Chapter 30: Why is everyone here asking for tickets?

With a sharp slap, the stack of tickets hit the floor.

Facing Manager Wu’s relentless mockery, the hot-headed Xue Xiaoshan glared, his fists clenched, ready to lunge at the man. Huo Qitai, however, remained unfazed. He smiled, picked up the tickets, and said in a clear, resonant voice:

"Manager Wu, are you sure you don’t want to reconsider? These tickets were limited edition. It was Lulu who insisted that over a hundred be set aside as a benefit for the hotel staff; otherwise, I would have been quite reluctant to part with them."

"Oh, really? Ha! At face value, a hundred tickets are worth ninety thousand! Get lost, kid! Take your trashy tickets and get out. Don't disturb us while we're working." Manager Wu waved him off impatiently.

Huo Qitai said nothing more. He gathered the tickets and left the marketing office with the Xue father and son.

"Dad! Why did you hold me back? Damn it! That old dog Wu is so arrogant, he deserved a punch for speaking to Brother Tai like that!" Xue Xiaoshan complained angrily once they were downstairs.

Xue Ergou, however, stifled a laugh. "Xiaoshan, you only saw Manager Wu’s sneering face, but you missed the trap Little Tai set for him."

"A trap? When did Brother Tai set a trap? All I saw was him groveling to someone who didn't give a damn about him," Xue Xiaoshan muttered, confused.

*Thwack!*

Xue Ergou knocked his son on the head, frustrated by his lack of insight. "You really need to be sharper. Isn't it obvious? After Little Tai’s marketing, didn't these lecture tickets become highly sought after? Manager Wu thought Little Tai just wanted him to distribute them as a promotional favor, which is why he refused so decisively. But once his staff finds out he turned down a benefit that everyone wants, there’s going to be a real show!"

"Ah! So that’s it. Brother Tai, no wonder you said from the start that we’d see him slap his own face. Brilliant! So, you mean the manager and the staff don't even realize how valuable these tickets are yet?"

Realizing the truth, Xue Xiaoshan’s irritation vanished, replaced by immense excitement. He sat back, ready to watch the "old dog" regret his actions.

Huo Qitai looked around and smiled. "Our performance is working. People are already at the lobby asking about them..."

Xue Xiaoshan looked over and saw several parents at the hotel front desk, anxiously inquiring.

"Is the Peking University prodigy’s lecture being held at your hotel? I want to buy tickets!"

"Yes, yes! How much are they? I want to buy them too."

The front desk staff, however, had no clear instructions and could only answer vaguely. "I’m sorry, sir! To my knowledge, the lecture is indeed being held in our conference room, but it is a private event. The hotel is not authorized to sell tickets."

"What do you mean private? You must have tickets! I saw people from this hotel with them, and they were fighting over them right outside our apartment complex!"

"Exactly! Get your manager out here! We have money—why can’t we buy tickets?"

It wasn't just the walk-in customers. Anyone with friends or relatives working at the Fortune & Glory Hotel began calling or showing up in person to demand tickets.

Zhang Yuqing, a shift supervisor, had just arrived at work when her mother called. "Daughter! Is your hotel hosting a lecture by a Peking University prodigy? You must get a ticket for your cousin! She’s a senior in high school, and her father just called me, insisting I find a way to get one!"

"Mom, what lecture? I... I don't know anything about it. Oh! I remember now, I think there is one. But I don't have tickets! How would I have them?"

"What? You’re a supervisor and you don't even have one? Are they really that hard to get?"

In the hotel kitchen, head chef Zhou Fuqiang was proudly instructing his apprentices on their knife skills when his formidable wife burst in, breathless. "Husband! Hurry... get a ticket for that Peking University lecture! Our son is taking the college entrance exam next year; how can you be so oblivious?"

"Wife, what are you doing here? What lecture? Where am I supposed to get one?" Zhou Fuqiang asked, bewildered.

His wife immediately erupted. "You useless man! The lecture is being held right here in the hotel! What kind of head chef are you? Everyone else has gotten their hands on tickets internally, and you haven't even heard of it? I don't care—you go find a way! You must get one!"

***

Similar scenes unfolded throughout the morning for almost every employee at the Fortune & Glory Hotel. Many staff members received dozens of calls, all demanding tickets. Even Manager Wu himself was not spared; the first call he received was from his wife.

"Old Wu, get me ten tickets."

"What tickets? What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb! The whole city knows your hotel is hosting a secret lecture by a Peking University prodigy. It’s an internal event, and I heard the tickets are being scalped for ten thousand each. You’re the marketing manager—don't tell me you don't know! Don't tell me you don't have some flexible tickets for promotional use? My friends and relatives are begging me; I’ve already promised them!"

Hearing that the tickets were being scalped for ten thousand each, Manager Wu was stunned.

"Hello? Old Wu! Don't play stupid with me! Hurry up; I'm coming to the hotel to pick them up—at least ten!" She hung up.

Before he could react, the phone rang again. It was Director Wang from the Bureau of Industry and Commerce. Wu quickly pushed aside the baffling ticket issue and put on his most obsequious tone. "Director Wang, hello! This is Little Wu from Fortune & Glory. How can I be of service?"

He knew the drill: when a leader calls, it’s not for idle chatter. You had to anticipate their needs, make them feel valued, and never let them have to ask twice.

Director Wang chuckled. "Little Wu, that’s why I always tell people your hotel has the best service in the city. I think we’ll just host all our Bureau meetings at your place from now on."

"Thank you for your trust, Director Wang! We will certainly ensure everything is perfect. What can we do for you today?"

"Nothing major. I heard about this lecture. A few of my relatives' children are interested. Can you get me five tickets?" Director Wang said casually.

Manager Wu felt his head spinning. Why was everyone asking for this? He didn't dare say no. "O-of course, no problem."

"Good! I'll have my wife come by to pick them up."

After the call, Manager Wu was in a state of panic. Before he could think of a strategy, the phone rang again. It was the Deputy Director of the Tax Bureau, asking for ten. Then came calls from the Municipal Government office, the Development and Reform Commission, and the Civil Affairs Bureau.

After a dozen calls from people he couldn't afford to offend, Wu realized he had promised away nearly a hundred tickets. He turned his phone off, terrified of more calls.

"How is this lecture suddenly so popular?" He wiped beads of sweat from his forehead with shaking hands. The arrogance he had displayed when throwing the tickets at Huo Qitai earlier had vanished, replaced by pure, cold dread.

"Where am I supposed to get a hundred tickets now? If only I had accepted them earlier!"

He stood up, intending to find Huo Qitai and apologize to get those tickets back, but before he could reach the door, a commotion erupted outside. Staff members were storming his office, furious.

"Call Wu Liangxing out! Who gave him the right to reject the tickets the young mistress gave us?"

"Exactly! He doesn't represent us! Those were our benefits! Make him come out!"

Chef Zhou Fuqiang, still wielding a kitchen knife, led the charge. The employees had found out that the young mistress, Chang Lu, had given those tickets to Huo Qitai specifically for the staff.

"You arrogant fool, how dare you reject a benefit that everyone else is dying for?"

The staff’s anger turned into a firestorm directed at Manager Wu. Even his own subordinates in the marketing office started complaining. "Manager, you shouldn't have turned them down. They were free!"

Another employee added fuel to the fire: "Even if he had kept them, he probably would have just used them to kiss up to officials! We heard him on the phone—five for Director Wang, ten for the Tax Bureau deputy... he was already planning to give them away!"

The employees surrounded him. "You dared to use our tickets to curry favor with officials? Give them back!"

Wu Liangxing felt like he was going to die. He had only been following his wife's instructions to humiliate Huo Qitai and undermine Chang Lu. He never expected to hit such a hard wall. He was trapped between the angry staff and the high-ranking officials he had promised tickets to.

"Stop! Please, stop! I... I'll go beg the young mistress and that student, Huo Qitai, for the tickets, okay?"

He pushed through the crowd, desperate. If he didn't get those tickets, he was finished.

Meanwhile, Huo Qitai was in the buffet restaurant, having lunch with the Xue father and son and Chang Lu.

Chang Lu looked at Huo Qitai with pained, teary eyes. "Qitai, I’m so sorry. I couldn't handle the internal politics, and I let that manager treat you so poorly. I heard he threw those tickets on the floor. It’s my fault—I couldn't even protect you in my own family’s hotel."

"Oh, Miss Chang, don't cry!" Xue Xiaoshan boasted. "Can't you see? Brother Tai set a trap for that old dog! He let him act arrogant so he’d get caught in this exact situation. Just wait—that old dog will be here begging us soon. Pretty clever, right?"

Chang Lu shook her head, thinking he was just comforting her. "It’s impossible. That manager is related to my stepmother’s family. He would never bow to us."

No sooner had she spoken than Wu Liangxing came running into the restaurant, drenched in sweat, his face pale. "Ah! Student Huo! I finally found you..."