Does this mean you rejected 8 times to go out for a meal ?

If yes, then IMHO you need to do some reflecting as well. It's just lunch (meaning still need to come back to office) unlike dinner + drinks etc which can really drag till early morning sometimes.

I think what your Director is hinting is that they can pay more if you add more scope.

Since they mentioned it, brush up on your email skills (there's AI nowadays) so you can immediately show that you took their feedback seriously and 1 less thing for them to micromanage you about. Then keep up the "improvement" momentum and start asking for more to do every few weeks. Many office jobs can be automated, but just show the results without blabing about clever you are in using the computer. Make yourself the person that the boss can turn to get things done.

That's how you get a promotion.