I'm in the county town, and you say I'm a big shot?

Chapter 707 Ding Lei's Dinner Party
The next day, Fang Qingye got up early and actually went fishing.

It's not that he's being arrogant; it's just that it's 2015 now, and some of the technologies or concepts discussed at the Wuzhen Summit have already been realized in 10 years, while others are still a long way off.

Now, listening to it again doesn't feel interesting, and I don't like being as enthusiastic about preaching as Ma Yun.

Why don't we go fishing?

Before he arrived, he had already searched online for places to fish in Wuzhen in winter. Early this morning, he told Chen Danlu to go and explore on his own. He took off his suit and leather shoes, put on a down jacket and fleece pants, and wore a woolen hat. Yue Kai drove him straight to Baimatang in Tongxiang.

It's about a half-hour drive from Wuzhen, not far, and more importantly, it's far from Wuzhen, so no one will bother you and you can enjoy the peace and quiet.

On a winter morning, the water was covered with a thin layer of ice. Frost clung to the withered reeds, and the floats stood still. Online sources said that Baimatang was teeming with crucian carp and common carp, and that grass carp lurked in the deeper waters, requiring a long rod for fishing. Fang Qingye naturally took a long rod.

Fang Qingye had a good catch, fishing from morning until noon. He caught three grass carp, each weighing three or four pounds and very plump. Fang Qingye wondered if he should take them back and ask the innkeeper to make braised grass carp chunks and grass carp tail tofu soup.

Lunch was at a small restaurant called Tangxi Xiaochu on the east side of Baimatang Bridge. Yue Kai ordered salted pork and vegetable rice, which came with bone broth. It could be packed up and taken to the fishing spot. It was said to be specially prepared for anglers.

Fang Qingye sat on a small stool by the shore, wolfing down her food; it smelled delicious.

Just then, Fang Qingye's phone vibrated. She took it out and saw that it was Ding Lei calling, so she answered it.

"President Fang, don't forget tonight's dinner. It's at 7 PM at the 'Jin Yi Inn' in the Xizha Scenic Area, on the second floor overlooking the river in a large private room." Ding Lei reminded him over the phone.

"No problem, I'll be there on time," Fang Qingye replied while eating.

"What are you busy with? Which forum are you attending?" Ding Lei asked curiously on the other end of the phone.

"I'm fishing."

On the other end of the phone, Ding Lei remained silent for a moment, then started joking again: "I'm impressed. You came all the way to Wuzhen to fish. You're neglecting your duties."

"So what? Aren't you raising pigs? I can go fishing too."

"Heh. I raise pigs while you fish, neither of you are doing anything productive. Catch a few more, we'll slaughter them and eat them tonight!"

"Guaranteed to complete the mission!"

Fang Qingye did not lie. In the afternoon, he delivered the three bluefish to the Jin Yi Inn where Ding Lei was treating him to a meal. He even went out to get breakfast for the occasion.

At 6:40, he excitedly arrived at the inn with the fish, only to find that there wasn't a single person in the private room, not even the host, Ding Lei!

Are they not going to stand me up?
Fang Qingye pondered to herself.

Of course not, this dinner party is a historical precedent.

I later learned that the discussions in the various sub-forums were so heated that they hadn't even ended yet!

It wasn't until after 8 o'clock that the guests arrived one after another. A group of bigwigs, including Ma Huateng, Li Yanhong, Zhang Chaoyang, and Cao Guowei, arrived, took off their sharp suits, and changed into casual clothes. However, they were all starving.

Fang Qingye was not hungry at all. She had already eaten a bowl of local boatmen's braised duck noodles. It is said to be a dish that follows the old boatmen's diet. The duck legs are slowly braised in a ceramic stove and served with wide noodles made from Tongxiang wet noodles. The braising sauce can coat the noodles and tastes quite good.

Including the host, there were 14 people in total. Some of them were familiar to Ma Huateng, Zhang Chaoyang, and Zhu Yunlai from CICC. Others were not very familiar to Fang Qingye, such as Zhang Yaqin, Senior Vice President of Microsoft, and Wang Wei, Chairman of the China Financial Museum.

As the dishes were served one after another, the centerpiece was naturally the several plates of pork.

"Come on, come on, have some food! You must be starving!" Host Ding Lei warmly invited. "Try it all, this pork is different from the ones outside."

Lei Jun picked up a piece of braised pork first, and it melted in his mouth. He blurted out, "Hmm! Ding Lei, you've raised this pig quite well! This meat is chewy and fragrant. Did you play music for the pig using our Xiaomi phones to cultivate its taste?"

The audience burst into laughter. Ding Lei waved his hand smugly: "Get lost! The key is scientific feeding and a happy mood. Happy pigs make delicious meat." Even the usually composed Li Yanhong nodded in approval: "Indeed, very good quality." Ma Huateng, standing nearby, added with a smile: "Ding Lei has brought the ultimate user experience of the internet to the livestock industry."

This once again drew laughter from everyone.

Fang Qingye and Zhu Yunlai sat together, eating and chatting.

At this time, Zhu Yunlai had already left CICC and was busy collaborating with several people in the financial industry to establish a private equity fund called "Lunar Capital".

However, he still pays attention to copper futures and spot prices. Now that it's the end of the year, LEM futures prices have remained at $5000 per ton, and spot prices have also remained at around $5000, but there has been no significant increase.

"I predict that copper prices will continue to rise next year, in 2016, with the start of a new round of national infrastructure construction," Zhu Yunlai said in a low voice.

"Mr. Zhu, then you've successfully completed your mission," Fang Qingye said with a smile.

"We should say that we have successfully completed our mission."

"Hey, Ding Lei, wasn't today supposed to be a whole pig feast hosted by you? Why is there an extra fish dish?" Someone suddenly asked, drawing Fang Qingye's attention—it was Zhou Hongyi, the CEO of 360, who was smiling and pointing to a plate of braised fish that had just been served.

"Let me try it." Zhang Chaoyang, who was sitting to the side, did not stand on ceremony. He picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of fish, tasted it carefully, and nodded, saying, "The meat is indeed very good. It doesn't seem to be from a fishpond. It has a bit of the freshness of wild fish."

“Of course it’s wild,” Ding Lei chimed in, his voice tinged with pride. “President Fang specially went to Baimatang in Tongxiang today to catch it!”

"Today? You went fishing?" Everyone looked at Fang Qingye in surprise.

"I've completed my mission at the summit, and since I had nothing else to do, I went to the water's edge to relax," Fang Qingye explained casually.

"I admire you... We're all exhausted, but you still manage to find time to go fishing," Lei Jun interjected with a laugh.

"Mr. Lei, you're a recognized workaholic in the industry. How can I, a nobody, compare to you?" Fang Qingye said with a smile.

"I have to post this on Weibo!" Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing said as he took out his phone, snapped a picture of the steaming plate of braised pork, and added the caption with a few taps:

"This is the only fish we'll have tonight, and Fang Qingye just caught it today from Baimatang in Tongxiang..."

It's said that this post on WeChat Moments immediately garnered a string of likes and jokes. No one expected that this usually low-profile financial tycoon was actually a seasoned angler—he even brought a fishing rod with him to the internet summit!

Fang Qingye didn't forget the important matter. He turned to Ding Lei and said, "Mr. Ding, could you send me some of your Weiyang pork to try?"

"President Fang, you're not content with just eating this, you're also taking it all home?" Ma Huateng joked from the side.

"Hehe, I have an old friend in Nanxin who has been saying he wants to try the pork from your local farm. I promised him I'd come to Wuzhen and get some for him," Fang Qingye said with a smile.

Ding Lei laughed and said, "Okay! I'll have the company send it to you directly... and help me promote it while you're at it."

“No problem!” Fang Qingye agreed immediately.

"President Fang, I heard everyone went to your nursery for tea last year. Will you invite us again this year? I haven't been yet," said Zhang Yaqin, Senior Vice President of Microsoft. He missed the dinner last year, so he also missed the tea gathering.

"Of course you're welcome. Come to Nanxin for a cup of tea whenever you have time," Fang Qingye replied with a smile. "The weather in Nanxin is just right lately."

"Then it's a deal."

The next day, Fang Qingye did not go fishing.

(End of this chapter)