Chapter 1114: Revealed
He casually ordered a pot of tea, and after a while a professional tea artist came in and made tea for Song Yuanchao.
Song Yuanchao sat quietly, appreciating the tea artist's performance. When the tea was ready, Song Yuanchao reached out to take a cup and tasted it, nodding slightly to the tea artist to express his appreciation.
Then, Song Yuanchao stopped the tea artist and put down the teacup to signal the tea artist to leave. The tea artist stood up and left, and when he left, he specially helped them close the door. As the door closed, the sound of stringed instruments outside the corridor was also cut off outside, and the room became quiet for a while.
"This tea is good. Of course, it's not as good as the tea at the old man's place, but it's rare to have a teahouse like this in Shanghai." Hu Yaoqing said this after taking a sip of tea. Song Chaoyuan smiled and said nothing. He took out a cigarette and gestured to Hu Yaoqing. Hu Yaoqing was not polite either. He took a cigarette and lit it with the light that Song Yuanchao brought.
Song Yuanchao also lit a cigarette, smoked and drank tea, and chatted with Hu Yaoqing about all sorts of things.
They haven't seen each other for a long time. It has been almost half a year since they last met.
By the way, Hu Yaoqing and Song Yuanchao can be considered friends. Although they first met through Luo Yang, they became closer later. Especially when they were on Qiong Island, Song Chaoyuan helped Hu Yaoqing a lot . If it weren't for Song Yuanchao's guidance at the time and what happened later, Hu Yaoqing would not have his current family business.
After chatting for a while, they started talking about their respective children. Hu Yaoqing is older than Song Yuanchao, but his children are not as old as Song Yuanchao's.
As a member of the Hu family, Hu Yaoqing was not the eldest son of the family and did not have to shoulder some responsibilities at home, so what he liked most when he was young was playing and trendy things. Song Yuanchao still remembered that Hu Yaoqing was very popular in Yanjing back then. He was well-known in the circle for organizing ladder dances and there were many children from large courtyards who followed him.
However, due to a typhoon, several people who played too hard got into trouble, so Hu Yaoqing stopped.
As he got older, he became less playful and gradually focused his energy on making money. Through the sale of Dashilar that Luo Yang transferred to him, Hu Yaoqing was one of the first to get rich. Moreover, his good family background also helped him in this regard. After a few years, he was able to thrive.
Later, with the help of Song Yuanchao, he got involved in the real estate opening of Qiongdao and made a fortune by taking this opportunity. Before the real estate bubble of Qiongdao burst, Hu Yaoqing left gracefully and met Liu Da through the introduction of Song Yuanchao. His business has been growing bigger and bigger over the years and he has long been worth a lot of money.
As for his family, Hu Yaoqing didn't get married until he was nearly 40. He married a woman of equal social status and had two sons. The eldest son is sixteen years old this year and the youngest just turned fourteen. Both sons are now studying abroad, and his wife is also abroad. Their marriage has been dull after the first few years of passion. As for his private life, he is similar to Liu Cixin and has never lacked young and beautiful girlfriends around him.
Song Yuanchao naturally knew about Hu Yaoqing's situation, but they didn't mention it. They just talked about ordinary family matters and their children's situation. Speaking of children, Hu Yaoqing couldn't help but envy Song Yuanchao's children. He praised Song Yangming and even Song Zijun. He also said that Song Zijun, a girl, could start her own business and it was said that she was doing well in the company. In comparison, his two boys were good for nothing except spending money and having fun.
"Every family has its own problems. I guess this is how my two children will end up. Their mother is not an easy person to deal with. She has no skills but likes to meddle in other people's affairs. She is vain and has nothing in her mind except money and jewelry. Otherwise, I would not have let her go abroad. It would have given me a headache if she had stayed in China. Now there is nothing I can do but turn a blind eye to it." Picking up the teacup in front of him, Hu Yaoqing took a sip of tea and sighed sincerely.
Only Hu Yaoqing himself knew how much of these words were true and how much were false. Song Yuanchao just smiled and did not make any comment.
"By the way, does your Zijun have a boyfriend now?" Hu Yaoqing suddenly asked.
"Haha, I'm not very clear about this. You also know that I never ask about my children's personal issues. Besides, I have been basically in Jinling for the past six months. If Yangming's child hadn't been born this time, I would still be there." Song Chaoyuan replied with a smile.
"You, you, you're not afraid that I will match this girl up with someone else, are you? If my eldest son wasn't several years younger than your Zijun, I might actually have this idea." Hu Yaoqing laughed.
"Even if they are about the same age, you know my Zijun's temper. She has been crazy and like a tomboy since she was a child. That in-law family can tolerate it."
"That's not necessarily true. I think your Zijun is pretty good. So what if she's a tomboy? She has personality and temper. It's reassuring to marry a woman like her. If you really marry a soft-hearted woman, it might not be a good thing." Hu Yaoqing shook his head and retorted. Then he thought for a while and said, "To be honest, if your Zijun really doesn't have a boyfriend, how about I, as an uncle, introduce one to her? Don't worry, her family background and character are absolutely fine, and she's not bad looking. She's only two years older than your Zijun, and she's also studied abroad, so we should have something in common."
Song Yuanchao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He just said that he wouldn't match people up, but now he went back on his word. As for Song Zijun's personal problems, Song Yuanchao really didn't want to interfere. The Song family has always had this tradition, including when Song Yangming and Qin Wenhui were in love. Song Yuanchao and his wife believed that children and grandchildren would have their own blessings, especially when it comes to personal relationships. It's not a good thing for parents to ask too much about it. This kind of thing depends on the individual, and it's inappropriate for the family to interfere. Of course, not interfering doesn't mean not caring about anything. The key lies in a degree. Song Chaoyuan thought so, and Lin Yan thought so too.
As for what Hu Yaoqing said, Song Yuanchao didn't take it seriously, just as a casual chat. And even if Hu Yaoqing really meant it, Song Yuanchao didn't have such an idea. He didn't want his children to be the object of interest exchange. In Song Yuanchao's heart, nothing is more important than the happiness of his children.
Hu Yaoqing was also a smart man. Since Song Yuanchao didn't want to go into details on this topic, he didn't say anything more after mentioning it.
Then the two started talking about other things. After smoking a few cigarettes, Hu Yaoqing finally got to the point.
"I heard that you refused Shi Lei?"
"Brother Hu, you are really well-informed. Were you there when I called Mr. Shi?" Song Yuanchao asked half-jokingly.
Hu Yaoqing laughed. Although Song Yuanchao was joking, the joke was not entirely false. After Shi Lei received Song Yuanchao's call, he called Liu Da immediately. At that time, Hu Yaoqing was with Liu Da, and there was not much time between the two.
"We are old friends, so I'll tell you something." Since he had invited Song Yuanchao to come over for tea, Hu Yaoqing didn't hide some things and spoke immediately.
Song Chaoyuan didn't say anything, he just sat there quietly waiting for Hu Yaoqing to continue.
"Actually, this matter has something to do with me. It was me who suggested to Liu Da that Shi Lei go find you." Hu Yaoqing opened his mouth and stated the facts behind the matter. This statement did not surprise Song Yuanchao because he had already guessed it before he came.
Hu Yaoqing smiled, glanced at Song Yuanchao and continued, "In fact, this matter is not only related to me, but also to you. I decided to let Shenghua come forward to help Shi Lei after careful consideration. There are some things in this that you are not very clear about, but then again, I have no ill intentions in doing this. On the contrary, it is good for you."
"Oh, what's that?" Song Chaoyuan asked back. He guessed that this matter was related to Hu Yaoqing, but Hu Yaoqing said that this matter would benefit him. Could it be that helping Shi Lei would benefit Shenghua? But the problem was that Song Yuanchao knew Hu Yaoqing and Liu Da very well. If it was just about the benefits, why didn't they get the benefits themselves, but instead went to him, Song Yuanchao?
Song Chaoyuan believed that this would never be the case, otherwise why would he go through so much trouble? Moreover, he had just called Shi Lei this morning, and just a few hours later Hu Yaoqing flew to Shanghai and asked him to meet in this teahouse. Perhaps there was something he didn't know.
"I've heard a little about your past with Si Te." Hu Yaoqing suddenly turned the topic from Shi Lei to Si Te's. He picked up the teapot and filled the teacup with tea, then drank slowly. "Si Te's incident caused Shenghua to suffer a lot of losses, right? And the matter ended in a messy way. From what I know about you, I'm afraid you can't let go of this knot in your heart?"
Song Yuanchao frowned immediately. Hu Yaoqing would not suddenly mention the matter of Si Te for no reason. It had been a long time since this matter happened. Moreover, this matter seemed to have been resolved. The other party even proposed compensation conditions later.
But now Hu Yaoqing suddenly brought up the old matter again, which made Song Yuanchao think deeply. Some questions turned around in his mind for a while, and Song Chaoyuan seemed to have figured something out. He asked, "Brother Hu, do you mean that the person from the Lu family is the one behind the capital that acquired Shi Lei's company in the secondary market...?"
Hu Yaoqing nodded heavily: "It's easy to talk to smart people. You will understand it once I mention it. You guessed it right. The Lu family kid is behind this capital."
"It turned out to be him!" Song Yuanchao suddenly realized. No wonder Hu Yaoqing and Da Liu were so kind to introduce Shi Lei's matter to him. After all this fuss, it was the Lu family who was behind this matter.
Although Hu Yaoqing has a complicated background, the old man of the Hu family is already very old, while the one of the Lu family is in the limelight. If Hu Yaoqing directly takes action on this matter, it is equivalent to confronting the Lu family. No matter what the result is, it will offend the other party. For Hu Yaoqing, he does not want to do this. Even if there is benefit, there will be certain risks in doing so.
But Song Yuanchao was different. Although the incident with Si Te seemed to be in the past, in fact, those who knew the inside story knew that it was the Lu family that broke the rules first, otherwise they would not have offered to compensate Song Yuanchao for his losses. And Song Yuanchao's concession at that time was not a complete concession, especially when Song Yuanchao decisively refused the other party's offer of compensation, thus showing his attitude.
To put it in one sentence, this matter is not over yet. Song Yuanchao has remembered this loss, but he has only put it aside temporarily for the sake of other people's face. It does not mean that this matter will really be over.
