On the day of the banquet, Chu Zhou City was filled with clamors and actions that it had never seen before.
Here one could not just find businessmen and women from Clear Water, Tin He, Jiang Zhou City, and Hai Zhou, but also magnates from Jiang Zhou City and Dong Jiang City. The scale and sheer size of the banquet exceeded Chen Fan’s imagination.
When he arrived at the entrance, he found that the parking lot of the Tian Sheng Hotel was packed with luxurious cars.
There were Mercedes S, Audi A8, BMW 7, Lexus LS and even Porsche 911.
Even the cheapest vehicles were worth over a million. Judging by the license plates, a significant number of the guests were from outside of the province. There were a dozen Rolls-Royce Phantoms with extremely rare license plate numbers that were usually reserved for the most powerful of the city.
“Holy shit! What is going on today?” People outside of the hotel exclaimed.
“Could it be that Boss Shen is back? I have never seen so many rich people gathering together before.” Another onlooker rubbed his chin and guessed.
Zhang Yumeng walked past them and sneered at the two onlookers.
“Country hillbillies! ”
Nonetheless, he was shocked by the grand scale of the event as much as everyone else.
She had thought the meeting was only for the rich and powerful in the Jiang Bei region; however, it seemed that all important figures across the entire province had joined in.
“Ran-Ran, I think we have underestimated the influence of Master Chen.” Zhang Yumeng pouted.
Jiang Churan didn’t answer the question as she was still internalizing the shock.
She had a nagging feeling that Master Chen was already more powerful than the richest man of the Jiang Bei Region: Sheng Ronghua. It was as if Master Chen were to succeed Sheng Ronghua and became the new number one of Jiang Bei.
“You are finally here, come on in! I have begged my dad to get these few extra tickets.” Yang Chao ran toward his friends and waved a few tickets in his hands.
“Oh, come on! The great hall in your dad’s hotel is big enough for at least a thousand!” Zhang Yumeng complained.
“Your ladyship, this is not just any event.” Yang Chao refuted wryly. “More than half of Jiang Bei’s magnates are going to attend the meeting. What’s worse, most of them didn’t even have an invitation. My father didn’t want to ruffle the wrong feathers, so he turned to The Third Lord Wei for his opinion.”
“The Third Lord told him that only those who owned a hundred million in assets were allowed to partake in the event.”
“A hundred million!” Zhang Yumeng was shocked.
Her family’s wealth was just over that number which would make her the poorest inside the hotel.
“Let’s move.” Jiang Churan urged.
When everyone entered the hotel, they found themselves surrounded by stately looking tycoons and their scantily clad secretaries offering each other tired compliments…
“Boss Zhang, nice to see you! I have heard you acquired a piece of land in Jin City that were worth a few hundred million.”
“Indeed. This is Master Chen’s event; I had to make it. You know what I mean. Haha! Boss Xu, I have heard your company is about to go public; you are going to become the CEO!”
“Everyone is going public nowadays; I am just trying to make a living. Compared to your business; mine is peanuts.”
“Gosh, I feel that I don’t belong here.” Zhang Yumeng furrowed her brows and lamented.
“This is a gathering of the successful and elites of the Jiang Bei Region, let’s just stay in a corner and observe. Our time will come, in ten or twenty years.” Jiang Churan said calmly.
The reception was a buffet; the group of teenagers quickly retreated the food bar and started working on the appetizers.
“Ran-Ran, Li Yichen and Chu Minhui are here.” Zhang Yumeng jabbed Jiang Churan lightly and pointed to the entrance.
“How did they get in?” Xu Rongfei asked.
“They texted me and said that they came in with Wei Zipin.” Zhang Yumeng said.
“Wei Zipin? The Young Lord Wei is back?” Jiang Churan furrowed her brows. Wei Zipin was the most infamous rat of the Wei Family. Thanks to him, the reputation of the Wei Family was in tatters.
He was stupid, arrogant and aggressive, the most spoiled brat one could ever imagine.
Compare to him, Li Yichen and Chu Minhui seemed to be well-behaved gentlemen.
“Not just him, Wang Jun is also back. We are only missing Shen Junwen now.” Zhang Yumeng said excitedly.
Jiang Churan shook her head grimly.
Although Wang Jun did not have as bad of a reputation as Wei Zipin, he was not much better than his peers.
…
Chen Fan was shocked when he arrived at the hotel.
“What is going on?”
When the excited face of Liu Guodong he saw a few days ago suddenly came back into his mind, Chen Fan finally realized the draw of the event to the magnates: the Heavenly Water.
If the heavenly water was treasured by someone as resourceful as Liu Guodong, it must be highly sought after among other lesser lords of the Jiang Bei region.
Once he showed the guard his invitation, he walked into the event.
Most of the attendees were still on their way, and the hall was half empty. The magnates had formed a few circles as they chatted and discussed business with each other.
“Mr. Chen, long time no see!”
A woman’s surprised voice came up from behind Chen Fan.
It was Han Yun, the oldest member of Xu Rongfei’s clique.
“Long time no see.” Chen fan nodded. “Are you here with Old man Zhen?”
“Yes. As soon as Mr. Zhen knew you were hosting a meeting, he booked his ticket right away.” Han Yun was in a red dress that tightly wrapped around her body. She wore a bun that hung down from the top of her head and a few gentle touches of makeup at the corner and under her eyelids.
She batted her lashes as she stared at the young boy who had disappeared for three months. A mix of remorse and joy came up inside of her.
She regretted not making a move as quickly as possible and let the opportunity slip through her fingers. However, she was happy to see that he was back and better than ever. He was no longer the guest of Chu Zhou City’s magnates; instead, he had transformed into the most powerful and influential figure of the entire Jiang Bei region.
“I wager that he is more powerful than the old man Zhen now.”
Han Yun’s face bloomed like a cherry blossom as she inched toward Chen Fan.
Chen Fan was slightly creeped out by the girl, and even as he was about to push the young woman away, he heard another musical voice behind him.
“Sister Han? Chen Fan?”
Xu Rongfei covered her face to suppress a cry. Beside her were Jiang Churan, Zhang Yumeng, Li Yichen, Chu Minhui, and their friends. Jiang Churan was holding a plate, and her face was cold as ice.
Han Yun was unfazed by the interruption; she turned around and left Chen Fan.
“Ran-Ran, Meng-Meng, and Fei-Fei, why are you girls here?”
“We want to see what Master Chen look like.” Zhang Yumeng shouted excitedly. “Liu Teng from the City of Clear Water told us that Master Chen is only in his twenties. Can you imagine that?”
Han Yun cracked a smile and looked to Chen Fan quietly.
Chen Fan was about to say something, but he was cut short by an arrogant voice.
“Is that Chen Fan?”
Chen Fan turned around and saw a bratty looking young man glancing at him with a crooked neck.
“You are?” Chen Fan furrowed his brows.
“Humph! You don’t even know me?” The young man’s lip twitched a little and continued. “My name is Wei Zipin.”
“Wei Fu is my grandpa, Wei Changfen is my dad, and Wei Ziqin is my sister.”
“Do you know who I am now?”
“I am sorry Young Lord Wei, Chen Fan is new in the Chu Zhou City. He used to live in Si Shui County. Please forgive his ignorance.” Li Yichen explained.
“Hehe, Si Shui County?” Wei Zipin smiled contemptuously. “I met someone called Wu Junjie from your county, and he tried to befriend me. I gave him a knuckle sandwich and told him to fuck off. Haha!”
“I don’t make friends with hillbillies.”
“They are disgusting.”
Everyone’s face paled after hearing the young man’s words.
Chen Fan’s eyes grew colder by the second.
Wu Junjie was the son of a businessman from Si Shui County, one of Chen Fan’s childhood friends.
Chen Fan lifted the cup of wine with a knot of fire already burning inside of his belly.