In my line of sight, Fangyuan and Milan simultaneously walked out from the main entrance of Zhuomei Shopping Center. I instinctively frowned, but soon noticed that following closely behind them were several other senior executives from Zhuomei. It was merely a visual illusion that made Fangyuan and Milan seem so close; actually, there was a distance of at least two people between them.
I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Jian Wei, saying, “There’s no need to be so sensitive. Judging from their appearance, they must have just finished a senior management meeting.”
Jian Wei looked out the window again, remaining silent for a while. Then she glanced at her watch, seemingly growing impatient. At this moment, someone finally knocked on the door of our private room. After we signaled permission, the waiter led Scar-faced Man and several other bald men wearing thick necklaces into the room.
Scar-faced Man was no longer as arrogant as he had been that day. He offered me a cigarette and apologized for his previous behavior. I was too lazy to deal with him, so I directly threw the bag Jian Wei had brought onto the table and said to him, “You can count it.”
Scar-faced Man immediately opened the bag, spreading the money out on the table, and began checking the bundles one by one. After finishing the count, he took two bundles and placed them in front of Xiao Yun, then said to me, “Brother, these twenty thousand are compensation for the damage I caused to your flower shop. We might be rough guys, but we do understand reason. We will pay what’s due and won’t cause trouble unnecessarily… but this debt has been overdue for far too long!”
I smiled at him and said, “Money is lifeless, but people are alive. As long as you’re still around, you won’t worry about getting your money back, right? If you had really taken us out that day, there’s no way you’d be getting this money today!”
“Sorry, brother… I was just too angry back then. After all, there are many brothers who rely on me for their livelihood. Although we operate in the shadows, we still have to make a living, right!” After a pause, he continued, “How about this: if you have time, let’s go out for a drink. Let me apologize to you, and we can forget about the previous incident. If you don’t mind, I’d like to befriend you, brother.”
I already understood in my heart that Scar-faced Man might have investigated my and Jian Wei’s identities, especially Jian Wei, who must have intimidated him greatly. Even if he hadn’t investigated, anyone who could casually stuff 350,000 yuan into a handbag worth just several thousand yuan wouldn’t be an ordinary person. Since this man is an experienced figure in society, he definitely has the discernment to realize this.
I considered for a moment and said to him, “There’s no need for us to become friends. I just ask that after you receive this money, you leave Xiao Yun alone in the future. I believe you’re a reasonable and fair person. Please give us a written confirmation that the account is settled, and we can consider this matter resolved. Let me be honest with you—we are people who fear trouble and would rather avoid it if possible, okay?”
Scar-faced Man immediately wrote out a receipt and handed it to Xiao Yun. When he left, he didn’t even take back the bag that had belonged to Jian Wei, instead using his own suitcase to carry away the money. Finally, I breathed a sigh of relief, at least judging from Scar-faced Man’s behavior today, he wouldn’t bother Xiao Yun again after receiving the money. As for the rest, we could leave it to the police to handle after some time had passed.
After drinking a cup of tea, Jian Wei said to me, “This matter has been resolved. I have another banquet to attend, so I’ll leave first. Later, you can send Xiao Yun back.”
Suddenly remembering something, I called out to her just as she was about to turn around and leave, asking, “How much advertising resources does your Simai Advertising currently control in Suzhou?”
“Why are you asking this all of a sudden?”
“I just want to know.”
Jian Wei thought for a moment and replied, “We can definitely run an intensive city-wide advertising campaign in Suzhou. The coverage rate can reach 100%, and the effective dissemination rate can reach 70%.”
I sincerely exclaimed, “Impressive!”
“Anything else? If not, I need to leave now because I’m short on time.”
“Yeah, go ahead. Be careful on your way.”
Jian Wei nodded and left the teahouse. However, I now had a plan in mind. As long as I could leverage Jian Wei’s strong advertising resources and develop an excellent sales strategy, it would be possible for Zhuomei to achieve twice the turnover of Baoli Department Store during the Christmas period. In fact, there was no need to limit our thinking to just Christmas. We could utilize these powerful advertising resources to create a long-term cooperation plan, thereby maintaining a decisive advantage over Baoli Department Store in our ongoing competition.
…
It was already deep into the night when I dropped Xiao Yun off at her flower shop. I didn’t leave immediately but helped her tidy up the shop that had been destroyed a couple of days ago. It took nearly two hours to restore some order to the store. Even so, the smell of gasoline had not completely dissipated from the air.
I pulled Xiao Yun outside the store and handed her the twenty thousand yuan left by Scar-faced Man, saying, “Xiao Yun, the flowers you had before definitely can’t be sold anymore. Take this money to buy some new stock. Also, I suggest you expand your sales channels. Relying solely on physical sales won’t work. You should leverage the advantage of having real inventory at your physical store and develop an online sales platform to continuously grow your flower business.”
Xiao Yun communicated with me by typing on her phone: “An online sales platform? I don’t really understand it!”
I thought for a moment and said to her, “I’ll find someone to teach you…”
Xiao Yun nodded but refused to accept the twenty thousand yuan I handed to her. I insisted and pushed it into her hands again, telling her that this money was the start-up capital for establishing the online sales platform. I added that once she made money, she would have to share some profits with me. Only then did she accept the twenty thousand yuan with deep gratitude.
Before leaving the flower shop with Xiao Yun, I also called Tongzi, who was overseas. I knew his life as an international student was far too easy, and he happened to be very knowledgeable about computer operations. Previously, when we were in Xitang, he had also been in charge of online sales for the guesthouse. Therefore, he was the most suitable person to teach Xiao Yun how to build an online sales platform.
Tongzi has always had a nearly blind admiration for me. After I assigned him this task, he readily agreed without hesitation. I told him the basic details about Xiao Yun and also gave him her contact information, asking him to maintain text communication with her. Upon learning that Xiao Yun couldn’t speak, he felt deep sympathy and solemnly promised me over the phone that he would definitely help her build the most unique online sales platform.
…
The night grew darker. Xiao Yun and I walked along that quiet alley. As she walked, she kept pressing the screen of her phone, then grabbed my arm and showed me the message she had typed: “Zhao Yang Ge, is Jian Wei Jie the woman you send flowers to every day?”
I was somewhat surprised and finally replied to her after a while, “Of course not. The flowers I ordered were all sent to the United States. If she were the one, how could she have returned so quickly? First of all, the timing just doesn’t add up!”
Xiao Yun looked disappointed. She typed another line on her phone and showed it to me: “It’s hard to imagine that such a beautiful woman is willing to stand by you through life and death, yet she isn’t your girlfriend… I’m really curious, what is your real girlfriend like?”
I looked at her somewhat dazedly and for a moment didn’t know how to respond… but at that moment, Jian Wei’s face became increasingly clear in my mind, which then brought back waves of unforgettable memories. Actually, when I tried to recall, I really couldn’t remember how I had managed to get over my past with Jian Wei and fall in love with Mi Cai!
Perhaps, the deeper the pain, the less capable I am of touching that past again… I still clearly remember the scene at Fangyuan and Yan Yan’s wedding when Xiang Chen confessed his love to her. It was on that very day that, drunk and dizzy, I watched the cityscape peel away from my heart… the pain was so unbearable that I wanted to bury myself forever in the bottomless moat surrounding the city. It was also on that day that Mi Cai, with her kindness, stayed by the city moat to take care of me, enduring my unreasonable behavior and giving me shelter…
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