Chapter 392

Chapter 392 It Must Be an Impostor

At that moment, the atmosphere in the entire banquet hall froze!

　　They could hardly believe their own eyes! The CEO of the prestigious Gaoqi Bank was actually bowing and apologizing to an unknown young man?

　　Looking at the status of both parties, weren’t the roles completely reversed?

　　Zhou Anke covered her mouth with her hand. She was someone in financial circles and naturally understood what kind of standing and prestige Smith held in this industry. Yet this man, who carried such prestige, was actually bowing and apologizing to Su Rui!

　　Seeing Smith bow his head in apology, Su Rui didn’t respond immediately and remained completely silent.

　　As long as Su Rui said nothing, Smith didn’t dare stand up! He didn’t have the nerve!

　　Bai Wangchuan had just returned from the restroom and happened to catch the scene of Smith bowing at a ninety-degree angle to Su Rui. The sight made his scalp tingle and his head nearly explode!

　　”What’s going on?” Bai Wangchuan asked the bank president beside him, his voice low and heavy.

　　”Smith… Smith is actually apologizing to him!” The bank president’s voice was dry, clearly just as shocked by Su Rui’s identity.

　　After all, someone like Smith had always been insufferably arrogant. He wouldn’t have shown any particular reaction even upon meeting the bank president himself. Yet this man, so proud and haughty, was respectfully bowing his head before everyone to a young man. The scene was simply beyond anyone’s imagination!

　　”Young Master Bai, what should we do?” the bank president asked cautiously.

　　Bai Wangchuan raised an eyebrow at that, his expression growing colder. “What do you mean, what should we do?”

　　”It’s just that Smith is apologizing to him…” The bank president looked at Bai Wangchuan’s expression and suddenly sensed something was off.

　　”What does any of this have to do with me?” Bai Wangchuan looked at the bank president with clear displeasure and asked coldly.

　　The latter finally realized he had misspoken and said in a flustered tone, “Nothing at all, absolutely nothing! We had no part in blocking Bikang’s financing plan.”

　　”President Li, I don’t think we need to play golf together anymore.” Bai Wangchuan turned away and didn’t spare him another glance.

　　Upon hearing that, the bank president looked utterly devastated! All his efforts had been wasted because of a single careless remark!

　　This second young master of the Bai family was truly unpredictable!

　　President Li fell silent for two minutes, his expression shifting through a range of emotions. Then he took one long look at Bai Wangchuan and turned to leave.

　　Back in his own room, President Li took a deep breath, pulled out his phone, and said, “Has the news I asked you to post on the portal site within an hour gone out yet?”

　　”Not yet. We’re still coordinating with the site’s editor to verify the content.”

　　”Don’t post it. Pull the story.” President Li’s mind flashed with the image of Bai Wangchuan’s arrogant face. After a few seconds of thought, he said, “If there’s any news that needs to be published, I’ll let you know the content.”

　　Smith had been bowing for two full minutes and his neck was starting to ache, yet Su Rui still hadn’t said a word!

　　Only Smith knew Su Rui’s true identity, and only he felt the deepest dread in his heart. As long as Su Rui didn’t speak, he didn’t dare move!

　　The two of them could have become friends, yet things had come to this. Smith was filled with the deepest regret.

　　”Smith, I didn’t quite catch what you just said.”

　　Just when Smith was nearly at his limit, Su Rui finally spoke!

　　Smith’s heart leapt with relief upon hearing that, and he said loudly, “Please forgive Gaoqi for its previous conduct. Regarding Bikang’s new project, Gaoqi Bank is willing to offer its utmost sincerity and the maximum possible funding to cooperate with Bikang!”

　　The situation had turned on its head in an instant!

　　By saying this, Smith had essentially overturned everything Xu Wenjie had said before!

　　A project that a regional director had repeatedly belittled and tried to talk others out of investing in was now being treated with such importance by the CEO himself. This was a blatant slap in the face!

　　Xu Wenjie looked as though he could barely hold himself upright. He stumbled back a few steps and leaned against a table, his face cycling between pale and ashen!

　　”Why? Why is this happening?” He kept asking himself, yet he couldn’t find any answer at all!

　　Everyone in the hall was questioning Su Rui’s identity. What on earth did this person have going for him that made Smith bow to him so sincerely? Could he be a representative of some high-level investment bank?

　　But that reasoning didn’t hold up either. What investment bank could possibly be more powerful than Gaoqi?

　　”Smith, you may stand up.”

　　Su Rui said it lightly, and his words came as a reprieve to Smith. If it had been even one minute later, Smith might have fainted from the pain in his neck before anything else!

　　In that moment, everyone seemed to have the strange illusion that it was this unknown Su Rui who was the CEO of Gaoqi Bank, while the actual CEO Smith was nothing more than his subordinate!

　　”Why don’t you clarify things for everyone here. I don’t want Bikang’s new project to be misunderstood any further.” Su Rui swept his gaze around the room and said.

　　Everything about him now radiated a commanding presence, a complete contrast to the man who had been weaving between tables carrying a plate just moments ago!

　　Which one was the real him?

　　Not just Zhou Anke, but everyone present was wondering the same thing!

　　Smith’s expression was one of complete sincerity. “I would like to offer my apologies to Bikang. Due to the personal conduct of certain employees at Gaoqi Bank, an extremely negative impact was caused to Bikang Group. As CEO of Gaoqi Bank, I am willing to take full responsibility and compensate Bikang Group for all losses resulting from this matter.”

　　Smith’s attitude was sincere and genuine, yet that very sincerity only deepened everyone’s suspicions.

　　It seemed that Su Rui’s identity was truly something extraordinary. Otherwise, why would Smith be so wary of him?

　　It was actually quite ironic. Someone who had been completely overlooked by everyone just moments ago had pulled off a stunning reversal in the span of a few minutes, leaving people with nothing but sighs of amazement.

　　”Going forward, Gaoqi Bank will do everything in its power to support Bikang Group’s new project. I hope that together we can build a pharmaceutical empire.”

　　After saying that, Smith couldn’t help wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. He had gone as far as he possibly could in showing his goodwill, and he hoped Apollo would be satisfied and stop the attacks on Gaoqi Bank in the financial markets.

　　Hearing Smith’s words, many of those present felt a surge of bitter resentment. Damn Xu Wenjie, for dragging them all into this mess. If it hadn’t been for his remarks, they would likely have reached an investment framework agreement with Bikang Group the previous evening!

　　But now, the initiative had swung right back into Gaoqi’s hands, and all the advantages had gone to them!

　　”Smith.” Just as Smith was making his impassioned declaration, Su Rui spoke up.

　　”What are your instructions?” Smith had already lowered himself as far as he could go.

　　”You keep saying here that Bikang wants to cooperate with Gaoqi, but when did I ever say I wanted to cooperate with you? Tell me, which word did I say?” Su Rui raised an eyebrow. His tone was mild, yet it carried an unmistakably aggressive edge!

　　Su Rui truly hadn’t said a single word to that effect. It had been nothing more than Smith’s own attempt to seek forgiveness. So when Su Rui asked that question, Smith was instantly left completely speechless, with absolutely no way to save face!

　　At that moment, Smith felt like crying but had no tears left!

　　Come on, do you have to play it like this? There are so many people watching! I came here to apologize to you, but could you at least give me a little face?

　　”I overstepped in making that assumption. Please forgive me.” As he said it, Smith bowed slightly to Su Rui once more!

　　He was apologizing again!

　　”If Bikang Group ever has need of Gaoqi or of me personally in the future, please don’t hesitate to say so.” Smith raised his head and said, his eyes sincere.

　　He had now thoroughly experienced Su Rui’s ability to put people in their place. If he dared to try any more tricks, the consequences would not be pleasant.

　　”Smith, you really shouldn’t have come to China.” Su Rui fixed his gaze on the man known as the “number one CEO on Wall Street” and said, “What happened yesterday was just me getting things started. But since I did get things started, the other investment banks on Wall Street are sure to follow. They’ve been crushed under your heel for years. Now that they’ve finally caught an opportunity like this, how could they not fight back?”

　　As a financial expert, how could Smith not have considered this? Hearing Su Rui’s words, he gave a bitter smile and said, “I understand that too. I can even predict how they’ll move and the total amount of capital they can deploy. But in my view, even if all those investment banks joined forces, the effect still wouldn’t match yours. That’s why I came to China. I did something wrong, and I had to apologize!”

　　Even though Smith understood that a combined assault on Gaoqi by firms like Huasheng and Morgan would be no easy thing to handle, and that Gaoqi might even face an unprecedented crisis as a result.

　　But no matter how formidable those investment banks were, none of them were as formidable as Apollo!

　　After all, who could afford to ignore someone who could casually mobilize hundreds of billions of dollars to wage financial warfare?

　　The exchange between the two seemed somewhat cryptic, and most people couldn’t make sense of it. But Bai Wangchuan had caught a vague glimmer of understanding!

　　It seemed that the trigger behind Gaoqi Bank’s stock decline had actually been Su Rui!

　　In his eyes, Su Rui was nothing more than a man of brute force who had at most latched onto Lin Aoxue. What ability could he possibly have to bring down Gaoqi’s stock? That required capital operations in the hundreds of billions. Something even he himself might never be able to pull off in his lifetime!

　　Bai Wangchuan was deeply reluctant to accept this idea, yet Smith had no reason to lie, and no need to either!

　　News like this was truly hard to take in!

　　Just then, a flash of inspiration crossed the second young master of the Bai family’s mind. Could it be that this so-called Smith was actually an imposter? Someone who had teamed up with Su Rui to put on an act?

　　After all, the vast majority of people present had never met Smith up close. They had only seen him a few times on television or in magazines. These days, finding someone who looked similar enough, putting on some makeup, and passing yourself off as someone else was really not that difficult at all!

　　Once this idea surfaced, it spread through the second young master of the Bai family’s mind like bamboo shoots after rain, growing wildly and unstoppably!

　　”It must be an imposter!” Looking at Smith, a gleam of amusement lit up in Bai Wangchuan’s eyes!