Chapter 96: Chapter 96 Boss, You Have to Help Me Save Face_1
"Who the hell are you?"
Upon hearing Su Xuan on the phone, Gao Zhitong was startled out of his wits.
"Let’s not beat around the bush," Su Xuan said. "I am the owner of Lycar."
"Boss Gao, since you decided to play dirty, let’s see this through to the end. Bye now!"
Su Xuan laughed as he hung up.
Gao Zhitong slumped into his seat.
"Boss, what’s going on?" his confidant asked.
"Damn it!" Gao Zhitong’s facial muscles twitched as he looked at his confidant. "You were right. Lan Lan—no, that little bitch—betrayed me! She sold me out for personal gain!"
"So what do we do now?" the confidant asked in a panic. "Lycar is a super five-star hotel. If they’re dead set on fighting us, we don’t stand a chance!"
"What do we do? What *can* we do?" Gao Zhitong rubbed his face vigorously. "Hurry up and get rid of all the shady stuff in the hotel. Fix any and all regulatory violations immediately. Get ready for war!"
"Okay!" The confidant hurried toward the exit of the conference room, but he paused at the door to ask one last question. "Boss, what about you? Are you going to keep studying those photos?"
"Study my ass!" Gao Zhitong said dejectedly. "Lycar truly lives up to its reputation as a well-managed super hotel. We can’t find any real dirt in those photos. I need to think long and hard about how to win this fight!"
***
On the road back to the city, Qu Meilan glanced at Su Xuan from behind the wheel of the Maserati Gao Zhitong had given her. "Boss, you seem to be enjoying your fight with Mr. Gao, huh?"
"Yeah, and why shouldn’t I be?" Su Xuan leaned back into the comfortable seat and smiled faintly. "I’m riding in a car Boss Gao bought, I’ve hired his fiancée, and now his fiancée is my driver. How could I not be happy?"
Qu Meilan couldn’t help but snort with laughter.
My new boss is so interesting! The way he talks is always so amusing. His methods are fun, too, pretending to be a gigolo just to mess with me, hehe! And being with him, I don’t feel any class divide at all. He’s like a handsome, warm-hearted older brother from next door!
"Um... Boss!" Qu Meilan said after a moment’s thought. "There’s something I have to make very clear. I’m not a promiscuous woman. When I gave you 18,888 yuan, it was because I was genuinely drawn to your charisma. I couldn’t help myself... I... I’d just fallen for you. I wouldn’t even give anyone else a second glance!"
"You don’t have to explain," Su Xuan said, giving her an easy way out. "If you were really like that, you wouldn’t have kept rejecting me on the phone. And I wouldn’t have had to be so shameless as to knock on your door."
Qu Meilan could tell Su Xuan was helping her save face and felt a wave of gratitude. Just as she was thinking of what to say next, Su Xuan spoke again. "Oh, right. My apologies. I took your money but didn’t provide any services. I’ll give it back to you later."
"Don’t!" she blurted out without thinking.
Isn’t it even better to have the boss owe me money? And the thought that I nearly bought my own boss for less than twenty thousand yuan... that’s even more thrilling!
Qu Meilan couldn’t stop a grin from spreading across her face.
"How much do you know about Gao Zhitong’s divorce?" Su Xuan asked. "For instance, how were their assets divided?"
This matter was important because it directly affected the battle between him and Gao Zhitong—specifically, how long Gao could last against him.
"Not much." Qu Meilan shook her head. "Gao Zhitong never told me anything about his family. I don’t even know what his wife looks like."
"No problem, I’ll ask a friend." Su Xuan took out his phone and called Guo Yuxiang.
He was starting to feel glad he’d saved Guo Yuxiang’s life. The kid really did have his uses!
"Su Bro, what can I do for you?" Guo Yuxiang asked.
"Gao Zhitong, the boss of Chang Mei, got a divorce. I need you to look into the details of his asset division," Su Xuan said.
"I’m on it, Su Bro!"
Ten minutes later, Guo Yuxiang sent the results to Su Xuan.
Su Xuan burst out laughing as he read them. Gao Zhitong was completely under his wife’s thumb, with most of their assets in her name. The divorce wasn’t even his idea; his wife had initiated it. The reason was simple: they had been separated for too long, and there was no love left between them. On top of that, Gao Zhitong was infertile.
As for the asset division, his wife—who had been his business partner for most of their lives—took all the cash, leaving Gao Zhitong with only the physical business assets. And to make things even more interesting, Gao Zhitong had quietly finalized the divorce two days ago. The moment it was final, his wife moved in with a young gigolo. She’d even had an ultrasound yesterday. She was at least two months pregnant.
This meant his wife had been cheating on him long before the divorce. What’s more, she wasn’t young either—she was in her sixties!
"Heh. Poor Old Gao is one miserable bastard," Su Xuan mused, stroking his chin.
He almost didn’t have the heart to fight him anymore. Besides, given Gao Zhitong’s current financial state, there wouldn’t be much satisfaction in winning...
RING! RING!
Just then, Su Xuan’s phone rang.
"Mr. Su, hello! This is Lu Hongliang, the CEO of Meisi Net," a respectful voice said, as if terrified of misspeaking. "I was hoping you might have time to join me for a meal whenever it’s convenient for you."
After all, Su Xuan was a shareholder in Meisi Net. He was his boss.
Su Xuan, who had been expecting a call from Meisi Net, smiled. "Tonight is fine."
"Do you have a preferred hotel, sir?" Lu Hongliang asked. "I’ll book a private room right away."
"Just come to Lycar," Su Xuan replied.
"Understood, Mr. Su."
After hanging up, Su Xuan checked the time. It was already close to six in the evening.
Ten minutes later, another call came through for Su Xuan. It was Liu Ming, the one who had been suffering from proctitis.
"How’s that rectum of yours holding up?" Su Xuan asked.
"Ahaha, thanks for asking, Boss!" Liu Ming replied cheerfully. "My rectum is holding up strong. I’m all better now!"
"Just spit it out. What is it?"
"Boss, it seems like we had a spy in the hotel. A woman came to my office and talked to me for about ten minutes, saying she sold hotel supplies and wanted to partner with us, but her behavior was a bit strange..."
Su Xuan glanced at Qu Meilan. "I’ve already taken care of it. Anything else?"
"You’ve taken care of it?" Liu Ming asked in surprise.
"I’ve hired her to work for Lycar," Su Xuan stated simply.
Liu Ming was silent for a few seconds before exclaiming, "You’re incredible, Boss!"
"Stop with the flattery and get to the point," Su Xuan said.
"Right. Tomorrow, Meisi Net is having a limited-time discount event for hotel stays. This is really important for us. I happen to have some connections there, so after my hospital visit, I went straight to Meisi Net and gave them our discount rates in person to prevent any leaks to our competitors. Anyway, they just called me and said they’re coming to Lycar for dinner tonight..."
"And?" Su Xuan prompted.
"Well, Boss, I need you to be there to help me make a good impression. How about we go toast them together?"
Su Xuan, stifling a laugh, replied, "Sure!"