The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

Li Qian, like her two colleagues, also works at a design firm.

The three were talking about a major event that had happened in Jinshan: the relocation of Tengying Group's headquarters to Jinshan.

With over 60 billion yuan spent on headquarters construction alone, Tencent's financial strength is clearly extraordinary.

There weren't many people at noon, so Chen Pingsheng didn't have to rush to cook.

He still likes to smoke a Lao Baisha cigarette from time to time, exhaling a little bit of white smoke, just like most people living here.

Every day, I'm busy working for a few small amounts of money.

"Dad, Sister Qian would like to invite you for a drink!"

"Why did she have to buy me drinks?"

"Wasn't it because you helped her chase that lecherous man away the other day?"

Li Qian, a stylish urban white-collar worker, would normally not dare to pursue someone without a lot of confidence.

But there are some young people with a fiery temper who like to seek a sense of existence from them.

He thought he was handsome and kept pestering her.

That kind of guy can easily date a blonde, tattooed girl; if he wants to date a high-class white-collar worker in the city, he'd have to be blind.

Chen Pingsheng also disliked the young man with the will-o'-the-wisp constantly loitering around him, which is why he chased him away.

He wasn't particularly familiar with Li Qian; she was just a regular customer at the store.

Chen An'an enjoyed chatting with her, and the little girl liked to sit next to her and listen openly.

"Master Chen, thank you so much for last time!"

"You're welcome. It's just a small favor."

"Sister Qian, my dad isn't just any ordinary chef. He's incredibly skilled. If you ever have any problems you can't handle, you can always ask my dad for help!"

"You're the kind of person who likes to brag."

Chen Pingsheng patted her on the shoulder, saying, "You're already the head waitress, why are you still so restless?"

Chen An'an wasn't afraid of him at all. "I wasn't bragging. Dad, you didn't actually think you were a chef after cooking for a few days, did you?"

The conversation between the father and daughter was inexplicable.

This restaurant is also quite strange; a table can only have a maximum of three dishes cooked.

I won't answer calls after that.

Listen to this, is this the kind of attitude you're trying to make the restaurant successful?

They're afraid of making too much money.

Li Qian couldn't understand what they were saying and felt completely confused.

It seems that this father is not just a chef, and his daughter is just out for training.

The little girl next to me smiles at everyone she sees.

"Alright, alright, more guests are coming soon, hurry up and wipe the table over there clean!"

"Isn't that the work that Aunt Pei Yao does?"

"Don't think I didn't see it. She mopped the floor for you today, so you should wipe the table."

Chen An'an snorted twice. Her father was really something else. There were so many people here who needed help, but he hadn't helped a single person.

There is also the carefree dream of those destined to meet.

What about fooling the ghost?

"Sister Qian, wait a minute, I'll bring you some of the tea my dad often drinks."

Chen An'an took out half a jin of her father's Wuyishan Da Hong Pao tea, which looked ordinary.

Even if you have money, you still can't drink it.

Someone of Li Qian's status wouldn't possibly know her. If she knew that she had casually drunk hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars worth of liquor, she would be surprised.

Do you think she'll regret it to the core?

The big kid is doing something wrong again, even though he meant well.

Chen Pingsheng didn't bother with her. Some things could only be appreciated at their level; they wouldn't be appreciated by strangers.

Tea that costs millions per kilogram is no different from tea that costs tens of yuan per kilogram.

Moreover, she used a red plastic bag to sell the goods in bulk.

What a waste! Doesn't she know that the annual production of this tea is extremely limited?

Even someone as rich as him can't just buy as much as he wants.

Many of them were used for offerings.

How casual.

Every time Li Qian comes here to eat, she often receives some inexplicable gifts.

Last time it was red wine, this time it's small tea leaves packaged in plastic bags.

Regardless of whether it was cheap or not, she still wanted to thank them for their kind gesture.

After she finished eating, she thanked him three times before leaving.

Chen Pingsheng stood at the door, staring blankly at the big kid. "Chen An'an, what do you think she would feel if she accidentally let these tea leaves get moldy, or if she suddenly opened the red wine you gave her, drank a little, and found out it was worth a million?

"What else could I feel? Of course, I'm excited."

"Naive," Chen Pingsheng said. "People will only feel like they've lost a million dollars and are heartbroken so much they can't breathe."

"Um... really?"

Chen An'an looked puzzled. "Shouldn't she be happy?"

"Naive. If you give her something worth a few hundred or a thousand yuan, she'll be happy. But if she drinks something worth millions without even knowing it, she'll probably cry for three days and three nights."

Chen An'an turned to look at Aunt Pei Yao. Would it really be like that?
Jiang Peiyao nodded firmly; in the past, she would have cried for a month.

That's enough to buy a small villa back home!

When giving gifts, it's not always better if they are more expensive.

A bottle of Romanée-Conti and an iPhone are placed in the same spot, but the iPhone is clearly more exciting.

At least that's the case here.

Chen An'an snorted twice; she simply didn't believe it.

Good intentions can lead to bad outcomes.

Li Qian's home is considered quite decent in this area, a one-bedroom, one-living room, one-kitchen, and one-bathroom apartment of over 50 square meters.

The decor is fairly nice, and clothes are dried on the small balcony.

If you were to rent a place like this in downtown Shanghai, you wouldn't even dream of it without paying four or five thousand a month.

It only costs 1,500 here.

To save those thousands of dollars in rent, she'd rather work an extra few hours each day.

One of her two colleagues was her senior from university, who was also the one who introduced her to that firm.

One of them is her junior classmate, someone who has just graduated.

The junior sister was so envious of her living conditions and even wanted to move in with her.

Or you could rent a small, decent-sized apartment here.

Who lives in an urban village if not to save money?

In the city, a house costing 1,500 yuan doesn't even have a separate kitchen, bathroom, or balcony; you'd be lucky if it even had normal ventilation.

She doesn't have much to offer in terms of hospitality.

There was also some fruit and drinks in the small refrigerator, as well as a chilled watermelon, an essential summer treat.

Li Qian used them all to entertain them.

She also took out the bottle of red wine that she had casually placed under the table.

Her senior was different from her; she was a true city dweller.

Having worked for a large company for several years, how could I not recognize some luxury brands?

"Wow...where did you find this fake bottle of Romanée-Conti? It's quite well made."

Romanée-Conti is easy to recognize; almost all of their bottles have the same packaging.

The price varies depending on the year.

The popularity of Romanée-Conti in recent years was largely due to the line "Please drink Romanée-Conti" from Stephen Chow's movie The Mermaid.

It was from that time that she became well-known.

Li Qian didn't recognize it, mainly because she rarely drank red wine and had only heard about it from her colleagues.

"I didn't buy it myself, it was given to me by that little girl just now."

"If it's a gift from her, it probably isn't anything of high quality."

You can't expect anything good to come from a restaurant, that's a normal person's thought.

Since she was bored anyway, Li Qian opened it, and the process was quite complicated.

Some specialized tools are needed.

She doesn't have professional wine glasses, but she has a few glasswares.

My senior sister swirled the glass. This time, not only did the outer packaging look exquisite, but the wine inside also looked exquisite.

She still likes to drink this stuff, mainly because her mom likes it.

An elderly woman who has retired.

No, that doesn't apply. Do you think she could get into a big company and become a manager in less than two years just by graduating?

She was just average; her brother was the family's main focus of attention.

They've entered the judicial system.

The salary may not be high, but the position is. If you work diligently for more than ten years and can be promoted to the division level before the age of forty, that would be very impressive.

Even a deputy director level position is impressive.

If a deputy director from Shanghai is transferred elsewhere, the starting point will still be at the level of a full director.

What does "director-level" mean? It's equivalent to the head of a county. Where's the county party secretary?

For someone from her background to be willing to help Li Qian, she is already considered to have very good character.

People generally look down on outsiders like Li Qian.

"This wine looks a bit like the real thing! Is our domestic counterfeiting technology that advanced?"

The senior student frowned slightly; Li Qian couldn't taste anything at all.

It tastes terrible, it just tastes awful.

"How much does a bottle of genuine Conti cost?" Li Qian asked.

"The cheapest ones cost forty or fifty thousand, while the most expensive ones cost several million. Those were from 1990."

The senior replied, "This bottle definitely doesn't look fake. Let's plug the cap first, and I'll ask someone to find out."

The senior student took a picture of her and then sent it to her friend who specializes in selling red wine.

I also talked about the taste.

Someone like her who drinks red wine regularly can definitely tell the difference.

Only someone like Li Qian, who doesn't drink alcohol, would find it unpleasant to drink.

This is a case of good things not reaching the rightful owners; even antiques can be used as chamber pots.

Her friend left a message saying he would be right there.

The person arrived shortly afterward.

"This is... a genuine 1990 Romanée-Conti, the king of red wines. You guys are willing to drink this kind of wine?"

The visitor was also puzzled. Aren't bottles of wine that cost millions of dollars meant for collection?
How could they bear to drink it?

"Are you sure this is a 1990 Conti?"

"I'm 100% sure. This bottle, this purity, this taste—what other wine can replace it?"

"Okay, give me some time."

Even though the drink wasn't hers, the senior student was still heartbroken and couldn't breathe.

I feel like I just casually drank the equivalent of half a Ferrari.

That's absolutely outrageous.

If she had known it was a 1990 vintage of Conti, she would never have drunk it, even if you killed her.

There's no way we have that kind of opportunity.

Li Qian quietly asked, "Is this very expensive?"

"That depends on who it is. People like Xu Pipi, Teacher Ma, and the big boss of Tengying Group can drink it like water. For us, taking a sip would be a waste of resources."

He looked regretful; once the bottle of Conti is opened, it's worthless.

It's impossible to resell it. Who would buy a bottle that someone else has already finished drinking if they can afford this kind of wine?

Even if you extol it as the finest nectar from the Queen Mother of the West, someone who can't afford it still can't buy it.

"Judging from your appearance, this couldn't possibly have been bought by you. Where did you get it? Could you take me to get a bottle?"

"Tell me first, how much is this actually worth?"

Li Qian still insisted on asking for the actual price.

“If the bottle is unopened, I would definitely be willing to buy it back for 1.2 million yuan a bottle.”

One million two hundred thousand?

Li Qian simply collapsed onto the sofa; this time, it wasn't just "feeling sorry for her" that described it.

Instead, he felt like slapping himself twice.

Tears welled up in my eyes instantly.

"You still haven't said where you found this?"

He wouldn't hesitate to turn a junkyard upside down if he could find a 90 vintage of Romanée-Conti.

Look at the expressions on these three women's faces; they clearly have no idea that the wine they're drinking is so valuable.

If given the chance, they would definitely take it and exchange it for money.

Wouldn't it be great to have over a million in your hands?

What are you drinking? There's no such thing in my stomach.

The senior student said, "Would you believe me if I said a little girl gave it to me during lunch?"

"I don't really believe it." I guess only a fool would believe it.

The senior student herself wasn't quite convinced. "Then take another look at this tea. That little girl said it's what her dad drinks all the time."

tea?

It was just casually placed in a red plastic bag.

There's quite a bit inside, probably weighing a few ounces.

Da Hong Pao tea is not expensive.

Tea produced from the original Da Hong Pao tea trees is truly the most expensive of all.

During the Ming Dynasty, a scholar traveling to the capital for the imperial examinations accidentally drank a cup of Da Hong Pao tea and immediately felt refreshed and inspired.

As a result, he passed the imperial examination in the capital with flying colors.

The scholar returned to Wuyi Mountain and personally hung the imperial gift of the Da Hong Pao (a type of red robe) on this tea tree.

The tea tree was thus named "Da Hong Pao" (Big Red Robe), and the tea produced from this tree even became a tribute to the imperial court.

Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, tea from Wuyi Mountain has been particularly expensive, and its wonderful flavor, characterized by its unique rocky texture and floral aroma, is unmatched by tea from other regions.

Da Hong Pao tea can be brewed nine times and still retain its rich aroma, while ordinary tea can only be brewed a maximum of three times.

Tea leaves are precious, and tea trees are scarce.

Therefore, these trees have become national key protected plants.

As early as the Republican era, the government sent soldiers to protect these large red-robed mother trees day and night.

Since then, Wuyi Mountain mother tree Da Hong Pao has become extremely rare on the market.

They generally don't enter the market, and even if they do, they're at an astronomical price.

"Holy crap, this is actually tea from the original Red Robe mother tree..."

The wine shop owner was completely stunned; his hand holding the red plastic bag was filled with shock.

"Red Robe Mother Tree Tea? That can't be, can it?"

"What's impossible? This is definitely genuine tea from the mother tree!"

The wine shop owner is quite knowledgeable; he himself is in the luxury goods recycling business.

How can you not recognize these things?
"I'm very curious now, what kind of restaurant did you go to eat at that would give you these things?"

The senior student said, "It's a newly opened restaurant called Wuyou in this urban village. But the way it's run is weird. It's a big restaurant, but only three people are working. And they can only cook for a maximum of three tables at a time. You can't order more than that."

"That little girl kept talking about her dad, does she really think she's a chef, like she's someone important?"

"This isn't just something with a great background, this is something with an absolutely incredible background."

The wine shop owner said, "To be able to casually give away a 90-year-old Romanée-Conti and easily give away the mother tree's red tea, and for her father to drink this kind of tea all the time, he must be a tycoon with a net worth of at least tens of billions."

The senior student asked in disbelief, "That's impossible, how could a boss with that kind of status work as a chef?"

"Don't use our way of thinking to understand people at this level."

The wine shop owner shook his head and said, "Moreover, he is probably not just an ordinary billionaire, but most likely the highest-level business tycoon in Shanghai. It's summer vacation now, maybe he's just here to educate his own child?"
"It's not impossible that this is the case."

Someone who can casually give away Conti and drink Mother Tree Red Robe daily cannot possibly be an ordinary chef.

"Surely it's not that bad. We just went out for a casual meal, and we actually ran into a boss like this?"

Who can truly understand the affairs of this world?

The wine shop owner said, "I don't know if you've heard about what happened in Shacheng, but the grandmother of the big boss of Tengying Group was attacked by a heartless doctor. Not only did she lose her money, but she also lost her life."

"After the news reached Shanghai, the stock market was in extreme turmoil. In order to stabilize the stock market, Tencent Film announced on the spot that it would use 10 billion yuan to buy back as much as others sold."

"After returning to Shanghai, the big boss of Tengying Group has not participated in any public activities. He disappeared after spending more than 10 billion yuan to buy thousands of acres of commercial and residential land in Jinshan."

"Many people are concerned about where he went, and there are some rumors coming from his wife."

"In the words of us ordinary folks, this big shot took his daughter down to gain experience."

"And his daughter happens to be named An'an."

"You guys think it's such a coincidence?"

The senior student was stunned, her eyes blinked twice involuntarily, and the corners of her mouth trembled wildly.

Is it really that much of a coincidence?
The big boss of Tengying personally cooked for her, and she could boast about it from when she was not yet thirty until she was seventy or eighty.

He can still brag in front of his grandson.

As for Li Qian, who was standing to the side, she thought about it carefully and suddenly felt that it was very likely.

Everything has a traceable pattern.

Summer vacation has arrived, and a worry-free restaurant suddenly opens in the urban village.

There was no preparation whatsoever, and no publicity whatsoever.

Instead of hiring anyone, it had its own daughter work as a waitress in the store.

Moreover, the female store manager was just too beautiful.

They called Master Chen "brother-in-law".

With looks like that, she'd stand out even in the entertainment industry; why would she willingly work as a waitress in a small restaurant?

Every day is spent either serving dishes or cleaning.

Once he said that, everything became clear.

The three women exchanged glances, wondering if it really was just a coincidence.

They happened to meet on the very path where the powerful figure descended to the mortal realm.

What incredible luck! (End of Chapter)