The air seemed to quiet down.
Su Ning was preparing to end the banquet. After all, with the help of her "noble benefactors," her goal had been accomplished beyond expectations. A look of weariness appeared on her face. Just as she was about to speak, a woman's voice rang out.
"Wait a moment."
A few people appeared at the entrance, led by two women with warm smiles on their faces.
The crowd stirred in astonishment.
"Why are they here?"
"I don't know, but they must have been here for a while."
"Looking at it, these two are leaning towards Miss Su's side... Oh my, if I had known, I would have spoken up to support Miss Su just now. What do we do now?"
Voices of regret echoed from time to time.
Falling into the ears of Yu Tai nearby, these words were more piercing than needles. He stared at them blankly, his heart churning. Could he really be wrong? Were there really oil fields?
But, but that was simply impossible.
Internationally recognized knowledge echoed in his mind over and over again, cheering himself up. Catching the disapproval on many people's faces from the corner of his eye, he quickly regained his confidence.
Women have long hair but short sight.
It was the same no matter how noble they were.
To actually be deceived by a mere act and a few words, it was truly laughable.
Even so, he did not reveal his inner thoughts... He merely held his head high and puffed out his chest, putting on a righteous expression of fearless composure, sighing and shaking his head as they walked past.
Sure enough, it attracted the attention of the two women.
They took a few extra glances at him.
He felt a surge of joy in his heart.
Now that they had an initial impression of him, once the results were revealed and Su Ning was proven to be an audacious fraud, he would gain both fame and fortune!
Madame Kung: What is this guy doing blocking the way?
Completely clueless.
The two quickly arrived in front of Su Ning. Meeting her for the first time, both were inwardly surprised. She was too young, and her demeanor and aura were truly different from ordinary people—cold and sharp, easily instilling fear. She did not look like a businesswoman.
...
Inside the quiet and secluded reception room.
The noisy sounds of guests leaving the prematurely ended banquet could still vaguely be heard, lingering for a long time. It was simply because no one expected Su Ning to do such a thing.
Directly announcing the end of the banquet.
And starting to "kick out the guests."
The two ladies' impression of her deepened. To be so unafraid of offending people and so brazen, she was either a colossal fool or had a massive backing.
Which one was Su Ning?
"There was some traffic on the road, so we arrived quite late. I hope Miss Su can forgive us."
"You are too polite. Having two distinguished guests here brings light to this humble residence." Su Ning responded with a faint smile. The two sides exchanged a few more pleasantries before Madame Kung finally got to the point.
"I also heard about that bet just now, so I am very curious. Is there really oil in the country?"
Hearing this.
The other, less talkative lady also rested her gaze on Su Ning. Her fingers holding the teacup paused, and she simply set it down to hear how she would answer.
Su Ning restrained her smile.
Her voice also turned indifferent.
"Since you two were also present just now, you must have heard what I said. My attitude has been expressed very clearly. Since that is the case, why say more now? Anyway, after some time, whether it is true or false will naturally be concluded."
These words were truly not very polite.
The two sisters frowned at the same time.
However, oil was absolutely crucial. If it could be successfully extracted, it would not only sweep away international rumors but also bring extremely significant benefits to the government.
And to them... the same applied.
Therefore, it was still Madame Kung who spoke, her attitude actually becoming much warmer.
"Then I will congratulate Miss Su in advance on winning the bet. To tell you the truth, I have long disliked these people. They clearly eat domestic food and drink domestic water, yet they constantly speak up for foreign countries. They are not even as patriotic as Miss Su, who grew up abroad."
"You flatter me."
Su Ning thought to herself.
It seemed that after that "self-defense" earlier, her persona of growing up overseas had deeply taken root in people's hearts. It could be considered temporarily safe from the risk of being exposed, and she could sleep a little more peacefully.
"Although I grew up abroad, everything I was exposed to was domestic culture. My father never forgot his hometown and wanted to revive the reputation of the Su family. He made a lot of preparations for this, but could not return to the country due to various reasons."
The two understood.
Making it big outside and wanting to return home in glory, it was a very normal thing.
The oil field was probably one of those "preparations."
However, revive the family reputation?
If they remembered correctly, the Su family seemed to have made their fortune through eunuchs...
"My condolences, Miss Su. Although it is a pity that Mr. Su did not return to the country, as his child, you are not only letting him return to his roots but also fulfilling his wish. Even though I am far away in Nanjing, I have heard of the reputation of the Peiping Su family."
Although this reputation was not very good.
Well, very bad actually.
Pausing for a moment.
She said:
"And regarding this oil matter, if it is really discovered and extracted, your father will have made a great contribution. Not to mention anything else, the government will definitely reward him. We cannot chill the heart of someone as benevolent and righteous as Mr. Su who wants to repay his motherland."
Hearing this, Su Ning finally smiled.
Nodding:
"If that can really be the case, my father would be at peace knowing this in the netherworld."
And then, then she stopped talking.
???
Madame Kung frowned. What did this mean? She had already hinted at the benefits, so Su Ning should have taken the out and taken the initiative to talk about cooperating to extract the oil.
The next second.
She did wait for it, but it was not what she wanted—
"Oil exploration will still take some time. My business in Nanjing is finished, so I will probably return to Peiping in a few days. There are quite a few things to deal with over there too."
"Today was originally a bit unpleasant, but fortunately, I got to know you two ladies, which makes up for a lot."
Being praised, but feeling unhappy, what to do?
This was the inner thought of Madame Kung and her sister.
How could she just leave!
Originally, their first reaction was that Su Ning was playing hard to get. After probing for a few sentences, they found her attitude cold. Even when talking about the massive investment required for oil production and the issue of sales channels, she remained unmoved.
"The equipment and everything are already prepared. Other investments are nothing much, at most ten million silver dollars. There must be investment to have output. I can still afford this money."
Saying this with superficial calm, Su Ning's heart was actually bleeding.
Now there is an opportunity to spend a huge amount of funds right in front of me.
I really want to cherish it.
But I can only push it away with my own hands. The pain, it is simply heart-wrenching.
If heaven gave her such an opportunity again... she would still do this... This damn Republican era, monopolizing everything without being the one in power leaves only one path to death!
Madame Kung and the others naturally did not know about the blood dripping in Su Ning's heart.
They listened, dumbfounded.
Even with their status and position, they wouldn't dare say they could casually take out ten million silver dollars. Extracting oil from scratch was supposed to be something that could only be achieved with the power of the entire nation!
"As for the sales channels..."
Su Ning frowned.
Although oil products were easy to sell, fighting alone against foreign merchants who had already occupied the domestic market, as well as those compradors with complex relationships, was indeed a rather difficult task.
At least it would be very troublesome in the early and middle stages.
Seeing this, Madame Kung and her sister felt a surge of joy and were just about to speak.
Then they saw her relax her brows.
She said indifferently.
"...If domestic sales don't work, we will export first. Swire Shipping has quite a few channels, and they can offer discounts on transportation fees. It's just perfect."
They actually forgot about this!
