Chapter 296: Chapter 296 First Meeting_1
The middle-aged man is named Wu Xiuhai, the head of the Wu Corporation in Canglangzhou.
Before coming today, he knew that in addition to the three top-tier bosses, there was another even more heavyweight figure.
In his opinion, such a heavyweight figure, if not white-haired, should at least be a man of a certain age.
But he would have never imagined the person would be so young.
Looking to be only about twenty-one or twenty-two?
Once seated, the three old men and Ye Fei exchanged pleasantries.
Then Zhu Guangbo pointed with his hand, and Wu Xiuhai hurriedly bent forward to step up.
"Mr. Ye, let me introduce a new friend. Wu Xiuhai, who started working with me when I first set up my business. He now has his own company, a sizable listed group."
"Xiao Wu, don’t hesitate to pay respects to Mr. Ye!"
With a glance from Zhu Guangbo, Wu Xiuhai immediately performed a deep bow, nearly to the point of kneeling.
"I have long admired Mr. Ye’s great reputation and deeply regretted that we’ve never met. To behold you today, you truly are heroic and imposing—a young hero indeed! It is my great fortune to make your acquaintance, a thrice-lucky blessing, and even in death, I shall harbor no regrets!"
With one speech, he amused the three elders into hearty laughter.
"Xiao Wu, your mouth is really something else, sweet as honey. Even us bystanders are getting dizzy from your words."
"Where, where, I’ve only made the elders laugh with my modest truth," Wu Xiuhai said, performing another ceremonious bow.
Ye Fei took all this in but did not share the elders’ joy.
On the contrary, he felt Wu Xiuhai was a bit too sycophantic and probably not a true gentleman.
However, for the sake of Zhu Guangbo, Ye Fei did not show his thoughts on his face, merely nodding slightly in acknowledgment.
"By the way, Mr. Ye, for our meeting today, I’ve prepared a humble gift for you and I hope you won’t disdain it."
With that, Wu Xiuhai waved to his subordinate.
The latter immediately brought over a sandalwood box.
Wu Xiuhai slowly opened the wooden box, and instantaneously, a silvery light shot out from the box.
A round and large pearl appeared before everyone’s eyes.
"Yo! This must be the Canghai Yue Ming Pearl!"
As a connoisseur of antiques, Bai Yunfei recognized it at a glance.
"To manage to obtain such a large one is quite difficult! Xiao Wu, your sincerity truly shines as clearly as the sun and moon."
"Thank you for the praise, Elder Bai."
Seeing that he didn’t need to boast, as someone was already doing the advertising for him, Wu Xiuhai felt somewhat proud internally.
In his opinion, who wouldn’t like such a precious jewel?
Especially a young man in his twenties.
Even if his status were high and his experience vast, within his limited years, he probably rarely encountered such rare treasures.
After all, even Zhu Guangbo and Bu Hongwei were staring agape.
Just as Wu Xiuhai thought Ye Fei would also be shocked,
he found that the latter merely glanced over it nonchalantly and shifted his attention away.
"Boss Wu, as you said, we’re meeting for the first time. I cannot accept a reward without merit, so please take your gift back."
"This..."
Wu Xiuhai was awkwardly caught on the spot.
He was utterly baffled.
What was this, being not interested?
Other high-ranking figures would likely have accepted it without a second thought.
What’s wrong with this young man?
Wu Xiuhai glanced at Zhu Guangbo.
The latter didn’t dare go against Ye Fei’s wishes and hurriedly tried to smooth things over: "Mr. Ye is right, there’s no need for these meaningless things the first time we meet. Please, let’s just sit down and drink."
"Right, right, right, I’ve specifically requested the boss of Dongge Bay to prepare a bottle of aged fine wine for us. I assure you all, you’ll love it!"
Bu Hongwei also helped to smooth over the awkwardness.
The embarrassing atmosphere finally dissipated.
The group ate and chatted with enthusiasm.
Except for Wu Xiuhai, who sat on the edge of his chair somewhat removed from the group, halfway perched on his seat.
Whenever the bosses emptied their glasses, he would immediately stand up to personally refill them.
He was effectively acting like an attendant.
Yet even so, Wu Xiuhai was inwardly thrilled.
To dine at the same table with these figures who could cover the sky with one hand in the southeastern part of Daxia
was something countless people dreamt of.
He could already envision his imminent ascent to the top.
After several rounds of drinks, Su Yueru called specifically.
She worried about Xiao Tingting, a young girl accompanying a group of wealthy and powerful old men, possibly running into trouble.
So she specially instructed Ye Fei to attend to her if there was nothing pressing on his schedule.
With the wife’s orders given, Ye Fei dared not disobey.
So he phoned Du Kai to inquire about the situation. However, surprisingly, the phone was switched off.
Ye Fei instinctively felt something was amiss and decided to ask the front desk which private room Du Kai and the others were in.
On Ye Fei’s way to the front desk,
two slick-looking second-generation rich kids happened to walk by, whispering to each other.
"Young Master Wu, who would have thought that the little missy Xiao Tingting would be so difficult to handle, impervious to both soft and hard tactics! But don’t worry, I’ve already prepared the drug. I’ll slip it into her drink in a bit. Then, Young Master Wu, you can do as you please!"
"Bullshit about drugging! Am I the kind of person to do such disgusting things? I’ve always liked taking things by force!"
"She refused our kind offer, didn’t she? Well then! Today, I must take care of her once and for all!"
