Chapter 53 Chapter 053 Ye Baoling?

On Yang Pinxian and Ye Jinsong's 30th wedding anniversary, only the third branch of the family gathered together for a small celebration.

A large cake was prepared at home, and the couple cut the cake together and took a photo.

"Daddy, Mommy, come closer."

Ye Yongqi has learned photography, and she took photos of her parents with her camera.

Yang Pinxian and Ye Jinsong could only awkwardly get closer to each other in front of outsiders.

Ye Baoling saw this and felt that their relationship was a bit strange.

There are far too many middle-aged couples whose relationships are distant, and she didn't have time to investigate them in detail.

After the group photo was taken, Aunt Tang Jing arranged for the servants to cut a piece of cake for the old lady.

Having just finished dinner, Old Madam Guan couldn't eat much. She called out, "I want a small portion, and cut Bao Ling's into bigger pieces. I see she's lost weight."

Ye Baoling has been busy lately and has been eating a lot, so she feels she has gained weight. She laughed and said, "Grandma, I haven't lost weight. I have more fat around my waist than before. Fourth Aunt, I want a smaller piece too."

Ye Yongqi is also afraid of gaining weight: "After a summer vacation, I've developed a little belly. Fourth Aunt, I want smaller pieces too."

Hearing everyone talking about dieting, Tang Jing chuckled and joked, "I'm the thinnest, so I eat the most. Seeing how thin you all are, I haven't even said anything. If you're considered fat, then I'm truly grateful. Don't even cut it into small pieces, give it all to me!"

Everyone was amused.

After distributing cakes to everyone, Tang Jing remembered that the second wife was unwell and couldn't come, so she asked Ye Huaili to take a piece of cake to his mother.

While eating cake, everyone talked about Ham Bi's trip to Hong Kong to drink herbal tea.

The third branch of the family knew that Ye Baoling worked at Ye Qingtang, but they didn't know that she was the person in charge of this promotion.

Tang Jing asked Ye Baoling curiously, "Was Xian Bi deliberately cooperating with your publicity stunt, or was it unintentional?"

Ye Baoling couldn't tell the truth, so she just smiled and said, "It was unintentional. We just happened to be photographed by reporters while we were discussing cooperation."

"Is Xian Bi really going to be the spokesperson for Ye Qingtang?"

Ye Baoling shook her head: "We haven't reached an agreement yet, and we don't know if we can."

Ye Jinfeng rarely participated in the conversation: "If you ask her, how would she know? You're just making things difficult for her."

Ye Baoling disliked Ye Jinfeng quite a bit, so she smiled and ignored him.

Ye Huaizhang knew that his wife did not want him to disclose her work at Ye Qingtang, so he remained silent.

Ye Jinsong said, "If Ye Qingtang goes public and its stock price rises accordingly, that would be a good thing."

After all, the third branch of the family also has shares in Ye Qingtang.

Grandma Guan is a conservative: "But our shareholding has been diluted, since we already had a small shareholding to begin with."

Ye Jinfeng advised his mother: "Mom, look at both sides of everything. Now that we're listed, there's a very direct valuation, and we can know how much our shares are worth. Besides, in order to manage market value well, the old Changfang can't be so stingy as not to pay dividends anymore. Paying dividends is a good thing for us."

Tang Jing then said, "Ye Qingtang's jasmine iced tea is really delicious, have you tried it?"

Ye Yongqi ate a small bite of cake: "I drank it, it was delicious. There's some in the fridge at home."

The maid then brought out more than ten bottles of jasmine iced tea. After eating the cake, drinking the iced tea was very refreshing.

The cake wasn't very sweet and tasted quite good, but Ye Baoling only ate a small half piece before she couldn't eat anymore. She handed the rest to Ye Huaizhang, hoping he could put it on the table behind her.

Ye Huaizhang thought she was telling him to finish the rest of the food.

How could he possibly eat what she left behind in front of so many people?

But when the cake was handed to him, he hesitated for a moment, and finally decided to eat it.

Ye Baoling unscrewed the cap of the jasmine iced tea bottle, turned around, and found him eating the cake she had left over. She couldn't help but mutter under her breath, "Why are you being so frugal?"

Ye Huaizhang: "..."

After eating the cake, Ye Baoling accompanied the old lady upstairs. Old Madam Guan was a very pragmatic person; she would mention Ye Huaizhang, but never spoke ill of Ye Baoling to his face.

In front of Ye Baoling, she always said that it is essential for a woman to have her own career.

Today was no exception, but I still said a couple of other things.

"Career is important, but enjoying life is also important. What is the point of working so hard in this world? We must not let our careers stop us from enjoying life."

The old lady is good at coaxing people. If she says that women should prioritize their families, it will definitely cause a backlash.

But she didn't say that.

She's advising you to enjoy life in addition to your career.

The implication is self-evident.

Young people are also more willing to accept this approach.

Before going to sleep, lying on the big bed, after enjoying marital intimacy, Ye Baoling said to the man still on top of her, "The old lady just told me that women should love themselves more and enjoy life more."

Ye Huaizhang barged in again, saying, "Then let's do it one more time."

Take advantage of your youth.

Ye Baoling thought that if she didn't do more now, she would probably end up like Ye Huaizhang's parents when they reached middle age, disliking each other but still having to maintain a facade of peace.

Who knows if things will turn out this way in the future?

The only thing better about this place than her room is that the bathtub is bigger, making it suitable for two people to soak together.

Afterwards, the two soaked in the bathtub.

He said, "I spent more than three hours in the blue brick tunnel this afternoon."

"Any new discoveries?"

Ye Huaizhang rested his head on his arm, leaning against the wall. "The location of the blue brick tunnel at the bottom of Silver Snake Mountain has a clay that looks very similar to the clay of the brick door of the wine cellar downstairs."

Ye Baoling sat up; the water in the bathtub only reached her waist. "There's a blue brick door at the bottom of Silver Serpent Mountain? Could there be a cellar over there too?"

"We cannot rule out this possibility."

However, the cellars of the eldest and third sons both open into the blue brick tunnel from the wine cellar side. If there is a door on Silver Snake Mountain, how can it be opened?

Ye Huaizhang also didn't have any ideas yet, "I'll study it slowly when I have time."

His eyes lingered on the two points swaying on her waist, and he bent down to take them into his mouth.

Then, the water in the bathtub rippled outwards...

Zhou Tian and his wife didn't go out; they stayed at home. They went through the blue brick tunnel and took a trip to Silver Snake Mountain.

Indeed, there is a place where the grayish-white clay is slightly different from the surrounding area.

If there really is a door here, how do I get in?

Ye Baoling joked, "I'm imitating Sun Dianying."

It exploded.

Ye Huaizhang: "Then the two of us might be buried inside."

If we take our time, we'll eventually find a solution.

*

Inside a hotel in the western district of Gangcheng.

Ye Kaishen put on his trousers and was fastening his belt.

He said to Qi Yuxiu, who was lying on the bed, "If Wan Xiwen is Shen Wanjie's illegitimate daughter, then he certainly did engage in favoritism. But think about it, the company is full of personal connections and relationships. Based on that alone, are we absolutely certain we can bring him down? Shen Wanjie was able to rise to power because his father used to work for my second uncle. It's all about personal connections. Especially now, with Ye Qingtang's IPO imminent, my second uncle certainly doesn't want any major personnel changes at the top. In the end, it's very likely that a big problem will be minimized and a small problem will be avoided."

Qi Yuxiu remained lying in bed, not intending to get up. She propped her head up with one hand and asked, "Such a good hand, are we just going to waste it like this?"

After fastening his belt, Ye Kaishen put on his shirt and said while buttoning it, "Even if Shen Wanjie is brought down, Lin Zhong will still promote his own people. Several vice presidents at Liangcha are quite capable and are all thinking about taking the position."

"At least we have the opportunity to help someone who could benefit you."

"Look, we went to so much trouble to get Liu Tiejun, their marketing director, out of office, right? And what happened? Lin Zhong is cunning as hell. He'd rather Qu Zhengming be the director of two departments than give you the chance to promote your own person."

Qi Yuxiu asked, "Then what should we do?"

Ye Kaishen had his own ideas: "Use this leverage to win over Shen Wanjie and make him one of our people."

It sounds nice to call it courting, but it's really just blackmail.

Use your own spear against your own shield.

Qi Yuxiu's expression brightened a bit. "That's a good idea. On the surface, he's Lin Zhong's man, but in reality, he's one of ours."

"Go and talk to him."

"Is it appropriate for me to go?" After all, she's just a manager.

“You’re mine. That’s enough.” Ye Kaishen picked up his wallet and walked out.

Qi Yuxiu sat up and began to consider the best course of action.

*

On Monday morning, Ye Baoling was called in for a talk by Qu Zhengming shortly after arriving at the company.

"What I told you on Friday about promoting you to deputy manager, what's your thought about it?"

Ye Baoling smiled and nodded: "I can."

Having reached this point, she is not afraid of encountering members of the Ye family at future mid-to-high-level meetings. She has truly climbed up the ranks through her own abilities, and the company is in dire need of personnel at this time. Her grandfather cannot force her to leave Ye Qingtang.

Qu Zhengming was pleased to see her confident reply.

"That's great. Is there a department you'd like to work for? There aren't any assistant manager positions available in the product or brand departments right now, and you're not familiar with the other departments. How about you try the marketing department?"

Qu Zhengming's meaning was clear: if she were in the marketing department, she could continue to protect her.

People are selfish, and she couldn't bear to let such an outstanding talent as Ye Baoling go to another department.

Ye Baoling smiled and said, "I'll go to the marketing department."

"That's great. The marketing department is missing someone as capable as you to expand the market. However, you'll still need to continue handling the promotion of jasmine iced tea for the next two weeks. Once the company goes public, you can completely hand over the promotion work to the brand department."

"Okay, I understand. By the way, Mr. Qu, I promised the promotion team that I would give everyone time to take a vacation after the promotion task was completed. Now that there isn't so much work, everyone can take turns resting."

Qu Zhengming readily agreed: "No problem, I'll take care of that. Let's go, let's go to the meeting first."

Today we're having a mid-term debriefing meeting for the Jasmine Iced Tea promotion team.

As soon as she entered the office, He Jiayi started teasing, "Congratulations to Manager Gu on your promotion."

"Biu biu biu! Bang! Bang! Biu biu!" Wang Bingchang was the most lively; he set off an artificial firework in the conference room with his voice and gestures.

Ye Baoling smiled and gestured for him to keep a low profile: "Let's keep it low-key. The announcement hasn't been released yet. What if I haven't been promoted by the time the champagne is opened halfway through the event?"

Someone joked, "Does Manager Gu not want to treat us to dinner?"

Ye Baoling: "Whether I get promoted or not, we still have to have this meal. Just now, President Qu promised that starting tomorrow, everyone can gradually arrange paid leave."

Everyone laughed and said loudly, "Thank you, President Qu, thank you, Manager Gu."

Qu Zhengming said, "This promotion has been so successful, it's unprecedented! We achieved the best results with the least budget. Our outstanding performance has greatly surprised the company's senior management. Last week at the senior management meeting, the chairman praised you for fifteen minutes."

Is it true?

"Of course it's true. This city-wide sensational marketing campaign is largely thanks to the efforts of Gu Baolin and many of her colleagues. In addition to those who are on leave, there will be performance bonuses later."

Ye Baoling said, "Everyone in our promotion team has made contributions, and everyone will definitely receive a bonus."

"Waaaaaah!"

After receiving the pep talk, Qu Zhengming left early because he had something to do.

Ye Baoling then said, "We still need to finish the promotional work. After the company goes public, we will hand it all over to the brand department colleagues. So next, we need to do some paid promotion. The brand department colleagues definitely know why we need to do paid promotion. I won't go into details at the meeting. Which promotion costs the most? Of course, it's hiring celebrities. If we can get Ham Bi to come, then our promotion will be a perfect match, and it will definitely ignite the topic of conversation throughout Hong Kong."

"However, Hambi wants a four million endorsement fee."

"Yes, Manager Gu, the company can't possibly approve such a high promotion fee."

Ye Baoling said, "If I don't do endorsements and only shoot a TV commercial, the cost will definitely be lower. I'll talk to them about this later."

She didn't say that she had already communicated with them.

After the meeting, when she returned to her workstation, He Jiayi secretly asked Ye Baoling, "I don't understand, why do we still need to do promotions that require money at this time?"

Ye Baoling laughed and said, "First, it's to consolidate the success of the promotion. Second, and most importantly, this time the results were so good, but it only cost a little money. Will those brainless leaders at the top of the company think that promotion doesn't need to cost money, and that all you need is brains? Then the colleagues in the brand department will really be unable to carry out their work."

He Jiayi gave her a sly look: "You know so much more."

Upon hearing this, Rao Qiutong, who was not far away, silently opened her notebook.

*

After the company's senior management meeting ended, Qi Yuxiu quickly stepped forward and said to Shen Wanjie, "President Shen, our logistics department needs to coordinate some work with you. Do you have time?"

Shen Wanjie glanced at her; he was always quite polite to people from headquarters.

"Manager Qi, I have a 10-minute break in a bit. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I'll come to your office to talk to you."

Qi Yuxiu followed Shen Wanjie to the general manager's office on the 10th floor.

After sitting down, Qi Yuxiu took out a letter from the folder and handed it over.

"Mr. Shen, take a look."

Upon opening the envelope, Shen Wanjie's expression instantly changed.

Inside was a printed letter of complaint accusing Shen Wanjie of favoritism and malpractice. One of the accusations was that he concealed the truth from the company and appointed his illegitimate daughter, Wan Xiwen, who had no work experience, as the person in charge of an important project.

Seeing his expression change, Qi Yuxiu quickly reassured him: "President Shen must be curious why this letter of accusation is with me. President Shen intercepted it and asked me to deliver it to you personally. He told me to tell you that you don't need to worry."

Hearing Qi Yuxiu say this, Shen Wanjie finally felt a little relieved.

However, Ye Kaishen specifically asked Qi Yuxiu to deliver the letter of accusation, so he must have had ulterior motives.

He tucked the letter under the envelope, forcing a smile: "Please tell Mr. Shen how much I appreciate it."

Qi Yuxiu: "President Shen has always admired you, and he very much hopes to become true friends with President Shen."

True friends? Shen Wanjie understood what she meant.

"Of course... I have always admired President Shen for his decisiveness and courage. If I have the opportunity, I would certainly like to become friends with President Shen."

Shen Wanjie understood that the letter of accusation might not be genuine; it was probably Ye Kaishen who knew that Wan Xiwen was his illegitimate daughter and wanted to use it to blackmail him.

Qi Yuxiu smiled and said, "That's great. President Shen never mistreats his own people. I hope we can cooperate more and faster in the future."

Shen Wanjie did not want to be controlled by someone with a lower position than himself. "Then please arrange a time with President Shen. I want to talk to him in person."

Qi Yuxiu was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said, "Okay, I'll tell him."

After Qi Yuxiu left, Shen Wanjie's face darkened.

He was so angry that he crumpled the letter of complaint into a ball and threw it in the trash can.

A few seconds later, he picked up the crumpled paper, unfolded it, tore it into pieces, and then threw it in the trash can.

Just then, the secretary brought in a document for him to sign. When he opened it, he saw that it was Gu Baolin's promotion appointment letter.

The reason his daughter attracted Ye Kaishen's attention was because the first jasmine herbal tea promotion plan did not go smoothly. Instead of helping him cover it up, Qu Zhengming deliberately made a big fuss and took the opportunity to push Gu Baolin into the spotlight.

With Qu Zhengming's full cooperation, Gu Baolin's second promotion was so successful, which only highlighted his daughter's incompetence and his favoritism.

Ultimately, it was Qu Zhengming who caused all this trouble for him.

And Gu Baolin.

Once unfaithful, always untrustworthy.

He almost bit his back teeth until they bled.

*

Before leaving get off work, Qi Yuxiu received a call from Ye Kaishen.

"I've spoken with Shen Wanjie, and it went very well."

Qi Yuxiu said with slight dissatisfaction, "He insists on talking to you."

"He has a request."

What are the requirements?

"He wanted us to work with him to figure out a way to bring down Qu Zhengming. He guessed that we had something on Qu Zhengming."

This was exactly what Qi Yuxiu wanted. "No problem, we've been prepared to take down Qu Zhengming for a long time, haven't we?"

"And Gu Baolin."

Qi Yuxiu hesitated slightly, after all, Gu Baolin was too useful.

Ye Kaishen asked, "You can't bear to part with it?"

Qi Yuxiu gritted her teeth and said, "This person is useful, but also difficult to control. We were prepared for him to be sacrificed at any time. I will follow your arrangements."

"Okay, then I'll do as I say."

The two briefly outlined their plan over the phone.

Knock knock knock!

There was a knock at the door.

Qi Yuxiu hurriedly hung up the phone before saying, "Come in."

It was Ye Baoling who came in.

Ye Baoling brought over the latest month's paper money. "Sister Xiu, the total paper money for this month is 8012 yuan. After deducting 3000 points for the cleaner's salary and 300 yuan for the bonus, the rest is here. Please take a look."

Qi Yuxiu smiled as she accepted the envelope: "Thank you for your hard work."

"It's all part of my job."

Qi Yuxiu took out 1,000 yuan directly from inside and gave it to Ye Baoling: "This 1,000 is for you."

"so much."

"Take it."

"Thank you, Sister Xiu." Ye Baoling smiled as she accepted the money. "Sister Xiu, when will Zeng Zhentao from the R&D team be back?"

Qi Yuxiu: "They'll be back in the next day or two, right? It'll definitely be quite lively then. Be prepared."

Ye Baoling countered, "How should we respond?"

Qi Yuxiu: "Shen and I have thought about it, and it might not be appropriate for you to report it. We will find another anonymous person to report it. At the meeting, as we planned before, you will take the initiative to testify that Qu Zhengming sent you to change the formula. After bringing Qu Zhengming down, Shen will step in to protect you, and you will be promoted from deputy manager to manager this year."

Ye Baoling worriedly said, "This jasmine iced drink is being promoted so well, I'm afraid that once the higher-ups find out the recipe has been changed, they won't want to change it anymore and will just stick to the old ways..."

"Changing the formula without authorization is a matter of principle. It will definitely be investigated thoroughly."

After discussing coping strategies for a while, Qi Yuxiu said, "After you are promoted to deputy manager, your position will be in the herbal tea marketing department, and you will no longer be in our logistics department. You will have more work. Talk to the two team leaders in the cleaning department later. There may be someone else to take over your work. However, I will still give you your share of the paper money later."

Even without logistics support, how can one still have paper money?

This sounds like a pie in the sky, an attempt to lure her in.

Ye Baoling didn't question it further, and nodded with a smile: "I understand."

After leaving Qi Yuxiu's office, Ye Baoling took the cardboard money and distributed it to A-Xia and the others.

She didn't mention a single word of what Qi Yuxiu had asked her to say.

Afterwards, she went up to the 6th floor, where Gao Lizhen and He Jiayi helped her move the documents from her workstation to the office of the deputy manager of the marketing department.

Within three months of joining Ye Qingtang, he had managed to secure his own office.

This might be someone's lifelong goal.

The marketing department showed her unprecedented enthusiasm.

After all, he had previously brought in performance for everyone, and was the fastest-promoted employee in Ye Qingtang's history, as well as a favorite of Boss Qu.

The marketing department already has two deputy managers: Manager Dai, who is in charge of sales in Southeast Asia, and Manager Huang, who is in charge of sales in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

After Ye Baoling arrived, her main responsibility was to develop new markets.

However, it is very difficult to open up markets that have not yet been explored.

Mainland China has a large population, but the reform and opening up has only been going on for a short time. People are still struggling to solve the problem of food and clothing, and the demand for beverage consumption is extremely low.

The European and American markets are vast, and people there are wealthy, but Ye Qingtang has traditionally focused on herbal teas, which Europeans and Americans aren't used to. Therefore, Ye Qingtang's European and American markets are currently almost nonexistent…

Manager Huang kindly suggested to her: "You could consider South Korea and Japan. East Asia has a similar culture to us, so it's easier to open up their market than Europe and America."

Ye Baoling smiled and nodded: "I'll learn first, and you'll have to guide me when the time comes."

"If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me anytime."

Qu Zhengming took some time to hold a meeting, and everyone applauded again to welcome Ye Baoling's joining.

“Baolin is in charge of developing new markets and doesn’t have any soldiers on hand for the time being. Are there any people from the other two groups who would like to be transferred to Gu Baolin’s group? Please raise your hand if you are interested.”

Although they all liked Ye Baoling, the colleagues were very clear-headed when it came to matters of interest.

No one raised their hand for a long time.

That was awkward.

Ye Baoling didn't care. She laughed and said, "Following me might be tough at first, and if we can't open up new markets for the time being, it might be quite leisurely..."

Everyone laughed.

"But I guarantee that the people in my group will be living the high life from now on."

Colleagues teased each other, suggesting who should go.

In the end, Ah Zhen, who had worked with Ye Baoling before, very loyally raised her hand, "I'll give it a try."

"Wow!" Everyone applauded Ah Zhen's courage.

Qu Zhengming asked, "Is there anything else?"

That's all.

"May I?"

The sound came from the doorway.

It turns out that Gao Lizhen hadn't left after helping Ye Baoling move her things upstairs.

Qu Zhengming looked at Ye Baoling: "This is from the product department, they have no experience..."

It means you can refuse.

Ye Baoling welcomes anyone who trusts her, extending her arms in a gesture of approval: "You can do it!"

A true strong person can embrace the weak.

If only she were strong enough.

Manager Gu Baolin's three-person team was officially established.

*

The next day, Zeng Zhentao from the R&D team returned to work from abroad, and Shen Wanjie took action that morning.

Before taking action, he called Ye Kaishen: "President Shen, I'm afraid Lin Zhong will suppress the matter privately to protect his own people. You know, I can't directly oppose him. What if the chairman doesn't come in time?"

Ye Kaishen told him to calm down: "I will definitely bring him here."

Otherwise, how could the label of mismanagement be pinned on Lin Zhong?

Ye Kaishen was more anxious about this than Shen Wanjie.

Half an hour later, Gu Baolin and Qu Zhengming were summoned to the conference room on the 29th floor.

In the conference room, Lin Zhong sat at the head of the table and said, "Someone reported that you secretly changed the recipe for jasmine iced tea. Is that true?"

Qu Zhengming looked bewildered: "Didn't the company approve improvements to the formula?"

Ye Baoling reminded her, "President Lin means that we should also change the improved formula."

Qu Zhengming was even more bewildered. "President Lin, President Shen, the two of us? How could the two of us possibly change the recipe? We've already shipped so many bottles of Jasmine Iced Tea, how could the recipe have been changed?"

Shen Wanjie sat down next to Lin Zhong: "Because the replaced formula only has minor differences, especially at room temperature, there is basically no difference. Usually, the tea we drink at the company is room temperature jasmine iced tea. Even if you drink it chilled, it's hard to tell the difference without comparing the two formulas side by side."

Qu Zhengming shook his head: "We did not change the formula."

Shen Wanjie: "But someone saw it, someone heard it, and there is surveillance footage of Gu Baolin secretly entering the R&D room to change the formula. There's no denying it. The R&D staff have already rushed to the factory to compare the formula, and we'll have results soon."

Ye Baoling asked, "What surveillance footage did you see?"

Shen Wanjie sneered: "You probably don't know this, but our office building doesn't have many surveillance cameras. Besides the elevators and the finance department, the R&D room also has surveillance cameras."

As they were talking, the conference room door was pushed open, and Cai Yongming accompanied Ye Qizu in, followed by Qi Yuxiu, Liu Xiang, and several other middle-level managers.

Ye Qizu is farsighted, and he saw his granddaughter as soon as he entered the door.

Shen Wanjie hurriedly introduced, "Chairman, this is Gu Baolin."

Ye Qizu's pupils dilated in shock!

Gu Baolin...

The old fox instantly understood.

The "other people's child" he envied was actually his good-for-nothing granddaughter, Ye Baoling?!

Ye Qizu looked at his granddaughter with mixed feelings.

Ye Baoling ignored her grandfather and calmly glanced at everyone.

The show is about to begin.

-----------------------

Author's note: Ye Huaizhang: Don't be too shocked, there's something even more shocking that you don't know yet.

See you tomorrow, my darlings!