Chapter 87: The Priceless Favor

The next day, Jiang University officially started classes.

After finishing the morning classes, Li Dong was stopped by Li Tie and a few others before he could leave the classroom. Li Tie smiled and said, "Dongzi, let's have lunch together. It's been a long time since we got together after you moved out."

Li Dong felt it would be inappropriate to refuse, so he nodded and said, "Sure, where are we going?"

"Where else? The cafeteria!" Xu Chen chuckled, "We're poor and can't afford to take you to a restaurant."

Li Dong didn't mind, nodding and saying, "Alright, I still have some money left on my campus card. I'll treat you today."

Li Dong had barely used his campus card, and he almost forgot about the few hundred yuan he had loaded onto it when he first enrolled.

Hearing that Li Dong was treating, everyone smiled.

They knew Li Dong was wealthy, and since eating in the cafeteria wouldn't cost much, no one objected.

The group of six headed towards the cafeteria.

When they entered the cafeteria and saw the crowd, Li Dong said, "Let's go to the second floor. The smaller cafeteria there isn't as crowded."

The second floor was a cafeteria exclusively for faculty, but it also served students, though the prices were significantly higher than in the main cafeteria.

The others had no objections, so they all went up to the second floor.

…

An embarrassing moment occurred when it was time to pay.

When Li Dong swiped his card, it showed a zero balance!

Li Dong turned pale, wondering what went wrong.

After several attempts, it was confirmed that his card was indeed out of money. Li Dong was bewildered—had he used up all the money?

Seeing the others trying to hold back their laughter and the chef urging them on, Li Dong asked, "Can I pay with cash?"

The chef looked disdainful and said, "Cash isn't accepted upstairs. If you want to pay in cash, you'll have to eat downstairs."

Li Dong cursed under his breath. How could they not know how to make money? Were they out of their minds?

He looked at Li Tie and the others and said, "How about you all swipe your cards first? I'll pay you back later."

Everyone exchanged glances. Li Tie cleared his throat after a while and said, "I have 8 yuan left on my card."

"I have 12 yuan," Zhang Hao said quietly.

Xu Chen snorted, "Poor people, I have 6 yuan."

Yuan Qingfeng waved his hand and said, "I rarely come to the cafeteria and didn't bring my card."

Finally, everyone's gaze fell on Meng Qiping.

The fat guy looked innocent and said, "You know, Cheng Nan and I usually eat at home, so we don't come to the cafeteria."

Li Dong was speechless. These guys were too useless.

Six grown men couldn't even gather a hundred yuan. Li Dong noticed the chef's gaze had changed.

With no other option, Li Dong said, "You all stay here. I'll go get some money."

Just as he was about to go downstairs to withdraw money, Fang Qingfei appeared silently behind him, smiling and saying, "How about I swipe my card for you first, and you can pay me in cash?"

Li Dong frowned slightly but eventually nodded in agreement without saying a word.

Once Fang Qingfei swiped her card, everyone invited her to join them for lunch.

Fang Qingfei declined with a smile and turned to Li Dong, saying, "Li Dong, can we have a chat?"

Everyone looked on with curiosity, while Li Dong cursed inwardly, knowing this woman had something up her sleeve!

After giving the annoying guys a glare, Li Dong followed Fang Qingfei to a table in a corner.

As soon as they sat down, Fang Qingfei smiled and said, "Mr. Li, I didn't expect you to have times when you can't even afford a meal."

Li Dong's face darkened. "If you have something to say, just say it. If not, go entertain yourself."

"Tsk, tsk, a CEO is still a CEO. Look at the attitude, even teachers can't be crossed," Fang Qingfei continued teasingly.

Li Dong ignored her and stood up to leave.

Fang Qingfei quickly said, "Wait, I have something to discuss."

"Speak quickly. I still need to eat!" Li Dong said impatiently.

Fang Qingfei huffed, "Since the meal is on me, pay me back first."

Li Dong had no choice but to take out two 100-yuan bills and hand them over.

Seeing Fang Qingfei happily accept the money, Li Dong stared at her for a long time.

Fang Qingfei touched her face and asked warily, "What are you staring at?"

"What am I staring at? Didn't you learn math? It was clearly 142 yuan. Shouldn't you give me the change?"

"Seriously? You're so stingy, arguing over a few dozen yuan?" Fang Qingfei said incredulously. This guy was a CEO; couldn't he be less petty?

Li Dong was immediately annoyed. "A few dozen yuan isn't nothing. It's enough for me to eat for a day."

"Is that so? I checked Yuanfang Supermarket yesterday. It's a star enterprise in Qingyang with many branches. Do you only spend a few dozen yuan a day on meals?"

Seeing that Fang Qingfei's voice was getting louder, Li Dong quickly interrupted, "Stop with the irrelevant chatter. Why did you check up on me? Are you up to something?"

Fang Qingfei rolled her eyes. This guy was truly not a good person.

Not wanting to waste time with Li Dong, Fang Qingfei got straight to the point, "It's about the sponsorship!"

"Don't even think about it! My money isn't earned by the wind blowing. You're asking for 100,000 yuan right off the bat. How cheeky can you get!"

Li Dong added, "Moreover, there are rules for the company. I won't make exceptions just because Jiangda is my alma mater."

Despite what he said, he had already made an exception.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone to find Hu Yong yesterday. Sponsorships were not something an executive like him should usually handle, especially since it wasn't a university-wide event.

Fang Qingfei, seeing Li Dong's stubbornness, began to act pitiful, "Li Dong, Mr. Li, can you just help me out? This is a task assigned by the college and affects my evaluation and promotion. I'm almost thirty and still just a lecturer, with a monthly salary of only 1800 yuan. Isn't that tragic?"

Li Dong almost laughed. It was the first time he had heard a woman complain about her age.

As for the salary being over a thousand yuan, it was true, but Jiang University had high welfare benefits. Even as an assistant lecturer, Fang Qingfei's monthly salary wouldn't be less than 3000 yuan.

Seeing people at nearby tables glancing over, Li Dong cleared his throat, "Teacher Fang, mind the occasion. If you're not concerned about losing face, I am."

Fang Qingfei sniffed disdainfully. This guy was as stubborn as a mule.

After a moment of silence, Fang Qingfei changed her approach and tempted, "Li Dong, if you agree to help, I'll guarantee you won't fail any courses in the future."

Li Dong shook his head. "I'm a good student. I won't fail."

"Failing or not isn't up to you," Fang Qingfei glared.

"You're threatening me! Fine, this will soon spread online. The headline will be: A prestigious university teacher uses failing students as a means to extort money…"

Fang Qingfei rolled her eyes at him and quickly interrupted, "Alright, I admit defeat. Your worth is at least hundreds of millions. Is it so hard to support the school's work?"

"This year marks the 20th anniversary of the School of Economics and Management. The college is organizing this event for the anniversary, and the dean and others are taking it very seriously. You're from the School of Economics and Management too. Helping the college a bit wouldn't make the dean forget your favor, right?"

Seeing that Li Dong was about to speak, Fang Qingfei added, "Don't underestimate the leaders of the college. The School of Economics and Management has produced many elite professionals over the past twenty years. Moreover, several senior professors in the department are experts in the field of economics. If they provide some guidance for your supermarket, your future development will be even broader."

This was Fang Qingfei's sincere opinion. If Li Dong weren't her student, she wouldn't be saying this.

To be honest, even if Li Dong invested 100,000 yuan and didn't earn a single penny back, it wouldn't be a loss. After all, sometimes human connections are priceless.

Her words did touch Li Dong.

There were indeed many business tycoons who had emerged from Jiang University's School of Economics and Management over the years. Even some names Li Dong had heard of in the future were from there.

And although the economists in the department were not good in practice, their theoretical knowledge was rich.

Yuanfang currently lacked practical talents and needed professionals.

Whether it was enterprise management or corporate culture construction, Li Dong knew these were important.

But to build a complete framework, it was difficult to do it alone without professional guidance.

Although Sun Tao was capable, he was a practical talent. It might be better for Li Dong to handle these matters himself.

Fang Qingfei's words hit the mark, and Li Dong fell into deep thought.