Siheyuan: A Very Happy Era

Chapter 646 Women are fickle
"Guoqiang, as you know, our bar's business has been declining after those three years of ups and downs. Otherwise, I wouldn't have pinned my hopes on Young Master Ma."

However, not only did you fail to please Young Master Ma, you also ended up drinking yourself into the hospital, making yourself a laughingstock for him.

Do you know what people outside are saying about our bar?
They said our bar doesn't have the skills, so we shouldn't embarrass ourselves in public.

Tell me, how much damage have you caused to our bar this time?

Originally, I didn't want to talk about this because we were classmates.

And what did you do? You started threatening me.

How can you do this? It's so unfair to us after all these years of relationship. How can you face your own conscience?

At this point, Zhao Tianyu looked heartbroken, as if Li Guoqiang had done something to wrong him.

This made Li Guoqiang feel a little amused.

How come he never noticed before that Zhao Tianyu was such a hypocrite?

wrong!

He didn't seem to have that ability before, to see things so clearly and understand them so well.

However, that is all in the past.

Now he no longer needs to feign politeness with anyone, nor does he need to be mindful of anyone's feelings.

Moreover, he felt that his views on many things had changed significantly.

Just like that young master Ma, if he were given another chance, he wouldn't be so foolish as to think that drinking with someone would get them to host his birthday party at their bar.

Because he knew that rich second-generation kids like Young Master Ma cared most about face and pomp.

If their bar can't make him feel respected, then even if he kneels on the ground and begs like a dog wagging its tail, Young Master Ma won't agree to hold his birthday party at their bar.

In other words, the fact that he drank himself into the hospital was a complete joke.

Zhao Tianyu had clearly anticipated this outcome.

Otherwise, Zhao Tianyu wouldn't have let Young Master Ma leave like that last night.

It was precisely because of this that Li Guoqiang was so certain that Zhao Tianyu wanted to force him to leave the bar.

Perhaps Zhao Tianyu also realized that their bar had reached a point where it no longer needed a hardworking, dedicated sales director, but rather a sales director who could bring prestige to the rich second-generation like Young Master Ma.

Or perhaps he wanted to take back the 20% of shares held by Li Guoqiang, and then use those shares to recruit Young Master Ma as a partner!
However, whether that's actually the case or not is no longer important to Li Guoqiang.

He waved his hand at Zhao Tianyu, then said bluntly, "Mr. Zhao, Boss Zhao, we've known each other for a long time, so you don't need to talk to me about feelings or anything like that, lest people find out and laugh at us."

Since you want to kick me out and take back my shares, then considering that we've known each other for a while, I can agree to let you leave with a year's worth of dividends. Let's part ways amicably.

But if you feel that I don't deserve this money, that's fine too. We can just wait it out and see who can outlast whom.

Anyway, I'm not afraid of people with nothing to lose. If I lose this job, I can just go back to farming.

But if you miss this opportunity, it won't be so easy to expand and grow the bar later.

After saying that, Li Guoqiang picked up the cigarettes and lighter that Zhao Tianyu had placed on the table, lit one with a click, and leisurely exhaled a puff of smoke.

As Zhao Tianyu watched this scene, his expression slowly turned cold.

He never expected that Li Guoqiang, who had always been hardworking and conscientious, would one day dare to speak to him like that.

Back then, if he hadn't pulled Li Guoqiang into opening this bar together, how could Li Guoqiang be living such a carefree life now?

But he forgot.

Forget about this bar; it was actually built from scratch by Li Guoqiang.

All he did was take some money and then occasionally give Li Guoqiang a series of impossible tasks, along with empty promises.

Li Guoqiang also admitted that without the funds provided by Zhao Tianyu, even if he had great abilities, he would not have a platform to showcase them.

However, he doesn't owe Zhao Tianyu anything.

What he wants is what he deserves.

As time ticked by, Zhao Tianyu noticed that Li Guoqiang remained silent. Considering the consequences of Li Guoqiang staying and continuing to oppose him, he finally couldn't sit still any longer.

Are you sure you can just take the money and leave?

“I know what you’re worried about. I can assure you that I won’t work for anyone else in another bar again,” Li Guoqiang smiled slightly and replied softly.

"Okay, I'll transfer the money to you now." Zhao Tianyu breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Li Guoqiang say that, and then readily agreed.

After all, based on this year's dividends, 20% would only amount to a little over 200,000, and even if it were to continue for another year, it would only be around 500,000.

He can earn that little bit of money back in no time once he gets Young Master Ma involved.

Moreover, one year's share of the profits was originally intended for Li Guoqiang.

This only means they gave an extra 200,000 yuan in severance pay.

Soon, Zhao Tianyu transferred the money to Li Guoqiang's bank account, and Li Guoqiang also wrote a severance agreement to avoid any trouble that might arise at the bar and involve him.

As he was leaving Zhao Tianyu's office and preparing to go to his own office to pack his personal belongings, Jiang Huilin suddenly stopped him.

"Mr. Li, why are you here at work so soon?" Jiang Huilin looked at Li Guoqiang, who was looking radiant, and couldn't help but show a look of surprise.

"Go to work? I probably won't go to work anymore!" Li Guoqiang raised an eyebrow and then chuckled as he answered.

"What do you mean by that?" Jiang Huilin's heart tightened, and she hurriedly asked.

"I've resigned!" Li Guoqiang said seriously, his expression turning serious.

"No, you resigned. What am I going to do then?" Jiang Huilin's eyes widened, and she asked anxiously.

After all, she had always regarded Li Guoqiang as her backer, and she had used him to bully others and gain a lot of benefits.

If Li Guoqiang really leaves, will she still be able to stay here?
"Why don't you come with me?" Li Guoqiang looked at Jiang Huilin's fair and youthful face and decided to give her a chance. "Go with you? Where to? To another bar?" Upon hearing this, a glimmer of hope immediately rose in Jiang Huilin's heart.

In her view, Li Guoqiang had a lot of customer resources, and even if he went to work in another bar, he could at least get a position as a sales director.

When the time comes, she can go with them, and life there won't be much worse than here.

"No, I promised Boss Zhao that I wouldn't work for other bars anymore," Li Guoqiang shook his head, seemingly without hiding anything.

However, he didn't say that with his current abilities, even if he were to go into the bar business, he would open his own.

"No, if you don't work in the bar industry, what else can you do?" Jiang Huilin's expression changed upon hearing this, and she asked somewhat angrily.

"So what do you mean?" Li Guoqiang raised an eyebrow and asked softly.

"What I mean is, you've already been kicked out, so how dare you ask me to go with you?" Jiang Huilin curled her lip and said with some disdain.

She looked completely different from how she had been showing concern for Li Guoqiang at the hospital; it was as if she had become a different person.

However, Li Guoqiang was not surprised by this, and even thought it was quite normal.

After all, this woman is fickle, a fact known worldwide.

It's just that Jiang Huilin's changes were a bit too fast, and even a little disgusting.

Therefore, Li Guoqiang didn't say anything more and turned around to go to his office.

Not long after, when he came out of the office carrying a cardboard box, he saw Jiang Huilin walking backwards out of Zhao Tianyu's office with a happy expression, clearly having already sided with Zhao Tianyu.

When Jiang Huilin saw Li Guoqiang, her expression stiffened slightly, then she snorted coldly and swaggered away.

It's unclear whether she felt Zhao Tianyu would truly protect her in the future, or whether she felt Li Guoqiang was no longer worthy of her greetings.

Looking at her youthful and energetic figure, Li Guoqiang smiled slightly, then took out his phone and dialed Mr. Ma's number.

"Hey, Mr. Ma, it was my fault for not keeping you company last night. So, I've specially gotten a bottle of fine wine and would like you to taste it. I wonder if you have time tonight?"

"Good wine? You're not kidding me, are you?" Young Master Ma's voice was full of doubt.

"No way! How could I dare to lie to you? I guarantee you'll be satisfied!" Li Guoqiang's voice was full of confidence.

"Alright, I'd like to see what kind of good wine you can get your hands on. If you can't satisfy me, then you can forget about living in Pengcheng!" Young Master Ma's curiosity was successfully piqued.

Immediately after telling Young Master Ma the time and place, Li Guoqiang hung up the phone without further ado.

In fact, he was not at all surprised that Young Master Ma would agree to the appointment.

Because rich kids like Young Master Ma are naturally curious about things that defy common sense, he would take the time to come and check in order to see if Li Guoqiang could actually get his hands on good wine.

As for whether Li Guoqiang can get his hands on good wine, that's not a problem.

On the contrary, he was still thinking about which type of liquor to bring out without seeming too intimidating.

You should know that in that personal space, besides the medicinal fields, farms, and pastures, there was also a large wine cellar and a large underground cellar.

In the cellar, there were only the finest delicacies from land and sea.

And in the wine cellar, there are only those world-renowned aged wines.

There are bottled and jarred products, domestic and foreign, including baijiu, huangjiu, wine, brandy, whiskey, and even medicinal wines such as tiger bone wine, ginseng wine, and deer antler wine.

Putting everything else aside, these medicinal wines alone are priceless treasures.

Considering his own status and the level of Young Master Ma, Li Guoqiang finally decided to take out a bottle of 78 Moutai and a small bottle of deer antler wine.

The bottle of Moutai was meant to prove one's strength, while the bottle of deer antler wine was meant to enhance one's social value.

Coincidentally, empty bottles are the most common items in bars.

Before leaving the bar, Li Guoqiang used his personal belongings to collect several hundred high-quality liquor bottles, then left the bar without hesitation and returned to his rented apartment.

Soon after, news of his resignation spread like wildfire among those with ulterior motives.

His resignation was attributed to drinking so much that he ended up in the hospital and developed serious health problems.

This was undoubtedly an attempt to completely eliminate the possibility of him switching jobs to another bar.

After all, who would want to hire a bar marketing director who has health problems and can't drink alcohol?
However, Li Guoqiang is unaware of all this for the time being.

He had already left all the group chats when he signed the agreement in Zhao Tianyu's office.

Moreover, just from Jiang Huilin's immediate decision to side with Zhao Tianyu, it's clear that most people who frequent bars only care about interests and not feelings.

Not to mention, apart from Jiang Huilin, the gold digger who took the initiative to approach him, he didn't cultivate any real confidants in the bar, so naturally no one felt particularly reluctant to see him leave.

At most, some people might feel a little regretful in their hearts.

But this is for the best; at least he can leave in peace.

Before long, it was past seven o'clock in the evening.

Li Guoqiang arrived early at a private restaurant not far from his apartment to wait for Young Master Ma's arrival.

The reason he chose this place was not because the food was particularly delicious or the restaurant was particularly upscale; it was simply because it was close by and offered good privacy.

It wasn't until 7:30 that Young Master Ma finally arrived, bringing with him a stunningly beautiful female companion, seemingly wanting to make Li Guoqiang, a working-class laborer, quite envious.

Li Guoqiang didn't stand on ceremony and immediately turned his attention to the other man's female companion, giving her a good look.

Seeing this, Young Master Ma couldn't help but feel a little surprised. He then walked to the seat reserved by Li Guoqiang and sat down, raising his chin as he asked, "Where is the good wine you mentioned?"

"Young Master Ma, I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush!" Li Guoqiang smiled slightly and then spoke calmly.

"No, are you kidding me?" Upon hearing this, Young Master Ma's face immediately darkened.

damn it!
How the hell could I believe that a lowly bartender could get his hands on some top-quality liquor?

(End of this chapter)