Chapter 75: I'm So Dead...
Ever since losing the bet to Liu Shang, Song Guangyuan had stopped mentioning him in front of his family.
In his heart, he was unwilling to admit defeat or let his daughter know that Liu Shang had won the bet, let alone acknowledge the almost magical competence he'd been forced to witness.
As a result, Song Jia was completely misled.
In Song Jia's mind, her father had been so confident before that Liu Shang must have lost. She figured that Professor Xu and Mr. Zhong must have taken pity on him and insisted on keeping him in the company, but that Liu Shang had since been marginalized.
But she had never expected to see Liu Shang walk into the exclusive private dining room reserved for the company's core leadership.
And just now, someone had gone to report to her father about work, so it would probably be a while before he came down to eat.
With Mr. Zhong's personality, he would definitely tease her and Liu Shang, who was her age!
*This time, I'm dead. I'm really, truly dead...*
Whatever she was afraid of was coming true. As Song Jia grew flustered, secretly wanting to cry, her expression and unusual behavior naturally caught the attention of Mr. Zhong and the others.
This, of course, only piqued their interest even more.
In their experience, Song Jia had always been a girl who marched to the beat of her own drum—daring, straightforward, and full of personality.
None of them had ever seen her look so shy and reserved!
It didn't take a genius to figure it out: the reason for Song Jia's sudden change had to be the young man who had just walked in—Liu Shang!
If that was the case, then this would be very interesting indeed, and give them plenty to talk about.
Afterwards, Mr. Zhong smiled, a cunning glint in his eyes.
"Well now, I have to ask. Miss Song was like a little tiger just now, all teeth and claws. Why the sudden change into a docile little lamb?"
"This has greatly changed everyone's perception of you!"
The words made everyone laugh again. Song Jia immediately blushed and could only give Mr. Zhong a hard look with her 'incomparably fierce' eyes.
But this kind of gaze not only failed to threaten him but added fuel to the flames. The more flustered she became, the more it aroused the interest and jokes of Mr. Zhong and the others.
At this moment, Liu Shang, who had just entered the room famished, also noticed Song Jia seated to his right.
Fortunately for Song Jia, Song Guangyuan walked into the private hall just then.
Seeing her father arrive to take his seat, Song Jia breathed a sigh of relief, while Mr. Zhong on the other side secretly cried out in pity.
He had just prepared a whole arsenal of jokes about Song Jia and Liu Shang!
At this time, Xu Tiande smiled and said, "Liu Shang, this is our President Song's daughter, Song Jia."
"Speaking of which, you're both freshmen at the University of Oil. You're classmates!"
Liu Shang glanced at Song Jia with a smile, by way of a greeting.
"Oh, we met in the company parking lot a while ago."
"But I really didn't expect us to be classmates from the same school."
Seeing him like this, Mr. Zhong asked in surprise, "Huh?"
"You two haven't met at school?"
"That can't be right. With your character, kid, I'd have thought you'd be famous at school!"
Liu Shang spread his hands speechlessly. "Mr. Zhong, you see what my days are like."
"I leave for work before dawn and get back to the dorm after dark."
"My teachers are ready to eat me alive because they never see a shadow of me. If you're talking about that, then yes, I'm quite famous..."
Hearing this, everyone present showed a hint of praise and concern.
They had all seen Liu Shang's hard work during this period. For a young man his age, that kind of dedication was truly rare, and it was enough to make one's heart ache.
But in this respect, Mr. Zhong never showed Liu Shang any mercy.
"I said, you kid, you're as sharp as a tack all day long, don't pretend to be pitiful here."
"President Song raised your basic salary to 7,000 a month, and you've been given a dedicated car and driver. Not many people in our company get perks like that, not even the senior staff, right?"
What?!
A salary of 7,000 a month? Equipped with a dedicated car and driver?!
Upon hearing this, Song Jia's eyes went wide in disbelief.
Was this a joke? That kind of compensation was ridiculously high!
When did this happen? Why had she never heard her father mention it?
Seriously, did it have to be this exaggerated?!
If Tan Feng, Zhou Liang, and Lu Kai found out about this, my life would be a living hell!
At the mention of Liu Shang's dedicated driver, HR Manager Sun also started chatting with a smile.
"Speaking of this car, you might not know this, but so far, several drivers from across the company have volunteered to be assigned to Liu Shang."
The way he said it was intriguing, and it naturally drew everyone's curious gazes.
At this time, Manager Sun went on, "Seeing their eagerness, I got curious too."
"Normally, you'd expect them to be fighting to drive for bosses like President Song and Mr. Zhong."
"Liu Shang is still a young student, after all, so I asked them why."
"And what do you think they said?"
"One reason, which was expected, is that Liu Shang is a kind kid, low-maintenance and not pretentious."
"But the more important reason is that driving for Liu Shang is a leisurely job."
"They just have to drive him to and from the site. Once they arrive, they hand the car over to Liu Shang, and then they can find an empty site office to watch TV and play on their phones all day."
"A cushy job!"
Hearing Manager Sun's words, everyone laughed.
Li Shaohua, the company's technical manager, also took up the topic with a smile. "He's not wrong. I've actually seen Liu Shang driving on site myself."
"You might not believe this, but Liu Shang is a great driver. He handles a car as well as any of the company's professional drivers. A real veteran behind the wheel."
"But the kid still hasn't taken his driver's license test!"
Hearing this, most of the people were skeptical, wondering how Liu Shang could drive so well without a license.
Regarding their questions, Liu Shang said with a smile that he was probably just talented in that area and used to tinker with cars back home.
Because many of them had seen Liu Shang's skill in repairing pumps, they were inclined to believe his claims of natural talent.
At this, HR Manager Sun joked with a smile that he wanted to punish Liu Shang.
If he got his license, they wouldn't need to assign him a special driver. It would save them the trouble and the money!
Speaking of this, Mr. Zhong laughed loudly. "I'm telling you, Sun, you really do need to punish this kid."
"You all know the kid can really drink, right?"
"But lately, several times I've wanted to drag him out for a drink, and what the hell, the little rascal is like a mouse seeing a cat—he turns and runs without a word!"
"By the way, you're a popular guy at the oil production plant now. It's no exaggeration to say you're the most sought-after person at the Third Oil Production Plant."
"I hear people are looking to treat you to drinks and meals all over the place, right?"
"But for the past few days, I've noticed you always come back to the company for lunch, and then you run right back after eating."
"Don't you know how to save the company some money?"
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