Chapter 77 Interpersonal Relationships

  Xin Hai Garden, before going there, according to Qu Wen's imagination, should be a pretty interesting place, such as tea houses and high-end private clubs. But after arriving, it turned out to be a favorite nightspot for young people. Don't look at Zhao Mengzhi and Wang Jinmao, who are both over 40 years old, but once they enter, they seem to have changed completely, full of endless vitality from head to toe.

  They usually appear to be fearless, as if they could bring down the emperor himself. However, upon entering the private room, they found that Wang Jinmao had already prepared a stunningly beautiful woman for each of them, who immediately wrapped themselves around them like a snake, without needing any invitation.

  This kind of romantic scene is often seen, like a normal meal at home. Qu Wen also reluctantly accepted it, after all, he was a young man who had been to such occasions many times, as long as it wasn't in public XX, he didn't care. But Zhao Haifeng seemed more restrained, supposedly Liang Shuang was an oddity in the antique shop, and Zhao Haifeng was a treasure among the official rich second generation, not indulging in carnal pleasures, yearning for the pure love of his parents' generation in the 70s and 80s.

  Zhao Meng took the beautiful woman beside him and pulled her over, one on the left and one on the right, tightly hugging each other, feeling extremely carefree and happy.

  Wang Jinmao chose to come here for a drink, originally thinking that Qu Wen and Zhao Haifeng were both young people who would like this type of activity. Unexpectedly, the spark landed on the wrong leg. After making a ruckus for a while, they withdrew all the beauties and left nine big men in the private room.

  Through Wang Jimao's introduction, among the four people who came in the evening, one of them was Xiao Jian, the big boss of Xin Hai Garden. His father is a high-ranking official in a certain department of the province. The other three were: Guo Hongbing, who works in the municipal foreign trade bureau and is responsible for the relevant work of verifying the qualifications for import and export operations; Qin Lihai, who is also a private entrepreneur like Zhao Mengzhi, with a company that is not large but has considerable backing; and finally Lu Jianjun, who looks quite refined, is around thirty years old, and does not have a specific occupation. However, Wang Jimao privately told Zhao Haifeng that his grandfather is an important figure in the provincial military region.

  After the introductions, Qu Wen looked at Wang Jinmao with curiosity, wondering what the point was of introducing him to these people. He didn't mix with officials or businesspeople, and just collected antiques and picked up big leaks; maybe for his whole life he wouldn't have anything to do with these people.

  However, Zhao Haifeng understands that in the country, no matter what you do, if you want to make it big, you need to have enough interpersonal relationships and social connections. So whether it's "birds of a feather flock together" or "people with similar status interact", people from the same level will always be friends with those from the same level. Therefore, people in high society will always find it easier to succeed than ordinary citizens in lower societies.

  When Wang Jinmao first introduced Qu Wen and Wei Dan, because Qu Wen was in the antique industry and had a few hundred million on his body, he didn't look down on him. Wei Dan, on the other hand, was just a follower and basically wasn't taken seriously. However, when Wang Jinmao introduced Zhao Haifeng's identity, the expressions of several people changed. No matter which era, don't offend those who are in the same line as Zhao Haifeng's father, otherwise, if something goes wrong, you'll be the first to be blamed. Furthermore, if your family background is not strong enough, you can't hold that position.

  If it were an outsider, Zhao Haifeng would not normally talk nonsense about his family affairs, but Wang Jinmao was different. His family members all worked in the system, and as long as they asked around a bit, they could find out about your family relationships. Even if they couldn't investigate three generations back, it wasn't difficult to understand the people around you. So Zhao Haifeng didn't beat around the bush with Wang Jinmao and roughly told him everything.

  Upon learning of Zhao Haifeng's family relationship, the four people, especially Guo Hongbing, who was only a little older than Zhao Haifeng, became extremely enthusiastic, calling him "Ah Feng" with an intimacy that surpassed even that of biological brothers.

  "I heard that next month, Hong Kong will host an international jewelry exhibition, only open to industry insiders. I don't know if Ah Feng and you are interested, coincidentally, there is a company here that plans to participate in the exhibition. If you want to go, I can help get tickets."

  After chatting for a while, Guo Hongbing intentionally revealed a message to Zhao Haifeng, and as long as Zhao Haifeng was willing, he would immediately call that jewelry company.

  Zhao Haifeng heard it and didn't show too much interest, not that he didn't understand jewelry appraisal, but because he didn't want to casually acknowledge someone else's feelings, otherwise he might accidentally bring trouble back home.

  "But I studied antique appraisal and don't know much about jewelry, so even if I went, I wouldn't know what to do."

  "What about Wen?" Seeing Zhao Haifeng take a different route, Guo Hongbing turned to Qu Wen. Several people could see that Qu Wen and Zhao Haifeng had an extremely good relationship, almost like close brothers. If Qu Wen was interested, it would be equivalent to Zhao Haifeng also agreeing.

  Although not mixed in official circles, Qu Wen is not a fool and occasionally hears some things about the system from Zhao Haifeng. In his opinion, unless you are doing business, there is no need to get too close to people in official circles.

  Laughed and perfunctorily said: "You also know, this line is like a mountain range, we both study antique appraisal, not very familiar with jewelry, and I heard that doing jewelry requires a lot of money, just the little bit on me... isn't enough for others to buy a necklace."

  Qu Wen honestly said that the knowledge he had learned in the past few months was basically about antiques, and his understanding of jewelry was only at a book level. Lu Jianjun, who was listening on the side, burst out laughing: "You're honest and frank enough! Jewelry is just a toy for rich people. If you want to talk about something interesting, it's better to go hunting in the mountains with guns." After taking a sip of beer, Lu Jianjun continued: "I heard that your line of work often involves going to ancient tomb sites for excavation work. If you have time, can you take me along to take a look?"

  It turned out that Lu Jianjun took Qu Wen and others as archaeological workers, let alone he wanted to go, even Qu Wen himself wanted to find an opportunity to take a look. Since entering the antique appraisal industry, it is natural to have the same interest in archaeological excavations.

  "I'm really sorry, we only deal with antiques, I don't know if Ah Feng has been there before, but I've never been there."

  Lu Jianjun couldn't help but let out a faint sigh: "What a pity, I was thinking of taking you to the archaeological site again, and then I'd take you hunting. My grandfather said that the black bears in Changbai Mountain are quite fierce, and I've never had the chance to encounter them."

  Most men have a special liking for guns and cars. When it comes to hunting, Qu Wen's eyes lit up: "I can't take you to the archaeological site, but if you have the chance to take us hunting, I'd be willing to spend some money. To be honest, if I didn't want to disappoint my dad, I would have joined the army a long time ago. Every time I see those olive green uniforms on TV, I feel especially envious."

  Lu Jianjun heard a soft hum: "What are you envious of? You really think I can get you in at any time, besides, you're a college graduate, and the age limit can be relaxed by two years. Now you're still within the recruitment age range. If it weren't for not wanting to disappoint my old man back then, I wouldn't have joined the army either. But when I really got to the troops, I still disappointed him, thoroughly disappointing him."

  Lu Jianjun said, taking another big gulp of beer, and didn't continue speaking, which made Qu Wen's heart itch with curiosity.

  At this, Qu Wen suddenly felt a sense of being connected by fate, picked up the wine bottle: "Let's have a drink for our dads and for ourselves." After saying that, he proactively clinked his wine bottle against Lu Jianjun's and then downed the wine in one gulp.

  Lu Jianjun stared at Qu Wen, stunned for a moment before bursting out laughing loudly: "Refreshing! It's been a long time since I've met someone as refreshing as you. Call the waiter to bring two more dozen over."

  Afterwards, the nine of them drank until 1 am before returning to their respective homes. Before parting ways, Qu Wen and Lu Jianjun exchanged phone numbers. That night, six dozen beers were delivered to the private room, four dozen of which were consumed by Qu Wen and Lu Jianjun. The two men got drunk and started calling each other brothers, singing loudly until the end of the gathering.

  Back at the hotel, Zhao Haifeng followed Qu Wen to his room. First, he helped him pour a glass of water to sober up, then said seriously: "Actually, I know you really want to go to that international jewelry exhibition, but you don't let me worry about it, this feeling is acknowledged by brothers in their hearts. If you decide to mix with the business circle that day, I must remind you that when making connections, you should make connections with people who have real power and great power. Like Guo Hongbing, his power is limited but definitely not small, and there must be some hidden agenda. Acknowledging his favor will likely require repaying ten times in the future. On the other hand, someone like Lu Jianjun, you can make more connections with him, regardless of his personality, the energy behind him cannot be underestimated. In the country, apart from the party, the military is the largest, and in many places, the military has the final say, so it's not a bad thing to know more friends in the military."

  Although I drank a lot at Xin Hai Garden, Qu Wen had Ling Jue on him. As long as he secretly used Ling Jue, he could expel most of the alcohol from his body like sweat, so it looked like he drank a lot but actually nothing happened.

  Upon hearing Zhao Haifeng's heartfelt words, I was touched, but couldn't help bursting into loud laughter: "You didn't drink much tonight, how come you came to me to pour out your feelings? I do want to attend that international jewelry exhibition, but it's not worth shaking your head for. Don't forget I'm also an advisor at Yuefeng Pawnshop, maybe Chen will have a way to get us tickets."

  Zhao Haifeng didn't expect Qu Wen to be so sober after drinking so much, and he was stunned for a while before jumping up and patting Qu Wen's shoulder vigorously: "Why didn't you say so earlier? I've actually been wanting to go too. Hurry... tomorrow morning, call that Chen Zong and ask him to think of a way to get us some tickets."