"Ruth?"
After Li Qingyuan had chatted with the naive young lady for about half an hour, the original storyline's wronged party, Ruth's fiancé, Carl, finally appeared.
Carl had been chatting amiably with others in the ballroom when he turned around and realized his fiancée had disappeared.
Instantly feeling a green light flashing above his head, Carl quickly rushed out with his bodyguards. He knew his fiancée wasn't entirely right in the head, and who knew what strange things she might do on a whim.
Fortunately, when Carl found Ruth, she was talking to someone else, fully dressed.
While a man and a woman chatting together late at night might seem a bit suggestive, if there were two men and one woman, it probably wouldn't be a problem!
That was also why Li Qingyuan hadn't chased away the clumsy third wheel.
Jack, that kid, could not only serve as a background character but also as a witness for himself!
Otherwise, judging by the fiery gaze Ruth was giving him, who knew what evil thoughts she might have?
Never underestimate the enthusiasm of a rabid fan. They're basically a bunch of irrational people.
"Carl! This is the great poet Li Qingyuan, from the distant East!" Ruth excitedly introduced him to her fiancé.
"Hello, should I address you as Mr. Li?" As a millionaire, Carl Hawkey was far more knowledgeable than his naive fiancé and the poor boy, Jack.
At the very least, he knew how to address someone correctly.
"Is Mr. Hawkey the president of the Hawkey Group?" Li Qingyuan reached out and shook hands with the green-hatted king from the original story, and then asked.
"Yes, Mr. Li, are you also interested in the steel industry?" Carl frowned slightly. Although he was somewhat displeased by the sudden appearance of two men around Ruth, he could only suppress his unhappiness for the sake of his fiancé.
"Actually, besides being a poet, I also serve as an advisor to Prince Qing. He's looking for a partner in the United States. I wonder if Mr. Hawkey is interested," Li Qingyuan said, ignoring the contempt in Carl's eyes.
"Prince Qing? The Prince Qing of the Qing Dynasty?" Carl had initially looked down on Li Qingyuan. For a wealthy man like him, who belonged to the top tier of the Western world, despising people from the East was simply politically correct.
However, when Li Qingyuan explained his intentions, Carl's eyes lit up, and he excitedly grasped the other man's hands.
There was nothing he could do. As a businessman, Carl pursued profit. As the chairman of the Hawkey Group, he couldn't be like Ruth, who only cared about romance and leisure.
Prince Qing, Yikuang. Many people might not have heard of him, but in this day and age, he was truly famous.
This old man was more well-known in Europe and America than even the Empress Dowager Cixi. Many people wouldn't bother to know the names of the leaders in the Middle East or Africa, but they would know something about figures who were directly related to them.
Yikuang's immense fame in Europe and America was primarily due to his wealth. This old man's Qing Ji Company openly sold all the official positions in the entire Qing Dynasty, from the ministers of the six ministries to ambassadors and county magistrates, all with cash on delivery.
Even Yuan Shikai spent three million taels of silver to buy an official position from him. One could imagine how ruthless this old man was! Moreover, Yikuang never kept his money in China. He converted all of it into pounds and dollars, depositing it in banks around the world. He was definitely the first person in the country to diversify investments and be a "naked official."
According to incomplete statistics, Yikuang had deposited no less than seven million pounds in the British HSBC Bank alone.
Consider that even the construction of the Titanic cost only one million five hundred thousand pounds, and building a top-of-the-line Dreadnought, currently the world's best, only required two million five hundred thousand pounds.
It can be said that Yikuang, Prince Qing, was now undoubtedly the richest man in the world. Although Carl Hawkey was also a millionaire, he was nothing compared to Prince Qing!
For capitalists, they only care about the amount of money, and they wouldn't treat someone differently just because they were an Oriental.
In this day and age, what did race, skin color, or social status matter? Money was what mattered!
Li Qingyuan knew that if he wanted to get into first class, relying on Ruth, that infatuated woman, was simply hopeless. In the original story, the fat woman Molly Brown invested in Jack because he was a handsome white guy; who knew what strange ideas that woman had.
But if he wanted to become one with these upper-class people, relying solely on Ruth was absolutely useless; the key was to rely on those who truly held power.
Just like now, the people sitting around him!
Being a staff member of Prince Qing was more useful than anything else. In just half an hour, the people surrounding him had changed from that infatuated Ruth to several directors of major companies.
As the saying goes, "Parents are not as close as money." Rich people, no matter where they are, will absolutely be treated like ancestors and revered.
The situation in the Qing Dynasty was not good. Perhaps for those lower-class tourists, they hadn't even heard of the term "Qing Dynasty," but for everyone sitting in this box, their horizons were much higher than those in the third class.
In recent years, Qing Dynasty officials had been continuously transferring their assets to England, but they had never encountered a super big boss like Prince Qing.
After all, that old man was very shrewd. Regardless of Yuan the Great or Sun the Cannon, they owed him a lot of favors, so even though the emperor had changed several times later, he still managed to die peacefully.
However, even within the Qing Dynasty, few people knew about this, let alone this group of Britons on the other side of the world!
It wasn't that no one had suspected Li Qingyuan's identity, but in this day and age, finding a Qing Dynasty person who was completely familiar with the international situation and the internal environment of the Qing Dynasty, and also knew about astronomy, geography, and spoke English fluently, was not any easier than catching an alien.
Plus, with Carl Hawkey's recommendation, Li Qingyuan successfully infiltrated the enemy within half a day, becoming a first-class passenger and also becoming a great fat sheep in the eyes of countless merchants!
That was Prince Qing, who was said to have assets worth tens of millions, enough to rival a country's wealth. Even if the other party just let a little bit slip through his fingers, it would be enough for Li Qingyuan to live comfortably for several lifetimes.
Moreover, Li Qingyuan had been a failed writer for over a decade, so he knew some basic economic concepts. While he certainly couldn't create a detailed business plan, he could easily pretend to be an expert and offer a few pointers.
So, by the next morning, he had become the most sought-after person on the entire ship. Invitations to visit him were already scheduled two months out.
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