This was the last evening before Christmas, and I still habitually stood by the office window, sipping freshly brewed strong tea while waiting for night to fall upon the city.
The streets within my line of sight were already filled with Christmas atmosphere. The decorative lights on the Christmas trees flickered on and off, casting light onto passersby. Some people were dressed as Santa Claus, handing out small gifts or distributing flyers. The strong commercial atmosphere even overshadowed Christmas itself, and I could already sense the fierce battle that would come tomorrow.
The tea had cooled down, so I refilled it with hot water and continued drinking. After a while, I finally checked my watch. According to the previously arranged schedule, Leyao and Cao Jinfu should be approaching Suzhou by now, and the luxury minivan we dispatched to pick them up had already been on the road for over three hours.
Except for the wedding dress, which was prepared by themselves, the entire wedding ceremony for Leyao and Cao Jinfu had been fully planned and packaged by a top-tier wedding planning company in Shanghai, commissioned by our company. At this point, we had already completed all the preparations for the wedding.
It was already 5 PM when the team sent to pick up Leyao and Cao Jinfu finally sent news. Due to a serious traffic accident ahead, they were stuck on the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway and wouldn’t arrive in Suzhou anytime soon. My heart immediately sank. I gave them countless reminders to prioritize safety before ending the call with a heavy heart.
The sky gradually darkened, and the light snowfall continued without pause. Despite having lasted all day, it hadn’t accumulated on the ground, merely dampening it and causing pedestrians to slow their pace, walking carefully. This further enhanced the Christmas atmosphere, giving people more opportunities to meet on the streets and exchange Christmas greetings.
The phone was particularly busy this evening. I had lost count of how many times it had rung, but I still quickly pulled it from my pocket. However, this call was unexpected—it was from that red-clad woman.
I answered the call and greeted her first: “Good evening, General An… It’s been a while since we last talked. May I ask what brings you to call me?”
Her tone was serious: “I’ve already arrived in Suzhou and plan to closely follow this Christmas event at Zhuomei.”
I hadn’t expected her to come in person, which sufficiently showed her sincerity about investing in Zhuomei. I hurriedly said: “Where are you now? Have you eaten? Have you arranged accommodation? If needed, I can help you with that.”
The red-clad woman chuckled: “I’ve noticed that whenever something involves Mi Cai, your enthusiasm becomes a bit excessive. Is it really necessary to be this practical?”
I smiled apologetically: “General An, please don’t say that. Even if you came to Suzhou just for a visit, as long as you contacted me, I would still make sure everything is arranged properly for you.”
“I’ll believe you for now… I’m currently at the Seaview Café downstairs at Zhuomei. Come here.”
“Alright, I’ll be right there. Coincidentally, my company is hosting a dinner tonight for several partners. If you’re willing, you’re more than welcome to join us.”
“I’ll decide when I get there.”
…
After ending the call with the red-clad woman, I immediately drove toward Zhuomei. In fact, even without her call, I needed to inspect the venue that had already been set up. Moreover, I had agreed to meet Leyao and the others at Zhuomei later tonight. This night would inevitably gather countless people connected to Zhuomei. For us, it would be an all-nighter.
Traffic was not very good on the way. I kept stopping and starting, nearly taking half an hour to arrive at Zhuomei. By then, I couldn’t find a parking spot anywhere, even the underground parking lot of Zhuomei had already informed me there were no available spaces.
I spent another ten minutes driving to a more remote area, parked the car, and then ran all the way to the Seaview Café downstairs at Zhuomei. The red-clad woman was sitting by the window, flipping through the latest issue of a financial magazine. The cover featured Mi Cai and Weiran, who had recently become the most talked-about figures in the business circle.
Seeing my arrival, the red-clad woman put down the magazine, signaled the waiter to brew a pot of hot tea for me, and personally poured a cup to help me relieve the heat from my run.
I took a sip and then placed the teacup down, waiting for the red-clad woman to say something. Instead, she picked up the financial magazine again, looked through it, and then handed it to me, saying: “There’s an article here that comprehensively and thoroughly analyzes the prospects of Zhuomei’s stock market listing. I think it makes a lot of sense. Take a look.”
I took the magazine from her hand and read it carefully. The article analyzed that Weiran’s ZH Investment would be the key to Zhuomei’s successful listing. If ZH withdrew its investment, regardless of whether there was a new investor stepping in, the hope of listing would be extremely slim. It further analyzed the difficulties currently faced by Blue Map Group, to which ZH Investment belonged, claiming that Blue Map Group was in decline, its momentum exhausted, and under the chain reaction, the possibility of Zhuomei’s listing would inevitably become minimal.
I put down the magazine. The red-clad woman asked me: “What do you think after reading this article?”
“I don’t quite believe these kinds of analyses that cover the entire topic. Right now, the most important thing is still to do the current work diligently.”
“You have a good mindset… However, the latest news is that the capital chain of ZH Investment has already fallen into paralysis, and the banks have stopped all loans to Blue Map Group. It won’t be long before we witness this once-mighty giant collapsing in the harsh reality.”
“As long as there is a new investor stepping in, Zhuomei won’t be severely affected.”
The red-clad woman nodded, then asked me again: “How is this event going? Do you feel confident about it?”
I looked out the window. Tonight, Zhuomei was brightly lit. Private cars from the surrounding counties and cities under Suzhou’s jurisdiction had already packed the area around Zhuomei. Some people were even queuing up to start shopping at midnight. This was destined to be the beginning of creating a sales miracle. In contrast, Baoli Department Store was relatively quiet. And tonight was just the beginning; tomorrow would be the real highlight.
Finally, I told the red-clad woman: “Just now, the market specialist at Zhuomei gave me feedback. All the hotels within the commercial area covered by Zhuomei have been fully booked with a 100% occupancy rate. What does this indicate?”
“You’ve fully tapped into the consumption demands of the surrounding city consumers… I didn’t expect the advertising reach to be this extensive!”
I nodded and said: “Yes, this advertising campaign for Zhuomei was a collaboration with the largest local advertising company. We almost utilized 60% of their key advertising resources. These private cars coming from other cities and all the surrounding hotels being fully booked have already preliminarily verified the effectiveness of our advertising campaign!”
“Good… Integrating these advertising resources into an orderly system and then launching the advertising campaign is also a significant test of advertising planning capabilities. The person in charge of this event must be very capable—a real talent!”
“Indeed, the person in charge is my college classmate and a close friend for many years. His ability is absolutely top-notch in the industry.”
The red-clad woman smiled politely, stood up, and said to me: “You’ve rested enough. Come with me for a walk…”
“Alright, I also need to go to Zhuomei for the final venue inspection.”
…
After leaving Seaview Café, I walked side by side with the red-clad woman toward the entrance of Zhuomei. At that moment, my phone rang again. I instinctively took out my phone from my pocket. It was a call from the staff member sent to pick up Leyao and Cao Jinfu. After answering, he told me that the car had already entered Suzhou city and, barring any accidents, would arrive at Zhuomei in ten minutes. Finally, I breathed a sigh of relief. Leyao and Cao Jinfu’s timely arrival ensured the success of tomorrow’s event.
I stopped and said to the red-clad woman: “I’ll have the friend in charge of this event accompany you for a walk. I need to wait for an important guest, which might take about ten minutes.”
“Forget it, your friend should be too busy to spare any hands right now… I’ll wait with you. I’ll use this time to call Mi Cai. I promised her that I would closely follow this Christmas event at Zhuomei. Now that I’m here, I should inform her.”
I nodded. The red-clad woman had already taken out her mobile phone from her handbag and dialed a call to Mi Cai, who was far away in the United States.
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