2003: The Opening Sniper Against the Financial Tycoon

Chapter 34 The Shock of the Child-Leaving Circle

Zhao Yang and Liu Xiaorui are international students at Stanford University.

The two developed a romantic relationship while in a foreign country.

That day, Liu Xiaorui had just finished class and was on her way back to her dormitory when she received a call from the former.

"Honey, what do you want to eat tonight?"

"I haven't decided yet."

"Then hurry up and pack your things, let's go to the Menlo Park Hotel together."

"Didn't we just do it a few days ago? You're thinking about it again?"

Liu Xiaorui sounded somewhat reluctant, then added, "Also... that hotel is so expensive, did your dad give you your allowance in advance?"

"No, what are you thinking?"

Zhao Yang said sullenly, "I saw a notice from our department's student union saying that an aerospace company there has reached a strategic cooperation agreement with a domestic company and is preparing to hold a signing ceremony tonight. They invited Chinese students to attend the ceremony, and there will be a free buffet."

"No way? Which state-owned enterprise is it? That's incredibly powerful!"

Liu Xiaorui was quite surprised when she heard the news.

In her view, there are very few companies in China qualified to do this, and most of them are state-owned enterprises, especially those involved in aerospace.

This was the first time she had ever encountered a state-owned enterprise so openly and generously inviting international students to participate.

Zhao Yang shook his head on the phone: "Neither of those. You probably wouldn't believe it if I told you, it's Delong!"

"What? Really?! Is it that Delong Group, which is mired in debt disputes...? They still have money to invest in Silicon Valley?"

Liu Xiaorui was even more shocked.

He and Zhao Yang studied business administration and computer science, respectively.

Neither of them actually had anything to do with the financial industry, but unfortunately, the Delong Group has become too famous in the last two years.

The title of "China's No. 1 stock manipulator" is frequently mentioned in financial reports on various forums, and even those who are not professionals in the field have heard of it.

"I don't know, but let's go take a look anyway, at least we can get a meal."

After discussing it over the phone, the two quickly met up.

Then they headed to the Menlo Park Hotel.

When they arrived, the two of them were shocked by what they saw.

"Seriously? Such a grand affair, with a red carpet and hostesses?"

"Holy crap, so many media outlets! One of them even has a Wall Street Journal badge on it!"

The two squeezed to the entrance, showed their student IDs to the staff to check in, and then entered the hotel.

"Hey, Zhao Yang, you two are here too?"

As soon as Zhao Yang and Liu Xiaorui entered the door, they unexpectedly ran into an acquaintance.

This man's name is Peng Haoran. He has a DSLR camera slung across his shoulder. He is a student at another University of Southern California and met Zhao Yang and the others in a circle of Chinese international students.

Zhao Yang asked curiously, "Peng Haoran, your school is so far away, how did you receive an invitation from this company?"

"I didn't receive it." Peng Haoran shook his head.

Zhao Yang chuckled and teased, "You came even though you didn't receive it? Is it really worth it for a meal? Your transportation costs alone could cover the cost of the meal!"

"Hey, you think I'm here to freeload? I've been on the bus for two hours already."

Peng Haoran said, "I came here after seeing the news on a Chinese community forum. I heard that companies from our country are investing in Silicon Valley companies. This is a great thing that makes our people proud, so I had to come and see."

talking.

He gestured with his eyes, pointing to a group of people in the front row, and said excitedly.

"You might not know, but Steve Jobs from Apple is here too... and over there, the founder of PayPal is here as well. Damn, so many big names in the tech world are here. I'm going to ask them for a photo later."

"Tsk tsk... Delong Group is really amazing, hiring so many celebrities."

Zhao Yang and his companion didn't know much about the tech industry, but they were aware of Steve Jobs's immense fame.

Hearing that these two people were also there, I was quite surprised.

Liu Xiaorui also had a mirrorless camera in her bag: "I'll take some pictures of you later, and you take a couple of pictures of me too. When I get back to my dorm, I'm going to post them on a Chinese forum—they'll be so envious!"

This banquet was a Western-style buffet dinner, mainly featuring cold dishes.

It started at 7 p.m.

It started as a band performance, with soothing and elegant music that suited the gentlemanly atmosphere of a Western banquet, a sentiment shared by many international students.

Who knew that after a few songs...

An artist dressed in theatrical robes and with a ghost face painted on walked onto the stage, followed by the sound of gongs and drums.

Accompanied by the rhythmic beat of drums, a spectacular Sichuan opera face-changing performance unfolds.

"What the hell!?"

"Wow, what is that?"

"That's amazing."

"An Asian sorcerer?"

"No, sir, this is the art of our Chinese nation..."

The foreigners around them were whispering among themselves, and some international students were taking the opportunity to explain things to them.

The children were also shocked.

They had no idea that in this foreign land, there would be an unexpected performance of Sichuan opera face-changing.

Many international students brought cameras.

At that moment, they all turned on their cameras and quietly began to record, a sense of pride welling up in their hearts.

However, in addition to the Sichuan Opera performance, there were even performances of kicking bowls on stilts and dancing with snakes.

Well... the performer for the last program was Wang Pengfei.

It has to be said that Qin Hanyang really admired Wang Pengfei's abilities.

The props for the latter, as well as the actors for Sichuan opera face-changing and high cart kicking bowls, were all found by him from Chinatown.

Wang Pengfei was particularly pleased with the enthusiastic cheers from the foreigners.

This performance certainly gave him a chance to shine.

Although these performances are just old-fashioned street tricks in China, they are already incredibly tacky to international students.

But where have foreigners ever seen these things before?

I was completely stunned!

It's worth noting that in later NBA opening shows, a Chinese woman who could kick a bowl on a tall cart was specially invited to perform, and the foreigners were incredibly excited to watch.

These three performances elevated the atmosphere of the banquet to a new level.

Musk then took over, walked to the center of the venue, and officially began today's topic.

He started with a joke.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what did you all think of that magic trick from China?"

"Very good!"

"Wow~ That's amazing!"

The foreigners provided a lot of emotional value, and some even clamored for more performances.

The performers who had just come off stage listened with great enthusiasm.

Seeing everyone's admiration, Musk smiled and said:

"My friend told me that in China, they don't say 'good,' they say 'New B.'"

"Awesome!"

Musk's pronunciation wasn't very accurate, and one of the yuko loudly corrected him.