Seventh Year Of Separation chapter 47
The Scent of Money
During the Spring Festival travel rush, the return journey on the expressway was a bit congested. It took Li Zhao an hour to drive out of the boundary of Lingang.
Suddenly, the HR manager remembered something and asked, “Lawyer Li, why did you ask Manager Gu about suspending his studies last time?”
Gu Jiahe, sitting in the passenger seat, gripped his pants with his fingers. It was her who brought it up. Did this company have anyone who could keep their mouth shut?
Li Zhao remained calm and shook his head, “It’s nothing, just a little misunderstanding with Manager Gu before.”
“Oh, I see. That’s good then. I thought you two had some conflict from the way you talked last time,” the HR manager said.
“It’s all settled now. Everything’s fine,” Li Zhao added intentionally.
Gu Jiahe couldn’t help but sneakily glance at Li Zhao sideways, only to be caught by him.
“The project is finally coming to an end. We just need to wait for the review,” the HR manager sighed in relief. “By the way, the CFO came to the office last time and said they allocated some funds to our project. We can organize an outing in the spring.”
“Really?” Gu Jiahe’s eyes lit up. After being at the company for so long, it was the first time he heard the finance department willingly offer funds.
“Yes. We’re discussing it these days, where to go for the trip,” the HR manager said, checking her phone. “They mentioned wanting to go to a theme park. What about you guys?”
“Us?” Li Zhao didn’t expect to be involved in this.
“Yeah, Lawyer Li, you can bring He Xiao and Wen Qi with you then. The budget is enough, and family members are allowed to come anyway. Just consider yourself as Manager Gu’s family member,” the HR manager suggested.
Li Zhao smirked slightly but then asked, “Manager Gu, what do you think?”
Gu Jiahe knew what he was up to and changed the subject, “A theme park sounds good.”
“Alright, I’ll go back and discuss with them. Let’s rent a car and go after the New Year,” the HR manager decided.
After entering the boundaries of North City, the expressway was noticeably smoother. Li Zhao drove all the way, dropping off the HR manager at her home.
After turning the car around, Li Zhao casually got onto the elevated highway.
Gu Jiahe, sitting in the passenger seat, realized halfway through that they were not heading towards his home. “Hmm? This isn’t the way to my house.”
“We’re not going to your house,” Li Zhao replied calmly.
“But your shirt is still at my place. I need to go back and get it,” Gu Jiahe insisted.
“I have plenty of shirts. No rush,” Li Zhao brushed it off.
“So where are we going now?” Gu Jiahe looked at the route, realizing it wasn’t towards Li Zhao’s home either.
“To the World Trade Center,” Li Zhao answered.
“What?!” Gu Jiahe was taken aback.
The World Trade Center area was home to the most upscale malls in North City.
It was already the twenty-ninth of the lunar month, so what were they doing at the mall?
Soon, Li Zhao drove the car into the underground parking lot of the mall.
Gu Jiahe glanced at the luggage still in the trunk.
“Aren’t we taking the suitcase?” he asked.
“No need. Let’s go,” Li Zhao pushed his back and walked towards the elevator.
Li Zhao stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the third floor.
In less than fifteen seconds, the elevator doors opened.
Gu Jiahe’s eyes widened at the sight before him. The wide mall corridors, clean light-colored tiles, and huge English signs were overwhelming. Beside the escalator was an extremely gorgeous chandelier.
Gu Jiahe glanced at the guide map in the elevator.
Third floor—men’s wear section.
He hesitated for a moment before following Li Zhao out of the elevator, asking from behind, “What are we doing here? Why did we suddenly come to the mall?”
“It’s almost Chinese New Year. Kids need new clothes,” Li Zhao patted his head.
Gu Jiahe almost rolled his eyes.
” Li Zhao, we’re both adults now. I don’t have this habit. It’s not worth spending the money,” Gu Jiahe protested.
Li Zhao wrinkled his brow again at the address
Gu Jiahe quickly corrected himself, “Ge, ge.”
“I said we’re buying, so we’re buying,” Li Zhao patted his butt. “Let’s go.”
“I feel like you need a decent coat,” Li Zhao sized up Gu Jiahe, pondering for a moment.
“I don’t have occasions to wear one,” Gu Jiahe said truthfully. He worked in the office every day, occasionally visiting the factory.
Li Zhao ignored him, dragging him into a store. Gu Jiahe looked at the clothes hanging under the chandelier, not daring to touch them. It felt like defusing a bomb; one wrong move and he would blow away his entire month’s salary.
“This one suits you,” Li Zhao picked out a piece from the rack.
Gu Jiahe turned to see a beige V-neck cashmere sweater.
“But this collar doesn’t block the wind,” Gu Jiahe felt like it would be drafty just looking at it.
“Are you working in the fields every day?” Li Zhao tossed the sweater into his arms. “Go try it on.”
The salesperson came over and praised Li Zhao’s choice, “Is this your little brother? This color suits him so well. You should try it on.”
Little brother—
Gu Jiahe was stunned for two seconds. Since he was already being framed like this, he had no choice but to take the clothes and walk into the fitting room.
About two minutes later, he opened the curtain of the fitting room.
He cleared his throat and softly called out, “Ge, how does it look?”
Gu Jiahe didn’t have a mirror in front of him, so he didn’t know how it looked on him.
Li Zhao turned around upon hearing his voice, paused for three seconds without saying anything, cleared his throat, then turned to the salesperson beside him, “It’s good, please wrap it up for me.”
“What?” Gu Jiahe encountered someone who bought things so hastily for the first time.
He hurriedly pulled the price tag of the clothes in front of him to take a look.
“Three thousand eight hundred?!” Gu Jiahe couldn’t help but exclaim.
Li Zhao walked over to him, “Go in and take it off. We’ll get this one.”
Seeing the salesperson still standing there, Gu Jiahe could only forcefully drag Li Zhao into the fitting room.
“A cloth that costs over three thousand? This is outrageous.”
“It’s pure cashmere,” Li Zhao explained.
“What? Three thousand eight hundred? I could buy a sheep and shear it for that price.”
“Tsk.” Li Zhao didn’t want to argue with him, so he swiftly lifted the cashmere sweater from Gu Jiahe’s body and paid for it. By the time Gu Jiahe came out of the fitting room after changing into his own clothes, Li Zhao was already holding the packaged shopping bag in his hand.
“Let’s go.”
Gu Jiahe followed him, his mind filled with thoughts of three thousand eight hundred.
The two of them entered the second store.
As soon as Li Zhao walked in, he spotted a piece of clothing and directly took the hanger off the rack.
“Go try it on.”
Gu Jiahe looked at it—a long light gray coat.
The price tag was right in front of him—eight thousand six.
Gu Jiahe almost fainted on the spot in the store.