Chapter 204 - 204 203 Shooting Oneself in the Foot

Words : 1823 Updated : Sep 23rd, 2025

204: Chapter 203: Shooting Oneself in the Foot 204: Chapter 203: Shooting Oneself in the Foot If Liu Hun’s performance in the previous rounds could be described as stunning, this round’s was just two words—comical! Xie Huan had intended to ridicule Liu Hun, but started pondering instead. He scrutinized George Watson’s face for a long time but couldn’t detect any trickery, always wondering if by letting Liu Hun go first in this round, he might have set a trap for him to fall into. Xie Huan, who had been calculating in his mind, smelled the wine and tasted it over and over, convinced that it was the world-class brand Latour and couldn’t possibly be any adulterated swill! After much hesitation, Xie Huan couldn’t read anything from Liu Hun’s expression. He was firm in his belief, and Liu Hun was definitely trying to trick him! “Latour!” Xie Huan finally gave his answer, “This glass of wine is Château Latour, not some cheap blended stuff! Our group would never have such a thing! Right, Mr. Watson?!” Xie Huan’s last words were almost threatening as he questioned George Watson. Watson seemed unable to grasp the implications of the Chinese hint or simply chose to ignore Xie Huan’s comment and merely asked for further elaboration from both parties. Seeing that Watson was ignoring him, Xie Huan, eager for a response, blurted out like a dog scrambling for scraps, “This is Château Latour from the 1990 vintage! Château Latour, carefully selecting top-quality grapes and following the traditional Bordeaux winemaking practices, preserves a rich fruity aroma through controlled-temperature fermentation in tanks. The wine has a brilliant ruby color with a hint of purple luster at the edges. Overflowing with fruit aromas, long-lasting, with scents of blackcurrant and red fruits. Smooth on the palate with a plum jam aroma, balanced and elegant, complex in body with lingering flavors.” “This is what the wine feels like to me! It has to be Château Latour! There’s no way it’s off!” Xie Huan said, adding another sentence that seemed like a self-encouragement. Liu Hun was no less confident; as soon as Xie Huan finished speaking, he bluntly stated, “Sugar, spirits with edible additives. It can imitate very high-end wine brands, and clearly, those who are not regular wine drinkers or lack sufficient knowledge about wine cannot discern this. For example... the malnourished thing sitting across me.” “Shut up! Shut your mouth right now! This is an insult to our group! Director Wang! I demand, call security this very moment to throw him out! Now! Immediately! At once!” Xie Huan bellowed like a boar that had failed to mate, but deep down, he was laughing viciously. He not only intended to leverage this pretext to invoke a sense of honor among the Hu Group’s management to win the wine tasting, but also to severely punish Liu Hun! Indeed, Liu Hun’s words truly bothered many people at Hu Group. As a global top-tier conglomerate, sophistication was synonymous with Hu Group. When would such a high-level gathering ever witness adulterated products?! Hu Qingdie, however, was worried about Liu Hun. The corporate culture and sense of honor at Hu Group was her father’s highest priority, deeply rooted in and vehemently emphasized among the employees. Now that Liu Hun’s words had been seized by Xie Huan and twisted, she, as the chairperson, found herself caught between a rock and a hard place, not even knowing how to open her mouth to offer help. It was over! Liu Hun had caused a disaster! Xie Huan had manipulated his response! So underhanded! Why... why was Liu Hun acting as if nothing was wrong? Did he forget who had just answered? Huang Zishan was equally anxious, not knowing what to do next. “Ladies and gentlemen! Please, quiet down! Let’s hear what Mr. Watson has to say to find out the actual answer!” Director Wang quickly stepped in to stabilize the situation, adeptly handling such events. George Watson, who had previously been expressionless as if stricken with facial paralysis, suddenly burst into a loud laughter, his transformation from stoic to seemingly unhinged surprising everyone in the room. “This is the most, most, most interesting glass of wine in this tasting! The reason being... hahaha...” Watson laughed again, teasing everyone’s anticipation to the maximum before settling down to speak, “It’s indeed just as Mr. Guan said, an adulterated wine!” After Watson delivered this bombshell, hardly anyone present could muster a laugh, and many even felt a sense of shame. Why use something adulterated at all, and to top it off, to have Liu Hun guess it spot on! The audience, inflamed by Xie Huan’s rhetoric, felt a suffocating discomfort as if they had swallowed filth, originally ready to lash out at Liu Hun, but, alas, he wasn’t wrong, so their frustration just kept mounting. After his plan to incite the crowd against Liu Hun failed, Xie Huan saw the situation clearly: this affair had slapped many faces, and he needed an outlet for venting. Besides, with the wine-tasting event having reached this point, he had utterly lost. However, he thought of a way to turn defeat into victory! “Everyone, quiet down! Hear me out!” Xie Huan had a scheme in mind, so he raised his voice and shouted to those around him until all eyes were fixed on him. Then he started speaking with a cold laugh, “It’s true that the wine-tasting event is part of Hu Group’s culture and tradition! I also accept the traditional rules of winning and losing! But ...” As he spoke, Xie Huan stretched out a hand, not pointing at Liu Hun, but rather at someone unexpected—George Watson! “The way this wine-tasting has been conducted has severely damaged our Hu Group’s image! What will the consequences be if news of this spreads and is exploited by our rivals?!” Xie Huan said and intentionally paused to gauge the reaction of the crowd. As expected, just like Xie Huan predicted, most of the people there were part of management, along with some grassroots elite, and they all agreed with his words. It was as if the nobility had gathered in the Imperial Palace for a meal and suddenly found a moldy steamed bun on the table—it was no longer a matter of eating, but of face. “So! First, I demand that the results of this wine-tasting event be completely nullified! Secondly, the person who set the questions for this event must be held accountable! No matter who they are! Whatever their status! They must come out, apologize, and then get lost! Keep rolling until they’re completely out of the group!” Xie Huan intended to make full use of the incident; he could guess with his toes that the question setter for this wine-tasting was surely Hu Qingdie. Even if Hu Qingdie couldn’t be driven away, he could use the incident to weaken her influence and tarnish her reputation! Just as the crowd was about to burst with indignation, George Watson suddenly raised his voice and called out, “Ladies and gentlemen, please calm down! If you all want to follow Mr. Xie’s suggestion ... I am willing to tell you all who set this question!” It’s over! This foreign devil flips sides faster than flipping a book! The Chairman is going to be betrayed! Huang Zishan bit her lip and edged toward Hu Qingdie; she had previously heard from Hu Qingdie that, as Chairman, she had set a very special question for this wine-tasting event! Thus, she wanted to reach Hu Qingdie before the crowd could erupt with excitement. “Hmph! Mr. George, is there any doubt? Right now! It’s quite clear! Right now! In front of everyone! Tell us immediately who set the question!” Xie Huan demanded with almost a threatening tone to George Watson, not caring about any partner or not—he wanted to be the one riding on top of Hu Qingdie and holding the president’s seal in his hand! George Watson smiled, took out his phone, then dialed a number in front of everyone. As the call connected, he spoke loudly, “Since you all want to know, listen to this!” “Doo doo doo ... Beep!” After the call connected, George Watson immediately said, “My esteemed ...” During the brief pause while George Watson’s face still wore a smile, everyone at the event, filled with a sense of honor for Hu Group and a conviction in their own worth, management and grassroots elite alike, could hardly wait to immediately know who had set the question, to publicly pull them out and beat them to a cripple. Everyone was waiting with bated breath, the board bigwigs for the consequences of this matter, and the upper management in anticipation of a massive reorganization among the board members, with everyone plotting for their own gain! Xie Huan’s eyes stayed locked on Hu Qingdie, and as the call connected, with no sign of Hu Qingdie taking out her phone, a flicker of panic crossed his mind. But he quickly thought that this must be someone instructed by Hu Qingdie, and as long as they found this person, there was no fear of not being able to topple Hu Qingdie! Amidst the waiting crowd, each with their own motives, George Watson finally called out the identity of the person! “My esteemed ... Vice Chairman Xie, someone is quite dissatisfied with the third question you set and wants to vocalize their intention to pursue the accountability for tarnishing the company’s reputation.” After George Watson finished, his eyes full of a joking look, he held up the phone, staring at Xie Huan. “Who?! I have worked hard for the company, and yet someone dares to question me? Can only your Chairman Hu set a question, and not I?! I even fell ill over this! Who is it?! Mr. George, please tell me, who exactly is it?! I believe that this malicious slander, damaging to the company’s culture, is the true besmirchment of the company’s reputation!” Xie Dan said from the other end of the phone, filled with righteous indignation, thinking this must be a director from Hu Qingdie’s camp causing trouble. Since that was the case, why not just play along, kick up a fuss, and ultimately achieve the goal of clipping Hu Qingdie’s wings! Xie Dan was shouting over the phone, but on this end, there was the eerie silence before a looming tempest. Everyone knew the fierce power struggle within the group, and now the wine-tasting event had become a veritable fuse, ready to explode at any moment! Xie Huan’s malnourished face, now not only red and white but also darkening with greenish black—commonly referred to as the darkening of the forehead—had wanted to use this opportunity to turn the tide. Little did he expect that the question had actually been set by his own aunt, Xie Dan.

Chapter 204 - 204 203 Shooting Oneself in the Foot

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