Chapter 139 - 132: Dazzled by Gold and Paper

Chapter 139: Chapter 132: Dazzled by Gold and Paper

On the spacious and bright flybridge, the circular sofas were filled with scantily clad girls, each with a completely different vibe.

There were cool and sophisticated types, prim and proper ladies, the innocently seductive, the fresh-faced girl-next-door, the charming, and the boldly flirtatious. They all seemed to be between twenty and thirty years old.

The sheer number of girls wasn’t what surprised Gu Heng.

After all, as many girls as there were, it still wasn’t as many as at last night’s ultimate pool party.

What surprised Gu Heng was that all of these girls seemed to be major online influencers.

He could name a few, and while the others were nameless to him, they all looked incredibly familiar.

The flybridge was nearly eighty percent the size of the main deck. Adjacent to the pilothouse was an indoor lounge area with two circular sofas where the influencers were sitting, chatting with friends from their circle.

However, when Gu Heng’s group came up the stairs, all the girls’ eyes turned toward them. As the youngest and most handsome man in the group, Gu Heng naturally attracted the most attention.

Outside the lounge area was an open-air deck.

Bars were set up on either side. One housed an ice maker and refrigerator, while the other was equipped with a barbecue grill and griddle.

At the very front of the flybridge deck stood a professional DJ booth, with two sexily dressed female DJs behind it.

Gu Heng glanced over and recognized one of them: Bai Bai, a female DJ who was wildly popular online. She was wearing a black tube top and black, studded denim shorts, leaving her shoulders, slender waist, and gorgeous legs completely exposed.

Gu Heng didn’t recognize the other female DJ, but she was most likely another influencer who was also a DJ. She was just as beautifully dressed in a white halter top and dark blue denim shorts, swaying her body seductively to the beat of the music.

Standing side-by-side, she and Bai Bai were quite a sight to behold.

Between the DJ booth and the lounge area were numerous long sofas and round cocktail tables. Ice buckets on the tables were filled with all sorts of premium liquor.

Champagne, red wine, whiskey...

You name it, they had it.

Many service staff also stood along the edge of the flybridge.

Two grill chefs in uniform were busy at work in front of the barbecue.

Not far from where Gu Heng stood, the brilliantly lit International Architecture was on the left, and the dazzling Skyscraper was on the right.

What was a life of wanton extravagance?

What was the real nightlife of Zhonghai?

What was the true meaning of Shanghai’s old moniker as a city of pleasure and foreign extravagance?

At that moment, it all materialized perfectly before Gu Heng’s eyes.

"WOOO—"

As the yacht’s horn blew, the Princess X95 superyacht beneath Gu Heng’s feet, worth over a hundred million, slowly pulled away from Sixteen Piers Wharf.

...

"Chairman Gu, let me make some introductions."

"This is Deng Zhihong, a committee member of the SSTP Super Car Club."

"He’s a supercar fanatic. His main gig is a luxury car dealership, and he moonlights as a professional race car driver. We were classmates in university and studied abroad together in the United Kingdom. He might seem a bit shy at first, but he usually just calls me Daddy."

The first person Wang Yan introduced was the man who had just greeted them from the edge of the flybridge. Compared to the business-casual attire of Wang Yan and Gu Heng, his style was exceptionally laid-back. He was decked out in trendy streetwear brands and wore a Richard Mille watch—the standard uniform for a rich kid in Zhonghai.

Nearby, the influencers who had been sitting on the sofas saw Gu Heng’s party arrive and rose to their feet one by one. Then, as if on cue, they gathered around the men.

It was partly a show of deference, a way to clarify their own position, and partly a chance to gather intel and figure out the status of tonight’s honored guests.

When the girls heard that this man was a committee member of the SSTP Super Car Club, their eyes lit up, though they tried to hide it.

In just a few short years since its founding, the SSTP Super Car Club had become the largest top-tier supercar club in China, and even in all of Asia, boasting a collection of all kinds of top-of-the-line luxury cars worth tens of millions.

The SSTP Super Car Club had two tiers of membership: regular members and committee members, the latter of which Deng Zhihong belonged to. Anyone who held a committee position in the club was guaranteed to be among the absolute elite—unimaginably wealthy or powerful.

’A high-value guy!’

’Definitely worth sucking up to!’

The girls silently compared Deng Zhihong to the other rich patrons they knew. After quickly slotting him into their internal rankings, they each had a clear idea of how much enthusiasm they should show him during the party later.

"You rebellious son!"

"You dare to unleash the Reversed Celestial Spirits!"

Deng Zhihong threw a playful punch at Wang Yan, laughing as he cursed.

"A son hitting his father!"

"What has the world come to!"

Wang Yan rubbed his shoulder and grumbled for a moment before continuing with the introductions. "Chairman Gu, this is Su Tianyi. He’s currently an associate professor at Fudan Medical College. His father is a director at Yangzi Pharmaceutical Group, and our families have been friends for generations."

As Wang Yan made the next introduction, Gu Heng’s gaze shifted to the other man.

In contrast to Deng Zhihong’s devil-may-care attitude, Su Tianyi appeared gentle and refined. He wore expensive gold-rimmed glasses, and his every gesture carried a scholarly air.

’An associate professor?’

’Yangzi Pharmaceutical Group?’

Gu Heng mentally filed the information away.

After introducing Deng Zhihong and Su Tianyi, Wang Yan returned to Gu Heng’s side and slung an arm around his shoulder.

"And finally, allow me to make a grand introduction."

"This is Gu Heng, the new director of our Junyao Group and the new independent director of Ruyi Airlines."

After formally introducing Gu Heng, Wang Yan shot a sidelong glance at Deng Zhihong. "Lao Deng, your dad gave you a Bugatti Veyron for your eighteenth birthday. You’ve been bragging about that for more than a decade, haven’t you?"

"You bring it up with everyone you meet."

"But I’d advise you not to mention it today, because in front of Chairman Gu, that coming-of-age gift of yours is frankly a little embarrassing. Do you have any idea what Chairman Gu got for his?"

Hearing this, the expressions of the many influencers nearby went slack with disbelief.

’Wait, what?’

’Is he even speaking the same language as us?’

’A Bugatti Veyron worth over fifty million is embarrassing?!’

"Go on!"

"Tell us!"

"What was Chairman Gu’s coming-of-age gift?"

Deng Zhihong was a little indignant. "No matter how extravagant Chairman Gu’s gift was, my Bugatti Veyron hardly deserves to be called ’embarrassing’!"

"A Bombardier Global 7500!"

"So I ask you, are you impressed now or what?"

Deng Zhihong had been lording that story over him for more than a decade. Now that someone had finally appeared who could completely crush him, Wang Yan felt an incredible satisfaction saying those words, a pleasure that was almost sinfully good.

The moment Wang Yan said it, Deng Zhihong’s indignant expression froze on his face, and a flash of pure shock appeared in his eyes.

"Impressed now?!"

Seeing Deng Zhihong’s reaction, Wang Yan couldn’t have felt more smug.

"I’m impressed..."

Deng Zhihong gave a bitter smile. "Utterly and completely. Compared to Chairman Gu’s Bombardier Global 7500, my Bugatti Veyron really is embarrassing."

’How could he not be impressed?’

’The man owns a private jet, and the most high-end model in the world at that. How could his four-wheeled toy possibly compare?’

While men like Deng Zhihong were worldly enough to understand the implications, knowledge about private aviation was clearly beyond the scope of these influencers, whose careers were built on their looks.

But that didn’t matter. A quick online search would tell them everything they needed to know.

Soon, they had all looked up information on the Bombardier Global 7500. When they saw that the private jet started at a price of 80 million US dollars, they were all, to a woman, completely stunned.

’A private jet worth over 80 million US dollars as a coming-of-age gift?’

’Even the fabled princes stepping out of the Celestial Palace probably couldn’t top that, could they?’

Gu Heng had already been the center of the influencers’ attention thanks to his tall, handsome looks. But now, the way they looked at him was no different from how a demoness looks at the fabled Tang Monk’s Flesh.

"President Deng, Brother Yan is just joking,"

Gu Heng spoke up at the right moment, extending his right hand. "It’s a pleasure to meet you."

Seeing Gu Heng extend his hand, Deng Zhihong reacted as if by reflex, immediately raising his own.

"Chairman Gu, a pleasure to meet you."

"Tonight, we don’t go home sober!"

In truth, when he had first agreed to Wang Yan’s invitation to this party, he had already discreetly inquired about Gu Heng’s identity. He knew that the young man single-handedly controlled over three billion in equity, making him an absurdly wealthy tycoon.

He had thought he was giving Gu Heng enough importance in his mind, but he never expected that he had still underestimated his true standing.

"Professor Su, a pleasure to meet you."

After exchanging a few words with Deng Zhihong, Gu Heng didn’t forget Su Tianyi. He extended his right hand to him as well.

"Chairman Gu, we’ve known Wang Yan for over a decade, some of us for over two,"

"You’re Wang Yan’s friend and an honored guest of the Wang Family, which makes you our friend and an honored guest to all of our families as well."

Su Tianyi said with a gentle smile, his personality warm. "They’re the local big shots here in Zhonghai, so I won’t compete with them on their home turf. But if you ever find yourself in Su Province, Chairman Gu, you must contact me. I’ll take care of all the arrangements."

"With an offer like that, Professor Su, I’ll definitely have to visit Su Province when I have the time."

Gu Heng shook Su Tianyi’s hand and exchanged a few more pleasantries.

Besides Deng Zhihong and Su Tianyi, everyone else there was already an acquaintance.

Oscar, Gao Zihang, Gao Zihao, and Zhao Yongtao, making eight of them in total.

"Come, come."

"Let’s all have a seat."

As the host, Wang Yan gestured for everyone to sit. "Now that we’re all acquainted, it’s time to get to know the ladies."

Laughing and chatting, the group made their way to the sofas and sat down. The influencers who had been gathered around them now dispersed, standing off to the sides...