Inside the Sea-Viewing Tower, a middle-aged man with a dark spot on his face was using the restroom with Cen Wenqing, the vice president of the Shanghai Steamship Association. After glancing at the servants in the distance, the middle-aged man asked Cen Wenqing in a low voice.
Cen Wenqing is 44 years old this year, but he has been sitting in this position for 10 years. The middle-aged man with dark spots next to him is named Liao Donggui. Like Cen Wenqing, he started his business in Tianjin and later went to Shanghai Bund to establish himself. He is a fellow townsman, colleague and friend of Cen Wenqing for many years.
At this moment, Liao Donggui spoke. Cen Wenqing glanced at him, then smiled, fastened his belt, walked to the sink, turned on the tap to wash his hands, and looked at Liao Donggui in the mirror.
"I don't know anything. It's just that my son, A-De, is on good terms with Uncle Shui from Boss Yu's family, so he wanted to help Uncle Shui get revenge."
"I know, I know," Liao Donggui nodded and said, "Then I'll tell Boss Yu I have to leave."
After saying that, Liao Donggui left quickly without even washing his hands.
Looking at the empty mirror, Cen Wenqing shook the water off his hands and took a towel to dry them. "Old Liao, what a pity. The thing you heard was deliberately leaked by me. How come you're the one who heard it?"
The two Black Jockey -Black Jockeys glanced back, and one of them said to Chu Xiaoxin, "The one wearing sunglasses is the mistress of a small bank owner, named Suki. I haven't seen the woman in the dress before; she's probably her companion. We've dealt with Suki before, but she's never been to a hotel. At most, we've had drinks and played cards together. As for whether Mr. Chu and Mr. Song can get them into bed tonight, that's up to yourselves."
"Brother Jie, we made an appointment for seven o'clock, and you're here so early?" The woman named Suki led Lu Yuanchun to this table under the guidance of the waiter. After the waiter pulled out a chair, Suki sat down directly, smiled at the two Black Jockeys, and then fixed her eyes on Chu Xiaoxin and Song Tianyao.
When Lu Yuanchun first saw Song Tianyao and Chu Xiaoxin, he was momentarily stunned, but quickly regained his composure and sat down next to Suki. Suki flipped through the menu without introducing Lu Yuanchun to the group, simply looking at it herself while exchanging pleasantries with the two Black Jockeys. The atmosphere was somewhat awkward among the remaining three: Song Tianyao, Lu Yuanchun, and Chu Xiaoxin. Lu Yuanchun had no idea what the two opposite him were up to, and Song Tianyao and Chu Xiaoxin couldn't admit their true identities at this moment, so although they knew each other, they remained silent.
Chu Xiaoxin nudged Song Tianyao under the table with his foot. "Wait, you take Miss Lu, I'll take Suki."
"Hey, now that we know each other, isn't it a bit inappropriate to continue?" Song Tianyao whispered in Chu Xiaoxin's ear, "What if Miss Lu tells her friend your real identity? Aren't you afraid of being embarrassed?"
"So now you need to take the initiative and try to coordinate your statements with Miss Lu to prevent me from being exposed."
"You expect me to come up with a solution at a time like this?" Song Tianyao glared at Chu Xiaoxin: "How are you supposed to think about this in front of everyone?"
"I don't care, I'm your Big Brother, I only care about the results." Chu Xiaoxin said, covering his forehead with his hand, somewhat embarrassed.
Song Tianyao turned his head to look at a picture of Nottingham Castle hanging on the wall in the distance, and towards the direction of the restroom. Then he looked at Lu Yuanchun, who was staring at him, picked up the brandy on the table, took a sip, and then looked at Lu Yuanchun opposite him. "This young lady looks familiar. I wonder if you studied in Britain? I studied at the University of Nottingham."
"And this gentleman is...? I did indeed study in Britain. Coincidentally, I also studied at the Britain University of Nottingham." Lu Yuanchun looked at Song Tianyao and smiled politely.
"What a coincidence, I also graduated from the University of Nottingham. I became a jockey because I love equestrianism. My major is economics." Song Tianyao said, preparing to lean slightly forward to pour Lu Yuanchun a glass of brandy.
Seeing Song Tianyao's posture, Lu Yuanchun calmly picked up the lemonade herself, carefully controlling her strength so that a few drops splashed out, then stood up and said, "Excuse me, I'm going to the restroom."
Song Tianyao stood awkwardly on the spot, holding the wine bottle, and thought to himself, "Clever."
He simply put himself in a certain position, making himself appear as a lecher in other people's eyes.
Chapter 493 The Noisy Harp Restaurant (Part Two)
Lei Yingdong, with a cigarette dangling from his lips and a gloomy gaze, felt that the standoff between the two Boat Gang had escalated to this point. His losses seemed to amount to nothing more than the cause of the conflict. Compared to the substantial losses suffered by those Major Shipowners who went on strike for a single day, the small ocean liner and the men that Lei Yingdong had lost so far were insignificant.
But in Lei Yingdong's mind, they were half his assets and half his loyal brothers. Countless times in direct confrontations with Big Tin Yi, and in the encirclement and suppression by the Britain Marine Police in Hong Kong, so many people had never died. Hundreds and thousands of bullets fired head-on could not kill his brothers. Instead, a Naval mines easily buried so many of his brothers at sea, never to return home.
Therefore, in Lei Yingdong's mind, no matter what outcome Xu Pingsheng and the Hong Kong boat owners, big and small, reached with those Shanghai people, it was none of his business. Someone from the Shanghai Shipping Gang had to pay with their life, otherwise he wouldn't have the face to personally deliver the compensation to his deceased brothers and relatives.
Xu Pingsheng was indeed very famous in Hong Kong. He once said that he would drive Zeng Chunsheng out of Hong Kong. Lei Yingdong did not dare to directly refute him. He also admired Xu Pingsheng. Not everyone had the courage to personally sink his only two remaining cargo ships during the War of Resistance against Japan.
At that time, the Xu Family was in dire need of funds to rebuild their lives. Ji Jianxun, the daughter of the Ji Family of Bank of East Asia, was dating Xu Pingsheng's third son. The couple decided to get married at that time to raise funds for her father's wedding. At the wedding, celebrities from all walks of life gave generous gifts. Just when the guests were saying that the Xu Family the Hidden Dragon Rises just one wedding, Xu Pingsheng said that the Xu Family would not accept any of the wedding gifts and would donate them all to the war effort to support the country in times of crisis.
This left all those who attended the wedding and looked down on Xu Pingsheng speechless.
Lei Yingdong admired Xu Pingsheng. Xu Pingsheng was low-key in business, but these two things he did made Lei Yingdong feel that it was definitely not accidental for Xu Pingsheng to become the Shipping King of Hong Kong after the war.