Chapter 516: It

So, he immediately hosted a high-profile banquet for Wang Hongcheng at the White Rose Hotel. Who was Wang Hongcheng? He could be described as someone who could spout lotuses from his mouth; he could make the dead sound alive. Otherwise, how could he have fooled so many experts and leaders?

Although Tian Xiaopeng had seen some of the world, he relied on selling approval documents and his father's face to do business. His experience in the business world was very shallow, and his common sense in science was even more lacking. Therefore, after Wang Hongcheng said a few words, Tian Xiaopeng was fooled to the point of losing his bearings.

Tian Xiaopeng asked Wang Hongcheng how they should cooperate. Wang Hongcheng said they could cooperate to build a factory. He said that now some people were jealous of his technology and wanted to swallow it, so they were persecuting him, which caused his plans to build a factory to be repeatedly blocked. He asked Tian Xiaopeng if he had the strength to cooperate with him to build a factory.

Tian Xiaopeng, of course, patted his chest and said no problem. He said his father was Tian Chengzu, and on the land of Hudong Province, he could definitely protect Wang Hongcheng.

Wang Hongcheng then proposed that if they wanted to cooperate to build a factory, they would need at least 20 million in funds. He asked Tian Xiaopeng if he could come up with it.

Tian Xiaopeng was extravagant; how could he come up with 20 million? Even if he sold his house, car, jewelry, and everything valuable, it wouldn't be enough.

However, he certainly couldn't say he couldn't come up with it, otherwise, this god of wealth, Wang Hongcheng, would run away. He immediately boasted, saying he had a net worth of tens of millions and that coming up with 20 million was no problem at all.

Tian Xiaopeng certainly couldn't come up with it, but he could apply for a bank loan. Of course, 20 million was too large a quota; relying solely on his face, it was definitely not enough. It was possible for the bank to lend him a few hundred thousand, but it was impossible to lend him 20 million.

Therefore, he could only beg his father. Tian Chengzu still had some doubts after hearing about this. He didn't know if this invention was reliable because higher-level departments had already issued a notice to stop promoting Wang Hongcheng's invention.

Tian Xiaopeng strongly touted Wang Hongcheng's invention, so Tian Chengzu inquired about Wang Hongcheng's situation with some friends in higher-level departments, especially friends in the Science and Technology Commission and the Ministry of Materials related to this matter. They also had mixed opinions about this; some said Wang Hongcheng was a great inventor, while others said Wang Hongcheng was a great swindler.

Tian Chengzu was confused by these people. He asked Tian Xiaopeng to bring Wang Hongcheng to see him. Tian Xiaopeng then arranged for Wang Hongcheng to meet Tian Chengzu.

Wang Hongcheng was such a good talker. In these few years, he didn't know how many big leaders he had met. Some leaders were even higher in rank than Tian Chengzu, and he still chatted and laughed with them, fooling them into a daze. In front of Tian Chengzu, he didn't show any timidity at all.

He had an extraordinary demeanor and took out those expert appraisals, photos with leaders, inscriptions, and positive reports in newspapers to show Tian Chengzu, and began to tout how epoch-making his invention was and how much money it could make.

Although Tian Chengzu was a high-level cadre, he had no common sense in technology. He had also been away from the grassroots for a long time, his eyes and ears were not sharp, and he couldn't understand these social tricks. He was actually almost fooled by Wang Hongcheng.

Seeing that Tian Chengzu was already tempted, Wang Hongcheng immediately struck while the iron was hot, saying he could perform the water-to-oil trick in public, so that hearing is believing, and seeing is believing.

Hearing his words, Tian Chengzu asked Tian Xiaopeng to arrange for Wang Hongcheng to perform a public demonstration. If the experiment was successful, he would greet the bank to get the loan and help Tian Xiaopeng start his business.

However, Tian Chengzu still had some brains and was a bit self-important. He didn't personally attend this public performance, but he did let many media reporters, officials from relevant departments, and bank leaders attend this public performance. He also wanted Wang Hongcheng to show his face, so that Tian Xiaopeng's loan and their future factory building would be easy to handle.

But who could have thought that a matter arranged so well would be interrupted halfway? Famous reporter Jiang Chaoyang exposed Wang Hongcheng's scam in public, leaving Tian Xiaopeng in a daze. By the time he thought of looking for trouble with Wang Hongcheng, Wang Hongcheng had already run away.

Why did Tian Xiaopeng want to find trouble with Wang Hongcheng? That was because in the few days Wang Hongcheng had been in Jiangcheng, Tian Xiaopeng had already spent a lot of money on him. These days, he ate and stayed in the most high-end hotel in Jiangcheng. Wang Hongcheng said he needed some funds to make preparations for building the factory in advance, and Tian Xiaopeng gave him 300,000 yuan in cash without blinking.

Counting everything up, in just these few days, Tian Xiaopeng had spent no less than 500,000 on Wang Hongcheng. There was no way around it; food, clothing, usage, purchases, and gifts all cost money. But now someone told him that Wang Hongcheng was a swindler? How could Tian Xiaopeng bear this!

Afterwards, Tian Xiaopeng sent people to look for Wang Hongcheng, but Wang Hongcheng's experience in running away was extremely rich. He had been swindling all over the country, and it wasn't always smooth sailing; he had had failures, but every time he escaped smoothly. He had a group of followers, and every time he arrived at a place, he always found a way out in advance. Therefore, seeing that the situation was bad, he immediately ran away according to the pre-arranged retreat route.

Of course, if there were ubiquitous surveillance cameras and various high-tech equipment in this era, Wang Hongcheng could still be caught back. But in this day and age, wanting to catch back a swindler who is determined to run away is not an easy task.

Tian Xiaopeng was furious. He not only hated Wang Hongcheng but also hated Jiang Chaoyang.

The reader might ask, why did he hate Jiang Chaoyang? It was Jiang Chaoyang who helped him expose Wang Hongcheng's scam and saved him from greater losses! He should be grateful to Jiang Chaoyang.

But Tian Xiaopeng's psychology was different. If Jiang Chaoyang hadn't exposed Wang Hongcheng, he could have immediately borrowed 20 million from the bank. He considered himself not stupid and would definitely not let Wang Hongcheng control all 20 million. If this money was in his hands, wouldn't it be his?

Even if Wang Hongcheng's invention was fake, the one suffering the loss wouldn't be him, but the bank. With this 20 million in his hands, he could at least pocket a few million—couldn't he squander it for a while longer?

As for repaying the loan, it was not in his consideration at all. Would he be stupid enough to use his own name to take out a loan? Even if he used his own name to take out a loan, would the bank have the guts to collect the loan from him?

The lost money could just be considered the bank paying tuition fees.

Just like that, he hated Jiang Chaoyang to the bone. He asked his subordinates to check Jiang Chaoyang's background, but of course, he found nothing. Jiang Chaoyang had no background to begin with. If he had a background, would he have been sent from the *Hudong Daily* to the *Jiangcheng City Daily*?

He thought Jiang Chaoyang was just an ordinary reporter who wanted to make a big news story and accidentally intervened in this matter. He didn't link this matter to anyone else at all, and his imagination wasn't rich enough to drag this matter to Su Xinghui.

He paced angrily in his room, thinking about how to catch Wang Hongcheng back and how to take revenge on Jiang Chaoyang.

Before he could think of a plan, Tian Chengzu's call came in, telling Tian Xiaopeng to go home immediately.

Tian Chengzu's tone was not unusual, but Tian Xiaopeng heard the sound of magma flowing before a volcanic eruption in his words. He didn't dare not go home; he had to give Tian Chengzu an explanation.

Driving his Mercedes back home, Tian Xiaopeng saw his father, Tian Chengzu, sitting on the sofa in the living room with a gloomy face, while his mother, Shi Aifeng, was eating melon seeds on the side, watching TV and giggling from time to time.

Seeing his son return, Shi Aifeng said, "Son, how come you are willing to come back today?"

Tian Xiaopeng took out a small box and handed it to his mother, "Mom, a friend of mine came back from Hong Kong and brought me a bottle of perfume. I brought it home for you."

Seeing the perfume, Shi Aifeng suddenly shouted with joy, "It's Chanel! My son is so filial!"

Tian Chengzu stood up and said, "Xiaopeng, come with me to the study."