Chen Xiao had asked Mr. Yang to take care of his younger colleague, Lu Nan, during the dinner. 

Mr. Yang was a straightforward person and agreed to Chen Xiao’s request. 

Therefore, after the dinner tonight, Lu Nan was able to leave smoothly.  

But Chen Xiao knew well that he couldn’t escape the after-party of Feixiang’s first small tasting event. 

After all, Mr. Yang was making the transition into the liquor industry and wanted someone from the Yuan Chuan Distillery to be present. There were some things he couldn’t directly discuss about selling liquor, but the representatives and key account managers could. On the other hand, since he had been helping Yuan Chuan with materials for years, Mr. Yang was aware that there was another distributor for Classic Liquor in Hailing City. Though the competitor was small, it was still a competitor. He needed to show Yuan Chuan that he had connections and influence in Hailing City. 

The two key account managers from Feixiang had the aura of “battle-tested veterans” and were very competitive when drinking at the dinner. When it was time to move to the next venue, they signaled to Chen Xiao, and both reached out to keep him from leaving. 

Chen Xiao barely managed to suppress his expression when the slightly more mature Meng Lusi hooked her arm through his. He felt her hand brush against his biceps.  

He was certain that Lu Nan had seen it.  

Chen Xiao gave Lu Nan a helpless frown, which she responded to with a light-hearted wave and a cheerful goodbye. 

Meng Lusi glanced at Lu Nan waiting for a taxi at the hotel entrance, then looked at Chen Xiao, who was removing his arm from her grip. She smiled with interest.  

… 

The next day at the city office. 

Before the morning meeting began, Lu Nan was surprised to see Chen Xiao and said, “Brother Xiao? You’re up already? The after-party ended at 1 AM, and that’s pretty early, right?” 

Chen Xiao rubbed his temples and said, “I’ll teach you how to submit the expenses for the first event later.” 

Lu Nan nodded indifferently. 

After the meeting, Dong Hui grabbed her bag and said to Xiang Feifei, “Feifei, should I go with you to Haortei today?” 

Xiang Feifei replied, “I don’t have much to do today, just sitting around and chatting with Sister Ying.” Her words subtly indicated that she wasn’t very interested on Dong Hui joining, but since the other person insisted, she had to say that whatever the work arrangements were, they had to align. 

Dong Hui understood and said quietly, “Let’s go. You don’t know how tough it is for me, someone without any distributor connections.” She spoke softly as she hooked her arm through Xiang Feifei’s. 

Xiang Feifei awkwardly pulled her arm out. “It’s hot.” 

Once they were in the elevator and it was just the two of them, Dong Hui seemed more at ease to speak freely. “I’m so envious of Lu Nan. She’s already getting involved in small events. You know, Haortei Liquor only has two small events a month for the restaurant channel. Just with work reports and weekly/monthly reports, we already have a lot fewer things to write compared to Lu Nan.” 

But Xiang Feifei didn’t quite agree. “It’s not easy for her either. I heard she didn’t get back until after ten last night.” She muttered to herself, “Besides, just because you’re talking about us doesn’t mean it applies to me. My work reports are definitely not lacking in content, okay?” 

Dong Hui agreed, “True, the capable ones have to do more. But she could have invited me along. Manager Wang said I’m a flexible person. Why didn’t she invite me? Does she have something against me?” 

Xiang Feifei said, “You definitely won’t be needed this month. Look, both Brother Xiao and Lu Nan are already involved in the small events. Adding you would make it seem like you’re just tagging along. And you know the hotel expenses for these small events; adding another person means an extra three or four hundred yuan.” 

Seeing Xiang Feifei making various excuses for Lu Nan, Dong Hui’s eyes flickered as she changed the topic. “But you know, Brother Xiao really treats Lu Nan well. He’s teaching her everything hands-on. It’s not like he’s doing the same for you, even though you’re both in the classic liquor group. Why doesn’t he ask you to help with the small events?” 

Xiang Feifei couldn’t understand why Dong Hui was complaining about the tasks. “You think Manager Li’s recent tasks are too few? She and Manager Zhou have sorted out so many potential clients. I see Hong Danni and Lin Yan are busy with various visits every day. Why don’t you give it a try? Maybe you’ll close the next deal yourself.” 

She couldn’t understand. Did Dong Hui think she was stupid? The implication in her words was so obvious. The classic liquor group had two distributors and three sales managers, so it could indeed lead to some internal competition. But since both she and Lu Nan were already benefiting, why stir up trouble for no reason? 

Dong Hui was put in an awkward position with Xiang Feifei, and when she went back to the dorm for a nap at noon, she couldn’t help but complain to Hong Danni, “Sigh, I thought I was straightforward enough, but I didn’t expect Feifei to be even sharper with her words.” 

Hong Danni asked for details and laughed after hearing Dong Hui. “Feifei’s always been like that. But she’s actually a really good person. She’s just trying to encourage you!” 

Dong Hui felt like she was throwing sweet gestures at a blind person. The blow she received was as big as the first day she arrived at the dorm, when Xiang Feifei exposed her “straight-talking” persona.  

She had no choice but to change the subject. “How’s it going with the Harmony Liquor side? Feifei mentioned that you’re all scheduling calls with clients. Are you planning to do on-site visits?” 

“We’re doing phone follow-ups first. For the visits, it depends on how they respond to the calls… If we do visit, it will probably be Manager Zhou who will take us,” Hong Danni said, sounding a bit worried. 

Dong Hui reassured her, “It’s okay, Manager Zhou is so beautiful; with her handling it, there should be no problem.” 

If Lu Nan heard this, she would definitely frown. 

Beauty can indeed be an advantage at times, but if someone thinks they can rely solely on their looks to get things done in the business world, they’re probably being naive.  

Take Liu Yuhan and Meng Lusi, for example. Aren’t they beautiful? Both of them are over 170 cm tall, and to be honest, they stand out in a crowd. But they still have to rely on Mr. Yang and their network of connections (mainly through Mr. Yang) to work hard at drinking at the business dinners to make sales. 

… 

Speaking of Meng Lusi and Liu Yuhan, they are in sales and don’t follow a 9-to-5 schedule. It’s normal for them not to be at Feixiang all day. For example, after the tasting event last night, which ended after 1 a.m., they can comfortably sleep until noon. 

When Liu Yuhan woke up and checked her messages, she saw that a certain general manager who dined with them last night had ordered three cases of ten-year wine, priced a little over fourteen thousand in the market.  

The general manager would definitely ask for a discount on three cases. Mr. Yang had told them that the lowest price for the goods was the group purchase price, meaning the lowest selling price for this order was a little over eleven thousand three hundred yuan, which leaves a price difference of over two thousand eight hundred yuan. 

In addition to earning a 5% commission from the group purchase price given by Mr. Yang, Liu Yuhan also made around a thousand yuan from the price difference (with a 50% share). So, despite the hard work at the banquet last night, Liu Yuhan roughly estimated she could earn a thousand yuan. 

When they met at the company in the afternoon, Meng Lusi shrugged and said, “I had no luck yesterday, no sales.” 

Liu Yuhan comforted her, “Don’t worry, just focus on maintaining good relations with clients.” They were colleagues but also competitors, so their interactions were merely formalities. While comforting Meng Lusi, Liu Yuhan was thinking to herself: Last night, your eyes were practically glued to Chen Xiao, the young and handsome manager from Yuan Chuan. You were hardly thinking about business.  

A few days later, Feixiang’s second small tasting event of the month began. 

This time, Mr. Yang invited the leaders from the local area where their company is based and used the twenty-year old ‘Dream Back to the Tang Dynasty’ wine, which was promised by Director Tong to increase the number of events. It must be said that twenty-year wine is smoother on the palate compared to ten and fifteen-year wines. 

During the event, one particular man (referred to as Leader A) took a special interest in chatting with Lu Nan. Meng Lusi, who was sitting next to A, smiled and asked Lu Nan to switch seats with her.  

Mr. Yang glanced at Chen Xiao and Lu Nan and seemed like he wanted to interrupt and say something, but it was clear that Leader A was in favor of the suggestion. He actively called over the waiter to help switch the seats. 

Chen Xiao quickly whispered to Lu Nan, “Don’t worry, I’m here. Just pretend to be drunk after a few drinks.”  

Lu Nan nodded slightly. It was just a seat change, after all. 

Under the bright lights and with everyone watching, what was there to be afraid of? 

She calmly sat next to Leader A, while Meng Lusi moved to Chen Xiao’s side. 

This time, Meng Lusi was much more professional. 

Although the young and handsome man was right next to her, making money was clearly more important. 

She actively engaged with everyone in the room and even encouraged Lu Nan and Leader A to drink a toast together. 

This suggestion was not too extreme when the atmosphere at the banquet was high, but among all present, Lu Nan was the youngest and most innocent. Some might enjoy teasing a young woman, but Mr. Yang was not that type of person and stepped in to smooth things over. 

With the boss’s intervention, Meng Lusi, holding her glass, stuck out her tongue and said, “Look at me, when I drink too much, I start causing trouble. I forgot that Xiao Lu is young and shy, so I’ll take a self-imposed penalty!”  

Lu Nan couldn’t recall the exact details of how she dealt with similar situations with two key account managers in her past life—there had been too many of them—but she remembered facing a similar scenario. What had she done back then? She gritted her teeth and drank a full glass of white liquor. Then, she went to the bathroom to vomit before coming back to continue drinking. With sheer determination, she showed them that she wasn’t someone to be easily pushed around. Later, Lu Nan helped Feixiang sell a lot of goods, which completely convinced them. 

This time, of course, she wouldn’t use such a blunt method. 

Lu Nan smiled, “Manager Meng, our Yuan Chuan wine is of such high quality that finishing a full glass isn’t a punishment, it’s a reward. I have a more interesting suggestion: Mr. Yang, do you still have the ten-year and fifteen-year wines in your trunk?” 

Although Mr. Yang was puzzled, he still nodded, “Yes, we have them.” 

“May I borrow a bottle from you? I’ll have Manager Chen return it later,” Lu Nan turned to Leader A and said, “I want to play a game with Leader A. We’ll pour different wines into glasses, and only the person pouring knows which is which. I’ll guess. How about it?” 

It was quite a bold suggestion and a rather novel game. 

Apart from Leader A, there were other leaders at the table, and they all seemed interested. 

Mr. Yang glanced at Chen Xiao and Lu Nan, seeing that both of them appeared calm, so he smiled and asked his brother-in-law to fetch the wine from the trunk. 

Once it was brought over, Leader A volunteered to be the judge. Chen Xiao said, “Count me in too.” 

Client A said, “No, no, you’re Xiao Lu’s superior. What if you secretly give her hints?” 

Lu Nan smiled again, “When Leader A pours the wine, I’ll go to the side table and wait. Once the pouring is done, I’ll come back, taste the wine with my back to you, and state my guess before turning around. I won’t have any physical or eye contact with anyone during the whole process. How does that sound?” 

The young woman had made it clear, blocking any chance of communication with anyone present, so it was acceptable. 

However…  

“A game always needs a prize. So what’s the prize for this game?” Leader A stared at Lu Nan, unwilling to give in easily. 

Mr. Yang and Chen Xiao had already tried to smooth things over earlier. If they spoke up for Lu Nan now, the atmosphere would become awkward. 

Lu Nan was very clear about this. She smiled at Leader A and said, “The prize will be a glass of twenty-year wine. Earlier, Manager Meng wanted to secretly award it to herself. If I win, she’ll use a full glass to toast you. If I make any small mistakes, I’ll personally toast you with a full glass. How about that?” She was asking Client A, not Meng Lusi. 

Throughout the conversation, Lu Nan placed herself, Leader A, and Meng Lusi at different levels. Quietly shifting her position, she emphasized that she was from the Yuan Chuan and that she was Meng Lusi’s superior in name. 

Leader A thought this was quite a decent gesture towards him—regardless of whether Lu Nan won or lost, he wouldn’t be the one drinking. He nodded in agreement to the prize. 

Meng Lusi quietly shrugged at Liu Yuhan: Did I hit a hard wall? 

Liu Yuhan responded with a look of “Good luck.” 

Meng Lusi didn’t have any malicious intent; she simply wanted to show this young girl what adult drinking banquets were like. She didn’t expect it to turn out this big.