237: Chapter 237 Final Understanding

A month after the handover of the ancient castle, Chen Jingming invited Li Xin for tea alone.

The location was still his club, but this time there was no one else, just the two of them. It was a spot by the window on the second floor, looking out over the bay. The afternoon light slanted in from the west, casting a patch of warm yellow light across the tabletop.

Chen Jingming boiled the water himself and brewed a pot of Phoenix Dancong tea. His movements were slow; rinsing the cups, adding the tea, pouring the water, and decanting the tea—every step was done with care.

"There's no one else today, just the two of us chatting." He poured the first brew into the fairness cup. "It's been a month since the castle affair, and I've been wanting to find a time to tell you some heartfelt words."

Li Xin took the teacup he handed over, not rushing to drink, but holding it in his palm to warm it.

"Go ahead."

Chen Jingming poured a cup for himself as well, holding it without drinking, his fingers tracing the rim of the cup twice.

"I've been in this circle for twenty years. I know quite a few people, and I've made many connections. I've always felt my judgment was decent; I generally have a good idea of what resources should be used for whom and what levels can be bridged."

He paused for a moment.

"But that business with the castle made me rethink a lot of things."

Li Xin picked up his teacup, took a sip, and smiled. "Hasn't that matter already been handled smoothly? I still have to thank you for the introduction; that was the only reason I had the opportunity to secure the castle."

He leaned back and looked at Li Xin. "Haha, it's nothing. From the moment I introduced Alexander to you, until you finally closed the deal, I didn't provide any substantive help other than making the introduction."

"The evaluation was done by your people, the negotiation was handled by you, and the price was pushed down by you. The only thing I did was pass a few messages in between."

"The introduction itself was crucial..."

"I'm not being modest; I'm telling the truth." Chen Jingming interrupted him. There was no dissatisfaction in his tone, but rather a calmness similar to that of someone who has recognized the facts.

"I've thought about it seriously. If you hadn't looked at those maintenance records that night, or if it had been another buyer, the trajectory of this deal would have been completely different. And you didn't discover that information by luck."

Li Xin didn't speak. He placed his teacup on the table and watched a cargo ship in the bay slowly turning around, the wake at its stern shimmering white in the sunlight.

Chen Jingming continued, "I used to think that my network could cover resources at many levels. After I met you, I thought I could also help you connect with some valuable things. But now, I am becoming increasingly clear about one thing."

He stopped for a moment.

"The resources I can access have a low threshold for you. The ones I cannot access, you can still open up for yourself."

"You provided me with a friend."

Chen Jingming looked at him.

Li Xin continued, "Among the people I know, there aren't many who can sincerely help me bridge connections without hiding anything. You could have completely introduced that castle matter to someone else, but you thought of me first. That has nothing to do with how many resources you have."

Chen Jingming was silent for a while.

"You're right."

He picked up the fairness cup to refill his tea, but didn't drink, leaving it by his side. "I used to think that I was on the same level as you, at most you were a few steps ahead of me. After the castle affair, I confirmed that we are not on the same level. It's not that you are high and I am low, but that our resource structures are completely different."

"The things you hold in your hands, I don't even recognize them all."

Li Xin didn't answer immediately. He put the teacup back on the table and adjusted his sitting posture.

"What are you trying to express by saying this?"

"I just wanted to say it out loud," Chen Jingming smiled. "Once these things are spoken clearly, I'll feel more at ease when we interact in the future."

"And are you at ease now?"

Chen Jingming thought for a moment. "I am."

The two of them drank tea for a while. The cargo ship outside the window had finished turning and was slowly sailing toward the port; the ship's waterline was exceptionally clear in the afternoon light.

Chen Jingming put down his teacup. "By the way, I have a friend who runs an art fund and is looking to connect with the high-end business channel of Yansheng Bank recently.

They have a batch of goods to hand over in Europe, and they are using a small bank, but the settlement cycle is too long, so they want to find a faster route."

"I can put in a word at Yansheng Bank."

"Then thank you very much."

"No problem, I'll just put in a word." Li Xin picked up the teapot to refill his cup. "Give me his contact information, and I'll have someone reach out to him."

Chen Jingming looked at the water surface in the teacup and was silent for a few seconds. "Aren't you going to ask about the scale? Or the category?"

"The people you introduce should be fine in terms of fundamentals."

Chen Jingming didn't respond further. He picked up the cup of tea and took a big gulp; when he put it down, the bottom of the cup clicked against the tabletop with a soft sound.

"I used to think that being able to help you connect with resources meant I was your resource provider, but now I realize I am actually basking in your glory."

Li Xin shook his head. "Between friends, there's no such thing as basking in glory."

"You don't think so, but I am clear about it."

That afternoon, they sat for another hour or so, no longer talking about business and resources. Chen Jingming talked about the first time he attended an auction when he had just entered the industry; he didn't understand anything back then, and after raising his paddle twice, his palms were sweating from nervousness. Li Xin listened, occasionally chiming in with a sentence or two.

When it was time to leave, Chen Jingming saw him downstairs and stood at the door watching him get into the car.

"That friend of yours who runs the art fund—I'll have someone contact him tomorrow," Li Xin said while standing next to the car door.

"Alright, I'll have him prepare the documents."

Li Xin got into the car, and before closing the door, Chen Jingming said, "By the way, there's a private auction in a few days. Everyone coming is from the circle. If you are interested..."

He stopped halfway through. Then he smiled. "Never mind, you probably don't lack such channels."

Li Xin looked at him from inside the car. "Send me the invitation, I'll go if I have time."

Chen Jingming nodded and stepped back. When the car drove out of the alley, he took a look in the rearview mirror; Chen Jingming was still standing at the door, not having gone back in immediately.

A few days later, Chen Jingming's friend who ran the art fund received a proactive contact from the private wealth management department of Yansheng Bank.

The entire connection process was incredibly fast. The other party even dispatched a vice president specializing in cross-border business to follow up throughout the entire process. From account opening to capital path design, to the settlement and handover of the first batch of goods, it was all completed in less than two weeks.

After the friend received the receipt for the first successful handover, he called Chen Jingming that same day.

"What kind of connection did you find? Yansheng sent a vice president directly to handle it, and the fee rate was nearly half lower than the standard."

Chen Jingming was reading documents in his office when he answered the phone. "A friend helped."

"What kind of friend has such great power?"

"You don't know him." Chen Jingming continued, "I'll introduce you when there's a chance in the future."

The friend didn't press further, but he was clearly not satisfied with this answer. A few days later, he met Chen Jingming at an industry gathering and brought it up again, his tone much more serious.

"Old Chen, tell me honestly, what is the background of that friend of yours? For Yansheng Bank's private banking channel, ordinary clients can't even touch the door, yet with one phone call from him, a vice president comes to provide service in person."

Chen Jingming held his wine glass, thinking about how to answer.

"He is someone I know, but I don't need to know anyone else through him."

The friend was stunned. "What do you mean?"

"Literally," Chen Jingming said. "He doesn't need me to introduce any resources. My circle is just an ordinary social circle to him, but if you ask me to specifically say to what extent his resources cover, I really can't say."

"Even you can't reach them?"

Chen Jingming took a sip of wine. "It's not a question of not being able to reach them. It's that he has his own system, and that system doesn't overlap with any public channels on the market. Things that those big institutions on the market can't find might just be a standard ledger for him."

The friend was silent for a while. "Then how did you meet him?"

"In a very ordinary way, met through a mutual friend." Chen Jingming put down his wine glass. "At first, I also thought he was just someone who does investment, but later I slowly realized something was wrong."

"What was wrong?"

Chen Jingming thought for a long time. "For example. Previously, an old European security company was poaching his people. He made a phone call, and the other company changed its CEO."

"Then why do you think it has anything to do with him?"

"Because before he made that call, the other party was poaching his people. Three days after the call was made, the other company had a financial scandal."

The friend held his wine glass without drinking, just looking at him like that.

Chen Jingming continued, "There have always been rumors on the market about a sum of money split across three overseas private banks, each secretly holding over a dozen points in every leading technology enterprise. That money has no public disclosure and is not within the filing scope of any major funds."

He lowered his voice a little. "I later gradually confirmed that the money is in his system."

The friend's hand holding the wine glass paused.

"So... all my resource channels are public information to him. And as for his resource channels, I can't see the full picture of any of them."

After that gathering, this statement by Chen Jingming began to spread in the circle. Some listened to it as a story, others took it to heart.

But everyone who heard this statement remembered one core piece of information: the person surnamed Li holds much more in his hands than what you can find through public channels.

Li Xin knew nothing about this. He was busy with other things recently; the renovation of the art center at the European castle had entered the finishing stage. He was reviewing the proposal documents sent by Li Jiayi, and after confirming a few details, he replied with "Okay."

Chen Jingming later invited him to dinner, and during the meal, he said half-jokingly, "I am now helping you build your reputation everywhere in the circle."

"Promoting what?"

"Promoting that you are someone who doesn't need others to introduce resources."

Li Xin picked up a chopstick of food. "Are you praising me or scolding me?"

"Of course I'm praising you." Chen Jingming raised his wine glass. "Although the term sounds a bit strange, it's accurate."

After returning that night, Li Xin sat in his study and thought about this sentence. He felt Chen Jingming was right, but he didn't really feel anything about this accuracy himself.

The things he did, in his view, were just handling matters at hand step-by-step; none of it was done deliberately to show off anything.

He turned off the lights in the study and stood by the window looking at the night view of the bay outside. The lights of the distant port connected into a single expanse, casting long reflections across the sea surface.

Then he turned and went back to the bedroom.