Chapter 9 The Bride Price Of Ten Thousand Dollars
The Tianzhu Hotel had a unique feature: a horn would sound in the lobby when the bride price exceeded a certain amount, announcing it to everyone present.
As soon as Li Shu departed, the announcement resounded throughout the lobby.
"Congratulations to Li Shu on the marriage to Master Shen Tianlin, with a bride price of ten thousand dollars!"
The announcement echoed three times, leaving the classmates at the table in stunned silence, only releasing heavy sighs.
"Ten thousand dollars!"
"Li Shu actually paid ten thousand!"
The classmate who had previously boasted about paying three thousand dollars wished he could vanish into the floor. He had just ridiculed Li Shu for not being able to come up with a few hundred dollars, only to now find himself paying a whopping ten thousand.
"You guys were too harsh earlier," Zhang Tianyu remarked.
Everyone hung their heads in silence, offering no response.
Shen Tianlin's expression remained devoid of any light. Each of Li Shu's ten thousand dollars for the bride price felt like a slap in the face.
Wang Hongyu was also lost in thought.
"Honey, there's something I didn't get the chance to tell you," Wang Hongyu began.
"What is it?" Shen Tianlin inquired.
"Li Shu has joined the Huamei Group and is now the sales manager at Huamei Company," Wang Hongyu revealed.
Shen Tianlin erupted in anger, exclaiming, "Why didn't you inform me of such an important matter earlier!" Had he known that Li Shu was affiliated with the Huamei Group, Shen Tianlin would not have acted so embarrassingly earlier.
"It was Shui Lihua who brought him into the company. It appears that Li Shu and Shui Lihua share a close relationship," Wang Hongyu added.
A coldness crept into Shen Tianlin's features as he declared, "Regardless of who brought him into Huamei, I won't let him off lightly!"
From the time he purchased a car and lost tens of thousands of dollars for naught, Li Shu had already caused him to lose face twice.
"After the wedding, when I return to the company, I will show him who's in charge!"
At the company table, Shui Lihua caught wind of the announcement and lifted her head: Li Shu had arrived!
After a brief search, Shui Lihua finally spotted Li Shu seated at the head table, beside Shen Qihao, surrounded by various prominent figures from Huacheng.
Yin Rong continued to mutter, "Huh! Quite generous! He didn't even reserve a seat, he must have intentionally spent so much money to impress the manager!"
Shui Lihua smiled faintly and whispered, "Look at who's seated at the head table. Your reserved seat, Li Shu probably doesn't care about it!"
Yin Rong gazed up, taken aback.
The previous pride and arrogance had dissipated. He simply muttered, "How is this possible! How is this possible! He's just a newcomer to the company, how can he qualify to sit next to the general manager."
Shui Lihua chuckled heartily, appearing even more delighted than if she were seated there herself.
Shen Qihao enthusiastically introduced Li Shu to those individuals of equal standing in Huacheng. When he escorted a shabbily dressed individual to that seat, Shen Qihao felt a twinge of nervousness. Li Shu's background was extraordinary, necessitating him to show respect, yet he also feared that these influential figures might mock him.
The ten thousand yuan in betrothal gifts dispelled all apprehensions. A person capable of presenting ten thousand yuan in betrothal gifts, even if dressed modestly, would not be looked down upon, but rather admired for their understated elegance.
Li Shu was content. Despite losing ten thousand yuan, the opportunity to retaliate against those classmates who looked down on others, and to embarrass Shen Tianlin, made it all worthwhile.
As Wang Hongyu and Shen Tianlin toasted as the guests of honor, they cast a few glances at Li Shu. However, Li Shu paid no heed to these looks, perceiving only indifference in Wang Hongyu's gaze.
A tinge of disappointment flickered in Wang Hongyu's eyes.
The wedding concluded swiftly.
As soon as Li Shu stepped out of the Tianzhu Hotel, he bumped into Zhang Tianyu who was still lingering around.
"Li Shu, I apologize for earlier, I didn't realize you had already..."
Li Shu smiled. Among all their classmates, Zhang Tianyu was still considered decent, always trying to maintain his reputation.
"It's alright, I must thank the old squad leader for helping me out on several occasions."
Zhang Tianyu felt even more embarrassed. Every time he appeared to assist Li Shu, he was actually just trying to save face and not genuinely helping.
"Let's go, since you're not driving, let me give you a ride."
Li Shu had the waiter bring his car around.
Seeing the Mercedes worth over a million, Zhang Tianyu was speechless with surprise.
"Oh my goodness, Li Shu, you drive such a nice car?"
Li Shu smiled faintly, "It's nothing compared to you, the distinguished secretary of the City Mansion. You are a favorite in front of Mr. Shen."
Zhang Tianyu quickly waved his hand, "It's nothing, it's nothing!"
Mr. Shen knew that all the dignitaries in front of him were just flattering. Although they held positions of power in the city, they were merely sycophants in front of Mr. Shen, and only he knew the truth.
After dropping off Zhang Tianyu, Li Shu received a call from an unfamiliar number.
Answering the phone, a flirtatious voice came through the line.
"Is this Mr. Li? Let me introduce myself, my name is Wang Qian, we've met before. I was wondering if you have some free time, I'd like to invite you for a coffee."
Li Shu furrowed his brows slightly. He didn't seem to remember anyone named Wang Qian.
"I'm sorry, I'm busy!" Li Shu hung up the phone.
Just as he hung up, the phone rang again. Li Shu answered impatiently, "What do you want, can't you see I'm busy!"
"I just wanted to ask when you're free, if you have time, contact me, I'm available anytime."
"No time! I'm always busy!" Li Shu hung up the phone, feeling a bit puzzled. Who was this person?
On the other end of the line, Wang Qian felt a bit disappointed.
"Xiao Hui, he's ignoring me. But he's so aloof, I feel like I'm going to be captivated by him!"
It was still early in the day, Lu Yi was still working, and Li Shu was feeling bored, so he went to the office.
Since the senior management were all on vacation, there were only regular employees in the office, and Yin Rong hadn't come to work either.
Shortly after arriving at the office, a girl knocked on Li Shu's door.
The department's employees had introduced Li Shu to this girl before, and he was somewhat intrigued by her, her name seemed to be Lan Meng.
"What's wrong, Lan Meng?" Li Shu asked.
Lan Meng looked outside, saw no one, and then closed the door.
"Manager Li, I need to talk to you about something."
The mysterious demeanor of Lan Meng made Li Shu a little more cautious, asking, "What's the matter?"
"When Yin Jie was around, I didn't dare to say anything. Now that she's not here, I can tell you. There have been some issues with the accounts in our sales department recently. Several transactions don't match up," Lan Meng explained.
"You should ask Yin Rong about this, she's always been the one handling it," Li Shu replied.
Feeling nervous, Lan Meng continued, "Manager Li, it's precisely because Yin Jie has always been in charge that I didn't dare to speak up. Now that you know, please don't tell Yin Jie that I told you. I'll leave now."
Lan Meng opened the door, glanced down the hallway, and quickly ran off.
Li Shu shook his head. Having been in the workplace for a while, he understood some of the rules of the professional world.