Chapter 38 Holy crap! That's awesome! So that's how it is...
Holy crap! That's awesome! I never knew you could do that!!!
Someone in the crowd uttered a shocking statement in English, causing the entire audience to erupt in cheers.
These words immediately snapped Huang Shiyu out of her daze. She pushed Li Xingzhou away, their soft lips parting abruptly. Her mind was completely blank and she was in a daze, so her action of pushing Li Xingzhou away was very fast, so fast that it was completely haphazard. It was the strongest reaction that instinct made him.
However, it wasn't just their thin lips that parted so quickly; the paper towel on her lips, as thin as a cicada's wing, also slipped away with lightning speed. As Huang Shiyu stared in disbelief, it gradually dulled, then fell to the ground amidst a sudden gasp of "It's fallen!" from the crowd.
"Wow! This is the only couple I've seen in all the years I've been here that's going to be punished!"
"She doesn't seem to have realized she lost yet, it's quite cute, that bewildered little expression, hahaha."
The restaurant owner, who was in charge of guiding and controlling the rules of the game, appeared at the right time and announced with a regretful look, "Let us express our regret to the last couple. They failed to complete the game and need to accept a specific punishment."
The swirling tissue fell to the ground, stopped spinning, and signaled the end of the game.
How could it have fallen...?
Huang Shiyu stared blankly at the tissue lying on the ground. It was very thin and fragile, as if it would disappear without a trace if she moved.
The restaurant owner continued announcing the unfinished game punishment, "Judging from this young couple, they are obviously unfamiliar faces. They must be Chinese. There is an old Chinese saying, 'Isn't it a pleasure to have friends coming from afar?' For our distinguished guests, we can slightly reduce the punishment, but they still have to drink this wine, just a little less. Does everyone have any objections?"
Everyone was shouting things like "No objection" and "Sure."
Huang Shiyu stared at the thin tissue that had fallen to the ground. It had cunningly escaped the constraints of the table and disappeared from her sight. She had no choice but to turn her gaze to the culprit.
As if receiving some kind of premonition, Li Xingzhou also looked at her. Seeing that she didn't say anything but just stared at him, he said with amusement, "Why are you staring at me like that? I didn't mean to."
He's pretending again; Huang Shiyu knows his temperament all too well.
"Was the paper fun?" she asked.
Li Xingzhou shrugged: "As you know, I'm a very traditional person. I definitely wouldn't do something like this under normal circumstances."
She spoke so seriously, like a virgin, while it seemed as if Huang Shiyu was a lecherous man flirting with him.
Huang Shiyu has a good temper and is tolerant. "Even if you are a person who doesn't do proper work, what does that have to do with the question I asked?"
“Don’t forget, you were the one who dragged me into this, so obviously this isn’t a situation I wanted to see,” Li Xingzhou said.
That means he's saying that the cause of this disaster is you, Huang Shiyu, not me, Li Xingzhou. Obviously, this turn of events was something he hadn't expected.
Huang Shiyu clearly understood what he meant, but the key was that she really couldn't refute it. She just felt that she had to be very careful in her interactions with Li Xingzhou, otherwise she might be dragged into his schemes.
The restaurant owner started again: "Come on, guys, let's all shout together, ten drinks, ten drinks..."
Li Xingzhou said to her, "Did you hear that? Five cups of wine for each person."
There was absolutely no intention of showing any mercy or tenderness towards the woman.
"It's just five glasses of wine per person. I used to drink it all the time," she said dismissively.
Huang Shiyu worked in the Financial Street area in her early years, and she attended more drinking parties than meals. After becoming the CEO of Speed Technology, she negotiated business deals one drinking party after another. Drinking was as essential to her as drinking water, and it was a piece of cake for her.
"You have a pretty good alcohol tolerance," he remarked.
Huang Shiyu didn't take his comments to heart at all; she only felt that he was speaking to her with a sarcastic tone.
She reached for the wine glass the waiter had brought out as punishment, but unexpectedly their hands bumped into each other. They both grabbed the handles of the glasses at the same time. She had no intention of pulling her hand away, and Li Xingzhou didn't give in either. The two of them started competing for no reason.
Huang Shiyu glanced at him and asked, "What are you doing?"
"As punishment," he answered crisply.
"Don't you have a bad stomach? Why are you giving up alcohol?"
He glanced at the other person and said, "You know I gave up drinking because I have a bad stomach?"
It was this glance that distracted him, and before he knew it, Huang Shiyu had snatched the glass of wine from him. She turned the paper-thin glass around, looking at the ice cubes inside, and used the sticky amber liquid to drape herself in a thin veil, making her appear and disappear in the light.
"I know." She tilted her head and thought for a moment, then said, "Drinking can easily lead to trouble, I'll drink for you."
"Are you sure?" Li Xingzhou withdrew his hand and watched as Huang Shiyu first tilted her head back with her wine glass, then began to drink in large gulps. The orange-yellow light made her drinking movements appear very bold.
After finishing a glass of wine, Huang Shiyu showed no signs of intoxication. The alcohol content of the wines here was quite high; she had already downed several glasses of wine with an alcohol content of over 30 degrees. Li Xingzhou thought she had a pretty good alcohol tolerance.
Huang Shiyu put down her empty glass and picked up a full one. When Li Xingzhou questioned her, she simply said, "Strictly speaking, this is an advance payment."
Li Xingzhou's curiosity was piqued. "Why the advance payment?"
"Because it's profitable for me." He finished another glass.
He looked at Huang Shiyu, "Are you after her or her looks?"
"You'll see in a moment." After two more glasses, her face was still not red, except that her lips were moist and shiny from the wine, as if she had applied a lot of lip balm, oily and slippery.
She had just put down her wine glass when a glass of wine suddenly appeared in front of her. She looked down at the glass and saw that it was Li Xingzhou who had handed her the wine. She was just about to catch her breath when she was taken aback by his action.
She was truly impressed by Li Xingzhou; was he trying to test her alcohol tolerance?
Huang Shiyu picked up the wine again, gritted his teeth, and said, "Thank you, Mr. Li."
Li Xingzhou nodded. "You should try to control your emotions more in the future, and don't let others provoke you into taking the bait."
It's obvious they're referring to what just happened.
"Your alcohol tolerance is so bad, you'd better not drink with people casually in the future, so I don't have to clean up your messes." Huang Shiyu didn't mince words with him.
Her words made Li Xingzhou's expression stiffen.
"I'm just giving you a friendly reminder, don't take it lightly," Li Xingzhou said, blinking at her with an innocent expression.
Huang Shiyu frowned, seemingly disagreeing with his words, "I think the people who should be reminded the most are not people like me, but those who love to provoke others at the drop of a hat." His words were practically a middle finger to him.
What a silly little thing. Li Xingzhou thought that if he continued to provoke him, he wondered if Huang Shiyu would just jump up.
Huang Shiyu put down his wine glass, looked at him, and said, "Alright, I've finished drinking. Let's get down to business."
Despite drinking so much, her complexion remained unchanged, neither red nor pale, showing no signs of alcohol. It was indeed just a small matter, as she had said.
“Let me see what you’re thinking, Huang Shiyu,” he said.
After the waiter pushed the empty wine glass away, she turned her gaze to the audience and said seriously, "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure you all know who is standing on the stage. That's right, it's the CEO of Sunac and the young master of Shenzhen-Hong Kong Group. As someone who is about to join Sunac, to thank Mr. Li for his interest in my project, I would like to present you all with a small gift."
Many of the people standing below the stage are top performers in the fields of telemarketing and online sales. Huang Shiyu can remember any entrepreneur who has appeared on a financial channel, even if they have only met once. From the moment she entered, she had a plan. She was now essentially using a straw boat to borrow arrows, only lacking a favorable east wind, and Li Xingzhou was precisely that east wind. Therefore, she chose to release information here that made them feel they could benefit. Her idea was simple: to turn everyone present into her customers.
People with business acumen don't need to consider how many people are suitable for their product; instead, they should consider the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Group behind them. They only need to boldly express their ideas in a few minutes. After all, there are too many projects on the market, and when you don't know what to choose, just follow the lead of a large company.
Huang Shiyu took in the scrutinizing looks from everyone in the audience, then focused her gaze on a corner of the room and continued, "This gift is my new project, a product in the spiritual realm: AI Mind Healing. It's a software focused on mental health and healing. The concept is simple: modern people experience a lot of mental stress and need an outlet, and this software..." She paused, a friendly smile playing on her lips, "Or perhaps 'confessional' would be more appropriate. It analyzes users' needs and emotional fluctuations through dialogue and then communicates with them. It's somewhat like talking to a therapist, so I've decided to grant the online distribution rights for this project to those of you here who are interested in collaborating, before it even launches."
Because of her last words, Li Xingzhou instinctively looked at her. He didn't know what Huang Shiyu was trying to do. Was she planning to distribute all the online agency rights and not operate a self-operated model, or was she going to do both?
Huang Shiyu's sudden actions today were completely unexpected, without any prior consultation with him. He felt that as an investor, he was like a decoration in Huang Shiyu's eyes, and this dispensable status made him very upset.
"Is Mr. Huang keeping us in suspense or just building up our curiosity?"
Huang Shiyu looked down at Zhang Jingyan, who was sitting in the corner of the audience. She had seen her a long time ago, as well as her boyfriend who was handing her fruit.
She smiled and said, "Everyone must be wondering why I didn't announce this after the project had already started, or why I didn't hold a press conference specifically to talk about it."
"Let me explain here. I am not only extremely honored to meet so many senior figures in the industry here, but I also feel that it is time for me to show my skills. Moreover, I believe that in doing business, you must first show your sincerity in order to satisfy everyone. Therefore, Mr. Li and I have decided to specially customize a unique spiritual healing software just for those of you who are interested in cooperating. Rest assured, we will absolutely not leak your information. Mr. Li and I can testify to this here. The software is also customized free of charge."
Seeing that the audience's attention had been drawn to him, Huang Shiyu whispered to Li Xingzhou beside him, "Please say something for me. We are now in a situation where we share both prosperity and adversity."
"Why should I help you?" he asked, looking at her calmly.
Huang Shiyu knew that his displeasure stemmed from her not having informed him beforehand.
“I know that what I’m saying today won’t have any negative impact on you at all,” Huang Shiyu said. “Even if you change your mind and don’t plan to invest in me, this situation won’t affect you in any way.”
Li Xingzhou glanced at her, remained silent for a few seconds, and then said, "Yes."
Huang Shiyu's hand, which was clenched at his side, suddenly loosened its grip because of his next words.
"Mr. Huang is right. People today face a lot of mental and psychological health problems. This topic is obviously the biggest issue in the 21st century globally. In the face of a fast-paced society, it's not just depression but also anxiety. So there will be a huge market for mental health services. We can take advantage of this and come up with many new ideas in the market."
He explained the core competitiveness of the project very clearly, and the audience listened attentively.
Huang Shiyu was very perceptive. Seeing that the time was right, he said, "Mr. Li has said so much. Is there anyone who wants to order something custom-made?"
Although everyone in the audience looked very interested, no one made a sound. Huang Shiyu was worried about what to do and was thinking of asking Li Xingzhou to say a few more words to add fuel to the fire. She didn't believe that no one would refuse to give her face.
She glanced down at the audience and met Zhang Jingyan's gaze in the corner. It was just a casual glance, but she saw Zhang Jingyan's lips move, silently lip-reading something to her. She couldn't understand or hear it, but she could vaguely see that Zhang Jingyan was smiling.
"I just don't know if I can gain the approval of the seniors."
Facing most of her seniors in the audience, her demeanor was perfectly respectful, and no one would refuse such a sincere and sensible young woman.
Zhang Jingyan, who was in the audience, also gave her face, saying, "I've been feeling a bit nervous lately, probably because of too much pressure. Could you please customize one for me, Mr. Huang?"
Huang Shiyu smiled and said, "Okay, Mr. Zhang, no problem."
"The young lady has a good idea, and she has a bright future. Please make one for me too."
Seeing someone take the lead, and with most people exhibiting herd mentality, they all shouted, "We want some too!"
"Okay, okay, I'll write it down first."
"But wait."
Huang Shiyu paused in her act of taking out her phone, looking towards the source of the sound. Zhang Jingyan smiled faintly at her and continued, "I heard that Shanghai will be hosting an AI competition next year, attracting many elites from academia and industry. I think your project is excellent. Would you be interested in registering with your product? We can then approach you at your booth to secure contracts. This way, we can see if the product is truly as good as you claim, and whether it meets market demands. Furthermore, it will expand the influence of your product and company, as many CEOs will be attending the AI competition."
At this point, Zhang Jingyan shifted her gaze from Huang Shiyu's face to the faces of the other CEOs, "What do you all think?"
The CEOs present thought Zhang Jingyan's suggestion seemed pretty good, and they whispered among themselves for a few moments. "I think it's good." "Okay."
"I wonder what President Huang thinks?" Zhang Jingyan turned her gaze to Huang Shiyu's face again, smiling at her just as before.
Huang Shiyu knew why Zhang Jingyan did this. Previously, even with the backing of Shenzhen-Hong Kong Group, these bosses had not shown any firm intention to invest. Her sincerity was not enough; she still had to produce results. After all, these people were not to be trifled with. No matter how well you talked, if you could not make a profit, it would just be a castle in the air for them.
So Huang Shiyu didn't hesitate at all and replied directly, "Of course, no problem." After saying that, he took out his phone again and continued to finish what he hadn't done before.
From a distance that was neither too close nor too far, Li Xingzhou watched Huang Shiyu holding her phone, standing on the edge of the table, head down, her fingers rapidly typing on the keyboard. The orange lights of the restaurant couldn't hide her figure, dressed in a black trench coat.
It was like the only hole in the colorful landscape, hollowed out by something unknown.
Huang Shiyu has something in common with him: she is particularly good at using internet public opinion to make the next market prediction and to dominate the market. For example, in the previous acquisition of Speed Technology, Huang Shiyu released ambiguous information to let the industry guess, which boosted Speed Technology's market value several levels. Maximizing profit is her style. She will not let go of any opportunity to make money. If she had not fallen into Song Chaoye's trap in the end, she would have become a legendary figure in the industry.
Moreover, Huang Shiyu's talent for market acumen cannot be hidden no matter how much she is suppressed; she is naturally suited for this world of fame and fortune.
Huang Shiyu's actions today were clearly a reminder and a warning to him, indicating that he was getting anxious because the financing plan had not made any progress with him.
Li Xingzhou looked at her and asked, "What are your plans for attracting traffic next?"
Huang Shiyu looked back at him, "There are many ways to attract traffic, and marketing is a tried-and-true method." She chuckled, "It's no longer the era where good wine needs no bush."
He strongly agrees with this point. No matter how good a company's products are, it will be difficult to adapt to market changes without a good marketing team and a detailed marketing strategy.
Li Xingzhou: "You're quite efficient and decisive in handling matters."
"Not at all, I still prioritize your decision as a major investor," Huang Shiyu added. "My tricks are nothing but child's play compared to yours, they're not even worth mentioning."
"I didn't realize Zhang Jingyan was so considerate of you."
"I'm a senior student, what's wrong with helping out the junior students? Are you just jealous that others are nice to me?"
Li Xingzhou's gaze lingered on her for a while before he finally spoke, "You really do manage to surprise me every time."
Huang Shiyu knew what he meant, turned her head to look at him, and said, "Don't you think it's a surprise?"
Are you in such a hurry?
"How can I not be anxious?" She felt that Li Xingzhou, this young master, was truly ignorant of the hardships of life. "Mr. Li, you have never started a business, you don't know how difficult the process of going from 0 to 1 is, you don't know how anxious I am, and you don't know my strong desire to take this project public."
Li Xingzhou went straight to the point, "So you're relieved now?"
Huang Shiyu shook his head: "You're overthinking it. I just don't have any sunk costs."
She didn't have the courage to start all over again. After all, every word in the financing plan carried the hard work of more than just her. She wasn't alone and couldn't just leave gracefully with a cool image. Because it wasn't just her investment, she had more to consider.
Li Xingzhou glanced at her, his tone more serious than ever before: "Have you thought about the consequences of doing this? If the product quality doesn't meet the preheating expectations, the situation you'll face won't be very optimistic."
He knew that Huang Shiyu was doing this to warm up for the launch of new products after the company was established. Although warming up and marketing products in advance can empower them, a tug-of-war during the warm-up period would be counterproductive if it went on for too long.
"I'm just taking risks to make a fortune," Huang Shiyu said, giving him a meaningful look. "After all, man proposes, God disposes."
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Author's Note: My darlings, did you go anywhere for the May Day holiday? I want to recommend a place to you all, it's one of my absolute favorites! Xiamen! Ahhhhh! It's my absolute favorite city, I visit it every year! But it's been raining lately, so I wouldn't really recommend going. I especially recommend going at the end of November, close to December, when the weather is perfect for strolling around the streets. I love rainy days, and this time of year is just right for me. Xiamen is also a rainy city, which I absolutely adore!
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