Chapter 187: Chapter 120: Li Wei, Activate the Face Fruit

The cocktail hour was underway—the social precursor to the formal dinner.

Elizabeth Mellon wasn’t one to pass up an opportunity like this to mingle with the other socialites, whether she knew them or not. Before they parted ways, she pointed out their seats for the dinner—at a round table in the very front row, marked with place cards bearing the names Li Wei and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth had her business to attend to, and Li Wei was no exception.

He spotted several familiar faces.

...

’Calm down, Liu Kai,’ he muttered to himself. ’This is a golden opportunity.’

He stood by the table, his gaze fixed eagerly on Julian, who sat at the head of the table, and the young man beside him.

He recognized Julian. This was a well-known partner in their investment banking division at JPMorgan Chase, a heavy hitter who orchestrated billion-dollar mergers and acquisitions on a regular basis.

And he, Liu Kai, was merely a junior analyst in the TMT group of the investment banking division. He had only just graduated from Stanford University last year, having clawed his way through a sea of competitors to land the job at JPMorgan Chase.

Technically, Julian was his boss’s boss’s boss.

He never would have dreamed that he’d get such a lucky break in his first year with the company. He had been notified at the last minute by the public relations department to attend this high-level dinner. It was purely because of his Asian ethnicity—a token to satisfy JPMorgan Chase’s ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) requirements—that he was able to sit at the same table as Julian.

He came from an ordinary family in the northern part of the Celestial Dynasty. From middle school on, he was always number one in his entire school. He was even his city’s top scorer on the college entrance exams, and was ultimately snatched up by the Tsinghua admissions office before he could consider other options, choosing to major in financial engineering.

At university, he studied relentlessly, determined to change his fate. He eventually beat the fierce competition to receive full scholarship offers from several Ivy League universities in the United States of America, but ultimately chose Stanford University for his graduate studies.

At Tsinghua, he felt that brilliant people were a dime a dozen, but at Stanford, that feeling only intensified.

He got his hands on Modafinil and Adderall from a friend—study drugs popular among American university students—and ultimately graduated with distinction.

After earning his master’s degree, his lucky streak continued. Out of more than 1,000 applicants, he became one of the fortunate top 0.5% to land a position in the TMT group of JPMorgan Chase’s investment banking division, working as an analyst for an annual salary of over 200,000 USD.

And now, less than half a year later, he was sitting at the same table as Julian, a partner in the investment banking division.

He took a deep breath, stood up, and walked toward Julian.

"Mr. Julian, I’m Kevin! I’m in your TMT group, under Mike!" he said in a rush. "I was the one who built the valuation model for the M&A deal last week. I pulled three all-nighters to get the proposal finished, but I’m very..." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Hmm," Julian grunted without even looking up. "The valuation model was very well done, Carl. Now, could you go and check on my martini? What’s taking so long?"

"Mr. Julian," Liu Kai said timidly, "I’m Kevin, not Carl—"

"Whatever, rookie," Julian said, looking up impatiently. "Now, could you please go get me a martini?"

He put a heavy emphasis on the word "please."

Just then, the young man sitting next to Julian let out a laugh. He was dressed in a velvet suit, worn with a casual air, and had one leg crossed over the other.

"Go easy on him, Julian," he said to Julian in French. "The kid looks like he’s about to cry."

"Hey, bookworm," he said to Liu Kai in accented English. "Since your boss is ignoring you, how about you get me a whiskey on the rocks?"

He was twenty-two, standing there like a nobody.

Just as Liu Kai was caught in a dilemma, feeling like a total clown, Li Wei suddenly walked over and inadvertently broke the tension.

Julian, who had been sitting at the head of the table, seemed to shrink at the sight of Li Wei. He pretended not to notice him, abruptly standing up and heading for the restroom. In contrast, the young man who had been mocking Liu Kai brightened up and immediately got to his feet.

"Li Wei!" He greeted Li Wei with a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Just here to check out the scene," Li Wei said jokingly. "Impressive, Sebastian. JPMorgan Chase has enough clout to get its own sponsored table here."

"It’s just about the pecking order. This table cost JPMorgan Chase a 300,000 USD donation to the new mayor’s foundation," Sebastian said. "Raymond told me to do some networking, so I came along with Julian and the others. God, it’s boring. It’s all transgender people, and how are there more Black people here than in Paris?"

"That’s not a very P.C. thing to say. Careful someone doesn’t accuse you of being racist," Li Wei said. "By the way, where’s Julian? I thought he was just here."

"Probably went to get a drink. I don’t know him that well," Sebastian said nonchalantly, his attention fixed on Li Wei. "Anyway, want to go out sometime? I know my way around the Manhattan club scene."

"Maybe in a few days," Li Wei said with a wave of his hand. "I just came over to say hi. Enjoy the rest of your night. By the way, this is..."

His gaze shifted to Liu Kai.

"I’m Kevin Liu," Liu Kai said, introducing himself under the assumption that Li Wei was an American. "I’m an analyst in the TMT group."

Li Wei nodded, his interest in the young man already gone.

"I need to go say hello at another table," Li Wei said, gesturing to a table in the second row. "See you around."