Offside game

Ji Bonian's cocktail party was held at his villa in Tianlai Garden in the city. When Su Yi arrived with the elegantly dressed Mo Yuqing, the party had just begun.

Today, Mo Yuqing wore a black evening gown that accentuated her voluptuous figure. Her fair skin was smooth and delicate against the gown, and her elegant posture, combined with her noble temperament, attracted everyone's attention as soon as she appeared.

It was just a small cocktail party with few guests. To Su Yi's surprise, he ran into several acquaintances, including Zhang Mingyu, the chairman of Donglong Investment Company, whom he had met briefly at the Peking University ball. The pretty woman arm-in-arm with him was Luo Ning, the former president of the Peking University Finance and Economics Society who had sold the Mingcheng Community to Su Yi. Judging from their intimate behavior, it seemed Zhang Mingyu had finally won the heart of his beauty. An Jing had once told Su Yi that their society's vice-president, Zhang Mingyu, seemed to have been pursuing Luo Ning. Now, Luo Ning had resigned from her position as president of the Finance and Economics Society; whether it was to focus on the company or because she had found a lover, no one else knew.

Both of them saw Su Yi stepping into the hall at the same time. Luo Ning whispered something in Zhang Mingyu's ear, and then they walked straight towards Su Yi together.

"Su Yi, long time no see! You seem even more handsome now." The first to greet Su Yi was Luo Ning. She was standing next to Zhang Mingyu, looking like a little bird clinging to him, a far cry from the strong woman she had been when they first met.

"It's been a long time. Sister Luo, you're still as beautiful as ever. Aren't you going to introduce your boyfriend?" Su Yi led Mo Yuqing to Luo Ning and the others. Although he had met Zhang Mingyu before, this was the first time the two of them had met, so he asked.

"You see, my boyfriend, Zhang Mingyu. He's always been curious about you, always wanting to meet you, the one we online game companies envy to death," Luo Ning said half-jokingly, though the resentment in her words was undeniable. It's no wonder she was upset. After selling the Mingcheng community to Su Yi, Lechang Mingcheng gradually became the fourth largest portal in China. Now, with Lechang's internationalization strategy, Lechang Mingcheng has become China's only international internet portal. Such achievements naturally made Luo Ning, the founder of Mingcheng community, feel quite disappointed. Moreover, Lechang Network resolutely entered the online game market, and its subsequent releases of "Evolution" and the recent "Mechanical" have performed exceptionally well, making it the only global operator. Currently, Lechang Network holds a 40% share of the global online game market, a formidable obstacle for other domestic online game companies. All of this combined naturally led to Luo Ning's resentment. However, it was just resentment, a petty woman's desire to argue, and this thought didn't change because of Su Yi's title as China's richest man.

While speaking to Luo Ning, Zhang Mingyu gave Su Yi a helpless smile that was easily understood by men, and said, "Mr. Su, hello. I've heard so much about you. I'm Zhang Mingyu from Donglong Investment." As he spoke, he extended his hand to Su Yi.

After the two shook hands, Su Yi said, "Only a man of Mr. Zhang's stature is worthy of Sister Luo."

"Hmph, even if you praise me, I won't let you off the hook. Who told you to be so good at both online games and mobile games, making me a laughingstock for Mingyu? My reputation is ruined!" Luo Ning seized the opportunity to tease Su Yi again. Zhang Mingyu, standing beside her, secretly gave Su Yi a slightly apologetic look. This made Su Yi think to himself that even if Zhang Mingyu finally won over such a strong-willed girl, he wouldn't be able to relax. Su Yi returned his smile with understanding. But love, well, it's often a matter of mutual consent.

"Sister Mo, you're here too. I heard you were also dragged into doing hard labor by that brat Su Yi. What an awful guy." Luo Ning already knew Mo Yuqing, and she held her hand as she spoke.

Hearing her say that, Mo Yuqing also defended Su Yi: "No way, Ningning, it was my sister who insisted on going to the foundation to help."

The two women were delighted to meet. Luo Ning chatted with Mo Yuqing about women's topics, while Su Yi and Zhang Mingyu exchanged wry smiles and chatted casually. Su Yi then learned that Zhang Mingyu had graduated from school and, besides managing his own investment company, had also taken on considerable responsibilities at his father's company. Su Yi also saw Zhang Mingyu's father, Zhang Guojing of Yanjing Pengcheng Real Estate, inside, talking and laughing with Ji Bonian.

While Su Yi was chatting with Zhang Mingyu, a couple entering the hall surprised him. A young man with glasses and a refined appearance walked into the party with a graceful and mature woman beside him. The refined-looking young man in his mid-twenties was none other than Hou Tao, whom Su Yi had met once before at the Tokyo Game Show in Japan.

Hou Tao also turned his gaze to Su Yi, and walked to his side with the beautiful woman beside him: "Brother Su, we meet again." Hou Tao took the initiative to introduce the woman beside him to Su Yi: "This is my friend, Ms. Xu Ruyun, General Manager of ICC Greater China. Ruyun, this is Su Yi, the chairman of Dream International whom I mentioned to you. Brother Su is already the richest man in China at such a young age."

Only then did Su Yi realize that the elegant and beautiful woman beside Hou Tao was actually the General Manager of ICC Greater China, one of the world's leading investment banks. Su Yi exchanged greetings with her, secretly having already found some information about her. According to the information he had gathered, she was an extremely capable woman who had risen to her current position entirely through her own abilities. ICC's investments throughout Asia were heavily influenced by this woman, making her a highly influential figure in the Asian investment industry.

"So you all already know each other." Zhang Guojing's voice rang out at the right moment. He had already walked over to the group with Zhang Guojing and introduced him to them. Actually, no introduction was needed. This one of the giants of Beijing's real estate industry, even if they didn't know him before, they had all seen his photo in financial magazines more than once.

After exchanging greetings, Ji Bonian said, "Now that we're all here, Vice Mayor Zhao will be here soon. Let's take this opportunity to talk about the project."

The group had already figured out the main purpose of their visit. At that moment, Ji Bonian, Zhang Guojing, Su Yi, and Hou Tao entered the small reception room and began to discuss their cooperation on the science and technology city project.

Su Yi finally understood that, besides Ji Bonian's Tianyi Group and Zhang Guojing's Pengcheng Real Estate, the other parties involved were Su Yi and Hou Tao, who was sitting quietly beside him.

After returning to Yanjing, Su Yi researched Hou Tao and learned that besides working at the world-renowned investment bank ICC, his Dongxing Group also held a majority stake in the Free Man Internet Cafe chain. Furthermore, he possessed a proprietary environmental technology: a vehicle exhaust purifier. This purifier had already obtained approval from the governments of major cities like Yanjing and Haidu to make it mandatory for vehicles. They were currently promoting the product to other parts of the country. Because this purifier was Dongxing's exclusive technology, the group had also achieved great success in its international promotion, particularly in Japan and Russia. Therefore, Hou Tao's Dongxing Group currently had ample funds. It seemed he was now interested in the Science and Technology City project and was preparing to participate.

In the development of the Science and Technology City project, Tianyi Group and Pengcheng Real Estate will be primarily responsible for construction, while Dream International and Dongxing Group will provide financial support. Additionally, as an important component of the Science and Technology City project, it will include a high-tech incubator park to be established by Su Yi and an environmental technology R&D center of Dongxing Group. Furthermore, Hou Tao can leverage his personal connections to seek ICC Company as a partner to invest in potential new companies or projects within the Science and Technology City.

After the four finalized their cooperation agreement for the Science and Technology City, Zhao Rui, the vice mayor of Yanjing Municipal Government, arrived at the reception with his secretary. Upon seeing the current team, he also expressed his approval of the project. With four powerful companies—Tianyi Group, Pengcheng Real Estate, Dream International, and Dongxing Group—backing it, the Science and Technology City project, with a total investment exceeding 200 billion yuan, is considered highly feasible. As a major project that can significantly boost Yanjing's economic vitality and alleviate environmental and population pressures in the city center, it is something the government welcomes.

However, projects of this scale inevitably involve the distribution of interests from various parties. As a powerful real estate group, Tianyi Group could certainly complete the project independently through loans, but that would significantly increase the pressure and introduce many unpredictable variables. By binding these four groups together, their combined strength would be impervious to any criticism. As seasoned real estate companies, Tianyi Group and Pengcheng Real Estate each have vast networks of connections, and Hou Tao, the local tycoon known as the "Prince of Dongxing," wields immense power. Although the involvement of Dream International seems primarily to enhance the project's technological appeal, as one of the largest IT companies in China, with subsidiaries spanning various emerging IT sectors, its influence is also considerable.

At the reception, Vice Mayor Zhao Rui listened to the four groups' general outline of the science and technology city project but did not make any specific comments. Judging from his expression, he seemed to agree with their plans. The government's final decision would have to wait until they submitted detailed development plans to the government for verification.