"Is this Mr. Su Xuan?"
"What? You're already at the Lycar's entrance?"
"Please wait, I'll come to the entrance to greet you right away!"
Upon learning that Su Xuan had arrived, the Lycar Hotel's general manager, Liu Ming, hurriedly stood up and rushed outside, not forgetting to instruct his secretary to initiate the VIP reception process.
「At the hotel entrance.」
"Heh, calling for backup on the phone?"
"Who could a mere delivery guy like you possibly call?"
"You better get one thing straight. This is the Lycar, and I am the marketing manager here. I'm not someone you can afford to provoke!"
The man in the suit was unaware that the Lycar had changed ownership. When he saw Su Xuan take a call and give his location, he mistakenly assumed Su Xuan was calling for help.
"Su Xuan, stop making a scene!"
"Let's just part on good terms. You should leave now."
"I don't want to see you get carried into a hospital!"
Zhang Tingting stood beside the man in the suit, looking at Su Xuan with displeasure. Inside, however, she was actually quite pleased. Two men were fighting over her, vying for her affection. It just goes to show how exceptional I am!
"You two... are so tedious," Su Xuan said, not taking them seriously in the slightest. He rubbed his forehead, exasperated. Then, he looked up toward the long LCD sign mounted above the hotel's main entrance.
At first, the sign displayed a generic welcome message for hotel guests, but now it had changed. It now read...
"A warm welcome to Mr. Su Xuan, the sole shareholder, chairman, and president of Lycar, on his official inspection!"
The hotel's reception procedure for him had clearly been initiated. They had even given him several titles. Isn't this... a bit too high-profile?
"Huh? What's going on?"
Seeing Su Xuan looking at the sign, Zhang Tingting glanced up as well and was completely shocked.
Su Xuan, the sole shareholder, chairman, and president of the Lycar? How is that possible? It has to be a coincidence, right? Su Xuan is just a deliveryman. He works himself to death for maybe seven or eight thousand yuan a month. How could the Lycar possibly be his? Yes! It must be a coincidence!
Suddenly, a middle-aged man with a commanding presence burst out of the hotel's main entrance.
"Greetings, Manager Liu!" the security guards immediately saluted in unison upon seeing him, quickly stepping aside. The newcomer was none other than the Lycar's general manager, Liu Ming.
"Greetings, Manager Liu!" the man in the suit chimed in, fawning like a lapdog as he nodded and bowed.
"Where is Mr. Su...?" Liu Ming asked, paying no attention to them as he scanned the area for Su Xuan. He had already memorized Su Xuan's face from the photo in the share transfer documents. A moment later, he spotted Su Xuan standing there calmly.
Liu Ming's expression filled with surprise. The man who acquired the Lycar is wearing a courier's uniform?
But he had no time to dwell on it. In the next instant, he hastily wiped his hands on his high-end suit and extended them toward Su Xuan. "Mr. Su! A pleasure to meet you!" he exclaimed, grabbing Su Xuan's hand and shaking it with immense enthusiasm, again and again.
Immediately after, another group of people rushed out of the hotel entrance—it was the Lycar's top management team. They had hurried over the moment they received the notice from Liu Ming's secretary.
"Quickly, greet our new boss, Mr. Su!" Liu Ming signaled to the executives with a look.
"Greetings, Mr. Su!"
"Greetings, Mr. Su!"
"Welcome, Mr. Su, sole shareholder, chairman, and president of the Lycar, on your official inspection!"
The executives bowed deeply to Su Xuan, collectively roaring the message from the LCD sign. Their combined voices were so loud they made one's eardrums ring.
Liu Ming's beautiful secretary was also present. With long legs, a slender waist, and looks that scored a ninety-five out of a hundred, she was clearly handpicked and far more stunning than Zhang Tingting. She kept stealing glances at Su Xuan, her eyes filled with affection. I never expected Mr. Su to be so handsome in person! He's like a celebrity idol who just stepped off the screen!
HISS! The man in the suit couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath of cold air, suddenly feeling the world spin around him.
Who did I just provoke? The sole owner of the Lycar?
His body swayed, and he felt as if he were about to collapse right then and there.
"He... he..." Zhang Tingting couldn't maintain her composure either. Her lips trembled as she stared fixedly at Su Xuan.
It's real! All of it is actually real! Su Xuan really is the owner of the Lycar Hotel! He really is here on an inspection! I must have been completely blind to think he was just some poor loser! And even more absurdly, I was about to dump him for a lowly marketing manager at this very hotel! What a monumental loss!
"Darling!" Zhang Tingting suddenly lunged forward, clinging tightly to Su Xuan's arm and pressing her body against his. She cooed sweetly, "Oh, darling, you're such a tease! To think you were pretending all this time, when you're actually a hidden tycoon..." She trailed off, beginning to whimper theatrically.
While Zhang Tingting was putting on her show of affection, Liu Ming turned to the man in the suit, whose name was Qian Zhihang. "Qian Zhihang," Liu Ming asked in a low, grave voice, "did I just see you and your men... surrounding Mr. Su?"
"Manager Liu, this... this..." Even with his quick wits, Qian Zhihang couldn't think of a plausible excuse. His face instantly drained of all color, turning deathly pale with fear.
"Qian Zhihang is the one who offended us!" Zhang Tingting suddenly declared, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "I was accompanying my husband on his inspection, and not only did this man refuse us entry, he had the audacity to ask me to be his girlfriend! He even wanted the security guards to beat up my husband! It's utterly outrageous!"
Hearing this, Liu Ming was so startled he shuddered, his face instantly contorting with rage. And he wasn't alone; every Lycar executive on site had the same furious expression.
Qian Zhihang, you absolute idiot! Everyone here is terrified of failing to get on Mr. Su's good side, and what do you do? You... you... You've got a death wish, don't you?!
Liu Ming waved furiously at the security guards and roared, "Beat him! Beat him within an inch of his life!"
"I'll take full responsibility even if he dies!"
"As of this moment, he is no longer an employee of the Lycar!"
Before his words even faded, the security guards, terrified of being implicated, rolled up their sleeves and swarmed Qian Zhihang. A series of sickening thuds echoed as they beat him to the ground.
"AARGH! OOF!"
"Manager Liu! Mr. Su! It's fine if you beat me, you can even cripple me!"
"But I have parents and children to look after! I have to support my family!"
"Please, I'm begging you, don't fire me from the Lycar!"
"Please... AARGH..."
Soon, his cries faded into silence. He lay motionless on the ground, blood streaming from his nose and mouth, spreading like brightly blooming peach blossoms...
"He... has kids?" Zhang Tingting murmured to herself. "He never told me he had a wife and children..."
"Zhang Tingting." Su Xuan pushed her away as she clung to him. "In the future," he said coolly, "try not to be so fixated on material wealth when you look for a partner. We only live once. When you're on your deathbed, it won't be money you remember, but the genuine relationships you've had. I hope you'll come to understand that. Now, leave."
Zhang Tingting refused to go.
Su Xuan glanced at the security guards who were wiping blood from their fists, then turned back to her. "Do you want to 'bloom' too?"
With her head hung low, Zhang Tingting clutched her now-dull luxury handbag and walked away.
Su Xuan watched Zhang Tingting's lonely figure retreat, then turned to the hotel executives who were staring at him with reverence. A smile touched his lips as he said, "Still, while you're alive, being rich is pretty damn great!"
The beautiful secretary stole another glance at Su Xuan, her heart fluttering.
Mr. Su isn't just handsome, she thought to herself. He's so masculine in the way he handles women! I like him so much...