Lin Qing’er accompanied Shui Miao downstairs. By then, many employees had already started work. Seeing Shui Miao chatting and laughing with the beautiful chairwoman on their way to the seafood section, everyone was astonished. They rushed to ask security guard Xiao Liu what was going on. Xiao Liu told everyone that Shui Miao was the chairwoman’s younger brother and had just been appointed acting manager of the food and beverage department. The news spread like wildfire.
“What? Impossible!”
In the staff dormitory, Chen Bing grabbed his phone and sat upright on his bed. “Xiao Liu, if you’re trying to play a joke on me, I won’t let you off the hook!”
When Xiao Liu had a free moment, he called Chen Bing.
Chen Bing knew Xiao Liu was an honest guy who wouldn’t lie. After Xiao Liu repeated the news, Chen Bing could no longer stay seated. He shouted at his several awakened roommates, “Wake up, wake up! Something big happened at the hotel!”
These roommates all worked night shifts with Chen Bing. Because of a previous leave request, Huang Fei had intentionally made Chen Bing work night shifts for a whole month, which had been quite tough on him. But just after completing one night shift, Xiao Liu called with shocking news.
“What’s going on?”
“Chen Bing, don’t scare us like that!”
“Yeah! You look so anxious, did someone destroy the hotel or something?”
They had all been working night shifts and were still sleepy, hoping to sleep a bit longer before heading to the hotel for breakfast.
“Guys! Huang Fei is gone! I don’t know what happened, but Shui Miao is actually the chairwoman’s brother now and has become our new head of the food and beverage department. Even Xiao Liu became the head of security! There’s been a major personnel reshuffle at the hotel! If we go now, we might benefit from this change! Oh right, Shui Miao is treating everyone today with forty Australian lobsters. What are you sleeping for, you bunch of idiots? Hurry up and go help out at the restaurant…”
Chen Bing was extremely excited because Xiao Liu had sworn on his honor, so the news must be real.
Upon hearing this, everyone found it unbelievable but rushed to get up and go to the hotel to see what was really happening.
Meanwhile, Shui Miao and Lin Qing’er were at the seafood section, talking with Old Ye, the supplier responsible for seafood. Old Ye was in his forties, short in stature, originally from the coastal province of Zhejiang. He was thin, with small squinty eyes, and always wore a friendly smile on his face. He loved to brag, often boasting to Shui Miao about the huge profit margins in the seafood business when Shui Miao was still a food runner. Now, to his surprise, Shui Miao had become his immediate superior.
“Old Ye, these lobsters are way too small! At this rate, it’s hard to even get eight taels each!” Shui Miao held his chin, shaking his head as he examined the lobsters Old Ye had purchased. “They’re just too small; the weight doesn’t look sufficient at all!”
“Why don’t we weigh them?” Lin Qing’er, unfamiliar with such matters, wanted to know the specifics.
Seeing the chairwoman wanted to weigh the lobsters, Old Ye was immediately taken aback.
It was hard to speak openly in front of the chairwoman, but Old Ye’s mind worked quickly. With a sly grin, he replied, “This is just part of the batch. More are on the way. These lobsters aren’t very large. Based on the price you offered, I should bring in at least ten more.”
“Even adding ten more doesn’t seem enough…”
Shui Miao continued shaking his head. “Lin Jie, coincidentally, I also know some seafood suppliers. Seafood is a crucial part of the restaurant business, so quality control must be strictly enforced. I’ll check later to see if there are better suppliers. If Old Ye can’t get bigger lobsters, we’ll switch suppliers.”
This statement subtly hinted at replacing Old Ye.
Hearing this, Old Ye panicked and quickly grabbed Shui Miao’s arm. “Shui, today is your first day in this new position. I’ll throw in thirty more large lobsters for you. That makes eighty in total. The extra ones are on me! Plus, I promise to satisfy your seafood supply needs from now on. If there’s even the slightest issue, you can write my name backwards!”
“You said it yourself—the extra lobsters are on you today?” Shui Miao pointed at Old Ye’s nose, managing to get Old Ye to foot the bill.
“Uh…”
Old Ye was stunned. He hadn’t expected Shui Miao to target him right away. Covering the cost himself would mean at least 5,000 yuan! But for the sake of long-term business, this sacrifice was unavoidable. Old Ye gritted his teeth. “Alright, I’ll go all out today. I’ll pay for them.”
“Eighty lobsters—forty of these small ones and forty large ones?” Shui Miao knew Old Ye made good profits. If he didn’t “squeeze” him now, it might be hard to find another opportunity later.
“Deal!”
Old Ye readily agreed.
At that moment, two kitchen workers approached from the kitchen to collect the lobsters.
Shui Miao had them take the existing lobsters and then said to Old Ye, “We still need forty more. You bring them back and keep them alive. We’re offering a half-price promotion on these forty large ones today. Don’t skimp on the size.”
“No problem! Hehe…”
Old Ye’s heart sank slightly. He hadn’t expected Shui Miao to sell the remaining forty lobsters. Now he’d have to bring in larger lobsters, which meant another small loss. After selling seafood for half his life, he never expected to meet his match today. Old Ye felt frustrated but helpless. He still needed to keep doing business. Fortunately, seafood had high profit margins. Old Ye thought to himself that spending a bit extra to keep Shui Miao happy would be worth it. Later, he could turn a blind eye here and there and recoup his losses.
After saying goodbye, Old Ye personally went to the seafood market to fetch more stock.
Seeing Old Ye leave, Lin Qing’er asked curiously, “This seafood business only has about a 20% profit margin, right? Making him cover eighty lobsters, with forty of them large ones, he might lose more than 5,000 yuan!”
“Sis, you don’t know the whole story. Their main profit comes from cheating on the weight. They promise one jin lobsters but give customers only eight taels. Once the dishes are prepared, customers can’t weigh them anymore, so that’s where the trickery comes in. He used to do this all the time, making who knows how much money. It’s not a big deal to squeeze him a bit today.” Shui Miao felt no sympathy for Old Ye. This guy talked big all day without doing much work and still made 700,000 to 800,000 yuan a year. Making him give back a little wasn’t unreasonable.
“But what about the future? If customers find out, won’t it affect the company’s reputation?” Lin Qing’er, being the boss, thought differently than Shui Miao. She asked this question to see how Shui Miao would handle it. It was also a way to test his capabilities.
“I’ve already thought about that. Starting today, I’ll assign someone I trust completely to monitor Old Ye. I’ll also have this area cleaned up—it’s too dirty and messy, seriously affecting aesthetics. Moreover, once my person gets familiar with the supply channels, we can handle procurement ourselves, saving a significant amount.” Shui Miao had considered this plan long ago while working as a food runner. Back then, when he was bored, he often thought about various aspects of hotel management. He never imagined that those thoughts would prove useful today.
“Great idea! No wonder you’re my chosen little brother. Well done!”
Lin Qing’er was very satisfied with Shui Miao’s response and encouragingly patted his shoulder.
Shui Miao chuckled. It felt wonderful to be recognized.
At that moment, several heads suddenly peeked out from the corridor…
Chen Bing and his companions had arrived. Seeing that the person standing beside the chairwoman was indeed Shui Miao, Chen Bing felt an instant surge of excitement and quickly stepped forward. The others, however, were too afraid of the chairwoman and hesitated, hiding in the corridor.
“Chairwoman, good morning!”
Chen Bing loudly greeted Lin Qing’er.
Lin Qing’er had never met Chen Bing before. She turned to look at him and then at Shui Miao. “Who is he?”
“Oh, this is Chen Bing. He’s my best friend from when we started working together in Haiyang City. He’s the perfect person to monitor Old Ye.” Seeing how easy Old Ye’s job seemed, Shui Miao naturally thought of his own brother-in-arms.
“Bro, what’s going on? Why do I need to monitor Old Ye?” Chen Bing scratched his head.
Seeing Chen Bing scratch his head, Lin Qing’er couldn’t help but laugh. “No wonder you’re best friends—you even have the same head-scratching expression! How about this? Xiao Shui does need an assistant. Let Chen Bing be his deputy. As for monitoring Old Ye, we can find someone else for that. Chen Bing deserves a more important role.”
“Thank you, Chairwoman!”
Chen Bing was incredibly excited. He had never dreamed that one day he would hold a deputy manager position at such a prestigious hotel.
Shui Miao gave Chen Bing a thumbs-up.
“Hehe, don’t thank me. Since you two are so devoted to the hotel, entrusting it to you is the wisest decision. Though you lack management experience, I believe you’ll learn quickly. Also, Xiao Shui is like my younger brother. He calls me Lin Jie, so from now on, you all can call me Lin Jie too. I’m not really fond of being called Chairwoman.” Lin Qing’er suddenly realized she already had many genuine people around her, silently supporting the hotel all along. Without their efforts, if everyone were like Huang Fei, the hotel would have closed long ago and certainly couldn’t have survived until today.
Lin Qing’er appeared casual, but in reality, she had a clear understanding of management.
Shui Miao needed assistants—not just one, but many.
Because Lin Qing’er wanted to cultivate Shui Miao into a true management talent.
“Come on over, you guys.”
Lin Qing’er waved at the young men hiding in the corridor and then turned to Shui Miao. “You pick two or three people to monitor Old Ye. They should be sharp-minded individuals who can quickly figure out Old Ye’s methods.”
“So many? Why?”
Shui Miao was puzzled. This task didn’t require so many people. Besides, assigning three people to follow Old Ye all day would make him suspicious. Old Ye wasn’t stupid. If only one person were assigned, pretending to be there for help, Old Ye might let his guard down.
Lin Qing’er gently exhaled and walked toward the west entrance. Seeing Shui Miao follow, she spoke solemnly, “Because I’m preparing candidates for branch locations. Since we’re alive, we must live with purpose. For three years, my family has looked down on me. Starting today, I want to change that. I want them to see me in a new light.”
“You’re absolutely right, sis!”
Seeing Lin Qing’er completely recover from her emotional sorrow, Shui Miao felt genuinely happy for her.
“Alright, I’ll leave things here to you. I need to go out for a while. Don’t wait for me for meals. Call me if anything happens.” Lin Qing’er suddenly raised her hand and gently touched Shui Miao’s cheek. “Dear little brother, for your sake, I’ll definitely pull myself together!”
…
Shui Miao was momentarily stunned, confused. Was Lin Qing’er speaking to him or someone else?
A strong intuition told Shui Miao that Lin Qing’er’s emotional issues hadn’t been fully resolved. Because when she looked at him, her eyes revealed a strange tenderness…
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