Chapter 100: Chapter 6 Feeding Old Classmates Some Dog Food
A billionaire?
Sun Dasheng smiled faintly. He had a hundred million in cash sitting in his bank account right now.
Seeing his old classmate smile without saying a word, Qian Zhi knew he had guessed correctly.
This old classmate’s personality hasn’t changed at all, he thought. He’s still so low-key. Even after becoming a billionaire, he’s maintained this excellent quality.
He was nothing like the bosses from his previous company. The moment they had a little money in their pockets, they couldn’t wait for the whole world to know. They were either "getting their hair washed" or on the way to "get their hair washed" every single day.
And what do you know, their luck ran out. They all got busted in a single raid and were sent to prison. The company fell into chaos, its reputation was ruined, a ton of orders were lost, and performance plummeted. Naturally, layoffs followed.
And just like that, he was unceremoniously laid off.
If I told people the real reason, they probably wouldn’t believe me.
「Hospital.」
They found the hospital room.
"How is she?" Qian Zhi asked, concerned as always.
"Let’s talk outside," Yang Mei Na said, gently closing the door.
The three of them sat on the benches in the hospital corridor. The seats were quite slippery, likely by design.
Yang Mei Na spoke first. "The doctor said her injuries are minor. After they apply the medicine, she’ll just need to stay in the hospital for half a month before she can be discharged."
"Good heavens!" Qian Zhi was stunned. "Did the attacker deliberately avoid all her vital organs?"
When he first saw the scene, he had thought that even if she survived, she’d be partially disabled. Who would have thought that injuries that looked so severe were actually so minor? It usually took a hundred days for someone to recover from injuries to muscles and bones.
Yang Mei Na sighed. Her best friend had narrowly escaped a terrible fate. The attacker hadn’t wanted to kill her.
"I’m so sorry about what happened today," she said to Sun Dasheng. "If we hadn’t come over, you old classmates could have kept catching up."
The couple really was in sync. Their apologies were nearly identical.
"What’s there to apologize for? I was the one who asked Old Qian to call you over," Sun Dasheng replied. "Nobody could have predicted what happened today, so there’s no need to blame anyone."
Seeing the couple so in sync, Sun Dasheng said with envy, "You two have such a wonderful relationship."
Hearing this, Qian Zhi proudly wrapped an arm around his wife’s shoulder and boasted to his old classmate, "The greatest blessing of my life was marrying such a good wife."
Yang Mei Na feigned annoyance. "This husband of mine may be in his thirties, but he still acts like a teenager."
Despite her words, the smile on her lips betrayed her true feelings. It was obvious she adored that about him.
"Da Sheng, are you still single? You haven’t gotten married?" Qian Zhi finally remembered to ask about his old friend’s love life.
Sun Dasheng laughed and shook his head. "I was married, but we recently divorced."
"You didn’t get rich and dump your wife, did you?" Qian Zhi asked in surprise, then immediately dismissed his own thought. "No, you’re not that kind of person. So why did you divorce?"
"It was because I was unemployed a while back. She saw no financial future with me, so she left," Sun Dasheng explained. "Our relationship wasn’t as strong as yours. We didn’t have that solid of a foundation, so it couldn’t withstand any real hardship."
Qian Zhi felt a mix of happiness and heartache. He was happy to hear his relationship praised, but his heart ached for his old friend, who had been abandoned by the person closest to him right when he needed support the most. He understood the feeling all too well, as he had just lost his job himself. If his wife were to leave him now, he didn’t know how he would ever get through it.
"Then your money...?" Qian Zhi asked, finding it hard to believe.
Sun Dasheng nodded, confirming his suspicion. "I earned it all after the divorce."
"If she finds out, she’ll regret it to death, won’t she?" Qian Zhi’s face was alight with gossip. It seemed everyone enjoyed the drama of someone striking it rich after a divorce and rubbing it in their ex’s face.
Yang Mei Na was completely lost, having no idea what the two old classmates were talking about.
Qian Zhi explained, "You don’t know yet, but my old classmate here drives a Bentley worth several million and even has a personal driver."
As soon as her husband said that, she understood. As a hotel lobby manager, she knew what that implied. Anyone who could afford such a luxury car and a personal driver was typically a billionaire.
Her husband’s old classmate got rich *after* his divorce? It sounded unbelievable.
"What you said earlier about starting a company...?" she asked, recalling how her best friend had mocked him for it.
"Oh, it’s an investment company. And it’s true, there aren’t many employees," Sun Dasheng said, maintaining his modest tone.
"What’s it called?" Qian Zhi asked impatiently.
"Nuokai Capital," Sun Dasheng said.
Qian Zhi slapped his thigh. "Old classmate, you’re too low-key! What do you mean, a small company? I recognize that name. It was even on the district news. It’s a huge company with a registered capital of over one hundred million, right? And I think I heard it’s been making a lot of investment moves recently."
I can’t believe it, he thought. You, Sun Dasheng, with your honest-looking face, were holding out on me!
"Nuokai Capital! I’ve heard of it too!" Yang Mei Na exclaimed. "That company booked an entire floor of business suites at our hotel for its executive accommodations. I was wondering at the time what company could be so wealthy and extravagant. It turns out it’s your company!"
This was almost too much for Sun Dasheng to handle.
So that’s how it is. I’m already a behemoth in other people’s eyes. Even if I want to keep a low profile, I can’t hide it anymore.
"If the name is correct, then yes, that’s my company," Sun Dasheng nodded.
"Brother Sun, if it’s possible, could you arrange a position for my husband..."
Yang Mei Na was rudely interrupted before she could finish.
"Mei Na, what are you talking about? Today is for friends reuniting. Why bring this up?" Qian Zhi’s voice was a little too loud, his tone a little too agitated.
Yang Mei Na’s eyes reddened. "You’ve been reduced to handing out flyers on the street, but you’re still letting your pride make you suffer!"
Now it was Qian Zhi’s turn to be stunned. He never imagined his wife had been watching his every move since he lost his job, choosing not to say anything just to protect his pride.
"You... you knew?"
The moment the words left her mouth, Yang Mei Na regretted them. It was a relief to finally say what had been bottled up for so long, but it wasn’t worth hurting her husband’s feelings.
"Honey, I’m sorry," she apologized. "I shouldn’t have said that. I know how hard you’ve always worked for this family in silence."
Qian Zhi grabbed her hand and said with deep affection, "It’s okay. It’s my fault for not being capable enough. I’ve made you and our child suffer."
Sun Dasheng was caught completely off guard by this public display of affection.
COUGH. COUGH. COUGH.
He quickly interrupted the cloying scene. "Old Qian, what was your main role at your previous company?" he asked.
"Oh, him? He was just a sales team leader, managed a few people," Yang Mei Na replied quickly, understanding his intent. "His position wasn’t high, but he was incredibly dedicated. His team was the company’s top seller year after year."
"Oh?" Sun Dasheng shot a surprised look at his old classmate. "They laid off their top salesperson?"
"Ah, that sort of thing happens all the time in sales companies," Qian Zhi said in a low voice.
Alright, this was the first time he’d heard of a ’top-performer elimination’ policy. He really was out of the loop.
"Currently, my companies don’t really have a suitable position for you," Sun Dasheng said.
The couple’s faces fell.
"However," he continued, "my investment firm is about to acquire two new businesses—a chain of internet cafes and a chain of milk tea shops. I’ll give you two choices. See which one you’d prefer."
His next words made their eyes light up again.
"No need to choose. Just tell my husband where to go, and he’ll go," Yang Mei Na said.
She’s a smart woman. Really knows what to say. High EQ.
Sun Dasheng smiled. "I’m not just being polite. It makes no difference to me which one you choose."
Seeing that he was serious, the couple discussed it for a moment and unanimously chose the milk tea shop.
"Alright. We’ll be setting up a head office for the milk tea chain at the main company. You’ll be the general manager there," Sun Dasheng declared, settling the matter. "Don’t worry, I’ll assign you a professional deputy manager to help you run things."
After giving them a brief overview of the milk tea business, he remembered they hadn’t discussed salary. "What was your annual salary at your old company?"
"It’s not really comparable," Yang Mei Na explained. "Sales companies are all commission-based. It was always feast or famine. There was no such thing as a fixed annual salary."
She proposed, "You can start him off at the industry’s lowest wage. Once he gets the hang of things and starts contributing to the company, you can give him a raise. It won’t be too late."
"Absolutely not. If people found out I was paying my old classmate so little, they’d laugh their heads off," Sun Dasheng rejected her proposal.
He opened a recruitment website. The salary for such a position was mostly between 8k and 15k a month, with an annual salary of 100k to 180k.
He took the highest end of the range, 15k, and doubled it. "I’ll offer 30k a month, with a 14-month salary structure. That’s 420k a year."
"That’s way too high," Qian Zhi said, about to refuse instinctively. After so many years in sales, he had only earned that much in his best year as the top seller at his last company. In any other year, making 200k was considered good.
"If you don’t accept, then don’t bother coming to my company. You can find a better offer somewhere else," Sun Dasheng stated flatly.
That left Qian Zhi no room to refuse. He knew this was his old classmate looking out for him. Under his wife’s hopeful gaze, he finally nodded.
"Da Sheng... I guess I’ll have to call you Director Sun from now on. Thank you so much."
"Director Sun is for the office. In private, just call me Da Sheng. It sounds friendlier."
"Da Sheng, you haven’t changed a bit," Qian Zhi said with emotion. "You’re still the same loyal, high-spirited guy you always were."
Sun Dasheng liked the sound of that.
Just then, Wang Meimei’s family arrived to take care of her. It was the perfect time for the three of them to leave. Although her family didn’t say anything harsh, their displeasure was obvious.
Since it was on his way, Sun Dasheng offered the couple a ride home and decided to drop by their place for a visit.
「The outer ring road.」
「Golden Era Community.」
When the gatekeeper saw the Bentley approach, he raised the barrier arm and waved them in without even asking, even though the car wasn’t registered with the community.
"The security at your complex isn’t very strict, is it?" Sun Dasheng teased.
"Hah, how strict can a community in the outer ring be?" Qian Zhi said self-deprecatingly. "We bought this place for 60,000 a square meter back in the day. Now the price has dropped to 50,000."
"Oh? Prices in the outer ring have fallen that steeply?"
Property values in the inner and middle rings had also fallen, but not nearly as dramatically.