OFR – Chapter 276 Betting

At this moment, Dongfang Jing had returned, but her expression was somewhat worried.

Worried?

One must know that such an expression was exceedingly rare for someone like her—a key decision-maker behind Huayi Entertainment, a company worth hundreds of billions.

And when someone at their level could no longer hide such concern, displaying it openly on their face, it meant that what they were facing had already begun to spiral beyond their control.

This kind of look, one that revealed something slipping from control, was something Mu Bai had only seen once before—back when they left Yue’an City and faced the encirclement by Da Cai.

Aside from that, never again.

So he suspected that what Dongfang Jing wanted to discuss with him wasn’t just about him and Mu Xiaoxiao.

At least, not entirely.

Sure enough, once Dongfang Jing came in, she first gestured for Liu Fei’er to head to the bedroom to rest, and then took Mu Bai into the most private and secure place in the skyloft: her personal study.

“Hmm? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Inside the quiet study, Mu Bai asked softly.

Dongfang Jing, standing beside him, showed a clear trace of helplessness on her face as she replied, “Mu Bai, can you promise me something? I actually wanted to say… if anything ever happens to me, or to Huayi Entertainment, I hope you can look after Xiaoxiao. I don’t know what feelings you have for her, but she really, really likes you. And she’s the only close younger relative I have left. I don’t want her to end up with no one to rely on in the future.”

“You? And Huayi Entertainment? Something happens? What kind of thing could make you say something so desperate?”
Mu Bai frowned slightly, visibly surprised.

To be honest, he couldn’t think of anything that could push Dongfang Jing to say something so disheartened—almost despairing.

An accident?

To put someone like Dongfang Jing, worth hundreds of billions and protected by grandmaster-level figures like Bai Xiaojiu, in a situation of danger—that was no small feat.
Even more so, to endanger Huayi Entertainment, a media titan valued at over a trillion and backed by countless top-tier celebrities? That would take something extraordinary.

Mu Bai truly couldn’t figure out what was going on that would lead her to say this.

After a pause of about a minute or two, Dongfang Jing let out a soft sigh and said,
“Mu Bai, do you know the Rong family?”

After sighing, she paused again, then continued:
“Do you know how powerful this family—one that should have faded away with time—has become since reappearing? And now, unless something unexpected happens, they’re exactly who I’ll be facing.”

“Rong family? The flour and cotton tycoons? The Rong family known even before the founding of New Huaxia?”

Mu Bai was a young man of the modern generation. After thinking for a good seven or eight minutes, he could only recall the Rong family from childhood history books—nothing beyond that.

And he felt that if even someone like Dongfang Jing, worth hundreds of billions, was speaking in such a helpless tone, then it could only be that Rong family.

Indeed, if there was ever a family to be called the No. 1 household in Huaxia, then among the true elite, no one would—or could—doubt the Rong family.

Even the founding father of New Huaxia once praised them highly:

“The Rong family is the foremost among Huaxia’s national capitalists, and the only one in the country that can truly be called a conglomerate.”

You could say that before they even faded into seclusion, they had long grown tired of holding all the ace titles: Huaxia’s richest, Flour King, Cotton Tycoon, Strongest Family, and so on.

But now, after more than seventy years in seclusion, they had become mere history in the eyes of many newly risen tycoons.

Truthfully, even Mu Bai thought that way too.

But Dongfang Jing’s words, and the obvious worry on her face, made it clear—this family hadn’t disappeared with time at all.

On the contrary, they had grown even more powerful.

And now, they were reemerging—revealing once more the sharp edge that had once made others unable to look them in the eye.

Thinking this over, Mu Bai was silent for a moment before asking,
“What exactly happened?”

Maybe Dongfang Jing no longer saw Mu Bai as an outsider. She simply shook her head and sighed before speaking frankly:
“Sigh… it’s nothing really. Just a group of people strong enough to overturn the power structure of Nanjing… They’re unwilling to stay quiet and have started to stir up trouble—trying to shake up the current landscape of the city. And the problem is—they’re wealthy, well-connected, and backed by immense strength. Even if they destroy all their influence here in Nanjing, they have enough backing to climb back up again.”

“But Huayi Entertainment and I… we don’t have that kind of power.”

“The most troubling part is, now we can’t even avoid it. All the major powers in Nanjing have started picking sides—”

“From top tycoons like Chen Yunzhi, to the behind-the-scenes decision-makers of Baiyun Group like Yu Youxiong, all the way down to billionaires… Everyone will be gathering at tomorrow’s banquet in Huan Zijin.”

“You could say… tomorrow’s banquet won’t be like previous years. It won’t just be a social dinner—it’ll be a world-shaking gamble that decides the future of Nanjing’s business world.”

At this, Dongfang Jing paused for a moment, then gave a bitter smile and added:
“Heh… and the most laughable thing is… none of the players believe they’ll lose.”