Siheyuan: A Very Happy Era

Chapter 657 What do they take her for?

"that."

"What is that?"

"How about I treat you?"

"Invite me? Are you sure?"

"Are you sure?"

Seeing Li Guoqiang's very surprised look, Gu Lingfei couldn't help but feel a little bitter inside.

Originally, she just wanted to find an excuse to strike up a conversation with Li Guoqiang, but in a moment she forgot about the most important thing: the group purchase.

Nowadays, it's obviously too late to look at group buying deals.

To avoid causing Li Guoqiang to misunderstand or get angry, the best solution is for her to pay for the meal.

However, this means she has to consider whether her wallet can satisfy Li Guoqiang's appetite.

Perhaps, it should be enough!
"Alright, since you're so sincere, I certainly can't refuse your kindness. Let's go in quickly! My stomach is getting impatient!" Li Guoqiang looked at the slight stiffness on Gu Lingfei's face, felt a little amused, and then immediately nodded and urged her on.

Before Gu Lingfei could say anything, he took the first step and walked into the tea restaurant.

Seeing this, Gu Lingfei opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't say anything.

Soon, she steeled herself and followed Li Guoqiang into the tea restaurant, where they asked for a quiet spot.

Immediately afterward, before she could say anything, Li Guoqiang had already started marking up the menu, almost filling the entire page with marks.

Then, under her gaze, Li Guoqiang handed the menu directly to the waiter, and said, "Please bring three of all of these."

Upon hearing this, her lips twitched violently, and the waiter's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Sir, you mean these are the ones that have been hooked up, and you want three servings of each?"

“That’s right, is there a problem?” Li Guoqiang nodded, then asked without changing his expression.

"No problem!" Seeing that Li Guoqiang wasn't joking, the waiter could only follow his instructions and submit the order exactly as instructed.

Soon, baskets of breakfast were brought out one after another by the waiters.

Seeing this, Gu Lingfei's mind kept replaying the sound of her bank account being deducted, making it impossible for her to calm down.

After all, she wasn't even sure if she could close the deal with Li Guoqiang and earn that commission of over a million yuan.

If Li Guoqiang ultimately decides not to buy it, then she will really suffer a huge loss this time.

Especially since she is currently just a senior intern, the little money she earns each month barely covers rent, utilities, and food.

Now, she can only hope that Li Guoqiang will be lenient with his words so that she can keep some money for food.

Otherwise, she would really have to live on steamed buns every day.

"Hey, why are you staring at me like that? Hurry up and eat!" After Li Guoqiang finished eating two baskets of shrimp dumplings, two baskets of chicken feet, two baskets of shumai, and two baskets of tofu skin rolls, he raised his eyebrows when he saw that Gu Lingfei hadn't touched her chopsticks yet.

"Oh!" Gu Lingfei finally came to her senses upon hearing this, and then silently picked up her chopsticks, picked up a chicken foot and put it in her bowl.

In the past, she would have enjoyed eating this golden and fragrant chicken foot very much.

But now, she feels like she has suddenly lost her appetite.

She even felt a little like crying.

After all, Li Guoqiang can eat three large trays of food at a buffet. Now that it's just a small serving of dim sum, he'd probably eat hundreds of servings!
At an average price of 20 yuan per serving, 100 servings would amount to 2000 yuan, which is equivalent to half a month's salary for her.

"What? Feeling sorry for her?" Li Guoqiang couldn't help but find it amusing when he saw Gu Lingfei eating with her head down for a long time without even finishing a single chicken foot.

"No, no, I just suddenly felt like I didn't have much of an appetite!" Gu Lingfei shook her head, her words lacking confidence.

Although there was no mirror on site, she was certain that her complexion was not very good.

After all, poverty diminishes ambition, a problem that everyone inevitably faces.

"Alright, I'm a billionaire, how could I let a girl like you treat me to dinner! I'll pay the bill later, you can eat as much as you want!" Li Guoqiang saw that Gu Lingfei was already a little full because she was worried that he was eating too much, so he didn't tease her anymore and gave her a way out.

"No, it's a deal I made." Gu Lingfei immediately objected upon hearing this.

However, when she saw the empty cages piled high in front of Li Guoqiang, she suddenly couldn't continue her sentence.

Given this situation, perhaps half a month's salary wouldn't even be enough for Li Guoqiang to have one meal.

"Next time, you can treat me again next time." Seeing this, Li Guoqiang was secretly pleased and then chuckled as he replied.

"Alright! I'll treat you next time!" Gu Lingfei glanced at Li Guoqiang, then stopped trying to be stubborn and nodded in agreement.

Then, looking at the huge pile of breakfast on the table, she swallowed hard.

There was a time when she dreamed of a day when she could eat breakfast to her heart's content, without having to worry about how much it cost or whether each breakfast item was expensive or cheap.

Unfortunately, her wallet was not cooperating, and she had not been able to fulfill this wish.

Now, thanks to Li Guoqiang, she is able to experience it firsthand.

Soon, she focused her attention on the food, eating chicken feet, then shrimp dumplings, then seaweed rolls—basically, she ate whatever she liked.

Unfortunately, she was already full before she could eat many baskets of breakfast, and could only sip her tea while watching Li Guoqiang continue to eat.

At the same time, she was also thinking how wonderful it would be if she could eat as much as Li Guoqiang.

In that case, she could start a food vlogging account, travel around tasting delicious food, and make money while filming videos.

"Hey, how did you meet Ruan Muning?" Li Guoqiang asked with a chuckle after seeing that Gu Lingfei had finished eating.

"Oh! We met at a school party. Mu Ning and I were both hosts." Gu Lingfei snapped out of her reverie and answered softly.

"Well, does she usually introduce you to many clients who want to buy houses?" Li Guoqiang nodded slightly in agreement, and then asked.

"No, she's never introduced any homebuyers to me before. On the contrary, I often have to ask her to help clients get loans," Gu Lingfei shook her head and said somewhat embarrassedly.

Upon hearing this answer, a thoughtful expression appeared on Li Guoqiang's face. If things were really as Gu Lingfei said, then he could now be certain that Ruan Muning had not initially intended to get involved herself.

So, when did she change?
Was it when he deliberately tested Gu Lingfei by mentioning buying a house, or when he took them to a seafood buffet?
After thinking for a while, he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly asked, "By the way, did you tell her about us splitting the bill for dinner yesterday?"

"Yes, what's wrong?" Gu Lingfei was slightly taken aback, then asked nervously.

"It's nothing! I was just asking!" Upon hearing this, Li Guoqiang immediately understood.

Perhaps it was only after Ruan Muning learned of another layer of connection between him and Gu Lingfei that she suddenly changed her attitude and decided to take matters into her own hands, even before Gu Lingfei could.

As for why she did this, he guessed that she probably didn't want Gu Lingfei to step on her head in the future!
"Well, I just let it slip. I didn't mean to tell her about sharing a meal," Gu Lingfei said, pursing her lips and then explaining somewhat uneasily.

"So what was her reaction after you told her?" Li Guoqiang raised an eyebrow and asked softly.

"She congratulated me!" Gu Lingfei hesitated for a moment, but finally told the truth.

"Congratulations on what?" Li Guoqiang immediately became interested upon hearing this.

"She said, she said you would probably prefer someone like me," Gu Lingfei replied softly, lowering her head.

After saying that, she quickly raised her eyelids and glanced at Li Guoqiang, wanting to see how he would react.

However, Li Guoqiang seemed immune to it, and his face did not show any unusual expression.

This made her feel a pang of disappointment, followed by a slight sense of relief.

Fortunately, she wasn't so narcissistic before, and directly told Li Guoqiang about the adoption.

Otherwise, if Li Guoqiang rejected her, she would lose face big time.

After a while, Li Guoqiang slowly finished the rest of the breakfast on the table, then drank a cup of chrysanthemum tea before speaking softly:

“I took her home last night, and she invited me in for a cup of tea, so I went up.”

Upon hearing this, Gu Lingfei was momentarily stunned.

She's not a child, so of course she can understand what Li Guoqiang is saying.

It was precisely because she understood the meaning behind Li Guoqiang's words that she was stunned for a moment.

Originally, she had always thought that the most crucial aspect of dealing with Li Guoqiang, a major client, lay with her.

She even once felt that in Li Guoqiang's heart, she should be much better than Ruan Muning.

One reason is that she is relatively clean, and another reason is that she and Li Guoqiang have a history of sharing meals.

That's why she felt a little smug when Ruan Muning congratulated her.

However, to her surprise, Ruan Muning took advantage of the opportunity of being separated from her to secretly steal her away.

Even when she texted Ruan Muning this morning to ask for advice, Ruan Muning kept it a secret from her.

what is this?
What does this take her for?

The more Gu Lingfei thought about it, the worse her expression became, and she even had an urge to call Ruan Muning and question her.

"Are you alright?" Li Guoqiang asked with concern when he noticed that Gu Lingfei's complexion looked off.

The reason he revealed his relationship with Ruan Mu Ning was twofold: firstly, to let Gu Ling Fei know that he and Ruan Mu Ning were already together, and secondly, to encourage Gu Ling Fei to make a decision sooner.

"I'm fine, I was just a little too surprised." Gu Lingfei shook her head, then said with a double meaning.

“Actually, you don’t need to be so surprised. After all, everyone wants to improve, right?” Li Guoqiang smiled slightly and then said meaningfully.

“Yes! Everyone wants to improve, and some people even step on others’ shoulders to achieve it.” Gu Lingfei nodded, her tone tinged with bitterness.

Now she understands why Ruan Muning suddenly introduced Li Guoqiang, a major client, to her.

Their purpose was simply to use her as a litmus test to see what Li Guoqiang was really capable of.

During the house-hunting process, Ruan Muning first noticed that Li Guoqiang wanted to eat meat, and then she realized that he wanted to subscribe to meat for a month. Finally, when they were having a seafood buffet, Ruan Muning, who was a fresh meat supplier with some connection to Li Guoqiang, simply grabbed the supply list.

They're really treating her like a fool!

"So what are you thinking now?" Li Guoqiang asked with some curiosity.

"I...I don't know!" Gu Lingfei opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she shook her head.

After all, she wasn't Ruan Mu Ning, and she couldn't be as decisive as Ruan Mu Ning.

Especially now that she knows Ruan Mu Ning used her and got on the boat first, how could she possibly be completely unconcerned about sharing the same boat with Ruan Mu Ning?
"Alright! Let's pay the bill and go!" Upon hearing this, Li Guoqiang immediately understood Gu Lingfei's intentions. He didn't insist and simply stood up and walked towards the restaurant's front desk.

He quickly paid the bill and then took Gu Lingfei to the parking lot.

After Gu Lingfei opened the car door and got in, before she could say anything, he asked first, "Do you want to go home or to the store now?"

"I'm going home!" Gu Lingfei was slightly taken aback, then answered with a hint of disappointment.

Because she knew that Li Guoqiang was telling her that she didn't need to buy the villa.

On the way, she kept looking out the window, trying to convince herself to be like Ruan Mu Ning and invite Li Guoqiang over for tea at her home later.

Perhaps in that way, she could retain Li Guoqiang's large order for the villa, and even receive a very generous adoption fee.

Unfortunately, she was never able to do it.

She wanted to earn money, but she didn't want to follow in Ruan Mu Ning's footsteps.

Because of this, she felt that she would be inferior to Ruan Mu Ning for the rest of her life.

"arrive!"

Shortly after, the Panamera slowly stopped at the entrance of the residential area, and Li Guoqiang even very considerately unlocked the car door for Gu Lingfei, showing no intention of trying to keep her there.

Seeing this, Gu Lingfei's heart tightened, and then she slowly moved her lips and asked in a low voice, "Um, may I ask how much you gave her for tea?"

(End of this chapter)