After Wang Yi sat down, his mind slowly cleared. Looking at the document in his hand, he knew that Zhuang Rui's appointment as manager was a done deal, and he couldn't change it.
However, Wang Yiding is different from Lai Jingdong. He's doing quite well in this industry, and he could easily make a living in a pawnshop or auction house. He doesn't value this job as much as Lai Jingdong does, so his attitude towards Zhuang Rui remains the same as before; he doesn't treat Zhuang Rui as a manager.
Zhuang Rui's eyebrows twitched slightly upon hearing this, then he smiled and said, "I originally wanted Appraiser Wang and Appraiser Lai to jointly handle the various tasks related to the cooperation with the auction house. However, if Appraiser Wang feels he is already too busy, then I think we can let Appraiser Lai handle it alone..."
"Wait, Zhuang Rui, aren't all the matters concerning the cooperation with the auction house handled by Uncle De? What does this have to do with us? What's going on here?"
Before Zhuang Rui could finish speaking, Wang Yiding interrupted him. Cooperating with auction houses under the name of a pawnshop was incredibly lucrative. Not to mention, the few questionable items Wang Yiding had privately acquired could not only recoup his losses but also potentially make a small profit if they went through the auction house's channels. Hearing Zhuang Rui's words, regardless of their truthfulness, he had to interrupt him. Otherwise, if Lai Jingdong were really put in charge of this, he would regret it.
Zhuang Rui ignored Wang Yiding's rudeness, repeated what he had just said to Lai Jingdong, and then looked at Wang Yiding and said, "Appraiser Wang is the backbone of our pawnshop. If you really don't have the energy to take care of this, let Appraiser Lai negotiate with the auction house. His workload is less, so he is the right person to go. What do you think?"
“No, this is not appropriate. Although Lao Lai doesn’t have much to do usually, the items that our pawnshop needs to auction, besides the antiques that Uncle De is in charge of, are the luxury goods that I handle. But Lao Lai is not familiar with these. If he says something inappropriate at the auction, wouldn’t people laugh at our pawnshop? Manager Zhuang, how about this, I’ll take on this task as well.”
After a rapid mental calculation, Wang Yiding uttered the words above. Indeed, after Zhuang Rui became the manager, he could resign and wouldn't have trouble finding another job. However, even if he changed jobs, he would have to start from scratch. It was impossible for him to be able to take charge on his own right away. Therefore, seizing the opportunity at hand was naturally much better than changing environments and starting over. Hence, his way of addressing Zhuang Rui changed accordingly.
"Old Wang, you're making baseless accusations! It's not like I haven't studied how to authenticate luxury goods..."
"You've learned quite a bit. In the past year or so, how many items have you managed to acquire?"
These two, both somewhat bookish, actually started arguing in front of everyone, which made Zhuang Rui secretly chuckle.
Chapter 150 Canceling
"Uncle De, you are indeed as sharp as ever in your old age. This idea is truly brilliant."
Sitting in his office, Zhuang Rui made tea for Uncle De while giving him a thumbs up.
It was already late afternoon. Thinking back to the argument between Lai Jingdong and Wang Yiding that morning, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but laugh. These two, who usually seemed shrewd, actually argued fiercely in front of everyone over the title of person in charge. In the end, it was Uncle De who stepped in and calmed them down.
After some discussion, the group reached a consensus: the two of them would jointly be responsible for the cooperation between the pawnshop and the auction house. However, whoever was involved in the auction would be responsible for negotiating the project. In this way, Lai Jingdong was unable to extend his reach into the area that Wang Yiding was in charge of, and Wang Yiding was unable to take overall control of the project. The two of them checked and balanced each other, which was the best outcome for Zhuang Rui.
At noon, Zhuang Rui treated all the employees of the pawnshop to a meal at a decent restaurant. The meal cost Zhuang Rui over two thousand yuan. However, Lai Jingdong and Wang Yiding looked at Zhuang Rui with a slightly different gaze. They seemed to sense that this young man, who used to attract little attention, now carried the air of someone in a superior position. In particular, Zhuang Rui's Grand Cherokee made the two of them uneasy, wondering who Zhuang Rui really was.
Regardless of what the two were thinking, they outwardly acknowledged Manager Zhuang Rui's identity. As for the cashier Xu Ling and another salesperson, they addressed him as Manager Zhuang.
"Two bookworms who only know how to read books. It's only because I, Uncle De, am being kind. If it were anyone else, I would probably sell them out and even help them count the money. But Xiao Zhuang, Lai Jingdong is easy to deal with, but Wang is definitely a bit cunning. I bet he won't be happy after he realizes what's going on and will probably try to trip you up a bit. Be careful."
Uncle De was quite pleased with Zhuang Rui's compliments. He sipped the tea Zhuang Rui had brewed with his eyes half-closed, tapping his right hand on his leg and humming Peking Opera tunes that Zhuang Rui couldn't understand. His nonchalant expression made Zhuang Rui extremely envious.
"Don't worry, Uncle De. You've paved the way for me to get started. If I still can't establish myself in this pawnshop, I might as well quit now and go home to start a small business."
Zhuang Rui answered confidently.
"Alright, take a good look at the documents I brought. Most of the items recorded in them are in the bank's safe deposit box. When you have time tomorrow—no, tomorrow's Saturday, I've arranged to have tea with you. You've just returned to Zhonghai, so take a couple of days off. Hmm, let those two do the work here. We need to give young people a chance to shine. How about this, on Monday, I'll take you to the bank to inventory the treasures in our pawnshop. Then my task will be complete."
Hearing Uncle De's words, Zhuang Rui couldn't help but laugh. Lai Jingdong and Wang Yiding were both five or six years older than him. If they were young people, then what was he? A minor?
After giving Zhuang Rui his instructions, Uncle De made an excuse that young people don't need tea to stay awake, and took Zhuang Rui's tea set back to his office, saying that he would borrow it for a few days and use it to entertain friends, which would definitely be a prestigious thing.
Around noon, Zhuang Rui took some time to drive Bai Shi home. He was having dinner with guests that evening, and it wouldn't be appropriate to bring the little guy along, mainly because Bai Shi was growing too fast. A typical two-month-old puppy wasn't even a third the size of Bai Shi.
After tidying up the coffee table, Zhuang Rui sat down in the executive chair and casually opened the documents Uncle De had brought over. The chair was indeed comfortable; he sank deep into it, and Zhuang Rui even felt a desire to sleep.
"Looks like I'm not destined to enjoy a life of luxury."
Zhuang Rui smiled wryly, took the documents, and sat down on the sofa by the coffee table. He began to carefully read through them. The documents were very detailed, containing all the unclaimed items collected since the pawnshop was established, along with photos taken from multiple angles. This was a good opportunity to learn, and Zhuang Rui was captivated after reading a few pages.
"Manager Zhuang, it's time to leave work, aren't you leaving yet?"
As darkness fell outside, the cashier pushed open Zhuang Rui's office door, and Xu Ling tiptoed in.
"Huh? What time is it now?"
Zhuang Rui was taken aback by what he heard. He looked at the clock on the wall and realized it was almost eight o'clock. Zhuang Rui was starting to feel hungry. He closed the file in his hand and stood up.
"By the way, why haven't you left yet?"
Looking at Xu Ling standing at the door, Zhuang Rui asked curiously, "The pawnshop has security guards on duty at night, so Xu Ling doesn't need to stay to close the door. According to this girl's habits, she would probably be long gone by now."
Xu Ling hesitated for a moment before saying, "Manager Zhuang... I wanted to invite you to dinner. What happened last time was all my fault. I'd like to invite you to dinner as an apology."
"Have a meal?"
Zhuang Rui, who was tidying up the scattered documents and placing them on the table, paused for a moment, turned around and looked at Xu Ling, and said, "That matter is over, so there's no need to bring it up again. Besides, even if you had been there that day, the outcome might have been worse. It's not bad now. The company leaders made me the manager as a reward, so I should thank you."
Seeing that his joke hadn't made Xu Ling laugh, Zhuang Rui continued, "We've known each other for over a year now, so you should know me. I'm not the kind of person who holds grudges. It's fine if you treat me to a meal; we just had lunch together. Next time, I'll treat everyone and we'll go to karaoke."
As Zhuang Rui spoke, he felt uneasy, as if he had forgotten something, but he couldn't remember it. He shook his head, picked up the leather handbag that Wei Ge had given him from the executive desk, and prepared to go downstairs to drive home.
"But Manager Zhuang, it's lunchtime now."
Xu Ling doesn't seem to have given up and is still making efforts.
"Dinner time? Right, damn it, how could I forget about that?"
Zhuang Rui suddenly remembered that he was also inviting someone to dinner that night, and the appointment was supposed to be around 5 p.m. when he got off work. It was already 7 p.m., and he wondered why Officer Miao hadn't called.
Zhuang Rui opened his handbag and took out his phone. Upon looking at it, he couldn't help but groan. There were thirty-eight missed calls, thirty-five of which were from the same number, and the other three were from his boss. During the meeting that morning, Zhuang Rui had set his phone to automatic and had forgotten to change it back. He figured he was going to offend Officer Miao terribly now.
This was the first time in Zhuang Rui's life that a girl had ever invited him out. He never expected to stand her up. If Wei Ge found out, he'd probably give Zhuang Rui a thumbs up first, then beat him up. After all, his driver's license was still in the policewoman's hands. It wasn't a big deal that Zhuang Rui offended her, but if Officer Miao was unhappy and suspended his license for a year or two, Wei Ge would be devastated.
"Xiao Xu, I really can't make it today. I completely forgot about dinner until you mentioned it. I had plans with a friend tonight, but I've already broken them. I'm sorry, I have to go now."
Zhuang Rui didn't have time to say anything more to Xu Ling. Seeing her retreat to the door, he walked out himself, locked the manager's office door behind him, hurried downstairs, got into his car, and didn't care about the disappointed look on Xu Ling's face behind him.
Little did Zhuang Rui know that after Xu Ling learned that he had become a manager, his status changed to that of a promising prospect. And after seeing his Grand Cherokee today, in Xu Ling's mind, he immediately went from a promising prospect to a high-performing stock, which led to the scene of her inviting Zhuang Rui out just now. However, even if Zhuang Rui knew, he wouldn't give Xu Ling any special treatment; that kind of girl wasn't his type.
"Hey, Viagra."
Sitting in the car, Zhuang Rui thought for a moment and then dialed Yang Wei's number first.
"Youngest brother, I'm telling you, you have a cell phone but you're not answering calls. What do you need a cell phone for? I've called you several times, but no one answers. Where are you now?"
Before Zhuang Rui could finish speaking, Yang Wei started shouting.
"I was in a meeting today and my phone was on vibrate. Wei Ge, what do you want to talk to me about?"
Zhuang Rui asked tentatively, "Hearing Yang Wei's strong reaction, could it be that Officer Miao went to cause trouble for Brother Wei?"
"Nonsense, why would I contact you if there was nothing wrong? Didn't you want to buy a house? I took care of that for you today. Everything was settled, and all that's left is your ID card and your signature. I couldn't find you all day, so tell me, how anxious I was."
Yang Wei's voice came through the phone, which relieved Zhuang Rui. He asked, "Boss, is there anything else besides this? Did Officer Miao contact you today?"
"Officer Miao? You mean that female police officer with guns from yesterday? What does she want with me?"
Yang Wei asked back, somewhat puzzled.
"Didn't she contact you? How did she get my number?"
Zhuang Rui was also baffled.
"A phone call? Right, when I was half asleep this morning, I think someone called my cell phone and asked for your number. Could it be Officer Miao? What does she want?"
Upon hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Yang Wei vaguely recalled such a matter. However, these days one receives many inexplicable phone calls, and although he saw an unfamiliar number on his phone, he did not call back to inquire.
"It's alright. Are you staying at my place tonight? Are you on your way there? I'll talk to you when I get back."
Zhuang Rui was too lazy to explain over the phone. After hanging up, he dialed the unfamiliar number back, but no one answered after several attempts.
Chapter 151 The Follower
"Rat-a-tat... Rat-a-tat-tat... Die! Senior brother, there are bandits behind you, at a 60-degree angle. Alright, headshot..."
Gunshots and a girl's screams could be heard intermittently from a villa not far from Yang Wei's house. If the villa hadn't been well soundproofed, the security guards would probably have broken down the door long ago. Just by listening to the gunshots, one might think they were in Iraq.
"You surnamed Zhuang, when I catch you next time, I'll definitely teach you a lesson. You're making me so angry."
Miao Feifei gritted her teeth and used her AK47 to accurately blow the head off a bandit who peeked out from around the corner. She said viciously, but her appearance was too weak. Even if Zhuang Rui saw her, she probably wouldn't be very intimidating.
"Thank you, seniors. I'm all set. I'm logging off now. Let's play CS together another day."
Miao Feifei spoke into her headset and then exited the Counter-Strike game on her computer. The battle she had just fought had relieved a lot of her frustration, but she still harbored deep resentment towards Zhuang Rui. She was already plotting whether to use Yang Wei's traffic violation to make things difficult for Zhuang Rui. If Brother Wei knew that Miao Feifei had this idea, he would definitely sacrifice his friend for the greater good and hand Zhuang Rui over to Miao Feifei to do with as she pleased.
In fact, Miao Feifei has a very magnanimous personality and doesn't have the typical petty and dramatic traits of a typical woman. However, what happened today was simply too much for her to bear. After spending the whole day cooped up at home, Miao Feifei arrived at the intersection Zhuang Rui had mentioned around 5 PM and started dialing his cell phone. Unexpectedly, from around 5:30 PM until 6:30 PM, the phone kept saying, "The number you dialed is not answering, please try again later."
Artificial speech.
This wasn't the first time Miao Feifei had asked a man out, nor was it the first time she'd been rejected. Back in Beijing, she and her fellow detectives often gathered in small groups to sing karaoke or drive to places like Daxing for outings. However, the work of a detective was somewhat unique; when a case came in, they had to leave immediately, so it wasn't uncommon for her to break appointments.
However, this was the first time that someone had broken their promise without offering an explanation. After waiting for more than an hour, Miao Feifei was so angry that she didn't go anywhere. She turned around, drove home, and immediately called a group of her friends to play Counter-Strike with her for more than an hour before she could calm down.
Leaving her computer desk, Miao Feifei finally felt a bit hungry. She picked up her phone and checked the time, only to find three missed calls. She wasn't angry until she saw them, and the resentment of being stood up by Zhuang Rui resurfaced. "I called over thirty times and he didn't answer, while you only called three times and then stopped," Miao Feifei thought, feeling extremely unbalanced.
Leaving aside Miao Feifei's plans to torment Zhuang Rui in the future, Zhuang Rui was driving home. He ordered two takeout meals, knowing his boss would be staying at his place that night, and also ordered a case of beer and some braised dishes. Just as his car entered the residential area, before even reaching the garage, he received a call from Wei Ge.
"Youngest, I'm at your house, where...where are you? Come back quickly."
Viagra's voice sounded slightly trembling on the phone.
"I'm parking the car, I'll be upstairs soon. Boss, even if we have money, we can't waste it on phone calls like this. I'm hanging up, I'll be right up."
Zhuang Rui parked the car, hung up the phone, and carried the food upstairs. He knocked on the door for a long time, but no one answered. Zhuang Rui took out his key and opened the door. The house was brightly lit, and his eldest brother was sitting on the sofa. Zhuang Rui said with dissatisfaction, "Hey, Wei-ge, I'm carrying so much stuff, why didn't you open the door?"
"Damn it, buddy, you left this Tibetan Mastiff at home without telling me! I walked in and it pounced on me. If I hadn't been a good guy, I'd be dead already. Hurry, tell this guy to stop staring at me. I'm getting really scared..."
When Yang Wei saw Zhuang Rui enter, tears and snot streamed down his face. He had been terrified. The dog didn't bark when it saw someone enter the house; it just knocked Yang Wei to the ground. However, after sniffing him, it didn't bite him and instead let him go. But its eyes remained fixed on Yang Wei, which terrified Yang Wei so much that he sat on the sofa, too scared to move. He had been in this position for more than 10 minutes since he entered the house.
"White Lion, come here. Let me tell you, this is my buddy. Don't scare him anymore. He's a coward. Also, without my orders, you absolutely cannot bite anyone. Understand?"
As Zhuang Rui spoke, he started laughing. He knew that even a three-year-old child wouldn't understand what he was saying, let alone a three-month-old puppy. However, the white lion's reaction surprised both Zhuang Rui and Yang Wei.
No sooner had Zhuang Rui finished speaking than the white lion shook its head and darted over to Yang Wei's side, nuzzling its head against Yang Wei's pants in a show of affection. Yang Wei was probably stunned, and only after the white lion ran back to Zhuang Rui's side did he react, stumbling backward. He tripped and fell flat on his back on the sofa.
"Okay, no, don't come any closer. I'm going home to sleep right now. I'm scared of you."
Seeing the little white lion that seemed to want to come over and get affectionate with him, Wei Ge waved his hands repeatedly, looking helpless.
Not only Yang Wei was helpless, but Zhuang Rui was also having a headache with the white lion. This little guy... could no longer be called a little guy in terms of size. He was too clingy and wanted to follow him everywhere. It was fine in Pengcheng, where he was a little smaller, but it was no longer possible. Pets were prohibited from entering many places in Zhonghai. However, Zhuang Rui was reluctant to send the white lion to Liu Chuan's mastiff kennel. They had been inseparable for so long, which had created a very deep bond between the man and the dog.
"White Lion, come here."
Zhuang Rui went to the balcony, took out a small iron basin specially prepared for the white lion, poured the white porridge in his hand into it, which also contained some meat scraps. The little guy was also hungry, and before Zhuang Rui could call him, he began to wolf it down.
Back in the living room, Zhuang Rui saw the eldest brother setting out food and drinks on the coffee table. He opened a bottle of beer and handed it to Wei Ge to calm his nerves, as the eldest brother was always timid and he was probably really scared just now.
"Here you go. Sign the papers and transfer the money tomorrow, and the house will be yours. The third brother called today, and when I mentioned this, he cried and said he wanted to come back to Zhonghai to rip you off. I told the youngest brother, you're the first among us brothers to earn money and buy a house on your own merit."
After the two finished eating, Yang Wei took out several documents from his bag and placed them on the coffee table. He also took out a box of inkpads, which made Zhuang Rui feel a little embarrassed. He had made his eldest brother run around for him when he bought the house, and even brought the contract home to sign it. He felt that his years of college friendships had not been in vain.
"One million three hundred thousand".