"Let's toast with tea instead of wine—cheers to a successful partnership!" Mavi raised his teacup first, speaking in English with a very Eastern-style "witty remark." This amused Boss Ma and Qiu Yangping, who were sitting nearby, causing them to smile. They hadn't expected Mavi to understand culture so well…
Goddess Jennifer blinked curiously, watching the three men in front of her enjoying their tea as if they were drinking wine. She couldn't quite grasp what was so entertaining about it.
However, as the daughter of the Marriott Group, Jennifer was well-mannered and understood that when men talked business, she needed to give them face and not cause trouble. She played the role of a decorative vase perfectly.
Throughout the entire process, Jennifer neither acted spoiled nor threw a tantrum. She also didn't appear bored by looking around or zoning out. Instead, she pretended to listen with great interest, nodding frequently and flashing a sweet smile—just like she used to when accompanying her father to business meetings.
After Mavi expressed his investment intentions, both Boss Ma and Qiu Yangping, who had initially been on edge, finally relaxed. Their expressions became noticeably less tense and stiff. Now, they could comfortably enjoy the extravagant feast that was about to be served.
The Manchu-Han Imperial Feast at Tingpeng Pavilion had a top-tier price tag of 360,000 RMB. In Beijing in the year 2000, that amount of money—if slightly topped up—could buy a nice apartment within the Second Ring Road! Yet for Mavi, it was just the cost of one meal. The level of luxury was simply outrageous.
Of course, the money was well spent.
The Manchu-Han Imperial Feast featured 108 main courses—54 from the south, including 30 Jiangsu-Zhejiang dishes, 12 Cantonese dishes, and 12 Fujian dishes; and 54 from the north, including 30 Shandong dishes, 12 Manchu dishes, and 12 Beijing dishes.
In addition to these 108 main courses, there were 196 cold and hot appetizers and 124 desserts and tea snacks. Even if they stretched it over three days, finishing all the food would still be a challenge—it would probably take at least a week.
As the dazzling array of dishes was presented one by one by palace-style attendants, Mavi and the others finally experienced what it felt like to be an emperor. It could be summed up in one word—awesome! Or rather, extremely awesome!
Sliced venison, flying dragon breast, roe deer spine, mountain pheasant fillet, lotus leaf porridge, phoenix tail shumai, braised fish lips in clay pot… Each dish was exquisitely plated, making Mavi's stomach growl uncontrollably.
Even Jennifer, the rich heiress, couldn't help but widen her eyes in amazement. Clearly, she was utterly impressed by the profound and exquisite nature of cuisine.
"Can you use chopsticks?" Mavi asked Jennifer with a smile. Foreigners were used to using forks and spoons, so chopsticks were unfamiliar to them.
Jennifer attempted to pick up the chopsticks but struggled no matter how hard she tried…
However, that wasn't an issue—because the palace-style attendants would personally feed both her and Mavi. After all, with such an extravagant price tag, the service had to be top-notch, just like in ancient times when emperors never had to lift a finger to eat.
Boss Ma and Qiu Yangping, both proficient with chopsticks, were left speechless by the sheer extravagance of the feast and its service. The amount Mavi spent on this one meal—360,000 RMB—could buy them five Suzuki Alto cars!
Yes, that's right. In the year 2000, the Alto SC7080 had a factory price of 71,000 RMB, which was more expensive than most people expected. Back then, a Santana 2000 sold for 200,000 RMB per unit, and even a Xiali car cost 78,000 RMB!
###
The Manchu-Han Imperial Feast lasted three days, but Boss Ma and Qiu Yangping were smart enough to only attend for one meal. After lunch, they met with Mavi's investment team to discuss the details of the investment.
Back in the private dining room, Jennifer rubbed her belly and sighed, "Ugh… I'm so full. I feel like I'm going to gain weight again…" Her diet plans were once again ruined.
Women were truly mysterious creatures. No matter how perfect their figure looked to others, they always talked about losing weight.
Mavi completely ignored Jennifer's playful complaints as if he hadn't heard a thing. He took a sip of Yanghe Chunlü liquor and then asked, "What time is your flight tonight?"
Because of an important family gathering, Jennifer had to take her father's Gulfstream V private jet back to the U.S. that evening.
"I'm not sure yet. It depends on when the plane arrives…" Jennifer murmured softly. In truth, she didn't want to part ways with Mavi so soon. However, she was tied down by various responsibilities and barely had time for herself.
"Hmm, then we still have time for another meal. You are going to gain weight," Mavi teased, trying to lighten the mood.
Jennifer, who had just been feeling reluctant to leave, was instantly annoyed. She shot Mavi a glare. "Don't you feel sad at all? Our time together is so short!"
"Sad? I guess so. But haven't you heard an old saying?" Mavi turned to Jennifer with a playful smirk.
"What saying?" Jennifer stared at him seriously. If this guy didn't give her a proper answer, she was ready to unleash her fury on him.
"If love is meant to last—" Mavi deliberately stopped halfway. He refused to say the second part: 'then why should we care about being together day and night?'—because that would be way too cheesy.
"And? What's the rest of the saying?" Jennifer pressed him for an answer.
"What do you mean?" Mavi kept a straight face, pretending to be clueless.
"Just now, the phrase you said—'If love is meant to last…' What comes next?" Jennifer had been intrigued by the saying and really wanted to know the full sentence.
"Oh, that? There's nothing more. If you really want to know, I'll tell you next time," Mavi replied with a mischievous grin.
The next moment, Jennifer's small fists rained down on him in playful punches. The sounds of their laughter and banter filled the private room, making the bodyguards outside wonder just what their young master was up to…
After sending Jennifer off, Mavi spent the third day enjoying his meal alone in the private room at Tingpeng Pavilion.
At that moment, his butler, Ivan, bowed slightly and entered the room, speaking softly, "Young Master, regarding Tencent… They have chosen to partner with Naspers and accepted their funding. So for now, they have no interest in additional investment. They have politely declined our offer. What would you like to do next?"
This parallel world—altered by Mavi's presence—had seen many differences from his past life. Take Tencent, for example. Originally, they weren't supposed to receive their $32 million investment from Naspers until 2001.
But in this timeline, the deal happened one year earlier. That meant Tencent already had money and no longer needed to give away equity in exchange for funding.
"If they've rejected us, then so be it. Prepare the car. After I finish my meal, I'm heading downtown."
Mavi wasn't particularly bothered by Tencent's refusal. First, his investment negotiations with Alibaba were going very smoothly.
And second—even if Tencent refused him now, as a reborn man, he had plenty of ways to turn things around.