Chapter 537: A Golden Opportunity!

Chapter 537: A Golden Opportunity!

“Boss Tang, could the venture you speak of be that plot of land in Dongpu?” An Huaiguo asked tentatively. Though it came as an enormous surprise, he was thoroughly perplexed. Why had Tang Jingbin suddenly approached him? It was as if Tang had been watching him all along; he had been in Modu for barely half a day, yet the call had already arrived.

While An Huaiguo and Tang Jingbin did not move in the same circles, at their level, high-stakes business dealings were seldom secrets.

An Huaiguo knew, for instance, that a prominent real estate enterprise controlled by Tang Jingbin’s private equity fund was currently attempting to secure a plot of land in Dongpu. The location was somewhat remote, but the parcel was sufficiently vast that acquiring it would require roughly eight billion yuan in capital.

By mainland conventions, a portion of the funds for land acquisition could be borrowed from banks.

Prudent companies steered clear of aggressive leverage. Across all the property developments under Tang Jingbin, for example, bank loans covered at most fifty percent of a land purchase. The enterprise itself had to shoulder the remaining fifty percent. Yet that capital did not necessarily have to come solely from the property developer; it could also bring in strategic partners.

Land was growing increasingly difficult to acquire. Even for a corporate giant, mobilizing billions of yuan in liquid cash at once carried immense risk. Cash flow and corporate valuation were entirely different animals…

Could Tang be seeking cooperation on this front?

Did the Tang family wish to introduce Xiangjiang capital?

An Huaiguo’s heart surged with intense excitement. If this was truly the matter at hand, it would be magnificent! Even if several parties contributed capital and Huaxing Group came away with only a modest stake—perhaps injecting just a few hundred million yuan, yielding neither a dominant share nor massive profits—it would still represent a golden opportunity!

How many powerful business groups and powerful factions had started with modest ventures? Only after gradually growing familiar and building mutual trust would they seek to undertake bigger ventures together!

“Boss An, don’t be in such a hurry. These things can hardly be explained over the phone. We’d best not discuss a matter like this on a call. Walls have ears…”

“Hahahahaha! Yes, yes, of course! You’ve thought of everything, Boss Tang. Then tonight…”

“Let us meet at Jingcui Garden tonight. The time will be…” Tang Jingbin provided the time and address. After a few more jovial exchanges of polite banter, they hung up.

“Walls have ears…” Clutching his phone, An Huaiguo sprang to his feet, pacing back and forth as he muttered the phrase under his breath, visibly thrilled.

Certain things did not need to be spelled out for him to understand.

That warning about ears in the walls was obviously not suggesting his phone was tapped; it was an implicit message that the affair was of paramount importance and had to be conducted in utter secrecy! Confidentiality was imperative!

Naturally, An Huaiguo could read between the lines.

This sent a genuine wave of exhilaration surging through his veins.

Under his stewardship, the entire Huaxing Group was exhibiting unmistakable signs of decline. An Huaiguo had never considered that a failing of his own capability; rather, the era when gold paved the streets of Xiangjiang had ended. Xiangjiang was simply too small. In that tiny sliver of territory, titans and financial oligarchs stood shoulder to shoulder; business had long run out of room to grow, and merely preserving the status quo meant falling behind!

Vaster markets and greater opportunities lay on the mainland.

Yet while ordinary Xiangjiang merchants could enter the mainland market with ease—their footprint being too minor to brush against the interests of the powerful mainland clans—An Huaiguo could not.

Over the two decades since the turn of the century, An Huaiguo had made numerous attempts to expand on the mainland, yet the only enterprise he had managed to build into an industry titan was Huaxing Media!

Even that had relied on the foundations of Xiangjiang’s old entertainment industry!

Now, a man in charge of the business interests of a powerful mainland family had taken the initiative to seek his cooperation. How could he not be ecstatic?

For the colossus that was Huaxing Group, commanding hundreds of billions of yuan, this was a golden opportunity to muscle its way into the mainland market!

The more An Huaiguo pondered it, the more excited he became.

Perhaps because no one else was in the office, this Xiangjiang tycoon—a man whom outsiders regarded as an untouchable titan with influence reaching into the heavens—was presently as thrilled as a young entrepreneur on the verge of securing venture capital! He even began murmuring idle remarks to himself.

Until—

Knock, knock!

The rap at the door broke through.

An Huaiguo’s expression morphed in an instant, smoothing out into composed, reserved sobriety. His face went practically blank; unsure of who stood outside, he instinctively reined in his emotions.

“Come in,” An Huaiguo called out.

“Chairman, I just returned to the company and heard you were here, so I came by to pay my respects…” The man who pushed the door open was Yu Xiaohu, a top producer at Menghua Music, a figure whom even An Menglan addressed as “Teacher Xiaohu.” He had originally belonged to Huaxing Entertainment; his move to Menghua Music was partly because An Menglan was genuinely exceptional, and partly due to An Huaiguo’s direct arrangement.

“Come in.” An Huaiguo did not smile, merely beckoning him forward. “Your timing is impeccable. There is something I wish to ask you.”

They knew each other too well to stand on ceremony.

An Huaiguo crossed to the seat behind his desk and gestured for Yu Xiaohu to sit wherever he pleased. After a moment of thought, he asked, “That Wu Chen… Morning Mist. How much do you know about his circumstances?”

“Him…?” Yu Xiaohu blinked in surprise. Then, he launched into extravagant, sweeping praise of Wu Chen!

As a “superstar” who had soared to the pinnacle of fame the moment he debuted, Morning Mist’s influence within Menghua Music had grown by the day, generating ceaseless private chatter among the staff.

Yu Xiaohu had once detested this young man.

Then he had been utterly won over!

And his reverence had only deepened!

“I believe that even a century from now, Morning Mist will not be forgotten in our country. He will become a cultural symbol, his music passed down through generations…” As Yu Xiaohu spoke, his voice gradually dropped lower, for he noticed that An Huaiguo’s expression had turned sour.

He had assumed An Huaiguo wanted to hear good things about the young prodigy!

After all, his daughter had personally unearthed a musical genius the likes of which wasn’t seen in a century. Surely he would welcome more praise. Why did he look displeased?

“That will be all. You may go. I have another call to make,” An Huaiguo dismissed him. He still showed proper respect to this renowned musician, regarding someone of his stature as a true artist.

Unable to fathom it, and not daring to pry further, Yu Xiaohu withdrew.

An Huaiguo had ascertained two things.

First, Yu Xiaohu had no inkling of his daughter An Menglan’s relationship with Wu Chen.

Second, Wu Chen was truly a skilled at manipulating people!

An Huaiguo was well aware of how exacting and haughty Yu Xiaohu was when it came to music. Yet even he had been thoroughly “won over” by Wu Chen!

However formidable Li Ruobing may be, she is merely twenty-seven years old. How much intrigue and treachery could she have possibly weathered? Though Yu Xiaohu is older, he is wholly consumed by music, keeping to a narrow circle of experience; what would he know of the darkness of human nature? As for Menglan… she has been completely blinded by an impulsive romance!

For Wu Chen to deceive these people at such a tender age is indeed impressive, but that marks the absolute limit of his craft! Can he honestly believe he can hoodwink truly formidable figures? An Huaiguo mused darkly.

The “truly formidable figures” he had in mind were those occupying his own stratum—men like himself and Tang Jingbin.

At dusk.

Flanked by an escort of bodyguards, An Huaiguo set off for the upscale private-dining restaurant named Jingcui Garden.

Meanwhile—

Dongpu International Airport.

A private jet taxied to a gentle halt, and an imposing middle-aged man strode down the passenger stairs.

It was Li Maoren!