592: 581 592: 581 At Song Yun’s, and at those two or three other big shots’ gathering, there were none of those socialites.
Because here, no matter how you played behind the scenes, as long as it wasn’t exposed, no one cared; but in public, the big shots still had to act their part.
If you approached now, it would only make people wary.
As for Song Yun, one reason was his imposing aura was too strong, and the other was he looked like a naive youth, not everyone had such good judgment.
Although Song Yun might be a blue-chip, right now, people couldn’t even see the potential in him, and no one wanted to spend so much effort researching an uncertain stock.
It was the famous ones who were truly worth interacting with, as they could provide more information.
“Brother Yun, there’s a charity auction tonight, did you know?” Mao Shan took two glasses of red wine from a tray held by a server and handed one to Song Yun with a smile.
“A charity auction?” Song Yun asked.
“Yes, the charity auction is just a pretense.
We have such a large ship here, and if we just continued to live in luxury, people would think we are hedonists.
But by adding a charity auction, they wouldn’t have anything to say, and besides, this auction isn’t going through the domestic Red Cross, so you basically don’t have to worry about intermediary fees.”
“Oh?
Is it being managed by your grandfather himself?” Song Yun continued to ask.
“Of course, don’t assume that my grandfather is so old-fashioned that he wouldn’t touch these things.
His philanthropy is actually simpler than ours; he has cars when he needs cars, security when he needs security.
Just take the money from the auction and buy what’s needed for impoverished areas, then drive there in a military vehicle.
Along the way, no one dares to stop you.”
“And the fuel cost is covered by the state, which is much better than the Red Cross.
Look at many Red Cross officials now, always charging you a percentage for handling fees, including various activity and service fees.
After collecting all these fees, what actually reaches the people in need isn’t that much.
Haven’t you heard that joke?”
“A common citizen found two fist-sized diamonds and wanted to present them to the emperor, so he gave the diamonds to the county official.
After giving them to the county official, they turned into two fist-sized pieces of jade.
After giving them to the Magistrate, they turned into two fist-sized stones, and then to the army commander, they became two fist-sized potatoes.”
“After giving them to a court minister, they turned into two fist-sized eggs, and by the time they reached the emperor, they were two quail eggs.
This is about being exploited at every level; you donate a diamond, and in the end, maybe only a quail egg is left.”
“This analogy is really vivid!” Song Yun laughed.
“But I’ve heard another analogy, where the emperor, immensely pleased, decided to reward the common citizen who sent the quail eggs with 10,000 taels of gold.
After dispatching the reward, by the time it got to the army commander, it had become 1000 taels of gold; at the Magistrate’s, it became 100 taels of gold; at the county official’s, it became merely 100 taels of silver; and when it reached the common citizen, all that was left were 10 copper coins.
The commoner, looking at the copper coin he got in exchange for two diamonds, was on the brink of tears.”
“What you’re saying is just as harsh, and it’s all too common nowadays.
That’s why private donations are more reliable; it’s just that some places surprisingly can’t accept private donations, and must go through the Red Cross, a real monopoly.”
“It’s actually an exception, there are still plenty of good people in reality,” Song Yun said with a smile.
“Yes, yes, lots of good people,” Mao Shan raised his eyebrows, giving a knowing look, and Song Yun nodded in satisfaction, we all understand.
While the two were chatting away, soon enough, people from outside on the deck also began to come in.
“It must be my grandfather arriving,” Mao Shan said in a low voice.
Sure enough, not long after, Xu Hongxing appeared.
Dressed in a military uniform, though in his sixties, he still had the demeanor of a veteran, which instantly reminded Song Yun of Three Kingdoms’ Huang Zhong.
Beside Xu Hongxing followed a man whose status could be considered the most honored in all of Sunan.
Even with the Song Family behind him, Song Yun’s status was far less in comparison.
This man was the leading figure of Sunan, a provincial head with a close relationship with the Song Family, the supreme authority of Sunan.
“Wow, the pillars of both sides are here; tonight’s banquet really is high-class,” a man behind Song Yun remarked.
Song Yun turned around and saw it was the same big director he had seen on the deck, who was hugging another man’s wife and a female star.
“Hey, don’t block the way,” Song Yun’s movement blocked the director’s view, which annoyed him considerably.
Seeing Song Yun’s aggrieved face and knowing that he could attend such a high-level gathering really unsettled him.
Obviously, the director hadn’t seen Mao Shan leading Song Yun into the hall earlier nor noticed Song Yun’s female companion standing dignified beside him, talking and laughing with Mao Shan.
“Sorry about that,” Song Yun didn’t think there was anything wrong with what the other person said, so he naturally apologized and tried to make way.
But the director’s next words brought a particularly amused smile to Song Yun’s face.
“Humph, country bumpkin,” the director muttered under his breath.
These days, people with an inflated sense of self-importance were plentiful.
Hearing this, Song Yun was slightly irritated at first, but then realized that he and this man were not on the same level, so he just smiled and didn’t bother to retort.
After the appearance of Xu Hongxing, he walked over to a few other big shots.
Once you reach a certain level, the differences in positions aren’t really that great.
The relationships here were intricate and complex, tied to each person’s background and social relations.
Those with backing always looked down on those without, and those with connections were always harder to approach, so one mustn’t judge by appearances alone but dig deeper.
Otherwise, it was hard to find anything truly valuable.
As these big shots chatted, no one else dared to encroach on their conversation.
Song Yun noticed that the banquet was divided into many circles, like Xu Hongxing’s group, who represented the powerful elites, and Sunan’s richest man, Xin Dong, was with a group of wealthy people.
Of course, Xin Dong also visited Xu Hongxing’s circle later; as the richest man in Sunan, he was certainly qualified to join their talks.