You make me lose face, and I'll make you a laughingstock of Shanhai City.
Nan Baixuan had not forgotten how Chu Fan's wild talk at the entrance of Shanhai Manor had caused her family to be ridiculed.
She immediately went out to call Chu Fan.
The venue for the dinner party was Baiyue Palace, a restaurant ranked among the top ten in Shanhai City.
Baiyue Palace was not an ordinary roadside eatery that anyone could enter.
To gain entry, one had to be a member of Baiyue Palace.
Becoming a member required a minimum annual spending of ten million at Baiyue Palace.
Without membership, regardless of how much money one possessed, they were not qualified to make a reservation and dine.
Upon becoming a member, one would be allocated a private room, decorated and furnished according to the member's preferences.
It would be cleaned daily by dedicated staff, and a personal chef would be assigned to prepare customized meals, and so on.
The person who organized this gathering was Li Wenqi, whose family assets surpassed even the Nan family's, controlling the entire seafood industry of Shanhai City.
Li Wenqi himself was not yet eligible to be a Baiyue Palace member, so he was using his father's membership card.
Apart from Chu Fan, there were a total of three men and three women participating in the gathering.
When Nan Baixuan brought Chu Fan into the room, the others had already arrived.
All eyes turned to him.
Before the two arrived, Zhao Jiayu had already mentioned that Nan Baixuan would be bringing an extremely arrogant cousin, expressing her strong dislike for this cousin and hoping everyone would gang up on him.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Li Wenqi snapped his fingers, and various exquisite dishes began to be served.
"Xuanxuan, quickly try this sashimi. This deep-sea fish only lives in abyssal depths of ten thousand meters and is rarely encountered."
"Its flesh contains various trace elements, and consuming it can make the skin smoother and more tender."
"To ensure its freshness, after it was just caught, a private jet was chartered for millions to transport it. It has only been three hours since it left the sea!"
"Really?"
Nan Baixuan's eyes lit up.
"Then I must try it!"
Chu Fan also reached for his chopsticks, but as soon as they touched the dishes on the table, they were whisked away.
Li Wenqi said with a smile, "Brother, I heard you're Xuanxuan's cousin. You should try this. This is good for men."
Another plate of sashimi was turned towards him.
The others all wore knowing smiles.
Upon learning that Nan Baixuan intended to deal with her lunatic cousin, Li Wenqi had specifically arranged this plate of sashimi.
This sashimi's flesh was poisonous and required consumption with another ingredient to neutralize the toxicity.
Consuming it alone was akin to taking a date-rape drug, causing mental confusion and making one completely obedient. It was also known as the "Obedient Flood Dragon," a closely guarded secret of Baiyue Palace, favored by many influential figures.
Seeing Chu Fan not reach for the sashimi, Xia Shan, who was sitting next to Li Wenqi, also said, "Brother, really, I ate it last time and lasted all night. It's so potent!"
"I heard you just arrived in Shanhai City. This is a specialty of our Shanhai City, try it quickly!"
"We'll arrange a girl for you later!"
Amidst everyone's anticipation, Chu Fan ate a slice.
"It tastes quite good."
"If it tastes good, eat more. This is also very rare!" Li Wenqi enthusiastically urged.
Nan Baixuan, who had received the information from Zhao Jiayu and knew the plan, also said, "If it's delicious, eat more. This dish is only available here. If it weren't for my influence, you'd likely never get to taste such a fine dish in your life."
Everyone chuckled.
Chu Fan, truly unreserved, quickly ate half of it.
Seeing this, Li Wenqi and the others smiled gleefully.
Next, they just had to wait for the toxicity in the flesh to erupt, and then Chu Fan would become the headline news of Shanhai City tomorrow.
Alcohol would accelerate the toxin's effect.
Li Wenqi immediately raised his wine glass, "Xuanxuan, congratulations on successfully joining the Azure Dragon Consortium!"
"From now on, we'll be colleagues!"
"Come, everyone raise your glasses!"
Seeing Chu Fan not move, Li Wenqi urged, "Brother, join us!"
"Ptooey!"
As the red wine entered his mouth, Chu Fan tilted his head and spat it onto the ground.
He had never been much of a drinker, but the alcohol he consumed in the Eternal Hall was not something that could be bought with money in the market.
Having tasted exquisite delicacies, he reacted strongly to something of poor quality.
Spitting wine at the dining table was a major faux pas.
Li Wenqi and the others' faces turned grim.
Xia Shan, as Li Wenqi's subordinate, glared and reprimanded, "Kid, do you know how much this bottle of wine costs?"
"This is a rare vintage, worth eighty-eight thousand per bottle."
"And you spat it out?"
Chu Fan took a sip of water to rinse his mouth and replied calmly, "Trash dares to call itself a rare vintage?"
His words carried a double meaning.
Xia Shan, realizing the implication, was about to erupt when Li Wenqi interrupted him.
"It's fine, if it doesn't taste good, we'll get another one. We're just starting, no need to rush!"
Xia Shan, understanding that his boss was reminding him not to be hasty and that he would have plenty of opportunities to deal with Chu Fan later, sat down resentfully.
Afterward, Chu Fan was treated as if he were invisible, deliberately ignored by the group.
As they chatted, Li Wenqi, wanting to gauge Chu Fan's condition, asked, "Brother, Jiayu mentioned that you said Shanhai Tower is your company?"
"Is there a problem?" Chu Fan retorted.
Li Wenqi frowned. Based on the timing, the toxicity from the sashimi should have erupted by now, and Chu Fan should be acting as if drunk, with hazy eyes and a muddled consciousness.
Yet, as they made eye contact, he found Chu Fan's gaze clear and entirely devoid of any signs of disorientation.
Little did he know, Chu Fan, having been schemed against and poisoned since childhood, could be considered a "poisonous person."
Furthermore, the foreign poison within him was currently suppressed; otherwise, a single spit from him could poison everyone present.
What was the small amount of toxin from sashimi in comparison?
To temper himself, what kind of poisonous substances had he not tasted in the Eternal Hall?
Fugu organs, cone snails, and so on – the amount he had consumed could pile up into a small mountain.
Despite his confusion, Li Wenqi merely assumed the time hadn't come yet and continued to ask with a smile, "In that case, isn't our Azure Dragon Consortium in Shanhai City your company?"
"You could say that!"
Hiss, hiss, hiss…
The sound of inhaling was extremely clear.
Arrogant, utterly arrogant.
He had long heard that Nan Baixuan's lunatic cousin was extremely rampant, and now hearing it from his own mouth, they finally witnessed what true arrogance was.
Even the foremost young master of Shanhai City would not dare to say such a thing.
Li Wenqi continued to set a trap, "Since the Azure Dragon Consortium is your company, then arranging for people to work in the Azure Dragon Group should be no problem, right?"
"No problem at all!"
Seeing Chu Fan answer so convincingly, as if it were true,
Everyone wondered if he truly had a mental problem.
What did they think the Azure Dragon Consortium was?
A place where people could be arranged at will?
"Xia Shan didn't pass the interview yesterday. Since the Azure Dragon Consortium is yours, Brother, how about helping him get a position there?"
Everyone fell silent, waiting.
They wanted to see how Chu Fan would respond.
Chu Fan looked at Xia Shan, who was brimming with anticipation, and calmly replied, "He's too ugly, cunning, and shameless, and lacks qualifications!"
Everyone erupted in astonishment.
Xia Shan's eyes nearly bulged out of his head.
If it weren't for Li Wenqi holding his thigh under the table, he would have lunged at Chu Fan and forced him to see clearly who was ugly.
If he were still considered ugly, then there wouldn't be many handsome people in Shanhai City.
Li Wenqi hadn't expected Chu Fan to evade the trap in this manner.
He smiled and was about to continue making things difficult.
Chu Fan spoke first, "By the way, you passed the interview too, didn't you?"
Li Wenqi straightened his back and said proudly, "Of course. My talent is unparalleled; the interview was no difficulty for me at all."
"Then I'm truly sorry, you're also ugly, and I don't like the sight of you. I'm informing you now that you've been fired!"