Chapter 60: President Chen Is Extraordinary

When Zhao Xiangjun was with Chen Xiao, she had never considered any of these material things.

When their relationship truly began to deepen, she still thought he was just a poor young man, and even financially supported him, encouraging him to work hard and get ahead.

She was never someone who pursued material luxuries. If it were anyone else, suddenly coming into possession of several million, and with a sustainable income at that, who would still go to work? Who would still wear clothes bought from online budget stores? They would have already become regulars at various luxury boutiques.

She had never had such thoughts. Her consistent attitude toward these external possessions was simply that if she liked something, it was good; if she didn't like it, she wouldn't pursue or fawn over it, no matter how ultra-luxurious or prestigious the brand might be.

However, Zhao Hui's words made a certain amount of sense. Men under the heavens could talk the dead back to life when coaxing a woman, but when it truly came time for them to contribute, the vast majority of men started playing dead.

Even with all his wealth, before their relationship was officially confirmed and even before there was any physical intimacy, Chen Xiao had thoughtfully and secretly bought a house for her and acquired shares in Inor Company for her.

She understood that he was treating her well with all his heart, which was why a conservative girl like her had given herself to him completely and without reservation.

Money could not serve as the standard to measure feelings, but through a leopard spot one could glimpse the whole; it showed whether a man had truly invested his heart.

She did not bother explaining that the house wasn't just half hers, but belonged to her entirely; doing so would be pointless.

Chen Xiao had no idea that Zhao Xiangjun's parents had arrived at Emerald Lake Mansions. Eating alone was rather dull, so he made a few phone calls to invite some people over for a game of Guandan and a meal of local country-style cuisine.

His current social circle was not very large, consisting only of those few people he could actually converse with. As for his college classmates like孟建树 (Meng Jianshu) and 陶勇 (Tao Yong), maintaining a surface-level politeness in the future would be enough; they were simply not people of the same path and lacked common topics of conversation.

That afternoon, he sent messages to Li Guoqiang and Cha Lan, asking if they had time for a small get-together in the evening.

This was his first time inviting the two of them, and they quickly replied that they were available.

Cha Lan specifically asked whether he should bring a female companion, knowing that Cha Lan had always assumed Chen Xiao had romantic intentions toward Xu Wu, which was why he had been so helpful in securing orders for her.

Chen Xiao didn't want to over-explain; he certainly couldn't tell them he was doing it for the system's reward bonus. Besides, he also had a quite favorable impression of Xu Wu. She was an independent woman with a strong personality, a career-driven professional woman, and unlike many social butterflies, she possessed a distinct individuality.

He politely declined Cha Lan's suggestion to bring Xu Wu along, thinking to himself that if Xu Wu was unwilling, Cha Lan probably wouldn't be able to force her anyway, which would only make things awkward.

Li Guoqiang brought Yang Ming along. On one hand, someone was needed to handle the logistics and service; on the other hand, playing Guandan required four players, and they were just one person short.

The dinner location had been arranged by Li Guoqiang—a local country-style restaurant with an extremely hidden location, so hidden that if you walked past the front door, you wouldn't even realize it was a restaurant.

There was no fancy decoration, not even a signboard. It just hung a sign the size of an A4 sheet of paper that read: Old Jia's Restaurant.

This was Chen Xiao's first time here. According to Li Guoqiang's introduction, this restaurant only served four tables of guests per day—two at noon and two in the evening. There was no menu; you simply ate whatever the boss cooked.

The restaurant's defining feature was the freshness of its ingredients. Every morning, the boss personally selected the ingredients, came back to cook them himself, and prepared everything in small individual batches.

It had the authentic flavor of home-cooked meals, and it was exceptionally delicious, with an average cost of about three hundred yuan per person.

Given Chen Xiao's financial condition, there was probably nowhere he didn't dare to eat, but dining was all about feeling comfortable rather than blindly pursuing high consumption.

The so-called precious delicacies in many high-end restaurants were only worth trying for the novelty, and he would never have any interest in going a second time. On the contrary, these characteristic local restaurants suited his palate much better.

Since he was the host of the gathering, he arrived quite early, carried a case of Moutai wine to the side, and sent messages to Cha Lan and Li Guoqiang respectively to let them know he had arrived.

Since Zhao Xiangjun was busy dining with her parents, Chen Xiao didn't bombard her with messages, only texting her: "Uncle and Auntie are visiting today, so buy them some clothes or something. If it's on the way, you can grab two cases of wine from the house for them to take along. As for cigarettes, just buy some yourself."

Since Chen Xiao didn't smoke, there were no cigarettes kept at home. As for wine, because he frequently needed it for social engagements and buying individual bottles was too troublesome, he had purchased twenty cases in one go and had them delivered to Emerald Lake Mansions.

Upon learning that Chen Xiao had arrived, Li Guoqiang and Cha Lan likely pushed aside whatever matters they had on hand and rushed over as quickly as possible, entering Old Jia's Restaurant almost simultaneously.

The two men knew each other, having previously discussed business cooperation, though they weren't particularly close—it was merely a polite, surface-level acquaintance.

After running into each other outside, they exchanged a few polite pleasantries before heading together to the private dining room booked by Chen Xiao.

"President Li, President Cha, you two got here so fast!" Chen Xiao stood up and said with a smile.
"When President Chen issues an invitation, I naturally have to hurry. I actually had a reception scheduled for this afternoon, but I pushed it to tomorrow!" Li Guoqiang laughed.

Having previously secured two orders from China Inspection Equipment through Chen Xiao, Cha Lan knew that Chen Xiao had a profound relationship with the company, though he had always assumed Chen Xiao had simply managed to latch onto someone influential.

However, judging from Li Guoqiang's demeanor tonight, it wasn't like that at all. The level of importance Li Guoqiang attached to Chen Xiao didn't feel like how one treated a client; rather, he placed Chen Xiao's status even higher than his own!

Cha Lan quickly chimed in, "President Li is right. It's my brother's dinner party—I'd come even if it meant blowing off my own girlfriend!"

His remark instantly set off a round of hearty laughter among them.

The so-called girlfriend he mentioned was naturally his mistress on the side. Bringing it up openly showed, on one hand, that he didn't treat the others as outsiders, and on the other hand, it demonstrated how much importance he attached to Chen Xiao's invitation, not even fearing his girlfriend's anger.

Chen Xiao hadn't realized Cha Lan had such skills. To be able to secure a girlfriend looking like that, he probably paved the way entirely with money.

The group sat down and began playing Guandan, with Chen Xiao and Li Guoqiang playing as partners against Cha Lan and Yang Ming.

As the executive vice president of business for China Inspection Equipment, Yang Ming was usually treated with courtesy by Cha Lan. Today, however, he seemed to be acting more like a servant. Part of this was because his boss, Li Guoqiang, was present, but his extreme flattery toward Chen Xiao was also evident.

Cha Lan thought to himself, it seemed he had still underestimated Chen Xiao's influence.

After a full round of cards, during which Cha Lan and Yang Ming failed to win a single game, Li Guoqiang smiled and said, "Little Yang, don't play business cards here. I don't like it, and President Chen doesn't either!"

Yang Ming laughed awkwardly and replied, "Of course not. It's mainly because your skills and President Chen's skills are just too good; I ended up dragging President Cha down!"

Cha Lan also modestly chimed in with self-deprecation. After going through a round of cards, everyone grew familiar with one another, and the conversation gradually opened up.

Seizing an opportune moment, Cha Lan said, "Business is tough these days, and recently I've really had to rely on the support of President Li and President Chen. Otherwise, our pressure would be immense."

Li Guoqiang, adept at handling human relations, smiled and said, "President Cha, you just need to thank President Chen. To be honest, those two orders of yours both came with greetings from higher-up leadership. But since President Chen requested that the business be given to you, I had no choice but to make the leadership unhappy!"