Chapter 137: Not Short of Money

The banquet hall was very quiet at that moment. 

Three million in an account might not seem like much, but three million in cash had a huge impact on the suppliers.

Li Dong watched as the crowd's breathing grew heavier, and a slight smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

To be honest, he was also a bit shocked seeing so much cash for the first time.

There's a big difference between seeing cash and seeing numbers on a bank statement.

If Li Dong had said he had fifty million or even a hundred million in his account, people would probably think it was no big deal.

But when he placed three million in cash in front of them, the feeling was entirely different.

After about a minute or two, the crowd finally snapped back to reality.

Seeing this, Li Dong addressed Qin Boss and his group, "Today, we have bank staff and Yuanfang's finance personnel here. You won't be shorted a single cent! If you're worried, you can count the money yourself. What do you think?"

Qin Boss and the others had nothing to say, their faces a little embarrassed.

The smaller suppliers, in particular, looked pale. Sure, they were getting their money back, but the business was ruined.

That wasn't even the worst of it. Once word of this got out, people would definitely say they had no insight and didn't follow the rules.

It would be a problem if anyone wanted to work with them in the future. Doing business without credibility makes it very hard to continue.

They sighed softly. At this point, there was nothing more to say.

Although Qin Boss's face slightly changed, he still managed to maintain a bit of composure. His business was bigger than the others, so if things didn't work out with Li Dong, he could still work elsewhere.

However, he didn't bother counting the money. He simply said, "Mr. Li, I'll arrange for someone to handle the money later. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now!"

Without waiting for Li Dong's response, Qin Boss hurriedly left the banquet hall.

Li Dong didn't say anything, his gaze falling on the others who were still stunned.

They exchanged glances, not daring to count the money in front of everyone. Forcing a smile, they said, "Mr. Li, there's no rush with the money. We'll discuss it later."

Li Dong chuckled and said lightly, "That's fine. But you all look a bit pale. Maybe you should head home and rest?"

This was clearly a polite way of asking them to leave. Even the thickest-skinned among them couldn't stay any longer.

Once they left, Li Dong's expression improved.

Looking at the others, Li Dong smiled and said, "I apologize for the spectacle today!"

"No problem, Mr. Li! You've given us quite a show."

"Haha, to be honest, this is the first time in my life I've seen so much money. Mr. Li, you're really something."

"Mr. Li, if you don't mind, how about letting me take a picture with this mountain of money?"

"Hahaha, Mr. Wu has a good idea! I hadn't thought of that. Mr. Li, if it's okay with you, I'd like to get in on that too."

...

With the troublemakers gone, the atmosphere became lively again.

They were all businesspeople, and nobody wants to pass up a profitable opportunity.

Since Li Dong had the resources and Yuanfang was doing well, why not continue doing business?

So, everyone chatted happily as if nothing had happened earlier. Well, as long as they ignored the huge pile of cash beside them.

As for why Li Dong wasn't in a hurry to have the cash escorted back to the bank, that was just him indulging in a bit of mischievous pleasure.

He wanted to show them that their brother Dong wasn't short of money!

With the armed security guards standing by, Li Dong wasn't worried that anyone would get any funny ideas.

...

At 5:30 PM, Li Dong saw off the last of the suppliers.

Standing at the hotel entrance, several senior executives from Yuanfang all let out a sigh of relief.

The trouble had finally been resolved, and the three million in cash not only solved the problem but also demonstrated Yuanfang's strength.

Not short of money—that was the impression all the suppliers now had of Yuanfang!

It was also the image that Li Dong had deliberately created. Three million wasn't much, but casually displaying three million in cash gave a very different impression.

Li Dong didn't have to say a word; several well-established suppliers immediately began discussing the possibility of supplying other Yuanfang branches.

Holding back payments was a given, and they even made more concessions, offering more favorable prices.

In reality, Li Dong didn't have to give anything up. The three million was sent back to the bank untouched.

As for Qin Boss, the total owed to him was only about five million. After a few days of delay, Yuanfang could pay him back without touching that three million.

After sending off Liu Hongmei and the others, Sun Tao eagerly asked, "Where did the money come from?"

"I borrowed it!"

Seeing the confusion on Sun Tao's face, Li Dong explained, "Didn't you say the other day that we couldn't rely entirely on Zhao Jinsheng? I thought you had a point, so I borrowed the money just in case. I didn't expect it to come in handy."

Sun Tao wasn't concerned about that. He knew the money wasn't Li Dong's own.

He just wanted to know who Li Dong had borrowed from. After all, Li Dong had to mortgage his house just to get five hundred thousand previously.

Thinking of the mortgage, Sun Tao began to suspect something and asked, "Did you mortgage the shares?"

Li Dong nodded. Right now, the only thing of value he had was the Baidu shares.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to borrow three million, let alone three hundred thousand.

"Who did you mortgage them to?" Sun Tao asked again.

He knew it couldn't have been a bank; otherwise, the news wouldn't have been kept so secret, and the money wouldn't have arrived so quickly.

"A familiar person," Li Dong didn't elaborate further. Instead, he said, "Let's not talk about this now. Just use the money without worry. The Fucheng branch needs to open as soon as possible, and the Tongshan branch needs to resume work. We should aim to open by August."

Seeing that Li Dong wasn't willing to discuss it further, Sun Tao didn't press the issue.

After talking about the branches, Li Dong continued, "I remember Tongshan has 12 stores, and Fucheng has 7. That leaves us 5 stores short of our 30-store plan, right?"

"I mentioned it to you once before. You said we'd open 5 stores in Loutai after we started making a profit in the second half of the year. What, do you have another idea?" Sun Tao asked curiously.

Li Dong nodded. "Let's put Loutai on hold. I'm planning to open 5 more stores in Pingchuan."

Sun Tao frowned. This was different from the original plan.

At the beginning of the year, Li Dong had talked about surrounding the cities from the countryside. Now he wanted to open stores in Pingchuan, which would disrupt the plan.

He was about to ask more when Li Dong waved him off, saying, "Don't worry about it. I'm giving you a long vacation. Come back when your injury is healed."

It takes a hundred days to heal a bone injury, and Sun Tao's leg hadn't fully recovered, making it difficult for him to work.

On top of that, he'd been exhausted over the past few days, so Li Dong wanted him to take a good rest.

Seeing that Li Dong had already made up his mind, Sun Tao nodded.

It was true that with his leg not fully healed, it was inconvenient to do anything.

However, he was still a bit worried, feeling that Li Dong was a magnet for trouble.

He wanted to offer some advice but didn't know what to say. He couldn't very well tell Li Dong, "You're a troublemaker, so just take it easy for a while."

In the end, Sun Tao didn't say anything. He could only comfort himself with the thought that since Li Dong had just gotten out of trouble, he shouldn't be causing any more for now.