Why is This Troublemaker So Damn Rich?

The glass door of the breakroom reflected the silhouettes of a few people, their heads huddled together. Lily from Finance placed her mug under the coffee machine, tapping her fingernail against the rim with a crisp sound. "Did you all see it this morning? That new Mercedes E300L, license plate ending in 668." She deliberately drew out the numbers "six-six-eight," as if chewing on a piece of toffee.

"They were together after work yesterday, too," Xiaozhang from Marketing chimed in, leaning closer.

Yan Jun, the operations manager for the Shi Meng brand, drifted past cradling a mug of goji berry tea. "Yang Hui is just using those in-store sales livestreams as an excuse to create opportunities for himself..."

Back with the livestreaming team, Li Qian mulled it over before finally asking, "Shen Meng, are you and Manager Yang really an item?"

"What makes you say that?"

"The whole company’s talking. They say you two are inseparable, always coming and going together like a pair of lovebirds."

Shen Meng’s face flushed. ’These people have a real talent for making things up,’ she thought. ’They see me and Yang Hui coming in and out of the office together and spin it into a full-blown love story.’

"You can’t believe everything you hear from the office gossips, can you?"

Li Qian nodded. "That’s true. So they’re wrong about you two?"

Shen Meng smiled nonchalantly. "It’s about fifty-fifty."

"What? You’ve moved that fast?" She had assumed everyone was just jumping to conclusions and had gotten it wrong.

But now Shen Meng herself was admitting they were halfway there. "What does ’fifty-fifty’ even mean? That you’re sleeping together but haven’t made it official yet?"

Shen Meng’s head snapped back. ’That’s how she interpreted fifty-fifty?’

’Shouldn’t it mean that the ’coming and going together’ part is true, but the ’pair of lovebirds’ part isn’t?’

「Inside the General Manager’s Office」

Cai Miao stood across from Li Yang, having just finished reporting the morning’s news: that Yang Hui and Shen Meng had arrived together like a couple.

Li Yang’s face was beet red with suppressed rage. "Pull up the security footage from the parking area. Now!" A low roar echoed from inside the office, followed by the heavy THUD of something slamming onto the sandalwood desk, sending a shiver down the spine of everyone outside.

A moment later, Xiaowang from Security appeared, his hands, which held a tablet, trembling like reeds in the wind. The screen showed the parking lot footage: in the passenger seat of the black Mercedes E300L, a slender, pale leg had slipped out from the hem of a pencil skirt, looking almost blindingly white in the morning light.

Xiaowang glimpsed the veins bulging on the back of the General Manager’s neck. The man who always looked like he had everything under control was now fumbling for a cigarette with a trembling hand, trying and failing several times to bring the lighter’s flame to its tip.

"The rest of you, get out."

Only Cai Miao remained in the office.

"President Li, should we discipline Yang Hui?"

She was smart enough not to mention Shen Meng, as she understood where Li Yang’s intentions lay.

The office blinds were half-closed, and the morning sun cut sharp stripes of light across the sandalwood desk. Li Yang picked up the operations report.

In the first few days of June, Airex had seen a 30% year-over-year growth.

He then picked up the numbers for the first week of May: a 25% year-over-year decline.

’Then there was the promotional funding from Xinyue Square, and the support from the online store,’ he thought.

"You may go. Have the driver get the car ready. At eleven, I’m having lunch with Yang Hui and the Regional General Manager from Xinyue Group."

Cai Miao opened her mouth to speak. "Get out now!"

"But—!"

"Fuck off! Don’t you understand me when I speak?"

Li Yang slammed his hand on the desk—CRACK!—and shot to his feet. Veins pulsed on his forehead, his face twisted into a ferocious snarl, as if he were about to devour someone whole.

Cai Miao didn’t dare say another word and scurried out, seething. ’So you only take it out on me. Yang Hui is about to screw the woman you have your eye on, and you just take it? I’ve been wasting my goddamn time sucking up to you.’

At the same time, she mulled it over. ’Looks like I can’t underestimate this Yang Hui. Li Yang is clearly holding back, worried about the consequences. I can see how furious he is, yet he’s still reining it in.’

’It seems I’ll have to be more strategic when dealing with Yang Hui in the future. A direct confrontation will only lead to my own loss.’

Yang Hui sat at his desk. It was quiet for a change, since his team members were out of town on business, visiting various store locations.

There were still a number of Futong Commerce stores in the prefecture-level cities, and the team would set aside time each week to visit a group of them to identify and solve any problems.

After he’d turned down Li Yang’s dinner invitation yesterday, Li Yang had decided to host a lunch for President Tian today instead. Dan Biao had just informed him he was to ride in President Li’s car at eleven.

Besides Li Yang and himself, Han Chao, the Director of the Channel Development Department, would also be attending.

He hadn’t met Han Chao before. The Channel Development Department was entirely external-facing, so its staff was always out of the office dealing with new store openings, contract renewals, and maintaining client relationships.

Yang Hui had started his job on Monday, and Han Chao had left on a business trip that very day. He was only back today because Li Yang had personally called to tell him he had to attend.

The Channel Development Department constantly dealt with clients, so Li Yang was bringing Han Chao along to this rare opportunity to meet a major client executive. This would make it easier for Han Chao to handle liaison work with the malls in the future.

"President Shan, I won’t ride in President Li’s car. I’ll drive myself there."

He planned to go to the mall that afternoon to buy a small gift. Wu Min had mentioned last night that today was Shen Meng’s birthday, and he couldn’t very well show up empty-handed.

If he took Li Yang’s car, he would have to leave and return with the group, leaving him no time to go pick out a present.

This wasn’t a problem. Dan Biao knew this particular troublemaker had no interest in sucking up to the boss like everyone else. In fact, Dan Biao had the strange feeling that the guy actually got a kick out of provoking him.

But he dismissed the thought as soon as it arose. ’Surely not. I can’t imagine what his motive for doing that would be.’

At eleven o’clock, Yang Hui tidied up his desk and went downstairs for the lunch meeting.

As he passed through the Channel Development Department’s area, he ran into a middle-aged man of about thirty-five. The man was around five-foot-seven, with a dark complexion that suggested he spent a lot of time working outdoors.

The man wore what seemed to be a perpetual smile. It reminded Yang Hui of Li Yang; both their smiles seemed to be cast from the same mold, completely forced.

"You must be Xiaoyang from Airex, right?"

Yang Hui stopped and looked at him, wondering who this was. The man wasn’t tall, but he certainly had an arrogant air about him.

"I’m Han Chao, the Director of Channel Development."

"Oh, hello!"

’I just heard Dan Biao mention him, and here he is,’ Yang Hui thought.

"Xiaoyang, go on down and tell President Li’s driver to turn on the AC in the car. The boss is about to head down."

Yang Hui nodded. Since he was heading that way anyway, he didn’t bother to argue. But he couldn’t help but think, ’Another one of those guys whose ego is way bigger than his title.’

’Just like Fang Zheng back at Ruijing Commerce,’ he mused. ’These types probably spend all day trading empty compliments with their business contacts. Do it enough, and they start to think they’re actually important.’

’It’s always the same personality type. Whenever they meet a subordinate, especially a new one, they have to throw their weight around, trying to act like both a boss and a mentor.’

Yang Hui had no patience for people like that. ’I probably won’t have to deal with him much,’ he thought, ’so hopefully, things won’t get as hostile as they did with Fang Zheng back at Ruijing.’

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