Seeking red envelope

  Years ago, Old Man Kou said he would take his granddaughter Kou Xuan to a relative's house to recover from an injury. After that, Shen Huai never saw the girl with piercing eyes again, and didn't know why, afterwards, he also didn't hear Xiao Li mention her classmate again.

  Shen Huai wouldn't care about these things, but he hadn't expected to see her again in a place like Ying Huang International, let alone Kou Xuan wearing the low-cut princess dress specially made for the fifth-floor club waitresses.

  When Kou Xuan went downstairs, she first saw Shen Hua and others. Turning back was already too late, which would only attract more attention. She could only lower her head to go down the stairs, but couldn't help but raise her head out of curiosity, unexpectedly meeting eyes with Shen Hua.

  Ke Xuan didn't have the guts to talk to Shen Huai and could only flee in a fluster.

  Shen Huai puckered up her mouth and looked at the staircase below, where the figure had already disappeared. She didn't know if she should chase after him.

  The female public relations manager saw Shen Huan standing there motionless and thought he had taken a liking to the girl from earlier, so she came over and said: "That little girl hasn't even dipped her toes in the water yet, one day when her thoughts are clear, I'll be the first to let you know..."

  As she spoke, she leaned in halfway, and a faint scent of perfume wafted over. Shen Hua still couldn't recall the name of the woman in front of him.

  Yuan Hongjun and He Qingshe, who were puzzled in front of them, turned back. Shen Huai could only put Kou Xian's matter aside for the time being and enter the private room to have a meal first.

  Inside the private room, crystal chandeliers emitted soft light, shining on the crimson carpet.

  The interior decoration of Yingwang International is luxurious and grand, although it's a bit tacky, but it can make people feel like they're getting their money's worth.

  There were already two waitresses waiting in the private room, they had youthful and beautiful faces, their light green cheongsam was slit very high, revealing their flesh-colored stockings wrapped around their slender and tight thighs.

  Everyone took their seats in the order of "host and guest", and the waiter brought over two beautifully printed menus, handing them to Shen Huan and the owner of Yang's sand and gravel yard with precision.

  The owner of Yang's gravel yard, although sitting in the seat that paid the bill, still politely handed the menu to Yuan Hongjun.

  The female public relations manager took the opportunity to hand out business cards while walking around the table, and finally walked to Shen Hua's side, asking in a low voice: "Secretary Shen, where have you been on vacation recently? You haven't come to see me about my business for a long time. It's really been a long time since I've seen you."

  Shen Huai took over her business card, glanced at it, and only then remembered that the woman's name was Yang Lili. She casually placed the card on the edge of the table and smiled perfunctorily: "I no longer work in the municipal government, I've been transferred to a lower-level town as a township cadre."

  "Secretary Shen is joking with me, you're such a powerful person, how could you possibly mix with those rural bumpkins...” Yang Lili smiled slyly, thinking that Shen Hui was just teasing her. Her profession had made her deal with the powerful and wealthy quite often, so she knew the rules of officialdom, and also knew that Shen Hui used to be a deputy secretary-general in the municipal government; even if he were to go down for training, it should be to take up a post in a district or county, where was the possibility of going down to a rural town?

  Shen Huai burst out laughing and pointed at Yuan Hongdao and others beside him, saying to Yang Lili: "No, no, your one sentence just now has offended everyone at this table..."

  Yuan Hongjun put down the menu, looked at the beautiful woman behind Shen Huai and asked: "Are we country bumpkins not worthy of consuming in Ying Huang?"

  Yang Lili realized she had misspoken when everyone at the table stared at her, feeling a bit embarrassed but not awkward. She smiled and said to Yuan Hongjun: "Secretary Shen often talks nonsense with me, I don't know what he says is true or false. But honestly, I've met people from rural areas before, you guys are much more impressive than them. If Secretary Shen didn't say so, I would have thought you were a district committee secretary or a county committee secretary, and it's also possible that you're a municipal committee secretary."

  Yuan Hongjun didn't mind either, first because he saw this beautiful woman knew Shen Hua, and secondly because the Emperor's was not a place for their town officials to show off. He just smiled and handed the menu back, saying: "You're familiar with Secretary Shen, you know what Secretary Shen likes to eat, so you can arrange the wine and dishes for us..."

  Yang Lili looked at Shen Huai with a hint of puzzlement in her eyes.

  In the past, because Shen Hua was a senior secretary of the municipal government, Yang Lili had to put up with him even if she gave him some advantages and disliked him in her heart. After all, no matter how hard the background of the British royal family is, they dare not easily offend those who work alongside the municipal leaders.

  Chen Mingde's sudden death was a shock, and the awkwardness that followed was not something she could have anticipated. Shen Hui sat there looking somber, while the others seemed more like they were from some rural town, especially that so-called Yang boss, who had just used the excuse of taking the menu to elbow the waitress's breast, a typical example of a nouveau riche from the countryside.

  Yang Lili suspected that Shen Hua might have offended some municipal leader and ended up in such a predicament.

  Thinking so in her heart, Yang Lili's smile on her face unconsciously cooled down a bit.

  The Ying Huang International is a place where the powerful and wealthy go, don't be fooled by this group of people calling Shen Hua "Secretary Shen" with such familiarity, in Ying Huang International, being from a small town doesn't even count as anything.

  Yang Lili regretted sending that circle of business cards earlier, leaned over to take the menu handed over by Yuan Hongjun, and smiled: "I don't know if Secretary Shen has changed his taste, just like he was staring at that little girl earlier, I remember he didn't have this preference before!"

  In his heart, Shen Hua secretly smiled: Women are really pragmatic, just now they were calling "Secretary Shen", "Secretary Shen" intimately, but now when speaking, they have hidden sarcasm.

  Shen Huai didn't bother to argue with the woman either. He was too lazy to order, so he said: "Bring over a menu and let Secretary Yuan and Mayor Chen take a look to see if it suits their taste..."

  "Whatever Secretary Shen decides is fine," said Yuan Hongjun and Chen Xueqi.

  "Alright, I'll definitely arrange for Secretary Shen to meet your requirements."

  Yang Lili remembered what flavor Shen Hua liked, and knew that bringing them the most expensive dishes and wine was enough. She knew that township officials were particular about their reputation and wouldn't dare to eat a tyrannical meal, so she could take a large commission as usual, just like the small tips she had received from those scoundrels in the past.

  Yang Lili went out of the private room for a moment, then brought back the opened menu and wine list, handed it to Shen Huai in front of her, and said: "Secretary Shen, take a look, I didn't forget you!" It seemed like the wine and dish menu was really tailored to Shen Huai's preferences.

  The dishes may be expensive, but seeing two bottles of Zunrong on the wine list, Shen Huai frowned and glanced at Yang Lili, but she didn't bat an eyelid, still smiling, thinking to himself: Give her some time, maybe she's an even more formidable character than He Yuelian.

  Although it was the owner of the Yang surname's sand and gravel yard who invited him to dinner, eating still had to be accounted for in terms of human relationships, and Shen Hua didn't want to owe such a large favor. Moreover, he also worried that the other party might not have brought so much cash with them, as there were no bank cards available domestically for payment by swiping, so he directly pushed the wine and dish list back and said: "Help me modify it, control the dishes and drinks within 1,000 yuan..."

  "Secretary Shen, you used to love drinking whiskey the most. If you don't drink these two bottles this time, I'm afraid there won't be a chance next time; besides, 1,000 yuan is not enough for the minimum consumption of this private room..." Yang Lili said with difficulty, her eyes glancing at others on the table again.

  "What wine is so cheap?" Yuan Hongjun took over the wine list, seeing that it was listed in English, he didn't recognize it. Chu Qiang sat beside Yuan Hongjun and saw the "Zun Rong Ji Pin" (a type of Chinese liquor), smacked his lips, but said nothing.

  Chu Qiang followed his old man, and had seen more of the world than ordinary township officials. Seeing the year marked next to the wine's name, he thought that drinking these two bottles of possibly fake liquor would be a waste, as the cash in the eight people's wallets on the table wouldn't even add up to its value.

  Chu Qiang saw that the woman had a hint of squeezing Shen Hua, but also knew to maintain Shen Hua's face, and asked: "Secretary Shen, shall I tell my dad about it?"

  Shen Huai shook his head and said, "Just eating a meal, why make such a big fuss?" He didn't have nothing better to do than to fight for this face, so he asked Yang Lili, "What is the minimum consumption standard for this private room?"

  "One thousand two hundred and eighty. If you still think it's expensive, we can offer a smaller private room with an even lower minimum consumption." Yang Lili said with a faint smile on her face.

  She knew that this meal didn't require Shen Huan to pay, but seeing Shen Huan only dared to ask others to treat him with the lowest standard, she was convinced that Shen Huan was not doing well in the town and no longer had his former lavishness.

  Yuan Hongjun on the side also figured it out, didn't expect such a beautiful woman to be so pragmatic, really thinking that Shen Hua lost power after being transferred from the municipal government to the town.

  No matter what, this meal was nominally hosted by him on behalf of He Tang Town to entertain Shen Hua. He couldn't just watch as a country bumpkin like Shen Hua lost face, so he slapped the wine list on the table and said to Shen Hua: "I think we should just go with this menu. We can't let city folks look down on us country folk..."

  Shen Huai was still thinking about Kou Xian's matter and didn't have the mood to argue with Yang Lili over tens of thousands of yuan. He smiled at Yuan Hongjun, "I'll treat this meal. If we continue like this, a good meal will probably make everyone unhappy." He said to Yang Lili, "Just reissue an invoice according to the lowest standard..."

  Even if the minimum consumption of a meal is only 1,280 yuan, in Donghua City where the average monthly income per capita was less than 300 yuan in 1993, it is still an absolute luxury consumption.

  "I'm coming, I'm coming. What's the reason for Secretary Shen to spend money?" At this time, the owner of the sand and gravel yard opposite him quickly took over the conversation, insisting that he would pay the bill. Although he hadn't seen the wine list, judging from the atmosphere at the table, he knew it wouldn't be cheap.

  To be honest, he is also worried about Yuan Hongjun's face in death.

  Yuan Hongjun would rather lose face, even if the cost of this meal is 20,000 or 30,000 yuan, he has to bleed money, otherwise don't think about continuing to mix in Hetang Town.

  Although Shen Huai was so squeezed by this woman, he insisted on changing the bill. He felt a sense of relief in his heart and at the same time, he had an extra bit of gratitude towards Shen Huai. He thought that Shen Huai's reputation in Meixi Town was not bad, it seemed to be true.

  Yang Lili saw that Shen Hua didn't die of embarrassment, and she was puzzled in her heart. Of course, she wouldn't say anything more excessive, but instead handed the bill to the waiter standing beside her and said: "You take it to the front desk and re-open a new bill according to the lowest price." Then, with another smile, she said to Shen Hua: "I still have something to do upstairs, so I won't entertain Secretary Shen and you all..."