Chapter 361: Birthday Party
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In the garden of Dingtian Group's leisure villa, the lawn was redecorated. The table was covered by a white table cloth, and beside the table, fresh flowers were organized into the letters, spelling out "Happy-Birthday" in petals.
Today was Yunan Xiao's birthday, and Dai Li had arrived here early. However, he was currently holding his phone with a bitter face.
"Mr. Li, we have arrived at the highway entrance, and will arrive in half an hour, without a traffic jam." A man was talking through the phone.
Dai Li sighed with helplessness. Yunan Xiao's birthday party was about to begin, but Dai Li's birthday gift for her, a Ferrari fxx, was still on the way. It was not the shipping company's fault. Dai Li had found a European shipping company, which offered nice service, but the car was stuck at Customs.
To enter a country, imported cars must pay tariffs, otherwise, they would be regarded as smuggled cars. The import tariff for an imported car was 25%, value-added tax was 17%, and beyond these, there was an additional excise tax that would be charged, according to car emissions, which could run up to 40%.
But this Ferrari was a retirement gift from the Ferrari company to Helheim, who, himself, hadn't spent a cent on it, let alone have any receipt. Therefore, it was impossible to assess the car, so they did they know much tax should be paid.
Moreover, this Ferrari fxx was a special case. It was not a production car, there were only 30 of this particular model in the world. Dai Li's car was a prototype, which was different from ordinary imported cars. Except in Switzerland, in any other European countries, this fxx would be regarded as a racing car, which was only allowed to be used on the racecourse.
The Customs did have a special entry detection channel for racing cars. But according to domestic rules, a racing car must have a contest invitation to enter the country. Dai Li didn't have any invitation letter, so Customs couldn't refer to racing-car standards to let the car into the country.
Dai Li could do nothing to help, so finally, he found a trade company which specialized in importing and exporting, and together, they spent great efforts to complete the customs formalities. To be honest, if Dai Li turned to Yunan Xiao for help, based on Dingtian Group's power, it wouldn't take much effort to have the car be let the in, but Dai Li wanted to give Yunan Xiao a surprise. Hence, the car took longer to arrive.
Luckily, now the car was about to arrive, and Yunan Xiao's birthday party just started, so everything was working well so far.
...
"Who were you talking with?" Yunan Xiao's voice rang behind Dai Li. She walked closer, stretched her arm to Dai Li, and asked: "Where is my birthday gift?"
"On the way, it will arrive soon." Dai Li smiled.
"So what is it?" Yunan Xao was curious about the gift.
"It's a secret. You will know. But I'm pretty sure that it is unique in this world," Dai Li said with confidence.
"You know I don't need anything, you don't have to waste your money on my birthday gift. I would be happy with anything you give me, even if it's just a flower you picked from the roadside." Yunan Xiao said, showing her love.
"I wouldn't do that. Your friends are here, plus those 'young talents', I can't let you lose face!" smiled Dai Li.
Worry flashed across Yunan Xiao's eyes. She wanted to say something, but gave up in the end.
"What's wrong?" Dai Li caught Yunan Xiao's facial expression.
"Nothing." Yunan Xiao shook her head: "Come, let me introduce you to my friends!"
...
"Aha, Prince Chai is here."
"Prince Chai? Do you mean Liang Chai?"
"Of course, who else's surname is Chai?"
Under the crowd's focus, Liang Chai showed up in front of Dai Li and Yunan Xiao.
"That man is the second son of the Hong Kong shipping magnate Wang's eldest son. Have you ever heard about the shipping magnate Chai?" Yunan Xiao reminded Dai Li in a low voice.
"Of course, he is one of the four shipping magnates in Hong Kong, became rich in the nineteen fifties, and is now an old, rich man."
Dai Li nodded and said, "Is Liang Chai on your 'young talents' list?"
Yunan Xiao replied to Dai Li with a stare, and said: "Let's go meet him!"
Yunan Xiao walked toward Liang Chai with her arms around Dai Li. Liang Chai saw Yunan Xiao, too, but he also noticed Dai Li, confusion crossing his eyes then.
"Welcome, Mr. Chai!" Yunan Xiao greeted him with a polite smile.
"You invited me, I dare not refuse."Liang Chai spoke in Hong Kong Style Putonghua, as he took a delicate gift box from his assistant.
"Happy birthday!" Liang Chai smiled like a gentleman. He opened the box and said, "This emerald is called 'Star of the Princess', and it fits you the most, my princess."
...
"That emerald, 'Star of the Princess', is it famous?"
"Star of the Princess, I know, it used to be exhibited in the Mainland, and later was auctioned in Hong Kong, I heard the final price was thirteen million Hong Kong dollars! So it was bought by Prince Chai."
"How much is it? Thirteen million? This Prince Chai is so generous, a thirteen-million dollar birthday gift, is he serious?"
"Prince Chai's real interest is not in emeralds! It's a pity that Yunan Xiao has already got a boyfriend."
"You mean that poor coach beside her? How could he match Yunan Xiao? You see the gifts she has received today. Million-dollar gifts are gathered in piles, plus this thirteen-million Star of the Princess, and that poor coach can't earn that much ever in his life. I say he is living off a woman."
"Yeah, if I were him, seeing that the others give my girlfriend such expensive gifts, I would already feel ashamed and dig a hole to bury myself in."
"Right? Plus, it's an emerald, huh, the color of forgiveness! What a cuckold!"
"Hey, don't be so mean!"
The crowd discussed all of these things in low voices, and although Liang Chai couldn't hear them clearly, he was quite sure that they were talking about his bounteous gift. All of a sudden, his heart was filled with inexplicable priority.
"Three-million, for the Star of the Princess, I say the others' gifts could be no more valuable than his. I heard that president Xiao is here, too. Today, Liang Chai does show himself in front of President Xiao!" Fen Luo held a glass in his hand, looking at the show with interest.
"I wouldn't say that." Beside him, Yang Chen showed a playful smile.
"Hey Yang Chen, are you hiding a trump card? Give me some clues." Fen Luo lowered his voice.
"Mr. Luo, you thought too highly of me. I would feel pain to even buy a million-yuan gift." Yang Chen shook his head: "But someone else may spend money like water."
As he said this, a truck approached from afar.
...
Dai Li also saw the truck.
Finally! Dai Li took a long breath. He smiled with relief. But the next second, Dai Li realized that this truck didn't have a container, but used a trailer to carry a red roadster. A red roadster? It's not my fxx. Dai Li felt bad at once.
The truck came to the gate from a distance. When it finally arrived, it had already attracted everyone's attention. There was a red roadster on the trail, which had a white silk bowknot on the car.
Is this roadster a gift for Yunan Xiao? Many people had the same question.
At this time, Liancheng Jia finally showed up. He also held a delicate box with him, when he walked toward Yunan Xiao, but the box had a running horse sign on its top, which was the logo of Ferrari.
"Yunan, happy birthday!" Liancheng Jia opened the box, revealing that there were three keys in it: one was an electronic key, the others were mechanical keys. On the red key shell, the running horse sign was eye-catching. At this time, workers had already unloaded the red roadster. The crowd was able to see it clearly now.
"It's a Ferrari, I always wanted to have one!"
"If I'm right, this car is worth more than twenty-two million dollars, and just days ago in the Donggang Car show, I saw it on display … it was the climax of the entire Ferrari exhibition."
"One of the best roadsters in the world, I bet there are few in the entire country!"
"Liancheng Jia is indeed generous, if he is willing to give this car as a gift."
"I felt that Prince Chai was handsome enough, in giving a thirteen-million emerald pendant, now it seems that Liancheng Jia is even cooler, as he gives a twenty-two million dollar roadster!"
"As for roadsters, Ferrari is the world's best, isn't it?"
"Yang Chen is here, he knows most about cars, let's ask him later."
...
Fen Luo eye-signaled the roadster from afar, then asked: "Is this what you meant when you said, spend money like water?"
Yang Chen nodded: "In the Donggang car show a few days ago, this Ferrari was the most expensive one. To us roadster fans, it is what we have been dreaming of."
"Then it means that Liancheng Jia has been running down leads on this!" Fen Luo gave a long sigh.
"Prince Chai's emerald pendant was immediately defeated. You see his face, now he is not as complacent as before," Yang Chen said in a low tone.
Fen Luo turned around to look at the main buildings in the villa: "President Xiao is there watching everything, I wonder whether Liancheg Jia caught his eye or not!"
...
"This is my boyfriend, Dai Li." Yunan Xiao introduced Dai Li to some people in front, her arm linked in Dai Li's.
"So this is Coach Li?" A fashion woman looked at Dai Li with picky eyes, asking in a voice dripping with sarcasm: "Today is Yunan's birthday, dear coach, what do you have for her?"
Anger flashed across Yunan Xiao's eyes, showing that she clearly felt that this fashion woman was up to no good. The other rich second generations around them also looked at Dai Li, waiting to see a drama.
Among these people present, men envied Dai Li, as he was the lucky dog to be Yunan Xiao's boyfriend, while women felt jealous about Yunan Xiao, who was born into a rich family with a beautiful face. Therefore, they were willing to see Dai Li being stupid.
Yunan Xiao linked Dai Li's arm tight, she was worried that those people would bring a terrible blow to Dai Li's self-esteem. To their surprise, Dai Li was still confident, as he looked at Yunan Xiao with love, then replied, as if he was showing off their love: "My gift for Yunan is on the way, it should be here soon."
"Huh, still on the way, then we will take a good look at it after it arrives!" The fashion woman still talked with sarcasm.
At this moment, Dingtian Xiao's assistant Zhicheng Huang came from a distance. "Your father's assistant is coming," Dai Li reminded Yunan Xiao.
As Yunan Xiao turned around, she also saw Zhicheng Huang. "My dad may want to see me, "Yunan Xiao said, walking to Zhicheng Huang herself. But Zhicheng Huang looked at Dai Li instead.
"Coach Li, the President wants to see you," said Zhicheng Huang.
"President Xiao wants to see me?"Dai Li looked at Yunan Xiao, showing her a "don't worry" look, while he said: "Your father wants to see me. I will come back soon."
Yunan Xiao looked at Dai Li with worry in her eyes, a sinking feeling raising up in her heart.