ABT Chapter 74: Socializing with Drinks
The speeches at the banquet continued, reflecting the prevalent custom in China where in public gatherings, everyone wanted to appear comprehensive. It provided leaders and important attendees with opportunities to be seen, regardless of the usefulness of their remarks. It was all about maintaining appearances.
Lifan Yufu didn't enjoy listening to unproductive speeches. Back in school, he had no choice. Whatever the school leaders said, he had to listen, as they were in charge. But in this situation, he didn't have so many concerns. Taking advantage of the crowd in front of him, he didn't hesitate to indulge in the buffet.
The Mogu Building truly lived up to its four-star rating. Even for this kind of buffet-style event, the arrangements were impeccable. On the long tables, there were various cold cuts, fruits, desserts, and neatly arranged meat dishes served on large platters, far superior in appearance, aroma, and taste compared to the cafeteria at school.
Just as he was enjoying himself, someone poked him from behind with a finger.
He turned around quickly and saw a curvaceous beauty standing behind him, whom he hadn't noticed earlier.
An Ning pretended to be angry and glared at him, whispering, "Are you really that hungry?"
Lifan Yufu hurriedly put down his plate and scratched the back of his head with a silly grin. After a moment of embarrassment, he realized, "Ning, aren't you the vice president of the association? Why didn't you go up on stage to speak?"
"It's not time yet. The opening is reserved for the leaders. And, don't you know that the heavyweights always come last?" An Ning reached out and tapped his nose.
At this moment, the banquet was finally announced to begin. The crowd burst into applause, and everyone gathered into groups at the tables.
When Cheng Ke turned around, she saw Lifan Yufu chatting animatedly with a woman in a moon-white cheongsam, with her hair tied up, and a voluptuous figure. Seeing this scene, she couldn't help feeling a bit sour.
The three academic elites also noticed Lifan Yufu and An Ning, but seeing Cheng Ke's somewhat unnatural expression, they quickly reacted.
Liu Qing coughed lightly and walked over. "Fange, who is this?"
Lifan Yufu saw him coming over and immediately introduced, "Come on, let me introduce you guys. An Ning, the technical director of Mercedes-Benz China. The data we used for the conceptualization of Smart last time was provided by An."
The four suddenly realized. When Cheng Ke heard Lifan Yufu's introduction, her face immediately brightened up, and she walked over enthusiastically, warmly grabbing An Ning's hand.
"An Ning, thank you so much for last time. Those data were really valuable, and we studied them for a long time."
This was An Ning's first time seeing all the members of the five-person group that had won awards in Germany. Looking at the innocent and lovely girl in front of her, she held Cheng Ke's hand back and praised her for a few words.
After noticing the silver accessories on Cheng Ke's head, she glanced at Lifan Yufu's tie clip and smiled at him with a teasing look.
She had been looking for Lifan Yufu and the others for a while now, because with the policy announced on the Asian Economic Forum being enough to invigorate the entire automotive industry, the Chinese automotive industry had been in a state of upheaval recently. Manufacturers of all sizes were starting to get excited and were preparing to make a big splash.
As someone responsible for discovering and nurturing talent in the association, An Ning naturally wanted to take advantage of this trend to "promote" rising stars in the automotive design field like the five-person group.
She called over a nearby waiter, had the five of them take champagne, and began to mingle in the venue.
"This is Mr. Hao Sichuan, the general manager of the Ruiqi Group's R&D department. Mr. Hao, this is the Tiancheng University design team that recently won awards at the German Automotive Design Competition..."
"Hello, Mr. Hao..."
"Nice to meet you..."
"This is Mr. Kang Tongcheng, the operations director of the Guangqi Group. Director Kang, this is..."
Under this process, the three academic elites and Cheng Ke were all baffled, waving their hands to indicate that they couldn't keep up, and retreated to the side to rest.
After going around for a while, apart from feeling the rumbling in his stomach, Lifan Yufu felt like his face was wooden from smiling so much. But seeing An Ning beside him with only a slight flush on her face, he could only sigh inwardly about how enigmatic this woman was...
After making the rounds at about seven or eight tables, from champagne to beer, encountering a few scoundrels who insisted on drinking white wine with her, she accepted all comers.
Roughly estimating, she had drunk at least a liter and a half of everything combined—truly a god of alcohol!
Putting down the empty champagne glass on the table, Lifan Yufu complained to An Ning with a burp, "Anjie, what's the point of making this circuit?"
An Ning also rubbed her face slightly and said, "Even a nodding acquaintance counts as a relationship. When it comes time to really deal with each other, it's better than being complete strangers."
Although they had only met twice, Lifan Yufu's impression of her was that she was an intellectual and independent woman. He hadn't expected An Ning, fresh from Germany, to be so conventional in social situations, which disappointed him a little.
Lifan Yufu didn't believe in networking; what was networking? It was nothing more than connections built on interests. Networking built on favors and pleasantries was worthless.
But he couldn't say anything about An Ning's well-intentioned actions. So, he grabbed An Ning, who was still going to greet others, and changed the subject, saying, "Anjie, how do you know so many people? All sorts of them, remember them all, it's a waste of brainpower."
An Ning's smile faltered for a moment, and her eyes dimmed imperceptibly, but then she retorted back to Lifan Yufu with a playful punch.
"You rascal! I'm wearing high heels, and I'm not complaining about tiredness because of you. And yet, you're teasing me with your words."
Lifan Yufu quickly waved his hands, "No, I didn't mean it that way. I have to acknowledge your kindness, Anjie! But you see, we're in the industry, not politics. If I really had the ability, they would be rushing to curry favor with me. If I didn't, even if I groveled, they wouldn't give me the time of day."
An Ning's smile faded, and her eyes finally revealed an undisguised sadness.
She fell silent for a moment before saying, "Youth is indeed good. I was drawn to your spirit. Little brother, do you know? When I first returned from Germany, I found my first job at the Beiqi Group."
Lifan Yufu knew she had something to say, so he waited quietly for her to continue.
An Ning straightened out her slightly disheveled hair due to frequent toasts and said, "However, the working environment in China was completely different from what I had imagined. Let me tell you a secret, I have an amazing alcohol tolerance. At that time, there were two very mysterious associations within Beiqi, the Bai Association and the Pi Association. If you wanted to get work done, you had to get the support of one of these organizations. So, I easily downed three pounds of white liquor and ten bottles of beer."
Looking at her slightly flushed cheeks, Lifan Yufu touched his own burning face and nodded heavily, "I've already discovered this secret, and I believe what you said!"
Because of the alcohol, An Ning's gaze was a bit unfocused. She smirked self-deprecatingly and continued, "It's ridiculous, but this turned out to be the biggest skill I learned at Beiqi. Later, Beiqi collaborated with Mercedes-Benz, and I realized I couldn't go on like this. If I continued, all my dreams and passions would be worn away. So, I applied to be an intern at Mercedes-Benz China, and that's how I gradually moved up. In these past two years, watching the country develop step by step, I really wanted to do something for this industry. So, I accepted the association's invitation and became the vice president. But... when I finally picked up my dreams and passions to do something, I found that the industry was still the same as before, and nothing had changed. No one supported me, there was no capital, and I still couldn't accomplish anything."
She wiped her face with her delicate, fair hands, then suddenly raised her head, tears shimmering in her eyes. "Brother, I resigned from my job last week."
Lifan Yufu dropped the wet tissue he had taken out of his pocket onto the table with a loud thud, surprised. "What! Are you crazy?"
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