Mei Cai looked across and her gaze met Yang Huaqing’s. She then saw a smile appear on Yang Huaqing’s face, proving that they knew each other.
Yang Huaqing approached us accompanied by several senior executives from Baoli, and said with a smile, “Ms. Mi, what an honor to have you here! Are you here to do market research for Baoli?”
Facing Yang Huaqing’s slightly provocative words, Mei Cai smiled in return and calmly replied, “Just here to buy some things.”
“It’s a great recognition for Baoli Department Store that Ms. Mi, the general manager of Zhuomei, would come shopping here!” Yang Huaqing continued smiling, and those behind him also laughed in agreement.
Mei Cai remained composed: “Baoli is quite good, the shopping environment is nice.”
“Really? Compared to your Zhuomei, we’re far behind. Otherwise, those middle-level managers from Baoli wouldn’t have resigned to join your team.”
As soon as Yang Huaqing finished speaking, Li Junren, the vice president who had conflicts with Chen Jingming before, added, “I heard that after Chen Jingming joined Zhuomei, he was even promoted to vice president. He used to be just a department manager at our department store. So it seems Zhuomei isn’t as insurmountable as imagined!”
Finally, Mei Cai frowned slightly but didn’t lose her temper. I, however, was already very annoyed at their back-and-forth showing off and took a step forward, standing in front of Mei Cai, and said to Yang Huaqing and Li Junren, “Do the two of you still remember me?… Probably not, after all, I was just a small figure, a minor staff member in the planning department at Baoli Department Store. But I’ve already resigned and now I’m just loafing around, living off my savings. According to your logic, Mr. Li, doesn’t that prove Baoli is even worse? After all, I’d rather be unemployed than stay at Baoli!”
Li Junren’s face immediately turned grim, while Yang Huaqing looked at me in surprise. These two very different reactions were because Li Junren recognized me, but Yang Huaqing really didn’t.
Before Li Junren could react, I continued addressing him, “Mr. Li, you’re in the retail industry and must have high professional qualities, so I think you’ll definitely agree with what I just said. After all, I’m now a customer at Baoli Department Store, and the customer is God, right? Although I’m a very civilized god, so just now I didn’t hit you, you grandson!”
Li Junren’s face turned pale, while Yang Huaqing signaled him to restrain himself in public. Li Junren endured it but still glared at me angrily before choosing to remain silent, while I just shrugged and smiled indifferently.
Yang Huaqing looked at me for a long time before finally speaking in a low voice, “I didn’t expect that Baoli Department Store once had such an eloquent employee. However, I think your departure isn’t a loss for the company.” Then he turned to Mei Cai and said, “Ms. Mi, I sincerely hope those middle-level managers we let go can shine at Zhuomei. I’m really looking forward to seeing the contributions they’ll make to Zhuomei!”
Mei Cai calmly replied, “Then I’ll take your words as a good omen.”
Yang Huaqing nodded with a smile and then walked past us with his group, while Mei Cai completely ignored their departure but kept looking at me.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
Mei Cai spoke softly: “Thank you for standing up for me.”
I smiled and said, “It’s nothing big, I just don’t like seeing others bullying you!”
Mei Cai didn’t say anything, but her expression was no longer as calm as before. She looked at me with a hint of tenderness.
I gently patted her shoulder and said, “Let’s hurry up and do our shopping. Later I still need to go to the bar to prepare for tomorrow night’s New Year’s Eve event.”
“Okay, I’ll go help you too.”
…
When we left Baoli Department Store, my hands were already full of shopping bags of all sizes, all of course bought by Mei Cai. This gave me a more intuitive understanding of her spending habits. In just a short while, she had already spent tens of thousands of yuan. If I hadn’t firmly stopped her from buying me gifts, the amount would probably have doubled.
After delivering the purchased items back to the old house, I went with Mei Cai to the bar, where we joined the waiters in preparing materials for the New Year’s Eve event.
It was almost evening when I and Mei Cai finally got a moment’s respite, sitting in a corner drinking something to quench our thirst.
I asked Mei Cai, “Are you tired?”
Mei Cai shook her head and suddenly seemed to remember something, saying, “Zhaoyang, was this warm marketing campaign for New Year’s Eve your idea?”
“No,” I replied briefly.
“This event is very well targeted. I just read those customers’ Weibo posts, and they’re all looking forward to New Year’s Eve, so the effect tomorrow night must be great.”
“I hope so.”
“Then can you tell me whose idea it was? It’s really quite good!”
I finally stopped hiding the truth, but still paused slightly before answering, “It was Jian Wei’s idea.”
This answer obviously caught Mei Cai off guard. She nodded after a long while, said “I see,” and then fell silent.
I understood that even though Mei Cai and I hadn’t yet embarked on the path of love, the name Jian Wei was still a taboo between us. I just didn’t know whether Jian Wei would come to help tomorrow night. I remembered her telling me that if things were busy on the event day, she would come.
…
The night grew darker. Mei Cai went outside to buy me dinner while I continued working busily, and before I knew it, I was thinking about the band. To prevent any mishaps, I needed to call Xiao Wu in advance to confirm whether the band could come tomorrow night.
I immediately dialed Xiao Wu’s number, and he answered quickly, “Hey, Zhaoyang, I was just about to call you!”
“What’s up?”
“The drummer for the band bought his train ticket today and has to go home for the New Year tomorrow…”
“No way!” I immediately felt uneasy. If it were the guitarist or keyboardist, I could find replacements, but if it were the drummer, I’d really be at a loss. Without a drummer, tomorrow’s event would definitely be a letdown.
But Xiao Wu laughed and said, “Don’t panic. I’ve already called AJi, and he’ll replace the drummer tomorrow night.”
“Aji? The one who runs the music shop?”
“Yeah, he’s fine. Before he played guitar, he was a drummer.”
My heart immediately calmed down, and I apologized to Xiao Wu saying, “I’m really sorry, making you miss being with your family on New Year’s Eve.”
“Don’t be like that if we’re brothers. Besides, it’s not just helping me; it’s helping the big shot Le. When she comes back to Suzhou next time, you have to make sure she properly treats our bandmates.”
“Absolutely no problem.”
…
Just after ending the call with Xiao Wu, Mei Cai returned to the bar carrying two takeout meals, opened the food containers and then called me to eat.
During the meal, Mei Cai asked me, “Have you confirmed with the band?”
“Yeah, confirmed, no problem… although tomorrow night will be a bit hard on you—you’ll have to sing a few more songs.”
“Who’s talking about hardship? I’m really happy to play with everyone!”
Looking at Mei Cai’s expectant expression, I became even more excited. I looked forward to her performance tomorrow night, the event achieving the expected effect, and most of all, having an unforgettable New Year’s Eve!
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