Chapter 84: Start-Up Funds Secured
Facing Dong Yu's sudden question, Liu Shang didn't feel the slightest bit embarrassed or nervous. Instead, he leaned back comfortably in his chair.
"Men at a dinner table often tell crude jokes. There are many layers to it, so I can't say for certain."
"But if it's about a girl, I can definitely confirm one thing."
"It means that among all the members of the opposite sex present, there isn't a single one he likes or cares about."
"Everyone here is just a buddy!"
"So, the sighs from our senior colleagues just now were quite telling."
"We're all in the same boat; we've already been friend-zoned. We should just give up hope."
Hearing Liu Shang's deceptively simple but very humorous words, everyone, including Dong Yu, burst into laughter.
Their corner of the room was so lively that it eventually attracted the attention of Pan Qingfeng and the other leaders at the main table.
They couldn't help but remark, "It's good to be young!"
After the banquet, Liu Shang was called to their offices one after another by Zhang Zhengmao and Shen Chengcheng.
They each gave Liu Shang a supermarket shopping card worth 10,000 yuan.
The oil field's employee benefits had always been quite generous. For New Year's, employees were typically given supermarket shopping cards.
Ordinary workers might only get a few hundred yuan, while an oil production team captain receives five thousand, and bosses like Zhang Zhengmao and Shen Chengcheng always get ten thousand.
Even before the dinner, Liu Shang had been invited by Han Ping and others to their respective oil production teams, where each of them gave him their 5,000 yuan shopping card.
As Han Ping and the others put it, thanks to Liu Shang, everyone on their teams had received double the bonus they had expected this year.
Besides, no matter how you looked at it, Liu Shang had been a tremendous help to their teams and even to the entire Third Oil Production Plant.
This small token of their appreciation was nothing, they insisted, and Liu Shang absolutely had to accept it!
As for Zhang Zhengmao and Shen Chengcheng, faced with Liu Shang's wry smile and refusal, they just laughed and patted his shoulder.
"Do you have any idea how much of Boss Pan's promotion is because of you?"
"Hey, the two of us have also benefited thanks to you."
"You've worked hard with us day and night for the past half-year, completely exhausting yourself, and we can't even pay you a salary. This shopping card is the least we can do. Please, take it!"
Unsurprisingly, after leaving Zhang Zhengmao and Shen Chengcheng's offices, Liu Shang was summoned to Pan Qingfeng's.
"Liu Shang, have you just come from Mr. Zhang and Mr. Shen's offices?"
"Did they give you shopping cards?"
Liu Shang spread his hands and smiled wryly. "You guessed it. Mr. Zhang and Mr. Shen each gave me their own shopping cards."
"They wouldn't take no for an answer!"
"I seem to have stumbled into a windfall!"
Pan Qingfeng smiled, then pulled four or five cards from his drawer and tossed them to Liu Shang.
One was worth 50,000 yuan, one was worth 20,000, and three were worth 10,000.
"Take these as well. One is from me, and the rest are from the plant. Use them for your everyday shopping."
Knowing Pan Qingfeng's character, Liu Shang didn't refuse. He thanked him and obediently put the cards away.
But in his heart, he still smiled wryly.
He calculated that the shopping cards he'd received were now worth well over 100,000 yuan. He probably couldn't spend it all even if he shopped frantically at the supermarket for all four years of college!
Seeing Liu Shang accept the cards, Pan Qingfeng nodded in satisfaction.
"You may think you're the one who stumbled into good fortune, getting all these cards pushed on you," Pan Qingfeng said. "But you have it backwards. We're the ones who have been honored by you. We're the ones who owe you a great favor."
"This office won't be mine after New Year's."
"And as for Mr. Zhang and Mr. Shen, they've also benefited thanks to you. Mr. Shen is being transferred to the Sixth Plant to serve as director."
"Mr. Zhang's case is even more remarkable. Because of the achievements in that technical report, combined with his young age and professional background, he's being sent directly to the bureau's development department."
"A deputy department head with real authority—what a huge promotion."
Liu Shang was stunned by the news, then quickly smiled and offered his congratulations.
At this, Pan Qingfeng lit a cigarette. "Liu Shang, in our eyes, you're like our own son."
"No matter where we end up, we'll always be here to support you."
"If you run into any trouble, in life or at school, remember you can always come and talk to us."
With that, Pan Qingfeng threw another card to Liu Shang—a bank card.
"There's 500,000 yuan on this card. It's for you."
This time, Liu Shang was truly shocked. "Uncle Pan, the shopping cards were one thing, but I can't possibly accept this much money."
"Please, you're overwhelming me!"
Pan Qingfeng smiled, leaned back on the sofa, and began to speak slowly and earnestly.
"Liu Shang, don't be so quick to refuse. Hear me out first."
"Your Uncle Pan here has suffered his whole life because he lacked a proper education."
"Back in my day, I failed the college entrance exams."
"Making it to the position of plant director was the absolute limit of what I could achieve."
"Besides, I'm a bit older than the others, so I had no ambitions of climbing any higher."
"But then, something unexpected happened. At the start of the year, one of the bureau's deputy directors ran into some trouble and was taken away."
"Just like that, a position opened up, and I suddenly saw a glimmer of hope."
"You probably know the rest. Because you showed up, your Uncle Pan was able to come from behind and win this incomparably precious spot."
"Even though it's just a deputy position in a less important department, for me, that's more than enough."
"As for the 500,000 yuan, that was actually President Song's idea."
"According to the going rate in our circle, the finder's fee for a successful well is about 20,000 yuan."
"And from the time you made that bet with me, you insisted on drilling exactly 25 wells."
"Your Uncle Pan has always been a superstitious man. I'm incredibly grateful for this outcome, so I absolutely must give you this money."
"Let me be frank. Without you, forget 500,000—even five million wouldn't have been enough to get your Uncle Pan this position!"
In the end, Liu Shang couldn't change Pan Qingfeng's mind and had to accept the card.
By his calculations, he now had nearly 800,000 yuan in hand. His start-up capital was almost sufficient to begin putting his plan into motion.
His primary advantage still lay in his advanced technical formulas for petroleum additives.
If he could use this money to buy a small chemical plant, Liu Shang was confident that with his technology and abilities, he could definitely make a fortune. The potential for future growth and achievement was endless.
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