Volume 6: Mecha Contest Chapter 301: Sixth Place
"Oh no..." Hearing this, the Hound immediately grinned at Ke Lan, "Don't be nervous, it's just meeting the parents... There's nothing to be afraid of."
"I'm not nervous." Ke Lan said helplessly.
"I know, I know... The more you say you're not nervous, the more nervous you become. It's normal . After all, you're still a rookie and don't have much experience with this kind of thing..."
"Why do I feel like what you said sounds weird?"
"Hey... stop talking nonsense. I'm just talking about the facts. If you think in the wrong way, that's your problem." The hound dropped his chin and suddenly pretended to be serious. "Actually, you can just ask Ivan about this kind of thing. His experience should be able to give you some reference..."
"Ke Lan probably can't refer to my experience." Ivan looked at Ke Lan with some sympathy, then looked at Natasha who was sitting next to him and laughing with her hands covering her mouth. He shook his head and said, "My parents and Natasha's parents are neighbors. They watched me grow up ."
"Oh, childhood sweethearts, huh?" The Hound tilted his head. "That's fine. Ke Lan, just wish you the best."
"My parents will not attend the cocktail party." Sofia picked up a piece of dragon soup quite elegantly, blanch it lightly in the boiling pot, turned the chopsticks, and placed it on the plate in front of Ke Lan.
Not only Ke Lan, but even Hound and others were briefly shocked - if Natasha did this to Ivan, Sofia's action would seem quite natural, after all, the two of them are already an old couple... But Sofia is different from Natasha, her current demeanor is completely different from the original impression in everyone's mind.
The Hound even suspected for a moment that Ke Lan had found some evil secret method of mind control from the legacy of the Alpha civilization, which had turned the originally high-and-mighty young lady of a wealthy family into this state.
But Zofia's movements seemed very natural, without any sense of deliberateness or affectation. After helping Ke Lan pick up the food, she also cooked a piece of meat for herself... Judging from her proficiency in using chopsticks and her control over the rawness and doneness of the ingredients, it was obviously not the first time for this young lady to eat hot pot.
"...Then who are the people attending the cocktail party?" Ke Lan looked at the piece of meat in front of him. The hand holding the chopsticks suddenly froze in mid-air. He could only ease the awkwardness by changing the subject.
"They are all outstanding talents of the younger generation of major families, and the age limit for participants is under 35 years old... Some people who attend the cocktail party want to make future partners in the same interest circle, and some come to get to know the future partners chosen by the family for them in advance... To be honest, this kind of cocktail party is actually very boring. If you didn't want to come into contact with people from the Anderson family, I would have planned to turn it down." Zofia replied.
"Does this kind of cocktail party require an invitation to enter?" Ke Lan asked subconsciously.
"Everyone who receives an invitation can bring a companion with him/her. As my fiancé, it is reasonable for me to enter with you." Zofia said, "However, with your current capital, I think the organizers will not refuse you even if you go to the cocktail party alone."
"My current capital?" Ke Lan was slightly stunned. He couldn't remember what capital he had that could catch the eyes of these wealthy tycoons.
"The hunting group rankings were just updated fifteen minutes ago." Layton waved the phone in his hand at Ke Lan. "Our 'God Hunting Group' has already rushed to sixth place based on the ranking . We are very close to the goal that the young lady set for us... Well, how did you say that? We are now like... like those stars..."
"'A rising star'." Hound added on behalf of Layton, "Not only in the circle, but also in the outside world, the name of the God Hunter Group has become very popular... After all, in more than ten years, only our hunting group has successfully found the core area of the S-level ruins. In my opinion, the experts in charge of the evaluation are too conservative to be ranked sixth this time."
"In just fifteen minutes, I have received cooperation applications from more than a dozen financial groups... Although the eldest lady is our shareholder, she bought the shares in her personal capacity rather than in the name of the Soma Financial Group, and her shareholding is not large. From the perspective of outsiders, the God Hunter Group is still an independent asset held by us founders... With such a big cake that has just been baked, anyone with some ability will always want to get a piece of it."
When the hunting group was first created, the contact information reserved in the registration information was the hunting group's email address. Although Hound did not like dealing with trouble, among the few of them, he was the only one with the most experience in handling these matters. In addition, his special relationship with the military could also bring a lot of convenience to the development of the hunting group.
In a way, the hound is more like the housekeeper in this group.
"If anyone wants to invest, no matter if it's technology or capital, we will reject them... We must maintain absolute control over the hunting group." Ke Lan said, "If it's business cooperation, we can consider it. For example, they can provide us with equipment and funds for free, and then use our fame for advertising. I don't mind this form of cooperation."
"Most of them want to invest in our hunting group... After all, these investors like the business of making money the most." The Hound smacked his lips and said, "As for those who want us to endorse their products, there is only one company that specializes in producing outdoor equipment for civilian use, and its name is 'Singularity Professional Equipment Manufacturing Company'..."
"I've used products from the Singularity brand before, and the quality is pretty good, especially when it comes to cables and gear. If I remember correctly, they even participated in a bidding for military equipment for field forces."
"But he lost, and the one who won in the end was 'Arthur'." The Hound shrugged.
"That 's because Arthur's offer was lower. The military needs the lowest possible price after meeting performance requirements... After all, military spending is limited. After excluding the cost-effectiveness factor, if we only look at the quality, Singularity's products are still better than Arthur's. It's just that they withdrew from the military field after losing the bid, and their market share is relatively small, so they are not as famous as Arthur." Layton said, "Their biggest problem is that they are expensive. A third-level standard wear-resistant cable costs 200 credit points per meter, which is simply unaffordable for ordinary people. If you want customized equipment, it will be even more expensive."
