Chapter 1493: The Lavish Island
In North America, ” St. Regis” and “Four Seasons” were equally well-known.
As the first St. Regis to be built, the St. Regis Nouveau York opened in 1904. The European classical Baroque landmarks still stood tall on Fifth Avenue and acted as the symbol of the city’s luxury hotels. The upper part of the building was designed with complex lines and gorgeous shapes. In its dignified appearance revealed the luxury of the “old world”, and the hotel was the darling of the entire country, and even so among the upper class in North America.
At six o’clock in the evening, people walked in on the red carpet of St. Regis.
Gentlemen in tuxedos, ladies in long evening gowns, and everyone here all had polite smiles on their faces. They were led into the magnificent hall by the waiters. Just from this dazzling appearance of this corner of Fifth Avenue, it was hard to imagine that this place was close to the front line of the war.
It was no exaggeration to say that the red carpet was far more extravagant compared to the Oscars. Although the people here were not celebrities, the string of zeros behind everyone’s net worth could make all the Hollywood “big names” feel ashamed.
It was rumored that all the rich people fought hard for tickets to this evening.
For tonight’s banquet, the entire hotel had been reserved by the wealthy B City Consortium.
The feelings of the capitalists on the Island were quite complicated towards Jiang Chen’s arrival. Due to the aircraft carrier that pushed to the Wall Street Copper Bull, almost everyone suffered heavy losses, and now Celestial Trade took all the gold from the reserve, which detonated a debt crisis for many large companies. The role of many changed from the hunter on the financial market to the fish on the chopping board.
Theoretically, their reaction would have been hatred.
But in fact, everyone greeted him with a smile at this moment, and the smile did not look fake at all. It was not because of their great acting skill, but rather, the smile came from the bottom of the heart.
There was no other reason.
First of all, the Future Bank, which arrived in North America with Celestial Trade, had almost become a life-saving straw for many of them. The second reason, the UA had to be rebuilt after the war, and everyone wanted a slice of the cake worth more than hundreds of billions of dollars.
As for the defeat, it was not enough reason for them to hate him.
Never expect the capitalists to have any morals. They would cheer for their own interests and encourage the patriots to charge forward, but they would not shed even a single tear for this country after its fall.
In the center of the banquet, Jiang Chen slightly raised the glass in his hand and said softly in a pleasant tone.
“Let us toast to peace.”
“Cheers!”
Everyone raised their glasses and downed the red wine.
After Loki, representing the B City Consortium, gave a speech, the melodious symphony signaled the prelude to the banquet.
There was nothing special about the banquet. Like most banquets Jiang Chen attended before, the first course was an appetizer, then a cold dish, then the main course, and finally dessert. When people ate, rarely anyone focused on the food. The majority of them were chatted with the people that sat around them.
Although Jiang Chen could feel that many people turned their eager gazes to him, both openly and secretively, almost no one left the table during the meal.
When the last dessert plate was taken away, the elegant waltz played in the banquet, and the host Loki, announced the beginning of the dance. After the host and the guest of honor left, the rest of the people got up. Champagnes were placed on the long table, and the lighting in the venue became much softer.
Just as Jiang Chen expected, a large group of people surrounded him.
“Dear Mr. Jiang Chen, please allow me to introduce myself. I’m Mike Cobert, President and CEO of Citibank, and this is my wife Fenix Cobert. Allow me to gift you the sincerest welcome and I wish you to have a pleasant trip here.”
The gray-haired Mike Colbert smiled and shook hands with Jiang Chen. Although the wife standing next to him was over forty, she looked as young as twenty-five. After Jiang Chen just greeted this couple, a middle-aged man with a big belly came from the other side with a big smile.
This person was certainly important too. The previous one was the CEO of Citi, and this person was the shareholder of Chase Bank.
“…Otto Garcia, Chairman of Chase Bank. It is my honor to meet you. Please allow me to introduce this lady next to me, Leslie Garcia, my youngest daughter, 19 years old. She is studying Finance at Nouveau York University. I plan to ask her to help me at Chase Bank after her graduation. Leslie, come and say hello to Mr. Jiang Chen…”
She looked around seventeen to eighteen years old. Her delicate nose and the fullness of her chest combined both the petiteness and exquisiteness in the oriental aesthetics and the curves of the west. She wore a pure white off-shoulder long dress that subtly revealed her beautiful collarbone. The hem of the carefully tailored long dress was curved from high to low, slightly puffy, and revealed her beautiful and slender legs. The edge of the dress was covered with diamonds that sparkled, which looked like countless morning dew on a lotus leaf.
She was not only a top finance student from Nouveau York University, she was also considered by many as their dream girl. Not only was her look impeccable, but she was also talented in financial management. To marry Miss Leslie Garcia was equivalent to a connection with one of the most powerful people on Wall Street, and countless students from Nouveau York University dreamed of her.
From her appearance, it was hard to imagine that she was his daughter.
“Hello, dear Mr. Jiang Chen,” Leslie Garcia smiled politely as her eyes shone charmingly. “I wonder if I will be lucky enough to ask you for a dance?”
“Although this is a very tempting proposal, please allow me to apologize. I still have some things to deal with.” Jiang Chen smiled.
Although she was surprised by the rejection, Leslie Garcia was not put off, she just smiled respectfully and expressed her understanding, and then followed her father.
Even if many had heard about Jiang Chen’s love affairs, the people here obviously didn’t take them too seriously.
In addition to being introduced, there were also many women who self-recommended, but they were all tactfully rejected by Jiang Chen. Although it was uncommon for sociable women to join banquets of this level, Wall Street and Hollywood always shared a lot of interest in each other.
Take Mike Colbert as an example. His current wife used to be a supermodel and a manager of a luxury company. The two also met at a banquet and finally married. By the way, this rich man has been married five times.
Of course, it would be too thirsty to seek pleasure at this level of a banquet. The purpose of this banquet held by the B City Consortium was to show the covenant between the B City Consortium and Celestial Trade to the capitalists on the Island. The other purpose was simple, and it was to find “partners” to divide up the UA.
Even if the relationship between B City Consortium and Celestial Trade was great, Jiang Chen would not allow it to be the only one in North America after the war. This would only create a second Morgan and Rockefeller. He didn’t want a family to emerge one day in the future that could rise against him in the Earth Federation Assembly.
Finance, energy, real estate, automobile, rail, steel, manufacturing, and even movies and technology had mobilized North American’s wallets, and it was equivalent to monopolizing the continent’s future. If Celestial Trade supported political families like the Kennedy to have a voice in politics, even if freedom and equality were stated clearly in the constitution, he could easily take the votes of the people of UA.
With the help of Bernice, it was not difficult to find out the background of these people.
Just from this initial meeting, Jiang Chen had already created a list in his mind.
Although to judge from first impressions would be too hastily, he believed his instincts.
After all, just like what Zhang Yaping had said, he did not have the time to slowly train suitable candidates…