Chapter 33: Just swipe your card and it's done.

"Didn't you call him Uncle Hou yesterday? How did it become Uncle Hou today?" Zheng Qian asked with some curiosity.

"There were a lot of people yesterday, so I called him Boss Hou. There aren't many people today, so I just called him Uncle Hou."

Jin Lu told Zheng Qian that before her father went inside, he had a very good relationship with Uncle Hou, who had also taken good care of her over the years.

This gym job was something Uncle Hou had personally found for her; the compensation was higher than everyone else's, and sometimes he even paid out of his own pocket to give her benefits.

Zheng Qian nodded; so that was it, now he understood.

"He's actually very interested in red wine himself. For him to take out this invitation and give it to you, he must want to befriend you," Jin Lu analyzed for Zheng Qian without reservation.

"Then what do you think I should do?"

"It's up to you. If you want to get to know him, then do it. You don't need to go out of your way to build a relationship with him because of me," Jin Lu told Zheng Qian frankly.

Zheng Qian nodded. He had actually noticed that Uncle Hou had been very enthusiastic both times he greeted him, and aside from wanting to get to know him, there probably weren't any other motives.

They grabbed a quick bite for lunch, and in the afternoon, Jin Lu dropped Zheng Qian off at the company.

"Alright, study hard at home. I'm leaving."

"Hmm... wait a second."

"What is it?"

Jin Lu slightly raised her head and left a mark on Zheng Qian's lips.

"Alright, go now. I have to go back and study."

"Good grief, launching a sneak attack. I won't go easy on you tonight."

The two of them lingered in the car for a while longer before Zheng Qian finally let Jin Lu go back.

After arriving downstairs, he discovered that a brand-new Rolls-Royce was parked there.

The bright black paint was dazzling under the sun; it was impossible not to notice it.

Zheng Qian suddenly slapped his forehead; he had just remembered that he had asked Xia Xixi to help him buy a Rolls-Royce yesterday, so he hurried upstairs to the office.

"President Zheng, you're here. Let me introduce you. This is the General Manager of the Rolls-Royce dealership in the Imperial Capital, and this is our President Zheng."

"President Zheng, a pleasure to meet you." Two men in crisp suits shook hands with Zheng Qian very enthusiastically.

"This is the configuration sheet for your Rolls-Royce. Please take a look. Time was tight, so we couldn't do a custom order for you. If you're willing, the 4S dealership can help you with upgrades later on."

Xia Xixi handed over a Rolls-Royce configuration sheet for Zheng Qian to review.

This was a brand-new Rolls-Royce Phantom, priced at 11 million, with a landed cost of 13 million, which only took up one-tenth of Zheng Qian's budget.

"Alright, let's leave it at that for now. You brought the car purchase contract and paperwork, right?"

"Yes, we did." The two men handed a file bag to Xia Xixi.

"That's fine then. Swipe the card."

Zheng Qian took out his card and let the two of them process the payment.

His original budget was 100 million; he hadn't expected the Rolls-Royce Phantom to only cost a little over 10 million.

Although it didn't have those custom-made additions, considering the long distance they had to travel, the towing fees and labor costs were a significant expense, so 13 million was actually quite cheap.

After finalizing the handover, Zheng Qian let the two of them leave.

A few words and a Rolls-Royce was bought; what kind of concept was that?

It didn't really seem like a concept; it was just having a lot of money and being willful.

Zheng Qian had almost forgotten about this matter; he hadn't expected Xia Xixi to still remember. He didn't know how she had managed to get this Rolls-Royce, but the efficiency was definitely beyond reproach.

With a secretary like her, even if someone offered a mountain of gold in exchange, Zheng Qian would have to think about it.

The geographical location of Yebai was somewhat special, guarding the northern gate of the Central Plains. If you called it the Central Plains, it was too far north; if you called it the North, the North didn't quite recognize it. It was over a thousand kilometers away from the developed Jiangnan region, and the nearest Rolls-Royce dealership was in the Imperial Capital.

Xia Xixi told Zheng Qian that she hadn't gone home yesterday. After finishing the phone call at the KTV, she had urgently booked a red-eye flight and flown directly to the Imperial Capital to negotiate.

"This is the flight ticket. Since it was a personal matter, I can't charge the company, so you have to reimburse me." Xia Xixi showed Zheng Qian the ticket.

"Damn, you really didn't go home?"

Zheng Qian was a bit surprised when he saw the departure time and destination on the ticket.

No wonder Xia Xixi looked different today; she looked a bit haggard, clearly having not rested well.

"I'll reimburse you for the round-trip ticket, and I'll give you some extra compensation and a bonus."

"Do you have anything to do this afternoon? If not, let me take you shopping."

"Just transfer the money for the ticket and accommodation to me. It's work hours now, we can't skip work like this. It's my duty, and I don't need your compensation or bonus."

"No! You must be compensated." Zheng Qian's words were very firm.

"What about work hours? I'm the Vice President. I come when I want and don't come when I don't want to. Isn't President Liu a shareholder of several companies? I don't see her here every day either."

"You can't!"

"How about this? I order you to come out with me to purchase some office supplies." Zheng Qian changed his approach.

"You... No!" Xia Xixi was angered by Zheng Qian.

"The boss is assigning a task, are you going to refuse?" Zheng Qian prescribed the right medicine. This trick was called creating an excuse; when he was on business trips for his previous company, he often used it to get people to issue invoices and get reimbursed by the company.

Xia Xixi regretted it a little; she hadn't expected Zheng Qian to use this trick. She had dug this pit herself, and now she had to fill it.

"Alright then..."

Just like that, the two of them openly skipped work.

"Xia Xixi, I now officially appoint you; from now on, you will be my part-time driver."

The most expensive car Xia Xixi had ever driven was Chen Weiqiang's Mercedes-Benz S-Class, which cost several million. She had never touched a Rolls-Royce Phantom costing over ten million.

Yesterday was the first time she had seen the actual car; before that, she had only seen fragmented pictures and videos of it online.

To let her drive it, she was even more afraid; what if she scratched or bumped it?

"Then let's make it clear first: if I break it, I won't be responsible for the compensation."

"It doesn't matter, there's insurance. Time is money, hurry up and drive."

It was also Zheng Qian's first time sitting in such a luxury car. The genuine leather seats, plus the starlight headliner, felt really different.

Downstairs at the company.

Yao Manman got out of a taxi and frowned slightly as she saw the back of the Rolls-Royce that had just driven away.

After arriving at the company and checking in, she sat down at her workstation.

"Manman, you finally arrived. You're supposed to become a permanent employee the day after tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, it's time to become a permanent employee."

Yao Manman had just finished her last exam this morning and submitted her graduation thesis. During the upcoming summer vacation, she would begin working at the company full-time as a permanent employee.

"Manman, you missed out on a great thing. Our department changed leadership. A new President Zheng has arrived; he's young, promising, handsome, and rich."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. He even treated us to a big meal at Wangyue Pavilion yesterday."

"I saw the Moments you posted," Yao Manman replied.

She actually regretted taking leave yesterday. She had seen the Moments that Zhong Xiaoyao, Hao Ruxue, and the others had posted—delicacies from land and sea, abalone, lobster, and after eating, they even moved to a KTV and ordered a lot of expensive wine.

Yao Manman wasn't at the company yesterday and didn't see Chen Weiqiang introduce Zheng Qian to everyone.

She wasn't a formal employee of the company, so she wasn't in the company's main group chat and hadn't seen the "[I am Zheng Qian]" message that Zheng Qian sent when he joined the group yesterday.

Although she had collected the red packets in the small group chat, Zheng Qian hadn't introduced himself again.

She had no idea that this new President Zheng was her ex-boyfriend, Zheng Qian.