Star Abyss Walker

Chapter 289 A Stunningly Beautiful Young Woman

The scene was a little awkward. Su Wei had brought me to the Wall of Life to see the placement of the detectors, originally to demonstrate the strength of the Crimson Dragon Legion, but in the end, she only received a straightforward rejection.

At this moment, an adjutant checked the message through his earpiece, his expression immediately turning serious. He turned around and said, "Division Commander, there's been unusual activity in the wilderness, about 120 kilometers from here. Should we send a reconnaissance plane?"

"No need, I'll go and see for myself."

"Yes!"

The next moment, Su Wei cast a glance at her: "This is a rare opportunity, why don't you come with me to take a look?"

"can."

I nodded and smiled, and then Su Wei and I boarded a military helicopter and left the city.

……

The helicopter took off and left the Wall of Life.

Looking back into the city, rows of tall buildings stand side by side, creating a stark contrast with the desolate landscape outside the Wall of Life. One can't help but marvel at human creativity, a true masterpiece.

Half an hour later, the helicopter ventured deep into the wilderness.

Looking down from the air, one can clearly see that an extremely simple wilderness settlement has been overwhelmed by a dark swarm of insects, with bones and corpses scattered all over the ground.

"We're late."

Su Wei's eyes twitched slightly, and she said, "There's no way anyone can survive in this settlement."

The adjutant nodded: "That's true."

I frowned.

Although she didn't speak, Su Wei still caught this small expression. She smiled faintly and said calmly, "This kind of thing happens every day in the wilderness, but we are powerless to do anything about it. The Crimson Dragon Kingdom once relaxed its wilderness policy and allowed wanderers to enter the Crimson Dragon Kingdom, but the price was extremely high. Those wanderers are not of our race. They gathered together and wanted to overthrow the local Crimson Dragon Kingdom government and establish their own country."

At this point, she scoffed, "That's ridiculous."

I smiled along, but didn't say anything.

Just then, the adjutant pointed to the distance and said, "Division Commander, look over there, the aliens are coming!"

Su Wei and I turned around at the same time.

Sure enough, a large group of alien species appeared on the desolate land. Most of them were low-level alien species of the first and second tiers, but at the forefront were two fifth-tier alien species wielding lightning whips—the Arc Whip Whippers!
A few minutes later, the alien army made contact with the swarm of insects, and the two sides fought fiercely, with screams and cries echoing throughout the air, even reaching the helicopters high in the sky.

Sure enough, after the rise of the Zerg, their first opponent was the Xenomorph!
After all, the Crimson Dragon Kingdom and Star Maple Federation of the human race have been established for many years and are very powerful, which is not something that the insectoid race can overthrow overnight.

Therefore, in order to compete for living space, the first target of the insect swarm is the wilderness!

The previous inhabitants of the wilderness were a different species!

Witnessing the brutal fighting below, I remained calm, even contemplating throwing a few grenades down to add to the excitement.

"Calling base to dispatch heavy bombers to drop incendiary bombs at a specific location."

Su Wei said calmly, "Let's fly further away and avoid the shockwave from the bombs."

"understand!"

In less than five minutes, two giant figures appeared in the sky. As they weaved through the clouds, incendiary bombs rained down from the sky, instantly engulfing the area where the settlement was located below in flames. Fiery red mushroom clouds rose from the ground, and countless swarms of insects and alien species screamed in agony as they were bombed.

After the bombing, we went home.

It was already noon when I returned to Huaining City, so I sent Lin Qingying a message: "I'm back, have you eaten yet?"

"not yet."

"Wait for me, I'll go to your staff cafeteria for a free meal and sort out my temporary assignment in Yuening while I'm at it."

"Ok, I will wait for you."

……

I rode my off-road motorcycle straight to Yuening Group.

After entering the underground parking lot and parking the motorcycle in a blind spot of the surveillance cameras, I went to the first floor. Sure enough, Shen Man, dressed in a brown work uniform, was already standing there waiting. She smiled and said, "I told you a long time ago that I would get you a Yuening Pass, but you just wouldn't agree."

“Before, it wasn’t proper or legitimate, but now that I’m on temporary assignment in Yuening, I have no choice but to do it.”

"Ah."

Shen Man smiled and said, "Let's go. I'll take you upstairs to have dinner with President Lin first. After dinner, I'll take you to the maintenance department to complete your onboarding procedures."

"Good work!"

After going upstairs, I went straight to Lin Qingying's office. She had been waiting for a long time. As soon as she saw me walk into the office, she immediately stood up and said with a smile, "Let's go eat. I'm a little hungry."

"There's a bit of traffic on the road, so eat more later."

"Ok!"

So the two of us walked side by side to the staff cafeteria, which naturally attracted a lot of attention. Just as Lin Qingying and I were picking out our food with our trays, a surprised voice came from behind us: "Brother?"

Turning around, I was surprised to see Ding Ying!

After working at Yuening for a few months, this young girl has started to dress quite well. She wears a business suit, has shoulder-length short hair, and looks very energetic. She was a beauty when she was a child, and now she must have many male admirers in the company.

Beside Ding Ying was a female employee who looked to be over 30 years old, dressed in typical office attire.

"Ding Ying, what a coincidence?"

"yes……"

Ding Ying looked at Lin Qingying with a guilty conscience, and for a moment she was a bit stunned.

During the Chinese New Year, she was the only one who knew that Lin Qingying was not my girlfriend. But not long ago, people from Yuening saw me watching a movie with Lin Qingying. So Ding Ying was now unsure whether it was true or not, and for a moment she didn't know whether she should still call Lin Qingying "sister-in-law".

"Ding Ying, it's been a long time," Lin Qingying greeted her.

"Um……"

After hesitating for a while, Ding Ying said, "Hello, sister-in-law..."

"okay."

Lin Qingying smiled with her dimples.

"!!!"

The 30+ working woman standing nearby was shocked. She was a department head and had definitely seen Lin Qingying before, but it was unclear whether they had spoken.

"that……"

Ding Ying immediately introduced, "Sister-in-law, this is the senior sister I mentioned who is a few years ahead of me. Her name is Xu Hui. She is my immediate supervisor and also the head of our department."

"Oh~~"

Lin Qingying smiled and said, "Hello, Manager Xu."

"Mr. Lin... hello..."

The senior sister was stunned, probably never expecting to be able to speak with the group's CEO. Then a hint of smugness flashed across her face. Her relationship with Ding Ying might benefit her career development in Yuening.

"Stop talking, let's eat first."

"Uh-huh!"

After we swiped our cards to choose our dishes, Lin Qingying and I went to an empty table, while Ding Ying stuck to us like glue. Her senior sister had no choice but to sit down and eat with us.

Ding Ying was a little nervous at first, but once she started talking, she became very talkative and dared to talk about all sorts of trivial matters in the department.

For a moment, her senior sister's face turned pale and then red, and at times she even wanted to jump up and cover Ding Ying's mouth. How could she talk about such dirty things in front of Lin Qingying?!
Fortunately, Lin Qingying responded to Ding Ying's chat with a smile and did not take it seriously; otherwise, Ding Ying's senior sister might have fainted on the spot.

……

In the afternoon, after dropping Lin Qingying off at her office, I went with Shen Man to handle her onboarding procedures.

"Ding Han!"

The fat guy suddenly appeared out of nowhere, grabbed my shoulder, and laughed, "We've finally waited for you to join Yuening!"

"Ahem, it's just a part-time job that doesn't require clocking in, don't get excited!"

"Haha, that works too!"

Shen Man handed over the contract and said, "This is a contract specially approved by President Lin. There are no working hours. It's a Grade A department head position with a monthly salary of 2.6. If you think it's okay, then sign it."

"what?!"

The fat man's face turned pale: "Shen Man, I'm a little dissatisfied with this. How come his part-time employee's salary is so much higher than mine?"

Shen Man smiled leisurely and asked, "Is your girlfriend also a group CEO?"

"No, that's not it. My girlfriend is an ordinary employee in the marketing department of a shopping mall under the group, but so what? I love her!" the fat man shouted wildly.

Shen Man ignored her completely: "Fatty, you're already a full-time employee, so you don't need to sign a new contract. Come with me to the maintenance department and we'll put both of your names on the contract."

"okay!"

So, Fatty and I followed Shen Man to the maintenance department of Yuening Group.

First, after leaving the administration building and entering the Yuening Mall building, I saw a small "After-sales Service" sign in a corner on the second floor, which was not much different from the working environment at Luomei.

"Hello, Assistant Shen..."

A familiar voice came from the after-sales service office, followed by a figure bowing respectfully to Shen Man.

This is normal. Shen Man is a senior employee at the level of assistant general manager, and her actual status is much higher than that of an ordinary department head.

"Not... Lao Lu??"

The fat guy and I were both dumbfounded.

"I go……"

Lu Zifeng looked up. "Ding Han? Old Yang?"

At that moment, I realized that he was wearing the name tag of the head of the after-sales service department of Yuening. Goodness, this guy has managed to get into management again!
"What?!"

A man rushed out of the office; it was none other than Xu Hao.

This kid has no ambition and is still just loafing around in the repair shop.

"Ding Han... Fatty, why are you guys back again?!" Xu Hao exclaimed in surprise.

"Ahem, I'm here to take up a temporary post."

I grinned and said, "Remember to save any appliances that are particularly difficult to repair for me in the future, and I'll take care of them!"

"Go, go, go!"

Xu Hao was overjoyed: "It's good that you two are here, otherwise I would have been dying of loneliness in the department by myself!"

I peeked in and saw five or six employees in the repair department. They were all former repair staff from Yuening. It was clear that Haozi hadn't integrated into the team yet, and these people were senior. Even if Lu Zifeng were the department head, he might not be able to keep them in line.

"Manager Lu."

Shen Man said, "I'm here to formally inform you that starting today, Ding Han and Yang Wei will be temporarily assigned to the after-sales service department. However, their working hours are flexible and they don't need to clock in. General Manager Lin said that they can arrange their own work, or you can coordinate with each other. Just don't make things difficult for them."

"Yes, understand!"

Lu Zifeng nodded repeatedly: "Please rest assured, President Lin, I know what to do."

"That's good."

Shen Man smiled and said, "Ding Han, I'll head back now. I'll bring you your employee card later."

After everyone watched Shen Man leave, the almost frozen atmosphere finally thawed slightly. Lu Zifeng said, "Ding Han, Lao Yang, come on, I'll arrange a north-facing workstation for you."

Xu Hao then said, "Fatty, don't you work in the R&D department?"

"Can't I come here with my brother to clear his head?"

"Oh... OK."

Following Lu Zifeng, we arrived at my workstation, where I saw six pairs of eyes staring at me.

Clearly, rumors about me and Lin Qingying were circulating widely within the Yuening Group, as everyone wanted to see who this legendary Ding Han really was.

Upon inspection, several of them looked disappointed.

Turns out he was just an ordinary person!

"Cough cough..."

I stood up and looked at the group of veteran employees, and said with a smile, "Brothers, stop looking. Although I got in through connections, I also got in on my own merit. We'll be seeing each other all the time, so I hope we can all get along well. As a greeting gift... brothers, stop what you're doing. If you think highly of me, Ding Han, and my brother Yang Wei, then we brothers will take care of all your work today!"

"!!!"

Several veteran employees looked at me and the fat guy like we were idiots.

"Did you all hear that?"

Lu Zifeng said, "Ding Han was an outstanding employee in the maintenance department at Luo Mei before. His repair skills are enough to turn the rotten into the miraculous. Since he has spoken, brothers, just leave the work you have to him and Fatty."

"OK!"

One of the middle-aged, balding men was the first to speak up: "Ding Han, then we'll have to trouble you!"

"Small idea!"

I waved my hand and said, "Rat, get some milk tea for the brothers, one cup each, large ones, it's on me!"

"okay!"

Xu Hao quickly ordered milk tea, looking very happy.

Soon after, Fatty and I got busy, frantically repairing these unruly appliances from the Yuening Group. Most of them were cell phones, computers, cameras, and the like. Some were quite high-end and sophisticated, but none of them were a problem for Fatty and me, who were skilled in repair.

At first, the six veteran employees of Yuening watched the show with amusement, but after seeing the speed and skill of my repairs and Fatty's techniques, they were all shocked. They never imagined that there were such master-level experts in the repair industry, and two of them!

So, in just one afternoon, thanks to my arrival and Fatty's, the nine employees in the maintenance department got along well and even started calling each other brothers. The original discord between Lu Zifeng and Xu Hao and the six old employees also disappeared. The group smoked and said strange things to each other, such as "It was the older brother who was wrong before" and "The older brother can't say that, the younger brother is also wrong."

Before I left work, Shen Man brought me my name tag. The photo on it was still the one from when I was working as a research and development manager at Yuening for a day. It really brought back memories. If I had chosen to stay at Yuening back then, with Lin Qingying's boldness, she would probably have promoted me to the R&D president of Yuening by now.

"Ding Han".

Shen Man lowered her voice and chuckled, "President Lin got off work early today, so he'll come pick you up right away to leave work together."

Ah, this familiar feeling, it's been so long!
Sure enough, the next second Lin Qingying appeared beautifully at the entrance of the repair shop.

"Mr. Lin...Mr. Lin..."

Lu Zifeng froze instantly.

"I rely on..."

The other maintenance staff panicked, standing stiffly: "Mr. Lin... Mr. Lin is here..."

"Everyone, don't be so reserved."

Lin Qingying smiled gracefully: "I'm not here to inspect the maintenance department's work; I'm here to pick up Ding Han so we can leave work together."

"oh oh……"

The group exchanged glances and all wore sly smiles.

The rumors have now been confirmed!

For a moment, everyone looked at me with a hint of envy in their eyes.

……

On the way, I was driving Lin Qingying's car, while she sat in the passenger seat, smiling as she looked out the window.

"How was your afternoon working at Yuening?" she asked.

"It's alright. The work atmosphere is similar to what I had at Luo Mei, but the workload is definitely a bit heavier. After all, the scale of Yuening is incomparable to Luo Mei."

"You'll get used to it. I heard from Shen Man that you worked like crazy all afternoon, finishing up everyone else's workload..."

"Of course, that's ability!"

I flashed her a bright smile: "Let me tell you, this year's Yuening After-Sales Maintenance Department's Star of the Year is definitely me. If not, it can only mean there's something fishy going on!"

Lin Qingying said helplessly, "But if I really interfere in this kind of thing, wouldn't people think there's something fishy going on?"

"I don't care, you have to give it to me!"

"Okay, here you go."

……

And so, I began a routine of going between Yuening, Feiyang Internet Cafe, and home. I would go to the Yuening repair department every two or three days to gain a wealth of skills and experience. The rest of my time was spent writing algorithms for the Yuening online store, and everything was progressing smoothly.

And so, seven days passed in the blink of an eye.

As the restoration work in Donghu District of Huaining City proceeded intensively, the construction team filled the insect nest space as quickly as possible. With the arrival of a rainstorm and the diversion of water from the main part of Donghu Lake, the water level that had sunk due to the insect nest returned to normal, and everything seemed to have returned to the way it was before.

Afternoon, Feiyang Internet Cafe, manager's office. "Beep!"

While I was coding, I received a WeChat message from Cheng Shuang: "Ding Han, I've got something good for you!"

"hair!"

A few seconds later, Cheng Shuang sent a photo of a corner of her large desk, where a small patch of delicate, miniature succulents was displayed, and the containers used to grow the succulents were actually 25mm bullet casings!
Good heavens, she actually made use of the spent shell casings from the bomb gun I left in the car!
The magazines are perfectly arranged, and the succulents are growing lush and tender, showing excellent care.

"Cheng Shuang, you truly are amazing, so skillful!" I exclaimed sincerely.

"so far so good!"

Cheng Shuang said, "By the way, East Lake has basically returned to normal. When I passed by this morning, I found that the chain hotel you were interested in was completely intact and had not been damaged by the insect swarm. Even the reed beds behind it were perfectly fine. Have you decided when to go and discuss the subletting?"

"Not yet. The e-sports hotel isn't just run by me. The trademark is with Xiao Bei. We have to wait until she's here before we can consider it."

"okay."

So, Cheng Shuang ended the conversation and went to a meeting.

……

"Dong dong dong~~~"

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it? Hangzi?"

I didn't get up: "Just come in, why are you being so polite with me!"

As a result, the office door creaked open, and Lu Xiaobei, with her hair tied in a high ponytail, stood beautifully in the doorway in casual clothes.

"Do you have some kind of passive skill that makes you feel uncomfortable all of a sudden?" I complained.

"What do you know? This is called mystery?"

She walked into the office, pulled up a chair, and slumped down inside, looking like a kitten, as if made of water.

"Is the album all done?"

"Ah."

Lu Xiaobei's eyes lit up at the mention of the album, and he smiled and said, "It's already in production. The next step is to shoot a music video for this album. The company said that this album is bound to be a hit. I get to decide the background of the music video, so I've made a list."

She leaned closer and opened a piece of paper to show me.

Above are scenic spots from various places, such as Wangyuehai, the Northwest Desert, Xicheng Ancient City, and Huaining East Lake.

"Are you doing this to shoot a music video, or just for your own amusement?" I asked.

"A win-win situation."

Lu Xiaobei said, "I will definitely film this music video well, as a record of my youth, since this opportunity may not come again."

"That makes a lot of sense, let's film it properly then." I nodded in agreement.

Lu Xiaobei hesitated, but she probably meant to suggest that I play a cameo role as the male lead, even if it's just my back.

But she knew things were different now; such a request went beyond the boundaries of friendship, and not even a side profile or a back view was acceptable.

"Oh, right, there's one more very important thing."

I leaned back in my chair, resting my hands behind my head, and said, "I mentioned it to you before. I've got my eye on a three-story lake-view building next to the East Lake branch of Huaining University. Do you want to go take a look? If you're satisfied, then our first Feiyang chain e-sports hotel should be on the agenda and officially launched."

"Okay, let's go now!" She immediately stood up.

"No rush, rest a bit more. You must be a little tired after getting off the plane."

"It's okay, you drive, I can rest in the passenger seat too." She seemed even more eager than I was.

……

Afternoon, Donghu District.

Lu Xiaobei and I parked our company Cayenne in the parking lot of the Keyi Chain Hotel, and then the two of us sneaked around the hotel several times.

"The location is quite good; half of the rooms can be converted into lake-view rooms."

Lu Xiaobei pointed behind him and said, "The view of East Lake isn't good; it's blocked by these reeds. It completely ruins the feeling of a lake view, which I'm not happy about. What do you think?"

"Cheng Shuang has a suggestion."

I said frankly, "She said she could use her connections to apply for the removal of the reeds behind it, and even if we wanted, we could apply for a piece of land to build a lakeside restaurant on the lake behind our e-sports chain hotel, the kind that's on the water, like many of the inns on the shore of East Lake."

"Wow……"

Lu Xiaobei seemed to have a new world opened up to him, his eyes full of longing: "If that's the case, how amazing would our e-sports hotel be? But Ding Han, while this idea is great, we don't have that much money. We can only scrape together four or five million from the internet cafe. If we build a floating restaurant, the budget is definitely not enough."

"It's okay, I'll take care of the money."

I lowered my voice and said, "I've been having good luck lately, making eight or nine million from selling equipment. That's enough for us to open this e-sports hotel chain."

"Okay, it's settled then!"

Lu Xiaobei clenched his fist lightly: "You're the boss, and I'm the second boss. Our e-sports hotel dream has officially set sail!"

The next second, a ringtone sounded in my ear—

[You have triggered the daily quest "Setting Sail! The First Flying Chain Esports Hotel!" (SS-level main quest)! Quest details: Open the first Flying Chain Esports Hotel. Requirements: ≥50 rooms, all necessary qualifications, and legal operation. Upon completion, you will receive a very generous reward!]

……

Finally, the daily task for Feiyang Chain Esports Hotel was triggered. All my planning over such a long time was worth it!

The next moment, I made a phone call to the boss at Keyi.

"Mr. Xu, I am Ding Han."

"Oh, Mr. Ding, you've made up your mind?"

"Yes."

Immediately, I heard Mr. Xu on the other end of the phone let out a sigh of relief. He was finally free from the burden of this unprofitable hotel continuing to lose money.

"Mr. Xu, that's why I'm making this call, hoping you can get in touch with the landlord so the three of us can meet and discuss things together."

"Okay, I'll call Mr. Lai right away."

"Good work!"

"polite!"

A few minutes later, Mr. Xu called: "Ding Han, Mr. Lai is currently in Donghai City. He said he's driving over now and should arrive in Huaining City around 5 o'clock. He asked where we should meet?"

"How about I treat you to a simple meal? There's a Hunan restaurant in front of Keyi Chain Store, I'll reserve a private room for you."

"Then I'll let Mr. Lai know!"

"Thank you!"

"Look at you, you're too kind..."

After hanging up the phone, I looked at Lu Xiaobei: "It's settled. Tonight, let's treat the landlord to dinner at that Hunan restaurant across the street and talk face to face. Since we've decided to open this e-sports hotel, the lease should be at least ten years, preferably twenty years. The longer the lease, the more money we can spread out for decoration and renovation, and the higher the profit will be."

"Twenty years..."

Lu Xiaobei laughed and said, "I really haven't thought that far ahead. I'll be 44 in twenty years..."

She began to feel anxious.

"Don't be sad. With your looks, even at 44 you'll still be a stunningly beautiful and charming young woman!"

"Ding Han, you're really good at comforting people..."

She gave me a look that said she wanted to hit me.

"Let's go, get in the car, let's go to the restaurant first and reserve a private room, then go to the Donghu District branch of Feiyang Internet Cafe to check on its operation."

"Ok!"

……

In the afternoon, half past three.

Lu Xiaobei and I arrived at the Donghu District branch of Feiyang Internet Cafe. The manager here was arranged by Zhou Zhenyuan. He was a middle-aged man who looked very capable. He received Lu Xiaobei and me with great trepidation.

I checked the operation and profit situation, and it's not bad. The business is doing very well. The occupancy rate has already reached about 50% by 3:30 pm, and it should be quite easy to break through 80% by 8 pm.

So Lu Xiaobei and I decided to take a break and found a private server for the game "Legend of Mir" to play.

I created a male warrior character named "If You're Not Afraid, Let's Fight," while Lu Xiaobei created a female mage character named "If I Can't Beat You, I'll Run Away." For a time, the two of them fought fiercely, getting repeatedly crushed by RMB players. Lu Xiaobei was so angry that she wanted to recharge on the spot, but I desperately stopped her from acting rashly.

Around 5 o'clock, Mr. Xu called to say that the landlord was almost there.

Lu Xiaobei and I rushed over, ordered the food, and waited for the two owners.

Around 5:30, two middle-aged men walked into the private room together. One was Mr. Xu, and the other was the landlord, who was referred to as "Mr. Lai".

"Mr. Lai, this is Ding Han, President Ding... and the person next to him is..."

Mr. Xu looked at Lu Xiaobei, his eyes slightly blurry, and said, "This doesn't seem to be the same beauty as last time, but she's just as pretty..."

"Cough cough!"

I introduced her, saying, "Mr. Lai, this beautiful lady is my business partner, Ms. Lu."

"Lu Xiaobei?"

Mr. Lai recognized him at a glance.

Lu Xiaobei, who was a bit socially awkward, looked at me embarrassedly.

"Yes."

I nodded and smiled, "It is indeed Lu Xiaobei."

"It's really you..."

Mr. Lai's hands trembled with excitement: "I'm your fan, really... I especially love your duet with Milo, 'Bare Face,' but I feel that song doesn't offer much room for your performance and doesn't showcase your true talent. However, I really love that clip of you singing 'Our Love' that's circulating online, no, wait..."

Mr. Lai looked at me again, a hint of suspicion in his eyes: "Ding Han, you wouldn't happen to be the man providing the background music in this video, would you?"

"That's right, it's me. What a coincidence! I didn't expect Mr. Lai to be a fan of Xiao Bei's songs. It seems that our cooperation today will be much easier to discuss."

"Yeah!"

Mr. Xu had a big smile on his face, wishing the deal would be done immediately.

……

So I explained in detail the plan to open an e-sports hotel under the Feiyang brand, and said that the lease should be at least ten years, so that it would be worth our investment.

"Alright, I only have one small request."

Mr. Lai said, "Lu Xiaobei, give me an autograph, and I'm willing to give you a discount on the rent. This apartment originally rented for 40 yuan a year, but I'm willing to give it to you for 30 yuan a year, which is 300 million yuan over ten years. What do you think?"

Lu Xiaobei nodded happily: "Mr. Lai, it is my honor that you like my song. An autograph is of course no problem."

"it is good!"

Mr. Lai was overjoyed, then looked at the anxious Mr. Xu beside him and couldn't help but laugh, "Old Xu, don't worry, I will refund the remaining rent to you. It will be based on an annual rent of 40, so you definitely won't lose out."

"Brother... I'm speechless. Thank you so much. We must have a couple more drinks later!"

"Wait a minute, I'll go downstairs to buy a notebook!"

Mr. Lai rushed downstairs, leaving Lu Xiaobei and me completely bewildered. He returned shortly afterward, carrying a beautifully bound notebook and a pen, both for Lu Xiaobei to sign.

So, Lu Xiaobei signed his name.

"How about a T-sign?"

I reminded him, "To Mr. Lai!"

This guy really doesn't understand any social etiquette.

Mr. Lai gave me a grateful smile.

And so, everything went smoothly.

At 9 p.m., I got the rental contract directly, and Mr. Xu's hotel immediately closed down and refunded the deposit. However, the employees were not laid off. At my instruction, all the employees stayed, especially the pretty receptionist.

……

At 10 p.m. in Donghu District, two luxury cars were parked next to a small barbecue stall, and Cheng Shuang had arrived.

I'll treat them to some barbecue skewers.

"Um……"

Cheng Shuang took a picture of the rental contract and sent it to her lawyer. Soon, the lawyer sent a voice message, which Cheng Shuang put on speakerphone.

"Mr. Cheng, I've reviewed the contract. There are no problems. With the contract and the trademark, we can go to the Administration for Industry and Commerce to apply for a business license."

"I know, thank you for your hard work."

Cheng Shuang ended the call and then looked at us: "Opening a hotel is a rather complicated matter. Before starting construction or renovation, you need to have the fire department conduct the first fire inspection, and after the renovation is completed, you need to have a second fire inspection. Then the health bureau will send someone to conduct a hygiene inspection. In comparison, applying for a business license is actually the simplest thing. But don't worry, I have experience in this area, and I will oversee the whole process for you. In short, get the business license as soon as possible."

Lu Xiaobei said, "Okay, we'll apply tomorrow."

"Cheng Shuang, we'll treat you to a big meal after our hotel opens," I asked.

"You don't need to be so polite with me."

Cheng Shuang smiled and continued eating her skewers.

……

The next day, in the morning.

Lu Xiaobei and I prepared all the materials and then went to the Industry and Commerce Bureau together. After showing the trademark of Feiyang Chain E-sports Hotel, the staff of the Industry and Commerce Bureau helped us with the whole process. It was indeed very smooth, and the whole process did not take more than half an hour.

"Go back and wait. They'll call you once the business license is issued. It usually takes about two days."

"Okay, thank you!"

"You're welcome!"

Lu Xiaobei and I left in high spirits, and then it was time to wait for the business license.

Three days have passed in the blink of an eye, and the business license still hasn't been issued.

Lu Xiaobei was getting a little anxious.

"Ding Han, why don't we ask the Industry and Commerce Bureau?"

"Don't worry, I have the phone number of that business bureau employee from last time. I'll call and ask first."

"Ok!"

Beside me, Lu Xiaobei, Zhao Yihang, and Chen Xiaoman were all looking at me anxiously.

So he dialed the other party's number.

"Hello, who are you?"

"This is Ding Han. I applied for a business license for Feiyang Chain E-sports Hotel at the Industry and Commerce Bureau three days ago. Now, three days have passed, and I don't know why the license hasn't been issued yet. So I'm calling to ask if there's been any problem?"

"This one……"

On the other end of the phone, the somewhat shy female employee seemed a little embarrassed: "Ding Han, there is indeed a small problem. Our Section Chief Ye reviewed your application materials and felt that Feiyang Chain is a well-known internet cafe brand in China, and you don't have the qualifications to open a hotel, so he put your license application on hold..."

Suddenly, a nameless anger rose in my heart.

"I see……"

I remained patient and said, "Um... could you give me Section Chief Ye's phone number? I'd like to talk to him about this. Also, what's his name?"

"Our Section Chief Ye's name is Ye Shaoyou, and his phone number is ***********."

"Okay, thank you!"

……

After ending the call, I took a deep breath and looked at the three people in front of me.

"Damn it, this is deliberately making things difficult! Is it because we didn't give them money?" Zhao Yihang said angrily.

Lu Xiaobei's face also turned red with anger.

"Keep a calm mind."

I raised my hand and pressed down, saying, "No matter what kind of bird this Section Chief Ye is, we have to go and meet him!"

(End of this chapter)