549 How much sincerity do you have?

Chapter 549: How much sincerity do you have?

Translator: _Min_Editor: Caron_

After all, it was a welcome luncheon. Naturally, the rules and traditions couldn't be avoided.

The luncheon lasted from 11 o'clock to 1 in the afternoon, while the real meal time was only an hour. But Jiang Chen didn't complain in the slightest because the dishes at the state banquet really were impeccable. Additionally, the concierge really made him feel like this was his home away from home.

Responsible for the reception of Jiang Chen was Liu Haotian. Not too tall with a buzz cut, he looked very sharp. The way he spoke was humorous yet ethereal. During his stay in Hua, he would accompany Jiang Chen to his daily activities whether he was heading home to visit relatives or examining investment opportunities outside of the province. His main duty was acting as his driver and at the same time, resolving any problems for guests to maintain Hua's international image.

Although he had no plans in the afternoon, Jiang Chen clearly underestimated the cordiality of the Ministry of Economic Development. The Phantom helmet was only on the shelf for two weeks but the analysts of Wall Street revalued Future Group's worth at a daunting 500 billion USD. It was a conservative figure based on the uncertainty of the maintenance costs of the supercomputer Future Technology was using as well as the research and development costs of the helmet.

If Future Group went public on NASDAQ and disclosed its operation costs, no one would doubt its market cap could exceed 700 million and replace Apple as the tech company with the highest market cap.

To get a delicious piece of the pie and create ties with a company that originated from Hua, the Ministry of Economic Development obviously wouldn't relinquish this opportunity. All the beneficial policies were presented to Jiang Chen with only one requirement: Future Group had to build plants and invest in Hua.

Ideally, those new plants would produce the Phantom Helmet.

But they had discussions over tea for an entire afternoon without making any progress. Jiang Chen didn't agree to make any investments, especially with regards to building more plants. In fact, he consciously avoided the topic.

While the people from the Ministry of Business Development were eager, they had no other plans. They made all the policies the higher-ups permitted available to him, but Jiang Chen didn't seem interested at all, which made them bewildered.

Is this guy not here to talk business? When they thought about the mission the higher-ups gave them and looked at Jiang Chen drinking tea, the representative from the Ministry of Business Development had a helpless feeling.

Of course, they were confused.

Jiang Chen was here to talk business, but not with the Ministry of Business Development. They were, at most, the pawns sent from the top to test him. Even if there was no material progress in negotiations, the people at the top wouldn't give them any trouble for it.

Jiang Chen was waiting for a person with decision-making power. If Hua placed enough emphasis on him, that person would arrive very soon.

It was just as he thought.

After the end of the dinner, Jiang Chen sat in the Hongqi L9 waiting in front of the Shangjin Restaurant. Liu Haotian, responsible for his reception, sat in the driver's seat but didn't drive off after starting the car.

"Do you have any engagements arranged afterward?"

"No."

"An important person wants to see you."

Jiang Chen looked at Liu Haotian through the rearview mirror.

"Who?"

"An elder. Don't worry, no need to be cautious. It is a good thing." Liu Haotian put on a smile to respond to Jiang Chen's gaze. "If it is convenient for you now, I can take you there now. Of course, if you have other plans, tomorrow is okay too."

"Now is fine." Jiang Chen leaned back in his chair and said casually, "There is a business forum I need to attend tomorrow, I might be busy."

Liu Haotian smiled and drove off.

…

The scenery outside the window flashed by and gradually, the sheen of prosperity faded when they turned into an older part of the city. The car didn't drive for long before they stopped at an ancient but magnificent manor. The security personnel standing at the door put his hand on his waist. It wasn't until he saw Liu Haotian getting out of the car that he let his guard down.

Liu Haotian opened the car door for Jiang Chen and courteously invited him out.

"Please, Mr. Jiang."

Jiang Chen raised his head to read the words on the gate of the manor before he looked at Liu Haotian with a gaze full of deeper meaning.

"I originally thought you were just a driver. My mistake."

"Not at all. I'm just an ordinary reception staff member," Liu Haotian said humbly.

Jiang Chen smiled without saying anything more. He stepped over the high doorsill and headed directly into the manor.

On the door he just walked through were two giant words written with calligraphy.

The layout of the manor was in good taste with elegance; the rock gardens were complementary to each other. Although Jiang Chen wasn't well-versed in traditional culture, he still could see that it was a combination of characteristics from a northern climate combined with characteristics of Suzhou gardens.

Although there wasn't anything particularly extravagant inside, Jiang Chen knew well that to own such a large manor in Shangjin, where land was equivalent to gold, money alone wasn't enough.

With Liu Haotian's guidance, Jiang Chen followed the pebbled stone path and arrived at the tea room in the main building. Here, he saw an elder with all white hair. From the courteous expression on Liu Haotian's face, the status of the elder was important.

The layout of the tea room was simple - there was only a table, a chess board, and a cup of tea…

It was tea again. Jiang Chen's eyebrows twitched. He drank tea all afternoon, so his stomach felt agitated at the scene of tea.

"Are you not going to sit?" Seeing Jiang Chen wasn't taking any action, the elder pleasantly asked.

Jiang Chen then politely smiled and sat on the sofa across from the elder.

"How should I address you?"

"I am Liu Xiangguo. By age, it is fair for you to call me uncle." The elder poured hot tea for Jiang Chen and himself.

Liu Haotian looked at his father, surprised, but quickly moved his gaze elsewhere.

"Uncle Liu," Jiang Chen cleverly addressed him.

Perhaps pleased with the way Jiang Chen addressed him, Uncle Liu smiled and examined Jiang Chen with the eyes of an elder looking at the young. His cloudy but still shrewd eyes hid their sharpness within the rising white cloud.

Although it was disguised, Jiang Chen could still sense the elder prying into his life with his gaze. But even if he sensed this, he didn't react and replied honestly to the obvious inquiring gaze.

"Uncle Liu invited me over just to have tea with me?"

Unable to see through Jiang Chen, Liu Xiangguo retracted his prying gaze without a change in expression.

"No particular plan. I have seen you quite a few times on the news. With this opportunity, I wanted to meet you."

"Oh? Am I fortunate enough to know Uncle Liu's view of me?"

"Stellar individual."

Jiang Chen took a moment to process this before he humbly said:

"You're overcomplimenting me."

At Jiang Chen's modesty, Liu Xiangguo smiled and took a sip of the tea without making any further comments.

Just as Jiang Chen wryly thought the old man would act identically to the people from the Ministry of Business Development that afternoon and play riddles with him for half the day, Liu Xiangguo put down his teacup and suddenly said:

"From your facial appearance, Mr. Jiang is someone who likes to dive straight into the topic, so I won't play riddles with you." He paused. "How sincere are you with regards to the economic and trade cooperation between our two countries or cooperation between Future Group and Hua?"

When Jiang Chen heard this, his disinterested expression instantly disappeared with a smile emerging on his face.

Finally.

He had been waiting for this sentence for too long.