Xiao Teng, clearly oblivious to the gravity of the situation, was deep in his cups. Suddenly, the bartender approached, his face contorted with alarm. "Oh, Boss Xiao, why did you open this entire case of wine?"
Xiao Teng replied with displeasure, "What, are you afraid I can't pay for it?"
The bartender's expression turned grim. "Oh, Boss Xiao, you've caused trouble! This case of wine doesn't belong to our bar; it was left here for safekeeping by someone. That waitress just now was new and didn't know anything; she brought this case to you to drink. How can I explain this to the person who stored it?"
Xiao Teng nodded. "So that's what happened. No wonder this wine tastes so amazing, unlike anything I've ever had. Don't worry, it's just a case of wine, it's already drunk. If the owner looks for you to pay, it's all on me!"
The bartender was overjoyed. "Oh, Boss Xiao, you are truly generous."
Xiao Teng chuckled, "Heh heh, normally I wouldn't be this generous. It's just that I earned a hundred million today, and I'm feeling great, truly great."
As they were chatting happily, a figure approached.
It was Lu Ming!
"Since you're feeling so great, why don't you pay up?" Lu Ming pointed at the case of wine and said, "This wine was stored in the bar by me. You drank it, so compensate me."
The bartender chimed in, "Boss Xiao, this gentleman is the one who stored it."
Xiao Teng scrutinized Lu Ming, finding him vaguely familiar but unable to recall who he was.
He cleared his throat, took out his wallet, and said dismissively, "Tell me, how much is this case of wine?"
Hooked.
A slight smile played on Lu Ming's lips. "This is all 1907 Bai Xue Champagne, known as the 'Silent Ship,' specially served to the Tsar. The remaining stock is extremely scarce, each bottle drunk is one less. At market price, one bottle costs approximately 15 million yuan."
As he spoke, the entire place erupted in shock.
What was this?
Twelve bottles of wine, 180 million? Was this wine made of gold? Even if it were, it wouldn't be this expensive!
Several of Xiao Teng's henchmen turned green. They all set down their glasses, placed their wine bottles aside, and deliberately kept their distance from these few bottles, almost as if they wanted to vomit what they had already drunk.
The once lively bar fell silent, all eyes turning to Xiao Teng and the bottles of sky-high priced wine.
After a moment of silence.
Xiao Teng burst into laughter and clapped his hands. "Buddy, you're so humorous."
Lu Ming said coldly, "Who's being humorous? 180 million, how will you compensate me?"
He wasn't joking.
He was serious!
Xiao Teng's expression changed instantly. He looked at the wine bottles and said, "Buddy, do you take me for an idiot? Even the most expensive wine in the world wouldn't cost 12 million a bottle. Moreover, I drank these wines, and they clearly taste like they're from after the millennium. Do you think I can't tell?"
It had to be said, Xiao Teng was not without some acumen.
These were just ordinary wines, even rather inferior ones, costing 80 yuan a bottle, and even cheaper wholesale.
But so what?
In Lu Ming's words, they were the "Silent Ship" valued at a total of 180 million.
Lu Ming insisted, "I don't care about the details. In short, you drank my wine, so you must compensate me. 180 million, not a single yuan less."
Xiao Teng was both exasperated and amused.
He was speechless. "Buddy, are you insane from poverty? In my entire life, I've never met someone as shameless as you. You dare to extort 180 million from me with a few bottles of fake wine?"
Saying this, he pulled out a few crisp hundred-yuan bills from his wallet and slapped them on the table.
Xiao Teng continued, "If I'm not mistaken, the total price of this case of wine wouldn't exceed a thousand yuan. Being kind-hearted, I'll call it a thousand yuan. The money is here, take it and get lost."
Lu Ming didn't even glance at the money, still sticking to his price: "180 million, not a yuan less. If you don't pay me today, you're not leaving this place."
At this point, everyone could see that Lu Ming was deliberately trying to extort him.
Xiao Teng's face was filled with murderous intent. "You dog, you don't know what's good for you! Brothers, attack!"
A group of his subordinates grabbed wine bottles, preparing to fight.
Just then, a large group of armed soldiers stormed in, their weapons cocked, all aimed at Xiao Teng and his men.
A businessman like Xiao Teng had never seen such a display.
Xiao Teng's legs went weak with fear. Without hesitation, he immediately raised his hands above his head and shouted, "Don't shoot! I'm a law-abiding citizen, a good person."
Lu Ming chuckled and questioned, "A good person? Then why did you drink my wine for free and not pay?"
Xiao Teng felt like crying.
Was it him who refused to pay? It was clearly Lu Ming twisting facts, being deceitful, and making unreasonable demands!
But seeing the muzzles of the guns, Xiao Teng dared not act rashly, fearing that a wrong word would lead to them opening fire.
He certainly didn't want to be riddled with bullet holes.
Xiao Teng said, "Sir, it's not that I won't pay, it's just that your demand is too high. You know in your heart what the original price of your wine was, don't you? You're passing off inferior goods here, trying to extort money from me with cheap trash wine. If you asked for a little less, it would be fine, but demanding 180 million all at once, where would I get that much?"
This hit the nail on the head.
Lu Ming reached out and patted Xiao Teng's shoulder. "What, is it not okay for me to pass off inferior goods and extort 180 million from you with trash wine? Then why was it okay for you to pass off inferior goods and use a bogus project to cheat the Su family out of a hundred million?"
This single sentence awakened everyone from their daze!
They understood!
Xiao Teng, being such a cunning person, immediately grasped the situation upon hearing this.
"Heh heh, so you've come to seek justice for the Su family, have you?" Xiao Teng scoffed and demanded, "Who exactly are you?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, a soldier snapped, "How dare you! Who are you asking?"
Following that, the soldier raised his gun and fired.
With a deafening bang, the bullet whizzed past Xiao Teng's ear and lodged firmly into the wall behind him.
A real gun.
Real bullets!
Although Xiao Teng wasn't hit, he was so terrified that he lost control of his bladder, his pants immediately becoming soaked.
These people weren't playing around. A slight misstep and one could truly lose their life.
Lu Ming gently patted Xiao Teng's shoulder and said, "If I hear anything else from you that I don't want to hear, the next bullet won't be hitting the wall, but the center of your forehead! Do you understand?"
Xiao Teng was so terrified he couldn't speak. He mustered all his strength to nod feebly.
"Yes." Lu Ming pointed at the red wine and asked, "Tell me, how do you intend to handle this matter?"
Superficially, he was asking about the wine, but in reality, he was asking about the cooperation project with the Su family.
Cunning as he was, Xiao Teng naturally understood the implied meaning.
He swallowed hard and said timidly, "One must be honest. One must admit their mistakes. I shouldn't have defrauded the Su family with a fake project. I will go to Chairman Su right now, apologize, and sign a new contract!"
Lu Ming was very satisfied with this response.
He said, "Very well. Since you've chosen to be an honest person, I won't make things difficult for you. I'll be honest too. The total price of this case of red wine is 960 yuan. I'll accept the thousand yuan you owe me."
Lu Ming collected the thousand yuan from the table and even returned 40 yuan to Xiao Teng, then said, "Then, Boss Xiao, you will accompany me to the Su family to apologize."