Chapter 388

Chapter 388 May I Have This Dance?

The cocktail reception for the financial summit was set to begin at four o’clock sharp, and Smith was sitting in a taxi, burning with anxiety.

He had landed at noon, and here he was, still stuck on the North Ring overpass — moving slower than a snail!

“Could you please go a little faster?” Smith had now come to a full understanding of Huaxia’s traffic situation. Looking at the endless stream of cars stretching as far as the eye could see, he was nearly in despair.

If he couldn’t make it to the venue in time and Apollo kept pouring money into the attack, the consequences would be unthinkable. Gaoqi’s stock had already fallen so badly, and if it continued to plummet when the NYSE reopened, it would surely deal a devastating blow. Not only would he lose his position as CEO, but the entire Gaoqi Bank might well hit rock bottom!

Yet no matter how much he urged the driver, the taxi still couldn’t move.

“Sir, you can see for yourself — this is just what the traffic is like here in Ninghai.” The driver glanced at Smith with a cheerful grin and said, “So you Americans had better not get any funny ideas about Huaxia. If you sent a whole division to take Ninghai, I reckon they’d be stuck on the overpass for half a month.”

Smith nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. He threw down five hundred Huaxia yuan, pushed open the door, and jogged away.

The driver happily picked up the bills, glanced at them, and tucked them into his pocket, saying, “Welcome, capitalism, keep on corrupting us.”

By this time, the banquet at the financial summit had already begun. As the host, the deputy mayor of Ninghai in charge of financial affairs delivered a passionate and friendly speech from the podium, while Su Rui wandered from table to table with a glass in hand, pinching a little of whatever looked good to eat.

Once the speech ended, it was time for free mingling. Dance music played continuously, and some of the men and women had already paired up and stepped onto the dance floor.

In a corner not far away, a group of men who appeared to hold senior positions at major banks and companies were gathered in a circle around a young man in a white suit, all wearing ingratiating smiles as they said something or other.

Everyone who attended the financial summit was an elite of Huaxia’s and even the world’s financial circles — and how could such a gathering be complete without Bai Wangchuan, the second son of the Bai family, known as the “investment genius”?

Over the past few years, leveraging the resources at his disposal, Bai Wangchuan had made quite a name for himself in the investment world, successfully getting involved in many promising projects. In this regard, his reputation far outshone that of his elder brother Bai Qinchuan, who worked at the National Development and Reform Commission.

Given Bai Wangchuan’s status, he hadn’t bothered attending the meetings over the previous two days. All he needed to do was show his face at this cocktail reception, and that would be more than enough to accomplish certain goals of his.

As luck would have it, a familiar figure appeared in his field of vision — Su Rui.

Two months ago, at another cocktail reception, Su Rui had given him a fierce kick, leaving the second young master of the Bai family with no minor injuries. He had coughed up blood on the spot and been utterly humiliated, nearly becoming the laughingstock of their social circle.

Bai Wangchuan cared enormously about face, and this domineering man surnamed Su had practically become his nightmare.

Su Rui was dressed in a black suit today, which, paired with his rather impressive physique, fit him exceptionally well.

“What are you sneaking bites of?”

Zhou Anke walked up beside Su Rui, covering her mouth as she laughed softly.

She was wearing a bright yellow gown today, with a deep open back that revealed part of her smooth, flawless skin. Unlike many of the other women present, Zhou Anke’s neckline showed not a hint of cleavage, and the perfectly placed pleats and fringe of her dress created a genuinely pleasing aesthetic.

A beautiful woman’s appeal is brought out by her temperament, and Zhou Anke’s uniquely refined Jiangnan charm alone was enough to outshine the vast majority of the women there who had half their snow-white chests on display.

Of course, since this reception had no strict entry requirements, many of Huaxia’s social elite would receive invitations — though whether they would travel from all corners of the country to attend was another matter entirely. This had long been the custom at the financial summit.

Many of Ninghai’s local socialites and young men and women of good families also seized the advantage of proximity to get their hands on a few invitations and join in the fun. Who knew — maybe someone would land a wealthy catch? And even if not, finding an attractive companion for a night or two wasn’t a bad outcome either.

At this moment, Xu Wenjie was surrounded by three or four young women, each with a burning gleam in her eyes. Reeling in this golden bachelor would certainly be something to brag about.

“Jeremy, your skin is so well-maintained — what’s your secret? I did two face masks last night and my skin still can’t compare to yours. It just keeps getting duller.” Some young lady, daughter of who knows which family, was pouting and pinching her own flawless cheek with a slightly aggrieved expression.

“Is my skin really that good?” Xu Wenjie smiled faintly, looking quite refined. “Miss Li, your skin is actually very lovely.”

The Miss Li who had spoken up immediately pursed her lips and said, “Jeremy, don’t tease me — my face is the roughest part of my whole body.”

Right — if her face was already that delicate and she was still calling it the roughest part of her body, that was about as textbook a green tea move as it gets.

Xu Wenjie kept his smile, maintaining his composure in front of the young beauties, and it seemed as though the bad mood brought on by Gaoqi’s falling stock had completely vanished.

Another woman, not wanting to be outdone, immediately chimed in: “Jeremy, I’m planning to go study at Yale after the new year. My father applied for a finance program for me — which means I’m technically your junior. When you have time, you really must tell me all about university life there. I want to become a Wall Street elite just like Jeremy.”

“We can grab a coffee together sometime. There are quite a few things worth knowing about Yale, and I can walk you through them in detail.” Xu Wenjie’s eyes swept discreetly across the woman’s chest, quietly sizing up the figures of the women around him.

In truth, he had already gotten his head back in the game. What goes down must come back up — there was absolutely no stock in the world that could rise forever without end. That would defy the laws of market economics.

So before leaving Ninghai, he planned to indulge himself a little, to shake off the pent-up mood of the past few days.

He lightly touched the wound on his face left by the nail clippers, and a figure surfaced in his mind. A faint shadow of gloom flickered through his eyes without warning.

That man had barged into his room, and the killing intent radiating off him had nearly made Xu Wenjie wet himself — this was, without question, the single most humiliating thing that had ever happened to him in his entire life.

When he had seen Su Rui during the day, he had felt a genuine stab of fear, yet he had forced himself to suppress it, keeping a cool exterior and showing nothing. His flight was booked for tomorrow. As long as tonight passed, he would leave Ninghai and return to America. No matter how long Su Rui’s reach was, it could never possibly extend all the way to Wall Street.

Hearing Xu Wenjie say this, the young woman immediately clapped her hands in delight: “Really? That’s wonderful! I know a great place — why don’t we go chat after the reception ends?”

“No problem.” Xu Wenjie raised his glass and clinked it with hers.

A third woman grew even more impatient. She straightened up, smiled, and said, “Jeremy, may I have this dance?”

“It would be my pleasure.”

Xu Wenjie turned to the other women and said, “Ladies, please wait — we’ll each take a turn tonight.”

At these words, the girls were instantly overjoyed, and Xu Wenjie put his arm around the woman’s waist and walked straight out onto the floor.

As the music started, the girl practically draped herself over Xu Wenjie. He, for his part, was entirely unapologetic, letting his hand roam leisurely across her back and hips, helping himself quite freely.

On the other side of the hall, a group of people were chatting with Bai Wangchuan when they noticed that the second young master of the Bai family had suddenly gone quiet, his gaze fixed unblinkingly on one person.

Several bank presidents and company executives were momentarily taken aback. They followed his line of sight and landed squarely on Su Rui.

“Oh, does Young Master Bai know him?” one of the bank presidents asked.

Bai Wangchuan’s expression was impassive, and he said nothing.

“He seems to be with Bikang Company. His performance at the dinner tables these past two days has been quite impressive — very smooth with everyone.” A middle-aged man, apparently picking up something from Bai Wangchuan’s expression, remarked in a tone that was neither warm nor cold.

“I know who he is.” Bai Wangchuan took a light sip of red wine, his gaze still fixed on Su Rui’s back. “What I want to know is — has this financial summit really gotten to the point where just anyone can walk in?”

The implication of these words could not have been more obvious. Anyone with a normally functioning brain could tell from that remark that the relationship between Bai Wangchuan and Su Rui was anything but friendly.

“What does Young Master Bai mean by that?” a company executive asked carefully.

“What could I possibly mean?” Bai Wangchuan gave a cold smile. “What I want to tell everyone is that next month my company needs to participate in an investment in an energy project, and it will require a substantial amount of capital upfront.”

An energy project? A substantial amount of capital?

At those two phrases, everyone around him understood exactly what Bai Wangchuan was getting at.

They were all heads of banks or financial institutions. If they could forge a connection with Bai Wangchuan’s investment company, they wouldn’t have to worry about their annual business volume anymore.

So when Bai Wangchuan mentioned he had a major project in need of funding, everyone knew their moment to shine had arrived.

Meanwhile, Su Rui, nearby, seemed completely oblivious to the scheming on this side of the room, and was standing cheerfully with Zhou Anke.

“Here, try this pastry — it’s really quite good.”

Su Rui was nothing if not straightforward, not the least bit shy about it. He speared a piece of pastry and brought it straight to Zhou Anke’s mouth.

Everyone who came to a reception like this — who actually came to eat? Su Rui, though, had already polished off a good portion of the pastries on his own.

Zhou Anke didn’t pull away. She smiled and opened her mouth, letting Su Rui feed her.

“How does it taste?”

“Not bad.” Zhou Anke covered her mouth with her slender hand, chewing quietly, looking utterly adorable.

Just then, a foreigner in a tailcoat walked up to Zhou Anke. He was somewhat balding, but carried himself with evident courtesy. He smiled and said,

“Ann, may I have this dance?”