Chapter 43: I’ll Cover the Bill

Seeing Xu Shaochen’s silence, the others mocked him even more.

“If I were in someone’s shoes, I’d have left ages ago instead of sitting here embarrassing myself.”

“Exactly. All they do is eat. If you didn’t know better, you’d think they were starved ghosts come back to life.”

The meal ended amidst mockery and flattery.

The one mocked was Xu Shaochen.

The one flattered was Li Yunhai.

To this group, Xu Shaochen and Li Yunhai were like night and day—one was a CEO with a bright future, while the other was a poor student with an uncertain path.

If they were Song Xinran, they would’ve been with Li Yunhai long ago. How could they pick Xu Shaochen, the poor student?

So, in their eyes, Song Xinran was no different from a fool.

“Waiter, bring the bill.”

After the meal, Li Yunhai called out.

A few minutes later, a waiter came in, smiled at Li Yunhai, and gave a slight bow. “Sir, your total is 48,888 yuan. Will you be paying in cash or by card?”

“Hiss—”

Upon hearing that amount, everyone gasped. Nearly fifty thousand. That’s about half a year’s salary for most of them.

But for Li Yunhai, it was just the cost of one meal. It really highlighted the differences between people.

Li Yunhai enjoyed their shocked expressions and casually said, “I’ll pay by card.”

As he finished speaking, he reached for his wallet, but his face suddenly changed. “How is this possible? Where’s my wallet? Where did it go?”

“Did I… did I drop it?”

Everyone looked at each other, then started searching the room, but found nothing.

“Alright, can one of you cover it for now? I’ll transfer the money back to you later.” Li Yunhai said with a troubled expression.

“I… I don’t have that much cash on me!”

“Yeah, who brings that much to a meal? I don’t have enough either!”

Everyone gave various excuses, but none of them were willing or able to cover the bill.

Li Yunhai’s face darkened, and after a long pause, he looked at the waiter and said, “Sorry, I’ll need to call a friend to come pay.”

“Alright, I’ll handle the bill!”

At that moment, a calm voice reached everyone’s ears.

They all turned around simultaneously.

Xu Shaochen put down the chicken wing in his hand, slowly wiped his mouth, and then stood up.

“Heh, are you joking? You’re going to pay? With what? This is over forty thousand yuan, not just a few hundred. How could a poor student like you possibly afford it?”

“Exactly. If you can’t afford it, don’t make things worse by pretending. Don’t you think this is already chaotic enough?”

“Pretending to be rich at the wrong time. Can’t you read the room, Xinran? You need to keep your boyfriend in check. It’s fine not to have money, but pretending to have it when you don’t is just wrong.”

Everyone looked at Xu Shaochen with scorn, their eyes filled with undisguised contempt and ridicule.

In their minds, the idea of Xu Shaochen, a poor kid, being able to pull out that much money was laughable—it was obvious he was just putting on a show.

“I don’t have time to joke around right now. Step aside,” Li Yunhai frowned and said coldly to Xu Shaochen.

Xu Shaochen ignored him, pulled out a bank card, and handed it to the waiter. “Use mine.”

“This…” The waiter took the card, but looked hesitantly towards Li Yunhai.

“Hmph!” Li Yunhai sneered in disdain. “Go ahead and swipe it. If this is some act, I’ll play along. I want to see how you save face after this.”

With Li Yunhai’s permission, the waiter swiped the card. After the transaction, the waiter respectfully returned the card to Xu Shaochen. “Sir, here’s your card. We look forward to serving you again.”

With those words, the waiter smiled slightly and then turned to leave.

The people in the room were instantly dumbfounded.

“This… how is this possible!” Li Yunhai’s eyes widened in disbelief.

The others weren’t much better off, staring at Xu Shaochen in shock. How could a poor student easily produce nearly fifty thousand yuan?

Recalling how they had just mocked Xu Shaochen, they all felt their faces burn as if they had been slapped.

“Don’t use your thinking to judge me. After all, we’re not on the same level.”

Xu Shaochen put away the bank card, smiled at them, and said calmly.

Hearing his words, everyone felt extremely awkward, their faces turning into a mix of colors like a messy palette.

“Hmph! Who knows where your money came from? A university student pulling out that much money so easily—are you sure it’s not from some shady source?”

Li Yunhai snorted, glaring at Xu Shaochen with a tone dripping with sarcasm.

“Li Yunhai, you’re going too far!” Song Xinran couldn’t hold back any longer and said coldly.

Li Yunhai sneered, “Xinran, how am I going too far? I’m just asking a question. Is that a problem? I suggest you stay away from someone like him. Who knows what kind of trouble you might get caught up in someday.”

The others, hearing this, also looked at Xu Shaochen with suspicion. After all, it was indeed suspicious for a university student to easily pull out such a large sum.

“So, Li Yunhai, you’re the Deputy General Manager of Taihe Real Estate, huh?” Xu Shaochen said with a smile, a gleam of cold light in his eyes.

Li Yunhai sneered, “What? Got some advice for me?”

“Advice? Not really. You can start packing up. Taihe Real Estate doesn’t need people like you.” Xu Shaochen said flatly.

Everyone was stunned upon hearing this.

“Hahaha! That’s hilarious! Did you all hear that? He said he wants to fire me! Hahaha! This is too funny…”

Li Yunhai burst into exaggerated laughter, as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

After a long while, he finally stopped laughing, looked down on Xu Shaochen, and said dismissively, “You want to fire me? Who do you think you are? Do you think you’re the Chairman of Taihe Real Estate? A brat like you doesn’t know his place. Fire me? What a joke. You must still be dreaming!”

“Exactly. This guy probably doesn’t understand what being the General Manager of Taihe Real Estate even means!”

“Fire him? I think this guy’s lost his mind. Otherwise, why would he say something so ridiculous?”

“This is truly laughable. Xinran, where did you find such a bizarre boyfriend?”

The others joined in the discussion, all mocking Xu Shaochen with looks of disdain.

Though Xu Shaochen’s payment had surprised them, his claim to fire Li Yunhai was downright comical in their eyes, and it sounded like nothing but empty boasts.