Chapter 154: Chapter 153: The Old Fox Pays a New Year Visit (Part 1)
Ever since Zhao Meimei started attending tutoring classes, everyone’s life around her changed dramatically.
Shi Yang, after promising to take Zhao Meimei home, waited every day without fail, rain or shine, at the entrance of the tutoring class. Zhao Meimei always rushed out just on time. Over time, everyone in the class, from teachers to classmates, knew that Zhao Meimei had to leave at that time due to family matters.
Zhang Zhao teased Zhao Meimei more than once, saying, "Are you Cinderella? If you’re late, your true form will be revealed."
Zhao Meimei would always slightly raise her thin eyelids, giving a glance full of sweet happiness that was beyond words.
To accommodate Zhao Meimei’s schedule, Shi Yang’s mother advanced dinner to four-thirty in the afternoon, and then at nine in the evening, accompanied Zhao Meimei for a delicate late-night snack, mostly light porridge made from mixed grains and stir-fried vegetables.
Zhao Dazhuang and Liu Xiue phoned once a week, usually selecting a weekend evening.
Zhao Meimei’s grandmother’s surgery was very successful, but with the frequent chemotherapy sessions, her body couldn’t handle it, and her spirits were declining daily. Liu Xiue choked with emotion when talking to Shi Yang’s mother on the phone, fearing the old lady might not make it through the summer.
Everyone knew about this, except Zhao Meimei, mainly to prevent affecting her mood and hindering her studies.
Meanwhile, Shi Yang’s father pulled some strings to help transfer Zhao Meimei’s family’s grocery store. The store, along with its stock, sold for twelve thousand, which was considered a good price.
Everything was gradually settling with the passage of time, except for the issue of Shi Yang’s rental of a mall booth, which remained stuck due to the large lease area and high risk, with no approval in sight.
Shi Yang had explored all avenues, but he couldn’t manage the final step ashore. He was so anxious that his mouth was covered with sores, especially with the notice that the women’s clothing section of the mall was being adjusted. If they couldn’t finalize the deal, the past six months would essentially be a waste.
During this period, Li Shuren specially came over from the provincial city. At a dinner introduced by Shi Yang, he met President Zhang. After a brief chat, he later told Shi Yang to give up and switch to another mall.
Shi Yang actually understood, but he just couldn’t let go. After all, the shade under a big tree is comfortable. Why could others enjoy it while he had to endure the harsh sun? In essence, it was just unwillingness to give up.
Shi Yang drove Li Shuren to the kindergarten on the west side of the city, which was the fourth business Qu Chaozong took over.
The business of installing Naughty Castles in major kindergartens had gradually gotten on track. Qu Chaozong himself carried a laptop every day, containing the complete model drawings from three previous installations, from iron frame setup to the finished product, along with images of all kindergarten supplies.
The portfolio of Qu Chaozong was made by Shi Yang after three days of hard work, featuring 3D graphics that looked even prettier than the actual items.
With this, when Qu Chaozong went door-to-door researching installation matters for kindergartens, it saved a lot of explanation. The other party could understand at a glance from flipping through the album and decide themselves what type of Naughty Castle they wanted, while also selling some kindergarten supplies alongside.
The late April weather was warm and chilly, cold in the mornings and evenings, but you could occasionally see a few young people in the city center wearing T-shirts at noon when the sun was high.
When Shi Yang drove Li Shuren to the kindergarten in the west city, Qu Chaozong was in a hoodie and jeans, dressed in a hip-hop style, squatting in the kindergarten yard with several workers and young teachers, munching on cold snacks.
From one to three in the afternoon at the kindergarten was nap time for the little ones, requiring silence, making this the break time for installing the Naughty Castle.
Qu Chaozong, with his ordinary appearance, immediately stood out so handsome and swanky when squatting among the untidily dressed workers. His every move added a touch of gracefulness and charm.
The children’s naptime was overseen by their class’s teachers. Meanwhile, the other trainee teachers, having nothing to do, gathered in the courtyard, teasingly chatting with Qu Chaozong.
Qu Chaozong was naturally chatty; whatever he said was more interesting than others, making the young teachers fond of him, calling him Brother Qu in sweet and enthusiastic tones.
Facing the kindergarten’s main entrance, Qu Chaozong immediately jumped up and went over when he saw Shi Yang’s car.
For the installation of the Naughty Castles, Qu Chaozong was the expert. He accompanied Li Shuren to look at the semifinished products in the park, then went through the completed pictures on his laptop with him, listened to Li Shuren’s advice, asked about the current issues, and didn’t forget to mention the defective parts that were returned to the warehouse for fixing. Li Shuren agreed to handle it promptly, which finally satisfied Qu Chaozong.
With Qu Chaozong in charge on that end, Shi Yang, who was not a professional, proactively went to buy water, bread, and sausages for the workers as refreshments, chatted warmly with everyone to get a sense of their temperaments, and then during the farewell dinner for Li Shuren that evening, the three of them shut the private room door, and Li Shuren repeated to Qu Chaozong the advice he previously gave Shi Yang.
Li Shuren had monopolized the business of opening Naughty Castles in malls in the provincial capital, opening the second chain store within less than half a year. He wanted to let others operate the installation business while he earned a commission from it, and the first person he had in mind was Shi Yang.
The reason was partly that Shi Yang was a good person and got along well with him, but more critically, it seemed unlikely that Shi Yang’s mall Naughty Castle project would succeed, so he could focus on the installation business, becoming Li Shuren’s subordinate and earning commissions from him. Moreover, Li Shuren controlled the supply chain and gradually seized the sales channels.
When Li Shuren first mentioned this to Shi Yang, Shi Yang immediately understood. After careful consideration, he realized this was all to his advantage. Even though he would earn less commission with Li Shuren in charge, on the flip side, all the worries would be borne by Li Shuren, truly an example of more work bringing more pay!
Shi Yang did not explicitly express his position at the time. Since getting involved with software development in college, he might not have had a smooth ride, but he always managed to overcome challenges and ultimately succeeded.
After several transitions, Shi Yang’s ambition grew daily. Through Li Shuren, he seemed to foresee the coming of his golden era.