins said with a warm smile.

“Really?” A look of surprise and delight flashed across Zhou Anke’s face. She had assumed that foreign investment banks were purely profit-driven and would run at the first sign of risk, so she never expected Cousins to step up at a moment like this.

“Of course. We’re prepared to offer one billion US dollars in support.” Cousins looked at Zhou Anke with an emotion in his eyes that was something else entirely, but Zhou Anke had her head slightly lowered and didn’t notice at all.

“One billion US dollars?” Zhou Anke thought for a moment, then looked up and said, “Mr. Cousins, the fact that you’re willing to extend a helping hand at a time like this is truly moving. I think we’ll be friends forever.”

“We must be friends forever — and perhaps we could take things even further than friendship.” Cousins applied a gentle pressure with his large hand, drawing Zhou Anke’s body a little closer.

She shifted uncomfortably, frowned, and said, “What exactly do you mean by that?”

“My meaning is simple.” Cousins looked at Zhou Anke’s graceful figure and delicate face, lowering his voice. “That one billion dollars isn’t guaranteed. What happens next depends on how Ann performs.”

“What kind of performance?”

Zhou Anke asked instinctively, and then she caught the lecherous gleam in Cousins’ eyes. She understood everything in an instant, and said coldly, “Mr. Cousins, any cooperation between us must be conducted with integrity. If what you have in mind is something sordid, then there’s no point in taking this any further.”

Zhou Anke was not the kind of woman who would compromise her principles for money. Cousins had really picked the wrong person.

There was once a real case where a spoiled rich kid, bored with nothing to do, took two hundred million yuan his father had given him and spread it across six different banks — and in doing so, slept with six bank account managers. What Cousins was doing was exactly the same playbook, seducing women without spending a dime of his own.

Having said her piece, Zhou Anke tried to pull away. In their previous encounters, Cousins had always been perfectly courteous — so why was he being so utterly revolting today?

But Cousins was several sizes bigger than Zhou Anke. He gripped her hand tightly and pressed his large hand firmly against her waist, pulling her body directly toward his.

At that point, what was happening had almost nothing to do with dancing anymore.

Unable to break free, Zhou Anke said coldly, “I don’t want to ruin the atmosphere of this party, so I suggest you show some respect and not make this unpleasant for everyone.”

Cousins let out a sly chuckle. “Don’t you Chinese women always sleep with men to close business deals? Ann, there’s no need to keep up the act. I’ve been in China for over two years, and I’ve had pleasurable encounters with at least thirty female sales reps. I’ve always had a preference for Eastern women’s bodies, but none of those women could hold a candle to you…”

The more Cousins spoke, the more obscene it became. Zhou Anke couldn’t bear to listen for another second. No longer caring about the party’s atmosphere, she raised her other hand and slapped him squarely across the face.

The sound wasn’t particularly loud, but it was more than enough to draw the attention of everyone in the hall.

People stopped and turned to see Cousins clutching his face, glaring after the departing Zhou Anke with pure venom in his eyes.

A physical altercation at the pinnacle of the financial world’s social calendar? What on earth was going on?

Bai Wangchuan stood to one side, smiling with quiet amusement, and said softly, “With acting skills like that, Mr. Cousins could easily land a villain role in Hollywood.”

The few people around him nodded in agreement, though none of them quite grasped Bai Wangchuan’s true intentions.

Watching the scene unfold, Bai Wangchuan smiled and said, “I’ve decided — my new project will be partnering with Mr. Cousins and Anglo-Eastern Bank.”

The people around him exchanged bewildered glances. What game were Bai Wangchuan and Cousins playing?

Watching Su Rui’s figure from across the room, Bai Wangchuan murmured to himself, “Su Rui, don’t think that just because Su Wuxian has your back, you can do whatever you please. He’s nothing but a smoke-and-mirrors opportunist. The moment you stop being useful to him, he’ll discard you without a second thought.”

“The humiliation you once put me through — one day, I will repay it a hundredfold.”

As he spoke, a dangerous light flashed in Bai Wangchuan’s eyes. He tilted his head back and drained the red wine from his glass.

Su Rui had been helping himself to the food and hadn’t noticed what had been happening between Cousins and Zhou Anke. So when he saw Zhou Anke storming back toward him, he immediately set down his plate and asked with a cold expression, “Did he do something to you?”

Zhou Anke was famously even-tempered. For her to actually slap someone, what on earth had that man done to deserve it?

A chill had already begun to rise in Su Rui’s chest.

“Disgusting creep.” Zhou Anke said furiously. “He tried to use one billion US dollars to make a deal with me.”

The moment he heard those words, Su Rui’s expression went ice cold. He turned to look at Cousins and had already taken a step forward.

“Su Rui.” Zhou Anke grabbed his arm, afraid he would cause a scene. “I’m fine, don’t do anything rash.”

Su Rui patted her hand, and before he could say a word, Cousins suddenly lost all composure and began shouting.

“Zhou Anke, don’t push your luck! Offering you one billion US dollars was doing you a favor, and not only are you ungrateful, you actually dare to hit someone in public! Is this the kind of character all Chinese women have?” His face bore five clear finger marks, and Zhou Anke’s nails had even drawn two scratches across his cheek.

Cousins’ eyes were filled with pure malice. The man had gotten so deep into his performance that he was losing himself in it. Zhou Anke’s slap had gone roughly as he’d anticipated, but he had genuinely lost face in front of a room full of financial elites.

His outburst brought the entire hall to a standstill — even the music stopped.

Everyone at a financial summit was without exception highly educated, polished, and composed. So what exactly were Cousins and Zhou Anke playing at?

Su Rui walked forward with a dark expression, looked at Cousins, and said, “What did you just say? Why don’t we take this somewhere private?”

He wasn’t asking for Cousins’ agreement — even as he said it, one hand had already closed around the man’s arm.

Cousins glanced at Su Rui and shouted, “Who the hell are you? Get out of my way! Bikang Group’s Deputy CFO Zhou Anke, after failing to close a deal, flew into a rage and assaulted someone in public. Who would dare work with Bikang Group after this? Does a failed negotiation mean everyone gets beaten up? That slap just gave me a mild concussion!”

Getting slapped once, and Cousins was carrying on as if his life had been taken from him. The man was shrieking hysterically, “I’m calling the police, I’m calling the police! I’m taking Bikang Group to court!”

Sabotaging Bikang’s financing again. Su Rui listened to his words, and his expression went completely cold — terrifyingly cold.

By extrapolating from Zhou Anke’s actions, Cousins was poisoning people’s perception of Bikang as a whole. Not only had he absolved himself of any wrongdoing, he had shifted all the blame onto Bikang, and to a significant degree, this would impact Bikang’s next round of fundraising.

Everyone present was a financial industry elite. With Cousins making this scene, every single one of them would now harbor reservations about Bikang.

Cousins had a real gift for twisting the truth — he had even managed to reframe the incident from a personal act by Zhou Anke into a reflection on Bikang Group as an organization. A talent like his was wasted on anything short of a pyramid scheme.

So the deal fell through and that’s why this happened? The crowd began murmuring among themselves.

Bai Wangchuan’s gaze was full of admiration. He smiled and said, “It seems Mr. Cousins is quite the seasoned hand at this sort of thing. Very well done — exactly to my liking.”

“So it seems Bai Shao doesn’t have a very favorable impression of Bikang Group.” Someone had already quietly taken note of Bai Wangchuan’s attitude, thinking to themselves that they absolutely could not get involved in Bikang’s financing — offending the second young master of the Bai family would simply not be worth it.

Xu Wenjie had also stopped to watch, a cold smirk on his face, his expression laced with undisguised schadenfreude.

Su Rui looked at Cousins with icy calm and said, “Heaven’s gate was open to you, yet you chose to barge into hell.”