"You're here?" Xie Wenyuan walked over, holding a wine glass, and smiled. "You know President Mi too?"
Mi Xiaolin forced a smile. "We met briefly when I went to Nanjiang for an inspection."
Xie Wenyuan nodded thoughtfully. "I'm going to have a chat with Chu Ge..." He was openly dismissing them, but Mi Xiaolin showed no reaction, still smiling. "Then I won't disturb President Xie and the young man's conversation."
She gracefully left.
Xie Wenyuan watched her retreating figure, a hint of disdain in his eyes. He muttered, "They wanted to participate in this project, but I didn't agree. Don't tell me they're your friends?"
Chu Ge smiled. "No. By the way, why didn't you agree, Mr. Xie? The project needs to attract investment from various parties, doesn't it?"
"We do need to invest, and we need risk-sharing, but not just any investment… We're not indiscriminate in our choices." Xie Wenyuan said leisurely, "Even when hiring celebrities, we consider their image, let alone our collaborators."
"So what kind of image do they have?"
"Their venture capital firms are aggressive and have a wide range of interests, like insatiable wolves. Interestingly, the companies they invest in all end up being theirs…" Xie Wenyuan smiled. "That's not the key point. The key point is that we feel there's foreign capital involved, and we don't want to get too involved." Qiu Wuji asked curiously, " "Didn't you say our company also has Japanese and Korean capital?"
"That's different. We're a legitimate joint venture, with cross-shareholdings, conducting business openly and honestly, and we don't interfere with each other's operations. Theirs..." Xie Wenyuan paused, then chuckled, "It's hard to say specifically, but their situation is quite complicated, and we wouldn't easily cooperate due to project risk aversion." Chu Ge muttered, "Then let's invite them to the reception." Xie Wenyuan heard this and chuckled, "Business isn't always so clear-cut... We don't need to invest, so how would we know if there are other areas for cooperation? Like with animation, we agreed to cooperate with your company's animation website, but we still invited friends from other websites to the event; who knows, there might be further channel expansion later." Chu Ge nodded. He wasn't unaware of many of these principles, but they felt somewhat distant from his own world. "I'm just a lousy writer..." Xie Wenyuan chuckled, "So you two shouldn't always be whispering sweet nothings. Young people truly aiming for advancement will use this networking event to make connections. Come, let me introduce you... This is President Chen, he should have a lot in common with you young people..." President Chen shook hands encouragingly, "What you love is your life." Chu Ge swallowed the greeting that was on the tip of his tongue, forcing a bright smile.
...What Xie Wenyuan saw as a networking event to help him climb the social ladder was, for Chu Ge, an exhausting ordeal.
Even with his now excellent memory, towards the end he still suffered from face blindness, unable to distinguish the faces of the various bosses and managers.
His face was almost numb from smiling, and by the end, besides "It's an honor to meet you, please take care of me," he couldn't come up with anything original.
He had a ton of business cards in his pocket, but no one to return them to; he was incredibly embarrassed.
Fortunately, no one paid him any attention. He was just a small-time writer who'd gotten lucky and connected with Xie Wenyuan. There were plenty of polite formalities, but no one genuinely wanted to get to know him. Having a business card was completely irrelevant.
Old Zhu was the one truly thriving, beaming with pride, and having closed several deals.
In fact, these kinds of parties didn't have many rules. If you left early, nobody cared, not even Xie Wenyuan. Chu Ge then dragged Qiu Wuji along, finished their meal, and left.
"It's a completely different world." The young couple, who had left early, walked along the road. Chu Ge looked at the traffic on both sides and sighed, "It seems I'll never be able to enter so-called 'high society' in this lifetime." Qiu Wuji took his hand and smiled, "Picking chrysanthemums by the eastern fence, gazing leisurely at the southern mountains—people's expectations of the transcendence of immortals are largely based on the contrast with such an environment. So the story in your heart is a fantasy romance, not a historical war."
"That's not necessarily true. These things don't affect how I write it. I can still write a historical war, maybe the next one will be."
"But isn't this the one you've poured the most emotion into?"
"Hmm…maybe." "..."
"That's just your nature, including rejecting Mi Xiaolin." Qiu Wuji said with a smile, "Different paths, different goals... Qiu Wuji of Yunji Sect wishes to hear the Way of the Father God."
"Hey, there's no such thing as a fixed way." Chu Ge grabbed her small hand and shook it: "I'm not some leader, I don't need to look at things from a high vantage point. What impact the spiritual energy revival will have on the world is not something I should be considering, okay? It's not like we're just chatting in a group. I earn three thousand a month and I'm still concerned about the world situation. I'd rather use that time to write a few more words." Qiu Wuji chuckled: "Isn't it said that everyone has a responsibility for the rise and fall of the nation? Your attitude doesn't seem like that." "Completely disregarding everything."
"Whether others have superpowers or not is none of my business, and whether they seek personal gain is also none of my business. As long as they don't harm others, I'd admire them even if they were to earn hundreds of billions or even establish a country. So all I need to do is focus on whether they harm others or not. Do these people seem like they don't want to harm others?" Qiu Wuji laughed: "No."
"Although they took the blame for Old Zhu's suicide, why did they take the blame? Wasn't it because they had attacked Old Zhu before? They coveted his mine, and when he wouldn't sell, they resorted to violence and bullying. What kind of behavior is that?" Chu Ge's expression was somewhat gloomy: "And she said Du Lianfeng and Qi Cheng..." "Tai is dead... I don't know if she's telling the truth or not, maybe she's just bluffing, but that attitude is definitely not benevolent. I don't crave any spiritual energy; only a madman would cooperate with someone like that." Qiu Wuji said, "So you're actually none of those three."
"Where do you get such a clear definition? Even the same rice feeds a hundred different kinds of people. What are they to categorize everyone's hearts? I only care about whether it will affect my Qiuqiu. What else does it have to do with me... I'm just a lowly writer, earning a few thousand a month a few months ago..."
Just then, the roar of an engine suddenly filled their ears, and a convertible Ferrari screeched to a halt beside them.
The smiling face of the young man who had struck up a conversation at the party earlier appeared inside the car: "Hey, beautiful, we meet again. Where are you going? Want a ride?" Qiu Wuji's gaze unconsciously swept over the car again. Seeing her curious expression, the young man smiled smugly and glanced at Chu Ge.
Chu Ge smiled slightly, unconcerned. Outsiders would never understand the mindset behind Qiuqiu's scrutiny of the car. She didn't even know how much the car was worth, and even if she did, she wouldn't care…
Sure enough, Qiu Wuji quickly looked away: "This car looks well-made and nice, but it's noisy, and you can't sit in the back. It doesn't look like it can carry much."
Chu Ge chuckled: "Yeah."
The young man: "?"
Qiu Wuji said: "Your car only has one passenger seat, how are you going to take both of us?"
The young man smiled: "Of course, only you."
"Oh, goodbye then." Qiu Wuji took Chu Ge's hand and they walked away, swaying slightly.
Ferrari followed: "That cocktail party was just a business banquet, nothing special. Miss, would you be interested in going to the best club and drinking the finest Lafite?"
Qiu Wuji sneered: "Why are you so annoying? You were all high and mighty at the party, and now you're a scoundrel?"
The young man still smiled: "That's proof of my persistent enthusiasm for you, Miss."
Chu Ge finally couldn't take it anymore: "Hey, can't you see she has a boyfriend?"
"A boyfriend who earns several thousand a month..." The young man didn't even bother to look at Chu Ge: "To me, just looking at someone like that would make me feel disgusted by his own vulgarity, and saying a single word would lower my own standards by a dozen levels... He's practically nonexistent."
Chu Ge wasn't even angry; instead, she laughed.
Qiu Wuji laughed too.
The young man stared blankly at Qiu Wuji's smile, almost mesmerized.
She's really beautiful... the more I look, the more beautiful she becomes. How could such a beautiful woman be with a man who earns only a few thousand a month, dressed in cheap clothes from a street stall, without a single piece of jewelry?
But then Chu Ge glanced at the distant night, his eyes seemingly holding a deeper meaning: "Logically speaking, there are idiots everywhere, but not many are this impatient. Perhaps... someone's appetizer has arrived." The young man was stunned, feeling incredibly strange. It felt as if, in this man's eyes, I was practically nonexistent...