Courir partout et jouer des rôles mineurs

Chapitre 55

Daliushu Village

The little wine connoisseur's vegetable cutter opened the food box and placed the two dishes and soup, meticulously prepared by the chef, on the table in the small inner room. Suddenly, five or six people crammed into the tiny cubicle, leaving no room to even step. Nodding, he squeezed through the space made by the standing group, chests puffed out and stomachs tucked in, pressed against the wall. Only when he reached the outside of the cubicle did he feel the spaciousness of the room. Taking a deep breath, he noticed Mu Mu's strange gaze, chuckled awkwardly, and then, remembering the chef's instructions, quickly turned back and asked:

"The master is asking you what you want to eat tomorrow."

Shang Lin picked up his chopsticks, pondering where to begin separating the Osmanthus Duck from the plate. Hearing this, he looked up and thought for a moment: "Anything is fine, just remember to add an extra dish starting tomorrow. Hmm, that's a bit too extravagant. From now on, we'll only eat vegetables. We've lost all the money we've earned, so what's the point of talking about chicken, duck, fish, and meat?"

The vegetable cutter's pimples twitched nervously a few times. Extravagant? If you think it's extravagant, then don't order restaurant food. There are plenty of food stalls in the shopping mall; rice, braised pork, you can fill your stomach for just one yuan. You painstakingly order from a restaurant and then complain it's too extravagant… I think it's extravagant for a chef to prepare two dishes and a soup for you. Who can you complain to?

With a belly full of complaints, she picked up the food box and walked away. She was thinking about how to tell the boss what Brother Wu had instructed—that those who went should eat on their own and put it on his tab afterward… She didn’t know how she ended up with these good-for-nothing guys.

Qiu Shanglin had no desire to get to know Brother Wu, Brother Hu, or Brother Liu. It wasn't that he looked down on them for being idle, but rather that he disliked their attempts to seduce Li Changsheng—not only did they fail to seduce him, but they also dared to follow him to his door and stubbornly refuse to leave.

"Never underestimate a young man's potential," she always believed, but now she was breaking that principle. She sat there, fiddling with the osmanthus duck with her chopsticks, showing no intention of inviting the guests to sit down.

The cubicle was barely enough to make room for employees to rest and store their belongings. It was already a struggle for the three of them to sit down. As for those who came uninvited... sorry, you'll have to stand for a while.

Li Changsheng felt absolutely no remorse or embarrassment. He came to eat, and someone insisted on following him around. Since he couldn't get rid of them, he shouldn't expect any more politeness from him.

As for Qiu Xialin... God help him, he still has a lot of complaints but nowhere to vent them.

The farce just now, at the cost of a 20% discount, made the mother beam with joy. Although the tantrum-throwing son was awkward, he sincerely apologized to Qiu Shanglin for his uncivilized language—not to Qiu Xialin.

As for Qiu Xia Lin, for the first time ever, he apologized to the other party with a sense of grievance—under the heavy pressure of being both the owner of Qiu Shang Lin and the creditor.

He hasn't said those three words in a long time... Why should I? My family is rich and powerful, my mother dotes on me, my friends listen to me, but I have to apologize to someone who is nothing and only throws tantrums at innocent people?

He was indignant.

Shanglin sighed, because you will become like him in the future. If I don't take care of you and let you do as you please, you will be even worse than him, more despised, and more likely to bully others.

Li Changsheng had wanted to speak out against the injustice, but fell silent upon hearing this.

Xia Lin was initially unconvinced, thinking, "I would never become such a rotten person!" But she was gradually defeated by Shang Lin's mocking gaze. "Would I? Would I really?"

No one paid him any attention, and Wu Ge lost face, his expression gradually turning ugly. Xia He stood on the far side, his heart pounding, wishing he could kick Li Changsheng, who was sitting and gnawing on a duck carcass. "Stop eating, you bastard! Wu Ge even skipped the banquet to come all this way for you, and you're just ignoring him like this?"

Li Changsheng was completely oblivious, licking his oily fingers and complaining as usual, "It's too sweet, next time I'll make spicy stir-fried duck." As he spoke, he grabbed a duck wing.

Wu Ge chuckled, his expression gradually turning cold. Since the other party had made it clear that they were not welcome, he wasn't one to cling on shamelessly. He turned and left without bothering to say a few polite words.

Xia He stamped his feet in frustration. "It's all over! This feud is definitely set in stone!" He looked at Li Changsheng, then at Wu Ge, hesitating.

As Shang Lin walked out of the cubicle, he said slowly, "Thank you for your kind offer, Brother Wu. Today, Little Wine Immortal's dinner is on me. You can order whatever you like, and it will be on my tab."

Wu Ge paused for a moment, then turned around to examine her expression, trying to discern whether it was true or false.

Qiu Shanglin's actions could deceive most people, but not those with ulterior motives. He painstakingly planned to make a name for himself in Zifang Town, and he put a lot of effort into winning over the 'children' who seemed useless to outsiders—little did he know that in the future, it would be these 'children' who would help him take control of half of Zifang Town.

Intending to gather information about Li Changsheng, he naturally wouldn't overlook Qiu Shanglin. After several inquiries, he knew that this woman was no ordinary person and didn't treat her like a child. Today, after seeing her in person, he felt even more that she was tactful and meticulous in her actions.

With her current wealth and connections, she has absolutely no reason to care about him. The reason he didn't explode on the spot was because he knew his own limitations; under the auspices of the booming Mocha Cat Company, he was nothing more than an insignificant shrimp. Her ignoring or even despising him was perfectly normal.

The expected embarrassment was palpable, and he left feeling humiliated. But then she said she would treat him to a meal—meaning that Qiu Shanglin hadn't completely ignored him; instead, she had given him face and a way out.

Angkor couldn't quite describe the turmoil in his heart at that moment, so he simply nodded and responded.

Since others have given him face, he should heed their words and appreciate their wisdom: "Chang Sheng, study hard."

Li Changsheng looked up in puzzlement, still chewing on duck meat.

What does it matter to you whether I study or not? Besides, with Qiu Shanglin around, I can still get top marks in exams even if I don't study... Unbeknownst to him, Shanglin and Wu Ge reached an agreement.

From then on, Angkor never tried to bribe Li Changsheng again.

Spring in the north is always short. Often, people are still wearing thick sweaters in May and June, but then one day a warm wind blows and people on the street are all wearing summer clothes.

As the new sales clerk sorted through the spring clothes and hung them side by side next to the winter clothes, she asked curiously, "Manager, when I worked in other stores, very few people bought spring clothes. Why are we making so many spring clothes?"

Mumu, oh, now she's been promoted to store manager of the Huaiqiao City flagship store, and she exudes a certain authority: "Because we are different from generic brands."

The young shop assistant stuck out his tongue, "Of course it's different."

Mocha Cat's clothing has long been a well-known brand in China, and I heard that their headquarters is currently discussing export matters. Naturally, it's different from those no-name brands.

I glanced at the pedestrians on the street and sighed, "It's already April, and it's still so cold. My mom said there's a cold snap in spring, and the wheat at home is probably going to suffer."

There were no customers in the shop, and Mumu wasn't very strict, so she casually asked, "Where are you from?"

“Huaiyin City East Daliushu Village”

Mu Mu pondered for a moment: "It's very close to the head office."

The young shop assistant thought of the magnificent headquarters building and dreamed, "It'll only take twenty minutes by bicycle."

While chatting, I recalled my parents' conversation when I went home for vacation last week, and casually said, "Last year, Xinglong Food Company bought a piece of land in our village to build a factory. I heard they're going to expand the factory this year. My dad went to inquire and found out that they're offering a lot of money per acre. It's a pity that our land is far away and not next to the road, so we can't sell it. Otherwise, if we sold the land, my brother could work at the factory."

Mu Mu paused, stunned. "Daliushu Village." She suddenly remembered the rumors she'd heard at the head office's annual meeting.

"Isn't Xinglong Food Corporation located in Zifang Town? How come they bought land and built a factory there?" Another shop assistant joined in the conversation.

Speaking of this, the young shop assistant said mysteriously, "It's just a rumor. It's true that the head of Xinglong is from Zifang Town, and he's been feeding the town's leaders quite well over the years. For example, Zifang Town has developed quite a few restaurants, gas stations, and hotels just to serve the merchants coming and going to pick up goods. But people are never satisfied, you know. They say the newly appointed town mayor wants to squeeze more money out of them, but Xinglong is a private company, not a charity, so naturally they won't allow it. That's why they want to set up their factory in our village. They also said they bought land next to our headquarters, but I don't know why it's sitting idle. If we're talking about convenience, the headquarters area is still better. I don't know what Xinglong is thinking; maybe they think building a factory next to our building doesn't look good?"

The city of Huaiqiao in Province C in 1992 was very different from two years earlier. High-rise buildings of five stories or more had sprung up, various grocery stores had replaced the authoritative department stores, more people had spare money to eat out, and the government had built a garden square. Every evening, old men and women would bring their stools to sit and chat.

Xinglong Ice Cream Factory has officially changed its name to Xinglong Food Company, and has become a large company integrating high, medium and low-end ice cream, cream-based pastries and snack biscuits. It is now vastly different from when it first built two processing plants.

Mocha Cat's advertisements have changed several times, each time attracting widespread attention. In recent years, the company has focused on the education of students in impoverished areas of China, and many impoverished students receive assistance from Mocha Cat every year. From stationery and children's clothing to apparel for boys and girls, and most recently, high-end and mid-range adult clothing, Mocha Cat has become a trendsetter in the domestic apparel industry.

Based on the initial land, two more plots of land were purchased near Huaiyin District. The three plots were neither too big nor too small, and were adjacent to each other. Two of the buildings were rented out as office buildings. Due to their luxurious decorations, and the fact that the roads in Huaiyin District have been well-maintained in recent years, many companies have rented them out as offices because of the low prices.

When I went to a meeting at headquarters, I heard from well-informed people in other provinces that the company planned to buy land around Huaiyin District to build a branch factory. Many people questioned this, believing that Huaiyin District lacked significant development prospects. Not only in this province, but Mocha Cat had already started using half of its profits to expand production and the other half to buy property two years ago. While others choose prime locations for their property purchases, Mocha Cat always seems to be in places considered remote by several provinces and cities.

Although the company's development over the past few years has proven that its decisions were not too wrong and the land prices have only increased, there has not been a large surplus.

Mu Mu asked Yang Hai several times, but he only knew about the decision made by the higher-ups, and even the internal employees didn't know much about it. However, Mu Mu could clearly see that his facial expression was full of pride and confidence in the company's decision—or rather, he had full confidence in Qiu Shanglin.

She gave an instruction to the shop assistant, then took the heavy winter clothes she had changed out of to the warehouse to put away. Unbeknownst to her, after she left, the shop assistants gathered together, chattering: "Did you hear? The shop manager is being transferred to the head office!"

"Impossible, right? The head office's employees are at least vocational school or high school graduates. Didn't they say they'd only hire college graduates these past two years? The store manager only seems to have a junior high school diploma, doesn't he?" someone questioned.

The other person wrinkled their nose, disliking any questioning: "The store manager climbed up from the lower branches step by step, doesn't she have more experience than a college graduate? Besides, it's said that she and the company's CEO have been friends since childhood... That's what the people in the head office's accounting department said."

One of the more knowledgeable people scoffed, "What branch? It's the flagship store in Zifang Town!" He surveyed the crowd, exuding an air of aloofness, "If you don't know, don't talk nonsense. Who doesn't know that the boutique in Zifang Town is our company's first flagship store? Otherwise, why wouldn't the headquarters have closed it down despite its lower annual profits? And why would several store managers have to be sent there for training before taking office?"

"Bullshit! Zifang Town specializes in stationery, not clothing."

The other party chuckled coldly: "Don't you understand? The clothes in Zifang Town are much cheaper than in our store—it's said that the boss is from Zifang Town and deliberately doesn't put up a clothing store sign to benefit his neighbors, but he's also afraid it might be unreasonable!"

Shanglin pushed open the shop door and turned around to say, "Not everyone is magnanimous enough to tolerate others. You should be glad that Mr. Li only served tea and saw you off instead of picking up a broom and kicking you out."

Gu Zhiyuan was already in puberty, with a hoarse voice and a few pimples on his face, but compared to other kids with severe acne, he was still quite clean-cut. Hearing this, she retorted, "I didn't say I'd buy it, I just said I'd look. He's just eccentric and doesn't tolerate others."

Shang Lin chuckled: "I don't know if others don't know you? Your eyes betrayed your heart—Mr. Li said that the way you looked at that inkstone was like a wolf seeing lamb, making people tremble with fear."

"Grandpa's birthday is coming up soon, and I want to give him a nice gift."

He chuckled and said, "You didn't tell me you wanted to buy it, you only said you wanted to look at it!"

Gu Zhiyuan's fair face flushed slightly. After she had pointed it out, he also felt that what he had done was not very ethical.

Gu Cheng was promoted to Party Secretary of Province C during the leadership reshuffle at the beginning of this year, becoming the de facto top leader. With the reform wave intensifying and economic development becoming increasingly urgent, Gu Cheng was determined to make a name for himself and pave the way for a future move to the central government.

Qiu Shanglin and Gu Zhiyuan have known each other for nearly three years and have kept in touch. For some reason, she has never accepted Gu Zhiyuan's invitation to visit his home. However, everyone in the Gu family knows that Gu Zhiyuan has a very remarkable child whom he gets along with very well.

It happened to be the weekend, and she finally accepted Gu Zhiyuan's invitation to visit his home.