Chapter 349: What a Coincidence?

For a moment, Wenren Meng thought she was hallucinating. How could it be a call from her sister? After she’d suddenly left over a year ago, everyone had searched high and low, even putting out a missing person notice, but they hadn’t found her.

Of course, they’d been trying her number every day. Even after Wenren Meng arrived in Qingzhou, she would occasionally call it, just hoping. But the response was always the same: “The number you have dialed has been switched off.”

But now, there was an incoming call from her sister’s number. Wenren Meng’s hand trembled so much that her finger missed the answer button several times. Finally, she took a moment to calm her racing heart and picked up.

“Sis?”

“It’s me—I’m back.”

“Are you leaving again?” Wenren Meng asked, her voice laced with fear from past experiences. Her sister had rarely stayed home in Qingzhou. She would be gone for months at a time, only returning for a few days. But at least back then, they could still reach her by phone. The last time she left, she had vanished without a trace.

“I don’t know, but I’ll probably be in Qingzhou for a while.”

Wenren Meng hastily tidied up the house and rushed out the door. She and her sister had arranged to meet at a coffee shop.

Yang Hui held one last meeting with his team at the company. The atmosphere was somber; it was clear everyone was deeply concerned about the future of Airex. ‘But there’s nothing I can do,’ he thought. ‘I’m not some savior. It’s impossible to save everyone, and it’s not my responsibility. It’s already been a challenge to bring the team some benefits during my time here.’

Zhu Jing had finished allocating the group-buying sales figures. After ensuring the Yida Department Store locations met 100% of their targets, there was a surplus of 700,000 in sales, which she distributed equally among all the teams. Zhu Jing had initially intended for her own team to refuse their share, but Yang Hui reminded her that she couldn’t be generous at others’ expense. This performance directly affected the store staff’s income, not just hers. According to Futong Commerce’s bonus structure, supervisors received their full bonus simply by hitting 100% of their target.

The stores, however, earned commission based on sales volume; the higher the performance, the higher their income.

He again declined the team’s proposal for a farewell dinner. He just wasn’t in the mood for a get-together recently. Zhu Jing, on the other hand, was planning to have a farewell meal with her own team that evening.

“Boss, you’re staying in retail, right?” Ji Kun asked.

Zhu Jing glanced at Yang Hui. ‘Of course he’s staying in retail,’ she thought. She saw that everyone else was also staring at him, obviously curious about his next move. She wondered, ‘Is he going to tell them about Yanghe Commerce?’

Yanghe Commerce didn’t have many stores at the moment. Xia Jie and Zhu Jing together could handle twenty stores, which meant the company likely wouldn’t need to hire any new operations managers before the end of the year.

He smiled and nodded. “Of course. I’ll let you all know once I’ve settled into my new role in a few days. Feel free to come visit me at work when you have the time.”

He was, of course, referring to Ruijing Commerce, but Zhu Jing mistakenly assumed he meant Yanghe Commerce.

“Awesome!” Han Ya said cheerfully. “We were afraid you’d leave and forget all about us, Boss.”

He stood up and smiled. “That won’t happen. You’ve all been incredibly supportive this past month, and I’m truly grateful. I can’t help you with work from now on, so I wish you all the best.”

“Zhu Jing, are you riding with me, or…?”

She was heading to her team dinner, and at this stage, Yang Hui felt no need to be discreet. Since he was driving, it would be convenient to help her with her personal items.

“I’ll go with you.” She felt the same way; there was no reason to be evasive anymore.

After the pair left the meeting room, the others immediately started buzzing with discussion.

[Ji Kun: I have a feeling Zhu Jing is leaving with the boss.]

[Han Ya: Of course she is. It’s so obvious what’s going on between them. I’m telling you, she’s completely hung up on the boss.]

[Xiang Ling: I wonder which company the boss is going to. It’s probably not confirmed yet. He didn’t mention it, so it would be rude for us to ask.]

[Han Ya: No rush. Let’s just wait and see. Once the boss is settled in at his new company, if things get really bad here, we can go ask him for a lifeline. If he hasn’t even found his own footing yet, there’s no way he can help us.]

[Xu Guang: Then how can he take Zhu Jing with him?]

[Han Ya: Are you kidding? That’s a stupid question. Those two are practically a couple, a pair of lovebirds. What’s *your* relationship with the boss? Besides, he probably doesn’t even have his own situation figured out yet. If he asked you to come along, would you dare? Can you afford that risk? Zhu Jing is different. From the moment the boss arrived, she was already head over heels. Now she’s like a moth to a flame. You think you can compete with that?]

[Xu Guang: Never mind. I think Futong Commerce is still the safer bet. Let’s just see what this new Manager Yang can do with the team.]

[Ji Kun: I’ve got no hope for him. I’m just praying that if he messes up, they replace him quickly and bring in someone like our old boss.]

Ji Kun had been thoroughly put off by Yang Wei. After just two meals out, Ji Kun was now forced to pinch pennies until his next payday. Thankfully, his income next month was set to be much higher than usual; everyone had benefited during the month Yang Hui was in charge.

「Half-White Coffee」

The name was a play on minimalism and leaving white space, a metaphor for coffee being the substance that fills the empty margins of life.

A thin layer of mist coated the glass windows, muffling the outside world’s clamor into a blur of light and shadow. Wenren Meng and Wenren Lan sat facing each other in a corner booth. Two cups of coffee rested on the wooden table between them—one, a black coffee, as bitter and deep as the sorrow in Wenren Meng’s downcast eyes; the other, a caramel macchiato, its sweet latte art already stirred into oblivion by an absentminded Wenren Lan.

The two sisters were more than a decade apart in age. The time they had spent together in their entire lives likely amounted to less than a week. Beyond their shared bloodline, Wenren Meng knew next to nothing about her mysterious older sister.