Chapter 20：An Expensive Lesson

With the beautiful girls slipping away right under his nose, the skinny lad was extremely reluctant to let them go. He chased up to them and said, "Here is my name card, just take it first. If you change your mind, give me a call." He forcefully insisted Ding Ding and Sha Sha to keep it.

Out of courtesy, Ding Ding smiled and received the card. On the other hand, Sha Sha passed her card over to Bai Lu. He just laughed and accepted the card as well, but then he crumpled it and gently tossed it far away. With a whooshing sound, it flew into a rubbish bin.

He was not rash, and it was a rational decision after thinking clearly about it. He would never allow any chances for this skinny lad to get close to Sha Sha, so embarrassing him in front of his face would be the most direct way of rejection. Bai Lu thought, "He San Qing was right. This guy is despicable. To harass someone else's female companion directly in the presence of everyone, it was a blatant display of aggression."

Having his name card discarded in front of him, the skinny lad was enraged. "Pick it up."

Bai Lu shot a glance of contempt towards him. He just treated his words like air. Then he grabbed Sha Sha by her hand and went outside.

"Stop there!" The skinny lad shouted.

Bai Lu completely disregarded his presence. He just kept his pace, and soon he was out of the building.

"How dare you to be so pretentious when you are just a lousy chef." The skinny lad was ready to fight.

He San Qing walked past him, without even saying a word. He just exhibited a wry smile.

Gao Yuan cast a look of disdain at him. He said to Ding Ding, "Let's go."

As they left, the son of nobility accompanying Chai Ding An walked out. "Is Gao Yuan really that arrogant?"

Chai Ding An just laughed without talking, he thought to himself, "You guys have never even seen how arrogant he can be." He said to the skinny lad, "Shan Yang, before the company is opened, it's best to stay out of trouble."

"I cannot take this lying down." Yu Shan Yang had a grim expression, with thoughts of vengeance in his mind.

"I do not want to interfere with what you do, but do not let it affect the company." Chai Ding An left the restaurant, He Xiao Huan and the group of celebrities followed closely behind. The son of nobility that was speaking earlier talked with Yu Shan Yang. "In my opinion, you should just let this incident go. Didn't you see how Young Master Chai choose to keep quiet about it?"

"He is 7th Brother Chai, but I am not him." Yu Shan Yang did not want to forgive that chef.

It was Yu Shan Yang's own business to decide what he wanted to do for himself. After they left, Gao Yuan said to Bai Lu, "Let's go to your place."

"What's up?" Bai Lu asked, but he secretly contemplated. "Is this guy really thinking to rent the neighboring apartment?" 

Just like the way he guessed, Gao Yuan said, "Anyways, it is still the grand occasion of your demolition today. We should celebrate."

"Boss, that was the grand occasion of my relocation." Bai Lu's face turned green.

"Bullshit. The restaurant was demolished, while the apartment was relocated. Am I wrong?"

"Fine, there's nothing wrong. On the contrary, you are always right." Bai Lu was a little helpless. "Didn't we already celebrate just now? In such a big restaurant—"

Before he could finish, Gao Yuan said, "This one doesn't count. The grand occasion still requires a gift. Xiao San, do you still have the necklace in your car? Since it is already so late, we will not buy a gift; Let's combine what we have. It's the thought that counts."

He San Qing nodded his head. "Yes, yes. There would still be enough even if it were one necklace for each one of us."

"What necklace? You mean this?" Bai Lu pointed to the silver pendant on Sha Sha's neck.

"Correct."

The few of them chatted while they strolled along. Ding Ding was in a good mood from listening to the conversation. "Your friend is fascinating."

They strolled to the place where the cars were parked. He San Qing went to retrieve the three silver pendants to give to Bai Lu. "It's just a small intention, not really much of a tribute. Please kindly accept the gifts."

"Since you have received the gifts, hop on the ride. Let's go to your new apartment." Gao Yuan commanded.

Bai Lu shouted sarcastically. "Could you guys be any more condescending?"

Gao Yuan responded thoughtfully. "Yes, we could."

Thus, the group returned to Xiao Wang's Village Road. They turned into the residential area and went back to the new apartment.

Gao Yuan had only just wanted to know the location of the apartment. After he went into the house and saw the floor full of unpacked goods, he straight away turned around and left. "Done, see you tomorrow."

He thought, "What does he mean by 'Done?' This asshole!"

Zhang Sha Sha was very diligent; she started to tidy up the apartment. Bai Lu said, "Just tidy up the bed will do. The rest can be finished tomorrow. Also, please let me know if you need anything else."

Zhang Sha Sha did not obey him. She kept focusing on organizing every single item: The computer; the operating permit, and also the three giant sacks of money. Bai Lu had no choice but to keep up with her. After two hours, they finished cleaning up the apartment. Bai Lu and Sha Sha said to each other good night, and they returned to their rooms to sleep.

Yesterday night at the restaurant, Sha Sha did not rest well, because she seemed nervous about something. Bai Lu was not able to sleep either, he sat on the chair and endured through the night. After a tiring day, with the addition of their separate rooms, they could finally have a good night sleep.

Waking up the next day, Bai Lu sent Sha Sha to school. Then he went to the mall to buy some articles for daily use, like the shampoo, combs, towels and also all the other relevant categories. The moment he came back and stepped out of the taxi, he saw Gao Yuan's vehicle parked outside the apartment.

Bai Lu felt a thump in his heart, he thought, "Are you kidding? Is this guy really staying here?"

It was exactly like what he had suspected. Gao Yuan had used the power of money to launch an offensive; he asked around from the second floor onwards, to look for potential owners that were willing to rent out their apartment.

There was a Chinese saying: "Everything comes to those who are 'rich.' " For a monthly rent of $15k, there was somebody on the 3rd floor that yielded. Thus, Ding Ding became Bai Lu's new neighbor.

From her rapid relocation to her new apartment, two things were apparent. Firstly, Gao Yuan was very caring to Ding Ding; At the very least he treated her much better than Bai Lu and He Xiao Huan. Secondly, her anorexia must be very severe; Probably much more severe than the gastric problem that Gao Yuan's grandpa suffered from.

Gao Yuan executed his plan exceptionally quickly. After he chose the apartment, he immediately sourced for help from professional home movers to relocate to the new house. Then he bought the furniture, beddings and daily consumables.

Ding Ding was a celebrity and also a gorgeous woman. She was exceptionally demanding against the living conditions of the new apartment. All the old articles were replaced with new ones. As for the furniture from the previous owner, they were all shifted to one of the larger rooms. After the door was closed, the old furniture were all treated as missing items.

Luckily, it was only a temporary residence. Therefore there was no need for too many necessities. For example, the tableware was omitted. There was no need for any kitchen appliances as well, so all they needed was half a day, to set up everything for her.

At the same time, Bai Lu was at the restaurant to supervise the renovation works. He requested the designs for the restaurant to be natural, clean and elegant.

These three simple words were almost enough to make the designer shit himself. Ironically, the more minimalistic the request, the harder the actual designs. He altered the blueprints over more than 10 times before he finally confirmed the design plans and showed it to Bai Lu.

Bai Lu was not very picky. He looked at the designs, thought for a moment and asked, "For the tables and chairs, every single of them must be different. They must also be stunning and be able to complement each other perfectly. Could that be done?"

He wasn't afraid of requests, but he was worried that the customer wouldn't pay up. The interior designer nodded his head and said, "The rooms are designed as planned, but the tables and chairs should complement the overall concept. Otherwise, they can be custom-made. The only problem is the price."

"Custom-made? Then so be it, I want it all in pure wood, the kind which is light and refined. Just quote me an approximate price."

The designer naturally agreed.

Bai Lu stayed there for a little while longer. He looked at his phone, and he went to school to pick up Zhang Sha Sha. Afterward, he went to the food market to buy some groceries and then returned to the apartment to cook dinner at home.

Gao Yuan did what he promised; At night he brought Ding Ding over for a meal. The moment he barged into the house, he shouted at Bai Lu. "Give me your phone number! I do not wish to look all over the entire world just to find you."

Bai Lu pointed to the phone sitting on the coffee table, and he said, "Do it yourself."

Ding Ding carried a bag of oranges in, and she said to Bai Lu, "Sorry for the trouble."

Gao Yuan used Bai Lu's phone to dial his number. "Trouble my ass. It cost $1k for a meal. That's blatant extortion."

After he saved the phone number, he retrieved a stack of money and threw it onto the coffee table. "A month's worth of food expenses."

Right at this time, Gao Yuan's phone rang. After the call was connected, he only said a single word. "Speak."

The person on the other side was He San Qing. "Young Master, something has happened."

"What happened?" Gao Yuan asked.

"Yesterday night, at the 2nd Ring, Duckie lost five tickets. He was detained by Yu Shan Yang."

"And then?"

"That kid, Yu Shan Yang, wants the money, but Duckie had no money to pay. So he confiscated the car and wiped his family property. Even then he still owed one ticket. Yu Shan Yang declared that if the money is not raised before midnight, he will have no choice but to follow the rules."

Gao Yuan listened and smiled coldly. "Follow the rules? He only came back for a year or so and thought that he already know the rules? Isn't it just a single ticket? You don't have it?"

He San Qing said, "It's not the issue with money. I have already settled that with him. Yu Shan Yang received the money, but he also said that the plan tonight will be the same. He asked if Yuan's Alliance has the guts to continue."

Yuan's Alliance was a small group created by Gao Yuan which consisted of seven Young Masters who all loved to race cars. It was purely an amateur group playing in their own spare time. They were usually eating, drinking, partying, and every single day they were hanging out together. Soon after, Gao Yuan encountered some trouble, and he no longer participated in the activities with the group. Slowly, the team disbanded. He San Qing and Si Ma Zhi also stopped squandering their time there. As for the rest, they all had their own activities, leaving Duckie and Lin Zi behind as the only ones to hold the position.

Race King was short for the Race King Club, and they were also the crew that raced with Yuan's Association yesterday night. If someone wanted to join their club, they needed to have at least a sports car worth over $1 million, and it must also be modified. Compared to Yuan's Association, they had several times the number of members.

After hearing what He San Qing said, Gao Yuan asked, "Does 7th Brother Chai know about this?"

"Duckie said, 'Yesterday it was Yu Shan Yang and Ou Yang that led the crew, Young Master Chai was absent.' " 

"Five tickets, that Duckie is too over-confident. What do you think about this?"

"I want to win the money back," He San Qing said.

"What if we lose?"

"How could we lose?"

"Why can't we lose? Didn't Duckie already lose? Was Lin Zi there yesterday?"

"Last month, Lin Zi saw a movie, and he was smitten by one of the actresses. They seem to be dating right now, probably in Wuxi prefecture in Jiangsu."

Gao Yuan thought about it. "Forget it, just let this incident go. Hopefully, Duckie will remember this lesson."

"Boss, it was five tickets. Isn't this lesson a little expensive? I even had to contribute one of the tickets." He San Qing complained.

One ticket is worth $1 million.

There were always people betting races in the 2nd Ring. However, those races usually only had $50k - 100k bets just for fun. The wins and losses were merely a matter of a couple of expensive meals, so they don't hurt much. But the race yesterday was one ticket per round; It was very high stakes. Duckie lost all five rounds, losing $5 million in one night.

Gao Yuan said, "The most expensive the lesson is, the longer he will remember it." After he said this, he hung up the phone.

Bai Lu asked, "How much is one ticket?"

"One million dollars." Someone in his team that he used to hang out with was pillaged; It made Gao Yuan rather unhappy.

"Eat the meal." Bai Lu did not know how to comfort him, so he just focused on food therapy instead.

Bai Lu's cooking skills were imparted from the gods. His methods of cooking were on an immortal level. Ding Ding couldn't stop eating after she started moving her chopsticks, and she enjoyed the food immensely. As she ate, she gave him a compliment. "This level of cooking is truly out of this world. It is so much more delicious than the Second Residence."

Gao Yuan sighed. "Seems like the lesson of losing five tickets wasn't enough for him?"

"He also called Lin Zi. He will be back tomorrow."

"Can't he just play with his own toys? Why does he insist on raising the stakes, is his life getting too comfortable?" Gao Yuan was getting pissed.

Bai Lu recalled something that his father had always told him, and he muttered softly. "If there was a calamity from the heavens, one could still escape. If one caused his calamity himself, he would surely be dead."

Gao Yuan stared at him. With the corner of his eyes, he cast a glance towards Zhang Sha Sha. It was to remind him, that this girl was the reason, that made Bai Lu cause the trouble in the first place. That was why Yu Shan Yang wanted to punish Duckie.

Gao Yuan might have extrapolated a little bit overboard, to blame Sha Sha as the cause of the problem, which dragged over to Bai Lu, and then dragged over to He San Qing. In the end, the anger from this issue was transferred to Duckie, who was only the friend that hung out with He San Qing.

He San Qing asked, "Young Master, what should we do about this?"

Gao Yuan sighed. "Bring Duckie over here to Xiao Wang's Village."

"Yay." He San Qing ended the call.

The original idiom was supposed to be "those who put in the effort."