Era: Rise from the Wilderness

I, Lao Zeng, will not fall for that!

Consider this 75 as an advance payment for "emotional investment" and "GG fee"!

As long as you come back in the future, you'll earn it back sooner or later.

A minor "price dispute" was resolved through the tacit performance and compromise of both parties.

The loading process went much more smoothly after that.

Warehouse managers Lao Liu and Lao Yu seemed to understand something, and they kept their heads down and worked without saying another word.

Zeng Honglin and Li Hongfeng worked together to stuff the last few boxes of loose erasers, rulers, and ink into the car.

The bread cart was crammed full, like an overinflated tin can.

The passenger seat was almost completely covered by several large boxes of light notebooks and colorful pencil cases.

Let alone a person sitting inside, even a cat would have to think twice before trying to squeeze in.

The van's interior was crammed full, so tightly that even the trunk door had to be slammed shut with a bang by Li Hongfeng and Zeng Honglin together. Through the crack in the door, one could see the distorted edges of the cardboard boxes.

"No one can sit here anymore!"

"Looks like Ruoxi and I will have to take the train back!"

Li Yunjing looked at the bread cart and gave a wry smile.

He never expected that there would be so many supplies to purchase.

Li Hongfeng walked around the truck twice, patting and pressing here and there to make sure that every door was locked and that the ropes binding the cargo were tightly secured so they wouldn't come undone on the way.

He wiped his sweat and followed Zeng Honglin toward the row of low, single-story office buildings in front.

Zeng Honglin walked at the front, his steps light and quick, clearly in a good mood. Although he had been "cut" in the process, in the long run, the deal was worthwhile.

Li Yunjing, with Lü Ruoxi by his side, followed closely behind him like a clever little tail, intentionally or unintentionally using her slender body to block most of her father's view.

When I arrived at the office door, the peeling wooden door was half open.

Zeng Honglin stepped inside first, saying, "Yanlan, bring out the receipt book. Boss Li, please settle the bill."

Just as Zeng Honglin's figure disappeared through the door, and Li Yunjing was about to step over the threshold, he suddenly cried out "Ouch!" and bent over, muttering, "Why is my shoelace untied..."

Then, he slowly tied his shoelaces on the polished cement threshold at the doorway.

His movements were clumsy, like a child who had just learned to tie his shoelaces.

Li Hongfeng, who was walking at the back, understood perfectly. He didn't stop walking at all, but as he passed by his son and his body was blocked by the angle formed by his son, Lü Ruoxi and the door frame, his right hand reached into his left inner pocket with lightning speed that was almost invisible.

—There was a stack of “a huge sum of money” carefully wrapped in a handkerchief hidden there.

With a deft flick of his fingers, he accurately counted out nine crisp hundred-yuan bills and casually stuffed them into the bottomless pocket of his right trousers.

The whole process took less than two seconds, as fast as magic.

Then, he stuffed the handkerchief pouch, which had visibly deflated, back into the inner pocket, and subconsciously pressed it down to make sure it wouldn't bulge out conspicuously.

Since they've decided to play the "not enough money" card to the end, they have to play it all the way through.

Even though Zeng Honglin knew perfectly well that they definitely had more than nine hundred in their pockets, he still had to provide sufficient "evidence" on the surface.

This is called tacit understanding, and it also gives the other party a graceful way out.

Saving these seventy-five yuan requires more than just talking; it also requires this "art at your fingertips."

Li Yunjing's shoelaces were also "just right" tied.

The father and son walked into the office one after the other, looking completely at ease.

Only Lü Ruoxi stared blankly at everything, seemingly not understanding what was going on!

In the office, Song Yanlan had already stood up from her seat.

Zeng Honglin was whispering something to her, and you could vaguely hear words like "rounding down" and "long-term cooperation in the future".

Song Yanlan's face initially showed surprise, but it quickly turned into a smile that was even more eager and even somewhat ingratiating than the one she wore in the afternoon.

She quickly went around the table, and this time instead of taking the thermos, she opened a drawer and took out a tin tea canister with the words "West Lake Longjing" printed on it.

This was considered a good treat for guests back then.

"Boss Li, young boss, young lady, you've worked hard, please sit down and have some tea!"

She deftly found three glasses with the company name printed on them, pinched a small amount of tea leaves into them, picked up the thermos, and poured boiling water over them. The tea leaves tumbled and unfurled in the glasses, and soon a faint, slightly burnt aroma of tea filled the simple office.

From plain water to hot tea, the treatment skyrocketed.

Li Hongfeng didn't stand on ceremony. He sat down on the creaking chair and took out nine crisp 100-yuan bills from his right trouser pocket.

He handed it over naturally, as if it were truly all the belongings he had left, still warm from his body.

Song Yanlan accepted it with both hands, her smile widening.

She skillfully twisted the banknotes apart with her thumb and forefinger, examined the watermark against the light, then quickly licked her fingers with the tip of her tongue before starting to count them with a "whoosh."

The nine cards were quickly counted.

She opened her desk drawer, which contained a small, locked metal box. She opened it, carefully placed the money inside, along with some other loose bills, and then snapped it shut and locked it.

Next, she took out the blue carbon paper receipt book in triplicate, placed a pad on it, unscrewed the Hero brand fountain pen, and with a few quick strokes, wrote "Nine Hundred Yuan Only" in the "Amount (in words)" column, with the Arabic numerals "900.00".

After finishing writing, he tore off the top couplet with a "rip" and handed it to Li Hongfeng.

Li Hongfeng took the receipt, which had blue traces of carbon paper and smelled of ink, and brought it close to his eyes. In the dim light of the 15-watt bulb, he carefully checked the name of the item (although it only said "a batch of stationery"), the unit, and the amount. After confirming that everything was correct, he folded it twice and carefully put it into his left trouser pocket.

Keep it separate from the deflated handkerchief pouch to avoid mixing them up.

"Manager Zeng, sister-in-law, thank you so much for your help this time!"

Li Hongfeng stood up, his face showing relief and sincere gratitude after completing the task. "It was a very pleasant collaboration!"

"It's getting late, so we won't bother you any longer. We need to get back to town."

"I'll call you directly next time I need to order!"

"No problem at all! Mr. Li, you're too kind!"

Zeng Honglin also quickly got up and, together with his wife, escorted the Li family father and son all the way to their car in the yard.

"By the way, Mr. Li, how are you and this young lady getting home?"

He then looked at Li Yunjing and Lü Ruoxi. It was obvious that the Dafa bread truck couldn't fit any more people, so he naturally had to check on them.