Chapter 124: Losing President Tang's Identity

“Grandma, this matter can’t be rushed.” Even though she was a little embarrassed, Fu Ci still explained to the two elders, “Although it’s a minor surgery, let’s wait a year or two before we consider it.”

"Oh, yes, yes, you're right." Madam Fu was annoyed that she had overlooked this and blamed herself, "Look how confused I was. Luckily, Mingli didn't hear these words."

Otherwise, I'd probably be heartbroken.

She had just undergone surgery, but she started talking about having children.

Mrs. Fu felt somewhat ashamed and instructed her husband and grandson not to let Mingli know about these things.

Fu Ci laughed at his grandmother's adorable, nervous expression.

He felt it wouldn't matter if Mingli knew, but his grandmother had some reservations, so he decided not to tell her.

The joy of having a clear expectation is impossible to hide.

After Tang Mingli finished her shower, she noticed that her grandparents were especially happy today.

Grandma, in particular, had very prominent forehead wrinkles from smiling.

Looking at Fu Ci again, after a brief exchange of glances, she roughly understood why the two elderly people were so happy.

These past few years have really been tough on them.

Tang Mingli felt a lump in her throat and almost lost her composure.

Fortunately, at that moment, Zhang Guihua asked if we wanted to drink the sweet soup while it was still hot.

While she was upstairs taking a shower, Zhang Guihua cooked red date and longan sweet soup.

There's nothing strange about making sweet soup; the Fu family often have afternoon tea with her.

But drinking it while it's hot in the middle of summer is quite rare.

In this kind of weather, we always put the sweet soup in the refrigerator until it's completely chilled before drinking it.

Madam Fu could tell what she was thinking and reminded her, "Given your current health, you are not allowed to eat anything cold this year."

Summer has just begun this year, and summer in Guangzhou is very long, not cooling down until almost the end of November.

Not letting her eat anything cold for such a long time is practically torture.

But this time, Fu Ci also sided with his grandmother, coaxing her softly, "For the sake of your health, bear with it. Bear with it now so that you can eat whatever you want in the future."

That makes sense.

Although Tang Mingli had a sweet tooth, she wasn't someone who would risk her life for food.

Although the warm sugar water in summer seemed to her as if it had lost its soul, food without a soul is better than a body without a soul.

When dinner time came, looking at the four dishes and one soup that were all light and nutritious, Tang Mingli suddenly understood.

For a long time to come, not only will desserts lack soul, but meals will also have to follow a bland approach.

To put her elders at ease, she decided to endure it for the time being.

If you really crave something sweet, eating out occasionally is perfectly acceptable.

After thinking it through, Tang Mingli gladly accepted the meticulous care from the Fu family elders.

The next day, Tang Mingli refused Fu Ci's suggestion that she rest at home for a couple more days, got up at around 8 a.m., and went to work.

Fu Ci figured he couldn't stay at home anyway, so he might as well keep him company and also see Li Zhengdao, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.

Having been away from work for almost a month, I thought there would be some backlog of things to do, but to my surprise, Li Zhengdao handled everything in an orderly manner.

Tang Mingli praised Fu Ci, saying, "You had a good eye for choosing business partners."

Fu Ci smiled, not denying Li Zhengdao's excellence.

"He is a capable and ambitious person."

Tang Mingli nodded; having worked together for so long, she had noticed it too.

She glanced outside the office to make sure Li Zhengdao wasn't in the living room, then lowered her voice and asked Fu Ci, half-jokingly, "Have you ever considered that someone as capable and ambitious as him might not always be willing to submit to others?"

Unexpectedly, Fu Ci nodded seriously: "I've thought about it."

But he also thought that day wouldn't come so soon.

Li Zhengdao is a capable and ambitious man, but because his family was relatively poor when he was young, he is cautious in everything he does.

With his abilities, he will definitely start his own business sooner or later, but that day will only come when the overall social environment becomes clearer.

Tang Mingli agreed that Li Zhengdao was cautious.

-

To express their gratitude for Li Zhengdao's hard work during this period, Fu Ci and Tang Mingli treated him to lunch.

At the dinner table, after two glasses of wine, Li Zhengdao hesitated to speak.

The two found it hard to ignore, so they simply asked directly.

Although Li Zhengdao hesitated, he finally got to the point.

"There's something I've been thinking about for a long time... I want to start my own business next year."

With gritted teeth, Li Zhengdao finally spoke.

Tang Mingli and Fu Ci were both taken aback when they heard this.

She was perfectly normal before she left Guangcheng, so what happened during this period that made Li Zhengdao suddenly have such thoughts?

I wouldn't stop him from doing things on his own, but Li Zhengdao was someone he had mentored, so I still wanted to get to the bottom of things.

Why did you suddenly decide to start your own business?

Li Zhengdao seemed to have prepared his explanation in advance, and after Fu Ci asked the question, he readily gave his reason.

"Actually, it's not sudden. I've had this idea for quite a while. After all, my sister-in-law and I are men and women, and I'm afraid that working together for too long will cause gossip."

The reasoning was irrefutable, but it still failed to convince Tang Mingli.

If she really cared about the differences between men and women, why didn't she mind when she took over at the beginning of last year?

If you want to break up, just do it. But blaming it on the differences between men and women isn't very honorable.

Tang Mingli is also a proud person. Since the other party no longer wants to cooperate, there is no need to force it.

It's a pity that her burgeoning ambition has been wasted.

Forget it, whether I fall or not is secondary. What's more important right now is to part ways amicably with Li Zhengdao.

Tang Mingli put down her chopsticks and said, "If you really want to do it yourself, there's no need to wait until next year... Or are you not fully ready yet?"

"No..." Li Zhengdao blurted out in denial, but realized he had spoken too quickly and seemed a little impatient, and immediately looked embarrassed.

"What I mean is... what I mean is..."

He wanted to explain, but he couldn't come up with a plausible explanation.

"If we're prepared, let's settle things properly and part ways amicably."

This was exactly what Li Zhengdao was thinking, but he was also worried.

The clothing store was practically built from scratch by Fu Ci, so if they were to dissolve the business, he should be able to keep the store.

However, I have indeed devoted a great deal of effort to this over the past two years, especially after I resigned and left. It would be an exaggeration to say that I poured my heart and soul into it.

Therefore, Li Zhengdao wanted the shop and didn't want to start all over again.

He took another sip of wine and forced a smile, saying, "Sister-in-law, it's not easy for a woman like you to do all this, so I was thinking, could you share more of the profits with me and I get the shop?"

Li Zhengdao had assumed there would definitely be a dispute, and even if there wasn't, it certainly wouldn't be easy.

To everyone's surprise, Tang Mingli readily agreed: "Sure, let's go back and carefully calculate last year's and this year's profits, and make a reasonable allocation."

This decisiveness made Li Zhengdao somewhat uneasy.

But he immediately chuckled to himself, thinking, "Li Zhengdao, maybe my sister-in-law has gotten tired of it after more than a year. If I propose going solo, maybe Zheng Hao will be to her liking."

-

The clothing store's accounts have always been kept very clear and transparent, so the accounting is not difficult.

In just three days, Tang Mingli and Li Zhengdao settled the score.

The two agreed to split the profits from the past year and a half 30/70. Li Zhengdao would take 30%, and Tang Mingli 70%. The extra two floors would be considered as payment for Li Zhengdao's purchase of the shop.

In Tang Mingli's opinion, 91% is not unreasonable, since the shop's business is basically stable and as long as it is operated in the current way, it will definitely make money every year.

However, she didn't want to make things too ugly with Li Zhengdao over this 20% profit. If neither side was willing to compromise, the matter might not be resolved by the end of the year.

This situation has escalated to this point, affecting not only the clothing store's business but also potentially causing significant losses for Fu Ci, who had been delaying his return to Shenzhen due to concerns about the matter.

Tang Mingli didn't want to get so stressed out over a few thousand yuan.

Once the profit distribution method was agreed upon and a written contract was signed, Tang Mingli received her due payment and said goodbye to the place where she had worked for more than a year.

On the day of departure, Zheng Hao was very reluctant to leave.

She whispered to Tang Mingli, "Of the three bosses, I actually like you the most."

Tang Mingli smiled and comforted her, saying, "You should keep working hard. Boss Li is a capable man. You won't have to worry about not making money if you follow him."

Zheng Hao nodded.

As Tang Mingli left the clothing store, she couldn't help but look up at the signboard.

Although the name is a bit rustic, it was chosen with care by Fu Ci. I wonder how long it will last.

-

That evening, Tang Mingli solemnly told her family that the matter of the clothing store was completely over.

"...That means I don't have to go to work anymore, and I can sleep in every day. I'm so happy."

Although he said it cheerfully, he was actually feeling a mix of joy and worry.

Who would have thought that when she returned from Shenzhen, she was still worried about whether her clothing store business would be affected after being away for so long?

Who knew that just a few days later, she would lose her title of 'President Tang'.

The Fu family was genuinely happy that she could rest. In their view, she really needed to recuperate for a long time.

But having put in so much effort, the Fu family understood that she would feel somewhat disappointed.

Madam Fu comforted her, saying, "It's better to stay at home. It's getting hotter and hotter, and you'll be covered in sweat if you go out."

Tang Mingli nodded in agreement.

Fu's mother offered another perspective of comfort: "I see that the clothing stores on the street have also hidden themselves away. The competition will definitely get bigger and bigger in the future, so it's better to get rid of them sooner rather than later."

Tang Mingli indeed thought so too.

Selling everyday items like clothes and shoes is a top choice for many entrepreneurs.

Only half a year has passed, and nearly ten new clothing stores have opened on that street.

Despite the intense competition, the clothing at Liren Clothing Store has always been of good quality and style, with a stable customer base, so it's unlikely to be bad.

Tang Mingli smiled and said to her family, "You don't need to comfort me. I'm just a little disappointed, but I'm really not sad at all."

What's there to be sad about? I worked for a year and a half and only received 17,000 yuan in bonuses.

Decades later, wouldn't that be a million-dollar annual salary?

I'm not sad, I'm not sad.

With such a high annual salary, why is she upset? Is she the kind of person who would create trouble for no reason?

-

Fu Ci had always had doubts about his wife's decisive breakup with Li Zhengdao, but he respected her choice and didn't want to interfere with her judgment at this time.

So, only when everything was settled on this day did he ask, "Li Zhengdao wants to finish this year's work together, why are you unwilling?"

Clothing stores are profitable; working for a few more months means earning a few more months' worth of money.

His wife loves making money, and he never doubts her decision.

Hearing this, Tang Mingli smiled and deliberately kept everyone in suspense, saying, "You wouldn't understand, would you?"