57: Chen Xu's plan

Old Sun still had some class; he had booked the entire hotel. Jiang Chuan secretly felt lucky; since he wasn't the one treating, he didn't have to worry about how much this would cost!

The people around were all CEOs and heads of companies in the live-streaming industry, so it was naturally impossible for them not to recognize the two.

However, their opponents were Deep Sea and Competitive Creation; for a moment, no one dared to come forward and make their acquaintance.

Jiang Chuan was happy to have some peace. He found a spot in a corner and helped Sister Ning sit down on the sofa.

As more and more people arrived, they gathered in small groups, chatting away. Only the two in the corner seemed out of place.

Soon, Chen Xu from Silver Star and Wang Guichen from Competitive Creation walked in together. Everyone hurried over to hand out business cards and greet them with great humility.

This showed the influence of having a top-tier company backing you—something money couldn't buy.

While exchanging pleasantries, Chen Xu scanned the surroundings as if looking for someone, finally spotting them.

"Excuse me, I have some business with Manager Jiang. I'll head over there first."

"Of course, go ahead. Please, attend to your business."

Chen Xu and Wang Guichen walked toward the corner together. As they approached, they overheard the conversation between the handsome man and the beautiful woman on the sofa.

"Sister Ning, try this. It's delicious!"

"Old Sun is really something—it's all wine. Couldn't he have gotten some juice?"

Looking at Manager Jiang busy feeding her, Chen Xu's eye twitched imperceptibly. What kind of occasion was this?

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that half of the live-streaming industry was here. Instead of networking, he was squatting in a corner showing off his affection. It was truly incomprehensible.

He cleared his throat twice, interrupting Manager Jiang, who was holding a green grape and about to feed her again.

Jiang Chuan popped the green grape into Sister Ning's mouth before turning around and saying politely:

"Manager Chen, Manager Wang, you're here. Have you eaten? Want to join us?"

Wang Guichen had mixed feelings. In his imagination, the opponent was a serious, earnest, and calculating genius. Who would have thought they would lose to someone like... He began to understand why Old Dong was so unwilling to give up and wanted to keep fighting despite such a huge disadvantage.

When Chen Xu received the call asking Old Sun to treat them, he had already expected something like this. His expression didn't change as he said with a smile:

"I won't eat. I just wanted to see what kind of person we lost to. You certainly live up to your reputation!"

Seeing that Sister Ning absolutely refused to be fed anymore, Jiang Chuan had no choice but to put the grape in his own mouth. It was quite sweet.

Shen Qingning: ???

He leaned back on the sofa and waved his hand, signaling for the two to sit, before agreeing:

"Handsome, right? Being the Yan Zu of Falling City is no joke."

Chen Xu had just sat down on the sofa when he heard this and felt like getting up and walking away. What kind of person was this? How did they lose?

Wang Guichen was usually quite outgoing, but now he didn't want to say a word. He felt like he couldn't handle any response he might receive.

Jiang Chuan looked around cautiously, leaned toward the two, and whispered seriously, "Are you two interested in a partnership?"

Hearing this, Wang Guichen gained a bit of interest and couldn't help but ask, "What kind of partnership? Tell us more, Manager Jiang."

"We'll take out Sunset first. Competition Creation's biggest rival is still Deep Sea; they must be more important than me, don't you think?"

Wang Guichen thought about it and felt it made sense. Starlight alone had beaten them to the point of having no room to fight back. If they took out Sunset first, Starlight could be left to the parent company to handle.

Chen Xu's face turned black. Seeing that Old Wang was a bit tempted, he quickly pulled him up and turned to leave.

"Hey, Old Chen, I'm not done talking with Manager Jiang yet!"

Chen Xu turned a deaf ear and walked faster and faster, as if there were some kind of monster behind him.

Jiang Chuan was still shouting, "Manager Wang! Let's stay in touch! There are no permanent enemies, only permanent interests!"

Wang Guichen was very tempted and shouted back, "Manager Jiang, call me tomorrow! Let's have a good talk!"

"You're too wicked."

Shen Qingning's cold little face could barely maintain its composure. This was too much of a psychological game. It was only because Manager Chen had a good temper; otherwise, they would have started a fight.

Jiang Chuan had an expression like the 'old man on the subway looking at his phone' meme and said, "What do you mean? What kind of talk is that? It's just a partnership, isn't that normal?"

Sure enough, it didn't take long for Chen Xu to return. His face was as dark as coal, and he said coldly, "Manager Jiang, what do you mean by this? Mutual destruction?"

Jiang Chuan put his feet on the coffee table, draped his arms over the back of the sofa, sank into the cushions, and looked at him with disdain, saying with a smile:

"You? You think you're worthy?"

Chen Xu's fists clenched and relaxed, clenched and relaxed. Finally, he endured it, let out a breath, and asked, "Straight talkers don't use double-talk. Manager Jiang, how can you let me off the hook?"

Jiang Chuan ignored him, draped his arm over Sister Ning's smooth, white shoulder, and asked, "Sister Ning, how did your family deal with that biting dog in the end?"

Shen Qingning brushed his arm away and said coldly, "Hit it a few more times, and it stops biting."

Jiang Chuan nodded as if he understood, thinking this method was okay, and beckoned with his hand.

"Jiang Chuan! It's better to have one more friend than one more enemy. Leave a way out in your dealings!"

Chen Xu had never suffered such humiliation in his life, and he spoke through gritted teeth.

"Oh? You think you're qualified to be my enemy?"

"We'll see about that!"

Chen Xu turned and left. He wouldn't throw away his dignity to please someone else. If they wanted to fight, then they would fight!

Shen Qingning felt a bit bad, thinking it was too cruel. She couldn't help but say, "Aren't we being too harsh? Weren't we going to take him in as..."

"I gave him a chance, but unfortunately, he didn't cherish it."

"What chance?"

Jiang Chuan watched Chen Xu's departing figure and said slowly, "He pulled Wang Guichen away. Have you thought about what the result for us would be?"

Shen Qingning thought for a moment and exclaimed, "He wants Competition Creation to get involved personally?"

Jiang Chuan looked at her with a 'teachable child' expression and said, "Exactly. By then, Sunset won't be our match, Silver Star will have withdrawn, and Competition Creation will have suffered a huge loss while we've made a fortune. Do you think Competition Creation will be able to endure that?"

Thinking of that consequence, goosebumps instantly appeared on Shen Qingning's arms.

"Silver Star wouldn't have any problems; they just couldn't win and could completely retreat unscathed."

Jiang Chuan smiled and instructed, "There's no such thing as cruel or not cruel in business wars. If Chen Xu wants to reap the benefits of being the third party, then he must be prepared to have the whole world as his enemy!"

After saying that, he took out his phone and called Wang Guichen directly!

At exactly six o'clock, the banquet officially began. Lu Tianyu, the Vice General Manager of Dingxin Investment Company, walked to the very front in a formal suit, waved his hand, and sat in the main seat in the first row.

Beside him were Wang Guichen, Dong Changhai, Sun Zhenfeng, Chen Xu, and others.

Jiang Chuan didn't push forward. His purpose for coming today had already been achieved; he didn't need financing, so he could just watch the show.

The host was his acquaintance, Sun Kai, but his neck was bright red, and it was unclear what had happened.

"Welcome everyone to the banquet hosted by Sunset. It is an honor to have seniors from the live-streaming industry and leaders from various investment companies here, especially Manager Lu from Dingxin Investment Company. Thank you for coming."