"How come, is this lady of a special status?" Zheng Lihong started speaking, looking somewhat amused at the group of young people opposite.
While Chu Ge subtly glanced at Mr. Ouyang, who at the moment was squinting slightly, his face smiling as he watched the scene unfold.
"Humph, with us here, where is there room for you yokels to interject?" The man wearing a watch spoke, his face full of arrogance.
"This is Li, Li Guangcheng, just returned from studying abroad, a top graduate. As soon as he arrived in Shanghai, he was recruited by a major company. Now he’s the assistant manager of the finance department in the company, with an annual salary of hundreds of thousands, paid vacations, and various bonuses!"
Xiao Jie threw a flirty glance at the man with the watch, and it must be said, this man called Li Guangcheng, in the eyes of ordinary people, definitely belonged to the upper echelons of society.
Seeing Xiao Jie showing favor towards Li Guangcheng, the other two men immediately became more energetic.
The man sitting on the left with glasses crossed his arms, a smirk hanging at the corner of his mouth: "My name is Zhang Cheng, humble as I am, 24 years old, serving as the assistant manager of the PR department, with an annual salary of just a few hundreds of thousands."
Though he said this, the pride on his face couldn’t be concealed.
The young man in a black suit sitting on the far right also smiled and introduced himself: "Wu You, 23 years old, assistant manager of the HR department, annual salary is about the same, several hundreds of thousands."
After all three had introduced themselves, Xiao Jie sat among them, enjoying the feeling of being the center of attention, then sarcastically looked towards Chu Ge.
According to her expectations, a few yokels, sitting together with these people of status and position, would surely feel extremely cramped and uncomfortable.
However, what she didn’t expect was that both Chu Ge and Zheng Lihong sitting next to him, as well as Mr. Ouyang who had already completely closed his eyes and was lightly dozing off, all looked utterly unfazed.
"You..." Xiao Jie was frustrated.
However, Li Guangcheng signaled her to quiet down with a look, then smilingly said to Chu Ge: "Not sure about this friend’s prestigious employment, how much is your annual salary? Seeing as you appear so poised and proper, I presume a job earning less than a million a year wouldn’t catch your fancy, right?"
The statement was clearly an insult.
In Shanghai, even the heads of billion-dollar companies, with salary and bonuses combined, barely make it to a million.
Looking at Chu Ge dressed in cheap casual clothes, it seemed more likely that he was possibly an employee at some small mall.
However, what he hadn’t expected was that, after some thought, Chu Ge actually nodded, looking at him seriously and said: "Hmm, about that much, a few million a year if it’s a real company."
He was telling the truth; as an HR manager, his salary level was already high. Although Mu Bingtong no longer gave him the monthly hundred thousand yuan for the marriage facade fee, she had granted him a significant share of company stock, along with dividends which indeed added up to a few million a year.
"Pfft—" Zhang Cheng, who was wearing glasses, had just taken a sip of water and sprayed it out.
And Li Guangcheng and the others all looked at Chu Ge with scorn.
Ultimately, the one dressed in the black suit, Wu You, couldn’t hold back, bluntly saying, "Hmph, you smelly yokel, Li was just teasing you, didn’t you realize? Haha, a million a year? Do you really think this world is covered in gold that you just need to bend over to pick up?"
"Hey, don’t be like that," Li Guangcheng said with a cold laugh, looked at Chu Ge and said: "Isn’t it all about entrepreneurship now? Maybe this young man was just a street vendor, who suddenly struck rich by selling cheap casual clothes, earning him a few millions a year, quite an easy task indeed."
But as soon as he finished speaking, he himself started laughing, and the accompanying few also looked at Chu Ge and laughed loudly.
"Humph, now you know the gap between us and you, don’t you? Yokel, watch your mouth!"
Zhang Cheng sneered, then turning his head to Li Guangcheng he said: "Li, I heard that you’re soon going to be promoted to the manager of Tianrui Group’s finance department, dropping the assistant title, is that true?"
While speaking, envy could hardly be masked in Zhang Cheng’s tone.
Although they worked in different companies, and even if Li Guangcheng became a chairman it wouldn’t affect him directly, the future and background of Tianrui Group, backed by the financial giant Tianrui Bank, simply couldn’t be compared with those ordinary small companies they worked at.
"It’s not confirmed yet," Li Guangcheng modestly said, yet his face already shown an undisguised smug expression: "But the general manager spoke to me recently, asking if I was prepared to take on greater responsibilities. I guess that actually implies I’ll soon be the finance manager."
On hearing this, both Wu You and Zhang Cheng’s faces couldn’t hide their jealously, while Xiao Jie’s eyes nearly burst with love, her body even snuggled closer towards Li Guangcheng.
"Li, I heard that not long ago, the chairman of Tianrui Bank, Mr. Zhao, personally gave a lecture at your company, is that true?" Xiao Jie leaning towards Li Guangcheng, smiling as she asked.
Smelling the perfume coming from Xiao Jie’s body, Li Guangcheng’s vanity and jealousy swelled, and he said lightly: "Yes, I was sitting in the second row. Mr. Zhao glanced at me several times during the speech, and even smiled at me. Especially after the speech ended, the company arranged for all the executives to shake hands with Mr. Zhao, and he complimented me a few times in person."
Concluding this, Li Guangcheng added: "It was just verbal praise, nothing much really."
This statement was a brag. Xiao Jie’s pupils were filled with little stars, while Wu You and Zhang Cheng turned their heads away, but in the end, said nothing.
After all, vanity aside, he indeed had that capital. Mr. Zhao, nicknamed the ’God of Wealth’ in Shanghai, had a status truly unattainable, even they had never met him.
Being able to shake hands with Mr. Zhao and even receiving his personal compliments was even something they could put on their resumes!
But just then, Chu Ge suddenly muttered: "Mr. Zhao? The Mr. Zhao of Tianrui Bank?"
"That’s right." Li Guangcheng turned his head, looking at Chu Ge with a mock smile: "You don’t say, but you know Mr. Zhao?"
"I actually do know him." Chu Ge nodded, speaking earnestly: "Some time ago, I even borrowed two billion from him, haven’t paid it back yet... Well, by the looks of it, he probably doesn’t plan to ask for it back either."