Chapter 270: The height to look up to
Everyone looked absolutely astonished. Exactly how did Xiao Luo come to know Chu Yunxiong? And what kind of relations.h.i.+p did he have with such a distinguished figure, a man who was at the very top of the business hierarchy? And for Chu Yunxiong to make such a grand gesture on account of Xiao Luo came as a complete shock!
The very people who had earlier lectured Xiao Luo on his perceived shortcomings, suddenly felt rather awkward as they realized that they might have made themselves look a tad silly.
Guo Qinghe’s expression was hard to decipher, but he almost looked dejected. He found it jarring that someone else in the group had done better than him. Due to his long history of success and as the accepted leader of their alma mater, he took this as a slight to his dignity.
He asked, very eagerly, “Ermm, may I ask if you know anything about the relations.h.i.+p between our cla.s.smate and Boss Chu?”
As he asked this question, everyone had their ears peeled, and all attention was focused on the charming waitress, eagerly awaiting her response.
The senior waitress smiled apologetically and replied, shaking her head, “I’m sorry, sir, I’m not too sure about this.” However, being trained to always provide the highest level of service to her customers, she helpfully gave them a suggestion and said, “Mr. Xiao is having a conversation with Boss Chu downstairs. Would you like to see him? Perhaps you could ask him directly.”
When they heard that, they exchanged quick glances, and stepped out to the corridor overlooking the hotel lobby, trying their best not to appear to be storming out of the room.
Just outside the main entrance of the lobby, they saw a Range Rover parked next to a Rolls Royce on the s.p.a.cious ground in front of the hotel. Besides the cars, two persons stood together, having a conversation. One was a comely young man, dressed casually, and the other a dignified looking man with silver hair in a formal suit. They were chatting enthusiastically.
The two men were none other than Xiao Luo and Chu Xunxiong.
As for Zhang Dashan, he was close by, playing with the little girl, Bei Bei. Behind Chu Yunxiong, stood two men in black suits, grim-looking, and alert. They were obviously the bodyguards.
“Xiao Luo is actually chatting so casually with such a distinctive figure like Chu Yunxiong, my…my eyes aren’t lying to me, right?”
“Chu Yunxiong’s Rolls Royce is custom-made and costs thirty-million. That Range Rover is the SV Autobiography model, the retail price is about one million and seven hundred thousand, with all the processing fee, it should cost about two million.”
“Oh my, are Xiao Luo and Zhang Dashan doing that well in Jiangcheng? Are they actually rich enough to afford such a luxurious car?!”
That’s the strange thing about the common man and how they measured success. Most people could accept success in a person that they deem to be better than themselves, and even if he were a stranger, they’d a.s.sume that he was capable and deserved it. And, perhaps they would also feel the same way for someone older than themselves, having been through many trials and tribulations in their long years. But they could never accept looking up to someone whom they deemed lesser than themselves. And Xiao Luo was such a man, a mediocre all his life, quiet and una.s.suming, and not even able to make it into the cla.s.s executive committee during his time in university.
As it turned out, those who had lectured Xiao Luo earlier could only gaze in silence, with a look of embarra.s.sment on their faces. They now felt nothing but shame.
After recovering from the shock, Guo Qinghe was very agitated and was left speechless. He clenched his jaw involuntarily as he questioned how Xiao Luo could have found such success. How could Xiao Luo be doing better than he was? How could he be better?
“Ha! What did I tell you guys? Just because Xiao Luo has always been low-key and humble, doesn’t mean that he is not doing well in life.” Hu Shuiping’s words stung, and it resonated quite well with the wise sayings of old.
Qin Guiyue was filled with envy and felt exasperated that Xiao Luo could be at a higher station in life than the rest of them. She hated him and could never accept what she had just seen. She snapped, “So what? Does it mean that he’s successful just because he’s chatting with Chu Yunxiong? And being able to drive a Range Rover means that he’s rich? It’s absolute nonsense!”
“Why not?” Hu Shuiping asked.
“Of course not.”
Qin Guiyue answered boldly, “Who knows what they’re talking about? Maybe he’s just reporting about work to his boss. And what’s so precious about a two million Range Rover anyway? My boyfriend can also afford one anytime, the installment payments are nothing to him. For all you know, this car might not even belong to Xiao Luo. Who’s to say that he had purposely borrowed this car just to show off in front of us.”
Everyone agreed with what she said: they just could not accept the fact that Xiao Luo could afford a luxury car after working in Jiangcheng for only three years. Nor could they believe that he was so successful that he could be on such good terms with Chu Yunxiong.
“If that Range Rover really does belong to him, then very likely he has become a sugar baby to a rich woman and is living off her wealth.” Another man said, adding fuel to the discussion.
“Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, and this could explain the presence of that little girl, Bei Bei.”
Everyone latched on that thought and was more than willing to accept that conjecture.
“For him to abandon Mengqi for a rich woman and her money, Guiyue was absolutely right… Xiao Luo’s nothing but a jerk.”
“Don’t be fooled by his well-to-do appearance. A handsome jerk like that usually tries to live off a rich b*tch. All I can say is that a woman like this can torment him whenever she pleases, and he’s actually living a terribly unhappy life.”
“That’s right, let’s see how long his fortune can last.”
At this point, Xiao Luo had become “public enemy No. 1” to his former cla.s.smates. For no other reason than that he appeared to have achieved something in life. Most of them refused to believe that Xiao Luo was doing well and was a successful man. They didn’t think that he deserved to do better than them and must have taken an undignified route to get to where he was now. It was human nature, simply the way of the common man.
“Well, you guys might be disappointed.”
Tang Wantian, who had remained silent all along, said sarcastically, then she read off a phone number and asked, “Are any of you familiar with this phone number?”
Hu Shuiping thought for a brief moment then quickly said, “Isn’t this Xiao Luo’s phone number during university days?”
Everyone was confused and unsure of why had Tang Wantian had mentioned that phone number.
“Mengqi, you of all persons should remember Xiao Luo’s phone number during that time, so is this number correct?” Tang Wantian looked at Zhao Mengqi.
Zhao Mengqi nodded and answered promptly, “Yes, it did belong to him.”
“Wantian, what’s going on?” Guo Qinghe frowned, unsure where this was all going.
Tang Wantian smiled. What she was about to reveal had been a mystery to everyone on social media for quite some time, and it would certainly come as a shock to those present here tonight. She coolly said, “This phone number was used to register for the Weibo ID, ‘San Qian Luo Shui.’ One of my colleagues bribed an executive from Sina Corporation and got access to it.”
When they heard that, everyone just stared blankly at Tang Wantian, wide-eyed and with gaping mouths.
The phone number used to register the Weibo handle ‘San Qian Luo Shui’ belonged to Xiao Luo. So what did that imply?
It implied that Xiao Luo and “San Qian Luo Shui” are one and the same. This very man started a heated “verbal war” on the internet with the popular talk show host, Jia Zhengyi, a Tier-A TV personality. Xiao Luo convincingly cut down his opponent in the exchange, and he also silenced a million of Jia Zhengyi’s fans with the witty ripostes that made him a hero to all netizens. In the end, Jia Zhengyi was forced to hold a press conference and apologize publicly to Luo’s Workshop. Xiao Luo was also the man behind Luo’s Workshop that was now a very successful business operating in Jiangcheng!