After the divorce, he took care of his child and sold fried rice; his ex-wife was filled with regret

I pressed the button for the floor where the River View Pavilion's VIP private room was located.

The elevator doors closed, and the numbers slowly jumped up.

Assistant Wu looked at his reflection in the elevator door and nervously swallowed repeatedly.

This is a risky move; if it goes wrong, today's whole thing will be a complete disaster.

"bite."

The elevator reached the top floor.

Assistant Wu stepped out of the elevator, walked through a long corridor covered with thick carpets, and arrived at the door of the most luxurious private room in Jiangjing Pavilion.

He stopped, calmed his breathing, and then reached out and pushed open the door to the private room.

The private room was warm and cozy, filled with the aroma of the food and the lingering scent of the Moutai liquor.

President Wang was leaning back in his chair, a cigar in his hand, chatting and laughing with the two section chiefs next to him.

Chairman Chen sat in the host's seat, a smile on his face, but his eyes kept glancing toward the door from time to time.

Seeing the door to the private room open, Chairman Chen's smile instantly became more genuine.

However, when he saw that Assistant Wu had walked in, he realized that he wasn't carrying the two familiar red flying tote bags, but rather a bare white porcelain wine pot.

The smile on Chairman Chen's face froze instantly.

Assistant Wu didn't place the wine directly on the lazy Susan. He steeled himself, his back drenched in cold sweat, and walked straight behind Chairman Chen.

As Chairman Chen took the opportunity to light President Wang's cigarette with a lighter, he stood up.

He subtly took two steps back, closing the distance between himself and Assistant Wu.

With his back to the distinguished guests at the table, Chairman Chen's face visibly darkened, and his eyes revealed an barely suppressed rage.

He grabbed Assistant Wu's wrist, which was holding the wine pot, with such force that he almost crushed the other's bones.

"What are you doing?"

Chairman Chen lowered his voice and squeezed out the question through clenched teeth, in a tone that only the two of them could hear.

He stared intently at Assistant Wu, looking at the cheap and shabby white porcelain teapot.

"I told you to get that box of 15-year-old Feitian cigarettes from the trunk. What are you doing bringing this up here? Have you lost your mind?"

Assistant Wu was sweating profusely as cold sweat streamed down his forehead.

Faced with Chairman Chen's barely suppressed anger, he didn't dare to even breathe loudly and could only grit his teeth and quickly explain.

"Chairman Chen, the trunk is empty. Yesterday afternoon, when you were hosting the out-of-town inspection team, Old Li took all the spare cases of Feitian cigarettes from the car as return gifts, and we forgot to restock today."

Assistant Wu swallowed a mouthful of dry saliva.

"Old Li has already driven home to get the wine."

Upon hearing this, Chairman Chen's pupils contracted sharply.

His usually impassive face couldn't hold back any longer, and he gritted his teeth and cursed:

"That brainless old Li!"

In business, skipping drinking parties is a major taboo.

When everyone is having a great time, you suddenly say there's no more wine and they have to wait for forty minutes. That's like pouring cold water on them.

If President Wang feels slighted and finds an excuse to leave, then this loan, which is crucial to Shengshi Real Estate's survival in the first quarter of next year, may be completely lost.

"Then why did you bring this up here?" Chairman Chen asked, pointing at the white porcelain pot with a furrowed brow.

Assistant Wu's voice trembled. "There's nothing else in the car, so I was thinking... let's use this for about twenty minutes until Lao Li brings Feitian over..."

Mr. Chen stared at the bare white porcelain teapot, his mind racing with calculations.

Trying to fool the provincial bank manager with a bottle of unpackaged bulk liquor is too risky.

Chairman Chen took the white porcelain wine pot from Assistant Wu, and felt his palms were covered in cold sweat.

He glanced down at it; the bottle was bare, without even a production date or label, just a cork stopper, looking like a cheap, unpackaged liquor randomly picked up from a roadside farmhouse.

Chairman Chen was very uneasy.

If they were eating at Lin's shop on Phoenix Golden Street right now, even if Boss Lin served them a glass of plain water, he would absolutely dare to pat his chest and guarantee to President Wang that it was an absolute delicacy, one of the finest in the world.

But this wine...

Although he smelled the aroma of the wine at the Lin family's shop that morning, he didn't actually taste it himself.

He had absolutely no idea what the wine was like, what it tasted like, or whether it would burn his throat.

The person sitting here today is the provincial branch manager, who holds the life and death of Shengshi Real Estate in his hands.

President Wang is a heavy drinker of fine wine and has a more discerning palate than anyone else.

If this is just a bottle of ordinary strong liquor, and one sip burns your throat and makes you nauseous, then today's game is completely ruined.

How could a real estate tycoon with a net worth of tens of billions possibly gamble the fate of his company with a bottle of cheap liquor whose background he doesn't even know?

"Chairman Chen, the wine is here?" Director Liu asked with a smile.

"Ah... Xiao Wu is getting more and more unreliable."

Chairman Chen forced a natural wry smile and casually placed the white porcelain wine pot on the serving table, far from the main table, without even putting it on the glass turntable.

He turned to President Wang apologetically and said, "President Wang, I'm so sorry. The driver forgot to restock today. I've already sent him back to get it. Let's have some hot tea to warm up; the good wine will be here soon."

President Wang was in high spirits and enjoying his drink.

He leaned back in his chair, waved his hand, but his gaze fell on the white porcelain pot on the serving table.

"Old Chen, what's that thing you brought up? It looks quite old-fashioned."

President Wang exhaled a puff of smoke and pointed with some confusion.

Mr. Chen's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly laughed it off: "Oh, it's just a bottle of loose, homemade liquor. I brought it back from visiting relatives in the countryside and just put it in the trunk."

President Wang smiled, sat up straight, and stubbed out his cigar in the ashtray.

"Old Chen, that's not quite true," Bank Manager Wang said, looking at him with a hint of teasing.

"We've known each other for so many years, do you think I don't know how picky you are? Would you really let ordinary alcohol stay in the trunk of your car?"

The two section chiefs beside him chimed in, "That's right, Chairman Chen. We've already drunk this much today, and you're still holding back?"

"It's really not that I'm being stingy." Cold sweat was almost dripping down Chairman Chen's forehead as he forced a smile and explained, "This wine really has no fixed quantity, and the alcohol content is probably high. I was just worried that it might upset your stomach..."

"Don't give me that." Instead of being angry, President Wang's curiosity was piqued.

At his level, after drinking those beautifully packaged brand-name wines every day, his tongue had long since become numb. He now prefers to collect hidden gems from the common people.

"Stop pretending, bring it here." President Wang reached out and tapped the table.

"Today I want to try out the 'local liquor' that ended up in your car, Old Chen. What kind of liquor is it?"

……