Cruise Banquet
"Where are those people who said I couldn't make it onto this cruise ship? Come out and slap me in the face."
Hong Baolin faced the camera with pride, pointed her finger at the increasingly distant coastline, then at the deck below her feet, and tapped the screen of her mobile phone with her knuckles.
"See? I'm here! And I have an invitation, so I'm not sneaking in."
The livestream room, titled "Don't Be a Gu'an Mei 3.0," was flooded with messages and gifts. This cruise dinner was reportedly hosted by the Xu family in the capital. A year ago, the Xu family's revenue doubled, and their assets and influence surpassed those of the Bai family, once the No. 1 hotel family, making them the new uncrowned kings.
Xu Zaitan has been interviewed by countless TV stations. With his strong financial situation and handsome face, he has attracted countless fans and is a hot bachelor among the younger generation.
Hong Baolin put a lot of effort into getting the invitation to the cruise party.
She used to be a big fan of the fake daughter Gu Anmei. After being hurt by her, she vowed not to pursue wealthy men anymore. Instead, she fell into the trap of Jiutang Private School. After following several real chaebol children from Jiutang Private School, she had an idea.
She really wants to see the real chaebol circle, but she is just an ordinary person, and after the Gu Anmei incident, netizens are skeptical about the rich young masters who appear on the Internet. She can't follow Gu Anmei's old path.
Then, thinking, if she had to stay, she decided to use her real identity to break into the upper-crust circles, starting with a personal livestreaming account. Over the past year or so, she'd gone from only being able to participate in low-tier tournaments with wealthy clubs—and even then, she'd had to sneak in—to now being actively invited by the upper-crust circles. Her progress was nothing short of meteoric, but it took a lot of hard work.
At the beginning, she made her identity clear: she is just an ordinary person who entered this circle out of curiosity. If you are interested, just follow her and watch with her. If you are not interested, just swipe away. Anyway, she is not a liar.
"As expected of Baolin, this is considered the capital's top chaebol circle, and she's even able to participate."
"Wow, Baolin, you are truly a historical figure. If Gu Anmei had been as honest as you, she wouldn't have disappeared now."
"Please introduce them to me, I don't know many of them."
"Baolin, is that Han Duoxia behind you?"
Han Duoxia? Hong Baolin turned around immediately. Among the first people she had noticed from Jiutang Private School was Han Duoxia. His family background was considered average, but students from Jiutang Private School had a wide network of contacts and had friends wherever they went.
She smiled and took a photo with Han Duoxia. Han Duoxia also recognized her and greeted her politely in front of the camera.
"It's been a long time since we last met. Dosha looks better than before."
"Hmm? Maybe it's because today's makeup artist was hired at a high price?"
"No." Hong Baolin mentioned the party more than a year ago, when Han Duoxia posted a group photo, "It was your friend's birthday, right? I still remember that scene. Wow, it was unprecedented. Duoxia, you are more elegant now than you were then."
Han Duoxia quickly realized which banquet Hong Baolin was referring to, and there was a hint of meaning in his eyes. Hong Baolin must have done it on purpose.
I wanted to use this as an excuse to ask her if the host of the party had arrived today.
There's nothing wrong with it. It just depends on whether Hong Baolin has the ability to connect with Yu Li.
"I accept your compliment, thank you." Han Duoxia said casually, "It was a high school friend's birthday. Time flies and it's been more than a year. Speaking of which, Lili is here today too. I'll go say hello to her. You go ahead and get busy." Ah, Lili.
Hong Baolin swallowed her saliva. After being in the circle for so long, the highest-ranking person she could come into contact with was a middle-class person like Han Duoxia. People above that were out of her reach. Even if she had money, she might not be able to talk to them.
Originally, her target tonight was only Xu Zaitan, but after hearing what Han Duoxia said, she added "Li Li" to the list.
Fans are already asking who "Li Li" is. Hong Baolin smiled and said, "A super, super wealthy family, on the same level as Mr. Xu, the host of tonight's banquet."
On the same level as Seo Jae-dam? Just as the fans were about to get excited, someone suddenly said:
"On the same level? If I'm not mistaken, the 'Li Li' you're talking about is someone Xu Zaitan wants to fawn over whenever he sees her."
“???”
This sentence ignited her curiosity, and the number of messages in the live broadcast room surged, and Hong Baolin couldn't even read them all.
"Okay, okay, I'll help you find it." Comforting the fans in the live broadcast room, she thought about going to the banquet hall. The people on the deck were of ordinary status and could not satisfy the fans' appetite.
When Hong Baolin set out for the banquet hall, Yu Li was sitting in the corner of the deck enjoying the sea breeze.
This is a blind spot with dim lights and few tourists. Yu Li holds a glass of wine and closes her eyes to rest. Her long skirt is a light lilac color. Without the dazzling light around her, her figure almost blends into the night.
Xu Zaitan came over quickly, his voice full of obvious worry: "Why are you staying here? What if you catch a cold?"
Yu Li opened her eyes and handed the wine glass to Xu Zaitan naturally: "I said I couldn't come, but you insisted that I come."
"You're either at school or at the office every day, so I wanted to give you some time to relax." A figure approached, and Seo Jae-dam stood in front of Yu Li. "ISG's development is quite good, isn't it? They've become very well-known in just a year."
"Every female employee in my company owns an ISG accessory. It's very popular among young people."
ISG, the jewelry brand founded by Yu Li, launched successfully just before she graduated from high school after a year of preparation, R&D, and production. As expected, its products quickly captured the target market. Its sophisticated design and exceptional quality helped ISG achieve success faster than expected.
"We have to prepare for a new product launch soon." Yu Li said, pulling her coat closer. It was December and the temperature had dropped.
"Let my men do it." Xu Zaitan blurted out and looked at Yu Li unconsciously. More than a year had passed, and Yu Li's facial features had grown and became brighter than before. With the special body management, she was the focus wherever she went.
He had the air of an old father. Yu Li seemed thinner, with no flesh on her face. It must be because she worked too hard.
"Yeah." Yu Li laughed softly. She had recruited a group of people to help manage the company, but the brand was too young, so she had to be in charge of it personally in the short term.
"The wind is a bit strong, let's go back."
Xu Zaitan agreed and let Yu Li walk in front. He followed obediently behind. He didn't look like the president of the group company, but more like Yu Li's bodyguard, attracting many people's attention along the way.
The hall was bustling with people, and upon hearing the news of Seo Jae-dam's appearance, even more people rushed over. Yu Li didn't want to socialize on her rare day off, so she tossed Seo Jae-dam into the crowd and headed to the entertainment area.
There were not many guests in the movie theater. After all, most of the people who came to this cruise ship came to establish a relationship with Xu Zaitan. Only some young people who did not need to socialize would go to the entertainment area to relax, and everyone else gathered in the lobby or on the deck.
Yu Li found a place to blend in. She just watched and didn't say anything, and didn't even notice that there was someone here.
After a while, a girl sat next to Yu Li, put her cell phone on the small table, and the girl carefully adjusted the hem of her skirt.
The two boys in the front row were probably Jiutang students. They were complaining that not many students came tonight and they had nothing to play with.
"Come on, is Xu Zaitan's party just for you to have fun?"
"Ah Xi, there's nothing I can do. Isn't it my parents' business to talk about business?"
After a few seconds of silence, one of them said, "Isn't your fiancée here? Why don't you go find her?"
Another retorted, "If that's the case, your goddess Quan Yuli is here too, why don't you go find her?"
When Hong Baolin heard the word "pear", her radar started to move. She glanced at the girl next to her whose face she couldn't see clearly, and then she quietly moved forward.
"Can I see Kwon Woo-ri whenever I want?" After punching his brother, the man sighed, "Let's not even mention that she's engaged. Look at the people around her. If I dare to get close to her tonight, I'll be dealt with tomorrow morning."
Is it so serious? Hong Baolin frowned, wondering who Quan Yuli was.
"As expected of a chaebol heiress," the boy continued, "She's already got her own business team at such a young age. She has two Zhengs around her: one handles the public affairs, the other the private ones."
"Yeah, right." My friend nodded enthusiastically. "I heard that too. She built her own brand and it became nationally famous within a year. She has two suitors, one from a prosecutor's family and the other from a hospital. Her fiancé's family is involved in even more industries. It's amazing."
Yes, Hong Baolin nodded blankly. After hearing this, she just wanted to sigh what a super invincible Mary Sue this is. Not only is she excellent herself, but the people around her are also excellent.
It turns out that excellent people only play with excellent people.
I wanted to listen further, but unfortunately the two boys seemed afraid that talking behind my back would be heard by someone with ulterior motives, so they kept quiet and got up and left not long after.
Hong Baolin's attempt to hold him back was ignored.
Hong Baolin withdrew her hand embarrassedly and knocked her head. She wanted to say hello to Xu Zaitan but was surrounded by people and couldn't get in. She wanted to get to know "Li Li" but had no channels, so she got nothing tonight.
The person next to him moved, Hong Baolin glanced at him and suddenly had an idea.
After changing herself into a comfortable position, Yu Li looked at the screen. What was being shown was the movie "Basement", which won the Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Newcomer awards. The starring role was Song Minjing. When it was released, she booked a private theater to watch it and also gave movie tickets to every employee in the company.
A hand stretched out in front of her and waved. Yu Li tilted her head, and the owner of the hand gave her a sincere smile.
"Um, sorry to bother you." Hong Baolin scratched her hair while holding her phone. "I just heard the two people in front of me talking about Quan Yuli. Perhaps, do you know Quan Yuli?"
Yuri:?
Blinking, she nodded.
Hong Baolin suddenly became excited: "I'm really curious. She seems very powerful. If you don't bother me, can you tell me about her?"
Yu Li didn't say anything.
Perhaps because of the long silence, Hong Baolin felt a little uneasy. The lights in the movie theater were very dim, and she couldn't see the face of the girl next to her clearly. She just felt that she must be a very beautiful person.
She herself was puzzled as to why she felt this way.
"Ah, if I don't want to say too much, I'll just say her appearance. Do you know what she looks like?"
Hong Baolin looked at Yu Li with hope. If she knew her appearance, she would be able to match her up with her next time they met.
Feeling the other person's burning gaze, Yu Li supported her head with one hand. It was interesting. She had never encountered such a thing before.
"As for appearance," she began, "it should look like me."
ha?
Hong Baolin was stunned for a moment. What did she say? She looked like that?
How could Quan Yuli look like her? She is not Quan Yuli, don't joke——
Hong Baolin froze in mid-sentence. To have reached this level, she must have some brains. If the other party wasn't lying, didn't that mean...
"I'm sorry." She lowered her head. "So you are Miss Quan. I'm so ungrateful."
Tears were streaming down my face. When those two boys were talking just now, Kwon Yu-ri didn't say anything. I thought he was just there to watch the fun and was too lazy to say anything after such a long time.
"It's okay." Yu Li didn't want to care about it, and she didn't say anything bad about her.
Hong Baolin raised one eye and looked at him quietly. She didn't seem angry. She became more active and took out one of her business cards.
"Perhaps you will think that I am overestimating my abilities, but in any case, I still want to give you this card."
"I'm just an internet celebrity. I run my own account, and I'm the one who shoots and edits..."
I couldn't continue talking. Compared with Kwon Wook-ri's achievements, her achievements are nothing. Doesn't Kwon Wook-ri need internet celebrities around her?
Hong Baolin stood up, his attitude very humble: "Anyway, you can throw it away."
Yu Li didn't respond. Hong Baolin didn't dare to stay any longer and turned to leave the screening room. As soon as she left, Yu Li casually stuffed the business card into her bag.
The movie ended, but she didn't go out. She didn't go to bed until three in the morning last night, and she still has to deal with the school's Ivy League membership application tomorrow, so tonight is the only time she has to rest.
Zheng Zhihe knew that she had come to Xu Zaitan's party tonight and the cruise ship would return at ten o'clock, so she arranged a vehicle at the shore to take her home.
"The information for joining the Qingteng Club has been sorted out. The meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. I'll pick you up tomorrow morning."
The Qingteng Club is an organization established by students within Capital University under the banner of "recruiting talents and helping each other". It is similar to fraternities abroad. Membership requires qualification review and recommendation from three internal personnel. After joining, resources are shared, and fellow members will lend a hand when in trouble without involving their own interests.
Most students who could attend Capital University possessed brilliant minds, and the Qingteng Club recruited the best of these talents, building a vast network of connections. With members spread across the country, once these individuals went abroad to study and came into contact with the upper echelons of society, the Qingteng Club's influence would spread even further abroad.
The decision to recruit new members is held in December every year. It is not difficult for Yu Li to join the club. With the recommendation of three internal staff, it is also easy to get one. As soon as she entered university, Che Longyu came to her and asked her to join the Qingteng Club.
“There are pros and cons, but for people like us, it’s better to be in than not.”
"I can find someone to write you a letter of recommendation. Not just three, I can get 30."
Yu Li already had friends in the Qingteng Club, so she didn't care much about this. She submitted the application within the specified time and waited for approval at the meeting tomorrow. She took a morning off for this purpose.
There is a quota for membership each year.
"No, I'll go to school by myself."
After replying to Zheng Zhihe's message, Yu Li put down her phone. The environment in the screening room was really suitable for sleeping. The background music of the old movie was soft. It was hard to tell how much time had passed before Yu Li fell into a deep sleep.
When she regained consciousness, it was already ten o'clock in the evening. The cruise ship began to return. However, she didn't know what went wrong. Waves of smoke drifted in from the crack in the door and easily took away Yu Li's breath.
She covered her mouth and coughed twice. Alarms rang in her ears, indicating a fire. She could vaguely hear hurried footsteps in the corridor, and Yu Li quickly went out.
Not knowing the source of the fire, she headed downstairs. As she reached the stairs, she heard Seo Jae-dam's voice from the other side of the hallway: "Kwon Yu-ri! Yu-ri! Where are you?"
The fire on the cruise ship was unexpected. Xu Zaitan no longer cared whether it was an accident or man-made. He arranged people to put out the fire and began to search for Yu Li's figure layer by layer.
If something happens to Kwon Yu-ri here, his death will be imminent.
Door after door was roughly pushed open, and when he finally found half of it, he saw Yu Li's figure. Xu Zaitan ran to Yu Li and said, "Hurry up, the first and top floors are on fire."
So weird? Yu Li grabbed Xu Zaitan's arm. Her intuition told her it wasn't an accident. She stood there for a few seconds. A voice came closer:
"I saw him go upstairs, go find him."
"We can't let Xu Zaitan get away."
"Is he going to find the one from the Quan family?"
Xu Zaitan's eyes widened, "Oh my god, what the hell are you doing here coming at him?"
He was very successful this year and everyone avoided him. He didn't remember who he offended.
Without waiting for his reaction, Yu Li dragged the person away and ran. The sound of her footsteps echoed in the stairwell, but was drowned out by the screams from upstairs and downstairs.
Xu Zaitan's security guard followed behind him. He looked back and asked, "Are those last two people yours?"
Yu Li nodded. She always had two people accompanying her when she went out alone, but they usually showed up when she had something important to do. They quickly reached the second floor, but unfortunately, they ran into someone who had intercepted Xu Zaitan as he was trying to get upstairs.
There were also people on the third floor, so they could only hide in the rooms on the second floor. Xu Zaitan vaguely remembered that the same thing happened in Che Longyu's club more than a year ago. He was hunted by the killer arranged by the Bai family, but it was Yin Yancan who took him to hide at that time.
It's really unlucky to think of a dead person at this time.
"There's no time." The smoke was getting thicker and thicker, and they had to get out as soon as possible. Yu Li pulled Xu Zaitan's tie and dragged him to the window, "Get your people to drive the lifeboat."
Xu Zaitan maintained the tilted posture caused by his tie being grabbed, his headphones lit up, and he ordered the people on the first floor to start the lifeboat.
"What now?"
There was a noise outside and those people were coming over.
If you want to escape by lifeboat, you have to at least go to the deck.
"I'll take you out now." Yu Li said.
Xu Zaitan: “Ah?”
The next second, Yu Li opened the window and threw the person out of the window in Xu Zaitan's puzzled eyes.
Usually the windows of a cruise ship cannot be opened, but fortunately this one was not sealed, which saved time. After throwing the person out, the bodyguard retracted his hand. There was so much noise that the sound of Xu Zaitan falling into the water could not be heard, only a "Ahhh" could be heard.
When the people who were arresting Xu Zaitan rushed into the room, they saw that only Yu Li was in the room. Yu Li spread out her hands to show that she had no intention of resisting and would do whatever the other party said.
"Where is Xu Jae-dam?" People like Quan Yu-ri naturally knew her. Wherever she was, Xu Jae-dam would definitely follow her to protect her.
"Go find it yourself." Yu Li crossed her arms. She didn't want to jump into the sea in December.
The group of people looked at each other and finally made way for each other: "Get out, don't try to cause any trouble."
Yu Li was eager to go out. The cruise ship's automatic sprinkler fire extinguishing system had already been activated, and she didn't want to get wet in the rain here.
They went down to the first floor. The fire there looked quite serious, but the group of people left themselves a way out and found a passage to the deck. There was more than one lifeboat on the sea.
Standing on the deck, gazing at the sea, a dark black, Yu Li couldn't help but think of her experience a year and a half ago. The body had been identified as Yin Yancan, and since then, no one had ever come to oppose her.
Yancan, how does it feel to be surrounded by sea water?
"Who sent you?" Even at this moment, Yu Li still had the leisure to talk to the person holding her hostage. The knife at her waist was ignored. She randomly cited a few examples, "The Yan family? The company was just acquired by Xu Zaitan not long ago; or the Li family, accusing Xu Zaitan of malicious competition and threatening to make Xu Zaitan pay..."
The person behind me didn't react.
Yu Li turned her head slightly and glanced at the mask on the person behind her. She chuckled and said, "If it's neither of those, then it's the Bai family?"
The man's expression didn't even change, and his body didn't move, but Yu Li still had a premonition.
The hand holding the knife seemed to use a little more force.
Hasn't the Bai family been destroyed yet? The entire branch that opposed Xu Zaitan was imprisoned, so how did they rise again?
"Your target is only Xu Zaitan?"
There are many wealthy people on the cruise ship. According to the specifications of tonight, I am afraid that the capital city has been notified as soon as the fire broke out. Rescuers are on the way and they don’t have much time.
Still no response.
Yu Li rubbed her temples. There was no point in not saying anything. She had already seen the life raft where Xu Zaitan was. She made a gesture and two people suddenly jumped out from the deck. The people who held Yu Li hostage were quickly dealt with.
If it wasn't for getting more information and leaving time for Xu Zaitan to board the ship, she wouldn't bother to act here.
"Yu Li, come on up!" Xu Zaitan was sitting on a life raft. He could swim, but after being thrown into the sea by Yu Li's bodyguards, he realized that Yu Li wanted him to escape directly on the lifeboat. It was too dangerous to stay on the cruise ship. He was in the water for only two minutes before his men pulled him out of the sea.
Yu Li walked to the side of the ship. Everyone on the ship was trying to save themselves. Lifeboats and life rafts were lowered one after another. The people who were chasing Xu Zaitan were taking advantage of the situation. There were cries and shouts everywhere. There was no extra time for her to slowly leave the ship, so she could only jump in.
Just as he was about to lift his foot, Xu Zaitan suddenly called out again: "Yu Li, have you brought your things? You must take the things I gave you."
Yu Li paused. There were only two people on the life raft, Xu Zaitan and his bodyguard. The two were very close to each other, and both looked up at her eagerly.
"Go and get the things." She said to her bodyguard. The message was quickly conveyed through their eye contact. The bodyguard nodded and walked back immediately.
Looking at the other one, Yu Li pointed at the life raft and said, "You jump first, then catch me."
There is nothing wrong with this arrangement. The young lady has never experienced such a thing before. It is normal for her to be afraid of falling into the water and want someone to catch her.
The bodyguard jumped down obediently and nothing happened. Xu Zaitan moved back to make room for Yu Li, and then watched Yu Li's bodyguard catch Yu Li steadily.
As soon as she got on the life raft, Yu Li wanted to sigh. Xu Jae-tan's life was really like a TV drama. Accidents happened wherever he went.
"Don't move!" The man who had been sitting next to Xu Zaitan silently suddenly rushed behind Yu Li. He felt a tightness on the back of his head and put the gun to Yu Li's head.
He was not Xu Zaitan's bodyguard. He had expected that Xu Zaitan might escape in a lifeboat, so he was waiting on the sea early in the morning.
Seeing Xu Zai Tan jumping into the sea, he waited for two minutes to pull him out, and immediately threatened Xu Zai Tan not to alert the enemy. Quan Yuli and Xu Zai Tan were in the same group, and using Quan Yuli to deal with Xu Zai Tan was a sure win.
Yu Li's only remaining bodyguard looked at the man warily, as if he was afraid that his employer would be harmed.
This tense atmosphere did not affect Yu Li at all.
"Sir," Yu Li said calmly, unsurprised by what had just happened. "Hold your gun steady, or something terrible will happen."
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