Yang Hui took back his phone and noticed Zhu Jing's face was flushed. The way she looked at him was strange, as if she had caught him doing something he shouldn't.
"What's wrong? How can watching a restocking video make you blush?"
"Mm-hmm." Zhu Jing lowered her head, offering no explanation.
Yang Hui glanced at the screen and saw a new message from Liu Shasha. He tapped it open, and after reading it, was rendered speechless. He finally understood Zhu Jing's reaction. This time, there was no way he could clear his name.
"Um, Zhu Jing... if I told you she's just letting her imagination run wild, would you believe me?"
In a voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz, Zhu Jing mumbled, "I do."
"Then what if I told you I'm an immortal descended from the heavens, would you believe me?"
Without hesitation, Zhu Jing again mumbled, "I do."
'Sigh...' He sighed. 'So half-hearted. Like hell you believe me.'
'Liu Shasha, oh, Liu Shasha... my lifelong reputation is ruined because of you. If I don't bend you into one hundred and eight different positions, I'll be letting you down.'
The rest of the meal was incredibly awkward. He kept feeling Zhu Jing sneaking glances at him, and he couldn't begin to guess what was on her mind.
By the time Dan Biao got to Wanlong Square, Li Lei had already made his way to a fruit drink shop on the second floor. He hadn't ordered, choosing instead to wait for Dan Biao to arrive and pay. As the client, he had no problem letting his vendors treat him. A vendor expecting him to pay, however? Not a chance in hell.
The purpose of this visit was a promotion for NLB. Li Yang had given him a task: the mall at Xinyue Square was giving the first-floor NLB a "100 yuan off for every 1000 spent" subsidy. Li Yang wanted Dan Biao to negotiate the same deal with Wanlong Square. If they could secure the subsidy and combine it with their company's "buy two, get 10% off" promotion, their deal would be stronger than the one at Xinyue Square's NLB. The hope was that with a major company-backed advertising campaign, they could poach some business from the competition.
Dan Biao bought two drinks, sat down, and after a bit of small talk to set the mood, he got to the main reason for his visit.
"Manager Li, NLB's sales have been a little sluggish lately. Our company is planning a promotion to drive performance, and we were wondering if the mall could offer some support as well. We could create a bit of a buzz together."
'Support?' Li Lei, who lived by the principle of avoiding extra work, immediately retorted, "Ah, President Shan, NLB's performance has been poor ever since your team took over. Based on the problems I've observed during my rounds, I can state with certainty that there are issues with your operations. I hope you'll pay serious attention to this."
"As for running a promotion... there isn't a major holiday. What good would a sale do now? It's a waste of resources. I really don't think it's necessary."
Inwardly, Dan Biao agreed with Li Lei. He didn't believe a promotion would generate significant sales either; after all, it was a normal weekday with naturally low foot traffic. Without any prior advertising, the results were bound to be poor. But Li Yang had given the order, so he had no choice but to ask.
"Manager Li, the main issue is that the NLB on Xinyue Square's first floor just opened. If we don't do something here and our sales end up lagging far behind theirs, it'll look bad for both our company and this mall. It'll feel like we're being completely overshadowed by them."
Li Lei let out a cold laugh and took a sip of his drink. "President Shan, we don't carry that kind of psychological baggage. What's so surprising about being bested by Xinyue Square? We never intended to compete with them in the first place. That would be overestimating our own strength."
Dan Biao hadn't held out much hope for this visit, having been forced into it by Li Yang. Hearing Li Lei's response, all he could do was make one final, desperate attempt—the equivalent of treating a dead horse as if it were still alive.
"In that case, could you just help me apply for it, Manager Li? If it's approved, great. If not, then forget it. We're hoping for an allotment of the '100 off 1000' vouchers."
Li Lei grunted. "I'll give it a shot, but don't get your hopes up. The company budget is extremely tight right now. There's no way they'll approve promotional expenses outside of a holiday."
This sort of answer basically meant the chances were zero. Li Lei's so-called "giving it a shot" probably meant he wouldn't try at all. He could just come back later with a simple "The company didn't approve it," making it look like he had helped, but ultimately failed.
Dan Biao had been through this song and dance countless times, so he understood the subtext perfectly. They made small talk for a few more minutes, then Li Lei suddenly said, "President Shan, I get the sense that your operations team is a bit chaotic."
Dan Biao raised his eyebrows. He was in charge of operations. If Li Lei was calling them chaotic, he was calling *him* out. "To what are you referring?" he asked coolly.
"Your management staff are openly pairing up. How can they possibly focus on their work? If I'm not mistaken, your boss strictly forbids office romances. The policy is immediate 'persuasion to resign' upon discovery, isn't it?"
"Of course it's forbidden. Which of our company supervisors did you see? Tell me, and I will handle the matter with the utmost seriousness. There will be no leniency."
'Who the hell is so audacious? Openly hooking up? Forget that company policy forbids it—are they out here to inspect stores or to be on a date? How can they possibly focus on work?'
Li Lei lowered his head to take a sip, his face a mask of sinister glee. 'Yang Hui, wasn't it? Let's see how you explain this to your company. You're the new guy, right? It'd be a shame to lose your job so soon. Work is so hard to come by these days.'
He looked up, and just as he was about to drop the name, he happened to spot a man and a woman across the way, chatting and laughing together. It was Yang Hui and Zhu Jing, who had finished their meal and come down to the second floor to wander around the mall.
After the earlier awkwardness during their meal, the distance between them seemed to have shrunk. They were even starting to trade little jokes. Just then, Zhu Jing asked, "Want to go check out Uniqlo?"
"What for? You're not suggesting I go check out their fitting rooms, are you? Haha."
Zhu Jing looked down for a long moment before replying, "You can. As long as you're not afraid of being secretly filmed." So she knew about the old Uniqlo fitting room scandal too.
From a distance, Li Lei watched them banter like a flirting couple, and a fire of jealousy ignited in his heart. He pointed them out to Dan Biao. "See? I wasn't falsely accusing anyone, was I? It's them. One of them is even your supervisor. How can a person like that possibly manage a team?"
Furious at having his people caught in the act, Dan Biao whipped his head around to see just who was being so brazen. Li Lei watched with a smirk, anticipating how Dan Biao would discipline Yang Hui. But instead, Dan Biao simply turned back around calmly, took a long sip of his drink, and remained silent.
'It's Yang Hui. Then this is a non-issue. Who the fuck would dare discipline him? What's he even doing here? Don't tell me he knows Wanlong Square's general manager... If so, could he make an introduction? Or maybe help me negotiate this promotion?'
He lowered his head, lost in thought, leaving Li Lei completely bewildered. "President Shan? President Shan?"
Dan Biao looked up at him. "Yes, Manager Li? Is something wrong?"
'The hell do you mean, "is something wrong?" Do you have amnesia? You looked like you were ready to kill someone when you turned around a second ago, and now you're acting like nothing happened. Did your body get possessed in that instant?'
"I said," Li Lei reiterated, "that your employee, Yang Hui, is having an inappropriate relationship with a female subordinate."
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