Chapter 148: Xiaoyu's Thoughts

Outside, Xiaoyu and her colleagues had already discussed treating He Haoxuan to dinner that evening by pooling their money.

The plan was roughly one hundred yuan per person, with Xiaoyu secretly settling the bill first and everyone reimbursing her later.

Xiaoyu also delivered the contract payment that He Haoxuan had signed to the finance department, handling the matter with great efficiency.

Furthermore, she had her desk moved near the entrance of He Haoxuan's office. Anyone wanting to see him had to pass right by her, making her look somewhat like a personal secretary.

In the evening, as work ended, Xiaoyu began organizing everyone to hail cabs, four people to a vehicle, to save a bit of money.

Eventually, only Xiaoyu and He Haoxuan were left in the office.

Xiaoyu glanced outside at the empty hallway, stood up, and with a blushing face, gently pushed open the office door.

He Haoxuan was playing on his phone. In truth, there had been little time left before the end of the workday, and he hadn't even finished a single game yet.

He Haoxuan had already texted Li Qingying earlier to inform her that he would be having dinner with his colleagues that night. Li Qingying had simply replied with a perfunctory "Oh."

Since she knew anyway, He Haoxuan didn't bother to dwell on it.

"Brother Xuan, work is over. Let's head to the restaurant," Xiaoyu said.

"Alright. How are the others getting there? My car can seat four people," He Haoxuan replied, slipping his phone into his pocket.

"T-they took taxis ahead. Now it's just the two of us left in the office." Hearing this, Xiaoyu's face turned red again.

This was entirely part of Xiaoyu's deliberate design; she hadn't told her colleagues that He Haoxuan had a car. That way, they would leave first, allowing her to spend some alone time with him.

Besides, He Haoxuan's BMW was enormous. She had no idea what model it was, but at a glance, it looked extremely expensive—probably worth several hundred thousand yuan.

"Is that so? Then let's go," He Haoxuan said. He led Xiaoyu down to the parking lot, and after asking which restaurant they were going to, he plugged the destination into his GPS.

Xiaoyu had booked the Tongli Hotel. From what she mentioned, it was a three-star establishment, which wasn't bad at all.

As for star ratings, He Haoxuan couldn't care less. Those colleagues had supported him that afternoon, and he had no intention of letting them down.

Driving along, He Haoxuan asked, "Xiaoyu, have you calculated it? How many colleagues in our department still need to collect outstanding payments, and what is the total amount?"

Xiaoyu cleared her throat. "Aside from you and me, twenty-three colleagues still have payments to recover, totaling 1.63 million yuan."

For sales professionals, having no outstanding debts was practically impossible.

The real question was how much was owed and whether it remained under control.

Yet, averaging it out, the people in Section Four owed over seventy thousand yuan per person—no small sum.

If He Haoxuan hadn't stepped in to help Xiaoyu, she would have owed the most herself: one hundred thousand yuan.

"It's fine, I'll take care of it," He Haoxuan said nonchalantly.

If he hadn't wanted to cultivate the capabilities of his department's subordinates, he would have gladly paid the amount off himself.

After all, what was a little over a million yuan? It was nothing.

"Brother Xuan, you're amazing!" Xiaoyu looked at him with stars in her eyes.

"Haha, just doing my best." He Haoxuan felt a bit carried away.

Back at the Li family, whenever he claimed to be wealthy, they simply refused to believe him.

Yet in front of Xiaoyu, he hadn't even claimed to be rich, and she had figured it out immediately.

Sigh, why was the intelligence of the Li family members so low? Xiaoyu merely had a college diploma, yet she could see the truth at a glance.

"Is this BMW yours? It must cost hundreds of thousands, right?" Xiaoyu continued to probe.

He Haoxuan felt like fainting. He had been ready to praise Xiaoyu for her discerning eye, only for her to assume his car was worth a mere few hundred thousand.

Damn it, this car was worth several million!

Still, He Haoxuan didn't feel like explaining. Some things only looked more like showing off the more you tried to explain them.

Like the author Night Drunk, he had always kept a low profile and disliked showing off.

Seeing He Haoxuan smile and stay silent, Xiaoyu became even more convinced in her own judgment.

She never expected He Haoxuan to be so wealthy. If she could become his girlfriend, they could eventually buy a modest apartment in a city like Qingshan.

Xiaoyu was pretty and had received plenty of subtle advances from various bosses. All she had to do was submit to them, and an apartment in the city would be hers.

For a young woman like her from a rural family, that was an immense temptation. Yet she had rejected them all; she wanted to find true love, not sell herself.

"This is just a small matter," He Haoxuan said dismissively.

Upon arriving at the Tongli Hotel, He Haoxuan discovered that Xiaoyu had reserved two large tables in the main dining hall.

"Xiaoyu, are there no private rooms here?" He Haoxuan asked, frowning.

With twenty-five people sitting out in the open hall, even if they were tucked away in a corner undisturbed, they would still have to split across two tables.

That arrangement would make conversation inconvenient.

Xiaoyu quickly replied, "This place is great. We'll just stay in the hall."

The main hall featured daily specials and discounts; only a fool would refuse to eat out in the open.

What was so great about a private room anyway? It was a third more expensive.

Xiaoyu had already calculated that their meal, including drinks, needed to stay under 2,400 yuan so as not to add to everyone's financial burden.

Since the sales agents in Section Four were generally poor, she couldn't put anyone in an embarrassing position.

Xu Yang and the others chimed in as well, "That's right, Brother Xuan, let's just stay in the hall. It's quiet enough here, and the air is good."

Seeing that everyone had agreed, He Haoxuan let the matter drop.

The main hall it was, then—everyone should just be comfortable. He had only wanted everyone to eat well in a nicer environment.

At a three-star hotel like this, no matter how they ordered, it couldn't possibly cost an exorbitant amount.

"Waiter, bring us some of your better dishes," He Haoxuan called out to a nearby server.

"Ah." Xiaoyu froze.

She had already coordinated with everyone to keep things light, avoiding too many heavy meat dishes so they could stay within budget.

After all, people would likely want a few drinks, which could easily push them over the limit.

Xu Yang hurriedly said to He Haoxuan, "Brother Xuan, we've already ordered. You can just sit down and eat."

"You've ordered already? Very well, let the waiter serve the food then," He Haoxuan nodded.

Xu Yang wiped a secret bead of sweat, thinking that this He Haoxuan was still a bit showy and lacked social tact.

Everyone was treating him, their new section chief, to a meal using their own pooled money, yet he casually told the waiter to order expensive dishes.

Good dishes were usually expensive. If that forced everyone to chip in another hundred yuan each, resentment might brew.

Sigh, electing He Haoxuan as section chief—was it even a good thing?

Well, they had already offended Chen Zhi-dong anyway; fortunately, Liu Xiaoyan had backed them up later, otherwise their position in Section Four would have been even more awkward.

Seeing how things stood, Xiaoyu hurriedly instructed the waiter to serve the dishes.

She then wanted to ask the waiter to bring out some cheaper beer, but He Haoxuan was already walking toward the front counter.