Although the words were a bit awkward, they were spoken in Chinese!
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Volume One: The First Signs of Growth, Chapter Forty-Eight: The Combination of Genuine and Counterfeit Items
Part 2. I'm desperately asking for monthly votes today! First update. (Reflection)
David really surprised everyone with this!
Lawrence's enthusiasm for Wei Haihong stunned David, and he didn't react for a long time.
Lawrence ignored everyone else and pulled Wei Haihong into the villa. On the other side, Wei Xiaoqing skipped and hopped, removing the remaining cast from her leg and throwing away her crutches.
Because of her strange movements, the bodyguards were watching her closely and wouldn't let her in. Wei Haifa pointed to his brother.
Lawrence turned to look at Wei Xiaoqing and Zhou Xuan, not understanding what Wei Haihong said. Wei Xiaoqing quickly went up to him and explained it to him.
Lawrence immediately smiled and said, "Oh, so you are Mr. Wei's niece and brother. Please come in!"
Wei Xiaoqing said "Thank you!" and then said to Zhou Xuan, "Go in."
David noticed that everyone else had gone inside except him, and realizing this, he quickly called out to Lawrence, "Mr. Lawrence, I am David. Your butler sent us to repair your painting. My name is David!"
David was so flustered that he started to ramble.
Lawrence paused for a moment before remembering what had happened, and was about to call the bodyguard to let him in.
Wei Haihong said calmly, "Mr. Lawrence, I have a small request."
Wei Xiaoqing turned it over for him, and Lawrence said with a smile, "Of course, no problem, Mr. Wei, please tell me. As long as it's within my power, everything will be fine."
"Hehe, it's a small matter." Wei Haihong chuckled, then pointed at David and said, "I really dislike this person. Let's have a chat. It's really unpleasant to see such an annoying person."
Wei Xiaoqing was taken aback, but she still translated the words to Lawrence verbatim. Lawrence's expression didn't change at all, and he said with a smile, "What's the big deal!" Then he ordered the bodyguards to kick David out of the villa.
David was truly bewildered, never expecting this outcome! From a distance, he called out, "Mr. Lawrence, are you mistaken? I was invited by your butler to paint; you can ask your butler!"
Lawrence frowned, then said to one of his bodyguards, "Go and tell them that they must never have any contact with this person again!"
Seeing that Lawrence was such a good friend, Wei Haihong immediately smiled and walked into the villa with him.
Of course, he also understood that Lawrence simply wanted to cultivate a good relationship with him in order to expand his business into the Chinese market. In business, there's nothing to say about that; even enemies don't have permanent enemies. Besides, they weren't enemies at all.
There were two other people sitting in the hall. One of them met Zhou Xuan's gaze, and both of them were taken aback!
This person is none other than Ito Kinji!
When Ito saw Zhou Xuan, his expression changed slightly, but he didn't say anything, and no one else noticed Zhou Xuan's expression.
Lawrence invited Wei Haihong and the other two to sit down, and then introduced them to the person next to Ito.
"This is Mr. Fujimoto Aya, the deputy general manager of Sumitomo Bank's New York branch."
Fujimoto is probably between thirty and thirty-five years old. He is quite handsome, but his eyes are deep and have an unfathomable quality.
After Wei Xiaoqing introduced F to her uncle, Wei Haihong nodded slightly and did nothing else.
After hearing Lawrence's introduction of Wei Haihong, F, although unsure of Wei Haihong's exact identity, was certain that Wei Haihong's identity was not simple.
Fujimoto was well aware of Lawrence's identity. If it weren't for their shared interest in collecting, Lawrence might not have even given him a second glance. A person's worth is based on their ability and financial resources. Fujimoto's company, Sumitomo Bank, is the core enterprise of the Mitsui Group and the Sumitomo Group, the second largest commercial bank in Japan and one of the world's top ten. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation is the core banking subsidiary of the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group. Ten years ago, the Sumitomo Mitsui Group was undoubtedly the number one commercial conglomerate in Japan, a behemoth. However, at that time, its leader, Yasuo Hamanaka, suffered losses of up to four billion US dollars in copper futures, pushing the Sumitomo Group into the spotlight!
In that era, some may still remember the bombshell collapse of Barings Bank, but the huge losses Sumitomo Group suffered in copper futures were no less significant than the Barings Bank incident. Subsequently, Sumitomo Group's strength was greatly diminished, and then the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and the United Bank of Japan merged to form the new Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, which immediately ended Sumitomo Group's status as Japan's largest conglomerate.
After that, Sumitomo Group declined year by year. In 2003, Sumitomo Group attracted an investment of US$1.25 billion from Goldman Sachs, which gave Goldman Sachs a 7% stake in Sumitomo Group. Sumitomo Group then relied on overseas investment to make up for domestic losses. It made great achievements abroad, but its domestic assets suffered due to its large share in the small business loan market and the increasing number of bankrupt companies in Japan, which led to a sharp increase in bad debts and a decline in profits.
With the decline of its international standing, F naturally doesn't have much influence over financial tycoons like Lawrence.
Wei Haihong has a deep understanding of large domestic and foreign business conglomerates. He is naturally familiar with the Sumitomo Group, but he has always had little contact with Japanese companies, so Fujimoto Tsuyoshi did not know who he was.
However, after Lawrence's introduction, Fujimoto still gave Wei Haihong a brief greeting. Wei Haihong simply nodded.
Ito sat down slightly behind Fujimoto, and from this position, one could easily tell that Ito was just Fujimoto's follower and not particularly noticeable.
Only Zhou Xuan noticed him. Ito's hands were wrapped in gauze, and he placed them under his legs to try to avoid being seen.
Ito Kinji was somewhat afraid of Zhou Xuan, naturally because he was afraid that the Fu family would find out. Fu Ying and her grandfather Fu Tianlai had warned him that if they saw him again, they would make him suffer. When Ci Xuan saw Zhou Xuan, his heart trembled, fearing that Fu Ying would jump out!
Ito glanced over furtively. There were three people in total, including Zhou Xuan. There was a girl among them, who was as pretty as Fu Ying, but she wasn't Fu Ying. Ito was filled with mixed feelings of unease and fear.
Zhou Xuan kept his mouth tightly shut. Having broken up with Fu Ying, he naturally didn't want to bring up this painful matter again. As long as that Japanese devil Ito didn't mention it, he naturally wouldn't either. He figured Ito wouldn't bring it up either, right? Besides, he really hated that Japanese devil.
Lawrence didn't notice them. With so many people around, he wouldn't bother guessing what each of them was thinking. Besides, they were just nobodys, insignificant figures. They weren't worthy of his attention.
With a chuckle and a shrug, Lawrence added, "Mr. Wei, you've come at the perfect time. Mr. Fujimoto had a few antiques that he privately sold to me, and Mr. Wei is also interested in this business. Why don't you take a look at my collection while you're at it? Hehe!"
Lawrence was a passionate collector who always enjoyed showing his collection to close friends, sometimes using the opportunity to discuss business, much like some tea enthusiasts who invite friends over tea or a meal to discuss business. Lawrence, however, used the guise of showing his collection to... (The sentence is incomplete and ends abruptly.)
Of course, sometimes it's just for casual visits, since he is indeed a collector.
Wei Xiaoqing took the opportunity to do the renovation, and the matter of repairing the painting naturally disappeared due to David's expulsion.
Lawrence's collection room is protected by three layers of security: fingerprint recognition, video surveillance, and a password. Outside the villa, there are seven or eight highly skilled armed bodyguards, and in the affluent neighborhood, there's a small, army-like security team. Frankly, under such circumstances, if anyone were to steal anything, it would only be a scene from a movie. In reality, it's rare to encounter someone with such formidable skills.
Ran Xuan was truly amazed by Lawrence's collection!
Of course, he and Wei Xiaoqing were able to come in together thanks to Wei Haihong, while Ito naturally benefited from Fujimoto's good fortune.
In this room, which is about 100 square meters in size, there are no windows. It is a completely sealed room with three layers of stainless steel shelves made of aluminum alloy around the walls. Each layer is filled with antique items.