After a moment of hesitation, Gao Jiangong finally sat down. He said with dissatisfaction, “I’ve had so many meals before and this is the first time that I’m not sitting in a private room.”

Wang Rubing let out a sigh of relief. Anyway, she managed to overcome this slight obstacle. She immediately informed the waiter to serve the dishes.

She had already pre-ordered the dishes when she booked the table. She did not dare to ask Gao Jiangong to order, otherwise, the price of this meal might be beyond their budget.

Li Changzhi was self-disciplined in daily life and never accepted gifts or money from others. He would be paying for this meal from his own pocket this time and would not be able to afford it if it was too expensive.

The waiter soon served all the dishes. Gao Jiangong glanced at the dishes with contempt.

Li Changzhi grabbed a bottle of Maotai and poured a glass for Gao Jiangong. He then poured one for himself and Wang Rubing.

He raised his glass and said to Gao Jiangong, “Chief Gao, I’ll drink this to show my respect. Please enjoy it!”

Li Changzhi usually would not ask Wang Rubing to drink at the table. He made a few polite comments and then drank all the white wine in his glass.

But Gao Jiangong did not drink the wine and he did not even touch the glass. He became even more dissatisfied.

He was in charge of the department who had the real power and there were many people who wanted to invite him to dinner. But it was too simple and unrefined this time. Although they were in the Flower Health Club, he was sitting outside just like all the common people.

He could stand it, but the dishes they ordered were also very basic and he did not even see a single speciality dish of the club.

The most important factor was the white spirit. Would anyone with a high status in the capital drink Maotai, when they could have red wine?

Now they bought a bottle of Maotai which was not even that aged, just to please him. It would be shameful if someone else were to see him drinking it.

Of course they were from a remote place and knew nothing about business etiquette. It seemed that the money had to be kept for a while and could not be distributed to Jiangnan City just yet.

Thinking of this, he just took up the glass and sniffed it gently. Then he put it on the table, frowned and said, “My health has not been good recently. Drinking this kind of fragrant liquor will greatly stimulate my stomach. I’m sorry, but I can’t drink this.”

Li Changzhi and Wang Rubing looked at each other. Of course they realized that Gao Jiangong was dissatisfied. But the Maotai liquor was quite expensive and cost them 2,000 yuan.

Wang Rubing stared at him, her eyes blazing with great anger. The funds should have been distributed to Wufeng County by now, but it had been kept there for more than half a month and they had not received a penny of it yet.

Mayor Li paid for the meal himself and the dishes and liquor had cost him half a year’s salary. The meal was good enough, but this old bastard thought that Maotai was not good enough.

Li Changzhi looked at her, indicating that she had to restrain her anger. Then he said to Gao Jiangong, “Chief Gao, I’m really sorry. I did not know that you’re not in good health. Let’s order a bottle of red wine immediately. Which brand do you like?”

Gao Jiangong’s expression softened a lot. He said to the waiter next to him, “Let’s have a bottle of First Growth Bordeaux. The taste is good.”

“Okay, sir. Please wait a moment!”

The waiter turned around and went back to the bar. Soon, he came over with a bottle of red wine with a label written in a foreign language, “Excuse me, sir, do you want to open it now?”

Li Changzhi knew that the wine must be expensive, but he had no other choice. For the sake of his province’s public welfare, he gritted his teeth and said, “Open it. Of course, open it now.”

The waiter opened the bottle and poured a glass for each of them before leaving.

Gao Jiangong picked up the glass and took a sip. Then he nodded with satisfaction, “This wine tastes good. It’s good to drink red wine. It’s good for one’s health!”

After a while, Wang Rubing sneaked to the bar and took a look at the price of the wine. She was astonished to learn that the bottle of wine costs 12,800 yuan.

The bastard was really ruthless. He actually ordered a bottle of wine worth more than 10,000 yuan.

But now the wine had been ordered and she could only hope that the expense would not be wasted and that she could take the funds back.

Gao Jiangong did not hesitate to eat and drink at the table. Wang Rubing and Li Changzhi did not drink much because they knew that the wine was very expensive. So the (750ml) bottle of red wine was drunk solely by Gao Jiangong.

Seeing that he had almost finished off the wine, Li Changzhi said, “Chief Gao, we are from Jiangnan City and it’s not easy for civil servants at grass-roots level. We hope Chief Gao will be able to help us.”

“The poverty-relief funds are urgently needed. Could you please help us resolve this issue as soon as possible?”

Gao Jiangong finished the last glass of wine in one gulp and instantly became irritated. He did not know what these people from remote places were thinking about. They just bought him one bottle of wine and he did not have his fill yet. How could he solve the issue for them?

He said in a cold voice, “Old Li, there are many basic departments and disadvantaged counties in the country. The funds are urgently needed everywhere in Huaxia. You have to wait a little longer.”

Then he sneered secretly, “Your position is higher than mine, but so what? We’re in the capital and you have to obey me.”

Seeing that the money they’d forked out for the meal was in vain, Li Changzhi immediately said, “Chief Gao, could you please help us? The funds are needed to build the ecological agricultural base.”

“If we can get the money now, we can use it to start the basic construction of the base. It will be too late and we have to wait for another year if the money is delayed once again.”

“There’s nothing I can do.” Gao Jiangong said coldly, “It’s your job to arrange for the construction. My job is to allocate the money distributed by the country. Many places are also in need of money now and many of them will also have to wait for half a year.”

“This kind of allocation cannot be rushed. The total funds are limited, after all. You just have to wait for your turn to receive the funds.”

He looked at them with contempt as he spoke. Of course, they were from a remote area. He could forget the fact that they did not book a private room and had ordered some cheap dishes rather than the specialty dishes.

But they only bought one bottle of wine. How could they do this? How could he resolve the problem if he did not have enough to drink? It seemed that he had to set aside the funds and delay the distribution to Jiangnan for the moment.

Li Changzhi said anxiously, “Chief Gao, the funds were specially allocated by the government.”

Gao Jiangong sneered, “All the money was allocated by the government. How can I distribute it without the government’s approval? That’s illegal!”

“I have something to do. I have to leave now.”

Then he stood up and was about to walk out of the door. Seeing that the meal was in vain, Wang Rubing could no longer suppress her anger. She stepped forward and grabbed him by his arm.

“Don’t leave!”

Gao Jiangong was irritated. They were definitely from a poor, remote place and did not have any manners at all. How could they just grab his arm in public?

He turned around, shook off Wang Rubing’s arm violently and said angrily, “Why don’t you guys follow the rules? I’m telling you, there’s something wrong with the funds allocation and I have to check it once again. We’ll talk about it after the audit is done.”

He was a tall and strong man, after all. Wang Rubing staggered several steps backward. But she did not manage to keep her balance and fell back in the end.

Her face turned pale with fear. But a big hand grasped her back firmly and helped her up suddenly.

Qin Haodong helped her up, looked at the man in front of him and said in a cold voice, “I’ll give you one last chance. Go back and distribute the poverty-relief funds to the Wufeng County before 8:30 a.m. tomorrow morning, or you will be fired.”

“Who do you think you are? How dare you talk to me like this?”

Gao Jiangong was furious. He really did not know what was going on today. Why did he meet such impolite people all the time? But suddenly, he saw Han Jieyu standing next to him.

“Miss Han, why are you here?”

As an ordinary person, he did not know about the existence of the Seven Great Families in the capital, but he knew that Han Jieyu was quite special.

Once, he came here to have dinner with a deputy director, who had real power in the bureau. The deputy director had to greet this woman respectfully, while he was not even qualified to say hello.

After that, he discreetly enquired about Han Jieyu’s identity and the deputy director said that she was the owner of this club and they could not afford to offend her. If Han Jieyu was not satisfied with him, he might be fired in an instant.

He kept it in mind the fact that they could not afford to offend this girl. So he had always been careful every time he came here for dinner.

He hurried forward to greet her once he saw Han Jieyu.

Han Jieyu ignored his humility. She took a step forward, took Qin Haodong’s arm and said without any hesitation, “He’s my boyfriend. Do as he says.”

Qin Haodong was slightly stunned after hearing Han Jieyu directly acknowledging him as her boyfriend. It seemed that once a woman fell in love with a man, she could change her role quickly.

In fact, he could make this man lose his job easily even without the power of the Han family. He might even be thrown into jail.

When he heard what she said, Gao Jiangong shivered with fear. He could take Qin Haodong’s words as a joke, but he did not dare to ignore what Han Jieyu said.

He quickly said, “Don’t worry, I’m going back to work overtime now. I’m sure I’ll be able to finalize it by tomorrow morning.”

At the same time, he also complained about Li Changzhi and Wang Rubing in his heart. Why did they not make use of the relationship before? He was humiliated and might even have offended some big shots in the capital.

After that, he turned around and was about to leave. Qin Haodong stopped him, “Wait a minute, I did not say you could leave yet.”

Gao Jiangong quickly turned back and said respectfully, “Sir, what else can I do for you?”

Qin Haodong said, “Pay the bill at the bar counter before you leave.”

“Pay the bill?”

Gao Jiangong grimaced. He had not seen the bill, but he could guess that the meal would cost more than 20,000 yuan. It was almost his salary for half a year. He really did not want to pay the bill.

Qin Haodong said, “Are you not willing to do it?”

“Of course I’m willing to do this!”

Gao Jiangong nodded repeatedly. Compared with the money for the meal, his position was much more important. He obediently ran to the bar counter, settled the payment and then left the club in disgrace.

Wang Rubing and Li Changzhi were stunned. They did not expect that they were able to solve the problem without even having to spend any money.

They never expected that Qin Haodong would have such a great influence here.

Qin Haodong went to say hello to Li Changzhi and then introduced Han Jieyu to them.

Hearing that they were Qin Haodong’s sister and fellow villagers, Han Jieyu quickly opened her personal private room and then ordered another meal to entertain them.

Wang Rubing seized the opportunity and asked, “Tell me, what’s your relationship with her?”

Qin Haodong told her the truth, “You heard it just now. Jieyu is my girlfriend.”