Xue Chen's curse had just left his lips when Yun Cheng, who had been standing silently behind Liu Yutong, having barely spoken the entire time, walked over to him, raised his hand, and slapped him hard across the face.
The force behind that slap was explosive; Xue Chen, chair and all, was sent flying.
This sudden turn of events gave everyone else present a huge fright.
Zhou Muchen and the others were both shocked and furious—shocked by the cold, stern young man's strength, and furious that the other party had acted without hesitation, showing them no regard at all.
In this province, this woman before them was the first to dare be so arrogant in front of them.
"Liu Yutong, what is the meaning of this? Do you truly intend to tear up all pretense of cordiality?!" Zhou Muchen roared angrily.
"Mr. Zhou, calm down," Liu Yutong said with a composed expression. "Yun Cheng was merely teaching a lesson to someone who doesn't understand decorum and spews filthy language. How does that constitute tearing up cordiality?"
"Does Mr. Zhou perhaps believe that I, Liu Yutong, am someone anyone can insult, and I should still greet them with a smile?"
"If it were members of the Yunshan Society who dared to offend you so brazenly outside, Mr. Zhou, would you merely issue a verbal warning?"
Zhou Muchen was momentarily left speechless by her questions.
If someone really dared to curse at him, he'd probably retaliate even more harshly.
He just found it somewhat unacceptable that this group could be so audacious. In this province, Liu Yutong and her people were absolutely the first to show them not an ounce of face.
Liu Yutong continued, "I am a person who judges matters, not people. Xue Chen offended me, and my subordinate meted out punishment. That is perfectly reasonable. This has nothing to do with the Yunshan Society, and I have no intention of making enemies of Mr. Zhou, Mr. Lu, or Ms. Zhu."
Hearing her say this made Zhou Muchen feel slightly better.
Finally, he took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed his rage.
A little impatience spoils great plans.
For the sake of a good-for-nothing like Xue Chen, to completely break with Liu Yutong and her group now would be utterly unwise.
After all, the vast majority of people in this room were on her side; their few people wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between their teeth.
Originally, Zhou Muchen and the others had dared to come to the meeting without bringing their own men because they were certain Liu Yutong wouldn't dare lay a hand on them.
Not just Liu Yutong—anyone who knew their identities would treat them with respect, no matter how many people they had.
They just hadn't anticipated that Liu Yutong wasn't the type to swallow an insult, or rather, had no intention of swallowing any insult, even when facing second-generation elites like them.
This temperament could also be called formidable.
"Miss Liu, what skillful methods! Today we have indeed learned a lesson!" Zhou Muchen said through gritted teeth. "Since you want to make a bet, I'll accept. If we kick Xue Chen out of the Yunshan Society within three days, then you win. I can promise you that henceforth we'll stay out of each other's way."
"But if we don't kick him out..."
Liu Yutong said, "You just want Wanhui Youxuan, don't you? If I lose, I can give you the remaining shares for free. However, in that case, your stake in the bet seems rather lacking in sincerity, doesn't it?"
These guys provoked her and her Wanlong Society first, and now they think they can use a mere promise of non-interference as their betting stake, paying no price at all? They're thinking too wishfully.
"What do you want then?" Zhou Muchen asked grimly.
Liu Yutong smiled slightly. "You don't really have anything I want, so let's make it money. If you lose, cough up one hundred million. You all don't seem short on cash; this amount should be a drop in the bucket for you, shouldn't it?"
Zhou Muchen couldn't miss the veiled sarcasm in her words.
She was mocking them for their earlier wishful thinking, or perhaps calling them paupers for trying to buy Wanhui Youxuan shares with just twenty million.
But to be honest, they weren't exactly rolling in money.
This "rolling in money" is relative; it depends on who you compare them to.
The three of them currently controlled funds totaling around four hundred million, with Zhu Silin having the most liquid capital at her disposal.
Zhu Silin's father's family background was similar to Zhou Muchen's and Lu Hong's, but her mother was involved in transnational business and was extremely wealthy.
The startup capital for her ventures all came from her mother.
Also, they hadn't been involved in business for very long, given their age—they were all around twenty-four or twenty-five, having just graduated from university not long ago.
Moreover, according to their thinking, they definitely still wanted to earn "clean money."
You could also say they currently had a somewhat delusional confidence in their own abilities.
At that moment, Zhu Silin, who had been restless, spoke up again: "Miss Liu, I accept your condition."
"However, I'd like to add another stake to the bet."
Liu Yutong looked at her with interest. "Ms. Zhu, what stake would you like to add?"
Zhu Silin said, "I just think betting on whether we kick Xue Chen out of the Yunshan Society is rather boring. It's impossible we couldn't even wait three days; we're bound to win. I'm actually more interested in what you mentioned earlier. Earlier you said you thought Lehman Brothers would go bankrupt. Based on my experience in overseas investments and the information I know, that's simply impossible. You don't understand Lehman's scale or the magnitude of the impact its bankruptcy would have."
"How about we add another wager? Just between you and me. If in three days, you win, I, Zhu Silin, will steer clear of you from then on, convinced and outmatched. I can even promise to do one thing for you that doesn't violate my principles."
"If you lose, then it proves you were just lucky. I want you to publicly admit that, in terms of vision and boldness, you are inferior to me, Zhu Silin! Furthermore, in the future, that Mingzhu Capital you're setting up with those wealthy individuals from Mingzhu City must have me as the lead."
"Agreed," Liu Yutong agreed without hesitation.
Then she looked at Zhou Muchen and Lu Hong. "Mr. Zhou, Mr. Lu, would you like to add stakes as well?"
"If I recall correctly, there are one or two other wealthy individuals in your Yunshan Society. How about losing means pooling an extra few hundred million in funds for me? I can put up the supermarket business under my Wanlong Society Group as additional stake."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Muchen and Lu Hong both hesitated. Originally, they thought Zhu Silin was being somewhat rash by proactively adding to the bet.
However, Zhu Silin had the foundation to add stakes with Liu Yutong, after all—her mother was a billionaire worth several billion.
They didn't. Their families currently only had the two of them deciding to go into business. They had worked hard to gather that bit of capital over the past few years; how could they bear to bet it all?
Moreover, it wouldn't be appropriate for them to presumptuously agree to stakes on behalf of those other top-tier second-generation heirs.
But now that Liu Yutong had said this, they couldn't back down either, or else it would mean they were afraid of her.
"Let me make a call first."
With that, Zhou Muchen stood up, walked to the window of the private room, turned his back to the group, and made a call.
A moment later.
He hung up, came back to stand before Liu Yutong, and said word by word, "We accept this bet. Add another five hundred million!"
Although Zhou Muchen didn't know why Liu Yutong was so confident, or perhaps so insane, as to dare bet on what seemed like a sure-loss wager.
Never mind that they had no intention of kicking Xue Chen out of the Yunshan Society; even if they did intend to, would they really be so impatient they couldn't wait three days before kicking him out?
In short, the advantage was on their side; Liu Yutong was bound to lose!
