Yang Hui’s thoughts returned to the woman who bore a striking resemblance to the King of the Kingdom of Women from the ’86 edition of *Journey to the West*.
Her oval face was soft yet dignified, and her eyes, like autumn pools, were full of emotion. With every glance, they held both the sharpness of a superior and a touch of classical grace.
Her figure was curvaceous yet slender. A tailored, high-end suit-dress outlined her exquisite form—a full, peach-like bust and a willow-thin waist. When she walked, the hem of her skirt swayed, revealing a firm, rounded rear. Every step exuded composure and elegance.
For a moment, he truly thought she was the King of the Kingdom of Women from the ’86 *Journey to the West*, having simply shed her magnificent royal robes for the sharp attire of a modern elite.
It was a beauty that transcended time, blending old-world elegance with a modern edge, making her impossible to forget.
He’d zoned out, forgetting he was chatting with his online friend.
[Yang Hui: I saw her. A very beautiful woman.]
A moment later, Xiaohe Wanwan replied with their usual inexplicable confidence in him.
[Xiaohe Wanwan: Very beautiful? If you like her, go make her your wife!]
’He had no idea how to respond to that.’ He was a confident man, but given his current situation, saying he’d pursue that beautiful woman for a wife wasn’t just confidence—it was boundless arrogance.
’Right, maybe I’ll get a chance to ask Brother Chun about her. He should know who she is.’
[Yang Hui: I’m afraid her bodyguards will beat me to death.]
[Xiaohe Wanwan: That definitely won’t happen. If a bodyguard hit you, he’d have a death wish.]
’There they go again.’ He didn’t know how to reply to that either.
-----------------
「The next day.」
Yang Hui timed it perfectly, walking into the office at 8:57 AM.
As soon as he arrived, Zhu Jing told him that Dan Biao had come looking for him ten minutes ago and wanted Yang Hui to go to his office.
’Ten minutes ago? Is he always this eager to start work?’
"Zhu Jing, I have to criticize you. Work starts at 9:00. Why are you coming in so early? You could have slept for another ten minutes. Look, you’re getting dark circles under your eyes. You obviously didn’t sleep well!"
Ah! Zhu Jing’s sweet little face flushed with embarrassment. She didn’t take her boss’s criticism seriously, but the mention of dark circles scared her.
She hurried back to her desk, grabbed her makeup mirror, and checked several times. She couldn’t see any dark circles. ’Could they just be starting to form, so I can’t see them yet? But he is the boss, after all. His eyes are probably sharper. Did he spot the first signs of them?’
’This won’t do. I need to leave a little earlier after work and buy some better eye cream.’
Yang Hui had no idea that his casual nonsense had just drummed up a sale for a cosmetics store.
Dan Biao stared at Yang Hui in a bit of a daze.
’Futong Commerce has never had a thorn in its side like this before. You can’t say he has a bad work ethic—he gets everything done that he’s supposed to during work hours. And in just a few days, he’s already solved some of the long-standing problems with Airex.’
’But you can’t say he’s a hard worker either. The guy clocks in right on the dot and vanishes from his desk the second quitting time hits.’
’If he were truly useless, I would have already started making things difficult for him to force him out. But now, this guy shows up and immediately adds nearly a million in extra profit for the company each month.’
’Judging by Li Yang’s reaction, he’d plug his nose and put up with him. How could I dare make things difficult for him?’
’And to think, I still haven’t come up with a good excuse for the formal warning I got yesterday because of him. Ugh. For now, I’ll just have to lecture him a bit. Try to reason with him.’
"A Hui, your behavior yesterday was too reckless. How could you refuse to attend President Li’s meeting?"
"President Shan, I didn’t refuse to attend President Li’s meeting."
What?
Dan Biao cleaned out his ears. ’Am I hearing things?’
"I refused an unreasonable request. I would never refuse to attend a meeting held during work hours."
’So that’s what you meant,’ Dan Biao realized. He then added, "I will suggest to President Li that we try to hold all meetings during work hours from now on. But there will always be special circumstances. President Li is letting it slide this time since you didn’t attend, but if it happens again, you will be severely punished!"
’Why is he letting it slide? You should punish me severely this time.’
Yang Hui couldn’t understand. "President Shan, how would a company normally handle a situation like this?"
"A minor offense would get a demerit; a major one would be termination. Since this was your first time, I took the fall for you. If it happens again, the punishment will be harsh—basically, you’ll be fired."
Dan Biao had received a formal warning, which counted as taking the punishment in his place. Saying it this way was a way of making Yang Hui feel indebted to him.
’Great, so you’re the one who ruined my plans,’ Yang Hui thought, annoyed.
"President Shan, I believe the company should punish me severely for this. Otherwise, how can you enforce discipline on others in the future? I think you should still advise President Li. I, Yang Hui, will not accept after-hours meetings, but I am willing to accept any punishment the company deems fit as a result."
Dan Biao’s brain was struggling to keep up. ’What is this guy trying to say?’
’Is he humblebragging? Playing innocent after getting his way? Or does he just know the boss doesn’t dare punish him?’
He had originally planned to reprimand Yang Hui, to scare him a little, but now he realized this guy was completely shameless.
’I haven’t even started trying to scare him, and he’s already scared me with just a few words.’
’If I went and suggested to President Li that he fire you right now, do you think he wouldn’t call me a moron? You’re not important, but that 800,000 in monthly profit sure is!’
"A Hui, it’s nothing. You can go back to your work."
’That’s it? Why did you even call me in here?’
’President Shan really starts strong and finishes weak,’ he grumbled silently.
Back at his desk, he called out, "Zhu Jing."
Zhu Jing swayed over gracefully, her slender waist twisting. He couldn’t help but stare a little longer. A vibrant, beautiful young woman was certainly alluring.
"Draft a business letter in the company’s name to Xinyue Group. For the 21 Airex stores, request that the landlord provide a monthly promotional subsidy of 20,000 yuan for the five unprofitable stores, and 10,000 yuan per month for the others. As for whether this money comes in the form of consumer vouchers or some other method, we can discuss and confirm that with the mall later depending on the situation."
"Huh? Will that even work?"
Zhu Jing’s face fell. It would be a miracle if Xinyue Square even bothered to reply to a request like that. In the past, the mall would just include them in whatever promotions they were running.
This was the first time she’d ever heard of asking the mall to provide a fixed promotional budget and then deciding on the promotion method themselves.
"Just do as I say and don’t waste time. I need to get this to them today, no matter how late. Try to get the process finished before this weekend. That way, we can run a promotional event on the weekend, which will be a huge boost to your sales."
Zhu Jing hummed in agreement and hurried off to work. ’I’ll just do what the boss says,’ she thought. ’What if it actually works?’
Whether it was the group buying deal with Yida Department Store or the online mall for Xinyue Square, her boss had already made the impossible possible for the team many times.
’Maybe this time will be the same.’ She even started to imagine that if this plan worked, the Airex brand would truly make a comeback from rock bottom. All the stores would see a new spring.
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