Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 1107 - 953: Help Her Out_2

Chapter 1107: Chapter 953: Help Her Out_2

As for Wang Ye, his family had some money, but they weren’t that wealthy.

But now, she suddenly felt that she might not really know these two old classmates of hers, and even less about their current situation...

...

Wang Ye and Zhang Xiaoxi stepped forward and warmly greeted Wang Dongdong.

"Oh, Dongdong, you’re so slim now, if you walked down the street, I might not even recognize you, hehe," Zhang Xiaoxi said with a laugh.

Wang Dongdong was somewhat embarrassed and shyly replied, "Let’s go inside, I apologize for making you wait so long."

With that, she gestured for Wang Ye and Zhang Xiaoxi to go in first.

As they walked in, Wang Dongdong covertly sized up the two in front of her. With her trained eye from being a real estate consultant, she could tell that these two old classmates were really out of the ordinary!

Take Wang Ye, for instance, the clothes on his body didn’t have any conspicuous labels, just a simple Polo shirt, a pair of ivory casual trousers, and a pair of leather flat casual shoes.

Oh, and there was also a watch on his wrist!

But Wang Dongdong knew that the clothes Wang Ye wore couldn’t be cheap, and might even be very expensive!

Because you can only tell the quality of the fabric, those clothes that cost thousands or tens of thousands don’t need a label; just hanging there, anyone with a bit of experience can tell them apart at first glance.

That might also be a basic skill for a salesperson.

However, she could not recognize the brand of the watch on Wang Ye’s wrist. It wasn’t one of those Omega, Radar, or Plum Blossom that were popular among the wealthy in the capital city of the province.

As for Zhang Xiaoxi, she didn’t even need to look at her clothes, the Chanel mini-bag she was carrying was probably worth tens of thousands...

Of course, if they hadn’t stepped out of that Mercedes-Benz car, Wang Dongdong might not have noticed these details and might even have thought Zhang Xiaoxi was carrying a knockoff.

After all, counterfeit designer bags are sold everywhere these days, and some imitations are very convincing...

But people coming out of such a car would generally not buy fake goods, right!

...

It was now nearly noon, and the restaurant wasn’t very crowded, so Wang Dongdong had reserved a small private room.

This also made it convenient for the three of them to chat without being disturbed.

Once in the private room and seated, Wang Dongdong called over the waiter and enthusiastically pushed the menu towards Wang Ye and Zhang Xiaoxi, telling them to order whatever they wanted, without any hesitation.

Zhang Xiaoxi cheerfully pushed the menu towards Wang Ye and said, "You haven’t been back in a while, you must miss the taste of home-cooked food, right? So you choose."

Wang Ye did not hold back, and as he flipped through the menu, he casually ordered several local dishes with distinct characteristics.

Like Braised Yellow River Carp, Fried Eight Pieces, Purple Crispy Meat, Green Onion Sea Cucumber, and so on.

As Wang Ye named the dishes, Wang Dongdong’s smile was a bit forced because these were all "expensive dishes," and they were not cheap...

However, she didn’t say anything, just feeling a bit that Wang Ye was somewhat thoughtless.

That’s just how recent university graduates are, a bit of money at home and they spend it frivolously, without thinking of saving!

Zhang Xiaoxi, of course, wouldn’t think that Wang Ye ordering like this was wasteful. Perhaps, dining at such a restaurant might already be considered quite "economical" for Wang Ye!

After ordering five or six dishes, Wang Ye finally closed the menu.

Realizing he might have ordered a bit too much, he smiled and said to Wang Dongdong, "I haven’t had hometown food for a while, so I ordered a bit more. Sorry for the expense."

He didn’t offer to pay the bill, as it was quite clear that Wang Dongdong had invited them for the meal, and insisting on paying would seem inappropriate.

If people made a fuss over this little money, it would be too... embarrassing.

However, in Zhongyuan, or perhaps in the north, it wasn’t uncommon to see people tugging and pulling at each other in restaurants to pay the bill, sometimes even coming to blows over it...

Wang Ye obviously wasn’t going to do that.

Hearing Wang Ye say this, Wang Dongdong quickly replied with a laugh, "No worries at all, it’s so nice to see an old classmate after such a long time. Just order whatever you want to eat, I’m not a wealthy person, but I can certainly afford to treat you to a meal!"

...

While waiting for the food to arrive, the three of them casually chatted.

Wang Dongdong was the first to ask, "Xiao Xi must have graduated by now, right? Is she still studying at Tsinghua or pursuing further studies? What about you, Wang Ye, you’ve graduated and returned to China, haven’t you?"

"I’m in my first year of graduate school, still at Tsinghua," replied Zhang Xiaoxi.

Indeed, she had continued her studies at Tsinghua, but she had switched to the School of Economics and Management. As for work, Wang Dongdong didn’t ask, and she didn’t elaborate.

Wang Ye responded with a smile, "Yeah, I did graduate, but I haven’t planned on coming back yet. I might spend a few more years in Moscow. Nowadays, students studying abroad aren’t very popular when they return. Many ’sea turtles’ turn into ’seaweed’ once they come back, haha."

He was kind of joking with that remark.

Although the cachet of sea turtles wasn’t as high as it used to be during the early 2000s, leveraging family connections to find a job back home was still plausible.

But how could Wang Ye possibly return!

Back home, there’s no Duma where he could be Vice Speaker, or any committee for him to lead...

If he did return, he really would become "seaweed," since he wouldn’t settle for just any job!

In fact, Wang Dongdong had always had a question that he never voiced: where did the Mercedes-Benz car that Zhang Xiaoxi and Wang Ye were driving come from...

...

"Dongdong, didn’t you graduate with your bachelor’s degree? Why...why did you start selling houses?"

Zhang Xiaoxi couldn’t help but ask.

In her mind, those who went into house sales as sales consultants were generally those with lower educational attainments.

These days, college graduates weren’t so plentiful, and securing an office job wasn’t that difficult, provided one wasn’t too picky, although Wang Dongdong’s major might not have been very popular.

Wang Dongdong gave a wry smile, and he didn’t hide the truth, speaking candidly:

"I didn’t want to, but I had no choice.

My family had accumulated a significant amount of debt a few years ago to pay for my father’s medical treatments.

Once you borrow money, you have to repay it, and now I’m the only one in the family who can earn money, so I’ve had to grit my teeth and take on the burden.

Getting an easy job wasn’t that hard, but such jobs won’t pay a high salary.

And I desperately need money, and only sales jobs can provide a high income.

Although selling houses might not seem respectable and is quite hard, the earnings are still decent—I can make five to six thousand a month!

In the capital city of Zhongyuan Province, that counts as a high income among my peers!"

As he spoke, he gave a forced smile.

Wang Ye nodded; five to six thousand in 2005 in the capital city of Zhongyuan Province was indeed not low.

He casually asked, "How much does your family still owe outsiders, and how long will it take you to repay it all at this rate of working so hard?"

Wang Dongdong pondered for a moment, "We still owe just over two hundred thousand. I can save about five thousand a month, so it’ll take a little over three years to clear it all."

Zhang Xiaoxi pursed her lips and looked at the thin and dark Wang Dongdong, feeling a twinge of heartache.

Just then, a waiter came in to serve some dishes, and as Wang Dongdong stood up to receive the dishes, Zhang Xiaoxi turned and whispered to Wang Ye, sitting next to her, "Help her out, please; Dongdong is having such a tough time!"

Wang Ye understood her implication and nodded slightly without saying a word.

Zhang Xiaoxi was also sharp-witted; the twenty thousand debt owed by Wang Dongdong’s family wasn’t much at all, not just for Wang Ye, but even for her.

If Wang Ye hadn’t been there, Zhang Xiaoxi might have offered to clear Wang Dongdong’s debt herself.

But with Wang Ye present, she couldn’t take the initiative and had to leave the "opportunity" for Wang Ye.

After all, the reason for this trip to the provincial capital was because Wang Ye wanted to repay the favor Wang Dongdong had done for him in the past—it was his debt of gratitude to repay.

Jumping in to pay would not have been prudent.

...

During the meal, they did not discuss their current situations further; instead, they enthusiastically reminisced about the amusing incidents from their high school days.

As the meal was almost over and it was getting late, Wang Ye found an excuse to step out for a moment. He spent two minutes in the car, then returned to the restaurant with two envelopes in his hand.