The second-generation elites speaking were also well-intentioned.

After all, Qin Ming had mentioned such outrageous things at the dinner table. If they didn't quickly smooth things over with the excuse of drunkenness, by tomorrow, the news could seriously damage the reputation that Qin Ming had just begun to establish.

Unexpectedly, Qin Ming did not appreciate their kindness at all.

With a grand wave of his hand and a drunken face, his eyes half-closed, he said firmly, "I'm not drunk! Everything I said is true!"

After saying that, he collapsed into his chair and lowered his head in a drunken stupor, still muttering, "If you don't believe it, then forget it... forget it...."

"Don't say I didn't tell you."

"When everything is revealed, it'll scare you to death....."

"You all have no idea what Brother Chen is planning to do...what to do....."

Perhaps because he was indeed too drunk, his voice grew softer and softer until one had to listen closely to hear what he was saying.

By the time everyone heard him out, Qin Ming had already passed out drunk....

This bizarre spectacle left everyone at the table somewhat dumbfounded.

At first, they all thought Qin Ming was just drunk and talking nonsense.

But now, seeing Qin Ming's condition, they actually started to believe... Qin Ming seemed to be serious.

They couldn't help but exchange doubtful glances, trying to gauge each other's judgment through their eyes.

To their surprise, upon looking, they found that a few people at the table, known for their sharp minds, were wearing serious and solemn expressions.

Seeing their expressions, others at the table couldn't help but wonder: what's going on with them? Could it be that they really believed Qin Ming's drunken words?

Perhaps due to this herd mentality, more and more people began to look serious.

And thinking back on Qin Ming's words: Zhang Yonghao is Chen Yan's man...

Earlier, they dismissed it as drunken babble and paid it no mind, but now upon reflection, they suddenly stiffened, their backs growing cold...

They felt as if they had stumbled upon a huge secret...

A secret of immense value...

So, that evening, after the gathering dispersed, the news about the meeting began to spread privately among the wealthy elites of Qindong...

Qin Ming's choice to release the information at this gathering was very clever.

Because the attendees were all top-tier second-generation elites from Qindong, and there were quite a few of them.

The top-tier generation had more influential voices, which made it more likely that their words would be believed, and the news wouldn't spread too widely.

A larger number would prevent the secret from being kept due to someone remaining tight-lipped.

His calculation was very astute.

For a secret like this, if it spread far and wide and everyone knew about it, then it wouldn't be credible.

Only if it circulated on a small scale in high-end circles would it retain its value and credibility.

As for concerns about the news spreading too slowly...

It wouldn't.

Because the top-tier circles in the country were too small. Once news began to spread on a small scale, it would quickly make its way to the ears of those who needed to know, "with quality assurance"...

......

This, first and foremost, stirred the Qindong elite circle.

That night, after dinner, many of the second generation immediately informed their parents about the incident on their way home.

When the wealthy parents heard that Qin Ming, Chen Yan's confidant, had claimed at the dinner table that Zhang Yonghao was actually Chen Yan's man, their initial reaction was laughter, thinking that their sons were just drunk.

Many of the phone conversations were along these lines,

"Hahaha. Son, you must be drunk. Get some rest. We'll come back home in a few days."

"Dad! I'm serious! I'm not drunk! I heard it with my own ears! Many people also heard it! It was Qin Ming who got drunk and said it!"

"Haha. Then it's probably just Qin Ming spouting nonsense because he's drunk."

"Dad! Can you just..."

"Alright! It's late. Go to sleep!"

"....."

Most of the wealthy folks generally didn't believe their children, perhaps because the rumors came from a drinking party and it was their children who spoke of them.

After all...the matter was too fantastical, and anyone would find it laughable upon first hearing it.

However, the situation began to slowly change the next day.

Because these wealthy individuals realized at their gatherings that not only their "useless" children had mentioned this to them, but some of the more level-headed youth had also mentioned the same to their fathers.

At first, they took the issue as a joke, but as they realized something was off, it piqued their interest.

However, as seasoned veterans of the business world, they were much more mature and wouldn't blindly believe something just because someone said it.

Their first thought was whether it could be a conspiracy.

Could it be a rumor deliberately released by Chen Yan and Qin Ming?

So, they started to cautiously probe further.

Strangely enough, aside from the people who had been at that particular drinking party, no one else had heard anything about this incident.

This made the matter quite interesting.

Normally, spreading rumors would not be done on such a small scale. If so, the dissemination would be limited.

Therefore, those wealthy individuals who had heard about it began to doubt again: could this really be true?

Or...was it just a drunken joke by Qin Ming?

Nevertheless, the news still continued to spread slowly following the drinking party.

Qindong was very close to Tiandu, and its wealthy circle and Tiandu's influential figures were deeply interconnected.

So, within a few days, that story was quietly passed on to the people behind Zhang Yonghao.

Those behind Zhang Yonghao initially laughed it off, thinking it was a joke.

But when they learned that the matter had only circulated in a small scale among the top-tier circle of Qindong's wealthy, they too started to show concern.

After all...this circle was always the best informed, and many stories that seemed and sounded impossible coming from that circle ended up being true.

So...could it be...that Zhang Yonghao was truly compromised?

.......

Meanwhile, on Qin Island, Chen Yan was also busy.

The day after arranging for Qin Ming to spread the news, Chen Yan quietly sent Yang Rou on her way and returned to his study, then used the Strong Buy Cards he had collected over the past two or three months.

This time, he didn't really need many shares.

So, Chen Yan didn't use them all at once.

He simply requested Zhang Yonghao first to sell him a 1% stake, which was a strong buy quota of 300 million...

Initially, Chen Yan worried that the item might have its limitations, for instance, if the transaction couldn't be completed in the real world, it might not be effective.

But in reality, he was overthinking it.

Even though the strong buy this time was much more difficult than previous ones, the Strong Buy Card was still effective effortlessly.

There was no indication of its execution, as if Chen Yan hadn't used it at all.

Had he not seen the quota decrease, he might have actually thought the strong buy had failed.

What was more puzzling was that after the Strong Buy Card took effect this time, Chen Yan didn't receive any "premonitions" related to Zhang Yonghao. Instead, he got a rather inexplicable direction...

Sitting in the study, Chen Yan flipped through his WeChat contacts.

After a while, he locked onto a contact with the remark "Qindao Fenghua Group, Young Master Dong."

This Young Master Dong was the heir to the Qindao Fenghua Group.

At the time of the sale of Fenghua Building and the Twin Towers Hotel, he left a bit of an impression on Chen Yan.

Hmm... The guy wasn't bad, just mediocre in ability.

Nothing else stood out.

In comparison, Chen Yan remembered his father, Dong Hongtu, to some extent.

After all, although the Fenghua Group was in turmoil, Dong Hongtu was still calculating and even dared to test his son using hardships, leaving a significant impression on Chen Yan.

Now, why was the system guiding him to contact Young Master Dong?

Chen Yan was a bit puzzled.

Although he didn't quite understand what role Young Master Dong played in this event, he still followed his intuition and sent a message, "Young Master Dong, Happy New Year. Where are you making a fortune these days?"

Who knew whether Young Master Dong was busy or just surprised that Chen Yan would message him, but it took more than ten minutes before Chen Yan got a reply,

"Brother Chen! I am really immature. I can't believe you reached out to me first for New Year's greetings. Happy New Year to you too. I wish you in the new year....."

He sent a long message that was essentially filled with well-wishes and greetings.

A lengthy message, over two hundred words, without repeating a word. Chen Yan felt it was probably stitched together from the internet.

After finishing his greetings, Young Master Dong replied, "I am starting my own business lately. I'm partnering with a friend to respond to the national call, working on financial innovation services."

Seeing Young Master Dong's message, Chen Yan furrowed his brows.

Financial innovation...

The term had been overused this year, referred to as innovation, but in reality, it was just lending, only shifted to the private sector.

The industry, due to national policy encouragement and lax oversight, had many chaotic elements.

Chen Yan really did not expect Young Master Dong to be involved in that kind of business.

He didn't want to continue the conversation but asked anyway due to Young Master Dong's relevance to the strong purchase, "Are you doing this in Qin Island?"

Young Master Dong replied immediately this time, "No, I'm in Ao City now. Haha."

"My dad supported me with some funds, and we're working on it here."

Seeing Young Master Dong say this, Chen Yan suddenly brightened.

Not that he was interested in the business, but he seemed to understand what the system was guiding him to do...

He immediately replied, "In Ao City, huh? Are there many people going there for the New Year?"

Young Master Dong sent a "smile" emoji and said, "Pretty many, it's New Year after all, a lot of wealthy people come here to play a few rounds."

Hearing what Young Master Dong said, Chen Yan said, "I'll also come and have fun in a few days, would you welcome me?"

Young Master Dong said, "Of course. I'll be awaiting Brother Chen's esteemed arrival in Ao City."

Chen Yan smiled and closed WeChat.

As for the guidance given by the system, Chen Yan wasn't sure, but he felt that since it involved lending and Ao City, it was probably related to "gambling" somehow, right?

Before, Chen Yan thought, with his relationship with Zhang Yonghao, regardless of what happened, Zhang Yonghao wouldn't sell his shares.

But if it connected to "gambling," perhaps some things truly could be done.

Of course, Chen Yan didn't think the system would guide him to deliberately set a trap or harm Zhang Yonghao.

However, showing up with timely aid amidst hardship could... everything seemed to make sense...

With this understanding, the next day, Chen Yan took his people onto his private jet to Ao City.

Ao City, as one of the few places in the country where gambling and, ahem, other things were legal, was bustling with activity during the holiday season.

Also, as one of the most developed cities in Asia, the whole city was a dazzling display of lights and luxury, so Chen Yan was somewhat dazzled upon landing.

Luckily, Young Master Dong was waiting at the airport early, or else Chen Yan might have followed a few young ladies off.

Seeing Young Master Dong again, Chen Yan's first impression was that he had matured a lot.

Although his appearance hadn't changed much, and he was as lively as ever, he now had a small presence and confidence in his abilities.

Of course, Chen Yan wasn't reflecting on how much he had changed.

Seeing him, Chen Yan just wanted to say that the children of wealthy families just have a higher chance of success.

Not that they're more "talented," but even if they're good-for-nothing, their families have ample time, energy, and resources to help them adjust and improve.

As for the children of poor families, they might not even get one chance to change in their lifetime.

Failure means defeat.

While internally reflecting on the disparity in opportunities between the two, Chen Yan got into Young Master Dong's car.

It seemed that Young Master Dong was doing quite well in Ao City, dressed in a flashy T-shirt, wearing gold chains and sunglasses, with a personal driver driving a Mercedes-Benz – the epitome of a successful person's aura.

Having his bodyguards and assistant follow in the car behind, Chen Yan sat in the front car with Young Master Dong.

In the car, Young Master Dong took the initiative to chat with Chen Yan, "Brother Chen. Actually, I've been wanting to thank you for the past two years. But because you've grown so rapidly, I didn't dare to contact you first."

Chen Yan responded with an "Oh?" and asked, "Why thank me?"

Young Master Dong somewhat emotionally said, "Because of your righteous assistance back then, you saved our family. If not for that money, our family might have really collapsed."

"Also, because of what you did when you took over Twin Towers Hotel, especially to Uncle Wang, it really shocked me."

"These two years, I've been seeing you as a role model, learning and working hard."

Listening to Young Master Dong, Chen Yan's thoughts involuntarily drifted back to two years ago.

At that time, Chen Yan had purchased Fenghua Building and the Twin Towers Hotel. The hotel's general manager, President Wang, a core member of the Fenghua Group, was particularly resentful.

Chen Yan did not pamper him but directly asked him and his management team to leave.

That incident caused quite a stir on Qin Island at the time.

Back then, Young Master Dong was the one in charge of handling the situation for the Fenghua Group...

In the blink of an eye, two or three years had passed.

As his thoughts returned, Chen Yan was about to chat with Young Master Dong about the past.

However, he suddenly froze.

Because he suddenly remembered that the transaction with Fenghua Group wasn't paid for with his own money, but rather, it was the system's doing.

Chen Yan seemed to vaguely remember that at that time the Fenghua Group might have revealed the identity of the "person" who had paid?

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