A Beijing socialite stole my boyfriend; she went crazy after I got married.

The disdain in Mrs. Helena's eyes disappeared.

"...Indeed." She murmured to herself, "Miss Jiang, your understanding is profound, far surpassing that of most of your peers."

"You flatter me, Madam."

"You know what, darling," Helena leaned forward, her tone becoming much more intimate, "there are too many rich ladies in Europe who only know how to shop in luxury stores, and those flamboyant actors and singers are polluting the industry. The true soul of art is withering away."

For the next half hour or so, the atmosphere in the tea room became extremely harmonious.

With her solid dance skills and knowledge of various art theories, Jiang Chu chatted with this elderly lady from a prominent family about the evolution of ballet schools, the rise and fall of Eastern classical dance and breath control, and then about avant-garde art in modern Europe.

She was extremely grateful that she had specifically consulted a large number of books and materials for her competition essay.

Otherwise, even if some concepts can be explained in Chinese, it's hard to know how to express them in English.

Mrs. Helena found herself increasingly compatible with him as they talked.

Just as the third brew of Da Hong Pao was about to be finished, she turned her head to look at the deep night outside the window, lowered her voice, and her tone became extremely meaningful.

"My dear, communicating with you has been the most enjoyable experience of this trip. So, perhaps I can share some tidbits of insight with you 'outside of art'."

Jiang Chu felt a chill run down her spine, but her face remained calm. "Please speak."

Helena held an exquisite teacup, her gaze fixed on the reddish-brown tea within, as if she were merely engaging in casual conversation.

"My husband has been having some headaches lately because of the tropical weather. You know, the rainy season in Jakarta always makes infrastructure projects difficult. Our family has a very large renewable energy grid bidding project there, which was going well, but recently it seems to have encountered some obstacles."

She looked up. "Those politicians across the Atlantic have been making a lot of noise lately, demanding that we in Europe stand with them, even going so far as to enact antitrust laws. But in reality, the old European families don't like this Cold War drama. Our pockets are leaking because of all sorts of sanctions."

Jiang Chu understood instantly.

She didn't interrupt, but quietly became the perfect listener.

"Those politicians care about their image, but we value other things more."

Helena smiled. "If your 'technical overhaul' can miraculously end ahead of schedule—even if it's just to signal that some heavy rare earth supplies will resume early next week, so that the Frankfurt stock market can land smoothly when it opens next Monday..."

Helena paused briefly.

"So, I think that a batch of core light source lens modules, which are currently on the European embargo list and are used in the sixth-generation high-precision lithography machine, may accidentally 'get lost' through a few shell companies in South America next month and eventually land at the Tianyu Group's experimental base in the northwest."

Jiang Chu suppressed her joy, "...I understand."

Helena picked up her teacup. "It's just an old woman's ramblings."

Jiang Chu's heart pounded.

"Even the lady's ramblings are full of wisdom."

Jiang Chu steadied his breathing. "I think the snow scene is so beautiful tonight that some workers who are doing 'technical maintenance' might speed up their work because they are in a good mood."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Helena gave Jiang Chu a deep look. "My dear, you are an extremely intelligent girl. Mr. Xie is lucky to have you."

Just as she was about to speak again, her phone rang.

Helena glanced at it, a look of affection on her face. "It's my little granddaughter. I guess she got her driver's license. Sorry, darling."

While Helena went to answer a phone call, Jiang Chu also took out his phone and sent a message to Xie Jing.

……

at the same time.

In the cigar room at the far end of the estate.

The heavy rosewood door was tightly closed, and the room was filled with the rich, spicy smoke of Cuban cigars.

Xie Jing sat on the main armchair, toying with a pure gold windproof lighter in his hand, the flame flickering on and off at his slender fingertips.

His eyes were hidden behind the swirling smoke.

Old Weber, sitting opposite him, had a furrowed brow and had only smoked a third of his cigar.

"We acknowledge that Tianyu holds absolute sway in rare earth and new energy basic materials. But we still want to know, is Tianyu Group's 'technical overhaul' truly a move to completely decouple from Europe, or... merely a political gesture to appease higher-ups?"

Old Weber stared intently into Xie Jing's eyes, trying to catch the most subtle changes in his emotions.

"If you and the authorities are completely aligned, then we can only activate Plan B and find alternative supply chains, even if the costs double. But if it's the latter, we believe that business is always negotiable."

"Mr. Weber, you've been in the business world for over forty years, how can you still ask such a naive question?"

The lighter snapped shut.

"I am a businessman, but I am first and foremost a Chinese. My relationship with the country is different from yours. If the higher-ups need me to draw my sword, I will hold it to your throats; if they need resource exchanges, I can sit here and have tea with you."

He flicked the ash from his cigar. "For that power grid project in Southeast Asia, Tianyu will take a 60% share. In exchange, regarding the rare earth supply in Europe, I can announce next Monday that 'the maintenance has been a phased success, and some production lines have resumed capacity.'"

Old Weber took a deep breath, realizing that his earlier probing had failed to uncover Xie Jing's true intentions and had instead backfired.

He paused for a moment, then picked up his cigar again, as if reorganizing his thoughts.

Xie Jing waited patiently.

Until the phone vibrates.

He received a message from Jiang Chu.

The man's lips curled into a smile as he calmly said, "We can also discuss the matter of the light source lens together."

The air in the cigar room froze instantly.

Old Weber looked up, placed his cigar on the edge of the ashtray, and said, "It seems I haven't prepared enough for tonight."

Xie Jing shook his head slightly, "No, it's just that your wife is in an exceptionally good mood tonight."