Chapter 697: The Exchange Begins
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Vince glared at Lucas for a long time before looking away. Then he took the initiative to sit on the master seat at the front of the Elite Business Exchange venue.
Lance, the organizer of the exchange, sat at a position below Vince.
The seating order shocked many.
Apart from those families who had secretly joined the Kingstons and knew that the Smiths were attending the Elite Business Exchange, many other attendees were shocked. Not only were they guessing who this mysterious middle-aged man was, but they were also constantly speculating about his intentions.
It was almost 8:30 p.m. At this time, the bigwigs from the dozens of families in California had already taken their seats one after another.
In order to avoid confusion, the seats were arranged according to the city each family belonged to, and families from the same city generally sat together.
The people at the Orange County section were Lucas, the Sawyers, the Hales, the Taylors, and the Wallaces.
As for LA, there were even fewer representatives, with only Damon—the helmsman of the Parkers—his grandson Kenneth, and two other juniors from the Parkers.
Ding…
The moment the clock struck 8:30 p.m., the majestic sound of a bell filled the air in the venue. Everyone immediately stopped whispering and sat upright to look in front.
The Elite Business Exchange officially began!
As the organizer, Lance stood up and said loudly, “h.e.l.lo, everyone. I am Lance Kingston. Thank you all for coming to this Elite Business Exchange!
“I’m sure everyone still has some doubts. After all, according to the previous process, the Exchange should be held in a month, and the organizer should have been the Watsons from San Jose. However, Mr. Watson thought that it would be better for the Kingstons to host it and thus gave me the rights to host the Elite Business Exchange.”
Lance sounded extremely domineering, and his words clarified the doubts about this Elite Business Exchange.
But only a very small number of people accepted this reason. Most people didn’t believe it.
After all, the Elite Business Exchange was held only once every three years, and the opportunity to host it was extremely rare. Moreover, the organizer would usually enjoy great glory and benefits every single time. The Watsons had gone through great pains to finally obtain the hosting rights this time. How could they suddenly feel that the Kingstons were more suitable for hosting it and take the initiative to hand over the hosting rights?
Countless eyes s.h.i.+fted to Reynold, and there was a commotion in the venue.
“I didn’t expect the Watsons to take the initiative to hand over the hosting rights to the Kingstons. That’s such a shame! Since when did they have such a good relations.h.i.+p with the Kingstons?”
“Hah, I don’t believe the reason the Kingstons gave! Anyone in their right mind wouldn’t voluntarily give the hosting rights to someone else!”
“That’s right! From the way I see it, the Kingstons must have wanted the hosting rights. And since the Watsons couldn’t go against the Kingstons, they had no choice but to suck it up!”
“If I were Reynold Watson, I would vomit to death!”
…
Reynold, the center of discussion, was sitting quietly at the San Jose section while gritting his teeth. It was unclear what he was thinking.
Lance didn’t bother to care about what people were thinking. He just had to give an official reason.
“Next, I would like to introduce you to two distinguished guests from DC!” Lance moved his palm to Vince, who was sitting at the master seat. He respectfully introduced, “This is Mr. Vince Smith, the future heir to the Smith family, one of the eight great families of DC. His father is the brother of the current family head!”
Then he pointed to Wendy, who was sitting next to Vince. “She is also a distinguished guest from the Smiths, Mrs. Wendy Smith. Her father is now the head of the Smith family!
“Let’s welcome these two distinguished guests with the warmest applause!”
After speaking extremely enthusiastically, Lance took the lead in applauding.
The other people in the venue looked extremely shocked, but they subconsciously applauded too.
Many people had guessed that the mysterious middle-aged man had an extraordinary ident.i.ty and was likely from one of the big families in DC. But they didn’t expect that he was actually a Smith!
Their ident.i.ties were extremely esteemed!
The eight whales of DC were powerful figures to any wealthy family in California. Seeing a minor figure from these families was already considered a glorious matter, let alone two members from the Smiths’ direct family line.
Wendy was a woman and should have married, so even though she was the daughter of the Smiths’ family head, the shock she caused was still limited.
But Vince’s ident.i.ty was even more impressive. As a promising candidate for the next family head of the Smiths, his sudden appearance at the Elite Business Exchange definitely had a greater meaning.
“Seems like the Elite Business Exchange isn’t going to be peaceful this time. I have a hunch that something big will definitely happen at today’s exchange!”
“Since the helmsman of the Kingstons and the two bigshots from the Smiths are on such good terms with each other, the trinity of the three whales of San Francisco might be completely broken after this exchange! The Walkers and the Coles are probably going to become sacrificial victims!”
“It’s hard to say. We’d better wait and observe!”
…
While the crowd was talking and speculating, many people carefully looked at the expressions of the Coles and the Walkers in hopes of finding some clues.
“However, before the exchange officially begins, I have a personal matter to handle. Please pardon me,” Lance suddenly said and then looked at someone from Orange County.
Many followed Lance’s line of sight and looked over, but they couldn’t tell who he was targetting.
“Bruce Hale, not long ago, you brought a large group of people to the Kingston residence to cause trouble. It seems that you haven’t given the Kingstons an explanation for this matter yet..” Lance narrowed his eyes and stared at Bruce Hale.