Chapter 10

Samson spoke passionately for a long time on stage. After he finally finished his speech, he left the stage.

The host held the microphone and said to everyone in the hall, “The event today has ended. Please exit in an orderly fashion.”

The host asked them to leave, but many people still remained in their seats.

After a bunch of people left, a man went on stage with a gift. He chuckled while he said to the host, “I’m Rayden Haynes, the General Manager of Victory Heavy Industry. I’ve prepared a small gift to welcome the chief officer in charge. Please pass this to him.”

He opened the box, and a ginseng root that had been aged for ten years was visible. It was very pricey!

The host nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll pass it to him.”

“Thank you very much.”

As soon as Raiden walked down the stage, a second man walked up the stage. People went up one after another to relay their “sincerity” to the host and request that the host hand their gifts to the chief officer.

People gave him gold, pearls, sports cars, and even agate. Everyone gave extremely valuable presents, and even the cheapest thing was worth at least one hundred thousand dollars.

When Johnson saw the gifts that others had presented, his forehead was beaded with cold sweat. Compared with the other gifts, his gift was really embarrassing.

Michael was sitting next to him. When Michael saw the box that Johnson was holding, he curiously asked, “Johnson, what are you giving him? Can you tell me?”

Johnson awkwardly said, “You’ll find out later.”

“Hey, you’re being quite mysterious.” Michael then took out a golden box too. He gently patted the box and said, “But, no matter what you’re giving, it can’t compare to my precious gift.”

Johnson rolled his eyes at him and did not say anything.

Seeing that almost everyone had handed over their gifts, Johnson got to his feet and walked up the stage.

“Excuse me, I’m Johnson Hill. I prepared a small gift to welcome the new chief officer in charge. Please accept my sincerity.”

When the host took the box and opened it, he found six bottles of beer inside.

At first, everyone thought that they were some kind of very expensive and precious beer. After they saw the brand clearly, they burst out laughing.

“Is he serious? Rhapsody beer? I remember that the canteen sells a bottle of Rhapsody beer at $3.60, right?”

“Isn’t that a little too stingy?”

“Don’t come if you’re poor. Even two bouquets of flowers are more expensive than that beer, right?”

“Tsk, this is so embarrassing.”

Johnson’s face turned red. He had known that this would happen, but when it actually unfolded, he realized how stupid he was.

He really regretted believing in Thomas, that piece of trash.

In fact, he would have realized it if he had put some thought into it. On such an important occasion, would he not be humiliating the chief officer in charge by giving bottled beer that was worth $3.60?

Forget being promoted and having a salary increment, it would already be a blessing to not be removed after he went back.

“Get off the stage. Don’t embarrass yourself here.”

“This man came to ruin the occasion. Where are the security guards? Why aren’t they chasing him out?”

Johnson was really embarrassed, so he left the stage in a rush.

The host chuckled before he spoke in a cold tone. “Today is a good day for the succession ceremony. How can it be ruined by anyone? Is such a thing good enough to be sent over? Get lost!”

He casually threw the six bottles of beer on the ground. Right then, Johnson felt that he had completely lost face and he could no longer save it.

Below the stage, he was drowned in shame, and he could no longer hide it.

Michael laughed so hard by the side that he almost could not breathe. “Hey, Johnson, is there something wrong with your brain? Giving a bottle of beer that is worth $3.6 on an occasion like this? Do you think the chief officer in charge is a beggar?

“I don’t want to insult you, but you tried to cut down on your budget for such an important gift. That means you’re extremely stingy.”

“When you go back to work, just wait to be removed. You’re an embarrassment to us all.”

Among the audience members, Emma’s expression darkened, and she looked at Thomas. “It’s that ‘good idea’ you gave my father. Now, it’s made my father so embarrassed. When he goes back to work, he might lose his job!”

Thomas appeared aloof.

“Do you trust me?” he asked this question again.

Emma had chosen to trust Thomas earlier, and he did not let her down.

Nonetheless, this time…

Emma hesitated and said, “It’s not that I don’t trust you, but look at my father. He’s being bullied by the rest. The gift you recommended isn’t working!”

“This is just judgment from ignorant people. Believe me, if this chief officer is a good leader who takes care of his soldiers, he will like the gift that I’ve chosen for him.”

Emma snorted coldly. “I wonder where you got your confidence…”

At this time, Michael patted his sleeves and stood up. “Forget it, you’ve embarrassed us. I need to quickly make up for it. We can’t just let them laugh at us.”

He took a small box and walked up the stage. Then, he chuckled while he said to the host, “I’m Michael Elon, the supervisor of the Marketing Department. I’ve purposely prepared a small gift for the chief officer in charge.”

“He’s not giving any cheap beer this time, is he?”

“I think it might not be a good thing.”

“When have they been so poor?”

While everyone discussed, Michael bowed to them.

“I’m here to apologize to you first because my colleague was foolish enough to make a joke of himself in front of you. Here, I want to apologize on Johnson Hill’s behalf.

“We are not poor, and we did not mean to disrespect the chief officer in charge. What Johnson Hill did was of his own volition. Please don’t overthink it.”

“Anyway, talking is of no use. To make everyone here see our sincerity and also show my own sincerity, I’ve purposely prepared this gift for you.”

After he spoke, he opened the small golden box, which only contained a key.

Everyone stared at each other in confusion. What was he doing?

Was it a car key?

Michael grabbed the key and raised it. “This is the key for a detached villa. More specifically, house number 33 in Wind Ridge Neighborhood in town.”

When he said this, everyone was taken aback.

Wind Ridge Neighborhood in Northern City was one of the top five luxurious neighborhoods in the city, and the people who lived in that area were wealthy!

The detached villas in that area were worth up to ten million dollars.

Besides, if they did not have a certain network or background, they would not be qualified to buy the villas.

Such a luxurious house was not affordable for ordinary people, and they could never buy it in their lifetime either. Yet, Michael had bought it and given it to the chief officer in charge as a gift. His generosity was terrifying.

Between Johnson and Michael, one of them had spent less than thirty dollars, while the other person had given a house that was worth ten million dollars.

The difference between both of them was too huge.

In this invisible war, Johnson looked like a failure.