Chapter 254 - 197: Hot Hatch (Part 2)

Li Yang was the boss, so people spoke to him politely. But the calls Dan Biao and Zhang Li received were often from people on the front lines, who were far more direct. Take Li Lei, the operations manager at Wanlong Square, for instance. The guy was known for his sharp tongue. He had called Dan Biao and said, "President Shan, everyone used to say Futong Commerce was so impressive. Now I’m starting to understand why. How else, if not for some truly extraordinary talent, could you manage to generate one-fiftieth of the sales of your competitor while running the very same brand? This is a classic case study that should be written into brand management textbooks."

He finished his taunt by adding, "So don’t come asking us about marketing events or resource subsidies in the future. Any resources we have could create far greater value if given to another vendor."

Dan Biao was speechless. He knew Li Lei was angry, too. Because of NLB’s poor performance at Wanlong Square, Li Lei had also been chewed out by President Jia, who grilled him on how he was interacting with tenants and whether he’d identified their operational problems and demanded rectification.

A performance gap this huge would give other brands the wrong impression—that business at Wanlong Square was dozens of times worse than at Xinyue Square. ’Isn’t that damaging to the mall’s reputation?’

The thought of NLB’s performance at Xinyue Square brought Xia Jie to mind. ’We had such an outstanding supervisor, and we just let her go, practically gift-wrapping her for the competition. This is truly the path to self-destruction.’ On top of that, Yang Hui was likely nursing a deep grudge over this as well; Dan Biao could sense that Yang Hui’s attitude toward Li Yang was now incredibly hostile.

’And that guy Zhang Li is going through hell now that Xia Jie’s gone. If I had known that Li Yang would follow Yang Hui’s suggestion and make Zhang Li personally manage NLB after she left, I would have fought tooth and nail to keep her. Then at least I’d have a buffer. Now I’m the one getting called useless to my face, told I’m not even as good as one supervisor. Who can endure that kind of humiliation?’

He pushed thoughts of Yang Hui aside and turned to another task Li Yang had given him. Now that Xia Jie was a supervisor at Yanghe Commerce—and managing their NLB brand quite well—Li Yang was starting to have regrets. He wanted to bring Xia Jie back, which would also deal a heavy blow to Yanghe Commerce.

What he didn’t understand, however, was why Li Yang had specifically tasked him with this, emphatically warning him not to let Yang Hui find out. ’I’m supposed to promise Xia Jie that if she comes back, her base salary will increase by 2,000 yuan, raising it to 9,000. On top of that, if she performs well, she’ll be promoted to operations manager in three months.’ Dan Biao felt the offer was quite generous. Yanghe Commerce might be doing well, but it was a small company. In theory, the higher salary, better title, and the opportunity to work at a major company like Futong Commerce should be very attractive.

After Yang Hui hung up on Dan Biao, Xiaolang finished up whatever he was doing. Yang Hui took Shen Meng to the nearest gas station to fill up the tank, then drove straight for the Xinyue Hotel. He could hardly wait. Who could control themselves with a girlfriend this beautiful? Besides, he was a young man, brimming with vitality.

The mirrored walls of the Xinyue Hotel elevator warped their entwined bodies into distorted blocks of color. The instant the key card BEEPED, Yang Hui pressed Shen Meng through the doorway, his hand sliding up under her dress. Black lace panties slipped to the floor like a ripple of water.

Shen Meng’s calves hit the rumpled sheets at the edge of the bed. Her long hair fanned out over the pillow like satin. A sliver of light pierced the gap in the curtains, casting their entwined silhouettes onto the wall.

As her nails raked red marks down his spine, Yang Hui’s virile body pressed down on the soft flesh of her thighs. Her dress, now a puddle on the carpet, lay forgotten to the side.

Wu Min and Wang Hua took a taxi to the auto district and arrived at the Volkswagen dealership. They had made an appointment that morning to pick up the car in the afternoon. With sales of gas-powered cars in a slump, a customer taking delivery was a major event. They paid the down payment on the spot and sorted out the financing. It wasn’t until 4:30 PM that they were finally able to drive the car off the lot.

Wu Min had already taken dozens of photos of her Golf from every conceivable angle. She posted them to her social media feed in a nine-photo grid with the caption: "Me and my little steel cannon."

When Wang Hua saw the post, something about it felt wrong. He glanced down at his own body, a wave of insecurity washing over him. ’Can I even satisfy her? Who knew she was into "little steel cannons"?’

Wu Min was ecstatic as she drove, this being her first-ever car. People get overjoyed just from buying a new phone; imagine having a car of your very own.

"Minmin, let’s find a place to celebrate. You’re officially a car owner now."

"Yeah, yeah! Wang Hua, let’s go to a hotel?"

Wang Hua’s heart leaped with joy. ’I can’t believe it,’ he thought, ’a 20,000 yuan down payment and I can finally seal the deal.’ But then Wu Min added, "Let’s get some Western food."

So he had misunderstood. By "hotel," she had meant a restaurant. Wang Hua’s spirits instantly sank. ’I’ve been chasing her for so long,’ he lamented internally, ’when are we ever going to get down to business? Every time I bring it up, she just changes the subject.’

When she first got the car, Wu Min had privately sent a few photos to Shen Meng, asking if her white Golf wasn’t the coolest. But Shen Meng never replied. Wu Min figured she was probably just speechless. ’After all,’ she thought, ’Yang Hui is only planning to buy her some beat-up used car. Seeing this "little steel cannon" of mine must have really shattered her composure.’

’Hmph—, if you won’t text back, I’ll just call you and see how you react. First the watch, then the bags... I’ve been stewing in jealousy for a while now. Today, I’m definitely going to even the score.’