He mentioned it, and Bai Yi remembered.
Years ago, when he was flush with cash, he had casually acquired a manor. Later, he entrusted it to an elderly couple to manage. After a few years, the couple wrote to him saying they had discovered a pure white tulip in the manor. Bai Yi, with his keen eye, marketed it as "White Moonlight," removing excess flowers to create artificial scarcity, which earned him a small reputation in the circle.
During Huanya's stock price turbulence, he leveraged the inflated value of this flower to secure small investments by gifting it.
"Later, a trend of blindly buying manors arose in the circle. I followed the trend and actually got some good stuff."
Bai Yi chuckled, "The Second Young Master has discerning eyes."
Randy was enlightened, "I remember that tulip. My mother was very interested. I was thinking of buying a few from you this time."
The manor's latitude is different from China's, so the flowering season is approaching. Bai Yi nodded, "Of course, I'll have someone airfreight them over."
"Isn't this a coincidence?" Qian Jin swirled his glass, "Bordeaux pairs well with tulip glasses."
He wasn't stingy with these good wines. The waiter slowly poured the deep liquid into tulip glasses, drawing an arc in the air. The scent of dark fruit and oak slowly wafted through the room.
Bai Yi took a sip. The fragrance spread between his lips and teeth.
The balance was good. The mellow aroma of the wine suppressed the greenness, and the retained bitterness stimulated the sweetness of the taste buds.
"We're all old classmates. Bai, can you guide us if you have connections?"
"Yes, the stock price was so volatile at the time, and Bai turned the tide by himself. It's still talked about in the circle."
"That's right. I wonder how Mr. Bai Senior is doing lately?"
Accustomed to the hypocrisy of the world of fame and fortune, Bai Yi slowly deflected the questions with skillful ease. Outsiders said he was on good terms with Randy, but in reality, he was only notified of Randy's arrival in China. This relationship wasn't enough to gain the favor of the entire Astray.
"I heard that Mr. Randy came to China to adjust the domestic production line? I wonder what direction you plan to develop?"
Randy, having been plied with drinks, was slightly tipsy, "Labor costs are too high, so we're shifting towards automation. If any of you are interested, you can all bid."
"Automation? Huanya's hardware is the best in the country. It seems this will be a strong alliance again. I wonder if we can get a piece of the pie."
"Recently, isn't there a small company with no reputation that's been gaining momentum? I think it's called 'Xinhe'? They don't have any connections or investment in hardware, but the behind-the-scenes boss actually got government contracts."
"How do you know so much?"
"They're going to do that batch of infrastructure renovation, and they'll need a lot of raw materials. I have to find a way to eat that up!"
"Boss Su, you seem to be planning to encourage this 'Xinhe' to compete with Huanya in front of Bai?"
"I never said that. Don't spread rumors."
Xinhe Technology.
Bai Yi had heard of it. A dark horse in the industry, whose behind-the-scenes controller was very mysterious and had never publicly appeared online. This small company, which had been established for less than a year, had managed to bite off a piece of meat from Huanya's hands.
It's going downhill in my hands.
No matter what he thought in his heart, Bai Yi didn't show it on his face, as if these power struggles had nothing to do with him.
"Astray's partner hasn't been decided yet. Don't praise me too much, everyone, or the disappointment will be unbearable."
Qian Jin smoothed things over, "Naturally, it's fair competition, otherwise why would Mr. Randy travel thousands of miles to China?"
With a "guarantee," some thoughts began to stir. Many people toasted Randy, and "the biggest competitor," Bai Yi, was also "taken care of" a lot.
As he drank cup after cup, his brain began to slow down.
Bai Yi unbuttoned a button on his collar, using his tie knot to cover it slightly.
It seems… a little uncomfortable.
Could this wine be too strong?
Randy's welcome banquet only invited some old friends. Everyone came without assistants and had to drink hard on their own. The opportunity was rare, and everyone was going all out, with the tendency to not give up until they drank this blond hair down and signed the contract.
Randy had a good tolerance for alcohol. He drank a circle of people under the table, and the tide in his blue eyes moistened the desert, "Chinese people, want to drink more?"
"If we drink any more, we'll be swallowing dates whole and wasting good wine."
"We won't go home until we're drunk! The Qian Family Hotel is downstairs!"
"No, no, let me rest for a few cups."
If there were a mirror at this moment, Bai Yi would be able to see the amazing blush on the corners of his eyes, like two entangled red carps, swimming with the flutter of his dark eyelashes, stirring the light in his eyes.
The drunkenness of a serious person is even more noticeable. Just a tie knot falling at the throat doesn't seem like a cover, but rather some kind of coy invitation.
Qian Jin's Adam's apple bobbed, "It's no fun just drinking. Let's add something else."
Bai Yi lazily raised his eyes and asked curiously, "What does Mr. Qian want?"
His voice was a bit nasal, like a lover's whisper.
Qian Jin summoned a waiter pushing a trolley, "If Mr. Bai doesn't accompany Mr. Randy for a good time, we can't let you leave."
Besides wine, there was also a deck of cards on the trolley.
"It's very simple. The person who draws the Joker gets to designate two people to drink. We'll use our abilities to drink Mr. Randy down, and exchange it for Astray's first choice. How about that?"
He didn't say it explicitly, but the implication in his words was already very obvious.
The Qian Family and Astray jointly organized the game. His words could represent Randy to some extent. Regardless of whether he could win this round of cooperation, if he really managed to get Randy drunk, even a little bit of what Astray leaked between its fingers would be enough for a small company to eat its fill.
It's really a piece of fat hanging in front of vicious dogs.
"Mr. Qian is adding rules, so are there any rewards?"
"Yes, whoever wins, the Qian Family will jointly develop the West Side Commercial District with him."
The room fell silent, followed by gasps of cold air rising and falling.
"Mr. Qian is generous. I'll toast you!"
Qian Jin pushed it away with two fingers, "Don't try to ply me with drinks before the game starts. However, there are also conditions. If anyone really drinks Mr. Randy down, then please share a piece of the pie with the Qian Family in this cooperation with Astray. Everyone, want to play?"
-
The news that "Astray's young master and the Qian Family's second young master are having a drinking contest" quickly spread like wildfire throughout the venue. The Qian Family Hotel has a wine cellar, and Qian Jin directly asked people to carry it up. The small wine glasses shone brightly under the lights. The silk-like liquid shook lightly,The dawn light.
"In order to prevent the situation in the venue from leaking, causing unnecessary impact to everyone, please hand over all electronic devices on your person if you are willing to participate."
The wine in the cellar was very diverse. Bai Yi was lucky enough not to be selected in the first few rounds. The selected people opened the wine one by one, because it was a drinking relay, it was inevitable to encounter the bottom of the bottle. Qian Jin specifically asked people to change the packaging, so no one knew the properties of the next bottle of wine before it was opened. If you were unlucky enough to encounter two kinds of wine mixed together, a few sips would blow up a mushroom cloud in your brain.
Drinking on an empty stomach leads to quick intoxication; drinking on a full stomach makes one feel bloated.
A Qing was responsible for pouring the wine. He deliberately dressed like a student, and the humble and docile appearance was used to grope for some advantages, and his face was inevitably unable to hold back, but Qian Jin did not stop him, and he could not rashly affect the atmosphere in the venue.
The rabbit mask on the stage continued to play the piano. This time he chose an impassioned song, and the grand tune inadvertently stirred the combative elements in people's hearts, tightening and loosening, firmly grasping the psychology of a "gambler."
Many people in the audience were red-eyed and competing, with fierce light in their eyes as the game progressed round by round.
Suddenly, a small-scale commotion came.
"Ugh-"
"Boss Su, are you okay? Hurry, waiter!"
"Boss Su" covered his stomach, staring at the mess with a look of disgust, grabbed a glass of wine to rinse his mouth, and declined the waiter's help: "I made everyone laugh, I will continue."
Qian Jin knocked lightly on the table with his finger: "No, I said before, no vomiting."
"I'm not vomiting..."
"Boss Su, don't be unable to afford to play."
"Boss Su's" face suddenly became decadent. He was helped off the table by the waiter and left the venue in a daze. The traces he left were quickly cleaned up by Qian Jin's people, and the tablecloth, wine and food were completely replaced with wine seats.
"Is there anyone who can't drink anymore and wants to back out? If you make a public spectacle like Boss Su, it will be disappointing."
Compared with cooperation, losing face in front of acquaintances and not pleasing anyone obviously influenced many people's decisions. Soon, many people chose to quit, but more people chose to continue under the temptation of huge profits.
Bai Yi compared his palm to his lower abdomen, but fortunately, there was a hard suit to rein it in, so as not to deform his body.
To be honest, he was very tempted by both collaborations.
"I… continue too."
In the next round, the Joker fell into Qian Jin's hands, and his eyebrows raised, and his smile also became drunken: "Club A and Diamond 7… let me see, which lucky one is this bottle bottom?"
Bai Yi showed his card and responded helplessly, "It's me, please be merciful, Mr. Qian."
Randy clamped the card with his fingers and turned it gently: "The other one is me. Bunny, I remember you're not a big drinker."
"I'll keep you company at the cost of my life." As Bai Yi spoke, there was a bit more seriousness in his eyes. Both Astray and Zhang Dexing wanted to develop the domestic market, and cooperation with them was an opportunity for domestic enterprises to go to the world. As for the Qian Family's land, the most valuable thing inside was an ancient temple, and the cooperation with the government to develop a business district was a foregone conclusion.
The previous bottle bottom was champagne. Randy was unexpectedly serious. His golden curly hair was styled neatly with hair gel, restrained his rascal look, and also had some qualities of a superior. The cup was held in his hand as a slightly tipsy tulip, swaying with the music.
The next bottle…
A clear, spicy mist emerged from the mouth of the bottle, and a light green liquid poured out.
"Is there anything so strong..."