CHAPTER 34: CHAPTER 34 ONCE AGAIN GAINED HER FAVOR

"Something?" An Lu was suddenly stupefied: "What thing?"

Zhang Jingdong leaned forward, grabbed the bag with the LV handbag from the back seat, and handed it to her: "Of course this!"

An Lu was completely dumbfounded, biting her lip corner: "This... This handbag wasn’t this supposed to be a birthday gift for that female friend of yours?"

"Exactly." Zhang Jingdong said confidently: "We are friends now, aren’t we? You haven’t had your birthday yet this year, right? Consider this a pre-birthday gift from me!"

An Lu quickly waved her hands: "How can this be okay... No no... This is too expensive, I can’t accept it!"

Zhang Jingdong had anticipated her refusal, so he had prepared his arguments in advance: "Let me just ask you, do you consider me a friend right now?"

"Of course... but..."

"Don’t ’but’ me. Since you consider me a friend, it’s normal for us to help each other and exchange gifts. You might think this bag is expensive, but it isn’t that expensive for me."

"Here’s the logic: You have 1000 yuan and you are willing to spend 500 yuan to make me happy. I have 10,000 yuan, and I am willing to spend 5000 yuan to make you happy."

"In this case, the earlier 500 and the later 5000 are actually equivalent, because they both contain the same affection!"

At this point, Zhang Jingdong deliberately sighed: "I’ve said so much, if you really consider me a friend, can you please face me and accept this gift?"

Seeing An Lu still hesitant, Zhang Jingdong continued: "You really won’t accept? Alright then, as soon as you get out of the car, let’s pretend we never knew each other, and I’ll immediately delete your phone number so we never contact each other again!"

An Lu saw that Zhang Jingdong was really anxious, so she nodded reluctantly: "Okay okay... I’ll accept it, alright... you..."

Zhang Jingdong couldn’t help laughing: "Stop with the formalities, my goodness, giving you a gift is so hard. Are you afraid that I’ll intend to keep you maintained by just giving you a bag?"

Hearing that, An Lu also suddenly laughed, retorted coquettishly: "What are you talking about!"

Zhang Jingdong pursed his lips: "Whose fault is it that you’re fussing over this? It’s such a simple matter, and you’re overthinking!"

"When it’s my birthday, just give me a gift and it’ll be fine!"

An Lu glared at Zhang Jingdong: "By then, I can’t afford something this expensive."

"No need, just give me a pair of black stockings,"

"What... what?"

Zhang Jingdong quickly corrected himself: "I mean... just give me something you made yourself, like a scarf or a wallet, that’s fine!"

An Lu blinked her beautiful eyes: "...Alright."

Zhang Jingdong, fearing she would change her mind, picked up the bag and hurriedly got out of the car.

An Lu, seeing this, had no choice but to follow.

Along the way, the two, as usual, didn’t speak much.

It wasn’t until they reached the 8th building that Zhang Jingdong, while handing the bag to An Lu, said: "The reason I thought of buying you a bag was that, back in the store, I noticed you really liked it."

"Now that I’ve bought it for you, if you want to make me happy, just carry it often. Don’t worry about wearing it out, because I’ll get you a new one every year on your birthday!"

An Lu hurriedly said: "No need... I..."

Zhang Jingdong directly said: "Don’t worry, I know what kind of person you are."

"If you were materialistic, with your looks and your figure, countless rich second generations and nouveau riches would be rushing to give you this."

"And you also know what kind of person I am. If I didn’t consider you a friend, even a one-yuan hair tie would be too expensive for me to give."

"So let’s not be formal. You don’t have many friends, neither do I. Since fate has brought us together, why not just be good friends? At least if something happens, we can discuss and face it together, right?"

Zhang Jingdong said this straight to An Lu’s heart.

She realized he truly understood her, and he really cared about her.

Thus, An Lu shyly and touchingly nodded: "Okay, I promise you!"

Seeing that he had finally persuaded her, Zhang Jingdong tenderly said: "Alright, go on up, get some rest early."

An Lu obediently nodded: "Mm, you drive back... slowly, and message me when you get home!"

Her face blushed instantly as she said the last sentence.

"Host successfully gained 10 points of goodwill from the target character, with a bonus of 20,000 yuan!"

Zhang Jingdong immediately felt a burst of joy, and smirked: "Okay."

An Lu took a deep look at Zhang Jingdong, then reluctantly turned and entered the building.

Zhang Jingdong only now walked away with a face full of contentment.

...

At three o’clock the next afternoon, after attending half an English class, Zhang Jingdong sneaked out of the school.

He first went back to his house in Spring Breeze Garden to take a shower and changed into a set of Louis Vuitton, then headed to the "Seasons of a Day" teahouse on Datong Road.

He booked a private room on the second floor, ordered a pot of Longjing tea and some snacks.

Ten minutes later, he took a phone call and soon a young man entered, who was none other than Chen Dalong’s apprentice, Han Xu.

Zhang Jingdong did not stand up, but poured tea for him while saying, "Sit."

Han Xu hesitated for a moment, then properly seated himself opposite.

Zhang Jingdong asked, "Have you settled the matters on your side?"

"All settled."

"Good, the renovation here is almost finished, and we’ll be able to open as scheduled this Saturday."

At this point, Zhang Jingdong paused, then continued, "Now that we have you as the main chef, we still need two head chefs and four sous chefs."

"You are in the business, see if you have any classmates or friends in the same field, bring them along. Since you know each other, it’ll be easier to cooperate."

Han Xu hurriedly shook his head, "I’m sorry, boss, since I started learning this trade, I’ve always been with my master, I don’t have classmates or friends in this field."

Hearing this, Zhang Jingdong smiled with satisfaction, "I’m not testing you. I’ve really been busy recently and haven’t had time to find suitable helpers for you, so this task can only be left to you."

"Try to sort it out. As for the wage, discuss with them based on one and a half times what other restaurants offer. One condition though, they must be competent, got it?"

Han Xu then reluctantly nodded, "Alright, since that’s the case, I’ll give it a try and do my best not to let you down!"

"Good, then go ahead, and call me anytime if you have any questions."

"Okay, boss, I will take my leave then!"

Han Xu stood up and left the private room.

After half an hour, Zhang Jingdong took another phone call, and soon the door to the private room was pushed open again.

This time, it was the manager from the Xiang River South restaurant where Zhang Jingdong and An Lu visited yesterday.

This time, Zhang Jingdong stood up, greeted her saying, "Sister Yuan, you’ve arrived, please have a seat..."

Yuan Mei bowed slightly, "Mr. Zhang, sorry to keep you waiting."

"Not at all... I haven’t been here long myself, please sit..."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Zhang Jingdong directly said, "Sister Yuan, since you’ve made it here, I won’t beat around the bush. I’ve opened a new restaurant and I want you to manage it."

"As for the salary, I can offer you 15,000 per month, what do you think?"

Yuan Mei, who was initially inclined to decline, was shocked upon hearing the entire statement!

Because her current salary wasn’t even 8,000, and Zhang Jingdong offered her nearly double!

This...

She forced herself to calm down, hesitatingly asked, "Mr. Zhang, may I ask what kind of restaurant you have opened?"

Zhang Jingdong smiled and replied, "A Hunan cuisine restaurant, similar in scale to Xiang River South, located on Self-Reliance Road opposite Xijiang University."

Yuan Mei slowly blinked, "This... Mr. Zhang, to be honest, I didn’t expect you to offer such an amount."

Zhang Jingdong was prepared for such a reaction and quickly said, "Since you’re being sincere, I’ll speak frankly too."

"Firstly, I believe you’re worth this amount, because yesterday I saw your ability to handle unexpected situations. I originally planned to offer 10,000, but feared you might not accept, so I raised it straight to 15,000."

"Secondly, I am not short of money, so opening this restaurant isn’t about making profits; I just want to run a prosperous restaurant that is well-received."

"So whether it’s chefs, a manager, or even wait staff, I’m willing to pay more to hire the best."

"Do you find my reason acceptable?"

Yuan Mei glanced noncommittally at the LV logo on Zhang Jingdong’s shirt, then nodded.

"I understand, Mr. Zhang, but I might need a little more time to think about it. I’ll give you my decision tomorrow morning, is that okay?"

Zhang Jingdong knew she had virtually agreed already, but her statement was because she had been with Xiang River South for so long and didn’t want to appear as though she was only moving for the money.

Zhang Jingdong, of course, was willing to play along and immediately said, "Of course, that’s fine."