Financial freedom starts from graduation

Chapter 363 Knights of the Round Table
Jiang Qingkui suddenly opened her eyes only when Zhou Wang's hand was reaching for the hem of her skirt.

She turned around and saw Lin Ran standing not far away with her hand covering her mouth, looking at the scene in disbelief. Next to her was her newly hired assistant Xu Lingyue, who had a complicated expression and contempt in her eyes.

It seems to be saying...it turns out that beneath your cool and elegant appearance, you actually have such a shameless and dissolute heart!

"no, do not want……"

Jiang Qingkui couldn't help but scream until she felt a chill in her waist and abdomen.

"Why not?"

Zhou Wang's strange questioning voice came from the side.

There was still a hint of fear on her face, but Jiang Qingkui's face was flushed. She turned around in a daze and found that Zhou Wang was still leaning against the pillar, holding a champagne in one hand, looking at her with strange eyes.

She was still standing at the same position as she had just started, holding the stack of membership information she had just registered.

Facing Zhou Wang's inquiring gaze, Jiang Qingkui suddenly became extremely flustered, and a huge sense of shame overwhelmed her heart.

I don’t know if it was due to excitement or the effect of alcohol, but she was actually immersed in her own fantasy world just now…

No, she was actually fantasizing about Zhou Wang in public!

"No, nothing... I'm going to the bathroom."

Jiang Qingkui bit her lip and didn't dare to look directly at Zhou Wang. She barely maintained an indifferent expression, turned her head away, stammered something, then hurriedly fled in her high heels, holding on to the wall.

Zhou Wang stared at her slightly staggering back, feeling completely confused.

Even though Zhou Wang had a deep enough understanding of Jiang Qingkui, it was impossible for him to guess what was going on in Jiang Qingkui's mind.

If he could guess it, then Jiang Qingkui would be in big trouble tonight...

Unfortunately, Zhou Wang is just a mortal after all, and he doesn’t know what he has missed at this moment.

So after just a quick look, Zhou Wang withdrew his gaze in confusion and muttered, "Is this sister drunk?"

After thinking about it, Zhou Wang waved to Xu Lingyue, who was walking around the banquet hall, checking whether there was enough wine and water, and asked her to go and take care of Jiang Qingkui.

After Tian Xinyi on the stage finished singing "Yesterday Once More", Tian Xinyi and her partner stood up to express their gratitude amid the guests' polite applause and then walked off the stage.

According to the agreement, they only need to sing three songs to get a reward of one million.

This offer is actually very low in the entertainment industry. Considering that Zhou Wang himself is a shareholder of Wuyou Media, this can also be considered an internal price.

The agent brought two girls over to say goodbye to Zhou Wang, but before leaving, Tian Xinyi handed the guitar in her hand to her partner and whispered something to the agent. Then, amid her partner's ambiguous giggles, she turned back with a slightly blushing face.

"What's wrong, Xinyi?"

Zhou Wang asked with a smile.

"Mr. Zhou, I want to tell you...thank you for taking care of me all the time...Sister Mia told me that if it weren't for you, the company would have given me a more demanding contract."

Tian Xinyi said in a low voice, and then hesitantly said, "I, I wanted to treat you to a meal, but I knew you might be busy, so... this is for you!"

Tian Xinyi said as she stuffed a beautifully wrapped gift box into Zhou Wang's hand.

Before Zhou Wang could even politely refuse, Tian Xinyi had already waved to him, turned around and ran away in a panic.

Zhou Wang opened the gift box curiously. When he saw the square oak box, he had already guessed what was inside. What surprised him was that there was no logo on the box.

When I opened the lid of the box, a watch came into view.

(Roger Dubuis - the first generation of Knights of the Round Table)
The white and green roulette dial, with twelve golden knights inlaid around the dial, stretched out their swords, pointing to the origin of everything, as if even time cannot make them compromise.

Zhou Wang was instantly attracted by this watch, which was clearly positioned as a formal watch but had an extremely high appearance.

He had seen the watch in a fashion magazine.

It comes from a relatively unpopular brand in the luxury goods industry, Roger Dubuis.

Although it is not common in China and its name cannot be seen in many brand rankings, the positioning of this brand is not low. In the watch world, it is on the same level as big luxury brands such as Rolex, Blancpain, and Piaget, comparable to the "Supreme Star" in mobile games.

The Knights of the Round Table in Zhou Wang’s hand is a classic among classics in Roger Dubuis’ King series. Its full name is “King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table”.

The most precious thing is that this is the first generation of the Knights of the Round Table, and it is also recognized as the last piece in the series with the highest collection value.

Limited to 28 pieces worldwide.

Of course, because Roger Dubuis’ brand marketing is inferior to other brands, although it is a limited edition and out of print, the price of this watch in the market is not too high.

If Zhou Wang remembered correctly, the public price when it was issued was 208 million, but the current market price is about 180 million, which is slightly depreciated in comparison.

The only rare thing is that the authentic version of this watch is quite hard to buy. After all, only 28 pieces were issued, and most of them are in the hands of collectors. It is very difficult to find them on the market.

Zhou Wang was somewhat surprised.

It’s not because Tian Xinyi is so dedicated, but because she is not a first-line actress after all. Although she has good popularity at present, even in the circle of Internet celebrities, she does not make as much money as top stars like Lin Dantong and Peng Shiliu.

Nearly two million is probably a huge sum of money for her, and it may even have emptied her savings.

Zhou Wang didn't think that the watch in his hand was a knockoff, and no one would give him a fake watch that didn't even have a logo printed on the watch box. Sure enough, Zhou Wang received a message from Tian Xinyi's agent Miya in the blink of an eye.

"Mr. Zhou, Xinyi looked up a lot of information and consulted many friends before finally buying the watch at a small auction. You are an expert and you should know how much she spent on it. She even borrowed a lot from me... Xinyi is a good girl. I hope you can take good care of her in the future~"

Zhou Wang took a glance and then looked away.

Of course he knew that Tian Xinyi's agent said this not just for Tian Xinyi, but it was just human nature, and he didn't feel disgusted by it.

After thinking about it, Zhou Wang took off the Patek Philippe Starry Sky in his hand and replaced it with this Roger Dubuis Knights of the Round Table.

Looking around, Zhou Wang couldn't help but nod with satisfaction... He was indeed quite handsome.

After taking a photo and sending it to Tian Xinyi, Zhou Wang also said, "I like it very much. Thank you."

Zhou Wang didn’t say much. Whether it was about returning the gift or repaying the other party, actions spoke louder than words.

As for the rest...

Zhou Wang sighed slightly.

A girl is willing to spend all her wealth to prepare a gift for you that is obviously beyond her means. Isn't it obvious what she is thinking?
Zhou Wang was still quite puzzled.

As far as he could remember, he and Tian Xinyi had never had any deep dealings. Although they had met quite a few times, most of the time it was in various occasions, and Zhou Wang was just one of the ordinary audience members.

When did she develop feelings for me?
Zhou Wang vaguely knew that this girl was a relatively simple type, and didn't seem to be suitable for him... No, it might be a bit hypocritical to say this, maybe Zhou Wang was already a bit too busy.

Forget it, let nature take its course.

Zhou Wang, who was losing interest, did not reply to the animated emoticon sent by Tian Xinyi. He just looked at it again, put the Patek Philippe Starry Sky into the box, and wore the newly acquired Knights of the Round Table.

This is his fourth watch after the IWC Aquatimer, Rolex Meteorite and Patek Philippe Starry Sky.

And Tian Xinyi was the second girl who gave him a watch.

Thinking of the first girl, Zhou Wang's eyes became a little dazed.

It seems like I haven't heard from her for a long time...

Some time ago, Zhou Wang was still paying attention to her recent situation, but later because he was too busy, Zhou Wang temporarily forgot about it.

He picked up the phone again and sent a message to Su Yajing, asking about Yu Duo's recent situation. After waiting for a minute, Su Yajing didn't reply, so Zhou Wang put away the phone temporarily.

This situation would never happen before. Su Yajing was always the girl who would reply to his message immediately.

She always tried her best to give Zhou Wang the greatest emotional value. After all, as she always said pitifully, she had no money and didn't know how to make money, so she could only do better in these aspects.

What’s more interesting is that if this situation happens to a girl, people generally call her a “treasure girl”, but if the genders are reversed, she would be called a “suck-up boy”.

Of course, it’s not that Su Yajing has started to ignore him now, but because Zhou Wang knows that Su Yajing’s life is not so comfortable now.

Although she has not officially taken over the management of Lishui Yunquan Hotel, in order to prepare for the future, she has spent all her free time in the hotel, rotating between different departments and positions for internship, and is accompanied by the hotel's three vice presidents in turn. The job is of high standard, but it is indeed hard work.

Her idea was simple: she could be stupid, but she couldn't embarrass Zhou Wang.

"Brother, I've lost weight again, and Xiongxiong has shrunk too, will you dislike me~"

"Brother, I find the service industry so hard. Although the quality of the guests staying here is relatively high, there are always some weird ones that can make people angry to death..."

"I heard from Mr. Qu that the hotel's revenue this month has increased by 8 percentage points compared to last month, which brings us one step closer to clearing our debts. I have contributed a little to this. How are you going to reward me?"

On his phone, Su Yajing would chatter to him a lot every day after finishing her work. Of course, Zhou Wang didn't always reply, but that didn't affect Su Yajing's bombardment of messages mixed with beautiful pictures and short videos.

After scrolling through the various messages sent by Su Yajing for a while, Zhou Wang couldn't help but smile.

Zhou Wang didn't dare to click on those short videos, as he might get irritated if he watched too many of them.

However, Zhou Wang was still very relieved that Su Yajing was not just a useless person. Although he was happy to support her for the rest of her life, if Su Yajing could become self-reliant by relying on this hotel, he would also get a kind of happiness called nurturing.

"Mr. Zhou."

At this moment, a gentle call from the side startled Zhou Wang. He turned around and saw Yan Lingchuan approaching with a calm face.

"Has Mr. Yan finished his call?"

"I received news that Xueren Group was reported by an internal shareholder under his real name. Combined with some previous backlogs, an investigation team led by the China Securities Regulatory Commission will enter Xueren Group tomorrow... directly under their jurisdiction."

Yan Lingchuan pointed to the ceiling as he spoke.

Zhou Wang understood, but couldn't help being surprised, "Tomorrow... so soon?"

"This kind of thing cannot be concealed. Maybe Xue Mingyuan has already heard about it. The only way to preserve the evidence to the greatest extent is to catch him off guard."

"Won't he run away?"

"Mr. Zhou, it's not easy for people like us to go abroad... let alone in such a hurry."

Yan Lingchuan smiled.

Zhou Wang wondered, "Then why did so many people escape in the past..."

"That was deliberate or maybe it was just a small number of smart people who made preparations before anything happened. There may be other reasons, but we can't speculate. In short, we just need to believe in justice."

"That's the truth."

Zhou Wang nodded and smiled.

The two immediately exchanged contact information and sat down to chat for a while.

It’s no wonder that after putting aside their hostile stance, Zhou Wang immediately felt a unique personal charm from this legendary “first of the Four Young Masters of Beidu”.

He doesn't have Qiu Zeyu's cheerfulness or Jiang Minghao's coldness. He is more like a gentle breeze and drizzle. He can always find the right topic to respond during conversation. He is indeed a person with extremely high emotional intelligence.

The only thing that puzzled Zhou Wang was that he always frowned from time to time, and he didn't know if he was not feeling well.

"Mr. Zhou is really interesting. Let's stop here today. I still have some things to deal with, so I won't stay any longer."

Seeing Zhou Wang lighting another cigarette, Yan Lingchuan, whose eyelids twitched, could no longer sit still. He stood up and said goodbye with a smile.

Zhou Wang, who was in the middle of a conversation, couldn't force the other party to stay, so he could only nod regretfully, and then send Yan Lingchuan away accompanied by Qiu Zeyu and others.

With Yan Lingchuan's departure, the other guests also realized that the time was almost up. Although Zhou Wang had been reluctant to agree on the membership of the Wangyuan Club, they had achieved their initial goal anyway, which was to leave a good first impression in front of Zhou Wang by taking the opportunity to join the Jingwang Club.

Compared to the group of people who came after the news spread, they undoubtedly had the upper hand.

As the guests said goodbye and left one by one, only Qiu Zeyu, Zhang Dashao and other familiar brothers were left. Oh, no, there was also Miss Gu who used the excuse of being drunk and dizzy to still stay.

But under the watchful eyes of Xu Lingyue, Lin Ran and others, Zhou Wang had no way of keeping her tonight. He had no choice but to call Miss Li, who was pretending to leave, and ask her to take Miss Gu away.

Miss Gu's eyes were full of resentment. It must be said that with Miss Gu's stunning beauty, Zhou Wang really felt soft-hearted when he saw her aggrieved look at that moment. However, under the watchful eyes of the public, he could only pretend to be indifferent.

Finally, all the outsiders were sent away, and the banquet hall suddenly became much quieter.

"Mr. Zhou, would you like to take a look at those gifts in person?"

Jiang Qingkui, who had returned from the bathroom at some point, had regained her usual cold expression. She just smiled faintly and pointed at the pile of dazzling gifts in the corner.

According to Chinese customs, most guests give red envelopes when they arrive. Of course, most guests don't give too much, maybe one or two thousand yuan.

Their true sincerity was shown later when they applied for the membership card.

But there are exceptions.

Foreigners like Ms. Kelly of Hermès are more willing to give a variety of gifts.

After taking a look at the gift boxes printed with luxury logos, Zhou Wang was too lazy to move. Even though he knew that the things inside were mostly valuable and might be limited edition or customized, Zhou Wang really had no interest.

"I won't read it. Please help me dismantle it. If you find anything useful, just take it away. Consider it a small benefit for your hard work recently..."

Before Zhou Wang finished speaking, he heard two "whoosh" sounds beside him. When he turned around, Jiang Qingkui, Lin Ran and Xu Lingyue were all gone. Zhou Wang looked back blankly, and saw them squatting in front of the pile of gifts, laughing and starting to open them.

"?"

Zhou Wang didn't quite understand what was going on. Did time skip a beat? Clearly, several women were standing next to him just a second ago.

Qiu Zeyu and others were equally confused, and were obviously not sure whether they were seeing things.

Zhou Wang, who couldn't figure it out, could only attribute it to the confusion of the timeline caused by the woman's strange habit of "opening express deliveries".

He was just about to call a group of brothers to experience the SPA techniques of the group of newly employed girls in the club, and give each of them a "four-hand piano duet", when the walkie-talkie on his waist suddenly rang.

"Mr. Zhou, there is an emergency and I need to report it to you..."

Zhou Wang recognized Huang Duming's voice and asked in confusion, "What's the emergency?"

"Um...Xue Mingyuan is here."

Huang Duming was obviously caught off guard and said carefully, "But he is alone. Do you think I should drive him away?"

"Is he alone?"

Zhou Wang was also very surprised, but after thinking about it, he asked Huang Duming to wait at the door for a while while he came out to take a look himself.

Qiu Zeyu and others were also puzzled by Xue Mingyuan's arrival at this time. They didn't know that Zhou Wang had reached a consensus with Yan Lingchuan, nor did they know that Yan Lingchuan had already taken action. They just followed Zhou Wang out out out of concern.

Taking the elevator to the lobby on the first floor, Zhou Wang immediately saw Xue Mingyuan standing in the middle of the lobby, as motionless as a sculpture.

But what really surprised Zhou Wang was that Xue Mingyuan had aged so much after just a few days of not seeing him.

No, maybe it was just now that he had such a big change...

Silver hair covered his temples and age spots on his face suddenly became so obvious. Xue Mingyuan, who was originally full of vigor and looked only in his forties, suddenly turned into a dying, haggard old man.

Young Master Zhang and the others didn't feel much, but Qiu Zeyu was also frightened by Xue Mingyuan's appearance.

Zhou Wang, who had guessed something, walked over. Hearing footsteps, Xue Mingyuan slowly turned his head and stood opposite Zhou Wang.

"Boss Xue, what are you doing..."

Before Zhou Wang could finish his probing words, Xue Mingyuan, after taking a deep look at Zhou Wang, suddenly did something that no one expected.

boom!
The dull sound of bones colliding with the smooth marble floor echoed in the empty lobby. In front of everyone, Xue Mingyuan bent his legs and knelt in front of Zhou Wang.

The hall fell silent. Everyone, including Zhou Wang, looked at the scene in astonishment and disbelief.

This is Xue Mingyuan!
A tycoon with a net worth of tens of billions, who controls a listed group.

At this moment, he knelt down in front of Zhou Wang in the most humble manner.

"Boss Zhou, please...let our Xue family live."

Xue Mingyuan spoke in a low voice while knocking his head directly to the floor.

Zhou Wang was caught off guard and his expression was uncertain for a moment.

He never thought that Xue Mingyuan would be so bold. Even if there were few people in the lobby at this moment, this extremely explosive scene would undoubtedly spread throughout the entire Beijing circle at the fastest speed.

Moral kidnapping? Ulterior motives?
A series of words flashed through Zhou Wang's mind, making him unable to respond to Xue Mingyuan.

Threats, sarcasm, even hysteria...

"You don't really regret it, you're just scared."

Zhou Wang thought about all possible reactions of Xue Mingyuan and even prepared countless sarcastic remarks in his mind, including this extremely classic one, but he never expected that he would do such a thing.

But it must be said that this move was completely inconsistent with Xue Mingyuan's identity and was indeed tricky in angle. Regardless of whether Xue Mingyuan was sincerely repenting, he instantly lifted Zhou Wang up.

Qiu Zeyu had already guessed something at this time. In fact, when Zhou Wang took out the trump card of "little blue bottle", everything was already a done deal. But Qiu Zeyu did not expect that all this would come so quickly.

How would Zhou Wang react then?
Qiu Zeyu was the first to feel worried.

He was afraid that Zhou Wang would be soft-hearted.

Considering Zhou Wang's age and Xue Mingyuan's humble attitude, this is actually a very likely scenario.

Young Master Zhang and the others also looked at the scene in a slightly bewildered manner. Younger people like Cheng Qing and Shao Xiaoqi even turned their heads away with some reluctance.

Xue Mingyuan at this moment indeed looked extremely pitiful, and given his status, he had completely disregarded any respect for himself. It could be said that he had fully demonstrated his sincerity in begging for mercy.

Under the gaze of everyone, Zhou Wang lowered his head and stared at Xue Mingyuan for a long time. The hands of the Knights of the Round Table watch on his wrist seemed to make a "ticking" sound in the silence, as if reminding him.

The sword has been unsheathed, and retracting it now will only hurt yourself.

So in the end, Zhou Wang closed his eyes and then spoke lightly:
"Sorry... Mr. Xue, it's too late."

Xue Mingyuan, with his forehead pressed firmly against the ground, felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave and his face turned ashen when he heard the words.

(End of this chapter)