Chapter 876: The Spring Festival Gala Begins, New Era’s Debut (Part 2)

Su Zelin nodded, “It’s good that you’ve come to understand this.”

“I have to thank you, Su Zelin. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have known what kind of person that woman was. I’d still be struggling in the mud right now. I toast to you!”

“One glass isn’t enough. To celebrate, it should be three!”

“Haha, three it is!”

“…”

When Su Zelin was reborn, he knew that he would change the fates of many people in his life. However, at that time, he didn’t expect he would help Zhao Mingxuan escape from that unhappy marriage.

Primarily, it was because he became the class monitor and felt that Zhao Mingxuan had it tough back then, so he understood him a bit more.

However, helping Zhao Mingxuan wasn’t without benefits.

The last time, he casually mentioned to Zhao’s dad, the Deputy Mayor, that his family was planning to open another New Era store in Jianglan and needed to find a location. The Deputy Mayor became very attentive and found a suitable spot within a few days in the southern part of the city.

In Jianglan, several departments were relocated to the new district because previous locations were too old, too small, and inconvenient for transportation. So, during planning, the government moved some units with poor office conditions to the new district, which could also quickly attract traffic and popularity to the area.

This new store location is not far from the boundary between the old and new districts, being one of the first places put up for rent by the units that relocated there.

This location is ideal, promising for the future, and we won’t have to wait long because it’s close to the old district, benefiting from its popularity.

Many forward-thinking businessmen have already recognized the potential of the southern new district. Moreover, this location is already popular, so competition is fierce. However, the unit finally rented it to Su Jianjun and Qin Daqing.

The Deputy Mayor was well-acquainted with the head of the unit and highly recommended the New Era store business, saying it was doing well and would be featured on the Spring Festival Gala soon, ensuring it would become even more successful. Renting to them would provide stability.

The head of the unit agreed it made sense, noting that many units’ properties have revolving tenants due to poor business, or they come up with all sorts of excuses to delay rent payments, which is bothersome. Stability was a consideration.

This is also why many owners prefer to rent properties to banks, even if the rent is slightly lower.

With the Deputy Mayor advocating, the unit finally rented the place to Su Jianjun.

Two months later, the new store was completed just in time for the Spring Festival Gala and the New Year’s large-scale marketing campaign, ensuring a grand opening.

The day after the class reunion, we visited my grandmother in the countryside along with Qin Shiqing.

As usual, we bought a few boxes of Brain Platinum, some candy, cookies, nutritional supplements, and a dozen packs of cigarettes as gifts for my grandmother and some familiar folks in the village.

The elderly woman looked in even better spirits than before, with a constant smile on her face.

It’s not that Su Zelin’s consistent gifts of Brain Platinum had an effect, but rather after warning the picky aunt of Qin Shiqing, she seemed to be treating grandma much better, even buying her a new cotton coat for the New Year.

With the daughter-in-law no longer being a source of irritation, the elderly woman lived more comfortably.

Seeing Su Zelin and Qin Shiqing made grandma even happier, and she kept chatting with the two of them.

“Xiaolinzi, Niuniu, I heard from your uncle, cousin, and some folks in the village that your company is doing better and better. This year you’ll be on the Spring Festival Gala, and employees will have housing allocation in the future. You must work hard, do things down-to-earth, and not let your leaders down!”

The two of them couldn’t stop laughing at grandma’s words.

Grandma thought Su Zelin was just a regular employee, but actually, he was one of the top leaders of the company.

“Grandma, Xiaolinzi is our company’s Operations Director, so he’s the one in charge, not the other way around!”

Qin Shiqing said with a smile.

“Operations Director, what’s that?”

Grandma was baffled.

She had heard from people in the village that Su Zelin was in upper management, but thought upper management was just like a small team leader in the factory.

“It’s in charge of the company’s operations and development. In short, it’s a really big position!”

Qin Shiqing didn’t bother explaining such a specialized term, knowing that grandma wouldn’t understand, so she kept it simple.

Grandma was visibly surprised, “Xiaolinzi, you’re leading at such a young age?”

In her mind, leaders were middle-aged or older people from state-owned enterprises, certainly not someone so young.

Su Zelin laughed and said, “There’s nothing I can do, grandma. I just happen to be too smart!”

Qin Shiqing gave him an annoyed glance.

In front of grandma, he didn’t even pretend to be modest.

“Xiaolinzi, you may be smart, but you’re lacking experience. Even as a leader, you need to keep learning, take opportunities to further your studies, and under no circumstances should you be corrupt. That could land you in prison!”

Grandma cautioned earnestly.

“I understand, grandma.”

Su Zelin nodded, but internally he thought.

The company is mine; what could I possibly embezzle?

After having a meal at the Liu family, before leaving, Qin Shiqing’s uncle, Liu Fugui, gave them some homemade goods, dried mushrooms, and smoked squirrels, and even packed two big roosters into a box, insisting that they take them home because they were tastier when home-raised.

His son, Liu Caizhi, who was Qin Shiqing’s cousin, managed the first Jianglan store and even got a raise recently for his good performance, making Liu Fugui very happy. Every time Su Zelin visited, he would be sent home with plenty of local produce.

Moreover, Su Zelin had given him two packs of good cigarettes, the expensive kind that Liu Fugui usually couldn’t bring himself to buy.

With only a few days left before the end of the year, Su Zelin was finally able to completely relax.