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Two days before New Year's Day, Qi Xing was sent to the Capital on a business trip by his father.
The invitation came from a familiar acquaintance of Qi Ronghua, who was interested in inviting Ronghua Corporation to invest in his company. Qi Ronghua had little interest and to avoid an awkward direct refusal, he simply sent Qi Xing to go through the motions and at the same time, allowing him to gain some experience and broaden his horizons.
Qi Xing didn’t mind. In fact, he thought it would be nice to play in the capital for a few days.
As he was getting off the plane, a message from Ye Xingzhou came in.
"Come over tonight."
Qi Xing replied, "Wherever it's cool, I'll go there."
Ye Xingzhou's commanding tone was really annoying; what a piece of jerk.
Half a minute later, another message came through.
"Where are you now?"
Qi Xing casually snapped a picture of the street scene outside the car and sent it: "In the capital. If you have the ability, fly over. But I’m not serving you today, Young Master Ye2."
Footnote:
Qi Xing sarcastically called him Young Master Ye as he was like a servant who couldn't serve his young master.
After sending that reply, the other side indeed fell silent. Qi Xing snorted and turned off his phone screen.
Ye Xingzhou put down his phone then his secretary knocked and entered to report on the situation.
"Today, Lin Hongfei has already transferred the first payment to Ge Rui. All the liquid funds he has, including the money borrowed from the bank are tied up in this project. He should have no other way out."
Ye Xingzhou leaned back in his chair while casually responding with an "Mm."
The secretary continued, "Additionally, this week, the market opened and Shengfa is still buying our stocks on a small scale. They now hold more than one percent compared to your shares. Moreover, Wang Pengfa has been busy trying to find someone to invest in his own company and it seems Ronghua Corporation has also received an invitation."
Hearing the words "Ronghua Corporation," Ye Xingzhou's eyebrows twitched and he opened his eyes again then instructed, "Go change the flight tickets. We’re going to the capital this afternoon."
……..
Qi Xing landed in the capital around noon. The other company sent a car to pick him up and the person responsible for the reception was the assistant to the company's old boss. He enthusiastically introduced Qi Xing to the best places to eat, drink, and have fun in the capital as if he had done his homework on Qi Xing's personality in advance.
Qi Xing listened half-heartedly and when the assistant mentioned taking him out to relax in the evening, he suddenly asked, "What kind of relaxation?"
The assistant smiled ambiguously, "Young Master Qi will know when he goes. It's a good place."
Qi Xing snorted. He knew that it wasn't a proper place.
Before arriving at the hotel, Qi Xing had already eaten on the plane. After resting for an hour, the assistant appeared and said that he would take him to the company for a tour and a meeting with their old boss.
Qi Xing was eager to get this over with today so he could go out and have fun tomorrow, so he patiently let the assistant lead the way.
When they arrived, they got out of the car in front of a relatively old office building in the business center but it was quite large and the huge Shengfa Group sign was quite eye-catching.
The old boss, Wang Pengfa, was already waiting at the door. As soon as Qi Xing got out of the car, he smiled and walked over to shake hands and exchange pleasantries.
Qi Xing responded naturally and casually calling him ‘Uncle’.
But his sweet words did not match the forced smile on his face.
Wang Pengfa was very pleased as he led Qi Xing into the building while chatting and joking with him about business.
For the rest of the afternoon, Qi Xing followed this ‘uncle’ around the company. He listened to performance reports and even went out to visit several of their project sites.
Wang Pengfa was eager to promote the idea of bringing Ronghua Corporation's funds into the basket but even though Qi Xing flattered him with various compliments, when it came to the matter of investing, he remained tight-lipped.
Eventually, Wang Pengfa realized that Qi Xing was not as easy to deal with as he had thought. Qi Ronghua was a seasoned player but this kid was slippery and not as easy to fool as he had assumed.
In the evening, Wang Pengfa hosted a banquet at a five-star hotel near the company and invited Qi Xing and his group to dinner.
At the dinner table, they didn’t discuss business.
A group of older men clinked glasses.
Boasting and joking with what they thought was humor. Qi Xing, the only young fresh meat at the table, was seen as someone who had never truly experienced the world.
Wang Pengfa, having had a few drinks, affectionately called him ‘nephew’ saying that after dinner, he would take him out to see the world.
Qi Xing couldn’t be bothered to respond and just made an excuse to go to the bathroom to leave the table.
The smell of alcohol at the table made him uncomfortable, so he simply stepped outside the private room.
After playing a few rounds of games, he estimated that the group inside had drunk enough before turning back.
As he reached the door of the private room and was about to open it, someone suddenly approached from behind and covered his mouth with a hand. Qi Xing immediately became alert and was about to retaliate but he was held down.
A familiar breath and voice came close to his ear: "How much have you drunk?"
Qi Xing relaxed his body then turned around and glared; it was indeed that bastard Ye Xingzhou.
He really did fly over.
Ye Xingzhou pressed him against the wall by the door. He opened a crack in the private room door to glance inside and asked, "When will this end?"
Qi Xing grabbed his hand that was still covering his mouth, bit it and said irritably, "I don’t know. They still want to take me out to see the world, so how can it end so quickly?"
Ye Xingzhou took his words as nonsense: "Why are you here? Is Ronghua Corporation going to cooperate with Shengfa?"
"They want my dad to invest." Qi Xing said casually and since his dad had no such plans, it didn’t matter to say it to outsiders.
Ye Xingzhou frowned at this and said, "Refuse them."
Qi Xing deliberately provoked him: "Why should we do that?"
Ye Xingzhou replied, "I’ll go in with you and you can see how they react."
Qi Xing didn’t understand what he meant but didn’t want to think too much about it. He liked to watch the fun anyway.
"Follow me."
Ye Xingzhou turned around and pushed open the door to the private room.
As soon as Ye Xingzhou followed Qi Xing in, the group of Wang Pengfa and others, who were puffing smoke and feeling high, froze for a moment. Wang Pengfa was the first to react. He stood up with a beaming smile: "Young Master Ye, what brings you here? Your esteemed presence is a great honor. Please, take a seat."
An employee beside Qi Xing made room for him and Ye Xingzhou calmly sat down next to Qi Xing while accepting the cigarette handed over by Wang Pengfa then nodded: "Sorry to interrupt. I happened to be on a business trip here, so I just got off the plane and heard from Qi Xing that you were here, so I came over to have a meal together. I hope President Wang doesn’t mind."
Wang Pengfa's smile became awkward: "Not at all, not at all. I didn’t expect Young Master Ye to know Young Master Qi. It’s a coincidence that we can have this meal together, it’s fate."
Ye Xingzhou replied, "Mm, we do have a good relationship."
Qi Xing scoffed.
You’re my sugar daddy in that kind of relationship.
Afterward, Wang Pengfa called for a few more dishes and the dinner continued. The people at the table were still chatting and laughing but anyone with eyes could see that Wang Pengfa's side felt a bit awkward. They said they didn’t mind but in reality, they were not welcoming Ye Xingzhou’s uninvited presence at all. They probably hadn’t expected Ye Xingzhou to have such a private connection with Qi Xing which caught them off guard.
Qi Xing watched coldly and understood something.
After the dinner, Wang Pengfa no longer mentioned taking Qi Xing out to have fun. He even personally sent him to Ye Xingzhou's car while reminding them to drive safely with his awkward smile.
As the car drove away, Qi Xing turned back to glance at Wang Pengfa and his group then curled his lip and asked Ye Xingzhou, "How did you know I was here?"
"This hotel is the closest to their company," Ye Xingzhou replied calmly, "Shengfa wants to invite you to invest. You coming here is just to help your dad deal with this matter."
Qi Xing asked, "You even know about this? Speak up, what’s the dirty business between you and them?"
Ye Xingzhou loosened his tie and leaned back in his seat: "What do you think their reaction was when they saw me?"
"Awkward, I guess," Qi Xing thought for a moment, "and a bit guilty?"
Ye Xingzhou replied, "Mm. That President Wang’s acting skills are lacking. He can’t even hide his thoughts well. His company has been secretly buying shares of the Ye family on the secondary market for the past few months and it has already exceeded one percent."
Qi Xing blinked, somewhat surprised: "What does he want? Just one percent and you’re already keeping an eye on him? Oh, wait, your Ye family’s one percent of shares must be quite a lot of money, right? Can he come up with such a large sum?"
That money must be in the tens of billions, right? If Wang Pengfa had that much cash, why would he need to bring in others to invest in his own company?
Ye Xingzhou said, "He should have other people backing him. If you don’t want to stir up trouble, just don’t get involved with him."
"How is that possible?" Qi Xing disagreed, "That old Wang is calculating. He wants my dad to invest but doesn’t want to give us any decision-making power. Does he think we’re doing charity? Their company’s performance has been mediocre these past few years. I listened to that report; it was all hot air with nothing to show for it. Why would my dad invest in him?"
As he spoke, his voice paused and he kicked Ye Xingzhou's leg: "What do you mean he has others behind him? Does he want to target the Ye family? Even if my dad really invested in their company, that little bit of money wouldn’t be enough for him to continue buying your Ye family’s stocks, right? Where does he get so much money?"
"We still don’t know. The money he has is suspicious and the purpose is unclear. So I’m still investigating them." Ye Xingzhou frowned and said, "He probably just wants to drag you in as a backup. So, remind your dad not to get involved."
Qi Xing thought to himself that he didn’t need to tell him; his dad was already not interested in Wang Pengfa’s company.
Then he seemed to think of something and asked, "You came here specifically to tell me this, right?"
Ye Xingzhou, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them and glanced at Qi Xing before pausing on his face and asking, "What do you want to hear me say?"
Qi Xing replied, "…Can’t you just tell the truth?"
"Tomorrow I have to attend an investment forum here," Ye Xingzhou explained calmly.
Qi Xing scoffed.
Oh, he remembered now.
That night at that bastard's house when he was on the phone with Lin Zhinian, he mentioned he would be on a business trip during New Year's.
Not wanting to deal with this bastard anymore, Qi Xing leaned back in his seat and continued playing games on his phone.
"What are your plans for tomorrow?" Ye Xingzhou suddenly asked.
Qi Xing’s eyes didn’t leave the phone screen as he casually replied, "Originally, Wang Pengfa had arranged an itinerary for me tomorrow too. But l have someone call them to push it back as it’s just right that I’ve arranged to meet some friends here, so I can play for a few more days."
Ye Xingzhou asked, "What kind of friends?"
Qi Xing huffed, "What do you mean ‘what kind of friends’? They're just regular friends."
He paused his fingers. He exited the game and opened WeChat. He then scrolled down a bit then clicked in.
He even enlarged the other person's WeChat profile picture and held it up in front of Ye Xingzhou: "Do you see clearly? I’ve arranged to meet him these days; he’s my high school classmate and my sexual orientation enlightenment object."
He was deliberately provoking Ye Xingzhou. Because these days, who didn’t have any romantic story from their student days? Did Ye Xingzhou think he was that great?
Ye Xingzhou glanced over; it was a young man who looked quite good.
Qi Xing quickly put his phone away: "So stop bothering me. I won’t have time to serve you these days."
Ye Xingzhou's expression turned cold but he pretended not to know.
The car had already stopped and Qi Xing turned his gaze outside then suddenly realized they weren’t at the hotel he was staying at, but at a courtyard hidden behind the bustling city lights.
"Where is this?"
"My place to stay whenever I come to the capital." Ye Xingzhou casually replied then pushed the door.
Qi Xing hesitated for a moment before following him in. In front of him was a quaint little courtyard with a strong cultural atmosphere. As he entered, he eagerly looked around but when he turned back, he saw Ye Xingzhou had directly closed the courtyard door and locked it.
Qi Xing was taken aback: "Why are you locking it?"
"You’ll stay here till tomorrow. You’re not going anywhere." Ye Xingzhou said expressionlessly and without waiting for Qi Xing to react, he pulled him into the house, closed the door and locked it.
Qi Xing finally came to his senses: "Bastard! What do you want?!"
Ye Xingzhou pushed him against the door while gripping his wrist and leaning in. His eyes were fierce: "Say it again, who are you meeting tomorrow?"
Qi Xing replied, "I’m meeting my high school classmate; what’s it to you?!"
Ye Xingzhou tightened his grip on his hand and warned in a low voice: "What did I tell you last time? No random meetups, didn’t you still not understand that?"
Qi Xing shouted, "Are you crazy?! I’m just having dinner with him!"
Ye Xingzhou’s breath was close: "I said no."