Listening to Sasha, she shared her thoughts on Chen Xiao’s identity, and in the end, Lu Nan reminded her, “Although this news won’t stay hidden for long, let’s not spread it around just yet.” 

Sasha nodded. “I understand, I understand. Where the news came from doesn’t matter. What’s important is that it doesn’t come from either of us. By the way, when did you say you were planning to go to Hua’an?” 

“At the end of this month or the beginning of next month. Why?” 

“Nothing, just thinking that I need to prepare a ‘big gift’ for you.” Sasha teased, unwilling to reveal what the gift was. 

Lu Nan thought for a moment. Now that she’s been promoted and getting a salary raise, her monthly loan repayment burden has significantly reduced, and she doesn’t have to worry about the price of Sasha’s gift being too high to reciprocate equally. So, she held back her curiosity and waited for the surprise later. 

“By the way, Liu Yang was transferred to Hua’an in July, right? Have you inquired about the local situation?” Sasha suddenly remembered. 

Lu Nan shook her head. “No need. We can meet directly and talk once I’m there.” 

“True. Liu Yang was always the type to just go with the flow when she was at the city office. Now that she’s in Hua’an, far from the capital… If you ask her about the local market conditions, she probably wouldn’t be able to answer anyway.” Sasha picked up a piece of braised pork and put it on Lu Nan’s plate. “You’ll have plenty to worry about by then. For now, eat more. You seem to have lost some weight again.” 

Lu Nan helplessly said, “You sound just like my mom.” 

“Hey, are you complaining that I’m nagging? Speaking of which, how’s your mom doing lately?” After giving Lu Nan a piece of braised pork, Sasha helped herself to a piece, popping it into her mouth, savoring it with a contented sigh. 

“Business is doing well, and international clients’ shipments are stable. She plans to diversify the products and has registered an account on a cross-border platform. A while ago, she went to Wucheng to find some suppliers. Now she’s busy taking product photos and uploading them. I suggested she go find Feixiang’s Pei Xuedong to take the photos professionally, much more cost-effective than buying a DSLR herself. With things going like this, she’ll definitely need to hire someone by the start of the year.” Lu Nan briefly explained. “On the personal side, she’s busier than ever, learning new things, and every two weeks, she needs to go back to check on my younger brother’s life and studies. The other day, she asked me if it’s hard to get a driver’s license these days.” 

Hearing this, Sasha remembered going to Wanghai City for a semi-annual meeting last year and couldn’t help but laugh, “Your family’s motion sickness must be hereditary, huh? Wucheng? If Auntie often goes there, she could visit you in Hua’an every now and then!” 

Wucheng is a county-level city under Hua’an, with a thriving small goods economy. 

“Let her come if she wants. I’m not expecting her to suddenly lose her controlling nature over me. I can only say that once she’s busy, she won’t have time to bother me as much.” Lu Nan shrugged. “And if this pushes her to get a driver’s license, it’s not a bad thing.” Lu Nan laid out her plans for Ms. Huang clearly. 

Sasha admired her. “You’re so strict with your mom. I should learn from you. Maybe I’ll get my mom to get some kind of certificate. I feel like she’s been going through menopause lately… sigh.” 

Finally, Sasha reminded her, “Do you have any hangover medicine? Tonight, probably a lot of city managers will come and test you. Make sure to take the medicine before eating!” 

It’s such a pity that Sasha didn’t win over Chen Xiao. They always seem to think alike. What great chemistry! While playing with her phone, Lu Nan saw a similar message from Chen Xiao and smiled at Sasha. She then typed a reply to Chen Xiao: ‘Thanks for the reminder, Brother Xiao.’ 

… 

In the afternoon, the weekly meeting at the Hailin City office had nothing to do with Lu Nan anymore, so after chatting with Sasha, she went back to her dorm to relax. 

She had already finished writing the outline for her new novel, and the character settings were all in place, but she still hadn’t started writing the beginning. 

Having earned several thousand in manuscript fees from a fast-paced web novel before, Lu Nan admitted that she liked taking shortcuts. 

So, when she first conceived the idea for her new novel, it was based on a story she had published in her past life, thinking it would save her some effort. 

But even with her excellent memory, she couldn’t rewrite a 400,000-500,000-word novel word for word. 

Moreover, her mindset had completely changed after her rebirth, and what was once a tragic story had turned into a happy ending after she revised the outline. 

Lu Nan had to admit that a person’s energy is limited. In her past life, she managed to make a small achievement with writing because she had more free time to focus on it. 

But now, once she went to Hua’an, she could foresee how busy she would be. 

It would be hard to balance writing with her main job. 

For her, balancing a full-time job and a side job would require compromise. 

Looking at the screen of her laptop, watching the blinking cursor, Lu Nan couldn’t help but smile wryly: I overestimated my abilities and energy. 

But to ask her to completely give up writing web novels was out of the question. 

Writing wasn’t just a hobby for her; it was also the strength that helped her crawl out of the mud in her past life. 

Finally, Lu Nan gritted her teeth and thought: Isn’t this just a question of choosing between fish and bear’s paw? I’m greedy, I want both. So… I’ll stockpile some chapters and keep posting them. 

Determined, Lu Nan wrote three chapters in the afternoon, and by the time her phone alarm went off, she had already written the beginning of the fourth chapter. 

She checked the time—it was already 4:30 PM. 

He Manlin had said in the group chat that dinner would be at 5:00 PM. 

Lu Nan stood up, stretched her back, changed her clothes, and took a taxi to Zui Qian Wei. 

Tonight, in addition to dinner, there will certainly be a second half of the event, so there’s no need to drive. 

When Lu Nan arrived, it wasn’t too early or too late, and not everyone had arrived yet. So, she walked over to Chen Lu, who had arrived earlier. The two of them sat on the sofa and chatted casually, talking about clothes, skincare, and similar topics. 

They then mentioned Zhou Tian, who had already completed her resignation procedures, and Chen Lu had fully taken on the responsibility. 

Lu Nan half-jokingly said, “For Weigou, Sister Lu, you’ll need to take care of things more.” 

Chen Lu smiled awkwardly. “Lu Nan, don’t joke with me.” 

“I’m serious. President Huang isn’t very good at social occasions. Although there’s no funding support from the municipal office, if sales improve later, Old Wang, to maintain customer relationships, will probably invite her to a few dinners. So, for the city office, the liaison will be… Hong Danni, right?” Lu Nan asked. “She hasn’t handled distributors before, so I thought it would be better for you, Sister Lu, to pay more attention.” 

Chen Lu nodded. Although she had been promoted, she was still facing the issue of not having distributors, and her only subordinate, Hong Danni, was somewhat soft-hearted. It was almost like she was running the office alone, and she felt quite helpless. 

Seeing Chen Lu’s helplessness, Lu Nan patted her hand reassuringly, “It’s okay, the toughest problems have been solved. This year’s Harmony wine business will go much more smoothly than last year. There will probably be people who want overseas distribution rights after seeing Weigou.” 

Chen Lu softly said, “Ah?” She thought Lu Nan was asking her to pay attention to potential “threatening customers.” “Should I keep an eye out for you?” 

Seeing that Chen Lu had misunderstood, Lu Nan immediately clarified her meaning. “No, no, Sister Lu, you misunderstood me. The overseas market is huge. It’s already pretty good if Weigou can do well in just those two states in the US. As for the distribution rights in other areas, let them go. That’s something for headquarters to consider. You don’t need to worry about it for me. What I meant was, people who want to sign overseas distribution rights—Old Wang will probably ‘trick’ them a bit, asking them to also take on shares in Hailin City. With each company putting in five hundred thousand to a million, accumulating three or four of them, he won’t have to worry about finding Harmony distributors this year. Just, if I’m right, then your department will probably have a heavy workload this year. Things will be messy and tedious. You’d better be mentally prepared.” 

Chen Lu breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “It’s fine, I don’t mind being busy. It’s better than being idle and bothering the leadership.” 

“True,” Lu Nan laughed. “Director Wu seems to be very efficient, so I expect there will be many big moves from the provincial office this year.” 

At that moment, Li Li arrived and asked, “What are you two beautiful ladies talking about?” 

Chen Lu glanced at Lu Nan and said, “Just now, Lu Nan was saying that the store she often buys clothes from is having an event, with winter items on sale, and I’m planning to check it out tomorrow.” 

Lu Nan nodded from the side. 

Xu Yao walked over and asked, “Which store is it? I wanted to ask last time, but Lu Nan, that camel-colored coat with the toggle buttons looks great! Where did you buy it? Was it expensive?” 

When Lu Nan mentioned the coat, she couldn’t help but laugh, then replied to Xu Yao, “I bought it in summer as off-season stock, and it was under four hundred after the discount.” This was the truth; it was also the first time she and Sasha went to Luna, and she even paid with a credit card. 

“Wow! That’s so affordable!” Xu Yao was shocked, thinking it would cost at least 1500 or more. 

Li Li was also interested, because deep down, she liked Lu Nan’s fashion sense, though she had once secretly criticized young girls for being extravagant with their clothing purchases… ahem, past matters. 

The women gathered around Lu Nan, asking for the address of Luna, and they made plans to go check it out the next day. 

Lu Nan added, “If you mention my phone number, you can use my membership discount. But I think, if you all like the style of the store, you should get a membership yourself because the accumulated points can be used for discounts. Just, my friend isn’t working there anymore, so I’ll need to give them a heads-up and have her arrange the best discount for you under her name.” As she spoke, she took out her phone and texted You Xiafei. The reply came quickly with an ‘OK’, and that was settled. 

Lu Nan was straightforward and honest, different from those who make empty promises but forget them later. She promised help with getting discounts and did it on the spot. 

Even someone like Xu Yao, who could be quite “calculating” due to her job, felt Lu Nan was forthright and trustworthy. 

Thanks to this conversation and action, Lu Nan successfully earned more than 5% of the favorability from the female staff at the provincial office. 

That evening, Wu Chuan invited all the city managers and provincial office staff. Two tables were enough. 

Soon, everyone had arrived, and Wu Chuan told everyone to sit casually. Lu Nan and Chen Lu exchanged glances and sat at Wu Chuan’s table. 

Since they were going to drink anyway, it was obviously better to drink in front of the leader. 

Before the meal began, Wu Chuan said, “Tonight’s dinner is for two reasons: one, to get to know each other better, since we’ll be working together on the performance of Qianjiang Province in the future; two, to send off Manager Chen and wish him great success when he returns to the headquarters!” 

The crowd naturally cheered, and the atmosphere was quite lively. 

At the table, Wu Chuan never forced anyone to drink. But the city managers had clearly changed from the old habits formed under Xiang Yunfeng’s leadership. 

One by one, they went up to toast Wu Chuan, and of course, they had to say, “I’ll finish mine, you drink as you please.” 

Wu Chuan said seriously, “If you want to drink, then drink. If you want to take it easy, then take it easy.” 

Everyone had no choice but to keep an eye on Wu Chuan, trying to drink just a little more than him. 

After this round, Chen Xiao, who had been promoted, also couldn’t avoid being congratulated. Fortunately, with Wu Chuan leading the way, Chen Xiao casually said, “The intention is what matters.” 

No one dared force Wu Chuan or Chen Xiao to drink, but the words Pan Sasha and Chen Xiao had said to Lu Nan at lunch came true like a prophecy.