Chapter 49: Showing Off

When Li Dong walked out of the leasing office, he felt a mix of excitement and anxiety.

The excitement came from successfully renting the mall and getting ahead of Le Gou, which was worth celebrating.

The anxiety came from the scale of the project—he was lacking staff, money, and experience; he was short on everything! The final contract was for ten years with a value-added clause, but the annual rent increase was reduced to 3%, and the first year's rent was set at 6.8 million.

Li Dong paid a 100,000 deposit and agreed to settle the remaining 6.7 million within 45 days to secure the mall's usage rights.

If he failed to pay within 45 days, Longhua had the right to terminate the contract, and the 100,000 deposit would be forfeited.

According to Wang Yunqing, the 100,000 deposit was still a bit low, but Li Dong had negotiated hard to finalize the contract.

With 6.7 million in rent plus renovation costs, it would definitely take over 10 million to complete the project.

The critical issue was where the money would come from. The Faraway supermarket in Dongping was profitable, and although September had not ended yet, Sun Tao estimated it wouldn't be less than 1.5 million.

However, there were still four stores in Qingyang needing funds. Where would he squeeze out over ten million from?

Not to mention the renovation, the 6.7 million rent had to be settled within 45 days, which further complicated things for Li Dong.

Li Dong sighed. Money always seems insufficient when you need it most. Even as a wealthy man with nearly ten million, there never seems to be enough.

---

As Li Dong walked out of Longhua Plaza, some people nearby were discussing him.

"Shanshan, is that Li Dong?"

Huang Shanshan looked in the direction White Su was pointing and said with some confusion, "Li Dong? The one from the class monitor's dorm?"

Although she was in the same class as Li Dong, they had only met once during a class meeting, so Huang Shanshan wouldn't recognize him easily.

Li Dong wasn't an exceptionally handsome guy, and it was thanks to Li Tie that she remembered his name—several class officers knew his name.

White Su realized she had asked the wrong person. Relying on Huang Shanshan to recognize someone was a lost cause.

Today, during their day off, she and Huang Shanshan had come out to buy something and happened to see Li Dong.

And Li Dong was wearing a suit, which was odd given the scorching weather. White Su doubted her eyes—was there a major secret or something wrong with him?

Besides, she knew the place Li Dong had exited from—Longhua Plaza had been heavily advertised recently, but it hadn't opened yet.

Why would Li Dong be in a suit at an unopened mall? Looking for a part-time job?

That didn't seem likely; no businesses had moved in yet.

White Su's curiosity was piqued. She said to Huang Shanshan, "Let's follow him and see where he's going!"

"Isn't that inappropriate…"

Huang Shanshan hesitated but was dragged along by White Su, who effectively cut off any further objections.

---

In Pingchuan Park.

Li Dong was sitting on a park bench, talking on the phone with Sun Tao.

"Brother Sun, is it possible to raise 7 million in cash before mid-November for the supermarket?"

"Cough, cough…"

Sun Tao, who was supervising the renovation of the Qingyang stores, coughed when he heard Li Dong's question.

After a while, he replied slowly, "Mr. Li, if we work fast, the four stores should be done with renovations and start operations in about two months."

Li Dong was taken aback. "So you don't have the money?"

Once a new store is ready to open, it needs to pay for renovations, stock up, and prepare emergency funds, which requires a substantial amount of money.

"Yes, that's right. The investment for the four stores will be at least 6 million. We're fully relying on Dongping for funding, and there's no money left. We probably won't have dividends in the next few months, and employee salaries may need to be taken from the inventory funds."

"Right, and there's the inventory funds. We can borrow that temporarily," Li Dong said urgently.

The inventory funds could be deferred for three months, providing a buffer. Faraway's profits would be enough to repay the inventory funds.

Sun Tao hesitated and asked, "Mr. Li, the inventory funds can be borrowed, but what about Pingchuan…"

Sun Tao was really worried about the commotion Li Dong was causing in Pingchuan.

Unlike Dongping, Pingchuan's market wasn't blank. The four chain supermarkets there were quite large—could Faraway compete with them?

If they suffered losses, it wouldn't just be a financial issue.

He feared that failure in Pingchuan could be a major setback for Li Dong, impacting the entire Faraway business strategy.

"Don't worry! I started with nothing and made it through. I can always start over if needed!"

Although Li Dong was focusing most of his energy on the supermarket, it didn't mean it was his only option.

Even if he failed in the supermarket business, he was confident he could build another successful enterprise—after all, he was a reborn person.

Hearing this, Sun Tao stopped persuading and said, "Alright, just let me know if you need the money, and I'll prepare it in advance."

After hanging up, Li Dong felt a slight relief.

Getting the funds together was good. Once Qingyang was stabilized, a few million wouldn't be too difficult for him.

He was contemplating whether to take over the mall soon when a somewhat familiar female voice called out from behind.

"Li Dong, what are you doing here?"

Li Dong turned around and thought, "This is getting ridiculous. How do I keep running into people everywhere?"

However, since they were smiling at him, he couldn't be too cold. Li Dong smiled and nodded, "White Su, Huang Shanshan, what a coincidence!"

"Yeah, it is quite a coincidence…"

White Su hadn't finished speaking when Huang Shanshan pulled her, almost causing her to trip.

Turning around, White Su saw Huang Shanshan's face was flushed with embarrassment, clearly feeling ashamed of White Su's fibbing.

What coincidence? They had clearly followed him!

White Su rolled her eyes and whispered a threat to Huang Shanshan's ear, "Don't tell anyone, or else tonight… hmph!"

Huang Shanshan's face turned red again. She shot White Su an annoyed glance.

Li Dong noticed the two girls whispering and, not wanting to intrude, decided to leave. "You guys enjoy yourselves. I'll head back now. See you later!"

"Wait!"

White Su, having followed Li Dong, was not about to let him go easily.

Seeing Li Dong's puzzled look, White Su quickly said, "Li Dong, why are you wearing a suit on such a hot day?"

Li Dong's mouth twitched. He thought, "Why are you asking me about this? What's it to you?"

But he responded casually, "Oh, it's nothing. The suit is a bit damp, so I'm airing it out."

"Pfft!"

Both White Su and Huang Shanshan couldn't help but laugh. Even if he was being evasive, there was no need for such a bizarre excuse!

Li Dong realized he had blurted out something silly and immediately grinned awkwardly. "Just kidding. Well, I'll be going now. You guys carry on."

"Wait!"

White Su tried to stop Li Dong, but realizing it was inappropriate, she quickly retracted her hand. "Li Dong, help with the singing event! The registration time is ending soon, and Shanshan is in charge. If it's not done well, Teacher Fang will definitely remove her from her position. It's terrible!"

Li Dong was speechless. White Su's tone made it sound like he was being treated like a primary school student.

Removal from position? Why not just say expulsion?

Besides, Huang Shanshan was the Youth League Secretary; it wasn't really her responsibility to handle this, and it wasn't even an activity organized by the Youth League.

"Sorry, I really can't sing. Find someone else. Meng Qiping from our dorm is quite good at singing. It'd be a good idea to ask him."

Without hesitation, Li Dong threw the chubby guy under the bus.

That guy was always showing off, and now he had a chance to shine and maybe even attract some girls.

Having said that, Li Dong didn't want to hear any more reasons from White Su. He quickened his pace and hurriedly left.

Behind him, White Su's faint voice could be heard, but Li Dong chose to ignore it. He soon exited the park.

---

White Su called out several times but didn't see Li Dong turn around. She became upset, "This guy is really cold-blooded. Doesn't care about feelings at all."

Huang Shanshan, seeing White Su's reaction, suddenly laughed. "Looks like you're not always the one getting your way. Not everyone is like the class monitor…"

"Don't mention him!"

White Su's mood darkened when Li Tie was brought up.

She hadn't noticed before, but recently Li Tie had been finding excuses to get close to her, often using class matters as an excuse to talk. If she couldn't figure out his intentions now, she'd be really stupid.

But thinking of Li Tie's dark and burly appearance made White Su shiver.

Women like handsome men too, and White Su's taste wasn't that terrible. She definitely didn't want anything to do with Li Tie.

Mentioning Li Tie ruined White Su's mood.

She stopped dwelling on Li Dong and was still curious about his phone call. She vaguely heard terms like "inventory funds" and "supermarket."

Could Li Dong be involved in business?

It wasn't impossible; many students at Jiang University started their own businesses.

Forget it, she thought. She would just look for Meng Qiping. Li Dong said he could sing well, so she would check if that was true.

---

Meng Qiping, who was admiring the ladies at school, suddenly sneezed.

He rubbed his nose and murmured, "Which beauty is thinking of me?"