Chapter 199: Zhou Ming is really good at causing trouble

'I'm very sorry, Boss Zhou, I was unable to complete the task you assigned me!'

These were the first words Li Qingyuan said after meeting Zhou Ming. Looking at this middle-aged entrepreneur, the former richest man in the country, Zhou Ming said with a smile, 'In fact, I should be the one apologising. I knew Ye Jianlin had such strong connections in the authorities, but I still asked you to do something like this. Now you've even been arrested and suffered so much. I really feel bad about that.'

Zhou Ming's words deeply moved Li Qingyuan: 'Boss Zhou, you are truly the best boss. At this time, you are still trying to comfort me and take responsibility for me. I was right to think that you are a very good leader!'

Zhou Ming felt a little embarrassed, because he didn't think he was as noble as he made out. He still had the attitude of letting things take their course, telling him to go and enjoy himself while he went over there to clean up the mess. As for Li Qingyuan going to jail, Zhou Ming didn't think much about it. Now that he was comforting him, he was just being kind. But he didn't realise that by doing so, he had unconsciously raised his own status in Li's eyes.

However, after so many things, Zhou Ming's face has long been tempered, and he has accepted this kind of noble embarrassment.

'Okay, let's not talk about that. How do you feel now? Are you not feeling unwell anywhere?' Zhou Ming asked with concern. Although the police station is not really a prison, going to a place like this is ultimately not a good thing.

Li Qingyuan shook his head, however: 'It's fine with me, but the company is about to be sold to a foreigner, and according to your judgment, it's possible that I've been cheated.

Zhou Ming patted him on the shoulder and said, 'Don't worry, I said that I would buy the Wowow brand and merge it with my Eight Treasures Congee, and I will definitely be able to do it!'

Li Qingyuan looked at Zhou Ming blankly. If someone else had said this to him, he would have laughed in their face, but he didn't know about Zhou Ming.

Li Qingyuan glanced at the police chief who had come to pick him up, and thought that perhaps Zhou Ming happened to know a leader here in Hangzhou City, and just happened to be stronger than Ye Jianlin's connections? But Ye Jianlin was after all a local snake in Hangzhou City, and his connections in government agencies were also intricate and complicated. He was heard to be on a first-name basis with district leaders, and unless it was a big official at the city level, it would be very difficult.

Zhou Ming saw through his thoughts and said to him, 'Don't think so much. I can see that Ye Jianlin is a paper tiger. He may look fierce, but he's really just a pushover.'

After saying this, Zhou Ming led Li Qingyuan away. Li Qingyuan subconsciously asked where they were going, and Zhou Ming replied, 'To watch a good show.'

Li Qingyuan was completely at a loss for what to say to this answer from Zhou Ming, and Zhou Ming didn't explain much either. He then thanked the Nan Cheng District Public Security Bureau chief who had arrived, and the chief also politely replied with a sentence about serving the people, which looked very much like a leader's inspection.

After leaving the police station, Zhou Ming took Li Qingyuan and his wife and got into the car, and arrived at the West Lake Hotel, because according to the information, Ye Jianlin chose this place to invite those reporters to dinner.

After getting out of the car, Zhou Ming looked up at the hotel building and said with emotion, 'As far as I know, this Xihu Hotel is currently the best hotel in your Nancheng District, right? I didn't expect Ye Jianlin to be willing to spend so much money, actually inviting all the reporters to come here for dinner.'

'Boss Zhou, I think Ye Jianlin probably has another reason for doing this,' Li Qingyuan said.

Zhou Ming curiously asked why, and Li Qingyuan analysed, 'Ye Jianlin is also a very clever person who knows how to take advantage of conditions. Although I invited the reporters here today to expose him for selling the shares of Doll Smiling, but now that the reporters have been invited to dinner, he can completely use these reporters to make another fuss, and completely turn the tables on this matter, for example, by inviting Mr. Solny over again.'

After Li Qingyuan's analysis, it suddenly dawned on everyone that this was indeed a very clever move, because if he invited these reporters to dinner simply to solve the problem of bringing Li Qingyuan trouble today, it would be a great loss.

If you do it differently, you can use these reporters to invite Solny over for dinner at the same time. This way, you can show Solny your status in the country on the one hand, and on the other hand, you can turn a potentially negative piece of news into a positive one. This also explains why Ye Jianlin invited these reporters to dinner at the West Lake Hotel, the best hotel in Nancheng District. It's nothing more than being formal and raising your status.

'Ye Jianlin is quite a character to be able to think of this solution so quickly, but unfortunately, sometimes cleverness can be its own downfall. Today, we're going to teach him a lesson.'

Zhou Ming said, and led Li Qingyuan and the others upstairs. After asking the waiter, they found out where Ye Jianlin's private room was, and they went straight there. At this time, Ye Jianlin was ranting and raving in the private room.

'Comrades reporters, this is Mr Solny, the head of the domestic division of Siming Investment Company, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-City Joint Investment Fund. He is in Hangzhou this time because he wants to talk to our company about capital injection. Put simply, Mr Solny is very optimistic about the future development prospects of our company and is prepared to invest in us to accelerate the development of the Baby Smile brand.'

Ye Jianlin thought of something when he said this, and he continued, 'In fact, this kind of capital injection is very common in foreign joint-stock companies. It is a win-win behaviour, and there is no such thing as betraying the interests of the company. It is just that some people are old-fashioned and can't bear to see these things. However, I have liberated my mind in response to the call of the party, so I dare to accept these new things.'

'Today, I am honoured to have Mr. Solny and all of you, my fellow journalists, gather here together.'

Ye Jianlin said as he raised his glass, 'So, on this occasion, I would like to propose a toast to everyone, and I hope everyone enjoys their meal.'

As Ye Jianlin finished speaking, the door to the private room suddenly opened, and Zhou Ming walked in with Li Qingyuan. Seeing that everyone at Ye Jianlin's table had raised their glasses and stood up, he said with some surprise, 'Huh? You're already drinking? Mr Ye, do you mind getting some more glasses?'

Ye Jianlin was about to drink at this time, and when he heard Zhou Ming's sudden voice, he almost spit it out. So he angrily put down his glass and turned his head. He was about to speak when he saw Li Qingyuan next to him again, which made him exclaim in surprise, 'Li Qingyuan, weren't you arrested? Why are you here if you're not in there? And Zhou Ming, you're not welcome here, so please leave immediately!'

Ye Jianlin's angry eyes could spit fire, but Zhou Ming seemed to have not seen or heard anything, and just walked into the box and went straight to the only foreigner at the table, Solny, and extended his hand to him: 'Hello, Mr. Solny. I heard that you are here to negotiate a joint venture with Doll Smile on behalf of Siming Investment Company, right? I wonder what position you hold in Siming Investment Company?'

Facing the uninvited Zhou Ming, Solny frowned: 'Oh stranger, I don't know you, and I refuse to answer your question.'

'Mr. Solny, your answer surprises me very much, because I am the domestic area special advisor of Siming Investment Company, and you actually don't know me?' Zhou Ming said.

'Mr. Zhou Ming, I think your joke is very bad and disgusting,' Solny said very seriously.

Zhou Ming put his hands up and said, 'Mr. Solny, I don't think I'm joking about anything. I'm being very serious.'

'Enough!' Ye Jianlin angrily interrupted Zhou Ming, 'Zhou Ming, I know you're the big boss of Lin Yang, but this is Hangzhou City, not a place for you to behave like this. If you continue to make unreasonable demands here, don't blame me for being rude to you!'

Zhou Ming laughed: 'Don't be so impatient, Mr Ye. I'm here to help you avoid being cheated.'

Ye Jianlin glared: "What kind of scam are you talking about? Don't talk nonsense here, just get out of here!'

After saying that, Ye Jianlin shouted outside the private room: "Where are the waiters? We want to eat, hurry up and get these guys out of here!'

Compared to Ye Jianlin's emotional outburst, Zhou Ming was unruffled: 'It's a coincidence that Mr. Dai Tingwei, the head of domestic investment at Siming Investment, happened to be in Hangzhou today and was also invited to dinner at this restaurant. I wonder if Mr. Ye is interested in meeting him? And Mr. Solny, you don't know me, but I don't think you don't know Mr. Dai Tingwei, do you?'

All the reporters had been wide-eyed and attentive since Zhou Ming walked in. In their professional opinion, there was definitely a big show about to begin. Now that they heard Zhou Ming say that, their attention immediately shifted to Solny.

Facing so many gazes, Solny said decisively, 'You're lying. Mr. Dai is still in Nanjiang, and he has no intention of coming to Hangzhou at all, unless I successfully reach an agreement with Mr. Ye Jianlin here.'

Zhou Ming raised his hand to check the time and said, 'It's almost time. Mr. Dai should have already arrived for dinner. You'll know if I'm lying or not if you follow me.'

After a moment, Zhou Ming thought for a moment and added, 'By the way, Hangzhou City Mayor Chai will also be here today.'

With those words, Zhou Ming turned and left with Li Qingyuan and the others, leaving Ye Jianlin Solny and the group of reporters in the box looking at each other. Both the sudden appearance of Zhou Ming and the words he had spoken had left them a little overwhelmed. Now he was saying that the general manager of Siming Investment Company was really here, and that he was accompanied by the executive vice mayor of Hangzhou City. It was really confusing.

In the end, Solni broke the ice first: 'Everyone ignore this lunatic. I haven't received any notification from any company at all. He must be lying to us!'

Although Solni's tone was very certain, these reporters still said, 'Mr Solni, we would like to believe you, but what if what he says is true? I think we can go over and see for ourselves to find out the truth. Besides, Mayor Chai is here too, this must be a very important piece of big news that we as reporters definitely have to capture. It would be very unprofessional of us to let such a big piece of news go.'

These reporters, one after the other, confused Solny and Ye Jianlin, but they just wouldn't budge. In the end, these reporters had no choice: 'Mr Ye and Mr Solny, how about this: we'll go and have a look first, you wait here, and then come back and tell you what's going on.'

After saying that, the reporter didn't wait for Ye Jianlin and Solny to reply, and just ran straight out of the box, and with the first reporter taking the lead, the other reporters all followed, as if they were afraid they would be left behind.

Solne watched the reporters leave blankly, and then turned to Ye Jianlin and asked, 'What are we going to do?'

'Of course we're going to follow them. Do you think we should just wait here like idiots?' Ye Jianlin said angrily, 'Damn it, this Zhou Ming really can cause me trouble!'

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