Dinner

On the second day, in the afternoon…

"Hello, Old Wang… Yes, it's me, Zhao Zhen. What did you say?"

"It's nothing!"

"It's been a long time since we last met. Let us drink some wine and get together to talk about our feelings, shall we?"

"Alright then, let's meet at the same old place, Yanghe Hotel. I'll book a private room for tonight. See you there!"

After hanging up the phone, Zhao Zhen looked at the contact on his phone and pondered for a moment.

Then, he walked past two rooms and arrived at a cabinet. After hesitating for a long time, he finally opened the cabinet.

There were several bottles of wine in the cabinet.

He took out two bottles of the best Maotai1 from the cabinet with a slightly pained expression on his face.

"This Maotai… is too cheap for Old Wang!"

Old Wang was the boss of a wholesale hotpot ingredients company. He was also Zhao Zhen's long-term partner when Zhao Zhen was still working at Prosperous Flavor.

Zhao Zhen was a person with strong execution abilities. After taking over the responsibility of Hedilao, he immediately started to solve the problems at hand.

His first goal was to settle the supply chain.

…

At the same time, at the Chairman's Office in Prosperous Flavor…

"Is this all the information?"

Li Xin flipped through the document and frowned. "Did you make a mistake?"

"No, I checked it twice."

Li Xin's beautiful secretary spoke softly.

When it came to collecting information, there was naturally no need for Liu Yan, the Chairman, to personally do so.

"Is this Hedilao?"

If not for his confidence in the intelligence agency, Li Xin would have thrown the document at his secretary's face.

What was this…

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he really wouldn't have believed that someone who was able to invite Zhao Zhen to help out at Hedilao would be so… dismal.

The document only included news that Hedilao had registered at the Trade and Commerce Bureau a few days ago.

It hadn't even started operating yet.

That was right. The registration materials for Hedilao had been approved. With the help of Tianda Plaza, the procedures were completed very quickly.

"Could it be that I'm really overthinking things?"

This thought suddenly appeared in Li Xin's mind.

He continued reading the document and stopped when he saw the store address of Hedilao.

"Don't we have a new chain store that was just built at Tianda Plaza?"

"Yes, President Li."

The secretary replied to him quickly.

"Hmph, that Zhao Zhen!"

Li Xin slammed the document on the table angrily.

The secretary beside him was shocked by her boss's sudden outburst.

According to the document, Hedilao's address was also in Tianda Plaza.

"What a coincidence, what a coincidence! It's such a coincidence that it's almost unbelievable!"

At this moment, Li Xin recalled what Zhao Zhen had said when Zhao Zhen had resigned. "Time will prove to you that I am right."

"Time hasn't proven that you were right, so you're coming to prove yourself, right?"

Li Xin couldn't help but think about the location of Hedilao and Zhao Zhen's words before he left.

It was a newly established hotpot restaurant at a perfect location…

He took a deep breath.

"Are you trying to go against me?"

Li Xin was like an enraged lion. He felt like he had been betrayed.

Even though Zhao Zhen had resigned, and Li Xin had personally forced him to resign, Li Xin still felt betrayed by Zhao Zhen.

"What an ungrateful ingrate!"

Li Xin fiercely slammed the table and panted heavily. "When will the shop at Tianda Plaza open?"

The secretary said, "Since we are engaging in large-scale renovation, the progress will be slower."

"According to the renovation team and our own estimates, the earliest we can open for business is next month."

"That's too slow. Tell them to speed up!"

Li Xin said in a low voice, "I want to see the hotpot restaurant open before the end of next month!"

"I must get ahead of Hedilao!"

"Yes."

The secretary nodded and intended to convey her boss's message.

"Wait."

Li Xin stopped her and pointed at the handbag on the sofa. "Take this. Remember to pack up tonight. I'm going to your house."

"Ah… Thank you, President Li!"

The secretary was delighted when she saw the brand of the bag. She turned around and winked at him as she replied to him in a sweet tone.

"Hmph, that Zhao Zhen!"

As he watched his secretary strut away, Li Xin simply felt an evil fire rising in his heart.

He twirled the prayer beads in his hand and thought for a moment before making a call.

…

At Dormitory 7012…

"Fourth Brother, have you chosen a place? Where are we going to eat tonight?"

"Little Jiangnan. Let's go to Little Jiangnan then."

Ye Feng raised his head and said, "I'll arrange a private room there this afternoon."

"Are we going to Little Jiangnan?"

"Alright then, I'll postpone tonight's gathering."

Fan Jiawei said upon hearing this.

"What gathering?"

Yang Chao picked up on this topic.

"It's a student union gathering." Fan Jiawei pursed his lips. "It's already June and the elections are going to be held after the summer vacation. Thus, all the big shots are showing off their skills now."

"How boring."

Yang Chao lost interest upon hearing this.

The Student Union… was scheming and was not suitable for him. Basketball was better.

Of course, his girlfriend was not bad either.

"Brothers."

At this moment, Liu He pushed open the door and walked in.

"I have good news for all of you."

He smiled mysteriously. "I've already found the venue for tonight's gathering!"

"Where?"

"Yanghe Hotel. I booked a private room!"

Liu He smiled and patted his chest. "This time, it's my treat!"

Yang Chao immediately jumped up. "F*ck, that's awesome, Second Brother."

"Yanghe Hotel… It seems to be a four-star hotel."

Fan Jiawei put down his phone. "It's indeed a four-star hotel. The student union gathering will be there tonight as well."

"What a rich dog."

Ye Feng praised Liu He.

Liu He looked more and more like a rich second-generation heir.

…

In the evening, at Yanghe Hotel…

"Come, come, Old Wang, have a seat."

In the private room on the second floor, Zhao Zhen called for Wang Xiang to sit down.

"Haha, Old Zhao, long time no see."

Wang Xiang was a big-bellied and greasy middle-aged man.

However, anyone who looked down on this greasy fatty would be gravely mistaken.

After all, this fatty had earned over 100 million yuan in 15 years.

"Yeah, long time no see."

Zhao Zhen let out a hearty laugh. Then, he said to the waiter, "Tell your kitchen that I'm the customer who made a reservation yesterday. My name is Zhao Zhen."

"Also, there's no need to ask about the drinks. I brought them myself."

After saying that, he turned around and said to Wang Xiang, "Old Wang, you're in for a treat this time."

"Hey, why are you so mysterious?"

Wang Xiang laughed and shook his head. "Elder Zhao, it's just the two of us. Don't be too extravagant with your order."

"It's nothing. It's been a long time. I'm just happy."

Zhao Zhen shook his head indifferently and took out two bottles of wine from under the table, as if he was performing a magic trick. "Good wine should be paired with good dishes!"

"Let me see."

Wang Xiang smacked his lips and said, "Old Zhao, you really spent a lot of money today. If I'm not wrong, this is the 2000 Collectible Maotai, right?"

"What collectible? It's just wine. I still have a few bottles left. This time, I brought two bottles for us brothers to try," said Zhao Zhen with a smile.

"Alright then. I'll definitely have to drink more when we get back!"

"Hahahahaha!"