Chapter 104 - 6: The Imported Red Wine Tastes Good
Chapter 104: Chapter 6: The Imported Red Wine Tastes Good
"Chengxi is back. How is that guy? Did you find out anything about his background?"
Si Mingxin could tell at a glance that Chu Chengxi had been at a disadvantage; his expression was terrible. However, he didn’t point it out directly, waiting for Chu Chengxi to vent about it himself.
"Don’t even mention it! That guy is just a vulgar brute! A nouveau riche! A reckless fool!" Chu Chengxi took a large gulp of champagne and cursed a few more times before gradually calming down.
This was the innermost circle of Si Mingxin’s social group. At the moment, only a few of his most loyal confidants were present, while their female companions were gathered on the periphery chatting. Therefore, Chu Chengxi wasn’t afraid of ruining his image here.
Once he had vented enough, Si Mingxin gently swirled his glass, took a sip of the expensive red wine, and asked slowly, "Tell me exactly what happened."
Naturally, Chu Chengxi wouldn’t recount his own embarrassing moments. He embellished the story and gave a rough summary of what occurred.
Based on his understanding of Chu Chengxi, Si Mingxin mentally reconstructed the truth of the matter. He nodded slightly. This Zhang Yan was pretty much exactly as he had judged. His family must have had some stroke of luck, making him a typical nouveau riche with neither a solid foundation nor any real shrewdness. He wasn’t someone Si Mingxin needed to personally win over.
"Brother Xin, regarding Ren Jintian’s matter last time, I only stalled on purpose to coordinate with your strategy. But it ended up being unexpectedly derailed by this kid Zhang Yan. Shouldn’t we teach him a lesson?"
Si Mingxin’s eyes flashed.
Chu Chengxi appeared reckless, seeming to just want to borrow Si Mingxin’s power to get back at Zhang Yan. In reality, he was pointing out the losses he had suffered in the Ren Jintian incident to demand compensation from Si Mingxin.
They were all gathered together for profit. If Si Mingxin didn’t offer any token of appreciation, others would naturally start cutting corners when cooperating with his strategic intentions in the future.
"Chengxi, I have twenty million in project funds here. I’ll leave it with you for two months. I won’t need it during this time, so you can keep it safe for me.
"And stop being angry. That Zhang Yan is just a reckless fool, not worth worrying about. We can teach him a lesson later with a casual arrangement. Right now, we have more important things to do.
"Only by taking down Si Mingzhan in one fell swoop can our brothers’ grand business vision be realized as soon as possible."
Having received satisfactory compensation, Chu Chengxi put on a serious expression and said, "Brother Xin, just give the order. We brothers will all listen to you!"
After discussing with the group for a long while and making numerous plans and countermeasures, Si Mingxin finally found a rare moment to rest. A woman with a graceful figure walked up behind him and gently massaged his temples.
Si Mingxin reviewed his plan once more, ensuring there were no loopholes. But suddenly, for no reason, he thought of Zhang Yan again.
He thought, "What if his transaction with Ren Jintian isn’t an accident? Si Mingcheng seems to still maintain some connection with Ren Junfei..."
It probably wasn’t the case. He was an accurate judge of character, and he didn’t think Zhang Yan was the type to be calculating and capable of masterminding such schemes. Furthermore, the financial hole on Ren Jintian’s side wasn’t something a mere ten or twenty million could plug. Si Mingcheng had neither the ability nor the reason to do so.
He temporarily filed the matter away in his mind, planning to observe any future developments.
The entire Meng City was certainly not dominated solely by the Si Family. There were several enterprises of a similar scale, such as Pudu Pharmaceutical, Middle East Group, and Haoyue Group. For these corporate behemoths, apart from the Middle East Group and Ouya Group—which were in the same industry and engaged in fierce, cutthroat competition—the others operated in different sectors and got along quite harmoniously.
They all had their own circles; they neither needed to pander to nor oppose anyone. Who ultimately became the heir of the Ouya Group made no difference to them.
Among the few enterprises that placed heavy bets and formed deep ties, Si Mingxin had the support of six, Si Mingzhan had three, and Si Mingcheng once had four.
The majority of the remaining companies were fence-sitters. They wouldn’t actively show favor to anyone; they basically just supported whoever offered the most short-term benefits. The three Si siblings tacitly agreed not to waste their energy trying to win over these factions. After all, this was merely an internal succession dispute within a corporation, not a bloody battle for an imperial throne. Empty verbal support from outsiders was useless; these companies just wanted to siphon off some profits. And bleeding their own family dry to feed outsiders would only guarantee they were the first to be eliminated.
At this banquet, although everyone gathered with the stated intentions of "strengthening communication within the circle" and "promoting multilateral cooperation," in reality, they were divided into independent little cliques. Those inside a circle were unwilling to step out, and it was very difficult for outsiders to break in.
The heirs of the major corporate behemoths formed the core of each circle, surrounded by the second generation of upstream and downstream suppliers or distributors. Apart from the Ouya Group, the helmsmen of the other groups were relatively normal and didn’t play any "winner-takes-all" games. The disputes among their heirs were nowhere near as fierce as those of the Si siblings, so they could still coexist in the same circles.
The Si siblings, however, were distinctly divided into two circles—one large and one small. Si Mingcheng was nowhere to be seen.
Zhang Yan noticed that Huo Shaoqi, Hua Wenbin, and Ren Junfei, whom he had met before, were all chatting with people on the periphery of Si Mingzhan’s circle. When they saw Zhang Yan, they simply made a gesture signaling they would talk later instead of coming over immediately. Clearly, in terms of their priority of interests, Zhang Yan didn’t rank very high at the moment.
Everyone was busy conversing. The only isolated, neglected people left in the entire venue were Zhang Yan and Xia Xiqing.