Today, Mr. Chen from Haortei invited people like Yuan Chuan with a clear goal in mind: in the new year, he plans to venture into group purchasing channels. 

Group purchasing channels are quite unique. 

They don’t have clear boundaries compared to other channels. For example, if a restaurant sells products, it’s considered the restaurant channel, but if customers bring a few boxes of drinks to a restaurant, it can be loosely categorized as a group purchasing channel. 

In fact, Haortei had also used the group-purchasing channel for wine, much like how Pan Sasha had quietly introduced clients interested in group-purchasing classic wines to Old Pan. 

At that time, Feixiang hadn’t signed the contract for Yuan Chuan’s city-wide channel, so they were operating under the radar, with the city office turning a blind eye. 

But times have changed now, with Feixiang crossing into the alcohol market and aggressively seizing market share. 

In fact, Mr. Chen from Haortei had previously focused more on red wine, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t paying attention to Yuan Chuan’s million-dollar contract. 

Who would complain about having too many ways to make money? 

… 

Wang Xinglong initially didn’t understand Mr. Chen’s intention. He thought Mr. Chen felt the pressure from Feixiang and wanted to reach out to him for some relationship building, perhaps to ask for additional funding or support. 

To his surprise, after a few rounds of drinks, Mr. Chen suddenly brought up the idea of increasing the contract amount. 

This was what Wang Xinglong was best at—negotiating over drinks! 

As they enjoyed a twenty-year-old classic wine, both of them became more relaxed and friendly, calling each other “brother” 

Lu Nan thought to herself: Good thing Mr. Chen doesn’t smoke, probably because there are bottles of wine all around. Otherwise, this place would be filled with smoke. 

She didn’t deny that Wang Xinglong’s style of doing business over drinks was effective, but it wasn’t really suitable for female city managers, and the practice of doing business by calling each other “brother” at the dinner table was gradually becoming outdated. 

Distributors are not fools; they’re willing to sign contracts and make payments because the product itself is attractive and has sufficient profit margins. 

Clearly, Mr. Chen hadn’t had much confidence in Yuan Chuan before, but now, with Feixiang as a reference, he had changed his mind and wanted to grab a share of the pie. 

As someone who was about to leave the Hailin city office, Lu Nan thought she was just there to make up the numbers, but then… 

To her surprise, Mr. Chen suddenly asked, “This group purchasing manager looks familiar. Have we met before?” 

His wife, also known as ‘Sister Ying,’ said, “She does look familiar. I ran into her in the elevator a few days ago.” 

Manager Wang explained, “Oh, this is Lu Nan, she’s the one coordinating with Mr. Yang from Feixiang.” 

“No, no, I saw her near the office the other day. Oh right, I think she was going to Weigou—the new city distributor on my floor, right?” Mr. Chen feigned ignorance and said, “Manager Lu sure is capable—handling both the Classic Liquor and Harmony distributors. I wonder when you’ll come help us at Haortei—I’ve heard of your reputation for a while now.” 

“Oh, Mr. Chen may be mistaken. Haortei was originally one of Lu Nan’s clients. She introduced the client to the company, and after that, it was Chen Lu who took over.” Wang Xinglong, though quite drunk, still kept his wits about him and didn’t mention Lu Nan’s relationship with Ms. Huang Li. 

Mr. Chen nodded, “I didn’t say anything wrong. A young manager who’s been in the job for such a short time and has already succeeded in bringing in clients—Manager Lu is indeed an excellent group-purchasing talent. I wonder if, after we add group-purchasing channels to the contract, Manager Lu might have time to guide us.” 

Wang Xinglong glanced at Lu Nan, then at Xiang Feifei. 

It was Xiang Feifei who was currently coordinating with Haortei. Since Haortei had mainly been using the restaurant channel before, Xiang Feifei’s monthly task was to participate in Haortei’s small tasting events to verify expenses and maintain relationships with the brand consultants. Every distributor of Yuan Chuan had a brand consultant, who received free wine on holidays as part of the cost support in the contract. These brand consultants were mostly people of influence. 

Clearly, Mr. Chen wasn’t too pleased with Xiang Feifei. 

His comments made Xiang Feifei feel somewhat uncomfortable, and although she was resilient, she still felt a sense of defeat. 

Lu Nan lightly patted her knee under the table. 

Xiang Feifei forced a smile in return. 

Wang Xinglong chuckled and tried to smooth things over. 

What could he do? He couldn’t directly tell the distributor that Lu Nan was about to be promoted and transferred, though it hadn’t been announced yet—everyone in the provincial office and city office knew that, given Lu Nan’s success in client acquisition, this transfer was a done deal. 

Mr. Chen seemed to pick up on Wang Xinglong’s attempt to avoid the issue. 

He thought Wang Xinglong was concerned about Feixiang’s reaction, so he was reluctant to allow Lu Nan to come to his side. 

Wang Xinglong’s response was exactly what Mr. Chen had expected. Even if he raised the contract amount, it would only go up to two million at most. 

It was still nothing compared to Feixiang. 

So his earlier suggestion had just been “starting high” in negotiation. The real reason was that he wasn’t satisfied with Xiang Feifei’s appearance. 

As mentioned before, Xiang Feifei had complexion wasn’t very fair and that she had a tendency to gain weight… When Haortei was focused on restaurants, they had no issue with her. But now that they were getting into group purchasing, they found her appearance lacking. 

Lu Nan silently observed the expressions between Mr. Chen and Wang Xinglong, thinking to herself: No wonder Feixiang, a newcomer distributor, can suppress Haortei. This Mr. Chen is too calculating. If he wants to do group-purchasing, he should hire a professional key account manager. Trying to get someone from the manufacturer to help just to save a little cost is too petty. 

Wang Xinglong’s skill at smoothing things over was top-notch. He pretended to be drunk and mumbled vaguely about assigning someone else to handle the account. 

The others at the table were subtly watching Xiang Feifei’s reaction. 

The girl didn’t disappoint. She quickly composed herself, smiled, and toasted Mr. Chen and Sister Ying, calmly stating that her failure to properly serve the distributors was a result of her own shortcomings. 

Mr. Chen drank the toast, but clearly, he wasn’t ready to give up on Lu Nan, so he raised his glass and said, “Although I haven’t had the chance to work with Manager Lu, it’s a rare opportunity to drink at the same table today. I must toast Manager Lu a few times.” 

Lu Nan had driven here, which would have been the perfect excuse to refuse. 

However, Wang Xinglong, seeing that he had already rejected Mr. Chen’s suggestion for Lu Nan, thought if she refused to drink, Mr. Chen would lose face, so he gave Lu Nan a subtle look: “It’s fine, just call a designated driver afterward.” 

With the “golden finger” in place, Lu Nan wasn’t worried about how much she drank, but Mr. Chen was someone who easily took advantage. 

Lu Nan wasn’t concerned about Xiang Feifei. 

She had already planned to suggest that after her transfer, Xiang Feifei take over her responsibilities with Feixiang. What she was worried about was who would replace Xiang Feifei—now, the classic wine group-purchasing department in Haortei’s city office was left with only Lin Yan, who wasn’t even assigned with any distributors. 

Lin Yan was a bit stubborn and had said nothing at the dinner table today. If Mr. Chen wasn’t pleased with her, that would be a problem. 

Forget it, I can’t control what happens after I leave. I’ll just make sure not to stir up trouble for her. 

Lu Nan wasn’t a saint. If she didn’t have the “golden finger,” she definitely would have avoided the alcohol today. 

“Mr. Chen, you’re too kind. Every group-purchasing manager in our city office is excellent. I just got lucky—your praise is more than I deserve. Cheers to you.” Lu Nan drank her cup without hesitation. 

Mr. Chen laughed, saying, “Good, good,” and finished his drink. 

A while later, he found another excuse to clink glasses with Lu Nan. 

After three or four rounds of this, everyone at the table knew—Mr. Chen had set his sights on Lu Nan tonight. 

Chen Xiao shot Wang Xinglong a look. 

Everyone here is an important figure, but I’m the one who’s struggling the most! 

Wang Xinglong, upon receiving the look, immediately spoke up again to smooth things over. 

But to his surprise, Mr. Chen, feeling emboldened by the increase in the contract amount, and a little drunk, didn’t give Wang Xinglong much face and said, “This is really your fault, Manager Wang. When Pan Sasha left, why didn’t you assign such an excellent talent to coordinate with Haortei? Looks like our contract volume is too small, and that’s why I missed out on Xiao Lu.” 

This comment left Wang Xinglong unable to respond. 

It was Chen Xiao who had insisted on assigning Lu Nan to coordinate with Feixiang, wasn’t it? 

But he certainly couldn’t pass the blame to Chen Xiao. Even without Chen Xiao being the chairman’s son, he couldn’t let distributors think that just because the contract volume increased, they could interfere in internal personnel transfers. 

Guess I’ll just have to let Lu Nan drink a few more cups. 

Wang Xinglong thought to himself, casting Lu Nan an apologetic look. 

Chen Xiao raised his glass, trying to join in, “Mr. Chen, I’m ashamed. As the brand specialist for Haortei’s classic wines in Hailin City, it’s my responsibility not to serve the distributors well.” 

But Mr. Chen, squinting, jokingly said, “Look, Manager Chen is feeling sorry for his subordinates.” 

These words were hard to take. 

Lu Nan thought to herself: Since Mr. Chen is treating her this way, she won’t hold back and let her “golden finger” do its work. 

Anyway, she couldn’t avoid this drinking session. She grabbed the wine-pouring device, planning to pour herself a drink. 

Unexpectedly, a hand reached out midway and stopped her. 

It was Li Li who stopped her. 

Li Li took the wine pitcher, stood up, and smiled at Mr. Chen: “Mr. Chen, as the provincial group purchasing manager of Classic Liquor, and since you’ve expressed interest in developing group purchasing business this year, I’m actually the one who should be toasting you at this table. I’ll drink this, and you may drink as you like.” 

The pitcher was about two-thirds full. Li Li raised it toward Mr. Chen, then tilted her head back and finished it in one go. 

Really, impressive. 

Maybe because several provincial and municipal leaders had helped smooth things over for Lu Nan, or maybe because Li Li’s gesture gave him enough face, Mr. Chen finally stopped targeting Lu Nan during the rest of the meal. 

The meal wasn’t particularly enjoyable. When everyone said their goodbyes, it started snowing mixed with rain outside. 

Everyone had been drinking, but none of them had cars, so it was convenient to just grab a taxi in groups of two or three to head back. 

Among them, two young guys from the restaurant channel supported Wang Xinglong, while another supported their supervisor. Chen Xiao confirmed with them, and since they were heading the same way, he turned to the girls and asked, “What about you two?” 

Lu Nan glanced at Li Li. 

Li Li had drunk quite a bit and was wobbling as she called for a designated driver. 

So, Lu Nan took the initiative and said, “My car is left here, I’ll come back to drive it tomorrow. I’ll call a designated driver to take Manager Li’s car and first send her home. Then I’ll grab a taxi to the dorm.” 

Chen Xiao frowned slightly. It was already close to 10 PM, and with all this back-and-forth, what time would they get to the dorm? 

But it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to send Li Li home in place of Lu Nan. After thinking for a moment, he said to Xiang Feifei and Lin Yan, “I’ll go with Lu Nan to send Li Manager home. You two can take a taxi back together.” 

They glanced at Lu Nan, saw him nod slightly, and then took a taxi to leave. 

Lu Nan supported Li Li, and Chen Xiao called for the designated driver. 

The cold winter night with biting rain made the air freezing. While waiting for the driver, they sat in the car first. 

Chen Xiao used the car key to start the engine from the passenger seat, turning on the heater slightly to prevent too much of a temperature difference between inside and out. 

After about ten minutes, the designated driver arrived. Chen Xiao turned to ask, “Manager Li, where do you live?” 

Li Li leaned back against the headrest in the backseat and didn’t answer. 

Lu Nan provided the name of a residential area. “When I first joined the company, Manager Li mentioned she lives nearby.” It would take about half an hour to drive there. 

The designated driver drove silently. 

The car was quiet for about ten minutes. Just as Chen Xiao and Lu Nan thought Li Li had fallen asleep, she spoke up: “Lu Nan, if you become the city manager, you’ll face even more awkward situations than today. What will you do then?” 

“Handle it professionally,” Lu Nan replied without hesitation. 

Li Li sneered. “You really believe that? At the wine table, do you think people care about ‘the Dragon Boat Festival brewing wine’ or ‘Chongyang lowering the sand’? Look at Wang Xinglong, does he seem like someone who understands these things?” 

Lu Nan didn’t respond. 

It seemed Li Li didn’t expect her to reply. She continued speaking on her own: “And those men at the wine table, they don’t want to hear that… Do you think there are many good men at the wine table?”