Rebirth 1990: The beginning is sweet and cool Bai Yueguang

The old man held the kettle and poured tea. The amber tea drew swirls in the cup. "The cultural relics foundation newly established by the Suzhou and Hangzhou Chamber of Commerce is in need of a director who is well versed in balance."

The old man stroked his beard and smiled, "My dear Zhou, you are too modest. The thousand-year business world is like the vast Milky Way. Many sages have spent their entire lives only to get a glimpse of it.

I see that your strategy in the capital market these years is in line with the truth in the "Biography of Merchants" that "adapt to the times and gain profits"..."

Zhou Qi lowered his eyes and turned the teacup, the mist blurring his expression.

He noticed that the other party changed the word from "enterprise" to "industry". This subtle change was like a move on a chessboard, hinting at a deeper game.

"May I ask, are the monthly throughputs of those foreign-flagged cargo ships at the North Shore Terminal still going smoothly?"

Mr. Liao suddenly changed the subject and his fingers, like dead branches, tapped on the rosewood table with a regular sound.

The air in the reception room suddenly became stagnant.

Zhou Qi's knuckles turned slightly white as he thought of the offshore company authorization letter he had just signed last week.

The rustling of the parasol trees outside the window sounded like an undercurrent in the capital chain.

"I was so frightened that I didn't realize that the chess pieces I was fiddling with in my spare time had alarmed the seniors who were watching the game."

When Zhou Qi raised his eyes, he had regained his composure and pushed the celadon teacup towards the other party: "It's just that now that the move has been made, there is absolutely no reason to regret it."

Mr. Liao's cloudy pupils reflected the tea stems floating in the cup, as if he could glimpse the intricate cross-holdings.

He thought of the encrypted files he had received half a month ago. Those seemingly unrelated overseas accounts ultimately pointed to this young man who had just turned 30.

"The Jianghu Society has always respected those who keep their promises."

The old man took out a gilded invitation from the inner pocket of his Tang suit and said, "The morning bell of the Jade Buddha Temple will ring in three days. I wonder if Mr. Zhou is free to come with us?"

Zhou Qi glanced at the dark pattern on the invitation, and the gilded kapok flower was the totem of a certain cross-border trade organization.

He suddenly realized that the real stakes of this meeting were never in the obvious shares.

The steam from the purple clay teapot hovered between the two of them. Old Liao turned the teacup three times before speaking: "This incident does involve the core interests of the Chamber of Commerce..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhou Qi had already put down his teacup: "Old sir, do you want to put pressure on me or negotiate?"

The bottom of the celadon cup made a crisp sound when it hit the rosewood table. He folded his fingers on his knees, his eyes like a sharp blade:

"The bet was signed voluntarily by both parties. They signed it without hesitation because they wanted to get ten times the compensation. Now that Yamaichi Heavy Industry has overcome the technical difficulties, they want to break the contract..."

"Young people are too aggressive." Old Liao stroked the gilded patterns on the teacup.

"The edge is only for the unjust."

Zhou Qi leaned forward slightly: "Being greedy backfires on themselves, and they want others to clean up the mess for them? Don't you think it's wrong for Mr. Liao to come forward to mediate now?"

The tea room fell into a subtle silence, with only the wafting of sandalwood incense from the copper stove.

Zhou Qi sweated a little on the back of his neck. The Chamber of Commerce had a complex network of forces, and he was unwilling to make enemies with them unless necessary. But if he gave in now, all his previous plans would fall apart.

"What I want is not to break the contract."

Mr. Liao suddenly chuckled to break the deadlock and poured boiling water into the new tea: "Tan Lang will have to bear the consequences. But..."

He looked up at the "Portrait of Business Saint Fan Li" on the wall and said, "The company that holds the Jianghu Order has suffered such a misfortune. I need to save face for this old man."

Zhou Qi's eyebrows moved slightly: "What do you mean, senior?"

"Join the club."

Mr. Liao pushed the gilded name card over and said, "Since you have stirred up the storm, why not join the game formally?"

Zhou Qi's eyes swept across the dark emblem on the name card, and all the arrangements over the past few months suddenly became clear.

It turned out that the old man had regarded this bet as a test for joining the guild. He picked up the name card and sniffed the scent of ink, with a smile on his face.

"It seems that this invitation to join the club...has become an ultimatum?"

The celadon cup between Zhou Qi's fingers swayed slightly, and ripples appeared in the amber tea soup. I thought it was just an ordinary invitation, but I didn't expect it to be a coercion.

Old Liao slowly filled the purple clay teapot with wine and tapped the huanghuali table with his old knuckles: "The vice-president's position has been vacant for four hundred and eighty days. Those monkeys in the Chamber of Commerce..."

The subject suddenly changed: "The operation of the North Shore project reminds me of the Huo family's reclamation project in the 1980s."

The sudden appointment made Zhou Qi's back straighten: "Thank you for your kindness, but I am still inexperienced..."

He was interrupted before he finished speaking.

"The chamber of commerce has a very loose structure and not a lot of red tape."

Mr. Liao took out an ebony box from the inner pocket of his python-patterned Tang suit and said, "This era needs game changers, just like your courage to go against the trend and buy at the bottom when the stock market crashed."

The black iron token in the box glowed with a cold light, and the four words "Assistant Manager of Yin and Yang" on the front made Zhou Qi's pupils shrink slightly.

The old man's voice mixed with the aroma of tea drifted in: "During the three-year reform period, you just follow your own rules. If you encounter obstacles..."

The skinny palm lightly stroked the air.

Zhou Qi stared at the global trade map etched on the back of the token and suddenly chuckled, "Aren't you afraid that I will take advantage of the situation to swallow up the Jiangnan Textile Alliance? After all, I just took away 30% of their market share last month."

“Although the offspring of tigers and leopards have not yet grown into words, they already have the energy to eat cattle.”

Mr. Liao poured the boiling hot tea on the tea pet and said, "You gave up 12 percentage points of profit on the North Shore project in exchange for long-term cooperation. This kind of situation is worthy of this token."

In the sunset light leaking in through the window, Zhou Qi noticed that the little finger of the old man's left hand was missing - that was clearly a mark left by the shipping war in the 1970s.

Perhaps this sudden appointment is related to the cross-border capital landscape that is being laid out?

"Old sir, can you let me think about it?" When Zhou Qi closed the wooden box, he heard his own heartbeat quickening.

"It should be."

Mr. Liao stroked the bronze Taotie with missing ears on the table and said, "There will be an interesting auction on the Hong Kong Island cruise ship at 3 pm three days later."

On the gold-embossed invitation card that was pushed over, the words "Sea Transport Map of the Yuan Dynasty" were faintly visible.

The sandalwood table was covered with dark golden lines. Liao Zhongxun's withered fingers stroked the century-old red sandalwood token and said in a deep voice, "The door of the Jianghu Association is always open to Mr. Zhou."

The token engraved with the ancient seal character "Jiang" glowed faintly under the light, reflecting the surprise that flashed in Zhou Qi's eyes.

This martial arts order that has been passed down for seven generations, pressing down on the "Comprehensive Mirror of Business", makes the atmosphere in the tea room suddenly solemn.

Zhou Qi tapped the huanghuali table top with his knuckles. The proposal for a three-day probation period was like a sword hanging over his head.

He suddenly remembered the account books that mysteriously disappeared during the patent war between Yamaichi Heavy Industries and Yamaichi Heavy Industries half a year ago, and sweat broke out on his palms.

"Junior will definitely be cautious." When Zhou Qi accepted the token, the unique spicy fragrance of red sandalwood rushed into his nostrils.

The thread-bound book that Liao Zhongxun handed to him at the right time had the scent of ink, and the gold-embossed words "Business Road" on the cover made his eyes twitch slightly.

The moment their fingertips touched, it was as if an invisible net spread out in the tea smoke.

Lin Xindie, standing under the eaves, counted to the ninth sound of the bamboo flute and finally saw the tall figure of her employer.

She caught a glimpse of the bulge in Zhou Qi's suit pocket and remembered the encrypted document sent by the Intelligence Agency last night.

Of the 17 directors recruited by Jianghu Hui in the past five years, nine disappeared in cross-border mergers and acquisitions.

"The plum blossoms in the south of the Yangtze River are about to bloom." Liao Chongxun's parting smile was filled with deep meaning.