However, the good mood didn’t last long. Sitting on the bus, her cellphone vibrated—it was a call from her mother. 

“Hello, Mom?” 

“Yeah, I’m working late tonight. I just finished and I’m on the bus now.” 

Lu Nan felt that her mother took into consideration that she was in a public place, so she did not vent her anger on her. She just said a few words on the other end of the phone, “Be careful when you are out there and don’t spend money recklessly.” Then she hung up. 

It was a close call, definitely worth celebrating. 

Returning to Xinguang Yipin, Lu Nan felt that the sandwich from earlier wasn’t filling. She hesitated between the noodle shop and the fruit store at the entrance of the community and finally decided to buy a box of small cucumbers from the fruit store. 

Even though she knew she had the special ability to eat without getting full, Lu Nan didn’t want to waste her ability unnecessarily. 

In her understanding, there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Whatever she gained, she must pay an equivalent price for it. 

… 

The new room and the soft mattress allowed Lu Nan to have a good night’s sleep. 

The next day, before the morning meeting started, Lu Nan was called aside by Li Li, the provincial group-buying manager, “Come to my office after the morning meeting.” 

Lu Nan nodded. 

After all, she was at the bottom of the food chain now, with many people above her to report to. Li Li was a potential future boss for her, so she would do whatever Li Li asked. 

After the morning meeting, Chen Lu signaled with her eyes to ask if Lu Nan wanted to go with her. Lu Nan shook her head and quickly typed a message, “Manager Li asked me to find her.” 

Chen Lu quietly nodded to Lu Nan and gestured with a fist before she departed. She needed to go to Green Trading to collect payments, which meant another day of sitting on the bench. She had initially wanted to bring Lu Nan along for company, but now she would have to endure the “hospitality” of the Green Trading people alone. 

… 

The office door was open. Lu Nan called out from the doorway, “Manager Li, Manager Zhou.” They shared an office. 

After getting permission, she walked in. 

Li Li said to Zhou Tian, “Shall I start first?” 

Zhou smiled and said, “Sister Li, your professional knowledge is solid, you go ahead. I’ve scheduled a meeting with a client, so I have to head out. Oh, Lu Nan, I have a small tasting event tonight. You will come with me. Meet me at the office at four in the afternoon.” 

“Okay, Manager Zhou.” 

As Zhou Tian left, she closed the office door behind her. 

Li Li said to Lu Nan, “Come, have a seat first.” 

Their office had a small projector. Li Li skillfully connected her laptop to it, projecting a PowerPoint presentation. Seeing Lu Nan holding a notebook and pen, she nodded slightly. “The office has been very busy lately, and none of the other newcomers who started with you have arrived yet, so we haven’t conducted your orientation training. I heard from Wu Fang that you asked her for many of the company’s internal publications and magazines? Being proactive in learning is a good thing.” 

Lu Nan smiled faintly and lowered her head. 

“This morning, I will give you a detailed explanation of the brand culture and development history of Yuan Chuan Group. This afternoon, I have to visit the president of the Lishui Chamber of Commerce, and you will come with me.” Li Li quickly arranged the day’s schedule, “So let’s get started.” 

Objectively speaking, Li Li’s level of presenting PPTs is quite average; she simply reads from the script. Moreover, all the content she presented was something Lu Nan had already seen in internal publications and magazines. 

However, Lu Nan still listened attentively. 

Pretending to be obedient can avoid many troubles and fits well with her plan of coasting along, so why not do it? Besides, even though Li Li hasn’t been at Yuan Chuan for long, she has many years of experience in the beverage industry, so her advice is still valuable. 

Li Li spoke for more than an hour and asked a few questions randomly in between. Lu Nan answered all of them without any hesitation. 

It was evident that Li Li was somewhat satisfied—just a little bit. 

To be a good group purchase manager, theoretical knowledge alone is not enough; practical skills are more important. Li Li couldn’t yet judge how well this newcomer would perform in practice.  

I hope she can endure. After all, right now, in the entire Qijiang Province, only Zhou Tian and I are provincial group purchase managers. Among our subordinates, due to transfers or resignations, only Liu Yang, Chen Lu, Sasha, and Wang Xiaoxue are left. Wang Xiaoxue is still too inexperienced to handle things independently. Sigh, the group purchase department is really short of people… I also hope we can pick out a few useful ones from the girls transferring in from other places in a few days. 

It was almost lunchtime, and Li Li said to Lu Nan, “Let’s go. I’ll take you to the fast food restaurant downstairs for a quick meal.” 

Lu Nan wanted to decline out of politeness, but Li Li clearly didn’t want to waste time on formalities. “No need to be so polite. We’ll eat and rest for a while, and then head out at 1:30 PM.” 

… 

Li Li drove a white Chevrolet. Lu Nan sat in the passenger seat, buckled up, and thought to herself, having a car is really convenient. Stop! Don’t think about it! Prioritize what’s important and spend money wisely. 

In less than half an hour, they arrived at the office of the Lishui Chamber of Commerce in Hailin City. 

Li Li opened the trunk, which contained several gift bags. 

Lu Nan proactively asked, “Manager Li, what should we take upstairs?” 

“Take these two bags,” Li Li explained. “They contain small bottles of the 10th year Yuan Chuan Classic Wine, ‘Sea and Lofty Feelings’. Today, we’re here to strengthen our customer relationships. Simple gifts like these are sufficient; there’s no need for anything expensive.” 

Lu Nan nodded to show she understood. 

At the entrance of the Chamber of Commerce, the secretary warmly welcomed Li Li, “Sister Li, President Wu mentioned you would be coming today…” 

It was clear that Li Li was well acquainted with the people at the Lishui Chamber of Commerce. 

Of course, Lu Nan actually knew even a bit more—Li Li was from the north, and her husband was from Lishui, so she had a natural advantage in establishing connections with the Lishui Chamber of Commerce. However, it was not easy to determine how strong this relationship was and how useful it would be in a short period of time. That’s why, while Li Li was maintaining client relations for the company, she was also nurturing her personal connections. Comparatively, the latter was her primary goal. 

Lu Nan wasn’t implying that Li Li was misusing company resources or looking down on the group purchase relationships at the Chamber of Commerce level. This conclusion was drawn objectively. 

First, Lishui City is a relatively underdeveloped prefecture-level city in the Qijiang Province. As a provincial group purchase manager, Li Li can assist provincial distributors in stocking Lishui, but she cannot cross city boundaries (regardless of whether she has the ability to do so). She currently belongs to the Hailin City office, so extending into Lishui would be overstepping her bounds and would count as unauthorized distribution. 

Second, the Chamber of Commerce mainly uses wine for two purposes—gifts and personal use. Judging by the pricing of Yuan Chuan Classic Wine, the Lishui Chamber of Commerce would not typically consider purchasing it for personal consumption. 

Third, as far as I know, Lishui has two well-known local wines: Shexiang Red Wine and Lishui Wei Wine. Local people have high brand loyalty to these local wines, which is one of the reasons Yuan Chuan Wine has not gained a foothold in Lishui. 

Combining the second point, the people at the Lishui Chamber of Commerce would most likely choose locally representative wines for gifts rather than Yuan Chuan’s wine. 

Just as Lu Nan was about to delve deeper into her analysis, Li Li called her name, snapping her back to reality. She handed the gift bag to Li Li. 

Watching Li Li open the gift box and display the two crescent-shaped boxes, each containing a 200ml miniature bottle of ‘Sea and Lofty Feelings’, Lu Nan instinctively adjusted her posture and expression. She was prepared to play her role as a semi-invisible, supportive companion.