It seems I've been under a lot of pressure lately, my mind burdened with worries, and my daily routine completely messed up.
Originally, I thought Ren Tingting and Fu Xin would call me.
But when I picked up my phone, there wasn't a single call.
Damn it—did those two just forget everything after their wild night yesterday?
I quickly washed up in the bathroom and called Ren Tingting.
It took a long time before she answered.
"Manager Zhao, what exactly do you need?" Ren Tingting asked in a groggy voice.
Judging by her tone, they were still asleep. I guessed that last night must have been another all-night battle.
I said to Ren Tingting, "Have you packed your things? I'm coming over. We're heading back to Nanzhou."
Hearing this, she seemed somewhat unwilling and said, "Isn't today the third day of the exhibition? If we leave early, won't General Manager Zhang say something?"
I understood her meaning—this woman was reluctant to part from Fu Xin.
Actually, the person I worried most about was still my wife, so I said, "No matter, we'll leave now. I'll report to General Manager Zhang on the situation."
Hearing this, Ren Tingting fell silent.
After hanging up, I went directly to the front desk to check out, then took a taxi to the hotel where Fu Xin and the others were staying.
When I arrived, they were just finishing packing.
Seeing Ren Tingting, I noticed she looked even better. I figured Fu Xin must have given her some nourishing care last night.
Women are like that—with love and affection, their complexion visibly brightens.
I thought to myself that when Ren Tingting returns, she'd definitely dump that small-time security guard at the entrance.
I wondered whether that security guard would be like the young guy three years ago, climbing to the company's rooftop, threatening to kill himself.
Since we hadn't brought much when we came, naturally, we had little to carry back.
When we got on the minibus, my heart had already flown back to Nanzhou, back to my wife's side.
Those two hours of travel were undoubtedly tormenting.
When we arrived in Nanzhou, I said to Ren Tingting and Fu Xin, "If you two have nothing else to do, no need to go back to the company. You've both worked hard—go home and rest early."
Ren Tingting and Fu Xin exchanged a glance and said, "Thank you, Manager Zhao."
I found a spot close to their homes and stopped. After they got off, I headed straight to the company.
Because my X1 was still at the company, I couldn't very well drive this taxi home!
Besides, I still needed to report to Zhang Zhiyuan about the exhibition. Signing such a large contract was definitely a big deal.
At the entrance to Xingchang Company, I saw the security guard standing there, saluting me.
I smiled to myself—he had no idea how much his lover Ren Tingting had been "taken care of" these past couple of days.
Back in the sales department, everyone looked at me with strange eyes. I knew they looked down on me deep inside.
Hmph, just wait. This time I'm going to play my big move. Let's see if they still dare to look down on me.
With that thought, holding the contract I had just signed, I headed to the general manager's office to find Zhang Zhiyuan.
At the office door, the first person I saw was his secretary, Fang Xinyi.
From the outside, this girl seemed very quiet and gave an indescribably comfortable feeling.
If it weren't for Gu Xiaofei's unreasonable behavior that day, I don't think she would have fallen out with Gu Xiaofei.
Also, I sensed there was a kind of pride deep within her.
To this day, I still don't understand where her confidence comes from or how she came to work as Zhang Zhiyuan's secretary for no apparent reason.
Fang Xinyi saw me and asked, "Manager Zhao, are you here to see General Manager Zhang?"
In just a few days, even the way she addressed me had changed. It seemed this girl was very savvy.
I nodded and asked, "Is General Manager Zhang in?"
She said, "He's currently down in the workshop. Do you need something?"
Because of the new product's R&D and production, Zhang Zhiyuan was constantly interacting with the workers. It seemed he had bet everything on this.
I thought for a moment and said, "I have something very important to report to General Manager. Could you help contact him?"
Fang Xinyi nodded and said, "Sure, no problem."
Three minutes later, Zhang Zhiyuan returned to his office. I saw he was wearing work clothes, looking like an ordinary employee.
As soon as he saw me, he asked, "How's the exhibition? Any clients?"
I said, "General Manager Zhang, I was about to report this to you. This time, we were especially lucky—a well-known construction company from Nanzhou is interested in our product and has already signed a contract with us."
Then I took out the contract.
When Zhang Zhiyuan saw it, he excitedly exclaimed, "It's Yuxing Group! Didn't expect this. They're the largest construction enterprise in Nanzhou. With their orders, our company's future looks bright."
Zhang Zhiyuan looked at the contract amount with excitement. Clearly, the figure far exceeded his expectations.
"Zhao Jian, well done. You've truly made a great achievement," he said eagerly. "This time, I'll reward you properly."
After thinking for a moment, he added, "You're familiar with that X1 vehicle. I'll officially give it to you as a reward. You can handle the ownership transfer directly."
Hearing this, I was already very happy. After all, my goal was to secure the sales manager position, and with that solidified, life would surely get better gradually.
I said to Zhang Zhiyuan, "Thank you, General Manager."
As the head of the company, Zhang Zhiyuan was extremely cautious about the contract. When he saw that the signatory for Party A was Shen Minhong, he was very surprised and asked, "Zhao Jian, do you know this woman?"
I didn't know why he asked. Even if Ren Tingting intended to spread rumors about my affairs, it wouldn't happen this quickly.
I thought for a moment and said, "We've met a few times. Why do you ask?"
Zhang Zhiyuan said, "She's the famous beautiful female CEO in Nanzhou. The Yuxing Group is run by her."
General managers know their potential clients well because that's the survival base of their business.
I really didn't expect Shen Minhong to have such a powerful background.
It seemed she was hiding many things from me.
If that was really the case, then she was obviously not the resentful woman Gu Xiaofei described.
But she repeatedly tried to get me to a hotel—how to explain that? Could it be that she was really attracted to my good looks?
I remember clearly there were three times I tried to go to a hotel with her.
The first time was when my wife caught me in the act.
The second time, Gu Xiaofei called to disrupt us.
The third time, she received a mysterious call and hurriedly left.
Now, I began to doubt the sincerity of her feelings for me.
I thought maybe in their eyes, I was just a toy.
At this moment, Zhang Zhiyuan said to me, "Zhao Jian, no matter what, you made a great contribution this time. How about this: tomorrow's the weekend. You go to finance now and get twenty thousand yuan. Take the weekend off and have some fun."
I knew Xingchang was tight on funds, so under such conditions, for Zhang Zhiyuan to reward me twenty thousand yuan showed how pleased he was.
I knew it was my due, so I said, "Thank you, General Manager."
Zhang Zhiyuan patted my shoulder and said, "Zhao Jian, I really underestimated you before. Didn't expect you to bring in such a big deal once you got started. Rest assured, as long as you work hard, I won't treat you badly."
At the finance office, I collected twenty thousand yuan and reimbursed various expenses.
Zhang Zhiyuan had clearly given instructions to accommodate my requests.
Back in the sales department, I looked triumphant.
The staff didn't know what had happened. Especially Xiang Qiufeng, who stared at me with a strange, hostile look.
I had no idea why I'd offended him, but it was obvious he had ulterior motives.
If that was the case, once I held full power in the sales department, I would definitely deal with him properly.
Entering my office, I tidied the desk and said to Shen Xue outside the door, "Shen Xue, come in."
After all, I was the sales manager, and Shen Xue was supposed to respect me on the surface. She came in and asked, "Manager Zhao, what's your instruction?"
I thought for a moment and said, "Xiang Qiufeng was absent without leave yesterday. Deduct three days' wages from him."
She showed a look of difficulty and said, "Well… deducting wages needs Manager Liu's approval."
I got angry immediately. "Who's the sales manager here? You should understand that I'm the head of the department."
Seeing me so furious, she said, "Okay, Manager Zhao. I'll take care of it right away."
I sat back down, finally feeling relieved.
But not long after, I couldn't stay still, because at that moment, Xiang Qiufeng suddenly burst into my office.
"Zhao Jian, explain clearly—why are you calling this an absence without leave?"
The damn guy started yelling at me.
I looked at him and said, "Did I approve your leave?"
Before I could finish, Liu Jing rushed into my office and said, "But I already approved it."
It seemed she was here to give me a warning today.
If I didn't stand firm, I might lose this battle right here.