On the afternoon of February 23, 1987, the banquet hall on the third floor of the New Takanawa Prince Hotel.

To congratulate the opening of a beauty salon named by Isako, the wife of TBS deputy director Kaga Shinichiro, guests from all walks of life in Tokyo's upper class are arriving one after another.

Of course, this banquet is full of familiar faces that are often seen on TV.

After all, TV anchors, popular actors, idols, and singers all rely on TV stations to earn their living.

No one would miss this opportunity to flatter their boss in an honest and aboveboard manner.

Moreover, due to the special connections of the TV station, many people from the financial and economic circles, as well as some members of the public and senators from Tokyo, led by representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, representatives from Dentsu, Japan's largest advertising company, and the secretary of the Tokyo Governor, also came.

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So much so that the hostess Isako, who is so radiant and dressed up in a beautiful dress, can actually be reduced to a secondary role.

Although people from the TV station, entertainment industry, and beauty industry will all be entertained by her personally.

However, as soon as a politician or financial celebrity appears, she will transform into the role of a receptionist, reject the young employee who should be responsible for signing in at the door, and personally take the distinguished guests to the table at the front.

Although Shinichiro Kaga, who was sitting at the main table, had gray hair, he still looked energetic.

Needless to say, the real distinguished guests came to congratulate him only for his sake.

So he is actually the convener of this banquet, and he is obliged to greet the guests at each table.

Shinichiro Kaga, who has a wide range of people and is good at sociability, has a bold style, shaking hands and patting shoulders. He is completely a social cow.

In comparison, the young Isako seemed to be much weaker in terms of momentum, and could only greet her affectionately and bow.

From this aspect, they are actually a well-matched couple.

After all, in a family like theirs, so-called romance and love are not that important.

Being able to maintain the family's current social level and achieve steady growth in wealth and social relationships is the top priority.

This is the essence of upper-class marriage.

As for Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko, they came back from the Republic specifically for the opening of Isako's beauty salon.

After all, the purpose of any banquet may never be so pure.

The real focus of communication may never be as simple as the theme of the banquet.

Just like this banquet, on the surface it was just to celebrate the little side business of Mr. Kagaku’s wife.

But in fact, because there are so many big people here, we really can’t take it lightly.

From a certain perspective, this banquet is actually much more important than the awards ceremony of some famous entertainment industry awards.

And that’s not even counting, even excluding the causal relationship with Teresa Teng’s award.

But next, whether Isako's beauty salon can prosper is also linked to the advertising of "Li Xianglan" and the broadcast of "Dream of Red Mansions" in Japan. There is no room for Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko to take it seriously.

Of course, given the weight of Ning Weimin's actual sponsor and the importance of Matsumoto Keiko's promise to play the role of master of ceremonies, their treatment must also be preferential.

For this reason, they have become the two most special guests among the non-political and financial guests.

Their seats were also arranged to the main table at the front, sharing the seats with those backbone forces who are truly leading the direction of Japan.

So much so that when they were invited to the front by Isako herself, it attracted the attention of many people.

Not only countless colleagues in the entertainment industry witnessed their glorious treatment, but also the noble guests at the forefront cast curious eyes on them.

To be honest, Ning Weimin, who was wearing a black dress and a black tie around his neck for the first time, was a little nervous walking in front of everyone. He was even more nervous than when he was a model on the runway of the Beijing Hotel.

Because this is not only the first time he has attended such a formal high-end banquet in Japan.

It was his first shining appearance in the circles of Japan's upper class society.

It was also the first time that he and Matsumoto Keiko appeared openly together in front of the public, and the first time they no longer deliberately concealed their relationship in front of media reporters.

And Ning Weimin is not a public figure.

Facing the curious and scrutinizing eyes from all directions, he could not remain calm and calm like Matsumoto Keiko, who regarded everyone around him as nothing.

This may be the latest change that he needs to adapt to most, and it is also the ability that he needs to master as soon as possible.

He also knows that after his relationship with Matsumoto Keiko is officially announced, this situation may become the new normal for him.

Fortunately, under this situation, Ning Weimin suddenly thought of the domestic director Chen.

He still remembered that when he attended Cannes a few years later, the great director was about to say a famous saying while sitting in a Lincoln car - "Second girl, from now on we are the best."

With Director Chen Da’s well-timed joke at the bottom, I don’t know why, but my nervousness miraculously disappeared a lot.

This is probably also a benefit unique to time travellers.

But even so, Ning Weimin had to say that sitting at the main table was actually not as comfortable as others looked.

Because he knows very well that the Japanese people have a strong sense of hierarchy.

These "noble" people sitting at the same table were probably just curious about the two of them.

At most, I can only speculate in my mind about the relationship between the two of them.

He will never really take these two seriously and think that they are worthy of being on an equal footing with him.

What's more, Ning Weimin had to admit that his own business was indeed too small.

Even if Dadao Trading Co., Huibundang Bookstore and Dangong Restaurant are added together, the current monthly turnover is about one billion yen.

If you don't count his speculative business, there are no stocks and land, only his industrial assets.

Then he is really at the level of a medium-sized factory owner.

Then follow the old man's teachings and follow the power of the nobles.

Since he has no power to rely on at the moment, the best choice is not to speak lightly to avoid being looked down upon.

To put it bluntly, if you are a question writer in a small town and work hard to enter the city.

After that, he got into a social group with celebrities and respectfully handed his business cards to each one.

No matter how sincere your heart is, what will most likely happen to you?

There is no doubt that someone must have thrown the business card on the ground casually, leaving footprints all over the floor.

Or throw your business card into the trash can while you're on the toilet.

As a result, your name will be laughed at by those who clean up the garbage.

People are self-aware, so there is no need or trouble for them to establish relationships with these noble people and hand them business cards.

The level is different. If you try to curry favor, you will only bring humiliation to yourself, and may even cause Matsumoto Keiko to lose face.

On the other hand, if you remain true to yourself, neither humble nor arrogant, you may be able to make people look up to you.

However, the encounters in life are still so unpredictable. As the saying goes, there are no encounters in life.

It was precisely when Ning Weimin decided to keep a respectful distance from these big shots sitting at the table, not to flatter, not to cling, not to hand out business cards, but to deal with the situation politely and courteously.

On the contrary, someone at the table next to him actually recognized him and started chatting with him eagerly.

This person is Director Yoshimoro of Sumitomo Bank Headquarters.

This surprised Ning Weimin.

To be honest, the friendship between them is actually very shallow.

There was not much contact at the beginning, and it was only based on the loopholes in the ATM machine.

As for the last time they met, it had to be traced back to the opening of the Ginza branch of Dan Gong Restaurant.

At that time, Minister Yoshimo was a guest representing Sumitomo Bank and was invited to support us.

However, after the banquet ended, the vulnerability in the ATM machine was successfully resolved, and they have not had contact with each other since.

The only few contacts we have are to send official greeting cards in time for the Japanese New Year.

After all, Ning Weimin benefited a lot from that incident.

Not only did he open an account at Sumitomo Bank, but he also received a ten-year unsecured loan of 300 million yen and a credit card with a credit limit of 5 million yen. He also became a VIP customer of Sumitomo Bank.

Therefore, the meeting on this occasion was really a chance encounter.

What's even more rare is that the other party actually recognized me first and was so polite that he took the initiative to offer me a cigar.

Naturally, Ning Weimin would not refuse the goodwill expressed by the other party, so he violated the principle of almost quitting smoking and responded enthusiastically.

So now it's good, the people from Sumitomo and Shinichiro Kaga value it, and the big star Keiko Matsumoto is there to compensate.

The people at the same table unknowingly glanced at him again.

After learning that he was a foreigner and concluding that he could not be a freeloader, some people mistakenly thought that there might be a big shot in the Republic hiding behind him, and they actually became somewhat interested in getting to know him.

As a result, Ning Weimin's situation was greatly improved. He actually had verbal communication with several members of the House of Representatives and exchanged each other's business cards.

It has to be said that, unintentionally, Ning Weimin once again benefited from the Sumitomo Zaibatsu and successfully expanded some contacts.

Just like that, when three o'clock in the afternoon arrived, the huge venue was already filled with smoke and the smell of alcohol.

Although it was still February, the temperature in the hotel was so high that I almost sweated.

Especially after it was confirmed that approximately 300 attendees were present, someone quickly ran to the main table to inform Matsumoto Keiko that she was about to take the stage and set up a microphone for her.
To be continued...