Chapter 988

“Do you know which school it is?” Zhou Andong asked.

“I only overheard a bit; I don’t know if it’s even true.”

Wu Hongkang lowered his voice again: “I heard it’s some Zhongshan something College of Chemistry. Supposedly, they’d started a project, but the higher-ups cut the R&D funding. So they came here hoping to beg for some donations.”

Zhou Andong nodded, not caring much. These days, there were plenty of people using research as a front to swindle money everywhere.

Not to mention Zhuo Qihua, that pure foreign lackey wrapped in a rabbit skin—even he wouldn’t believe someone who suddenly showed up and asked for money.

Suddenly, someone patted him on the shoulder from behind; he turned to see a grinning face.

Zhou Andong pointed at the man, looking as if he was deep in thought.

“You… you you… you’re that… that guy… that… that guy…”

The guy behind him turned black-faced; Jian Qiu smirked beside him, then pinched Zhou Andong.

“I remember!” Zhou Andong grinned, slapped his forehead, and looked suddenly enlightened: “Mao Sanlu, old classmate! How many years has it been? Looks like you’ve done pretty well.”

The guy behind him grew even darker-faced; Jian Qiu couldn’t hold back anymore and burst out laughing, then slapped Zhou Andong.

“When did you get back to China?”

The man behind was Qin Zhi—the one Gu Minglan had sent to Britain with Jian Qiu.

After Jian Qiu returned to China, he’d been waiting in Britain for his wife to join him.

“I’ve been back about two months now, trying to figure out what to do, but I’ve got no money. A while back, I heard Guangzhou was holding some entrepreneur forum, with lots of rich bigwigs coming, so I came over to join the buzz and see if I could bump into any fools willing to invest.”

Zhou Andong nodded toward Zhuo Qihua’s direction: “See that guy with glasses, fat face and big head?”

Qin Zhi looked over, then shook his head: “Didn’t see him.”

“Whether you saw him or not doesn’t matter,” Zhou Andong waved his hand. “That guy’s Zhuo Qihua—a famous philanthropist. Go find him; you’ll definitely get investment.”

“Don’t trick me,” Qin Zhi said skeptically.

“What would I gain from tricking you?” Zhou Andong lowered his voice. “I’ll tell you straight: that guy’s a fool.”

Qin Zhi rolled his eyes: “You think I’m the fool?”

“Saying that proves you’re the real fool,” Zhou Andong rolled his eyes back. “If that guy weren’t a fool, why would he donate all the money he worked so hard to earn?”

Qin Zhi opened his mouth, paused for several seconds, then said: “I know you’re using me as a fool to pull a scam, but somehow… your logic sounds strangely convincing.”

“Why won’t you believe me?” Zhou Andong kept pushing. “People have IQ, EQ, and AQ. IQ—I won’t explain that; you get it.”

“EQ refers to a person’s qualities in emotion, sentiment, willpower, reactivity, and interpersonal interaction. AQ is the ability to endure pressure and handle adversity.”

“I’ll tell you, that guy’s IQ and AQ are fine—otherwise he couldn’t have made so much money. But he has no EQ, and EQ is the most important part of a person’s intelligence.”

Qin Zhi thought for a long while, then said: “I think I get it… but I also think I don’t.”

“How dumb are you?” Zhou Andong sighed, shaking his head. “This is the second time we’ve interacted, and your EQ is flawless—but your IQ has a flaw.”

“What do you mean?” Qin Zhi growled. “You say that guy has no EQ—I don’t think he’s that stupid. But you say I have an IQ flaw? Now I feel your words dripping with malice.”

Zhou Andong bit back a laugh, keeping a straight face: “No IQ just means you’re dumb. Like in school—you get along great with every classmate, even with teachers.”

“That’s your high EQ. But you just can’t study well, always failing exams. Can you call that a fool? No—you’re just low IQ, a bit stupid.”

Qin Zhi scratched his head: “There’s some truth to that.”

“Exactly!” Zhou Andong leaned back, resting on the chairback. “So that guy has no EQ—he’s a fool. Go find him; you’ll definitely get investment.”

“Alright!” Qin Zhi nodded. “Whether he’s a fool or not, since you said it, I’ll go talk to him.”

“Snap!”

Zhou Andong snapped his fingers: “That’s right—any fool asking for money can ask anyone.”

Jian Qiu’s fingers pinched the soft flesh on Zhou Andong’s waist.

Zhou Andong grimaced and grabbed her hand.

Jian Qiu leaned close to his ear, gritting her teeth: “What are you up to? I’m telling you, Qin Zhi is my childhood friend—he’s a good, honest kid. You can’t trick him.”

Zhou Andong mumbled: “I’m helping him—how’s this tricking him?”

Jian Qiu gave him a look, turned to say, “Don’t listen to Zhou Andong,”

But Qin Zhi suddenly pulled the girl beside him: “Qiuqiu, this is my wife, Shi Mengjiao.”

“Hello, Qiuqiu,” Shi Mengjiao, twenty-two or twenty-three, had single eyelids. At first glance, she wasn’t strikingly beautiful, but the more you looked, the more appealing she became.

“Hello!” Jian Qiu sized her up, smiled, and shook her hand.

Shi Mengjiao said: “Qin Zhi often mentions you.”

“Has he ever told you how, as a kid, he used to get beaten up by Qiuqiu, then run crying to her house to tattle, making Qiuqiu get punished too?”

Zhou Andong turned around, eyes wide like a curious child, staring at Shi Mengjiao.

“Zhou Andong!” Qin Zhi growled low: “If you can speak, speak. If you can’t, shut your mouth. If it weren’t for Qiuqiu’s sake, I’d beat you until you’re crawling for your teeth.”

Zhou Andong looked innocent: “I didn’t lie. Even if you beat me until I’m crawling for my teeth, it won’t change the truth.”

“Pfft!” Shi Mengjiao laughed, looking at Qin Zhi: “Is that true?”

“What’s true?” Qin Zhi denied outright. “Don’t listen to his nonsense—he’s just jealous I’m better-looking and grew up with Qiuqiu since childhood.”

At that moment, applause suddenly erupted from behind.

Several people turned around—the provincial and municipal leaders had arrived, and the clapping came from Guangzhou’s local entrepreneurs.

As they stepped onto the stage, Zhou Andong noticed Jian Zhengrong was there too.

But thinking about it, that made sense. Dongguan’s economic development was now second only to Guangzhou’s—he’d be strange not to come.

After Jian Zhengrong stepped on stage, his eyes scanned the crowd like a scanner, spotted Zhou Andong, nodded, then stopped scanning.

At that moment, Cao Li walked over and whispered something into Zhou Andong’s ear.

Zhou Andong looked surprised, pointed at his own nose.

“Me?”