You can't just allow yourself to talk about love while forbidding others from saying "I love you," can you?

For the next few days, Jiang Hailang got up early every day to drive to Lin Xiaoran's house to pick her up, take her out for breakfast, and then go to work together.

In the hotel parking lot, Jiang Hailang tried to lean down and kiss Lin Xiaoran, but she pushed him away.

Lin Xiaoran quickly unbuckled her seatbelt, pushed open the door and got out of the car, tossing out a sentence: "Don't you understand what a clandestine relationship is? You better tone it down." After saying that, she left quickly, not even waiting for Jiang Hailang to get out of the car and walk with her.

Jiang Hailang sat in the car and laughed like an idiot. He finally found a relationship, but it was a secret affair.

However, he wasn't so easy to appease. If you can't kiss in public, then find another place.

As soon as Lin Xiaoran entered the office, she received a WeChat message from Jiang Hailang: "Baby, let's go out for lunch?"

Later, she also posted an emoji of two cartoon figures hugging and kissing each other, creating countless pink hearts.

Song Yunxi looked up at Lin Xiaoran, who was smiling sweetly, and sighed deeply in her heart. It's over; it seems her little assistant ultimately couldn't escape her clutches.

However, Song Yunxi was no pushover either. During her lunch break, she went to Mu Chen's office to complain.

"I want to file a complaint against Jiang Hailang." He said this with a serious and angry expression, his brows furrowed tightly.

Mu Chen smiled and reached out to smooth her furrowed brows. "Why did you complain about him?"

Her lips curled up, as if she had suffered some great injustice. "He's trying to steal my assistant away."

"Your assistant doesn't want to be with Jiang Hailang?"

"She's willing."

Mu Chen laughed even harder. He pulled Song Yunxi into his arms and sat her down on the sofa.

"Then what are you complaining about? You can't just allow yourself to talk about love while forbidding others from saying 'I love you,' can you?"

"But everyone knows what kind of person Jiang Hailang is. Lin Xiaoran has just graduated from university and is still inexperienced. How can she be with him?"

"Jiang Hailang does have some controversial aspects, but he never deceives anyone and always shows his true self to the girls he dates. If a girl doesn't want to be with him, he will never force her."

Furthermore, although he often joked with his female colleagues at the hotel, he never had a romantic relationship with any of the girls there. He was a man who clearly distinguished between public and private matters.

Lin Xiaoran was the first girl he met at the hotel, and I believe he genuinely wanted to be with her. So, let's give them a chance, okay?

Song Yunxi glanced at Mu Chen, but didn't answer him. Instead, she rested her head on his shoulder.

Matters between men and women are not for outsiders to interfere with. She was just worried that Lin Xiaoran would get hurt, so she came to Mu Chen to complain about Jiang Hailang.

Mu Chen said, "I have a dinner party tonight, and I'm not sure when it will end. You go to sleep first, don't wait for me."

Song Yunxi drew circles on his chest with her finger. "When did I say I was going to wait for you?"

*

As soon as she arrived at work in the afternoon, Lin Xiaoran handed a printed list to Song Yunxi.

"Unnie, this is a newly compiled list of travel agencies. Take a look."

A few days ago, after deciding to cooperate with more travel agencies, they compiled a list. The principle at the time was: large and well-known travel agencies should be given priority. However, after the sales department colleagues went out to contact them for two days, they returned the list.

Their list mainly consists of travel agencies with large storefronts in the market. Although their reputation and scale meet their requirements, they are all group tour operators and don't care about cooperating with hotels at all.

Song Yunxi learned about the travel agency industry again and realized that travel agencies are actually divided into group tour operators and local tour operators.

Most travel platforms that operate with physical stores in the city or online are tour operators. Their main task is to recruit customers to form tour groups, sign travel contracts with tourists, handle pre-trip formalities, and then take the tourists to the destination and hand them over to the local ground handling agency.

The local travel agency is responsible for arranging tour guides, vehicles, hotels, restaurants, attractions, and other specific reception work in the local area.

Group tour operators typically choose one hotel of the same star rating from those offered by local travel agencies, rarely specifying a particular hotel themselves. Therefore, Platinum Hotels should be partnering with those local travel agencies hidden away in office buildings or high-rises.

Song Yunxi drew two places on the screen. "These two are relatively close to each other. Let's go talk to them ourselves this afternoon, so we can get a better understanding of the situation."

"good."

Lin Xiaoran took the list from Song Yunxi, marked the two entries in the computer spreadsheet as being handled by her and Song Yunxi, and then sent the remaining list to the sales department assistant's email address.

The first negotiation with the travel agency went very smoothly. After all, the Platinum Hotel is one of the top hotels in Lancheng, both in terms of brand recognition and star rating. Having such a high-end hotel as a resource gives the travel agency more confidence when hosting high-end tour groups.

After leaving the building where the travel agencies were located, Song Yunxi and Lin Xiaoran checked the time downstairs: 3:30 PM. It seemed that the negotiations with the two travel agencies, which had originally been planned to take two days, could be completed in just one afternoon, exceeding their target.

Song Yunxi smiled at the girl at the front desk of the second travel agency and said, "Hello, we are from Platinum Hotel. We would like to talk to your business manager or tour coordinator about cooperation."

"Please wait a moment while I make a phone call."

The receptionist led them to sit on the sofa in the lounge area, and then returned to the front desk to make a phone call.

Song Yunxi was still looking at the photos of the scenic spot on the wall when she heard Lin Xiaoran mutter to herself, "Yuan Qingqing?"

Song Yunxi turned her head and followed Lin Xiaoran's gaze. "Who?"

"The ex-girlfriend of CEO Lang".

Just a few seconds after she finished speaking, Yuan Qingqing walked over to the sofa where Song Yunxi and Lin Xiaoran were sitting.

She glanced at Lin Xiaoran, then smiled and greeted them, "Hello, I'm Yuan Qingqing, the planning manager of Xingcheng Travel Agency."

"Hello, Manager Yuan." Song Yunxi smiled and extended her hand to introduce herself: "I am Song Yunxi, Director of Innovation at Platinum Hotels. This is my colleague, Lin Xiaoran."

After shaking hands with Song Yunxi, Yuan Qingqing extended her hand to Lin Xiaoran: "Miss Lin, we meet again."

Lin Xiaoran smiled and said, "I didn't expect Sister Qingqing to still remember me."

“How could I forget?” Yuan Qingqing leaned close to Lin Xiaoran and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Jiang Hailang calls your name in his dreams.”

Yuan Qingqing said this with a smile, her tone calm and even. Even a master like Song Yunxi couldn't immediately discern her meaning.

Yuan Qingqing said, "Please have a seat, both of you. What would you like to drink?"

Song Yunxi said, "Either is fine."

Yuan Qingqing then personally poured two glasses of iced lemon tea and placed them in front of Song Yunxi and Lin Xiaoran.

"Mr. Song, what kind of cooperation do you want by coming to visit in person?"

“Platinum Hotels is now preparing to transform into a tourism hotel, and there are opportunities for cooperation in accommodation and catering. Star Travel Agency is our first choice for partner, and if we can cooperate, Platinum Hotels will offer a corresponding negotiated price to express our sincerity.” Song Yunxi said, handing over a quotation.

Although the discount offered by Platinum Hotels is not much, it is quite generous for a hotel of this level.

Yuan Qingqing was actually quite satisfied; they hadn't been able to get this price before when high-end tour groups stayed at the Platinum Hotel.

However, as the saying goes, whoever takes the initiative first becomes more passive.

Since it was Platinum Hotels that approached us for cooperation, the price should be discussed further.

“Platinum Hotels is also a hotel we very much want to cooperate with, but I hope the discount can be even lower. After all, the profit margin in the tourism industry is not high right now, and we may choose other hotels of the same level with lower discounts in order to reduce costs.” After Yuan Qingqing finished speaking, she turned to look at Lin Xiaoran. “Besides, I am a very familiar friend of Mr. Lang from your hotel.”

Lin Xiaoran paused for a moment, then turned to look at Song Yunxi.

Song Yunxi smiled and said, "Since he's Mr. Lang's friend, we should give him some face, otherwise it will make Xiaoran seem petty. But we give the same price to every travel agency, so there's really no way to adjust it."

"How about this: from now on, for any tour groups brought in by Xingcheng Travel Agency, we'll provide the tour guide with a free room and meals. This cost will be covered privately by Mr. Lang and Xiaoran. What do you think?"

Platinum Hotel is positioned as a high-end hotel and previously did not have dedicated rooms or meals for tour guides. When tour groups stayed there in the past, the tour guides would arrange rooms for the tourists and then go to stay in nearby budget hotels themselves.

A tour group spends at least four or five days sightseeing locally, and the tour guide's additional accommodation and meal expenses must be included in the travel agency's tour operation costs.

Song Yunxi's suggestion, while not explicitly lowering the price, could save the travel agency some money. The savings weren't large, but it showed her sincerity.

Lin Xiaoran nodded. "Yes, I agree with President Song's suggestion."

Clever as she was, she naturally understood that Song Yunxi was backing her up. She was perfectly positioning herself as the rightful wife in front of Jiang Hailang's ex-girlfriend. She said that she and Jiang Hailang would cover the expenses, and there would always be a way to resolve the situation.

Yuan Qingqing smiled and said, "Then thank you very much, President Song and Miss Lin. Please also thank President Lang on my behalf."

Not only Lin Xiaoran understood Song Yunxi's meaning, but Yuan Qingqing did too. She had originally thought that only she and Lin Xiaoran knew about Song Yunxi's relationship with Jiang Hailang, but it seemed that Song Yunxi was also well aware of it.

"I'll have my colleague send you the cooperation agreement tomorrow. I wish us a pleasant cooperation."

Song Yunxi smiled and extended her hand, and Yuan Qingqing smiled and shook her hand in return.

"Now that we've finished discussing business, can we talk about personal matters?" Yuan Qingqing turned to look at Lin Xiaoran. "Is that you?"

Lin Xiaoran didn't understand her sudden question. "What?"

"Jiang Hailang said he's fallen in love with someone else, is that you?"

Lin Xiaoran then smiled and nodded. "It seems so."

Yuan Qingqing turned to Song Yunxi with a hint of resentment: "President Song, you don't know, the first time I met Miss Lin, I was having dinner with Jiang Hailang. As a result, Jiang Hailang abandoned me and ran off with Miss Lin, so I didn't even get to eat dinner that day."

"That's where Xiaoran is wrong. She should at least treat Manager Yuan to dinner. How about I treat the three of us to dinner tonight to celebrate our collaboration?"

Yuan Qingqing readily agreed. Anyway, it was after work, and she didn't have a new boyfriend yet, so going out for dinner with the girls wouldn't be bad.

Yuan Qingqing went back to her office to pack her things, while Song Yunxi and Lin Xiaoran remained seated on the sofa in the reception area, waiting.

Lin Xiaoran said, "I originally thought meeting Lang Zong's ex-girlfriend would be a dramatic affair, but it went so smoothly. It seems Yuan Qingqing is quite a carefree person."

"That's only because your CEO manages his ex-girlfriends well. It's said that no ex-girlfriend's breakup is dramatic; some can even remain friends. Yuan Qingqing is probably one of those who can still be friends." Song Yunxi finished speaking, then thought for a moment and realized something was off. "Gao Jiali seems to be an exception."

The two of them sat there and chuckled softly.

Dinner was at a restaurant on the first floor of a hotel near the Third Ring Road, which is one of the more famous seafood restaurants in Lancheng.

The three sat at a table by the window, eating and chatting, and surprisingly, they got to know each other quite well and had a pleasant conversation.

When Yuan Qingqing returned from the restroom, she asked the other two mysteriously, "Guess who I saw?"

Seeing the two people's puzzled expressions, she pointed to the dimly lit dining table in the far corner.

Song Yunxi and Lin Xiaoran looked in the direction she pointed. Although Song Yunxi couldn't see anything clearly, Lin Xiaoran could see it very clearly.

Jiang Hailang was having dinner with a well-dressed woman with a stylish, wavy hairstyle.

They ate and chatted, occasionally raising their glasses in laughter. Jiang Hailang peeled shrimp and placed them on the woman's plate, and she smiled as she picked them up with her chopsticks and put them in her mouth.

After the meal, the woman took Jiang Hailang's arm and walked out of the restaurant side by side, then took the elevator upstairs.

"The hotel rooms are upstairs." Yuan Qingqing smiled and turned to look at Lin Xiaoran, as if waiting to see if she would go upstairs to catch her cheating.