Chapter Thirty-Two: Yang Yuanqing

At that very moment, the door was pushed open.

A middle-aged man in his forties, thin and wearing gold-rimmed glasses, walked in.

Behind him followed several attractive waiters, and the one in front was carrying wine and glasses.

When the man with the gold-rimmed glasses entered, Li Lan could not help drawing in a sharp breath.

In County N, the place was neither too small nor too large.

For example, among the old underworld figures, the most famous were only the four: South Horse, North Deer, East Bear, and West Wolf.

And among the legitimate powers, there were naturally only a few well-known names.

The middle-aged man in gold-rimmed glasses before them was Yang Yuanqing, the hidden owner of the International Hotel. More than that, his wealth placed him firmly among the top eight richest people in all of County N, with assets that had to be worth several hundred million at the very least. Yang Yuanqing mainly made his money in the hotel business. Of course, he also dabbled in real estate development.

In this age when property made the biggest profits, even air-conditioner sellers went into development, beverage sellers went into development, ice cream sellers went into development, and even mobile phone sellers went into development.

Li Lan could only count as above average in County N.

Compared with a giant like Yang Yuanqing, the gap was vast.

So when Li Lan saw Yang Yuanqing, she instinctively grew tense. At the same time, she was curious. Yang Yuanqing had come in person, with a waiter carrying wine behind him, clearly to offer a toast. But in this private room, aside from herself, the others were only some poor relatives of the Shen family. These poor relatives could never possibly be worthy of a toast from someone of Yang Yuanqing's stature.

Could it be that Yang Yuanqing was here to toast her? But that was impossible; the difference in status was simply too great.

She could not understand it. She truly could not understand it.

Yang Yuanqing stepped inside, swept his gaze across the room, and finally let it settle on Shen Ye. "You must be Mr. Shen Ye of Seaside Retreat," he said. "As expected, you are young, accomplished, and impressive."

When Shen Ye saw that the man with the gold-rimmed glasses had looked straight at him, he too was slightly taken aback. "I am Shen Ye. May I ask who you are?"

"I am Yang Yuanqing, the owner of this International Hotel," Yang Yuanqing said with a faint smile. "Mr. Shen, coming to spend money here is giving me face. Tonight's bill will be reduced by half."

His secretary at once nodded. "Understood."

Yang Yuanqing gave a glance, and a female server beside him immediately poured wine for him. Another female server poured a glass for Shen Ye.

Yang Yuanqing raised his glass. "Come, let me drink to Mr. Shen."

Shen Ye smiled and lifted his own glass. "Mr. Yang, may I ask what business you have with me? Just say it directly. If you don't, I would not even dare drink this glass of wine."

Yang Yuanqing had originally intended only to make initial contact with Shen Ye today and speak of cooperation later. He had not expected Shen Ye to suddenly make such a move, completely ignoring the usual social niceties. Still, he was a veteran of the business world, and he smiled. "Not long ago, I took a trip to White Silver Beach, and by chance I entered a place that was beautifully decorated and quite tasteful, called Seaside Retreat. The prices inside were astonishing, on par with those of a five-star hotel."

"I had thought it was merely a shop that fleeced out-of-town tourists. But after tasting the dishes, I found that the cooking was absolutely no worse than the five-star chefs under my own employ. In fact, it may even have been better."

"One taste was enough to make me deeply impressed." Yang Yuanqing smiled. "I have spoken with your mother. I wanted to discuss cooperation with her, to use such excellent methods to expand in scale and open chain branches continuously. That way, we could make more money. She said this was your secret technique, and that she could not make the decision, so I would have to speak with you. I just heard that you had arrived, so I came over to take a look."

"I wanted to talk with you about cooperation later."

"Since you're here yourself, I'll be direct."

"Let's partner up and run a chain of hotels. I provide the capital, you provide the skill. When it comes to profits, we split seventy-thirty. I take seventy, you take thirty. We'll make it big, and I guarantee your monthly income will never be less than one million. It could even be several million."

"What do you think?" Yang Yuanqing said confidently, holding the red wine in his hand.

He had already investigated Shen Ye's background. He came from a poor family and now possessed real culinary skill. Even the shop in Yang City could earn him around one hundred thousand a month.

But one hundred thousand and one million were completely different things.

He believed that someone of Shen Ye's humble origins would not refuse his offer.

And in that case, he himself would reap enormous profits as well. His gains would be many times greater than Shen Ye's.

When Lin Mei was asked, she immediately nodded. "Yes, I was actually going to call you, Xiao Ye, but I got busy these past few days and forgot."

Shen Jiaping widened his eyes. "So that was it. Then my son is about to strike it rich. If my son is going to get rich, then wouldn't I get rich too?"

The Shen relatives were all dumbfounded as well.

They had long known that Shen Ye's shop was making money.

But they had never imagined that Shen Ye's skill would be valued by a big boss like Yang Yuanqing, to the point that he was being invited to partner in a business venture.

And not just any venture, but one that could make over a million a month, even several million.

This was truly... a windfall!

At once, the way the Shen family relatives looked at Shen Ye changed completely.

He really was... extraordinary.

Even Shen Ye's paternal aunt, Shen Xiaohong, could not help thinking that if her daughter Shen Xiaoyue truly could not find a suitable job, then perhaps she should ask her to work in her cousin Shen Ye's shop.

Shen Ye smiled, drank the wine in his cup, and only then spoke leisurely. "Mr. Yang, I appreciate your kind offer. It's just that I am a fairly indifferent person by nature. For instance, I believe money is only useful when there is enough of it; there is no need for too much. Besides, I do not like too many restraints. Nor do I wish to go into business with others. So I can only decline your kindness, and I hope you will forgive me, Mr. Yang."

Lin Mei and Shen Xiaoyun understood their son and elder brother's temperament fairly well, so they were not too surprised.

But Shen Jiaping was stunned on the spot. His foolish son had actually refused such a golden opportunity to make big money.

The Shen relatives, such as Shen Baoping and Shen Guoping, were completely dumbstruck. Such a wonderful chance to earn money, and Shen Ye had turned it down. Was he stupid?

Of course, Yang Yuanqing himself was also stunned. He had never imagined Shen Ye would refuse him.

How could that be?

How could someone from a poor background possibly reject the temptation of more than a million a month?

Was there something wrong with this?

Isn't a person alive in this world just to make money?

Yang Yuanqing had already made up his mind. If the first attempt failed, he would continue speaking with Shen Ye several more times. And if they truly could not come to terms, then even if he had to hire a few corporate spies, he would still find out what Shen Ye's secret seasoning was, so that he could make a huge fortune himself.

Having reached this conclusion, he did not show much on his face. He only shook his head and sighed with regret. "It's a pity that Mr. Shen cannot cooperate with me."

After a few more polite words, he withdrew from the private room.

...

At that moment, Li Lan was utterly stunned.

She considered herself a woman worth millions and looked down on the poor relatives of the Shen family.

Who would have thought that this Shen Ye would be so capable? To the point that a big boss like Yang Yuanqing would come seeking cooperation with him.

Truly, one must not judge a person by appearances.

But this Shen Ye was also foolish, letting go of such a good chance to make money.

No wonder he could not get rich.

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

Still, Li Lan had already sensed how formidable Shen Ye was. She could no longer regard him as an ordinary poor relative, and felt that it would be best not to offend a man like him in the future.

The second installment has been delivered. After midnight tonight, there will be a third installment. If you cannot wait, you can read it when you wake up tomorrow morning.