Chapter 106 (1/2)
Masks are Expensive
Outside East Wind Heavy Industries’ great hall, Xia Lei could not help laughing. He did not care how the matter resolved itself but just thinking of Ren Wen-Qiang and Xu Lang’s ugly behaviour in front of so many people made him gleeful and vindicated.
He was not one bit sympathetic towards Ren Wen-Qiang and Xu Lang. If he had not lip-read their conversation in advance and seen Ren Wen-Qiang spike the wine, the one to have made a scene would have been him. If that happened, Xu Zheng-Wen and Ning Yuan-Shan would definitely not speak up for him nor conduct body searches on Ren Wen-Qiang and Xu Lang.
‘Shentu Tian-Yin would probably take care of Ren Wen-Qiang since this made her take a hit to her company’s reputation. Would Ning Jing’s parents still look favourably upon Ren Wen-Qiang as their future son-in-law if he didn’t work for Vientain Group? I hope Ning Jing seizes this chance to rid herself of Ren Wen-Qiang.’ The thought of Ning Jing struck a chord of melancholy in Xia Lei.
“Xia Lei.” A male voice called from behind him.
Xia Lei turned his head to see Mayor Hu Hou and he turned to face him, “Mayor Hu, why have you come outside?”
Hu Hou patted Xia Lei on the shoulder, “Don’t take what happened tonight to heart. I came out to have a talk with you and enlighten you on some matters.”
Xia Lei laughed, “Thank you, Mayor Hu. I’m fine.”
“I was actually the one to get Ning Yuan-Shan to invite you this afternoon and let you attend this dinner party. I was planning to introduce people in the industry to you after the dinner party ended and didn’t expect that something like that would happen. You ended up not making any friends but two enemies instead. Sigh,” said Hu Hou.
Xia Lei then understood that Ning Yuan-Shan did not want to invite him at all and only sent Chi Jing-Qiu to invite him because of Hu Hou. This also explained why Chi Jing-Qiu had driven over to Thunder Horse Manufacturing to invite him to the dinner party at the last minute, not long before the start of the dinner party.
“Mayor Hu, are the two enemies you speak of Xu Zheng-Wen and Ning Yuan-Shan?” said Xia Lei.
Hu Hou smiled wryly, “Are they not?”
“Xu Zheng-Wen is a government employee so I shall not comment,” said Xia Lei, “Ning Yuan-Shan was a rival from before. China Industrial Group worked with East Wind Heavy Industries in the past but they are working with me now so Ning Yuan-Shan sees me as a thorn in his foot. Even if this incident had not occured tonight, he would not see me as a friend.”
Hu Hou was silent for a bit before he spoke, “Do you want to talk to him? I can act as a bridge between you two and say a few words on your behalf. One is the leader of one of the country’s biggest state-owned enterprises and the other is a rising star I am fond of. East Wind Heavy Industries and Thunder Horse Manufacturing are both businesses based in Hai-Zhu City. I do not wish to see in-fighting.”
This seemed to be the reason why Hu Hou had come out after him.
Thunder Horse Manufacturing was just a small, newly-established company while East Wind Heavy Industries was a government-owned enterprise. Thunder Horse Manufacturing had no way to even compare or become a rival of East Wind Heavy Industries. What Hu Hou held in high esteem was the potential of Thunder Horse Manufacturing and the business relations.h.i.+p between Thunder Horse Manufacturing and China Industrial Group. From where he stood, he certainly did not want to see Ning Yuan-Shan create obstacles for Thunder Horse Manufacturing in its growth.
Hu Hou was truly kind and a very good mayor.
“Mayor Hu, I understand your kind intentions and I thank you for it,” said Xia Lei, “But even if I go back in with you, Ning Yuan-Shan will not speak with me. He may accept you acting as a middleman but it will be of no use. I’m not interested in talking with him either. He can do what he wants. He can walk on his broad, open road while I cross my wooden bridge. My way may be more difficult but I will get there in the end.”
Hu Hou sighed but smiled, “Okay, I’ll forget it since you’re not willing to. I also thought that way, but… Never mind. You can go home.”
Xia Lei shook hands with Hu Hou, “Goodbye, Mayor Hu.”
“Work hard. I believe you will definitely make Thunder Horse Manufacturing a big business and our Hai-Zhu City will have another star business to boast of,” said Hu Hou.
Xia Lei laughed, “I’ll definitely work hard.”
“Come to me if you have any difficulties and I’ll help you if I can.”
“Of course. Thank you, Mayor Hu. Goodbye.” Xia Lei bid Hu Hou farewell and walked towards the car park.
When he got to the car park, he remembered that Chi Jing-Qiu had given him a lift and Liang Si-Yao had driven his car away. He took out his phone and was about to call Liang Si-Yao to drive him back when the window of a BMW rolled down and Chi Jing-Qiu stuck her head out, shooting him a smile.
“What are you standing around for? Get in. I’ll send you back,” said Chi Jing-Qiu.
Seeing the bright smile on Chi Jing-Qiu’s face made him admire this woman’s thick-skin and inner strength. She’d been pushed to the ground by Ren Wen-Qiang, molested, had her clothing torn and her bra exposed for all to see in the great hall earlier but here she was acting naturally, as if the earlier incident had never happened.
Xia Lei walked over and got into the car. “Aren’t you afraid of angering Ning Yuan-Shan by driving me back?”
“He’s just a doddering old fool. Why should I worry about him?” Chi Jing-Qiu started the engine as she said, “I really don’t get why he favours a person like Ren Wen-Qiang. If it were me, I’d favour you and definitely get his precious niece to marry you, hee hee.”
Xia Lei frowned, “You’re still in the mood to joke at this time?”
Chi Jing-Qiu swallowed her smile and said seriously, “Actually, Ning Yuan-Shan is not entirely picking on you because of you stealing China Industrial Group’s business away.”
“There’s another reason?”