Chapter 289: The Offensive and Defensive with He Jieyu
Everyone saw that Lin Qingci, the birthday girl, finally showed up, and they all rushed up to greet her.
"Qingci, you're way too late! We've been waiting for you forever!"
Lin Qingci smiled and explained, "I ran into a bit of trouble on the way. Sorry about that—I'll punish myself with three drinks in a bit!"
"Three drinks aren't enough! It's your birthday today, so we all have to drink until we drop!"
"No problem!"
At this moment, someone noticed Zhang Jingdong standing next to her and immediately asked, "Qingci, who's this handsome guy?"
Lin Qingci turned to look at Zhang Jingdong and then introduced, "This is Mr. Zhang Jingdong. He's a friend of Jieyu and just helped us a lot, so I invited him to join our party to properly thank him."
"Is that so? Well, handsome, you and Jieyu... you guys aren't just ordinary friends, are you?"
Zhang Jingdong truthfully said, "He Jieyu and I are honestly just regular friends. I tried pursuing her before, but I later realized our personalities weren't that compatible, so our relationship has always stayed at the 'friends' level."
As soon as he said this, two guys in the crowd visibly breathed a sigh of relief, while several women's eyes clearly lit up with interest.
Lin Qingci was initially a bit dazed.
Because just at the accident scene, observing the conversation between Zhang Jingdong and He Jieyu, she thought their relationship was definitely not ordinary.
In her view, even though they might not currently be together, their relationship was at least more than friendship, yet not quite romantic.
She never expected Zhang Jingdong to say something like that.
Then, for some reason, she felt a surge of inexplicable excitement.
Because if, as he said, they weren't compatible, maybe she could give it a try.
After all, she just witnessed Zhang Jingdong's capabilities firsthand, and he was exactly the type she admired in both looks and style.
At this point, a guy in the crowd, unable to stomach the admiration Zhang Jingdong was getting, asked, "Boss Zhang, since Qingci said you're a boss, what industry are you in?"
Zhang Jingdong sensed the provocation and casually replied, "My business is quite scattered at the moment, hard to pin down."
"But one of my businesses you might have heard of: The One Bar. Any of you been there?"
Even though Zhang Jingdong didn't speak loudly, it immediately stirred the crowd.
They all knew The One Bar was currently Jiangdu's hottest spot, and the owner of such a successful venue had to be something else.
And Zhang Jingdong, who looked no older than 25, was stunningly handsome, with an air that didn't fit someone running a nightclub.
"Wha... What? You're saying you own The One Bar? You must be joking!"
"Dude, even if you're Jieyu's friend, you don't have to go that far with the bragging! From what I know, The One Bar's owner is the only son of Jiangdu's richest guy, Mr. Wang."
Zhang Jingdong casually said, "It's simple. Do any of you know Liu Zongheng or Wang Tao? Just give them a call, and you'll find out if I'm bluffing."
Another guy then said, "Are you sure? Well, what a coincidence—I actually know Mr. Liu Zongheng!"
In their eyes, both Liu Zongheng and Wang Tao were Jiangdu's top-tier heirs.
Some of them thought Zhang Jingdong was just bragging, and that he brought up these two untouchables knowing no one could verify his claims.
They had encountered such people and stories before: fringe family members at gatherings, spouting nonsense to impress or scam investments.
Zhang Jingdong smiled, "Call him now!"
The guy, seeing Zhang Jingdong so unfazed, decided to take a chance and actually dialed Liu Zongheng's number.
But soon he was embarrassed.
Because Liu Zongheng hung up on him!
He quickly made an excuse, "Mr. Liu is busy now. I'll try calling him in a bit. I just can't believe you own The One!"
Zhang Jingdong decided to keep up the ruse, making it easier to impress the ladies—especially Lin Qingci—and piss off He Jieyu.
He said, "Check whether the number you have for Zongheng starts with 139 and ends with 6868."
The guy was briefly taken aback, then nodded, "Yes."
Zhang Jingdong then took out his phone, found Liu Zongheng's number, and showed it to him, "Is this it?"
The guy glanced over and saw that Zhang Jingdong really did have Liu Zongheng's contact, and was instantly astonished, "…Yes."
Then, Zhang Jingdong dialed the number in front of everyone and put it on speaker.
Immediately after just one ring, Liu Zongheng picked up, "Hello, boss!"
With that one "boss," everyone present was immediately convinced of Zhang Jingdong's identity.
Their eyes were suddenly filled with wonder and respect.
Feeling this, Zhang Jingdong continued naturally, "Zongheng, my Bugatti Veyron crashed today. Help me contact Boss Xu in the next few days to get it fixed, and I want to pick up another car from him tomorrow. Does he have any Paganis right now?"
"Probably. I'll contact him in a bit and let you know."
"No need, it's late now. Reach out tomorrow morning, and let's go together."
"Alright, I'll call you then."
"Alright, see you tomorrow!"
After finishing, Zhang Jingdong hung up.
By this point, everyone was completely stunned by him!
Besides being the owner of The One Bar, the kicker was that he had bought a Bugatti Veyron, crashed it, and was about to buy a new Pagani!
Wow, by rough calculation, this guy's net worth must be over a hundred million!
Most of the crowd were heirs of wealthy families. Still, despite their family wealth, the most some had in their own accounts was a few hundred thousand to a million.
Compared to ordinary people, they were wealthy, but compared to Zhang Jingdong, they were nothing!
Zhang Jingdong said, "I didn't prove this to show off but to sincerely make friends with everyone!"
With that, everyone no longer saw him as boastful but rather as very down-to-earth.
Soon, Zhang Jingdong became the center of attention, with the women who considered themselves quite eligible edging closer to him.
At this moment, He Jieyu finally arrived, fashionably late.
She was already fuming over Zhang Jingdong's earlier stunt, and seeing him surrounded by women only further inflamed her.
But she also knew she had no reason or right to lash out directly at Zhang Jingdong, and even if she did, he wouldn't fear her.
So she quickly thought it over and suddenly had an idea.
Then, she marched forward and loudly said, "Zhang Jingdong, what are you doing? I was just five minutes late, and you dare make a scene behind my back?!"