250: Chapter 250 The Remarkable Li Tianming

Chen Mo was eating his meal. Although the plate of Huanghe Carp from earlier had made him highly suspicious of the cooking skills at Huanghe Hotel, causing him to hesitate before touching the other visually appealing dishes, his hunger eventually overcame his fear of "dark cuisine." He plucked up the courage to try the other dishes.

Fortunately, not all the dishes at Huanghe Hotel were as terrible as that Huanghe Carp. For example, the Suzhou-style smoked fish, Beggar's Chicken, Osmanthus duck, stir-fried crab, and stir-fried crown daisy were all quite delicious. Besides those, there were crab roe meatballs, steamed clams, boiled turtle, braised turtle, and many other dishes whose names Chen Mo couldn't even identify, all of which tasted excellent. As he ate, he grew bolder, and his chopsticks didn't stop moving.

At this moment, everyone stopped eating to pour wine into their glasses. Seeing Chen Mo still eating non-stop, they felt a bit surprised. Given Chen Mo's slender build and temperament, he didn't seem like someone with a large appetite. Yet, the way he was devouring his food made him appear hungrier than everyone else present. Having spent three years with him, his classmates felt a sense of dissonance; this bookish, top-student Chen Mo shouldn't be like this. However, they didn't find it too strange. After all, they were dining at the most expensive restaurant in all of Jiangnan. If not for Ye Chen treating them, many of them might never have had the chance to visit such a place in their entire lives. It was understandable that Chen Mo couldn't help but gorge himself when faced with such dishes.

Ye Chen, sitting next to Chen Mo, paused for a moment at Chen Mo's eating style and couldn't help but laugh. "Brother Mo, don't just eat the food, come have a drink." As Ye Chen spoke, he saw Chen Mo peeling a tiger prawn to stuff into his mouth, so he proactively picked up the wine bottle and poured some into his glass.

Chen Mo finally realized that the meal had reached the drinking stage. He immediately put down the half-eaten tiger prawn and, feeling a bit embarrassed, took the wine glass from Ye Chen's hand. Looking at the transparent white liquid in the glass, he couldn't help but lean in to sniff it. A slightly pungent and unpleasant odor entered his nostrils, and a look of hesitation appeared on Chen Mo's face. "Is this Baijiu?"

"Of course it's Baijiu. There's no beer in a place like this," Ye Chen said with an expression of matter-of-factness, gesturing at the bottle in his hand. "And this isn't just ordinary Baijiu; it's Huanghe Daqu, which is only available at Huanghe Hotel. It costs 5,800 a bottle. It's good stuff."

As soon as Ye Chen said this, it naturally drew a chorus of surprised exclamations. "5,800 a bottle! Isn't that more expensive than Moutai?" "That means this one glass costs several hundred. My god, I can't even bear to drink it." "It really has to be Brother Chen. If not for Brother Chen, where would I ever get to drink this level of alcohol—Huanghe Daqu."

Ye Chen smiled. "Everyone, just drink up. I can afford to treat you to this wine."

Chen Mo also looked at the wine bottle with some surprise. Sure enough, he saw four golden characters on the transparent bottle body: 'Huanghe Daqu'. Near the bottom of the bottle, the volume was marked in small print: 500ml. That meant a single catty of wine was being sold for 5,800. It seemed this wine hadn't even advertised much, to the point that Chen Mo, as a local, had never heard of it, thus saving on marketing costs. Chen Mo conservatively estimated that at a price of 5,800 a bottle, they must be making 5,700 in profit per bottle?

But that had nothing to do with him. Regardless, Ye Chen was treating them to this meal today, so he just needed to focus on eating.

As for Baijiu, Chen Mo hadn't really drunk it much before. However, today was a graduation party, and the situation was special. Seeing that not only the male classmates but even the female classmates had a little bit of Huanghe Daqu poured into their glasses as a gesture, and with the atmosphere as it was, Chen Mo naturally felt embarrassed to refuse. He followed the example of his classmates and lifted his glass.

"Let's not stand on ceremony among us classmates. For those who can't drink, just take a sip as a gesture. Drink!"

As Ye Chen took the lead and downed the wine in his glass, everyone followed suit, raising their glasses to drink the Huanghe Daqu, which was worth 5,800 a bottle.

Chen Mo was clearly among the classmates who couldn't drink. He held his glass and took a cautious sip. The moment the liquid entered his mouth, he felt a bitter and spicy sensation stinging his tongue and oral mucosa. It seemed this 5,800-a-bottle wine was just as awful. Chen Mo didn't dare to savor it and quickly swallowed the small mouthful of Huanghe Daqu.

However, as soon as the wine was swallowed, he felt a warm current pass through his throat, esophagus, and stomach, flowing all the way down into his belly. A warm, comfortable feeling ensued... It seemed this Baijiu wasn't entirely without merit if it could be sold; at least it felt warm and not uncomfortable once it reached the stomach. It was already much better than that signature dish, the Huanghe Carp, which was extremely difficult to swallow. But objectively speaking, Baijiu was indeed terrible to drink, and even this 5,800-a-bottle Huanghe Daqu was no exception. Because when Chen Mo was drinking just now, although he couldn't observe everyone else's reactions, under his conscious perception, it wasn't hard to tell that almost every classmate wished they could pinch their noses when drinking this Huanghe Daqu, eyes closed and brows furrowed in a pained expression. Although it was slightly better than when they were eating the Huanghe Carp earlier, they still had pained expressions as if they were drinking poison. It seemed that even for high-end Baijiu sold at 5,800 a bottle, the taste was still just as bad...

"We've had our drink, Brother Chen, hurry up and tell us about this Li Tianming. Just how big is his background?"

"Right, right, Brother Chen, tell us quickly. Don't tell me you were just bluffing to trick us into drinking."

The wine was finished, but everyone hadn't forgotten the person named Li Tianming that Ye Chen had mentioned earlier. They wanted to hear what was so remarkable about this Li Tianming besides opening this Huanghe Hotel, enough to make a wealthy second-generation rich kid like Ye Chen speak his name with a hint of wariness. So, after putting down their glasses, they all turned their curious gazes toward Ye Chen.

"Heh, it seems you really don't understand at all." Ye Chen shook his head and smiled. After thinking for a moment, he spoke contemplatively: "This Li Tianming is a very remarkable figure in our Jiangnan. The reason many of you haven't heard this name is because you have all been students, studying in school for over ten years, and haven't had much contact with social affairs. It's normal not to have heard this name. But now, everyone here has graduated and is practically an adult; it's time to learn about some things."

Upon hearing Ye Chen's enigmatic opening, everyone felt as if they were about to hear something that would transcend their current worldview. They unconsciously slowed their breathing, expressions turning somewhat serious, as they quietly waited for Ye Chen's next words.

"Actually, to understand what kind of person this Li Tianming is, it's quite simple. You only need to know that he is not only the boss of Huanghe Hotel, but also the boss of Huanghe Road."

With just one sentence, Ye Chen stunned everyone present.

"The boss of Huanghe Road, what does that mean?" Some classmates were confused. Huanghe Hotel was located on the Huanghe Road stretch, so what was special about Li Tianming being the boss of this area?

"Does Brother Chen mean... could it be that this Li Tianming is not only the boss of this hotel, but also the owner of this Huanghe Road?" A classmate said very uncertainly. As soon as this was said, it immediately sparked skepticism from others.

"How is that possible?"

"Such a big Huanghe Road, how could it be owned by just one person?"

"I think Brother Chen means that this Li Tianming might be very influential on Huanghe Road, or perhaps some shares or land belong to him."

"Right, right, that must be it."

"But even if it's just some shares, that's still quite remarkable. I've seen statistics online saying the annual revenue of the Huanghe Road business district is nearly 100 billion. If this Li Tianming could have even a small share here, that would be quite impressive. The annual dividends would be beyond anything we could imagine."

"Yeah..."

The classmates discussed back and forth, and according to their own logic, they assigned Li Tianming the status of a shareholder in the Huanghe Road business district.

But in reality, Ye Chen had already spoken quite plainly. It was just that to his classmates, it sounded too unbelievable. Because Huanghe Road was not just a simple road, but a section, a whole area where many intersecting roads were all called Huanghe Road. Connected together, it was also called Huanghe Road, or of course, it could be called the Huanghe Road business district.

And this business district was not just an ordinary one; it was the most prosperous commercial zone in all of Jiangnan. Just as one classmate said earlier, the annual revenue here was nearly 100 billion. One could imagine how such a place could possibly be owned by a private individual.

Therefore, even after hearing Ye Chen's such straightforward words, they still subconsciously denied this possibility at the first instance, judging Li Tianming to be a shareholder based on their understanding of the world.

But when they finished their speculation, they didn't hear Ye Chen nod in agreement. Instead, they saw Ye Chen shake his head and say: "If it were just having a few shares on Huanghe Road, that would be nothing more than a small business owner. With my family's background, I wouldn't need to be so extremely cautious just mentioning his name. Actually, what I mean is, this entire Huanghe Road, the entire Huanghe Road business district, belongs to him."

"???" "!!!" "How is that possible?!" "Such a huge business district belongs to him alone?" "Shouldn't a place like this be jointly built and developed? How did he get his hands on it?"

This time, Ye Chen had been extremely clear; no one could misunderstand his meaning anymore. Even so, the vast majority of the students present were stunned with their mouths agape, simply unable to believe that what Ye Chen said was real.

"As for how he got his hands on this Huanghe Road, you don't need to know, because even I am not very clear about it. I've only heard my dad mention some things about him, saying that this Li Tianming is actually not low-profile. The reason everyone hasn't heard his name is because the level he is at is too high; we don't have the qualifications to come into contact with it. So, don't think he is low-profile and easy to talk to. My dad also told me, absolutely, absolutely do not provoke him. If you accidentally provoke him, I'm afraid you won't find many people in all of Jiangnan who can save you." By the end, Ye Chen's expression was extremely serious; anyone could see he was definitely not joking.

It was just that the students still couldn't quite believe that this Li Tianming possessed such immense power. They had lived in Jiangnan for ten or twenty years and had never heard his name. But looking at Ye Chen's tone and expression, this matter was true nine times out of ten, and even if there was some exaggeration, it wouldn't be by much. Thinking about it this way, this Li Tianming was too mysterious and terrifying.

Ye Chen finally said: "However, you don't need to worry too much. People at this level generally won't have any intersections with us. It's just that today we are eating here, and I think it's necessary for everyone to know his name, so that if you ever hear this name in the future, you must never provoke him."

Listening to Ye Chen's final warning, which was almost delivered word for word, everyone dared not take what he said lightly. Wang Chao, who hadn't spoken much, nodded with a serious expression at this moment and said: "Brother Chen is right. Moreover, this Li Tianming is not just powerful on Huanghe Road, but in all of Jiangnan. People who provoke him never have a good ending. So, in the future, just stay far away if you hear this name. And remember, once we leave this private room, do not mention this name again, so as to avoid causing any trouble if someone related to him hears it."

Wang Chao's family ran a factory and dealt with many people, so his father had also warned him about who not to provoke in the Jiangnan region, and this Li Tianming was the very first one.

Hearing Ye Chen and Wang Chao both say this, everyone immediately believed in the truth of the matter. They knew that in the shadows beneath the skyscrapers where the sun couldn't reach in Jiangnan, there existed such a mysterious and terrifying figure. These ordinary students nodded repeatedly: "Got it, got it. I'll walk the other way if I hear this name in the future."

Even Chen Mo couldn't help but think to himself: 'Why does it sound more and more like this Li Tianming is not a good person?'

But in an instant, he was relieved: 'Also, what kind of good person would make such a terrible Huanghe Carp their signature dish.'