Ling Yun was satisfied with Tang Meng's eagerness to see the eight digits he has been waiting for. Nodding his head, he took out many phone cards from the inner pocket of his shirt, making sure he handed Tang Meng the right one.
"Isn't this the..." Tang Meng was stunned. "Wait, how did you get all these?" Tang Meng could not believe his own eyes after seeing the digits of the phone cards that were for Ling Yun's family. They were all comparably cool and impressive as the one he will receive, if not more.
Ling Yun thought about what Xue Meining advised him when they parted, before putting his hand into his pocket again to retrieve the last phone card. That is exactly how life liked to make fun of people. To succeed only at the last and final attempt.
"Yup, this is right! 59888888! Take a look!" Ling Yun uttered as he handed it towards Tang Meng's direction. He was not confident his friend would not steal his number and leave.
"I thought there was only two? Why are there four now? All these magnificent numbers are four in a billion!! What did Ling Yun do to get the four of them? Did he hijack Qingshui City's mobile telecom company?" Tang Meng exclaimed in bewilderment.
As Tang Meng breathed hastily with his eyes glowing, Ling Yun clenched his left fist, which was holding onto the remaining three phone cards for his family and himself. He was more worried of Tang Meng pushing him into the basin filled with crabs rather than him running away with his cards.
"I can only give you this one. The remaining ones are for my mum, Ning Lingyu and myself. So don't even think of having them for yourself', Ling Yun warned Tang Meng earnestly.
Immediately, Tang Meng snatched the precious phone card that was for him from the hands of Ling Yun, like how an eagle would catch its prey.
"Boss! This number can really be used right?" Tang Meng gazed at Ling Yun with his pitiful eyes, hoping Ling Yun was not playing a prank on him. Or else, it would be as good as him falling straight down to hell from heaven.
"I mean, you just have to insert the card into your phone, and you can try it out for yourself!" Ling Yun was on the verge of laughter. "Oh yes, that is true" Tang Meng hit his own head as he realized how silly he was to not think of that. He rushed to take his phone out from his back pocket and inserted the phone card into the phone, before hesitating again. Who should I call though?
Tang Meng knew that whoever he called, the person at the receiving end would get the shock of his life. It did not take too long before he decided to dial a call to Li Qingchuan.
Guess what? The phone card was not a scam as the phone call was successful.
At this point in time, Li Qingchuan was sitting alone, drinking in misery. He was jealous of the fact that someone in Qingshui City got the chance to go on a date with Xue Meining. Suddenly, his phone rang.
His first instinct was that it must be a call from Tang Meng. He must have called to report good news on the errand that Qingchuan assigned him to. He wasted no time in answering the call, but before any words could exit from his mouth, he was flabbergasted. "59888888? Such a beautiful number?" Li Qingchuan could not believe what he saw on the screen of his phone.
"Is this someone who has a favor to ask from my dad? Cannot be! If he could have such an impressive number, he would not have to go through me to get to my father" Li Qingchuan pondered in repeated fashion. "What would be the reason for this call? "Or...or… maybe it could be that weak bloke that overheard my confession for Xue Meining earlier, and decided to call me to mock me!" Li Qingchuan's frustration and worries deepened. "He must be feeling very full of himself to have this phone number."
But after all, Li Qingchuan held the reputation of the most privileged child in Qingshui City, why would he be fearful of someone who happened to just have several nice digits.
Thereafter, he answered the call. "Hello! Who is this calling?" Li Qingchuan uttered in a soft and delicate voice, not wanting to be informal or rude to the unknown individual at the other end of the call.
Tang Meng was exhilarated, as he knew how terribly his new phone number has scarred Li Qingchuan, given the duration of time he took to answer his call. Li Qingchuan would usually either answer or reject incoming calls immediately. He had never hesitated so long before.
Looks like Tang Meng's new phone number worked fabulously!
Since the call had been picked up, Tang Meng had no choice but to start speaking. "Hehe! Hey brother! It's me, Xiao Meng! How was it? Did I accidentally scare you too badly?"
What!? Li Qingchuan was so enraged to hear Tang Meng's voice that he almost threw his phone away. " Stupid Tang Meng, how in the world did you get yourself such an awesome number? You know I was so shocked I nearly peed my pants just now!" he reprimanded.
"Hehe, hehe…" all that could be heard from the other side was Tang Meng's non-stop giggling.
"Hey, how many of those special phone numbers do you have? You had better give me one!" Li Qingchuan was more concerned about getting one for himself rather than the source of the unique number.
"Sorry bro, I've sacrificed so much to get myself this number, I do not have any to spare you."
"Hey, stop with your f*cking excuses! I do not give a shit about how you are going to do this, if you are not able to get one for me then you can forget about having your own!" Li Qingchuan threatened Tang Meng to give up his 59888888 number.
Tang Meng face went pale. He was overwhelmed by Li Qingchuan's assertiveness. Something unpleasant was definitely going to happen.
'Alright, brother! I'll try my best to help you ask for one. But the one I have on my hand, I'll never give it away" Tang Meng gave a barely satisfactory answer before hanging up the call.
This precious treasure did not come by easily, hence, there is no way it would be handed to Li Qingchuan.
Li Qingchuan's blood boiled after Tang Meng hung up. He was all focused on the phone number and had totally forgotten to ask about Xue Meining. He followed up with a few attempts at calling that impressive string of digits, only to receive the response that Tang Meng had switched his phone off.
"Who does he think he is? It's just having some special phone number! Can't believe he called me just to show it off?" Li Qing Chuan ranted with jealousy, as he was determined to get his hands on Tang Meng's phone number.
While Tang Meng had been testing out his new numbers, Ling Yun had two yellow croakers, along with ten crabs, sent to the kitchen. "So, how was it? The phone number is not a hoax, right?" Ling Yun asked as he made his way out of the kitchen.
"Yes, Boss! You are such a generous and benevolent individual! I love you to bits for giving me such an impressive phone number!" Tang Meng complimented ecstatically.
"Hey wait! Who says I'm going to give this phone number to you for free? Do I look like a philanthropist to you?" Ling Yun clarified urgently.
"Boss, of course I know not to take advantage of you! How about you tell me what you want? I'll give it to you if I can afford to" Tang Meng understood Ling Yun's stand and gave him his assurance.
Ling Yun nodded his head, glad that Tang Meng knew what he was supposed to say. "I lack nothing, except for money" he continued with his hints, knowing perfectly how rich Tang Meng was.
Tang Meng's first offer was six million. But, from Ling Yun's face, he could guess that that would be too little for him to accept. "How about eight million bucks? That's an auspicious number!" he added.
Ling Yun showed no expression on his face, but his heart was beaming with glee. Eight million dollars for eight digits! What was there to ask for more?
"Or...nine million! That is all of my personal assets already! If you want more, I'll have to rob a bank!" Tang Meng claimed.
He is not wrong. His father, Tang Tianhao, worked for the government and not his own business. There would only be so much a public security bureau deputy director could have, even if he embezzled funds. As to how Tang Meng's family could afford their Ferrari, it was a birthday gift from Tang Meng's uncle, Tang Tianzong who resided in America.
Hence, Tang Meng might often look arrogant but he was actually very money-minded. His nickname, Little Gambling God, was given for a reason. He took up gambling to earn side-pocket money so that he did not look cheap and poor.
Nine million dollars was all that Tang Meng could fork out. His uneasy expression on his face told Ling Yun the whole story, about how much he actually wanted that phone number.
"Hey, we are brothers. We'll set it at nine million then! However, there is a million dollars worth of credit inside this number so you owe me a total of ten million." Tang Meng was crestfallen. Just as he was about to lower his self-esteem even further to negotiate terms, Ling Yun interrupted.
"Although I've said I wanted ten million for the card, I do not actually need so much money now. Just pay me five million bucks first! As for the remaining half, we can cooperate and try to earn ourselves some cash within two months. You can pay me after we earn! You need not pay me if we do not earn a profit!" Ling Yun consoled his buddy.
Ling Yun knew that this was the right thing to do. He would not be at any disadvantage; neither would his friend be put on a spot. He managed to settle the matter in his style, gracefully and without any consequences.