From rejecting the beautiful female CEO to becoming extremely powerful

The liquor dripped down the tablecloth and landed on Cheng Ye's shoes.

Cheng Ye put down his chopsticks, looked up, and said, "Bai Manning, do I have to submit an application before I can even eat a meal?"

Bai Manning glanced at the brace on his leg, and her face darkened.

Everyone at the table stood up to greet Zhou Kai, but you remained seated. A person may lack ability, but shouldn't they at least have manners?

She tapped the table with her hand.

"If you have difficulty walking, you should learn to be more considerate of others. If someone is willing to save a seat for you, don't take yourself too seriously."

Pang Wei suddenly stood up.

"Who are you calling ill-mannered?"

Did I say something wrong?

Bai Manning raised her chin. "Zhou Kai's presence is a favor to me. Don't you all understand basic etiquette, like offering him a toast and waiting for him to start eating?"

Lu Yunzhou pushed the teacup aside.

"Schools teach respect for people, but they don't teach that just because someone has a high-ranking position, they can tell others when to eat."

Bai Manning turned and stared at him.

Lu Yunzhou continued, "The rules you're talking about are just for the powerful and influential to put on a show. Cheng Ye has been busy since noon, his stomach is empty, who does it bother if he eats a few bites?"

"Lu Yunzhou, stop pretending to be high and mighty."

Bai Manning pulled her shawl over her shoulders.

"How many opportunities can Zhou Kai's words bring to the people present? The three of you are unwilling to offer a toast to others, so don't blame others for not wanting to lend a hand when you encounter problems in the future."

Zhou Kai picked up his wine glass, his tone indifferent.

"Manning, forget it. There's no point in forcing it if you guys don't want to be friends with me."

After hearing this, Zheng Kai and the others all smiled ingratiatingly.

Bai Manning, however, refused to stop.

"You're so magnanimous, but I can't let them ruin things. I took care of everything for tonight's dinner, from booking the venue to inviting guests. They came in with a long face, and now they're deliberately trying to spoil the atmosphere. Why should they?"

Cheng Ye grabbed the edge of the table and stood up, the metal frame brushing against the chair leg.

"Fine, your place is too expensive for us. Fatty, Zhouzi, let's find somewhere else to eat."

Pang Wei grabbed his jacket.

"Let's go. Street-side barbecue is more comfortable than here."

Lu Yunzhou also picked up his coat.

Bai Manning raised her hand and clapped twice.

"Waiter, close the door."

The two waiters standing by the door exchanged a glance, and one of them quickly went out.

A few seconds later, two uniformed security guards came in and closed the double doors of the banquet hall.

The latch is engaged.

Cheng Ye walked over and pressed the doorknob, but the door didn't budge.

"Bai Manning, what do you want to do?"

"You can leave early, but you must pay the compensation first."

Bai Manning took a document out of her bag and tossed it onto the turntable.

"The Cloud Sea Hall is the highest-standard banquet hall at Tianhao. A consumption agreement is signed when making a reservation, and if a guest leaves midway through the event, the entire reception will be affected."

She turned to one of the pages and pointed to the terms.

"Leaving early will incur a penalty of 68,000 per person. That's 240,000 for the three of you. The minimum charge in the hall is 188,000, the reserved drinks are 280,000, the exclusive service is 36,000, and then there's the 60,000 loss for Zhou Kai's VIP reception, which you ruined."

Bai Manning picked up the calculator, pressed a few buttons, and turned the screen towards everyone.

"Seven hundred and sixty-eight thousand. Once the money is paid, you can leave as you please."

A murmur arose around the table.

Squad leader Xu Tao took the agreement and flipped through a few pages.

"Manning, you didn't mention these costs when you booked the room. Everyone just agreed to attend the party, but no one signed anything."

"You compiled the list of people, but I submitted it to the hotel. Once you arrive at the scene, it means you've accepted the arrangements."

"This is outrageous."

A male student lowered his voice, "They have to pay over 700,000 yuan for a meal?"

Sun Ting immediately glared at her.

"Manning originally planned to pay for it himself. As long as everyone ate peacefully, who would need to pay? They insisted on leaving, so who can they blame?"

Lu Yunzhou picked up the agreement.

The last page only has Bai Manning's signature; the so-called VIP compensation was later added by hand.

He put the file back on the desktop.

"You signed the contract yourself, why should your classmate bear the responsibility?"

Bai Manning crossed her arms.

"Just because I organized this dinner. Once you've entered this room, you have to do as I say. If you think you've got too much money, then sit back down and offer Zhou Kai a toast as an apology."

Cheng Ye turned around and the stand tapped the ground twice.

"Apologize? Bai Manning, you're still the same as you were in college. If someone doesn't do what you want, you try to make trouble for them."

Bai Manning's eyelid twitched.

"Explain yourself clearly."

"Then I'll make it clear."

Cheng Ye leaned back in his chair, his voice carrying across the two round tables.

"During your sophomore year, you had Sun Ting pass on a message to Zhou Zi, wanting him to date you. After Zhou Zi refused, you bribed a student council member to change his attendance record."

Sun Ting paused, her hand holding the phone resting on the table.

Cheng Ye did not stop.

"More than twenty absences from class and three overnight stays were all pinned on Zhouzi. You even took a scanned copy of the official seal, made a disciplinary record for fighting, and stuffed it into his file."

"When he applied to join the army, the political review almost failed. In the end, it was Teacher Ye who went to the school several times and retrieved the exit control records before the fake documents were removed."

The old classmates looked at each other.

Someone put down their glass and turned their gaze to Bai Manning.

Bai Manning pressed her palm against the table.

"Cheng Ye, stop making up stories!"

"There are login records in the student union's computer lab, and the officer who confiscated your phone later admitted it."

Cheng Ye pointed at Lu Yunzhou, "Zhouzi didn't want to argue with you, that's why things didn't escalate. Today you're using my leg as an excuse, why should I give you any face?"

Bai Manning's breathing quickened, and she turned to grab Zhou Kai's arm.

"Zhou Kai, he slandered me in public!"

Zhou Kai put down his wine glass and waved to his assistant behind him.

"Find out which construction site he works at."

Cheng Ye stared at him: "What do you want to do?"

"All engineering projects in Nanhe District must undergo several rounds of review."

Zhou Kai straightened his cuffs. "I don't need to do anything. Just make a few phone calls, and you'll see which contractor will dare to hire you in the future."

Zheng Kai also spoke up.

"My family supplies materials to hotels and construction sites, and I know quite a few project managers. There's no work in Nanhe District, and you won't get a chance in other parts of Sheng'an either."

Pang Wei gripped his jacket tightly.

"You guys are really something, using jobs to force people to submit."

Bai Manning took the phone from Sun Ting and started recording.

"Keeping your jobs is easy. The three of you stand by the wall and record a video of yourself admitting your mistakes."

She pointed the camera at Lu Yunzhou and the other two.

"Admit to deliberately causing trouble tonight, and apologize to me and Zhou Kai. Post the video in the class group, and I can waive the breach of contract fee."

Cheng Ye clenched his back teeth.

"dream."

Two security guards took a few steps forward and blocked the exit.

Zhou Kai leaned back in his chair.

"You have to choose between saving face and making a living. It'll be too late to regret it after tonight."

Lu Yunzhou remained seated.

Bai Manning moved the camera to his face.

"Lu Yunzhou, didn't you rent a Porsche? Can you come up with over 700,000 yuan?"

Lu Yunzhou raised his hand and placed it on the table.

With a muffled thud, the soup spoon slid from the rim of the bowl into the plate.

He stood up and pushed the consumer agreement in front of Bai Manning.

"Send over the official bill."

Bai Manning held her phone, and the sneer on her face stopped.

Lu Yunzhou glanced at Zhou Kai and Zheng Kai, his voice silencing the murmurs in the hall.

"I, Lu Yunzhou, will cover all expenses tonight."