CHAPTER 352: CHAPTER 351: HOTLINE

Just after the National Day Golden Week, Shi Yang left the provincial capital, taking Zhao Wendada, his three store managers, and five city and county franchisees under him to the headquarters for franchisee training.

Mu Guangping, a specially appointed sales lecturer from abroad, provided all the franchisees with instructional guidance on training sales assistants, store management, window display coordination, fabric sales, after-sales service, and other systematic norms.

The maternity store industry chain is growing ever larger, covering all provinces and cities nationwide. The brand ambassador has shifted from the previous second-tier celebrity Xu Meiyuan, changing annually based on trends, to popular age-appropriate female celebrities of the time.

With wider brand recognition and stringent product quality control, customer sources and sales figures naturally rise steadily.

The sales channels for maternity products have officially expanded, Shi Yang’s business is thriving, sales profits are increasing day by day, and everything is starting to go smoothly.

Shi Yang fought hard by himself, naturally he wouldn’t forget the brothers who had always followed him in his ventures. As the second-largest shareholder in the company, Qu Chaozong was coerced by Shi Yang to sign a new shareholders’ dividend agreement after the National Day Golden Week, and while Shi Yang was generating new revenue, Qu Chaozong’s annual salary finally crossed the seven-figure mark, officially entering the ranks of Mr. Qu.

After receiving the dividend payment for the first half of the year, the first thing Mr. Qu did was deposit all his savings into a single bank card, carefully calculated the amount for home purchase, and hurriedly repaid Shi Yang in full for the new house he had previously advanced. Then he made a call to bring Zhang Xin out from her grandfather’s house and took her to a small community under construction.

Standing before the 3D model at the sales office, Qu Chaozong wrapped his arm around Zhang Xin, confidently pointed at the small third-floor window no bigger than a fingernail cover, and said with a beaming smile, "This is the bride price for marrying you, our very own house."

Looking at that tiny window, Zhang Xin slightly lowered her eyelids, her eyelashes gently fluttering in the bright light. She stood still for a long moment, then turned her gaze toward Qu Chaozong standing beside her.

Qu Chaozong was absorbed in studying the planning details on the model chart, while Zhang Xin stared at him, gazing at him, a kind of indescribable happiness emerged from within, encompassing all her emotions, sweeping away everything before her.

Leaving the sales office that day, to celebrate, Qu Chaozong took Zhang Xin for a seemingly lavish Western dinner.

Qu Chaozong had never eaten this kind of food before; he was unaccustomed to using knives and forks, the steak was a bit salty, cheesy mashed potatoes pulled strings of cheese when scooped, quite unpleasant, but the beef stew with red wine was pretty good, served in tiny pieces just enough to savor the taste before finishing, and then a cake with a long-winded name came, overly sweet.

After finishing the pricy Western meal, Qu Chaozong drove Zhang Xin back to her grandfather’s house and then diverted to an old renowned beef noodle restaurant. He ordered a big bowl of spicy noodles, slurped them down along with the soup and noodles, and finally felt his empty stomach satiated.

Leaving the restaurant, Qu Chaozong checked the time, estimated Shi Yang should be at the headquarters by now, and made a call.

Shi Yang answered the phone as he was settling into a local five-star hotel with the headquarters reception staff, unbuttoning his shirt with one hand while listening to Qu Chaozong talk on the phone.

After talking about store matters, Qu Chaozong mentioned his recent house viewing and Western meal with Zhang Xin.

Qu Chaozong asked him: "Have you ever taken Meimei to have Western food?"

Shi Yang casually detached his shirt and tossed it into the hotel’s dirty laundry basket: "Tried once before, she didn’t like it, she only has eyes for hotpot."

Qu Chaozong sighed: "Meimei is still the best, economical and practical, I also believe hotpot’s the way to go, what good is Western food, after one meal you could have two rounds of hotpot instead, can’t even get full."

Shi Yang laughed: "Serves you right, who told you to be fussy about food!"

Qu Chaozong rubbed his chin, amused: "I just thought since Zhang Xin’s raised with a silver spoon, she’d be happy eating high-end stuff."

Shi Yang teased: "Yes, your wife is indeed precious."

Qu Chaozong cursed jokingly: "Get lost! Yours isn’t much different! Just a kid when she started eating nothing but Shanghai cookies and luncheon meat, if there’s anyone spoiling the wife, buddy, it’s you."

The two exchanged some banter before laughingly hanging up.

Shi Yang then turned and sent Zhao Meimei a message updating her on his safe arrival.

When Zhao Meimei received the message, she was in the teacher’s office enjoying extra attention from Zhang Jiahui.

Zhang Jiahui handed Zhao Meimei a word list booklet and a form, saying: "Mid-December is the CET-4 exam, fill out the form and bring it to me, I’ll help you register."

Zhao Meimei politely thanked him: "Thank you, teacher."

Zhang Jiahui smiled kindly: "No need to thank me." With that, he glanced at the ring on Zhao Meimei’s hand and casually asked: "Where did you buy that pretty ring?"

Zhao Meimei rolled her eyes, asking: "Teacher, you like it?"

The subtext being: Want me to give you one?

Zhang Jiahui shook his head, smiling: "I saw your brother wearing one before."

Zhao Meimei said: "Yes, we each have one, it’s a couple ring from the jewelry counter in the mall, not sold separately."

Zhao Meimei’s expression was extremely natural, her speech very normal, and any doubts Zhang Jiahui had instantly disappeared. He thought Zhao Meimei bought the pair to get the ring she liked, giving the extra one to Shi Yang. Why Shi Yang, a man, would wear a ring was glossed over by Zhang Jiahui.

Having found out what interested him, Zhang Jiahui, in good spirits, kindly urged Zhao Meimei to focus on memorizing vocabulary before letting her go.

Outside the office, Zhao Meimei’s face darkened.

Coveting my man, shameless!! Zhao Meimei angrily cursed silently: Fuck you!!

That night, lying in bed, Zhao Meimei fiddled with the ring on her hand, feeling a bit annoyed again. Grumpy, she didn’t phone or message Shi Yang. As she gnawed on the sheets grinding her teeth, he called.

Huddled under the blanket, Zhao Meimei lazily answered.

"Are you asleep?" Shi Yang asked.

Zhao Meimei yawned, murmuring: "About to sleep now, how about you?"

Shi Yang’s voice filtered through the phone, with a hint of warm hoarseness: "Just about to DIY cater to Little Yang."

Sparks flew through Zhao Meimei’s mind, her tongue nearly crisped.