Chapter 357

Chapter 357 The Financial Summit!

Just as Su Rui was standing in the sunlight lost in thought, a discordant voice rang out beside him.

“This is the top summit of Huaxia’s financial circle, of course not just anyone can come.”

A man who looked to be around thirty was standing behind Su Rui, also gazing up at the spectacular international conference center. He had heard what Su Rui said and casually replied.

The man had a fair complexion and wore thick prescription glasses, yet his gaze carried an unmistakable air of arrogance.

He glanced at Su Rui, a flash of contempt crossing his eyes, then strode forward.

Among his peers in the financial world, there were very few he considered worth his attention, and he had every reason to carry that arrogance.

However, as he walked past Zhou Anke, a glimmer of light flashed in his eyes. Of course, it was only a fleeting glance, and the man did not linger, continuing forward with long strides.

Two secretaries carrying briefcases followed closely behind him, and the trio cut quite an imposing figure.

“What kind of business elite acts like that? So full of himself?”

Su Rui wasn’t bothered, because he knew that some capable people simply had strong personalities. It was just that being casually looked down upon didn’t feel particularly great.

Zhou Anke said reassuringly, “That guy has always been arrogant, he’s famously difficult to get along with, don’t take it too personally.”

At that, Zhou Anke smiled lightly and said, “In this circle, he’s made plenty of enemies.”

“That impressive?” The slight irritation Su Rui had felt a moment ago dissolved completely, and he said with interest, “Someone with that much personality, I definitely need to get to know.”

“His name is Xu Wenjie. He’s the youngest economics PhD from Yale University. At a very young age he pulled off several highly successful acquisitions, then entered Wall Street and joined Goldman Flag Bank. Three years later, on the strength of his outstanding performance, he became the head of Goldman Flag Bank’s Asia-Pacific region.” Zhou Anke said with a smile, “Some people have even predicted he’ll be the only Chinese CEO in Goldman Flag Bank’s history. It’s hard for someone like that not to be arrogant.”

Su Rui rubbed his nose. “Didn’t expect that pretty-faced grouch to be so capable. But Goldman Flag Bank, huh…”

When he said the words “Goldman Flag Bank,” a playful gleam flickered in Su Rui’s eyes.

“This Xu Wenjie is currently a world-famous golden bachelor. His Twitter and Weibo followers crossed ten million long ago, and he’s even more popular than some entertainment celebrities.” Zhou Anke continued to explain.

“Are you interested in him?” Su Rui asked with a grin.

Zhou Anke’s pretty face flushed. “Of course not.”

“Figured as much. How could you like someone so ordinary.” Seeing Zhou Anke blush, Su Rui burst out laughing.

“Right, I’m someone who’s already shared a wedding cup after all.”

Zhou Anke, face still red, cracked a joke that left Su Rui completely speechless.

It really was a melancholy situation. Everyone in Liantang Town had already come to think of him as the Zhou family’s son-in-law. If Zhou Anke were to marry someone else in the future, in the eyes of those townspeople it would absolutely count as a second marriage.

Su Rui had spent so many years in the dark underworld of the West that he knew almost every major figure in those organizations, but when it came to the elites of the financial world, he was completely in the dark, no better than a blind man. Fortunately, Zhou Anke, a top economics student, was there to introduce people, which at least helped Su Rui put a few faces to names.

Attending meetings was an extremely painful experience for Su Rui, especially when the topics were all deep economic theories he couldn’t understand at all. Listening to the Minister of Finance speak, the handsome Su Rui yawned one yawn after another, his head slowly drooping down before snapping back up again. The guy was practically one step away from just laying his head on the table and snoring.

Several people nearby were already frowning slightly as they watched Su Rui.

In their view, being qualified to attend such a top-tier financial summit was an absolute honor, and yet here was someone dozing off in such a solemn setting? It was truly embarrassing.

It should be noted that this kind of summit wasn’t something you could attend just by having money. The organizing committee needed to conduct a comprehensive review of each person’s qualifications, credentials, and achievements, and if the score didn’t meet the standard, no amount of money would make a difference.

So those who found Su Rui irritating simply couldn’t figure out what on earth he had done to deserve passing the organizing committee’s review and receiving an invitation.

In fact, Lin Aoxue had already made all the arrangements. Su Rui’s current title was CFO of Bikang, and for the chief financial officer of a top-tier enterprise like that, the financial summit would never turn him away.

Although the people around him were somewhat annoyed by Su Rui’s constant nodding off, Zhou Anke didn’t feel the least bit embarrassed. She knew Su Rui wasn’t very familiar with economics, which was why he was like this. In her eyes, this was just Su Rui being his true self, and it was precisely what set him apart from other men.

In other words, it was a kind of unique charm.

Su Rui was sleeping soundly when he suddenly heard a burst of enthusiastic applause all around him. He rubbed his drowsy eyes and started clapping along with everyone else.

“Is it over?” Su Rui asked in a daze, yawning without any concern for appearances.

“Minister Zhang has finished speaking. Next up is Governor Zhu from the central bank.” Zhou Anke flipped through the conference agenda and said with a smile, “You might as well keep sleeping for a bit, there’s still a representative economist speaking later.”

Hearing this, Su Rui nearly died of frustration. Rather than pinning him down here to listen to a meeting he couldn’t understand at all, it would be better to let him loose to have a good fight with Danielle Sharp, and who knows, he might even manage to take advantage of the situation in the process.

Watching Su Rui’s dejected expression, Zhou Anke’s smile rippled outward like waves on water. “This financial summit runs for two full days. This morning is the opening ceremony, there’s a forum this afternoon, group discussions tonight, and a cocktail reception tomorrow, so it’s quite a lot to deal with.”

Hearing this, Su Rui nearly wanted to die.

“Count yourself lucky. They’ve already compressed the content. In the old days, they absolutely would not have called it a day without running at least a full week.” Zhou Anke smiled faintly and went back to taking notes.

When the third round of applause broke out, the morning session finally came to a close. Su Rui felt like a prisoner granted amnesty and immediately dragged Zhou Anke rushing toward the dining hotel, his urgency drawing sideways glances from many people.

However, knowing the purpose of his trip, Su Rui was courteous and eloquent during the meal, clearly looking like someone with a solid education, a complete contrast to the image of someone openly dozing off in the conference hall.

Since there was still a session in the afternoon, no alcohol was permitted at lunch. Su Rui couldn’t fully showcase his abilities, otherwise he would have drunk at least half the financial luminaries at their table under the table.

By the end of the meal, Zhou Anke had gotten a thorough glimpse of Su Rui’s social skills. This man had been to countless countries, and the customs and cultures of various places rolled off his tongue effortlessly. He quickly blended in with those well-traveled financial elites, and it was truly impressive to the extreme.

Only now did Zhou Anke realize why Lin Aoxue had sent Su Rui. With him here, the coordinated financing effort this time around would surely not run into any major problems.

Of course, during the afternoon session, Su Rui once again drifted through it in a half-asleep haze. This guy always seemed so carefree, and that relaxed energy had a way of spreading to everyone around him.

Caught up in Su Rui’s mood, Zhou Anke felt the pressure on her own shoulders ease considerably, and the tension that came with her day-to-day work was largely soothed away.

This was the charm of Su Rui’s personality, always able to bring lightness and joy to others without even trying.

When dinnertime arrived, alcohol was no longer off-limits, and this was when Su Rui needed to step up.

With a glass in one hand and a bottle of baijiu in the other, his face beaming with a warm smile, he pulled over anyone he came across for a round of drinks, looking every bit the gracious host.

You can’t hit a smiling face, and those elites were also in the mood to make friends, so they naturally wouldn’t turn down Su Rui’s enthusiastic overtures.

However, before anyone knew it, Su Rui had drunk several of the slightly older economists and executives right under the table, and ambulances were called on the spot to take them to the hospital.

This was quite an unusual episode in the history of the financial summit. But thanks to Su Rui’s efforts, many people had begun to etch the name “Bikang” deep in their minds, and Su Rui’s hands were already holding dozens of business cards.

After dinner, free discussions began. Zhou Anke had separately reserved a conference room and gathered many economists and heads of investment banks to discuss the feasibility of Bikang’s new project, while also conducting a project pitch.

Given the exclusive nature of the summit’s membership, Bikang’s president Lin Aoxue did not appear. Having Zhou Anke, this young financial expert, take full charge of the operation actually made it easier to win goodwill from people in the financial world.

Su Rui sat to one side, watching Zhou Anke introduce Bikang’s project status in front of the projection screen, and only then did he discover another side of this young woman. She usually seemed quiet and reserved, but at this moment she was giving full expression to the meticulous quality of a Jiangnan woman, covering every angle thoroughly, and able to answer the experts’ questions in a very comprehensive manner.

In fact, ever since Bikang had broken through the research plan for trichloroaminolone, many major international investment banks had turned their attention here. This technology was, for them as well, a rare and lucrative opportunity.

Being able to exclusively control this technology and dramatically reduce drug production costs was, for them, essentially a form of monopoly.

At that point, what other psychiatric drug could mount any effective cost-based competition against Bikang?

Absolute dominance.

Watching those approving gazes, Su Rui knew that even without his own involvement, Zhou Anke would have handled this just as well on her own.

But just at that moment, the corner of his eye caught a figure, and he couldn’t help but quietly furrow his brow.