After work, Yang Hui walked out of his office.
He glanced outside and saw that everyone but Yang Na was huddled together. The moment they spotted him, they fell silent and quickly dispersed.
He chuckled to himself. 'They must be getting ready to go to Fang Zheng's celebration dinner.'
He feigned ignorance, went downstairs, and hailed a cab to attend Zhang Chun's dinner party.
"Did you guys see the look on the boss's face? He seemed pretty down."
"Yeah, I went to see him this afternoon and he seemed really out of sorts."
"He's never gotten along with Manager Fang. I bet he's having a hard time accepting that he'll have to report to him now."
"What's so hard to accept? We were his seniors when he first joined the company, and in the end, we had to accept him being our boss, didn't we?"
"But our boss really is something else. He could close deals with malls we could never get, and he'd do it with ease."
"Sigh… let's not talk about it. We should get going. It looks like the other department managers are already preparing to leave."
Yang Na was packing up her things, also getting ready to leave for the day, when a colleague asked, "Yang Na, are you really not going tonight?"
"No, I have things to do at home."
"Be careful. He might make things difficult for you later."
"What's there to be afraid of? If the shoe is too small, I'll just get a new pair. I can't exactly bind my feet just to make them fit, can I?"
This wasn't Yang Hui's first time at the Qin Residence private kitchen.
However, he had only ever come at Zhang Chun's invitation. The bill here averaged 998 yuan per person, a price far beyond the reach of a salaried employee like him, who only made ten thousand a month.
The Qin Residence wasn't far from the Ruijing Trading Co., Ltd. office. The roads weren't congested today, so the cab ride took less than half an hour.
A waiter led him to private room 999. Zhang Chun hadn't arrived yet.
Inside the room were two guests he didn't recognize. One was a sharp-looking, square-jawed man in his forties.
The other looked to be in his fifties. Parts of his hair had already turned white, but his eyes were incredibly sharp, as if they could peer into the depths of a person's soul.
Seeing a young man in his early twenties walk in, both men looked over at the same time.
"Hello."
He smiled and nodded in greeting.
In terms of age, they were both his elders.
"Young man, are you with President Zhang?"
It was the man in his fifties who spoke. They assumed Yang Hui was President Zhang's assistant or something of the sort, sent to get things ready beforehand.
"I was invited to the dinner by President Zhang."
The two men exchanged a glance, surprise evident in their eyes. The guests tonight were all heavyweights in the business world. How could a young man like this be here?
The business world was only so big; the titans of industry all knew each other. They had never heard of any new rising star in his early twenties.
"And you are? What project are you in charge of?"
"My name is Yang Hui. I'm the operations manager at Ruijing Trading Co., Ltd."
Ruijing Commerce?
They knew of the company. It was an insignificant little firm whose national annual sales amounted to less than four billion. A single branch probably only handled one or two hundred million in business.
The key thing was, this young man wasn't even a regional general manager, just a department head.
Both men were puzzled as to how he ended up at a gathering like this. But since he was Zhang Chun's guest, they wouldn't let their disdain show on their faces, even if they looked down on him in their hearts.
They simply excluded Yang Hui from the conversation that followed.
Yang Hui took out his phone and started scrolling through the news, checking out the latest fashion trends.
A short while later, a fair, plump man in his forties came in. "A Hui, you're already here," he said the moment he entered the room.
Then he nodded to the other two men in the room. "President Li, President Wang."
The two men in the room quickly stood up to greet him.
"President Tian."
The portly President Tian gestured for them to sit. "Please, have a seat. President Zhang will be here shortly."
Then he turned to Yang Hui with concern. "You're here so early. Didn't President Zhang say he was going to swing by your office and give you a ride?"
Hearing this, President Li and President Wang couldn't help but look over.
'President Zhang was going to pick up a department manager from some small company?'
'Could he be the son of some important figure? But his clothes don't look the part.'
"I sent President Zhang a message. It was more convenient for me to come on my own, so I told him not to make the detour."
"Ah, have you met these two gentlemen?"
The atmosphere turned a little awkward. Only Yang Hui had introduced himself. Afterwards, President Li and President Wang, not thinking much of him, hadn't bothered to introduce themselves.
Then again, it was also Yang Hui's fault for not asking.
Slightly displeased, President Tian pointed at the man in his forties. "This is Wang Qing, President Wang, the chairman of Yida Department Store. Your Ruijing Commerce has worked with them as well."
'We did have a partnership,' Yang Hui thought, 'but only with one store left now.'
Ruijing Commerce dealt in leather goods, a category that no longer sold well in department stores. This was partly because department stores had lost their customer traffic, with consumers now preferring one-stop shopping at large commercial complexes.
But Yida Department Store had once been quite famous in Qingzhou, and even throughout all of Qingjiang Province. It was a local Qingjiang Province chain with nearly twenty locations.
President Wang must have been a mover and shaker in his heyday. But now, with the decline of department stores, he couldn't compare to his former self, and his stature was a notch below President Tian's.
President Tian was the regional general manager for Xinyue Commercial Real Estate in Qingjiang Province. He managed twenty-one Xinyue Square locations, making him the top commercial tycoon in Qingjiang and a trusted subordinate of Zhang Chun.
President Tian then introduced the man in his fifties. "This is a peer of yours in the industry, Li Yang, President Li, the owner of Futong Trading Co., Ltd. He's the agent for many brands in Qingjiang, dealing in high-end business menswear, streetwear, and outdoor and athletic brands. He's also a major client of ours."
Li Yang quickly offered a few humble remarks.
Yang Hui had, of course, heard of Futong Commerce. It was considered one of the top two companies in Qingjiang's retail sector, with provincial sales approaching two billion.
Ruijing Commerce's national sales were only four billion.
In Qingjiang, the Ruijing Commerce branch wasn't even worthy of shining Futong Commerce's shoes; they were in completely different leagues.
'So they really are all heavyweights,' he thought.
"This here is Yang Hui, President Zhang's little brother. And that's not just a casual title—President Zhang has never cared for even his own biological brother this much."
As soon as he said this, President Li and President Wang's estimation of Yang Hui instantly skyrocketed.
Who was Zhang Chun? He was a man who managed over 100 commercial plazas with an annual sales volume exceeding 150 billion.
President Li and President Wang might be local tycoons, but they wouldn't even dare to speak loudly in front of Zhang Chun.
"Little Brother, you should come by my office for tea sometime. We can also talk about the partnership between Ruijing and Yida Department Store and see how we can deepen our cooperation."
"Little Brother, you should visit me at Futong Company when you have a chance. We're all in the retail world; we can exchange some notes."
The sound of footsteps echoed from outside again, the rhythmic TAP, TAP, TAP of leather shoes on the tile floor.
"That must be President Zhang."
President Tian was the first to rise, and the others all followed suit.
The door to the private room swung open, and in walked a man of about forty. He wore a navy-blue suit, his posture ramrod straight, and he carried himself with a distinct military air.
"A Hui."