章節 980: Chapter 980: Like father, like son?
It was probably the doorman who notified Song Bo on the phone when he opened the door, so when Xia Yu got out of the car and was led by the Song family's servants to park the car, he saw an old man walking towards him with a middle-aged man.
Xia Yu had met Song Bo a few times on various occasions, so he recognised him immediately, and the middle-aged man next to him was Song Zhi-cheng, Song Bo's second son, whom he knew from the photos in the file.
Song Bo had three wives, with whom he had two sons and a daughter from the first marriage, one son and two daughters from the second marriage, and two daughters from the third marriage, making a total of eight children.
The three sons were Song Zhi-hui, the eldest, Song Zhi-cheng, the second, and Song Zhi-ming, the third.
However, the eldest son, Song Zhihui, studied too much, devoting himself to research and academia, and was not at all interested in doing business. Although Song Bo was helpless, he was not particularly disappointed. After all, there was nothing wrong with aspiring to knowledge, so he just let his eldest son develop his own way.
The third son, Song Zhiming, was mediocre in ability, and because he had studied abroad, he picked up a lot of bad habits abroad, which he was unable to change after returning to Hong Kong. As a result, there were many anecdotes about him in Hong Kong, which Song Bo liked the least.
Compared to these two sons, the second son Song Zhicheng in front of him stands out, at least interested in business.
However, Xia Yufeng heard that Song Zhicheng is only average among his generation, lacking in initiative.
As for whether the comments he heard are true or not, Xia Yufeng has not had direct contact before, so he is not in a position to comment.
But this time, he can observe.
'Grandpa Song, I'm sorry to trouble you to personally greet me,'
Xia Yu smiled, walked towards Song Bo at a slightly faster pace, and said apologetically, shaking Song Bo's hand as he spoke.
Song Bo gave a warm smile, which gave the impression of being bathed in the spring breeze, and said cordially, 'Mr Xia, you are wrong. Your arrival has honoured my humble abode, which is a great blessing for my Song family!'
Xia Yu smiled and said, 'You're flattering me, Sir. I can't compare to your good fortune and wealth. I came this time with the idea of basking in the Song family's good fortune.'
Song Bo felt comfortable when he heard Xia Yu's words. He laughed and said, 'Haha, Mr. Xia, your own good fortune is unparalleled in Hong Kong. It should be me who is basking in your good fortune.'
After saying this, he introduced his son to Song Bo: 'Mr Xia, this is my son Zhi Cheng. He is not very accomplished, so I hope you can give him some pointers.'
'Hello, Mr Xia!'
Song Zhi Cheng smiled and extended his hand to say hello to Xia Yu.
However, Xia Yu, with his keen powers of observation, noticed a hint of awkwardness in Song Zhi Cheng's smile. It was obvious that he did not agree with what his father had said and was a little resentful.
At 38 years old, he can't even understand the deeper meaning of his father's words. He still has a long way to go.
Xia Yu shook his head secretly, but did not show it on the surface. He said enthusiastically and modestly, 'A tiger father has a tiger son. You are too modest, sir.'
'I have heard of your name for a long time, but unfortunately I have never met you. I am fortunate to have met you today, which is a great blessing in life!'
'Brother Song, let's exchange ideas more often in the future!'
Song Zhicheng's smile was much more obvious this time. He said modestly, 'Mr Xia has achieved far more than I have, and I should learn from you more often.'
Song Bo suddenly gave himself a light slap on the head and said apologetically, 'You see, I'm getting old and my memory is getting worse. I got so excited that I forgot that this is not the right occasion, and I shouldn't let my guest stand in the doorway.
'Mr Xia, please come inside!'
Xia Yu smiled faintly and made a gesture of invitation, saying, 'The guest follows the host. You go first, old man!'
'Mr Xia, you are our guest. Please come with us!'
...
Soon, Xia Yu led Li Wuming to the Song family living room and sat down. He surveyed the layout of the interior of the Song family home.
The furnishings in the living room were neat and symmetrical, with dark brown bookcases built symmetrically, the desk cabinet inlaid with brass, vaguely echoing the metal screen, and the decorative paintings with quiet and elegant flowers, as if floating with an undertone of fragrance, intertwined with the tea fragrance exuding from the naturally carved tea table. In the centre of the living room wall hung a huge plaque with the four characters 'Peace and Prosperity'.
This layout was worthy of the Song family's scholarly heritage.
While the servant was making tea, Xia Yu praised, 'Sir, your living room layout is simple and elegant, with a long-lasting charm. You have put in a lot of effort! Living in this environment for a long time will naturally make you feel happy and relaxed, and you will live at least a few decades longer!'
Song Bo said happily, 'I have put in a lot of effort into this layout, but I also have limited abilities. I have only been able to upgrade the style with a few antiques. You are incomparable. If you want to decorate, you can definitely make it several times more elegant than mine.'
'You were able to lavishly build the Jiuding Culture Museum, so there's no reason your home should be poor, haha...'
Xia Yu shook his head and laughed, denying, 'It's not the same, it's not the same...'
At that moment, the tea was ready, and Song Bo made a gesture of invitation and said, 'Please enjoy the tea, Mr. Xia. Try my Biluochun. This is the new tea from this year, specially brought back from Suzhou by a trusted person. It's one of the best!'
'Then I'll have to try it.'
Xia Yu laughed, lifted the teacup, took a deep sniff, and immediately praised it: 'It smells good!'
Then he took a sip and praised it again: "It's so fragrant, it's refreshing and invigorating, and after drinking it, you feel a sweet aftertaste. What a good tea!'
Song Bo's eyes lit up, and he immediately said, "Mr. Xia is indeed very knowledgeable and has a deep understanding of Biluochun. Compared to you, I'm a far cry.'
Song Zhicheng, who had been quietly drinking tea without saying a word, was taken aback when he realised that his father had once again belittled him in front of Xia Yu, who was only a few years older than Song Zhicheng. He called out, 'Dad.'
Song Bo glared at him and said with some dissatisfaction, 'What, are you still not convinced? Just take this Biluochun tea, for example. You haven't had a deep understanding of it for many years, but Mr Xia was able to point out the essence and allusions of Biluochun in just one sentence.'
'Biluochun is produced in the Dongting Mountains area of Suzhou, and was originally called Dongting tea, also known as Dongting Biluochun. However, in the local folk tradition, it is also known as 'scared-to-death fragrance'. Legend has it that a nun went hiking in the mountains and picked some tea leaves, which gave off a wonderful fragrance when brewed. She exclaimed, 'It's so fragrant it'll scare you to death!' The locals then started calling the tea 'scared-to-death fragrance'. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, the emperor tasted this famous tea with a greenish broth and curled leaves during an inspection and greatly appreciated it. However, he felt that the name 'Scared-to-death Fragrance' was not elegant, so he named it 'Biluochun'. Since then, it has been famous until now.'
'Mr. Xia hit the nail on the head when he said, 'The fragrance is so overpowering that it's scary'...'
Watching Song Bo's performance and Song Zhicheng's performance, Xia Yu smiled inwardly and gained a more intuitive understanding of the Song father and son.
Song Bo is a crafty old fox. From the moment they met, he has been subtly and carefully laying the groundwork, keeping a close eye on Xia Yu, leaving himself an escape route in the conversation while also constantly drawing him closer.
He has a good grasp of the situation. He stopped talking before entering the room, and now he has seized the opportunity to comment on the tea, combining the social art of 'belittling oneself and praising others' and trying to once again subtly draw the two parties closer together.
Unfortunately, the protagonist is a good protagonist, but the supporting actor is not. Song Zhicheng did not understand his father's deeper meaning, but instead could not let go of his pride, wasting his father's good intentions.
With Song Zhicheng's current display of wisdom and guile, it is hard to say whether he is more capable of maintaining the status quo than Xia Yu. However, he does not seem like a pioneering and enterprising person.
Compared to him, Xia Yu's son-in-law Wu Guangzheng, son of Huo Yingdong, Li Jicheng, Li Zhaoji, Zheng Yutong and others are much more outstanding.
Seeing his son's embarrassed expression, it seems that he is a little disappointed with his son Song Zhicheng's performance. Song Bo simply ignored him and turned to chat with Xia Yu again.
Xia Yu is good at socialising and his words are full of flattery, which made Song Bo, who was in a bad mood, laugh out loud from time to time, and the atmosphere became warm again.
Seeing that Song Bo was slow to ask his reason for coming, Xia Yu thought to himself, 'Old fox,' and then found an opportunity. After Song Bo had finished laughing, Xia Yu looked him straight in the eye and said, 'Mr. Song, I have come to trouble you this time because I want to discuss something with you and I would like to ask you to help me out.'
Song Bo felt a chill in his heart, put down the teacup he had just picked up, looked at Xia Yu calmly, and asked, 'I don't deserve your help. Mr. Xia, why don't you tell me what it is first? If I can do it, I will naturally be happy to help.'
After saying this, he added in a joking tone, 'If it's beyond my capabilities, I will do my best just the same.'
Xia Yu was speechless at the careful words.
He pretended not to hear the latter sentence and said with a faint smile, 'Mr. Song, the matter is not difficult. I heard that the Song family holds 16% of Cathay Pacific Airways' shares. I hope you can do me a favour and sell them to me. I will not let you suffer in terms of price!'
Although Xia Yu used the euphemism 'I heard' in a tactful way, he directly pointed out the number of shares held, practically not giving the Song family the opportunity to deny it.
Song Bo was no pushover either. His expression froze, and he looked troubled, as if he were muttering to himself, 'This...well...how should I put it?'
Xia Yu leaned slightly forward, keeping his smile, and said further, 'Sir, this shouldn't be difficult. After all, as far as I know, the Song family has no interest in the aviation field. Even though they hold 16% of Cathay Pacific's shares, they have only nominally appointed a director and oversee the finances. They don't seem to care about the company's operations.'
'If that's the case, why don't you do me a favour and sell your shares to me? You can focus your resources on developing other core businesses.'
'It's better to have one bird in the hand than ten in the bush, don't you agree?'
每周推薦票狀態
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