*

Xu Family Manor

Tonight is the engagement banquet of the eldest son of the Xu family and the daughter of the Wu family. Almost everyone in the business world of Beijing who is well-known has received an invitation.

Nan Qing took Song Beiting's arm and entered the hall.

"Nanqing, it's been a long time." Xu Heng, the eldest son of the Xu family, greeted them with his fiancée.

Nan Qing nodded and smiled: "Young Master Xu, congratulations."

The Ning and Xu families are old friends, and she and Xu Heng have been playing together since childhood, so their friendship is quite deep.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the group went to the inner hall together.

There weren't many guests in the inner hall, but they were all heads of top wealthy families in the capital. As soon as Nan Qing entered, someone smiled and raised their hand to greet him.

"Nan's here." Old Master Xu sat on the sofa in the center, his silver hair neatly combed. When he saw Nan Qing, he smiled and patted the empty seat next to him.

"Come, sit here with Grandpa Xu."

Nan Qing nodded to the others and greeted them, then took Song Beiting's arm and walked over, sitting down calmly: "Grandpa Xu."

The old man feigned displeasure: "You silly girl, you haven't come to visit in so long."

Nan Qing: "I've been quite busy at the company lately. Once this is over, I'll definitely bring some good tea to visit Grandpa Xu."

Grandpa Xu waved his hand, "It's enough that you come in person. Why bring any good tea? You bring it every time you come. We can't possibly drink it all."

"By the way, I've just taken over the company. If there's anything I can help with, don't be shy about asking these uncles and elders."

He then turned to the others sitting around him: "Don't you agree?"

His opening remarks brought up the other families as well, causing the elders present to laugh.

“Mr. Xu, you underestimate Nanqing. The Ning Group’s development in the past few months has been even more rapid than before,” a middle-aged man in a dark gray suit said with a smile.

“Yes,” another old man from the Lin family, sitting on the right sofa with equally white hair, nodded, his eyes filled with approval. “The Ning family girl is steady in her work and has a good eye for talent.”

"Haha, that's right." Old Master Xu laughed heartily.

The old man of the Lin family glanced at his grandson beside him and smiled, "Young people are so bold. If my son had half of Nanqing's abilities, his father and I could retire in peace."

The young man next to him immediately stood up with a glass of champagne, a polite smile on his face.

"Miss Ning, it's an honor to meet you."

Nan Qing picked up the wine glass on the table next to her, gently touched the rim of the glass, smiled faintly, and did not reply.

The old man's eyes gleamed as he watched the interaction between the two.

"I'm telling you young people, you should get out and about more when you have free time."

"Nanqing, Jin'an has also started to take over the family business. You two can chat more when you have time."

“There’s a chance,” Nan Qing replied with a smile.

Then, the other families around also pulled their eligible unmarried sons or grandsons into conversation.

"Thank you all, uncles and elders, but the group has several projects under negotiation recently, so I'm quite busy and can't spare the time..."

Her gaze swept over everyone present.

"I wonder if any of you uncles and elders are interested in the Chengbei Science and Technology Park project?"

The conversation flowed smoothly, giving them no chance to continue their so-called "getting to know each other".

Upon hearing the words "north of the city," the others' thoughts instantly changed, and they all started chatting amongst themselves.

Sitting beside Nan Qing, Song Beiting remained silent, seemingly ignored by everyone, coldly observing the scene unfold.

The actions of those people just now are actually easy to understand.

Who wouldn't want to climb up the Ning family's coattails?

Nan Qing is still young. No matter how good her business skills are, in some people's eyes, she will eventually get married and have children. Once she is married, it doesn't matter whether the child takes the surname Ning or something else.

Noticing Song Beiting's gaze, Nan Qing leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear:

"What, are you getting hooked on the show?"

"Do you like those people, senior?" Song Beiting whispered in her ear, mimicking her tone.

These words surprised Nan Qing. She looked at him in astonishment. "The puppy isn't shy anymore?"

What do you think?

Song Beiting was silent for a few seconds before speaking again in a low voice: "You won't."

"Oh? So what kind of person do you think I would like?"

Nan Qing didn't turn around to look at him; in fact, she was answering other people's questions.

She didn't hear his voice for a while, and thought he wouldn't reply.

result.

She suddenly felt someone grab her fingertips, little by little, with a hint of probing.

She didn't pull her hand away, nor did she turn around to look at him; she continued to smile and respond to the greetings from the others.

After the banquet, Song Beiting stayed in the capital for another week.

Both of them tacitly refrained from making their intentions clear.

Everyone is waiting.

Nan Qing was waiting for him to be confident enough, and for him to shed the influence of his family of origin.

As for what Song Beiting was waiting for, she couldn't be bothered to guess.

Although the two hadn't made things clear, the puppy had already become very clingy and had even bought a lot of matching outfits. When Nanqing refused to wear them, he would act like a pitiful little wife.

So she still believes that distance makes the heart grow fonder!

She packed him up and sent him back to the film studio so he could focus on filming.

As for the Shen family...

The marketplace has always been ruthless.

The taller the building, the faster it will collapse when it is about to topple.

When the facade of success was exposed, multiple projects were investigated, and executives were detained, Shen's stock lost billions of dollars almost every day at the opening of the market. Contractors terminated their contracts one after another, and various core projects were also urgently suspended.

The Shen family's business empire, once a formidable competitor to the Ning Group, has now amassed a debt of tens of billions.

Its collapse was faster than expected.

However, besides Nan Qing's methods, there are other groups involved as well.

However, Nan Qing wasn't very interested in the scraps from the Shen family's side. What she was more interested in at the moment was the ongoing "Transformation of the North City into a Science and Technology City" project.

This project is part of the "City of the Future" plan that Nanqing's father launched while he was still alive.

Led by the government, the old city area in the north of the city will be transformed into a science and technology city.

The project is positioned to create a national-level science and technology innovation demonstration zone, encompassing scientific research, industry, education, and residence. It mainly focuses on cutting-edge fields such as AI and biotechnology, and is also one of the most important municipal plans in Beijing in the past decade.

She was very interested in this.

In fact, Nan Qing has always felt that humans in the mortal world are a group that both confuses and fascinates her.

People in the mortal realm do not possess the celestial arts of the heavenly realm, nor do they have the thousand-year lifespan of the underworld. They are clearly so fragile that a mere plague or flood can claim the lives of millions.

Yet, ironically, they are the most tenacious.

They built towering pavilions with their own hands, created airplanes and ships that could fly and sail, and wrote poems that have been passed down for thousands of years.

They have no magic, but they can explain the laws of the world using "science".

They did not achieve immortality, but they perpetuated their existence through "civilization."

"Despite their short lives, like mayflies, they live more passionately than immortals."

This is what she said when she stood on the 58th floor of the Ning Group building, looking down at the crowds coming and going below.