Chapter 143: All Kinds of People

Dealing with the aftermath of an airport landing simply required money, as the ground crew handled everything.

However, private jets and specialized airports were not exempt. Two British customs officers were still waiting at the cabin door to inspect visas and passports, the only difference being that passengers could bypass the overcrowded queues at the regular counters.

The two fellows looked somewhat impatient as they urged, "Why are you all moving so sluggishly? Hurry up, don't waste time."

After urging Ma Weimin and the others to disembark quickly, they stepped forward to collect everyone's documents and forms for inspection.

Good grief, Ma Weimin only then realized that the one who knew nothing about real power was none other than himself as the young master. Thank goodness he hadn't tried to smuggle a female thug into the country.

Feng Chenchen looked somewhat awkward, while Zeng Xiaoxian hurriedly exchanged glances to calm everyone down. The general implication was that there was no benefit in offending them, otherwise there was no telling if they would face deportation or be invited for a cup of tea.

Clearly, Zeng Xiaoxian had encountered this sort of thing much more often than Feng Chenchen. It wasn't as though people would automatically show respect just because you flew in on a private jet; the so-called sneering attitude existed in every social class, depending entirely on the location. Since these officers were stationed here permanently and this airfield specifically handled such aircraft, theoretically, they had seen it all to the point of numbness and complete indifference.

Even among a group of tycoons flying private jets, they still judged people by their status, nationality, and exact identity.

Just like a Lexus, could someone else's Lexus in Haizhou ever compare to Jiang Yaowen's? There were plenty of people in Haizhou who owned Bentleys, but the license plates on their cars were fundamentally different from Zeng Xiaoxian's. It was pretty much that simple.

With no other choice, they had to patiently cooperate with customs.

The female customs officer, who was reasonably attractive, wore a peculiar expression as she looked at Ma Weimin's passport at least ten times, and then looked at Ma Weimin's face another ten times. She even opened the customs app on her tablet, inputted the information, and carefully cross-referenced it.

This inevitably made Ma Weimin feel a bit guilty.

Eventually, the female customs officer paused slightly, her attitude shifting somewhat as she returned the documents to Ma Weimin with both hands.

Ma Weimin couldn't help asking, "We were made to hover and wait for three planes to land—who were they?"

Good grief, hearing this young man speak in a strong local dialect, the female customs officer froze for a moment before smiling and replying, "Have a pleasant trip."

"Yet you haven't answered my question," Ma Weimin pressed further.

With no other choice, she smiled helplessly and said, "The first one cannot be disclosed. The second is Knightley. The third is the Lee family's young lady, Lee Hyo-ri. Sir, are there any other questions?"

Zeng Xiaoxian and Feng Chenchen were somewhat baffled, finding it very strange that this sneering customs officer seemed rather respectful toward Brother Ma.

"There is a question. Why the hell did you make us wait?" Ma Weimin continued to press.

The female customs officer gave a nearly philosophical reply, "You rich people are the class that cares most about privileges, aren't you? Since privilege is emphasized, privileges themselves are bound to be unequal."

...

Of the three planes that had landed earlier, the first group had departed with extraordinary efficiency, while the latter two seemed to have a lot of luggage and were still lingering.

The car arranged by Zeng Xiaoxian had not yet arrived, while the people who had landed earlier were already beginning to leave. The first group was a motorcade of Rolls-Royces.

The window in the back of the flagship car was rolled down, and a strikingly pretty young woman raised her chin. As she passed by, she muttered disdainfully toward Ma Weimin and the others, "Bloody Chinese upstarts, running amok all over the world day in and day out."

What?

Ma Weimin wore a dark expression. Sneering faces weren't rare, but did she have to be so arrogant, and had to mutter it loud enough for them to hear? This was already a provocation.

Zeng Xiaoxian heard it but held his temper, saying in a low voice, "To be honest, the Lee family is actually quite pathetic these days, perhaps because the drop from their former glory is just too massive. Back in the nineties, aside from being mega-rich, they were somewhat akin to political figures who could directly converse with top leaders of many nations. But now, that aura of status is long gone; they're just a bunch of capital handlers without any core competitiveness, and even in terms of wealth, they've slipped to the quasi-first tier. It's understandable that they can't adjust their mindset for a moment."

Just then, the second group—the motorcade of the legendary superstar Knightley—also departed.

With her window similarly rolled down, Knightley looked over at Ma Weimin and the others with curiosity.

"It's her, it's really her! I'm here on this trip specifically to see her," Feng Chenchen hopped around in the distance, waving at her motorcade.

However, Knightley didn't know her; she simply put on her sunglasses and rolled up the window glass.

Left with a dark expression, waiting idly for the car Zeng Xiaoxian had arranged, it still hadn't shown up...

At this time, high-end hotels were basically fully booked, though fortunately, Zeng Xiaoxian had some connections and had made reservations in advance.

Through the misty drizzle, riding in a Mercedes sent by The Ritz to pick them up, they sat in a massive traffic jam. By the time they reached the hotel, it was utter chaos—luxury cars were gathered everywhere, and checking in required waiting in line.

It seemed that this hotel, with a history of over a hundred years, was welcoming some grand event.

With a confident and all-knowing smile, Zeng Xiaoxian said, "Just wait slowly, no need to rush. White people have very high standards of civility, they will queue up in an orderly fashion..."

Before he could even finish his sentence, Zeng Xiaoxian was metaphorically slapped hard across the face as numerous luxury cars nearby began cutting the line ahead of them.

Putting up a forced front through his embarrassment, Zeng Xiaoxian said, "Well, that's true too. Actually, no matter where you go, you find all sorts of people."

The luxury cars cutting the line turned out to be vintage classic cars and horse-drawn carriages.

From time to time, they overheard a few order-maintaining staff members muttering as they passed by about some grand champagne gala taking place here, compounded by the Royal Ascot horse races, which was why people from all over had flooded in at around the same time.

Of course, only Ma Weimin could understand what they were saying; Feng Chenchen and Zeng Xiaoxian couldn't. It was just like traveling to another province domestically and hearing locals speak dialect at ultra-high speed—most people would be completely clueless.

"Filthy rich, these wealthy folks are really incomprehensible. Lee Hyo-ri spent three million pounds to buy that 'Black Princess,' planning to make a huge splash at the race meeting."

"Not just that, this curvy woman looks like she's dying for a good shag. She booked the entire top floor for her stay at our hotel. She forced a bunch of other people to move out, and they were even arguing inside about it."

"I heard the superstar Knightley is coming too. Is that true?"

"Of course it's true. As a socialite, she wouldn't miss an occasion like this."

Muttering among themselves, several hotel staff members headed off to maintain order elsewhere.

Zeng Xiaoxian indeed knew about the champagne gala here and tentatively asked Ma Weimin, "They're hosting an exclusive champagne gala; would you like to attend? The admission ticket is merely a donation-related fifty thousand pounds. If you want to go, I can get three invitations."

Feng Chenchen fully understood the significance of mingling in such circles and immediately grew excited, nodding vigorously on Ma Weimin's behalf.

"Let me make a few phone calls." Zeng Xiaoxian smiled faintly, looking like a man with plenty of tricks up his sleeve, and pulled out his phone to babble away in a hushed conversation...

Finally, the gentlemen and noble ladies wearing expensive hats and riding in luxury vintage cars or horse-drawn carriages finished cutting the line.

The Mercedes pulled up to the entrance, and staff members wearing white gloves came over to handle the luggage.

Their attitude was decent enough; these fellows knew very well that the ones who gave the most generous tips were precisely these Chinese upstarts. As for those truly big shots, many of them wouldn't even tip an extra single penny. For instance, when Buffett visited last time, his helicopter landed right on the roof, and that old bastard even asked the bellhop for change...