Chapter 9

Nearly two hours passed before her friend request was finally accepted.

Wei Lai: [Are you here?]

After sending the message, she realized she forgot to address him as Mr. Zhou. Her tone was casual, but retracting the message would seem too deliberate, so she left it as is.

Zhou Sujin replied: [Hmm.]

Wei Lai: [I might go to Beijing in a while and would like to invite you to dinner.] It wasn’t a “might,” she was definitely going, specifically to thank him.

Zhou Sujin didn’t give her a definite answer, only replied with a “we’ll see.” Wei Lai wasn’t sure if it was an agreement or a polite refusal; his thoughts sometimes eluded her understanding.

Unable to pursue it further, she ended the conversation.

[Mr. Zhou, you’re busy.]

Zhou Sujin didn’t reply.

The incident with Zhang Yanxin being beaten up and He Wancheng handling the aftermath was silently acknowledged between them; neither mentioned it.

Putting away her phone, Wei Lai drove to her mother’s office in Cullinan.

The scent in the car resembled that of Zhou Sujin, fresh and cold, as if he were sitting right next to her.

“Mom, I’m at the office, coming to find you.” She sent a voice message to her mother.

In the half-hour at the café, she had already decided what to do.

Her mother quickly replied:

“I’m here. Come over.”

Turning left, less than two hundred meters ahead was the largest of Wei Lai’s supermarkets. The first floor was the supermarket, and the second floor housed the management team’s offices.

Wei Lai had asked her mother before how they came up with the name for the supermarket.

Her mother said they couldn’t think of a nice-sounding and memorable name for the supermarket, so they simply named it Wei Lai, aiming to make it a century-old shop and pass it down through generations.

Considering the time was about right, Cheng Minzhi walked to the office window to wait for her daughter. The deep teal car was quite distinctive, catching her attention; there were only a few cars as expensive as that in the whole city.

The car door opened, and the person who stepped out was her daughter, confirming her sight, she hadn’t mistaken.

“Lai Lai.” She waved to her daughter through the window.

Wei Lai looked up, shielding her eyes from the sun, and pointed to the stairs. “I’ll be up in a moment.”

She quickly went upstairs.

“Did Zhang Yanxin buy another car?” Cheng Minzhi placed the prepared fruits in front of her daughter.

Wei Lei sat down on the sofa, picked up a peeled grape and put it in her mouth. On the way there, she had decided to confess to her mother: “I don’t know if he bought a new car recently; we’ve broken up. The car belongs to a friend, lent to me to drive around.”

Wei Lai sat facing the cabinet-style air conditioner vent. Concerned that her daughter might feel uncomfortable from the cold air, Cheng Minzhi adjusted the vent upwards. When she heard her daughter mention the breakup, her hand suddenly paused.

Last month, her daughter told her she wanted to get married next year and even showed her the engagement ring she liked, asking if it looked good.

“Why did you break up? Can you tell Mom about it?” 

“He fell out of love. He chose someone from a similar background to marry.” Wei Lai’s tone was brisk, as if she were talking about someone else’s affairs. “I wasn’t planning on telling you initially, to spare you worry. But if I’m going to be with you every day in the future, hiding it wouldn’t work, so I might as well come clean.”

She popped another grape into her mouth. “Sweet.”

“What do you mean? What do you mean by being together with me every day?” Cheng Minzhi quickly sat down beside her daughter, grabbed the fruit fork from her daughter’s hand, both helpless and anxious. “You, this child, wait to eat, half the words are anxious to death.”

Wei Lai smiled. “You told me to eat fruits, now you’re blaming me.”

“Don’t keep me in suspense!” Cheng Minzhi pretended to pout at her.

“I quit my job. I plan to come and help you expand the supermarket. It’s better to work for my own mom than for others, and while working, I can sneak in some fishing.” 

“You… you’re coming to the supermarket?” Cheng Minzhi looked at her daughter incredulously, her mouth widening in happiness.

She had thought about handing over the supermarket to her daughter to manage, but she didn’t want to impose her own wishes on her child, so she never revealed even a hint of her thoughts.

“You can fish as much as you want, as long as you come, Mom will be satisfied.”

Wei Lai joked about fishing and idling away her time, but regarding the supermarket, she had her own plans. She talked to her mother about some of her initial ideas.

She wanted to transform the supermarket into a new type of community chain store. In addition to introducing intelligent business models, she also wanted to allocate a certain percentage of space at the exit of each supermarket to create a free library and introduce a chain of tea drinks.

“The space of the supermarket won’t be greatly reduced, I’ll find a professional designer to design it.”

She personally enjoyed reading books but lived far from the library, sometimes feeling too lazy to go. The format of a free library combined with a study room, located near residential areas, would definitely be in demand.

The book bar would have a separate glass door entrance and exit from the supermarket, so there would be no worry about the noise from the supermarket affecting the book bar. She had already arranged for soundproofing.

When she broke up with Zhang Yanxin, she was thinking about what to do with the breakup fee. She wanted to do something that could earn money for her and help others, and a free library plus a free study room was the best idea she could think of. She wanted to make the free library a hallmark of Wei Lai’s supermarket.

“Mom, didn’t you say some time ago that if you were ten years younger, you would want to redecorate the entire supermarket and change its style? You don’t have the energy, but I do.”

Actually, she understood. It wasn’t that her mother lacked the ability; she wanted to save more money for her. Investing all the money in the supermarket would take too long to pay off, and there was a possibility it might not pay off at all.

So her mother didn’t dare to take risks again.

Cheng Minzhi reached out and hugged her daughter. Many of her daughter’s ideas coincided with hers, “After all, it’s me who gave birth to you,” she said, then kissed her daughter again.

“Oh right, Mom, I also plan to open more stores.”

“How many are you aiming for?”

Wei Lai said seriously, “The goal is to open a hundred stores in Jiangcheng, making it the largest chain supermarket in Jiangcheng and striving to enter the top twenty national chain supermarkets.”

Cheng Minzhi handed the fruit fork to her daughter and asked with a smile, “To enter the top twenty national chain supermarkets, do you know that the annual revenue needs to exceed tens of billions?”

“I know.” Wei Lai took the fruit fork and continued eating grapes. “Being in the top twenty is the ultimate goal of my life. People always need something to look forward to. In the next few years, my goal is to strive to make it to the top hundred, even if I’m at the bottom of the list.”

Cheng Minzhi’s business philosophy was about stability, so she had been deeply rooted in this industry for twenty-five years and had only fifteen stores, each with stable revenue. She understood her daughter’s thoughts; after all, she was in Beijing and wouldn’t be as conservative as she was.

“Mom, I won’t blindly expand the stores. I’ll first seek stability. I’ll finance the opening of new stores without touching your savings.”

“Financing is too difficult.”

“Not for me.”

Actually, it was difficult too, but she was used to reporting only good news to her mother, not worries.

Apart from design and decoration, she still needed funds to open new stores, and the money she had on hand was simply not enough. Since she was going to finance, Wei Lai didn’t mention the breakup fee in front of her mother.

After eating half of the fruit platter, Wei Lai put down the fruit fork. “Mom, you’re busy. I’ll go home and cook for you.”

“Eating at home tonight?”

“Yeah, to keep you company.”

“What a good day today is, I’ll buy a few lottery tickets after work.”

“I’ll cook for you often in the future.” Wei Lai smiled, waved, and left.

Her cooking skills were good, and satisfying hunger was not a problem, during her studies abroad, she spent half of her time eating out and the other half cooking for herself, from zero to mastery.

Her daughter had already walked to the corridor outside, and Cheng Minzhi suddenly remembered, “Lai Lai, buy some groceries on your way back, there’s only beef in the fridge!”

“Okay, I’ll buy some snacks too.” Wei Lai went to browse the supermarket on the first floor.

Snacks, vegetables, and various meats, she bought two large bags, but her favorite snacks from Leman were out of stock. She heard from the staff that they had been out of stock for a while.

Back at home, Wei Lai tied an apron around her waist and busied herself in the kitchen.

Steam rose from the steamer with fish, the fragrance of scallion oil wafted from the frying pan, and the exhaust hood hummed. The deserted home suddenly felt lively with the long-lost atmosphere of cooking.

As she was busy cooking, her phone was in the living room, missing four missed calls until the landline rang. The landline was loud enough that even with the kitchen door closed, she could hear it.

Wei Lai wiped her hands on her apron, picked up the landline, thinking it was her mother.

“Hello, Mom.”

“Lai Lai, it’s me.”

“Dad, why didn’t you call my cellphone?”

“You still need to answer, I called four times.” Unable to get through, he called his ex-wife, only to find out where their daughter was staying.

“I was just in the kitchen and didn’t hear it.” Wei Lai was worried that the food in the pot would burn, “Dad, I’ll call you back on my cellphone.”

She hung up the landline and picked up her cellphone to return to the kitchen.

With one hand holding the phone, Wei Lai asked her father what was the matter, and with the other hand, she lifted the lid of the pot and stirred the vegetables in the pan.

Wei Huatian learned about the incident with Yuan Hengrui hitting someone. That kid was impulsive and rash in doing things. “Yuan Hengrui didn’t do anything to you, did he?”

“No.” Honestly, Yuan Hengrui had always restrained himself in front of her. He was most afraid of her getting angry.

“That’s good.” Wei Huatian finally let go of his worried heart, took off his glasses, and rubbed his brow heavily.

Wei Lai’s father asked her upon hearing the sound of the spatula hitting the pot, “What dishes did you make?”

Wei Lai told her father that she made two meat dishes, two vegetarian dishes, and a soup.

Wei Huatian: “Dad hasn’t tasted the dishes you made yet.”

Wei Lai paused for a moment and said, “Next time I’ll make some for you.”

After she grew up, she rarely visited her father’s new home, and when she did, she would only stay for a short while before leaving. Every time her father said he hadn’t tasted the dishes she made, her response was the same as just now.

The dishes she made tonight were enough for a family of three to eat, but they never had the opportunity to sit down together for a home-cooked meal as a family.

This time, their conversation didn’t mention her mother, and their phone call fell into a brief silence again.

“Your mom hasn’t come back yet?”

“Not yet, she should be back soon.”

It had been a long time since Wei Huatian had dinner with his daughter. “When you’re not busy one day, invite Shanghan over for dinner together, and Dad will cook.”

Wei Lai agreed, “Okay, I’ll ask her when she’s free.”

Zhao Yihan, like her, rarely went to that new home. If it weren’t for her father and Aunt Zhao living in that big house, they would often say that the house was too empty, hoping that she and Zhao Yihan could come over. However, both of them disliked going to that so-called new home the most because it wasn’t their real home.

Wei Huatian didn’t want to hang up the phone yet and wanted to chat with his daughter a little longer, but he didn’t know what to talk about.

“Dad, I’ve already decided what to do.” Wei Lai told her father about her plans.

Wei Huatian was indeed shocked by his daughter’s plans, but he always supported any decision she made. “That’s a good idea. I know a designer, although I haven’t been in touch with him for a long time. I’ll contact him tomorrow and see.”

He was planning to support his daughter with half of the designer’s fee, as that designer’s fees was quite high.

He was curious, “How did you come up with the idea of running a supermarket?”

Wei Lai said casually, “I just wanted to challenge myself.”

She didn’t tell the truth. In fact, she wanted to spend more time with her mother while she still had time. After her father got married, he had his own family, and she would have her own life in the future, but her mother would be alone.

After hanging up the phone with her father, Wei Lai cooked the last dish.

Four dishes were served, and the door of the house opened, and her mother returned.

Cheng Minzhi hurried to the dining table before changing her clothes to smell the aroma of the dishes. “We must finish everything tonight.”

“I heard from the staff about the situation with the Lemon snacks. Is it resolved?” Wei Lai took off her apron and asked with concern.

“Not yet. Let’s eat first, and we’ll deal with it later,” Cheng Minzhi went to change her clothes.

Lemon snacks were the oldest and best-selling snacks. If their supermarket kept running out of stock, it meant driving customers to their competitors’ supermarkets.

Wei Lai asked her mother what happened exactly.

“We had a conflict with the manager of the Lemeng East China region, offended him, and made him very angry. It was very unpleasant.” As for whether this conflict was about money or something else, only they themselves knew.

But the purchaser denied it and said that it wasn’t their fault that Lemeng didn’t supply the goods. He had resigned and left last week.

Many of the actions of the purchaser often represented the supermarket. The manager of the Lemeng East China region was very clear that there was no need to continue cooperation.

Cheng Minzhi said, “I contacted Qi Linsheng again tonight. He’s been in meetings at headquarters recently.” She planned to go and talk to Qi Linsheng.

“Is Qi Linsheng the manager of the East China region?”

“Yeah.”

Wei Lai volunteered, “I’ll go to Beijing tomorrow to see him. Whatever the case, we were wrong at first. We should apologize and clear up any misunderstandings, and then show our sincerity for cooperation.” Someone who could become the manager of the East China region wouldn’t be small-minded.

Cheng Minzhi habitually waved her hand, “Mom will handle it herself, you focus on your work.”

After saying that, she felt something was wrong, and suddenly laughed, forgetting that her daughter was already a member of the company, “Okay, then I’ll leave this matter to you.”

It happened to let her daughter relax a little.

—

In Beijing at this time.

Zhou Sujin had just left the company, it was ten o’clock in the evening, and the traffic on the elevated road was heavy.

His aunt sent him a message asking when he would be back from his business trip.

Zhou Sujin: “I’m back.”

Aunt: “Then come to my house for dinner tomorrow, I’ll also invite your brother.”

It’s not just about having a meal; Zhou Sujin responded: “Alright.”

Back home, there was an extra car in the yard, and an unexpected guest inside.

The living room was filled with smoke, and the unexpected guest was sitting with crossed legs on the sofa, smoking. There was an exquisite ashtray on the armrest of the sofa.

Zhou Sujin didn’t smoke, so the ashtrays prepared for guests were all plain white. The ashtray in front of him was brought by a friend to show off.

The friend was fond of his younger sister. When his sister gave him an ashtray, he wanted to take a picture and change it to his profile picture to let everyone know.

“Where are the bracelets?” Min Ting pressed the cigarette butt into the ashtray. He had his eyes on several bracelets to give to his sister. Only the flagship store in Jiangcheng had them in stock, and Zhou Sujin happened to be on a business trip in Jiangcheng, so he asked him to bring them back.

Zhou Sujin didn’t like the smell of smoke, so he opened the window for ventilation. Only then did he remember that the bracelets were all in Cullinan’s safe.

“The car is in Jiangcheng. I’ll have someone send the bracelets over tomorrow.”

Min Ting glanced at the yard and noticed that the SUV was missing.

From the tone of voice, Cullinan wouldn’t be back tomorrow.

Whenever Zhou Sujin went on a business trip and decided to return the same day, the driver would have driven the car to Beijing early in the morning, arriving in Beijing at the latest by night. It wouldn’t happen that everyone else came back, but the car hadn’t arrived yet.

“Luo Yu is not in Jiangcheng. Who is going to drive the car?” Zhou Sujin didn’t respond but rolled up his shirt sleeves to his forearm, walked to the bar, casually threw the black cufflinks on it, and took two glasses to pour drinks.

“Has my brother offended my parents again?” He changed the topic.

“I’m not sure. I haven’t seen him. What’s up?” Min Ting sat up straight, put down his legs, and seriously cleaned the ashtray with a wet tissue.

“Mom asked me and my brother to have dinner at home.”

Mom would never want to see them unless it was necessary, let alone provide them with a meal for no reason.

After drinking a glass of wine, Min Ting took the ashtray and left, reminding Zhou Sujin not to forget to have someone send the bracelets back.

Zhou Sujin made a voice call to Wei Lai, but she didn’t answer.

Wei Lai didn’t rush to leave after dinner. She chatted with her mother in the yard, and her phone was on the sofa in the living room.

While chatting, Cheng Minzhi frowned, thinking she heard things, then thought it was a phone ringtone. “Lai Lai, is that your phone ringing?”

Wei Lai put down the fruit. “Let me check.”

She walked to the living room, and the ringing had already stopped.

It was a call from Zhou Sujin, along with a message, giving her a six-digit password and an address. She didn’t understand it and immediately called back.

“Mr. Zhou, what’s up?”

“The car’s safe has some valuable items inside. Take some time tomorrow to send them over.”

Even he said they were valuable, so they must be quite expensive. Sending them by mail was risky. Wei Lai said, “Coincidentally, I’m going to Beijing tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes.” Wei Lai explained, “I’m going on a business trip. It’s company matters.”

Even though she explained it clearly, Zhou Sujin said bluntly, “You don’t need to come over just to invite me to dinner.”

He saw through her intentions directly.

Wei Lai didn’t explain because she had originally planned to go there specifically to invite him to dinner, but later she had a legitimate reason to go to Beijing on a business trip. She confessed frankly, “You’ve helped me so much. Maybe it’s just a small favor for you, and you may not even care about it, but for me, it’s a big deal. You won’t be coming to Jiangcheng in the future, and I won’t see you.” Otherwise, she wouldn’t have gone all the way to treat him.

There was silence on the phone for two seconds.

Zhou Sujin said, “You can cause trouble for me so easily, and you’re worried about not seeing me?”

“…”

When did she cause trouble for him?

Weren’t they all her own affairs?

Wei Lai didn’t dwell on the first half of his sentence; her focus was on the second half.

What did he mean?

She had a lot of troubles, like the incident where Yuan Hengrui hit someone this afternoon. If it weren’t for He Wancheng in Jiangcheng, he would have had to deal with it himself. She had plenty of opportunities to see him. Was that what he meant?

Wei Lai felt that she was overthinking. Maybe he just said it casually, giving her a way out, without any deeper meaning.

Zhou Sujin spoke again, “There’s no need to make a special trip. Just send the things directly.”

There were still things that needed to be explained. Wei Lai calmly said, “I really am going to Beijing tomorrow. I bought the ticket half an hour ago. It’s faster and safer to bring the things with me than to mail them. Do you want the driver to pick them up at the station, or shall I deliver them to the address you sent me?”

“Have the driver pick them up.”

Wei Lai told him the specific arrival time: “I’ll arrive in Beijing around 4 PM.”

“Okay.” Hanging up the phone, Zhou Sujin instructed the driver, Uncle Yan, “Be at the high-speed rail station to pick her up at 3:30 PM tomorrow afternoon.”