The restaurant wasn’t in a mall, and there were plenty of designated drivers nearby. Lu Ming ran right over, called three of them, and had them drive the cars toward the Wanhao.
In the car.
Lin Chu casually glanced at his phone.
The golf club mber group he had just joined that afternoon was buzzing with activity.
The group had fewer than a hundred people—eighty-four, to be exact. A quick calculation showed that just from these mbers alone, the annual fees amounted to two hundred million.
There were dozens of unread ssages.
The vibe, however, was completely different from his previous group chats.
"@President Jiang, congratulations! I saw the news. Your company’s going for an IPO! You sure kept a tight lip on that. We were just playing golf together the other day, and you didn’t let a single thing slip. Impressive. You have the calm of soone handling big things."
"Hahaha, company policy, company policy, please understand. To all the bosses here, my company currently has internal shares available for subscription, but they co with a one-year lock-up period after the IPO. All investors are welco to inquire. Feel free to DM anyti."
"The overseas market is still a good place to make money. Congratulations, congratulations."
"Xiaojiang, not bad at all. It’s only been a little over six years, and you’re already going public... Keep up the good work."
The group chatted about this topic for a while.
Lin Chu was starting to get the picture. This "President Jiang" was about to take his company public, and people from all sides were congratulating him. His position in the group seed to be middle-tier—so were flattering him, while others were offering encouragent.
Tsk, tsk.
’Circles really are different.’
In his old group, Thief Cao’s Group, there would be hundreds of ssages a day. It was always lively, with so guys even giving a text-based live play-by-play of them picking up girls.
Now...
’Damn it, IPOs!’
In fact, this was the very reason he wanted to get an MBA.
At that mont, Lin Chu ntally ranked the quality—the "net worth," so to speak—of the circles he could potentially access. From lowest to highest, it would be: his current circle of friends, the MBA circle, and the golf club circle.
’In a group like this, I can only be a nobody for now.’
Below the discussion about President Jiang was another topic.
"@everyone, my daughter will be getting married on the nineteenth of next month. The venue is set at the Mission Hills Hotel. I hope all my dear friends, relatives, and fellow golfers will honor us with their presence and join us for a celebratory drink. I’ve been recuperating for the past two years and haven’t played much golf. But I’m feeling better recently, and I hope we can continue our friendships on the green."
"Congratulations, President Qian, on gaining a fine son-in-law. I will definitely be there."
"President Qian, health is the top priority. Have you been feeling better lately? Please take care of yourself."
"Old Qian, you’re finally getting ready to be a grandfather! Your son-in-law is outstanding, one of the best of the younger generation."
Lin Chu’s interest was piqued as he read this.
He couldn’t really get involved in the previous topic.
But for this one, when the day ca, there was no problem with him showing up to snag a free al.
’I wonder just how beautiful Old Qian’s daughter is?’
"Congratulations, congratulations. I’m a new mber who just joined and imdiately saw such happy news. How lucky. I hope so of the good fortune rubs off on ."
Lin Chu had been in sales. He knew how to be the big boss, but he could also lie low and act humble when needed. That was the law of the jungle—in the end, strength was all that mattered.
When he first entered Liu Junfeng and Li Kai’s circle, he didn’t have his current status either. But as ti went on, he beca the leader.
"Welco, @Lin Chu. President Lin, you look very young in your profile picture. What industry are you in?"
Soone who hadn’t spoken up before chid in.
This guy, judging by his profile picture, was also quite young. It was a photo of him in the pilot’s seat of a helicopter, wearing sunglasses.
’Flashy.’
This kind of group had old, middle-aged, and young mbers. The ones at the top were probably the "middle-aged and elderly," but there were young people too. They usually couldn’t get a word in, but when an opportunity arose, they would still try to make their presence known.
For instance, now that Lin Chu had spoken, this "helicopter guy" seized the chance to ask a question.
Lin Chu: "I’m in the cultural industry. I hope everyone will look out for in the future."
’Intangible cultural heritage counts as the cultural industry, right?’
’Financial sales doesn’t really count as finance. Damn it, if soone who really knew their stuff asked a casual question and I slipped up, it would be a huge embarrassnt.’
Just then, the group admin sent a ssage: "@Mr. Lin Chu is currently our youngest mber at 24 years old. He’s so fresh blood, but he’s already incredibly accomplished for his age."
Lin Chu had bought five mberships here, paying 13 million in a single transaction. That earned him at least this much face.
Welcoming new mbers was also a custom in the group.
Still, Lin Chu was pleasantly surprised.
’The group admin is a god-tier wingman!’
Once the admin spoke, others chid in.
"Haha, it’s good to have young people, it’s good. The future belongs to you all."
"Aweso 👍👍"
"Welco, welco! So young. When I was your age, I didn’t even know what golf was."
Everyone maintained a friendly atmosphere.
At least, it was friendly on the surface.
Most of them here were probably businessn, if not all of them. A harmonious atmosphere brings wealth, after all.
’In a public group like this, there wouldn’t be any "sensitive" individuals anyway.’
So, Lin Chu exchanged pleasantries with them.
Suddenly, he saw a friend request. It ca through the group, and a glance showed it was from the "helicopter guy." Lin Chu accepted it.
"President Lin, great to have you. The group finally has soone my age. I’ve been listening to a bunch of old guys drone on and on every day. I haven’t even dared to use a single emoji sticker."
Lin Chu couldn’t help but chuckle at the ssage.
’Seems like a lively one?’
"🤝🤝 How should I address you, brother?"
"My surna is Hou, Hou Chengjin. I’m 27, and I run an MCN agency."
Lin Chu: "..."
’Well, I guess we’re more or less in the sa line of work.’
’A young person who could afford to start playing golf at this age... Indeed, the live-streaming industry is full of miracles.’
’It’s a wealth-creation gold rush, after all.’
"Impressive, impressive. Which company is it? Do you have any famous influencers? I watch live streams often, I’ll drop by and show so support."
Lin Chu thought for a mont before replying.
Hou Chengjin: "Sure, a few A-listers, a few dozen B-listers, but no S-listers. I’ll thank you on behalf of my little ones first. When you have ti, you’re welco to co to my company for tea."
Lin Chu: "Alright, no problem. We’ll set sothing up later. I’ve got things to do today, I’m in the car right now."
"Okay, okay, you go ahead. I’ll take off too."
Lin Chu mulled it over. Getting to know this person was an unexpected gain. There might actually be a possibility for collaboration in the future.
A few A-listers wasn’t a huge deal in Peng City, but it was still decent.
...
While Lin Chu was chatting, Jin Jiaying sat beside him, looking quiet and well-behaved.
Her mind, however, was racing with all sorts of thoughts.
From the corner of her eye, she could vaguely see Lin Chu chatting in the golf group, but she was afraid of being noticed and didn’t dare to look too closely.
It wasn’t until Lin Chu finished replying, looked up, lowered the car window, and lit a cigarette.
Only then did she turn to look at him, a gentle smile on her face.
"Hey, let ask you sothing. How many people in this mber group do you know?"
An idea suddenly occurred to Lin Chu. He opened the group mber list and showed her his phone screen.
She glanced at it, her eyes brightening slightly as she said in a soft voice, "I know almost all of these clients. The company gave us special training, requiring every one of us to be able to na every charter diamond mber and have a general understanding of their personalities and preferences."
"If there’s anyone you want to know about, I can tell you. And if I don’t know, I can help you ask my colleagues."
"Of course, we definitely wouldn’t know the more sensitive information, but general things are no problem."
She was smart.
She suddenly realized her value to President Lin, and a sense of security settled in her heart.
’It’s good to have value.’
’Then I won’t have to worry about being used for free.’
’These big bosses aren’t lacking for beautiful won.’
’Relying on looks alone is definitely not enough.’
...
...
User Comments
0 comments from readers