According to what Lu Nan knew, the salary for a provincial-level group purchasing manager was, of course, higher than that of a municipal one. In contrast, they actually had fewer responsibilities. 

Because they didn’t need to deal directly with distributors, they didn’t have to organize five to eight small-scale product tastings every month. They also didn’t have to worry about expense reimbursements, nor were they under pressure to push distributors to place orders or collect payments. 

Their main job duties were: 

First, to provide training for city-level group purchase managers and shop assistants who worked in collection stores, usually once a month; 

Second, to take part in large-scale events, occasionally give out complimentary wine to loyal brand customers in the company’s database, and maintain those customer relationships; 

And finally, when a mid- to large-scale distributor contract was signed in a city, they would travel with the provincial general manager and attend meals with well-funded distributors. 

You could say the job offered relatively high pay and minimal stress. 

Lu Nan exchanged a few polite words with Chen Xiao, essentially expressing gratitude for the recognition and saying she needed some time to consider it. 

In the end, Chen Xiao told the designated driver, “Take us to Xinguang Yipin,” then turned to Lu Nan and added, “I’d like to walk back to clear my head a bit.” 

… 

After the driver parked, Chen Xiao quickly paid the fee before Lu Nan could react. “I already feel bad for using your car today.” 

Lu Nan didn’t insist on paying him back. She waved goodbye and headed upstairs. 

Chen Xiao remained where he was, letting out a quiet sigh. 

He wasn’t even sure what decision he hoped Lu Nan would make. 

While the provincial-level position was something he and the regional director had discussed privately as a promotion opportunity for Lu Nan, if she had better options—which she probably did, given her strong qualifications and seemingly solid family background—then as her superior and colleague, he’d feel regret but also genuinely happy for her. 

In fact, when Lu Nan said she needed time to think it over, there was a flicker of quiet joy in his heart. 

Because if Lu Nan took another job, they wouldn’t be colleagues anymore. 

However, that fleeting sense of joy quickly faded when he recalled something Director Tong had said. 

Before coming to Hailin City, Director Tong had called Chen Xiao. First, he praised Chen Xiao for exposing Xiang Yunfeng, calling it an impressive job. Then he asked when Chen Xiao planned to return to headquarters. 

At the time, Chen Xiao had stared at his phone for a couple of seconds before replying, “Just follow the regular internal transfer schedule.” 

Which meant after New Year’s Day. 

… 

When Lu Nan returned to the dorm, Xiang Feifei, who was trying to knit a scarf (or what could generously be called “yarn-knotting”), looked up and asked, “Back this early? Oh, and don’t worry about the barbecue ingredients—we already prepped everything this evening.” 

“Yeah, Director Tong didn’t stay for the second half of the event, so we wrapped up early.” Lu Nan gave an OK gesture and changed her shoes. She was about to go upstairs but saw Xiang Feifei fumbling with the yarn, so she walked over and helped straighten it. “What made you decide to knit this? It’s a scarf, right?” 

Xiang Feifei nodded and smiled sheepishly. “It’s for my boyfriend.” 

“Huh? You never mentioned him before.” Lu Nan tilted her head. “Is he a classmate?” She asked because ever since moving to Hailin City, Xiang Feifei had kept to herself. And sharing a roof made it easy to notice whether someone had started dating. 

“It’s that guy from our batch, Tian Yang. We actually went to the same university, different majors—we’d met a few times.” Xiang Feifei only blushed for a moment before saying more confidently, “After he was assigned to a nearby county, we ended up traveling back home together during National Day and got to talking.” 

Lu Nan didn’t remember whether Xiang Feifei had been in a relationship at this time in her past life—back then, she had too many of her own problems to pay attention. 

But based on what she knew about Tian Yang, he seemed like a dependable guy. So she smiled and said, “Good luck! Hope you finish it… before Christmas?” 

“Hey, don’t underestimate me!” Xiang Feifei pretended to be upset. 

Just then, Lu Nan’s phone vibrated. 

It was her mother calling. 

It was Saturday night, a little after 9 p.m.—a reasonable time to call. 

Lu Nan made a gesture, signaling she was going upstairs to take the call. Xiang Feifei waved absentmindedly, continuing her battle with the barely recognizable scarf. 

“Hi, Mom.” Lu Nan answered cheerfully. “Have you finally thought it over and decided to come visit?” 

That first sentence shut down whatever her mom had planned to say. 

Several seconds later, her mother responded, a bit awkwardly, “I wanted to ask when you’re planning to quit your job.” 

Lu Nan had just entered her room when those words were said. 

She locked the door, sat on the floor against her mattress, swinging her feet slightly as she replied in an unhurried tone, “Quit? I’m doing just fine at work. I have no intention of quitting.” 

“I’m being serious. Don’t joke with me.” 

Lu Nan figured her mom’s face had probably darkened on the other end of the line. 

But with years of experience in these “battles,” Lu Nan knew now wasn’t the time to show weakness. 

It was simple: as long as she insisted on not quitting, there was nothing her mom could do. In her past life, her mom had also strongly opposed her “selling liquor,” but she had stubbornly stuck with it, managed to make some modest achievements, and after six months or a year, her mom realized she couldn’t talk her out of it and gave up. 

This time? Originally, Lu Nan had just wanted to coast and take it easy. Whether she quit or not didn’t matter—her initial plan was only to stay in Yuan Chuan for half a year. 

But now, she had goals and plans. She was ready to work hard and take things seriously—to let go of the “coasting” mindset and put together a proper career plan. 

That said, she was probably the most mentally overworked person in the entire city office—excluding the desk-bound admin, Jiang Xiaoyun. 

So much for “coasting”—it turned out to be an empty promise. 

Lu Nan felt a bit of sorrow (not really). 

Remembering the call was still ongoing, she cleared her throat and, with a youthful sense of pride, said earnestly to her mother: “Mom, today my boss talked to me because he thinks I’m capable and organized. Plus, the distributors I handled this year exceeded their payment targets. He said there’s a promotion opportunity after the New Year and asked what I thought about it.” 

Her mother was thrown off again. After some muttering, she said, “Well, if you’re serious and hardworking, of course the boss will notice. People who slack off—don’t think the higher-ups can’t see that.” Then, realizing she’d gone off topic, she added sharply, “Don’t try to change the subject. Promotion? Promote you to what? You’re already a business supervisor—what’s next? City manager? Sounds like they’re just trying to sweet-talk you. They probably saw you bought a car and figured you look decent enough to be a ‘face’ when dealing with clients. Maybe they’re even hoping you’ll let them use your personal car for company errands… Honestly? You? It’s only been six months since you graduated. Their leadership must be out of their minds to let someone like you manage a city office.” 

This kind of belittling didn’t hurt Lu Nan’s self-esteem at all. In fact, she even felt like laughing—if her mother really didn’t care about her job, how would she so readily recall that the next step after “business supervisor” was “city manager”? Clearly, she had listened closely when Lu Nan last explained her company’s structure during a visit home. 

“It’s not city manager. It’s provincial group-purchase manager, in the group-purchasing line,” Lu Nan emphasized. 

Mother Lu responded with an “Oh” and quickly added, “Well, still like a public relations lady.” 

Her words sounded harsh. 

Lu Nan thought, If you weren’t my mom! Hmph! 

“But I didn’t agree immediately. I said I need to think about it,” Lu Nan, who had mastered the art of handling her mother, skillfully controlled the conversation. 

Sure enough, Mother Lu was led along again. “What’s there to think about? There’s nothing to consider. Just quit. Didn’t you say the year-end bonus this year is pretty good? You can take it and leave.” 

Four to five thousand dollars wasn’t a small sum. 

“Thirty percent of it is withheld until mid-next year,” Lu Nan said deliberately. 

“Then forget about that 30%!” Mother Lu quickly calculated. According to what her daughter said, the 30% was a little over 10,000, and it wasn’t worth working another half year just for that small amount—but in two months, she could get 70%… Maybe she could stick it out a bit longer? 

Unconsciously, Mother Lu’s thoughts began to waver. 

Lu Nan smirked silently. 

The phone call lasted five or six minutes, and in the end, Mother Lu couldn’t convince her daughter to quit. Instead, she was led into the logic of “quitting now means giving up over 30,000 in year-end bonuses, which is a bit of a shame.” 

Sensing that her mother’s patience was running out, Lu Nan brought up the topic again: “So, Mom, you really don’t want to consider coming to Hailin? I need to pay the first interest by the 20th of this month.” 

Speaking of this, Mother Lu got upset again! 

“Last time you ran off so quickly I didn’t even have time to say anything. What’s a young girl like you doing with over a million in your account? Go pay off that loan! You made some money in stocks, but that’s just luck. Don’t be so unclear about it—shaking this and that, and you’ve shaken all the money away.” Actually, Mother Lu meant to say, I’ll help manage it, a phrase she had used countless times since Lu Nan was a child. But she quickly changed her mind, realizing that the money wasn’t her daughter’s savings but a bank loan, and after her daughter handed it over to her, it would become her responsibility. 

Of course, Lu Nan wasn’t going to pay off the loan early. She hesitated (pretended to) and said, “But Teacher Zhang and I have basically agreed. We’re planning to export a batch of liquor at the end of this month, with at least a 10% gross profit. I think it’s worth a try. If you’re really not coming, I’ll just do it myself.” 

Mother Lu: My lood pressure is rising! This child… She must not have been disciplined enough as a kid! Now she’s starting to rebel, huh? 

In the end, the phone call ended with Mother Lu’s repeated warnings, “Don’t do anything rash. Business isn’t that simple. Let’s see where you’ll cry after you lose money.” 

Unknowingly, after hanging up, Mother Lu, out of concern for her daughter wasting money and getting into debt, began to consider heading to Hailin City—not to do business, but to make sure her daughter paid off the loan at the bank. 

… 

After hanging up, Lu Nan was in a good mood. She even hummed a tune as she picked up her pajamas and towel. 

After spending half an hour washing her hair, taking a shower, and drying her hair, she began working on refining the cooperation agreement with Xu Chengzhi.