147: Can't afford to lose?

General Manager Meng's face was pale, this was an outcome he hadn't anticipated.

The other two were clearly assisting him, yet in the end, he was the only one who lost.

At this moment, he felt like he was caught in a dilemma, unable to back down.

Could it be that this fifty-year-old business magnate was going to polish the shoes of a small startup boss?

The air in the private room became stagnant, and even the oxygen felt thin.

None of the dozen or so people present spoke, and it was so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.

Song Yuan was even more intoxicated now, his head spinning and aching, but he wasn't muddled. He clearly remembered the bet they had just made.

Seeing General Manager Meng remain silent, Song Yuan asked again,

"General Manager Meng? You haven't developed selective amnesia, have you? You were the one who proposed the bet earlier."

He crossed one leg and said,

"My leather shoes are actually a bit dirty!"

After he finished speaking, he glanced at the feet of the other two people at the table,

"General Manager Ren and General Manager Wang's shoes are also dusty. Shouldn't we settle the bet now?"

When he said this, everyone took a deep breath, staring at Song Yuan, and gained some understanding of this young man who had just entered their circle.

He seemed easy to bully, but in reality, he couldn't be bullied at all; in fact, he was full of thorns.

There were only a few people in Beijing who dared to publicly humiliate General Manager Meng.

The Meng family's business wasn't the largest, not even as big as Ren Fei's in finance.

However, their family combined politics and business, and people in the circle understood how formidable such politically connected enterprises were, and how many people couldn't afford to offend them.

Ren Fei and the other General Manager Wang at the table almost held their breath, looking at General Manager Meng, and quickly said,

"It's just entertainment, no need to take it seriously. General Manager Song might not be aware of our usual rules; only business discussed at the mahjong table can be taken seriously, nothing else."

"Exactly, everyone is just having fun. We are all respectable people, just here for leisure. How could we really gamble?"

The people watching the excitement behind them also spoke up to smooth things over,

"Entertainment should not be taken seriously. If everything said at the card table could be taken seriously, we would have been poor long ago. Last time, we bet company shares. If we were serious, wouldn't the whole company be lost?"

"Hahaha, General Manager Song, there's no need to be so serious. I can vouch for it; we bet all sorts of things when playing cards, but they're all jokes. Once we leave the card table, we go about our business. Who remembers these boring bets?"

...

At this moment, General Manager Meng's face was dark, and he remained silent.

Song Yuan slowly lit a cigarette, took a puff, and then said,

"Before we started playing, we didn't say it was just entertainment. At first, we said the loser would drink. Didn't we drink? Why is it that when General Manager Meng loses, it becomes entertainment? General Manager Meng isn't a sore loser, is he?"

After Song Yuan finished speaking, he directly waved to the waiter,

"Please bring three sets of shoe-polishing tools, thank you!"

The waiter was confused, only knowing that everyone inside was a big boss, and he would do whatever the boss instructed. He acknowledged and went out to prepare.

Soon, the waiter brought three sets of shoe-polishing tools.

Everyone looked at Song Yuan, unsure how the situation would unfold next. If he really made General Manager Meng polish shoes, that incident would be talked about in the circle for a hundred years.

This was big news!

Ren Fei and General Manager Wang exchanged glances. How could they really let General Manager Meng polish their shoes?

The two of them quickly snatched the tools from the waiter's hand and began polishing their own leather shoes,

"My shoes aren't very dirty, there's no need for anyone else to do it."

"Exactly, everyone does their own things. Even my three-year-old granddaughter knows that."

Song Yuan sat with his legs crossed, leisurely watching General Manager Meng,

"Is General Manager Meng really planning to renege on the bet?"

General Manager Meng had been clenching his back molars for a long time; he had lived to this age and could be considered to have met countless people, but he truly hadn't expected young people nowadays to be so audacious!

A small startup boss who had just started his business, merely securing tens of millions in funding, had already gotten carried away?

And dared to provoke him, to humiliate him?

He wouldn't think starting a business was easy, would he?

Destroying a startup company was as simple as stepping on an ant for him, not to mention this kid named Song Yuan dared to beat up his son. Their feud was now officially established.

General Manager Meng snorted with a cold laugh,

"How is General Manager Song's company doing? Is it going smoothly?"

These words sounded like a greeting, but upon closer listening, they were a threat.

Song Yuan immediately understood that the other party was warning him using his company.

However, he knew that he and Gu Shiyuan had jointly beaten up the other party's son, Meng Qian, to such an extent that even if he said let it go today, that old fox General Manager Meng would not let him off easily.

What had already been provoked, further concession would be futile.

Instead of being suppressed meekly, it was better to fight back. He wanted to see how this old fox would deal with him.

His company had investments from two big bosses, Ji City and Huo Ziming, so these two would at least give him some support. He wasn't so desperate as to grovel to this bastard.

Song Yuan took a puff of his cigarette and gently exhaled the smoke,

"The company is operating normally. I wonder how General Manager Meng's company is doing. The leading domestic network security company, hasn't it been attacked by hackers again?"

Song Yuan's words were nothing short of a provocation. Everyone in the private room broke into a sweat, not daring to intervene, and even feeling a sense of dread at seeing General Manager Meng embarrassed.

They were all privy to the information today; would General Manager Meng silence them after they left this private room?

General Manager Meng's hawk-like eyes stared at Song Yuan, and after a moment, he curled one corner of his lip into a cold sneer,

"What you should be worried about now is your company. Who knows if it will go bankrupt next month. Xinan Network is, of course, excellent. The top security talents in the country are all concentrated at Xinan Network. What kind of hackers are you talking about?"

General Manager Meng then laughed disdainfully,

"Let alone ordinary hackers, even if the globally renowned hacker James came, he might not be able to break through Xinan Network's firewall."

Hearing this, Song Yuan almost couldn't help but laugh out loud.

He estimated the time; Gu Shiyuan must have finished on his end. Xinan Network's official website was already down, and it wouldn't be long before General Manager Meng received the news. Then, he'd see what he had to say.

Someone nearby flattered General Manager Meng,

"Putting everything else aside, Xinan Network is an absolute authority in this field. General Manager Meng, if there's a chance, lend us a few experts to help our company check its firewall!"

"Currently, there shouldn't be any hackers in the country who dare to challenge Xinan Network. They wouldn't even look at who they're up against. Isn't that just asking for humiliation?"

"General Manager Song's words are truly a joke. That's Xinan Network! If Xinan Network could be easily breached, I'd rather believe I'm Qin Shi Huang!"

Everyone took turns praising General Manager Meng to the heavens.

General Manager Meng's tail was practically wagging.

The conversation had drifted far, and they were almost forgetting about the bet.

Song Yuan, however, was wide awake. Although he was now very drowsy from the alcohol, he couldn't forget important matters,

"Yes, yes, Xinan Network is indeed impressive. But General Manager Meng, a bet is a bet. You haven't fulfilled your part of the wager yet. You're not really planning to renege, are you?"