Chapter 310 The Neutral Wealthy FamilyThe Flourishing Age Building might not have been the tallest building in Huating, but it was definitely the building with the most powerful aura.
The Flourishing Age Building was 470 meters tall. Judging from the height, it was shorter than Huating Central Tower and the World Financial Center and even taller than the Oriental Pearl Tower. The building was designed by several famous designers from home and abroad. It was shaped like an irregular square, but this square could reach up to the sky, looking grand and magnificent.
This was the headquarters of the Flourishing Age Financial Group, where the internationally famous, or infamous, Flourishing Age Fund was set.
Li Tianlan, who had changed his clothes, was sitting quietly inside the chairman’s office on the top floor of the building and watching the middle-aged man in front of him talking on the phone with a serious expression.
He was speaking in English.
Li Tianlan didn’t understand a word.
His heart had completely calmed down and the awkwardness was gone, so he just sighed with emotion.
He didn’t know whether he was sighing with joy or sorrow.
He was torturing himself as well as w.a.n.g Yuetong.
When they let their desires completely run wild, he just randomly opened a car door, but he ended up breaking a car of the Han family.
And that wasn’t the worst part.
The worst part was that the Han family found them in the car before they left the scene after their night of pa.s.sion.
Li Tianlan wasn’t familiar with Han Xinyan.
They had just met each other once before, and it happened three years ago.
But Han Xinyan seemed to have a pretty good relationship with w.a.n.g Yuetong.
The little princess of the w.a.n.g family of Beihai had gone to the hotel on the opposite side to take a shower and rest with Han Xinyan’s help.
And Li Tianlan was kept here and brought to the top floor of the Flourishing Age Building.
That was because Han Xinyan’s father wanted to talk to him.
Li Tianlan was observing the middle-aged man on the phone seriously.
He had a tall and thin figure. Even though he had pa.s.sed the middle-aged stage of his life, he still looked very handsome. But what impressed others the most was his aura.
Steady, powerful, sharp—it was a kind of mysterious darkness.
The second he saw him, Li Tianlan seemed to see countless schemes, deceits, blood, and darkness.
His name was Han Donglou.
The biggest financial tyc.o.o.n in Zhongzhou State, the patriarch of the biggest neutral wealthy family in Zhongzhou State, the internationally famous philanthropist, the widely hated speculator…
This was a figure that could control billions of dollars and indirectly affect 10 billion and more.
This was a giant.
Li Tianlan surprisingly found out that Han Donglou didn’t seem to know any Martial Arts, but that didn’t stop him from being the giant standing on top of Zhongzhou State, and even the whole world.
Even in Zhongzhou State, where there were hundreds of wealthy families, it was a great miracle for the Han family to rise.
The Han family wasn’t from old money, it rose up in the past 20 years, which was the part that scared people.
Back then, Han Donglou was just a young man with a starting fund of a few million and a dream.
In the past 20 years, he took part in every turmoil in the international financial market, and he staked it all on one throw every time.
In his sharp judgment, which was like that of a prophet, the Flourishing Age Fund kept developing.
The yen market, the Thai baht market, the ruble from Snow Country, the dollar from Star State, the British pound, the euro…
The financial crisis that brought a headache to every country became a feast for the Flourishing Age Fund.
With every financial crisis outbreak, the Flourishing Age Fund would expand by dozens of or even hundreds of times.
Right now, the Flourishing Age Fund didn’t need to wait for its opportunity like it used to.
This financial monster just had to move its tail and it would cause a financial storm in all of Southeast Asia, and even the whole world.
It was powerful enough to push history forward and even change history.
And such power was in the hands of the middle-aged man in front of Li Tianlan.
Li Tianlan respected him, and even feared him, from the bottom of his heart.
In front of a huge French window, Han Donglou finally hung up the phone.
He put his phone away, walked to the reception area, and sat on the couch, then he laughed and said, “A friend of mine has some trouble with her science project. She wants me to use the Flourishing Age Fund to bring in some technology.”
Li Tianlan nodded. After being silent for a while, he said calmly, “Mr. Han. I’m terribly sorry for what happened this morning, if…”
Li Tianlan was about to offer to pay for the damage, but Han Donglou had already waved his hand and said with a smile, “You’re young, so being wild and acting on your desire once in a while is completely understandable.”
As he looked at Li Tianlan, there seemed to be a storm in his deep eyes. “But I’m curious about one thing. How did you open the car door?”
Li Tianlan fell silent for a while, then said blandly, “I just opened it.”
A streak of weird light flashed in Han Donglou’s eyes, then he laughed. There was a kind of seducing infection in his laughter, clear and elegant.
“As many people know, I’m not very good at Martial Arts, so I value my safety very much.”
Han Donglou said blandly, “So I have a lot of bodyguards around me, and I had that car custom made. It’s made of a special kind of alloy called Radman. The car door looks normal, but inside it are six locks working at the same time.”
He smiled more widely. “Do you know that that car door is worth eight figures, I’m talking about dollars. Of course, the price is not the point, the point is, ordinary people can’t open that door. I know you have the Wind and Thunder Veins, but I can tell you surely that if w.a.n.g Shengxiao from the w.a.n.g family of Beihai was in your place, he wouldn’t be able to open the door. So, young man, can you tell me how you managed to do it?”
Li Tianlan’s eyes froze. He said blandly while trying to remain calm, “Maybe Mr. Han’s car door happened to be broken, and I happened to open it.”
“Good excuse.”
Han Donglou nodded. “Sounds authentic.”
“I’m very sorry.”
Li Tianlan’s voice sounded calm.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Han Donglou shook his head. “It was just a door, I can get a new car easily. Young… Well, Tianlan, to be honest, I noticed you a long time ago—the successor of the Li family, the Young Governor of Sigh City, that G.o.ddess Boss Qin’s boyfriend. You have a marriage contract with the Dongcheng Clan and you have the full support of the Dongcheng Clan. You’re in a messy relationship with w.a.n.g Yuetong while being the enemy of the w.a.n.g family of Beihai and Kunlun City. You’re an interesting man. To me, your future is full of chances and risks. Frankly, I wanted to talk to you when you began to attend Sky Academy.”
He took out a cigar and lit it, sighed with regret, and said, “But I missed the best timing.”
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“When was the best timing for Boss Han?” Li Tianlan asked seriously as he sat and looked at him in a very serious way. In front of a giant like Han Donglou, even though he was an ordinary person in Martial Arts, Li Tianlan didn’t dare to think less of him.
“It would be three years ago when you got back from Heaven Capital. In fact, when I heard you had lost all your Martial Arts skills, I immediately sent someone to meet you in East Emperor Palace. But you had left Huating.”
Han Donglou spoke blandly. And as the smoke from the cigar rose up in front of him, his face looked blurry behind the smoke.
“Why do you call that period of time the best timing?”
Li Tianlan raised his eyebrows.
“Because during that time, you had the hardest time and needed help the most.”
Han Donglou laughed and said, “As we all know, it’s easiest to acquire friendship when helping a person in need.”
“Friendship… yeah… friendship…”
Li Tianlan nodded and repeated, then laughed gently. “You wanted to help me in order to make friends with a low-life like me?”
“First, you’re not a low-life, your potential is the scariest among the young generation in Zhongzhou State, at least one of the scariest.
“Second, I wasn’t going to help you for nothing. To be exact, you can say it was a kind of investment.”
Han Donglou’s voice was calm and clear.
“Investment? Why?”
Li Tianlan’s eyes slowly turned sharp.
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“Because I’m rich,” Han Donglou answered simply.
This reason was so powerful that Li Tianlan suddenly didn’t know how to react. His expression showed that he was shocked, dumbfounded.
“I don’t just invest in East Emperor Palace. I invest in a lot of people. For example, in the six groups in Zhongzhou State, I have invested about 50 billion in Academics, 150 billion in the Southeast Group and the w.a.n.g family of Beihai, 80 billion in the Prince Group, and I will add more. The money I’ve invested in the Special Warfare Group is about to surpa.s.s the amount in Academics. The North Group has the smallest amount, which is also close to 30 billion. As for the Giant Group… the three big pillars—the Dongcheng Clan, the Bai family, the Zou family—all have cooperation projects with me. I even paid for those two a.r.s.enals of the Dongcheng Clan.”
He leaned slightly forward and said with deep meaning, “But when it comes to your younger generation and even to the Special Warfare System, I invested three billion in the Three Thousand World, three billion in the Phantom Palace, 900 million in Jilei Mountain… Tianlan, your East Emperor Palace is just one of my investing targets. I don’t care who wins or loses, because the Han family has the money to invest in all of you. No matter who wins, I’ll have my share of the benefits.”
Li Tianlan’s pupils contracted. Suddenly, he felt scared and threatened.
The Han family was rich.
The figures jumped out of Han Donglou’s mouth could prove that.
He had invested in the big six groups, which meant that Han Donglou could make a decision inside all six groups.
What was a neutral wealthy family?
Neutral, it could mean that he took no side.
It could also mean that he took all the sides.
This was real neutrality—Han Donglou could be considered the creditor of everyone.
There wasn’t any expert of the Invincible Realm in the Han family, and there was no cultural background.
But they had money.
He was definitely able to buy anyone’s death. Only standing in front of him could people understand what wealth was.
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“Did they all accept your investment?” Li Tianlan took a deep breath and asked with a deep voice.
“They had no reason to refuse it because I demanded moderately.”
Han Donglou said with a smile, “And you’re about to graduate. And whether entering the Special Warfare System or going solo, it all takes money. If I sent money to you, why would you say no?”
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Li Tianlan thought about it then asked, “So, the reason why you wanted to talk to me today is that you want to invest in East Emperor Palace?”
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“East Emperor Palace has a lot of potential, especially after you came back. The Flourishing Age Group is willing to be your investor,” Han Donglou said.
Li Tianlan thought about it for a long time, then asked slowly, “What do you want?”
.
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“I want 10% of all the future benefits of East Emperor Palace. In addition, within the power range of East Emperor Palace, the Han family wants the same treatment as East Emperor Palace,” Han Donglou said gently.
Li Tianlan listened in silence and kept waiting for more.
He lifted up his head in surprise. “That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
Han Donglou shrugged and put on a charming smile. “I told you, I demand moderately.”
“It is indeed moderate.”
Li Tianlan was a bit speechless.
If this was his investment, right now East Emperor Palace didn’t have any power range or benefit, so it cost East Emperor Palace nothing to get the investment from the Han family. Han Donglou was literally giving money to them.
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But if East Emperor Palace took over Kunlun City in the future, then Han Donglou was asking for too much.
He invested in the Three Thousand World, Phantom Palace, East Emperor Palace, and Jilei Mountain. As long as one of them entered the Invincible Realm in the future, even if the rest all failed, Han Donglou would be able to get all the benefits from the one that succeeded.
This wasn’t a smart move, but it was a rich move because they had nothing but money.
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Of course, if Han Donglou wanted the power group he invested in, for example, East Emperor Palace, to take over Kunlun City, then he would definitely add a lot more money in the investment. But in the end, Han Donglou would benefit from it no matter what.
But Li Tianlan didn’t care about Han Donglou’s investment plan.
At this moment, he really started to think about what all that money meant to himself.
Any power group needs money to rise up, they need so-called investors.
Even when the w.a.n.g family of Beihai first developed, they also got help from others, no matter in what way. Actually, its helping hand was equal to having investors.
All the superpowers in the Dark World had support from countless financial groups behind them.
Li Tianlan looked at Han Donglou and said with the same tone, “Well then, Boss Han, by East Emperor Palace’s current status, how much can we get from you?”
“1.5 billion.”
Han Donglou said with a smile, “If you say yes, I’ll have the contract prepared. Sign on behalf of yourself and all the people from East Emperor Palace, then you can take away the 1.5 billion immediately.”
“1.5 billion.”
Li Tianlan laughed. “Half of what the Three Thousand World and Phantom Palace got.”
“I have to take care of myself. Right now, you have a lot of potential, but you’re also in a very dangerous position. I don’t care about winning or losing, but I don’t want to waste my money. If you win the final maneuver, I can even give you 15 billion.”
Han Donglou said blandly, “There’s another way for you to increase the investment.”
Han Donglou looked at him with a smile. “If you marry either w.a.n.g Yuetong or Dongcheng Rushi, I can trust your future. At that time, we can discuss the investment amount again.”
Li Tianlan looked at Han Donglou, who was still smiling, and suddenly said with a smile, “What If I marry Little Bai?”
Han Donglou’s hand shivered. “Then forget about the 15 billion, I can give you 150 billion.”
Li Tianlan laughed, then suddenly fell silent.
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“I can’t marry them,” Li Tianlan said blandly.
He still hadn’t heard anything from Qin Weibai.
And things between him and w.a.n.g Yuetong…
At least before he was powerful enough to shut everyone up, the w.a.n.g family of Beihai would never let w.a.n.g Yuetong marry him. w.a.n.g Yuetong was his woman, but the w.a.n.g family of Beihai was still his enemy.
“I can understand.”
Han Donglou said, “But no problem for Dongcheng Rushi, right? According to what I heard, as long as you say yes, the Dongcheng Clan can arrange the wedding tomorrow.”
“I can’t marry her.”
Li Tianlan let out a bitter laugh and rubbed his face.
Han Donglou looked at Li Tianlan.
His expression slowly softened, then he said with a smile, “You don’t want to owe them anything?”
His voice was gentle.
Li Tianlan hesitated, then nodded. “Marrying Rushi has nothing to do with the Han family investing in East Emperor Palace. I can’t pay their debt of camaraderie.”
“They indeed have nothing to do with each other.”
Han Donglou said, “But is it really as simple as you think it is? Maybe you don’t want to owe them anything, but in a world like this, you can’t control a lot of things.”
“What do you mean?”
Li Tianlan suddenly looked up and stared at Han Donglou.
Han Donglou put on a peaceful smile and said, “Nothing.”