Chapter 362: Here Comes the Roadster
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In a room at the top of the resort hotel, Dai Li met Dingtian Xiao again. Dingtian Xiao remained wearing his poker face, looking serious, with authority. But comparing with the last meeting, Dai Li was less nervous, more confident.
"President Xiao, you wanted to see me?" Dai Li looked at Dingtian Xiao.
Although he was not sure about what he was here for, he sensitively felt that it was a Hongmen Banquet.
"Sit down." Dingtian Xiao pointed at the sofa. Dai Li didn't make niceties, but rather, sat down directly.
"You have been downstairs for a long time, how do you feel?" Dingtian Xiao suddenly asked.
"Quite lively." Dai Li answered casually.
"That's it?" Dingtian Xiao stared at Dai Li. He was a little annoyed that Dai Li reacted so slowly, so he reminded Dai Li: "I mean, when you saw Yunan's friends, and their gifts for her, how did you feel?"
Feel? Feel what? Dai Li was dazed. He wasn't sure what was Dingtian Xiao's point, hence, he didn't know what to say. Dintian Xiao looked out the window, and said: "Just now, I had a glimpse of the gifts Yunan received, they look good, jewelries, emerald, luxuries, roadster, all kinds of things, and none of them is cheap. For ordinary people, they may not be able to afford any one of them, even if they devoted all the money they earned through their whole lives."
Dai Li was even more baffled about Dingtian Xiao's words. "What does Dingtian Xiao mean? He is a myraidnaire, his name can't fall out of from among the top 10 on domestic wealthy people's name lists. He doesn't need to covet those gifts. They are indeed worth much money, but if he wanted to buy it, he could have it all immediately." Dai Li complained secretly.
In front of him, Dingtian Xiao suddenly turned around, looking at Dai Li and asking: "Dai Li, do you think you are one of the ordinaries?"
"Me?" Dai Li frowned, his eyebrows furrowed in thought for two seconds. He remembered his magical Coach System, so he shook his head: "I don't think so."
Unsatisfaction flashed across Dingtian Xiao's eyes, as he said: "Indeed, you are an outstanding coach. It's really difficult to make such achievements at your age. So you would think that you are not ordinary."
But the next second, Dingtian Xiao switched the point: "But in my eyes, you are just an ordinary person."
"You have high standards." Dai Li replied casually, but his words contained a sense of disagreement.
Dingtian Xiao shook his head with helplessness: "Everyone lives in a certain circle, a circle of life and sociality. A politician has politicians around him, businessmen make friends with businessmen, pork-sellers meet other pedlars everyday, while breakfast makers deal with philistines. If I say, I make friends with a pork-seller or a breakfast-maker, would anyone believe it?"
"This society has tiers. We have extremely wealthy people on the top, then rich people, then mid-class, wage earners, and the underclass." Dingtian Xiao said this, as he made a gesture of tiers, then said: "People in the same tier will naturally be together, while people from different tiers, simply can't belong. There are unbridgeable gaps between tiers."
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not discriminating against the underclass, neither do I look down upon poor people. I just want you to understand the facts. Namely, that you and Yunan are not in the same tier, and that you have gaps in between." Dingtian Xiao looked very serious as he spoke.
"I can't see any gaps between us," said Dai Li.
"Really? It's just you haven't realized it yet. But it doesn't mean you won't realize it in the future." Dingtian Xiao showed a rational look, as he said: "As her father, I don't want my daughter to be with you. But I am not an unreasonable parent, so I won't say 'no' like some parents do, without giving any reasons. I want to convince you by my reasoning. That's why I held today's birthday party for Yunan, to let you meet her friends, so that you will know what kind of circle she lives in."
"You want me to retreat before the impossible?" Dai Li had by now somewhat guessed Dingtian Xiao's plan.
Dingtian Xiao showed a "finally you got it" look, as he continued: "You are right. I hope, through this birthday party, you two will realize the distance between you. You belong to different tiers, even if you stay together, you will have to deal with great distinctions in your future life. You will face difficulties, you will have hard times, all because you are from two dissimilar life circles. I think Yunan has guessed my ideas, but from your reaction, I say she didn't tell you anything."
Dai Li immediately remembered how today Yunan Xiao looked somehow different, especially when people gave her expensive gifts. So she is worrying that those jewelries and roadster things will hurt my feelings. This does make sense, I'm a coach, normally, so how could I afford a ten-million dollar emerald, or a roadster? 'I will like whatever you give me, even it's a flower you pick from roadside' she had said, so she was probably comforting me! Dai Li had figured out everything.
Sitting on his opposite side, Dingtian Xiao took a long sigh, then said: "As a father, I hope my daughter can live a happy life. A few years of joy is not true happiness, and I want her to always be delightful. Therefore, I can't give my daughter to you. I don't know whether you would feel pressure with her, but I can't let her bear the pressure which shouldn't belong to her. Such pressure is exactly from what I just mentioned, social stratum gaps."
"You will find that you have little in common with Yunan's friends. They may neglect you, they even make fun of you. When it comes down to it, you are not the only one who suffers, as my daughter shares your pain, and she suffers, too. I don't want my daughter to live such a miserable life for ever after!"
"I'm not belittling you, neither do I praise myself. But imagine this: A princess marries a commoner, then what will the other princesses and princes think of her? They will laugh at her, taunt her, despise her. Even in fairy tales, at the end, Snow White marries a prince, rather than any of the dwarfs, although they had been the ones protecting her all the time. Suppose Snow White married a dwarf instead, it would not be a happy ending. There must be some readers jeering at Snow White, wondering whether her head was squeezed by the door."
Dai Li never thought that a super rich man like Dingtian Xiao would talk about Grimms fairy tales to him, which was weird. But, in his mind, he had to admit that Dingtian Xiao's words were quite convincing. Dingtian Xiao licked his lips, then leaned on the sofa and crossed his arms at his belly, before he said: "I'm not saying that you can't give my daughter a good life. I, dingtian Xiao, do not lack money, whoever my daughter marries, she doesn't need that guy to feed her. But from today's birthday party, you should see, and you must see, that you and Yunan are from two different worlds. You can't live inside her life, neither can she live in yours. You two should not be together, I hope you see now for yourself."
"You want me to leave Yunan?" asked Dai Li.
Dingtain Xiao nodded: "Yes, I want you to leave her, unconditionally."
Dingtian Xiao paused, then said: "According to what I know about you, I don't think you would ever ask for something from me. If you were a greedy guy, Yunan would not be with you. But, of course, if you do need some financial compensation, I will meet your requirements."
Undoubtedly, Dingtian Xiao was saying basically: tell me how much money you want. Dai Li didn't doubt Dingtian Xiao's economic power. He knew that if he gave a price, even an enormous figure in commoners' eyes, Dingtian Xiao would pay him without hesitation. How could Dai Li treat love as a trade?!
Dai Li shook his head: "Sorry President Xiao, I'm afraid that I can't agree with you."
"Good, then tell me your thoughts, perhaps you would persuade me," said President Xiao.
Dai Li knew that, when facing people like Dingtian Xiao, the best way was to negotiate with reason, as lovers' pledging eternal loyalty was bullshit in Dingtian Xiao's eyes. Those empty words could not persuade him at all, but asked instead for his sarcasm.
Dai Li organized words in his mind, then said: "I know Yunan and I were born in different tiers. I agree with you that there must be gaps between us on outlooks on life. But it won't tear us apart. In your eyes, the current me is just a nobody, and you think that Yunan deserves a better man. But I am trying to make myself better!"
Dai Li spoke in a more excited tone: "If you think that only people from the same tier could live together to form a family, then right now, I'm moving forward to the tier that you belong to, and one day, I will stand in the same tier with you."
"How? By empty talks?" Dingtian Xiao shook his head: "I agree, you are a capable young man, and you are hardworking. But, you are far behind Yunan, and the gap is so wide that you can never cross it!"
"I don't think so. Nobody was born to be a success! President Xiao, didn't you spend only twenty years to reach today's height? When you were my age, weren't you just just starting your career? Did you ever think about owning such a business empire one day in your life?" Dai Li replied with questions.
"Time is different. As the society develops, social tiers are getting more and more fixed." Dingtian Xiao shook his head, "The reason I am what I am today is that I caught many chances. But such chances only occurred in a certain period of time, and are unrepeatable. Even though the same chance may jump out to you, you would not be the one who catches it."
"I can forecast that the future you may become a leader in your career, and be a so-called 'successful professional', but that is about the future. The future is uncertain, and I may not be able to wait until you finally succeed. Therefore, to the current me, as well as to the current Yunan, you start rather low, compared with people outside!"
Dingtian Xiao said this, while pointing out the window: "You have witnessed what happened today. People who are here for celebrating Yunan's birthday, the cheapest gift they brought was worth tens of thousands yuan, gifts worth more than a million are piling up, even million-yuan gifts can be found. Liang Chai, the third generation of Chai's family from Hong Kong, gave Yunan an emerald pendant, which is worth ten million Hong Kong dollars; Liancheng Jia from Donggang, the roadster he brought for Yunan was the climax of Donggang car exhibition, the price was higher than twenty million yuan. Can you do the same thing?How long would it take you to cross this gap?"
"What you saw happened right in front of you, and this is reality!" Dingtian Xiao paused. He put down his arms, then said sincerely: "It's good to have enterprise, but your dream should not dull your senses. You'd better face reality, then make a decision, which is both good for you and Yunan."
Dai Li raised his head, looking at Dingtian Xiao seriously: "They gave Yunan a roadster, I saw it. Yes, this is reality, but to me, it's not that cruel. If you think that a twenty-million roadster can knock my confidence and humiliate me, then you are wrong about me. I don't think I'm subordinate to them."
"A slight error in thought brings you from confidence to conceit. A confident man may not be clever, but a conceited man must be stupid!" DIngtian Xiao snorted.
"I'm not conceited." Dai Li shook his head at once. "If you think the gap between me and Liang Chai, or Liancheng Jia, is an emerald pendant or a roadster, then does it mean that I can bridge the gap with an emerald pendant or a roadster, and you will then accept me?"
Dai Li spoke, also pointing out the window: "You pointed out the window and asked me whether I could buy an emerald pendant or a roadster, I answer your question right now, I can. I can give Yunan a supreme roadster as a birthday gift, and it's a unique one!"
"You can? By what, boasting?" Dingtian Xiao shook his head with scorn.
Right at this moment, an extremely loud beep ended the conversation. Through the window, Dai Li saw a truck stopped at the villa gate. At the back of the truck was a container, with an English logo painted on the wall. It was the shipping company Dai Li had entrusted.
Finally! Dai Li made a long sigh with relief. He turned around to Dingtian Xiao, a satisfying smile emerging on his face.
"President Xiao, I said I could do it. Here comes my roadster for Yunan!"