Invitation from a Big Shot

It was six o'clock in the evening, and the sky had just turned dark.

Chen Jue and Jiang Zhe met up at the parking lot in front of Jingtanghui.

"Old Four, not bad!"

"Finally bought a car?"

Jiang Zhe circled Chen Jue's car with great novelty, as if he had discovered a new continent.

He even climbed in to touch the steering wheel, interior, and features of the Haoyue, clicking his tongue twice in appreciation.

In Jiang Zhe's impression, Chen Jue was the type of low-desire homebody who was very zen and generally had no interest in houses or cars.

He never expected him to quietly pull up in a brand-new vehicle.

It seemed his college roommate had truly turned over a new leaf recently.

"It's not even a fancy car, what's there to be curious about!" Chen Jue rolled his eyes and waited at the entrance with Jiang Zhe for a while.

About ten minutes later, the main guest arrived.

It was a black BMW X5 with Hangzhou plates. Chen Jue recognized the model as an old version from before 2013, at least ten years old.

There are two types of people who drive cars like this.

Either they are truly wealthy and bought it a long time ago, or they are second-hand luxury car owners who are just putting on a front.

If someone were truly wealthy, wouldn't they swap for a new model every year? Who would want to buy someone else's leftovers?

A middle-aged man in his forties stepped out of the car, sporting a slicked-back hairstyle, a casual suit, and a tasteful watch and glasses. As soon as he got out, he waved at the two of them.

"General Manager Wang!"

"This is the old classmate I mentioned to you." Jiang Zhe went up to exchange pleasantries, and Chen Jue followed suit, addressing the man with the appropriate honorifics.

During the few moments they had spent waiting, Jiang Zhe had already leaked the man's background to Chen Jue.

This man was Wang Xing, a vice president at a Hangzhou firm called Hengtong Finance. He had a significant background; the parent company had foreign investment, and their business spanned new cars, used cars, and auto pawning. Whether in terms of company scale or operating capital, they were at least 50 times larger than Taisheng Finance.

They were one of the top three large enterprises among the auto finance companies in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region and had already transitioned into a group structure several years ago.

The reason Jiang Zhe was able to book this meeting was that he had recently taken on the interior design for one of Wang Xing's new properties.

The house was in Binjiang, a large, river-view flat over 200 square meters worth at least 25 million, with a renovation budget alone reaching 3 million. He was quite a man of means.

"Little Jiang, for the sake of your old classmate, you'd better put some extra effort into that house of mine!" Wang Xing sized Chen Jue up, his eyes hiding a hint of disdain.

If it weren't for the fact that Jiang Zhe was his exclusive designer, this vice president of Hengtong Finance probably wouldn't have even bothered to show up.

After all, a high-level corporate executive like Wang Xing was busy with work every day, and his private social circle consisted of peers at the executive level.

He generally wouldn't lower himself to go out for massages or dinner with a low-level employee; it was a pure waste of time.

Chen Jue also sensed the airs this General Manager Wang was putting on and felt a bit uncomfortable.

However, seeing his roommate Jiang Zhe fawning over the man and putting in a good word for him, Chen Jue decided to endure it for the time being.

After entering Jingtanghui, the three of them first went to the buffet restaurant for dinner.

At the table, Wang Xing spent most of the time talking about his new house. As for Chen Jue's job, he only mentioned it in passing, as if it were a matter of complete insignificance.

"Little Chen, I've looked at your resume."

"Your diploma is a fatal flaw!"

"When our group recruits, especially for risk control technical positions, we require at least a bachelor's degree from a key university. Correspondence diplomas won't cut it." At the table, Wang Xing continued to put on airs, critiquing Chen Jue's resume.

"General Manager Wang, you don't have to worry about that. My classmate's work ability is even stronger than my design skills!"

"Besides, isn't that why we have your recommendation, General Manager Wang?"

"With your influence, General Manager Wang, those hundreds of sales agents at Hengtong are all under your command. This will definitely work out."

"I toast you with this drink! I'll finish mine, you drink as you please!" Jiang Zhe helped out from the side, toasting and flattering him, and Chen Jue followed suit.

"Fine! Since you've asked me for this favor, Little Jiang, I'll certainly help."

"But let's get the ugly truth out of the way first. My job responsibilities cover pre-loan business, while the risk control side is handled by another person, General Manager Luo. I'll pass Little Chen's resume along, but as for whether General Manager Luo accepts him, I can't guarantee that!" Wang Xing took a small sip and laid it all out.

In a group company like Hengtong, internal personnel matters are complex, and stuffing someone in isn't as simple as one might think.

However, since the other party was willing to help, there was at least some hope for Chen Jue's job hunt.

After dinner, the three of them went for a spa treatment to get better acquainted.

During this time, Chen Jue mentioned his former workplace, and to his surprise, Wang Xing had heard of it.

"Little Chen, you came from Taisheng?"

"I heard that old guy Zhang Chi'an lost hundreds of millions gambling abroad and mortgaged all his assets to loan sharks for short-term capital. He fled to Southeast Asia overnight; who knows if he's dead or alive now." Wang Xing chuckled, as if he were discussing an interesting piece of industry gossip.

For people in the finance industry, nothing is more entertaining than watching a company implode and its boss run away.

"Chairman Zhang ran off to Southeast Asia?"

Chen Jue was also hearing this news for the first time, and a slight look of surprise crossed his face.

For an industry bigwig like Wang Xing, there were certainly other, more well-informed sources of information; he likely knew far more of the inside story than employees like Chen Jue, who were kept in the dark.

However, things were chaotic over in Southeast Asia. If one were to abscond with the funds to those places, there was an eighty percent chance they would have their kidneys harvested and sold for cash, let alone ever recovering the stolen money.

Thinking of this, Chen Jue couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for company shareholders like Zhou Yong.

120 million in investments had all gone down the drain.

If that much money were spent on food, drink, and traveling the world, there would still be a massive surplus left over.

After finishing the spa, the three of them went to look around the entertainment hall.

Jiang Zhe took Wang Xing to play arcade games, and Chen Jue had initially intended to join them.

But seeing that the two were playing a King of Fighters match, which only allowed two players at a time, Chen Jue had no choice but to wander over to the dart area on the side by himself.

"Thud~"

"Thud~"

He threw two needle-style darts with his left hand.

His feel for the game remained excellent; both darts landed dead center on the bullseye.

Looking at the +5+5 prompt on the panel, Chen Jue felt that this kind of casual sport was actually more interesting.

He was naturally a socially anxious person and wasn't very good at interacting with others.

Coming out tonight with Jiang Zhe to beg for favors was entirely for the sake of money.

If he had a million or so in savings, Chen Jue figured that even if he met the King of Heaven himself, he wouldn't even spare the man a second glance.

Living his own quiet, free life—wasn't that sweet?

Just as Chen Jue was concentrating and throwing his darts with increasing enthusiasm, two portly middle-aged men walked out of a private dining room in the distance, arms draped over each other's shoulders.

"Eh?"

"Isn't this young man the one from last time?"

Zhu Hongbin had spotted Chen Jue playing darts from afar and, finding him familiar, walked over to take a closer look.

But the moment he saw the score on Chen Jue's target, Zhu Hongbin's expression immediately turned to one of astonishment: "His dart skills... they've improved so much! It hasn't even been a week, has it?"

"He's almost reached an amateur level!"

Curiosity piqued, Zhu Hongbin dragged the President Tang beside him over to greet him.

"So it's President Zhu!"

"What a coincidence, running into you again."

Chen Jue retracted his stance and turned back to exchange pleasantries.

He noticed that Zhu Hongbin smelled of alcohol, clearly having just finished a hearty meal.

Perhaps it was the alcohol stimulating him, but the man was even more enthusiastic than during their chance encounter last time.

"Little Chen, I see you have a real talent for darts!"

"To have reached this level with your left hand in less than a week of practice—I don't think participating in professional tournaments will be difficult for you in the future." Zhu Hongbin's eyes gleamed as if he had discovered a raw piece of jade, and he began pulling Chen Jue aside to vigorously promote his own dart club.

"Professional tournaments?"

"Is the prize money high?"

Chen Jue was currently fretting over the lack of money in his pockets and having to lower himself to beg others for a job, so he was wondering if there were other ways to make money.

Running into this international darts bigwig just then, he couldn't help but ask.

"The prize money for domestic tournaments generally isn't high, maybe a hundred thousand at most."

"But international tournaments are a different story!"

"With major sponsors, the annual income of a champion player is at least over a million pounds!" Zhu Hongbin, likely sensing Chen Jue's casual attitude, briefly described the scale of these international dart competitions.

"A million pounds?" Chen Jue's hand shook, and he nearly dropped the dart; he had never imagined that such a niche sport could have such high prize money.

Converted to RMB, that was over ten million!

It was higher than the prize money for some Olympic events!

At this moment, Jiang Zhe and Wang Xing, who had just finished two rounds of King of Fighters, noticed the commotion and, thinking something had happened, hurried over.

But the moment Wang Xing saw the two middle-aged men beside Chen Jue, his expression became incredibly colorful. He put on a fawning face and went up to greet them: "President Tang! Are you President Tang of the Tang Group?"

"I am Wang Xing, head of the business department at Hengtong Group. We met once at the last investor conference!"

Wang Xing apparently recognized the middle-aged man beside Zhu Hongbin, using honorifics in his tone. Just like Chen Jue and Jiang Zhe when they saw him, he kept his posture very low.

"Someone from Hengtong? I think I have a vague impression!" The middle-aged man surnamed Tang glanced at Wang Xing, then put on an expression of trying very hard to remember, clearly not having taken the man to heart.

However, the man surnamed Tang had high emotional intelligence; he didn't show any impatience. Instead, he patted Wang Xing on the shoulder and offered a few polite remarks thanking him for coming to Jingtanghui to show his support.

Chen Jue pricked up his ears to listen to this high-end conversation, and his whole body went numb!

So the portly middle-aged man with Zhu Hongbin was actually the big boss behind Jingtanghui!

No wonder Wang Xing, a vice president of Hengtong Group, acted so servile in front of others.

The man was a tycoon worth billions, a wealthy magnate who could rank among the best in all of Hang City; he was simply not on the same level as ordinary people.

Thinking back to how Zhu Hongbin could walk arm-in-arm with this President Tang, Chen Jue felt even more stunned!

A former professional international darts player could actually be friends with such a wealthy tycoon; it stood to reason that his own capabilities wouldn't be too shabby either.

The group chatted in the darts area and threw a few darts while they were at it.

Since they weren't in the same social circle, they parted ways after only a short while.

However, before leaving, Zhu Hongbin specifically had Chen Jue add his WeChat, repeatedly inviting Chen Jue to come and check out his club.

Since he had put it that way, Chen Jue naturally agreed.

Going to take a look wouldn't cost him anything, and in fact, it could very well be a life-changing opportunity for him.

After all, Chen Jue's [Darts] skill was not far from Lv4; he was only a few hundred proficiency points away from another upgrade.

If he already possessed amateur-level skills at Lv3, wouldn't he be able to rival professional players once he reached Lv4?

Thinking of the million-pound prize money for international darts championships, Chen Jue's heart burned with excitement.

His socially anxious personality meant he couldn't be an influencer or a content creator, but being an athlete seemed like a pretty good alternative.

Once he achieved results in competitions, the prize money would be substantial—certainly better than continuing to be a wage slave in the corporate world!

However, what surprised Chen Jue even more was that after watching Zhu Hongbin and that tycoon surnamed Tang leave, Wang Xing, who had been putting on airs the whole time, completely changed his tune.

Not only did he start acting like brothers with Chen Jue and Jiang Zhe, but before leaving Jingtanghui, he even patted his chest and told Chen Jue to come to Hengtong Group tomorrow to interview with HR if he had the time.

With him personally intervening, the internal referral would be a success nine times out of ten.

This drastic change in attitude left both Chen Jue and Jiang Zhe completely dumbfounded.