After hanging up, Xu Ke began to eat dinner.
Shortly after he finished, another call ca in.
Duan Chongfeng's deep voice ca through the phone. "Congratulations, little brother. You've finally sent those annoying flies packing."
"The real trouble is yet to co," Xu Ke said, shaking his head.
"The big ones need to be dealt with slowly; there's no need to rush," Duan Chongfeng said with a smile in his voice.
"Indeed," Xu Ke nodded.
After a mont, Duan Chongfeng's tone changed. "By the way, have you eaten yet? I'm about to go out for dinner. How about I swing by and pick you up?"
"Brother Duan, you tid this call on purpose, didn't you? I just finished," Xu Ke said with a laugh, casually picking up a stray grain of rice from the table and tossing it away.
"Haha, that's a sha, but at least you saved the cost of a al," Duan Chongfeng laughed heartily. Then, as if rembering sothing, he added, "I plan to take my dicine after dinner. That won't be a problem, will it?"
Just hearing Xu Ke's voice made him inexplicably nervous; the agony of the acupuncture still echoed in his mind.
"No problem at all," Xu Ke chuckled.
"Alright then, since you've already eaten, I'll go grab a bite by myself," Duan Chongfeng said. "By the way, are you free tomorrow? How about we et? I have sothing for you."
At these words, Xu Ke was taken aback.
He must be talking about the dical clinic he ntioned this afternoon.
He hadn't agreed back then, as his attention had shifted to the issue of the Wang Family's plight. Thinking of this, Xu Ke initially wanted to decline, but then he changed his mind.
He's offering a dical clinic, so I can just give him sothing else in return later, right? Why would I turn down sothing that brings us into the sa boat? In this society, relationships as faint as water lead only to nodding acquaintances. Only through a mutual exchange of benefits can a connection truly deepen.
"Let's et tomorrow afternoon, then. Where will you be? I can co find you," Xu Ke suggested.
"Shouldn't I be the one coming to you?" Duan Chongfeng hesitated. You don't make soone co to you when you're giving them a gift.
But Xu Ke explained, "I'm not busy lately, while you have a lot on your plate. It makes more sense for to co to you. Besides, we call each other brothers. Why get caught up in these formalities?"
Duan Chongfeng was touched. He laughed heartily. "You're right, little brother. In that case, let's et at Jincheng Hotel tomorrow afternoon. I need to go there to take a look anyway."
Jincheng Hotel was one of the premier hotels in Tianhai and a property of the Dapeng Business Group. Since Duan Chongfeng was already inspecting the villa area, it was only natural for him to visit Jincheng as well.
Hearing this, Xu Ke nodded. "Alright, we'll et at Jincheng Hotel tomorrow afternoon."
"Great!" Duan Chongfeng agreed.
After hanging up, Xu Ke considered sothing. Since I'm going to Jincheng anyway... why not treat everyone to a al and repay the favor from tonight?
No sooner said than done.
Xu Ke imdiately sent a ssage to the group chat with the classmates who had helped him earlier.
"@everyone, thank you all for tonight. How about we all go to Jincheng Hotel for lunch tomorrow? My treat, as a thank you. Besides, it's been a while since we all got together, so this is the perfect opportunity," he sent.
He had originally thought about eating near Tianhai University so he could bring Qiu Mingli along. However, he reconsidered. Considering his eting with Duan Chongfeng and the fact that Qiu Mingli's situation had only just stabilized, his emotions were likely still volatile, so it probably wasn't a good ti for him to be around a large group of people. That was why he had settled on Jincheng Hotel.
Before long, the group chat was flooded with replies.
"Sounds good!"
"But is it right to make Old Xu pay for everything?"
"There are twelve of us. A al at Jincheng Hotel could easily cost over ten thousand yuan. That place is no joke."
Everyone started clamoring to split the bill. None of them said it outright, but they all knew perfectly well what was going on.
With Xu Ke's stubborn personality, he would never use Wong Qifu's money, even though they were dating. Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed them to put on an act to drive away the reporters. He could have just had Wong Qifu give an order, and the problem would have been solved instantly. That was why they wanted to help him save so money.
But Xu Ke refused. "It's fine, everyone. I have the money, don't worry. My conscience wouldn't be clear if I didn't treat you all. You don't want to lose sleep over this tonight, do you?"
Even so, they still tried to refuse.
Finally, after a few more rounds of back-and-forth, they compromised: Xu Ke would pay for half, and the rest would split the other half. Once the ti was set, Xu Ke called Jincheng Hotel to book a private room.
「8:30 PM. Jincheng Hotel.」
Li Lang stood alone in a glittering corridor, his expression grim as he listened to Qian Hong's tearful voice on the other end of the phone. "Young Master Li, I couldn't do it. Xu Ke is just too silver-tongued."
"Please, Young Master Li, give another chance!"
Qian Hong had debated whether to tell Li Lang the truth. She knew, however, that a behemoth like the Li Family would inevitably find out she had failed to drive Xu Ke away. If Li Lang discovered she had not only failed but also lied about it, she would be completely finished. That's why she had decided to call and beg for rcy.
But hearing Qian Hong's voice only made Li Lang furious.
What a useless piece of trash.
"Get lost! And don't ever let see you again!" Li Lang roared before slamming the phone down.
"Utterly useless. Only good for screwing things up," Li Lang snarled. He saw Qian Hong was now spamming him with text ssages, so he blocked her number, grinding his teeth in frustration. He had given her one simple task—to make Xu Ke's life difficult—and she had accomplished absolutely nothing.
Li Lang was so enraged he felt like he might burst a blood vessel.
Why? Why does our Li Family always suffer setbacks when it cos to Xu Ke?!
Just then, the door to the private room opened, and Li Shichuan walked out. "Let's go ho."
His face was an expressionless mask, revealing nothing of his emotions.
Seeing his father, Li Lang quickly lowered his head. "Yes."
The humiliation the father and son had endured tonight was more than enough. Even if they stayed at Jincheng Hotel, the finest delicacies would taste like ash in their mouths.
As the two made their way downstairs, followed by a few bodyguards, Li Lang's sharp ears caught a conversation at the front desk.
"Is this Mr. Xu Ke? And your phone number is... correct?"
"Excellent. We have reserved a private room for twenty people for you. Please present a valid ID upon your arrival at Jincheng Hotel tomorrow."
It was a front desk clerk taking a reservation from Xu Ke.
Seeing this, the sullen look on Li Lang's face vanished, and his eyes lit up.
Xu Ke is coming here to eat?
After making the reservation, Xu Ke hesitated for a mont before sending a ssage to Wong Qifu.
"Sister Wang, about tomorrow... I need to go out. It's not to get into any fights or anything. I'm going to a gathering with my classmates to thank them for helping with the act today, and I also have to et with Duan Chongfeng..."
He reported his plans to Wong Qifu in ticulous detail. He had just promised her he wouldn't go out, and now, not even a day later, he was planning to do just that.
If I don't report this to Wong Qifu, I'm definitely courting death.
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