Chapter 56 After a year, the profits exceeded Nie Qingqing's expectations...
After Nie Qingqing finished talking with Attorney He, Lian Hongrui came over to deliver New Year's gifts. She and Attorney He each received a silk scarf, which were very beautiful. Miss Lian's aesthetic sense and taste are indeed excellent.
Attorney He asked her if she still accepted custom orders: "I'd like to order a set of jewelry from you, adorned with rubies. I have no other requirements. Would you accept it?"
Lian Hongrui was flattered and quickly agreed. Before Lawyer He went on vacation, she rushed to finish the work and delivered it over. She said nervously, "You don't even look at the design drafts, so I don't know if you'll like the finished product."
This jewelry set, primarily made of gold and adorned with rubies, includes a pair of earrings, a necklace, and a brooch—it's exceptionally beautiful.
Attorney He immediately fell in love with it, praising, "I'll wear this to my family dinner during the Chinese New Year. Thank you, it looks so good."
Lian Hongrui blushed with joy, feeling extremely satisfied. She quickly waved her hand modestly, saying, "I don't need that much money, half will do."
Attorney He didn't stand on ceremony with her and took back half of the payment he had prepared.
...
It's holiday time, and everyone is preparing for the New Year. Attorney He wore a new set of jewelry, ready to go out and visit guests.
The combination of rubies and glittering gold looked so beautiful. Mr. Zhong thought it looked strangely familiar and asked, "Honey, are the earrings and necklace you're wearing the same brand as the necklace Manager Nie is wearing? They seem to have the same design style."
Attorney He adjusted the position of the necklace around her neck, which indeed complemented her temperament.
She smiled and said, "You have good taste. This set of mine, and the one Qingqing wore, were both designed and made by Miss Lian herself. They are custom-made pieces, and you definitely won't find the same ones anywhere else. Aren't they beautiful?"
Mr. Zhong suspects that his wife has started a new round of testing him. Is it a good thing or a bad thing?
"Hmm, it's alright. Why did you decide to have her customize your jewelry? It's not high-end enough."
Attorney He rolled his eyes at him: "If that's how you put it, I'll have to order several more sets. When Miss Lian becomes a famous designer in the future, her value will rise accordingly. The ones I order now will appreciate in value in the future."
Mr. Zhong's lips twitched. He wasn't jealous at all. Why wasn't anyone jealous of him?
He wanted to slap himself, and hurriedly said, "My wife is right, let's order a few more sets."
...
Nie Qingqing's family was also preparing for the New Year. This year, Xiaoyin was staying with her brother and sister-in-law. She called in the evening, but she didn't hear Meng Kaiyang's voice. Tangyuan and Xiaoyuan were chatting one after another, so she didn't ask too many questions.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Tang Guizhi called her mother alone. She said that Meng Kaiyang had also gone over, but only paid his respects and left without staying for a meal.
Nie Qingqing was not happy. If Xiaoyin and Meng Kaiyang were both stubborn, then let reason prevail. In any case, her Xiaoyin would not give up herself to compromise with others.
She was depressed until she returned to work in January. Attorney He noticed this, asked her about it, and recommended a psychologist, suggesting she seek counseling.
"Don't worry, find a professional to analyze Meng Kaiyang's psychology, so you can have a better understanding of the situation."
...
Nie Qingqing felt it was very necessary, so she called and made an appointment to go and consult with them.
She told the doctor, "I have no psychological problems, I'm perfectly healthy. I just want to ask something for my daughter. She and her boyfriend are having a problem where neither of them can convince the other. I just want to know what the man's mindset is?"
The psychologist was very kind and helped her relax and talk slowly.
Nie Qingqing told the psychologist about Xiaoyin and Meng Kaiyang's attitudes toward going abroad, and also shared her own views.
"Here's what I'm thinking: Meng Kaiyang, if you're worried about him, go abroad with him; if he doesn't go, you're still worried, so you break up. This dragging on like this isn't a solution. Why is Kaiyang acting so awkwardly?"
The psychologist said, "Have you ever understood the behavioral logic behind training small animals? His behavior is also training people's obedience and compromise. Meng Kaiyang himself may not even realize it, but that's exactly what he's doing."
Nie Qingqing suddenly realized: "Yes, that's how I feel. I'm not as professional as you are, but I can sense that he wants to slowly wear down Xiaoyin's personality. He hasn't even realized it yet, but he's already doing it subconsciously. What will happen if we wait a few years? If he really has this idea and hopes to have an obedient girlfriend, then he's picked the wrong person."
Nie Qingqing can't do anything for the time being, but she believes in Xiaoyin and won't let anyone wear down her personality.
...
With spring arriving in March and the weather gradually warming up, the second round of sales for Shanshui Renjia is about to begin.
This time, the number of customers has doubled, so there is sales pressure. We must make the sales department lively and make potential customers feel the urgency that if they don't buy this good product, they will miss out.
The sales department is located right outside the gate of Shanshui Renjia. On the opening day, the more people who come, the better. With more people, there will be a strong momentum for the products to sell well.
She came up with a solution: she had her sales staff notify each of the customers who bought her products last year to come and participate in a lucky draw. Everyone who came would receive a prize—a breakfast at Lehan's Hotel. After contacting them for several days, more than half of her old customers confirmed they would come.
Nie Qingqing contacted several home appliance manufacturers to provide free advertising for their booths and also ordered a few units as prizes for the day's raffle.
Everything was ready. On the day of the sale, the sales office was so crowded with existing and potential customers that it had to be divided into smaller groups.
People who have already bought the property also want to visit the model home and the demonstration area. With the affirmation from these homeowners, the atmosphere is lively and bustling.
The houses sold in the second round are basically ready for occupancy. Many potential buyers are those who failed to buy in the first round. This time, they are at the front of the queue and can jump to the unit type they want, resulting in a very high transaction rate.
On the first day of opening, because there were significantly more households than in the first round, although not all units were sold out, more than 80% were sold. This result has exceeded expectations, and there should be no problem clearing out the units before delivery.
...
The better the sales performance of Shanshui Renjia, the more attention Nie Qingqing received, and even Zhong Xiujun came over to talk to her.
Zhong Xiujun made a few random remarks before saying, "Zhuo Fan has a project and wants to invite you to be the general manager. He'll also give you a house as compensation."
Haven't I heard that Yuanda is going to cooperate with Gao Zhuofan again?
Nie Qingqing gave her face; it was a sales day, and she didn't want to cause any trouble.
She said, "Is Mr. Gao's project a collaboration with Yuanda? I'm willing to accept such a high salary, but I only work on projects developed by Yuanda. You should talk to Attorney He first and let her give me instructions, since she is my superior."
Zhong Xiujun's face fell, and she stammered without going into details.
Just then, He Shumei was urging Zhigao to finalize the apartment layout, and she was making a bit of a racket. Nie Qingqing found an excuse and said, "My friend seems to be having some trouble over there. I'll go take a look."
...
Zhigao was called over by He Shumei today. When he arrived, he looked around and realized that he was almost late.
He Shumei lowered her voice and scolded him: "I gave you the floor plan in advance. You've been thinking about it for so many days, and you still haven't made a decision? Don't waste the early number I saved for you, hurry up and choose!"
Nie Qingqing advised from the side, "Zhigao, this house will be yours to live in from now on. Just use it as a place to escape your troubles when you're feeling down. Choose one that you like."
With that said, Zhigao made up his mind and pointed to the middle stacked room, saying, "Then let's go with the middle one. It makes me feel safe. The entrance hall feels like a safe valley that is surrounded on all sides but can still let in sunlight. I really like that."
Xiao Yuan initially liked the middle-level duplex and the included foyer. Was it because he lacked a sense of security?
...
Actually, He Shumei wanted to choose between the lower or upper stacks, but seeing that Zhigao had finally made his choice, she couldn't bear to give him any pointers.
Can't he choose where he likes to live? If someone else likes it but doesn't want to live there, then so be it.
He Shumei said to Nie Qingqing, "Qingqing, let's go with the middle set."
Nie Qingqing found a salesperson to help Zhigao with the purchase contract. When it was time to sign, Zhigao handed the pen to He Shumei and asked her to sign, saying, "Auntie, let's put the house in your name."
Nie Qingqing and He Shumei were both surprised. What was going on?
He Shumei blurted out, "Why did you put my name on the deed when you bought the house? Are you out of your mind?"
Zhigao had his own reasons: "I don't even trust myself. You are my aunt and the one who loves me the most. Putting me under your name will at least give me a place to live in the end."
He Shumei thought about it and agreed. With his messy relationships, it was hard to say what would happen in the future, and there would be a lot of disputes.
She cursed a few times: "If you do this, Xiao Qi will argue with you again. Will there be no trouble if it's registered under my name? What about your uncle?"
Zhigao laughed and said, "I wouldn't dare put it under my dad's name either, my mom would be furious. After thinking it over, putting it under your name is the safest option."
Nie gently advised Shumei, "Just listen to Zhigao."
He Shumei sighed softly and signed her name on the purchase contract.
...
With a house settled for Zhigao, He Shumei felt relieved.
She and Nie Qingqing were planning: "Now that we've bought a place to live, in a few years, I'll set up a rental business for Zhigao and my brother. With a place to live and money to make a living, I won't worry about them doing whatever they want."
Nie Qingqing said, "Look at the hotel that Uncle Gu gave to Le Han. His original idea was to give her a stable source of cash, but he didn't expect it to be doing better and better now."
He Shumei gestured towards Zhong Xiujun and asked, "She just asked you to do a project, and the pay was pretty good. Why didn't you agree?"
Nie Qingqing explained to her: "Think about it, I am an employee of Yuanda. If I go to do things for her, it's like doing side jobs. It's not worth giving up everything I've accumulated at Yuanda for short-term gains. I can't take it."
He Shumei suddenly realized: "I was wondering why she bypassed Attorney He and went straight to you. I felt something was off; I didn't think it through as clearly as you did."
Nie Qingqing continued, "Zhong Xiujun has her own agenda. She doesn't want to cooperate with Yuanda; she just wants to poach me. How could I possibly agree to that?"
...
After hearing about this, Attorney He told Mr. Zhong to ask, "What does your cousin mean? He's not cooperating and he's trying to poach my people. Isn't that going a bit too far?"
Mr. Zhong could vouch for Gao Zhuofan: "I haven't heard anything about Zhuofan starting any projects. It must be Auntie's idea. I'll go over and ask her right away."
Gao Zhuofan genuinely didn't know about this; it was Zhong Xiujun who acted on her own initiative.
Zhong Xiujun wanted to bid for a piece of land so that her eldest and youngest sons could work together and reconcile the two brothers. She only had a plan in mind before she came to ask Nie Qingqing for her opinion.
The two brothers, Gao Zhuoyue and Gao Zhuofan, went home one after the other and gave Zhong Xiujun a lecture, stating that they would never cooperate with their own brothers.
Zhong Xiujun was so angry that she lay down for several days, but seeing that no one paid attention to her trick, she got up again after a few days.
...
The sales at Shanshui Renjia were completed, and it was summer vacation time. Xiaoyin and Meng Kaiyang returned together.
Xiaoyin has already confirmed her departure date abroad. She will come back for half a month and then leave again.
Meng Kaiyang's gentle attitude and meticulous care for Xiaoyin made it seem as if the previous argument had never happened, leaving Nie Qingqing feeling uneasy.
That evening, Xiaoyin and Nie Qingqing whispered in their room: "Mom, I had already broken up with him, but he suddenly said he was willing to wait for me, so we got back together."
Nie Qingqing disapproved: "Then you might as well have said you'd wait for me from the beginning. What's the point of all this arguing for the past six months?"
Why bother? Yes, it would have been better to support her from the beginning and she would have been touched.
Xiaoyin said, "This is a tug-of-war. In any case, I won this round of the tug-of-war, so let's not talk about it anymore."
Sigh, dating is exhausting, with you testing me and me testing you. Like her and Song Zhao, they went on a blind date, and if they felt it was a good match, they got married.
Back then, no one cared about feelings. If you took one look and thought it was okay, you decided to get married. Luckily, she met the right person when she remarried.
She made arrangements for Xiaoyin and asked Attorney He for help.
She said, "I asked Lawyer He to exchange the money for you. You'll be staying on Hong Kong Island for a while, so take some cash with you. Once you get there, open an account, and Lawyer He will regularly send you living expenses."
Xiaoyin hugged Nie Qingqing's arm and said coquettishly, "Mom, only you support me without any ulterior motives."
Nie Qingqing smiled: "I also have my reasons. I want you to be healthy and happy, and I want you to be safe and well. I want you to be well out there."
...
Xiaoyin and Meng Kaiyang stayed here for half a month. Xiaoyin went abroad, and Meng Kaiyang went back.
Tangyuan had been holding back for so long, and as soon as Meng Kaiyang returned home, he called a family meeting, saying he had important news to announce. He even took out the iron basin used for kneading dough, tapped it a few times, and shouted, "Mom, stop what you're doing, I really have important news to report."
Nie Qingqing cut up the washed cantaloupe, arranged it on the table, and brought it over to share with Song Zhao and Xiao Yuan. She took a piece and ate it. It was so sweet. Then she leisurely asked, "Stop with the formalities and hurry up and tell us. After you tell us, eat the cantaloupe. It's very sweet."
Tangyuan protested: "You haven't asked me what I wanted to do yet!"
Nie Qingqing: "If you keep playing tricks, you're going to get beaten up."
Tangyuan chuckled and said smugly, "You guys have always been wondering why Kaiyang didn't go abroad with him, right? I've figured it out now."
Nie Qingqing was overjoyed. Meng Kaiyang was a man of deep thoughts and hard to guess. Tang Yuan actually asked the question.
She quickly gave him the largest piece of cantaloupe and asked, "Really? What's the reason for that?"
Tangyuan: "He didn't go abroad with his sister because it conflicted with his future. Before his father passed away, he arranged his life trajectory. At the time of his graduation, he was to be put into a film studio. The people had already been found. His father's old friend had been working at the film studio his whole life and had two years left before retirement. Before retirement, he would train him. If he went two years later, he would not have this opportunity, so he could not go abroad."
Nie Qingqing quickly pressed, "Did Meng Kaiyang say this directly to you?"
Tangyuan: "Of course not, I interpreted it myself from between the lines."
...
Tangyuan's understanding is probably the real reason. Meng Kaiyang did indeed enter the film studio, and he was an important leader there. He was indeed his father's elder, and judging by his age, he was close to retirement.
When Nie Qingqing learned the truth, she was really angry. She couldn't bring herself to scold Meng Kaiyang in front of Tangyuan and Xiaoyuan, so she turned her back to the child and started cursing him.
"Kaiyang wants to seize an important moment in his life, why doesn't he just say so directly? Instead, he makes up irrelevant reasons, which is not very honest."
Perhaps Meng Kaiyang is unwilling to admit that he is a self-centered person and that he puts his feelings and Xiaoyin after his career, which is why he makes so many excuses.
Song Zhao said, "Xiaoyin is willing to give him another chance. As parents, there's nothing we can do. It's two years. Who knows who will give up first?"
...
Xiaoyin went abroad, and Nie Qingqing felt empty inside. She only felt better after Xiaoyin let her know she was safe and sound, and then she was able to throw herself back into her work.
The Shanshui Renjia property is sold out, so there's no sales pressure. Since the start of the school year in September, her work has actually become less busy.
Tangyuan and Xiaoyuan's monthly exam scores are very stable. If Tangyuan can maintain this, she might actually be able to get into a top-tier university.
Nie Qingqing has been in a good mood lately, having enjoyed six months of comfortable living.
On New Year's Day, when the factory was checking the accounts, someone suddenly started causing trouble for her family.
...
The matter began with the new factory calculating profits and distributing dividends on New Year's Day. Last year, they achieved a balance between income and expenditure in the first half of the year. This year, Song Zhao mainly focused his energy on technology research and development and expanding the sales department. As a result, the profits were better than Nie Qingqing had expected.
She was truly happy. Song Zhao had proposed buying a car. Before, she would have absolutely refused, but now that the money was earned by Song Zhao, and as a factory director who travels around so much, he deserved a car.
Nie Qingqing agreed and used her connections to get a car back.
This made Tangyuan Xiaoyuan very proud, and she insisted that Song Zhao drive them around. The news that the family had bought a car quickly spread.
Min Weijun had shares in the factory, and Song Zhao gave him his full share of the dividends. Weijun only told his father the amount, and Factory Director Min told him to keep it himself and not to give it to his family or tell his mother.
However, Xu Cuilan couldn't understand why Nie Qingqing's family had bought a car. How much money would it take to be willing to buy a car that cost almost as much as a house?
Especially since the old factory's profits this year were lower than last year, Xu Cuilan couldn't suppress her curiosity. She actually took her family's household registration book and went to the bank to report Wei Jun's passbook lost, and then found out the amount of money Wei Jun received this year.
...
Upon hearing this, Nie Qingqing found it troublesome and asked Song Zhao, "What kind of trouble does she want to cause at home?"
Song Zhao said, "The old factory's profits have declined sharply this year. Director Min is afraid that if this continues, the factory will not fetch a good price in the future. So after doing the math, he decided to sell the factory."
Isn't this a double blow to Xu Cuilan? She definitely wouldn't agree.
She said, "Xu Cuilan actually sees through everything, but she just doesn't choose the right path. Not all of her relatives have entered the factory yet, and she's already selling it. Isn't she being bothered to death by her relatives? Are they forcing Director Min to find a way to improve the old factory's efficiency? They even suggested the terrible idea of merging the factories?"
That's right. They argued back and forth, but they just wouldn't agree to sell the old factory. They said they would merge the old factory into the new factory to increase Weijun's shareholding.
How could Director Min possibly let her go and cause a huge commotion for Wei Jun?
Song Zhao said, "You guessed right. Wei Jun has a stable career, but Director Min won't agree to it. He wants to sell the factory now to make more money so he can leave more for his little daughter. They're making a scene right now, and the Xu family has even gotten involved. They're shameless."
Nie Qingqing said, "The Xu family doesn't care how much the factory depreciates; they only care about how much they can still make from it."
The two had barely discussed the matter for a day when Wei Jun rushed over in a panic, saying that Director Min had argued with his uncle and aunts, suffered a stroke, and was in the emergency room.
Nie Qingqing was quite frightened, but fortunately there was a car, and they quickly arrived at the hospital. Director Min was still in the operating room.
...
Outside the emergency room, many people were waiting. Xu Cuilan just cried without saying a word. When she was tired of crying, her face was numb and she remained motionless, her thoughts unknown.
Nie Qingqing didn't want to go over and comfort her; Director Min was still being treated.
She just didn't understand. Factory Manager Min was the pillar of the family, and she had a young daughter in elementary school. If she angered Factory Manager Min to death, and her family divided up the factory, what good would that do for her and her daughter?
The operating room lights went out, the doctor came out and told the family that the surgery was a success, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Xu Cuilan started crying again.
Wei Jun pushed his father back to the ward. Most of the Xu family members left first, leaving only an uncle and an aunt to stay with Xu Cuilan.
The anesthesia hadn't worn off, and Director Min hadn't woken up yet, so Song Zhao needed to stay here and watch over him for a while.
The doctor said that after the patient woke up, he should eat some liquid food first. Nie Qingqing was about to go home and cook some porridge when she heard Wei Jun arguing with his mother.
...
Wei Jun, who almost lost her father, needed to vent: "Is a lousy factory more important than my dad's life? If your family loves you so much, why don't you just divorce my dad, take half of the property, and give it to your uncle and aunt!"
What Wei Jun said was actually a solution, but Xu Cuilan never considered divorce from the beginning.
With a "smack," Wei Jun received a slap on the face from Xu Cuilan, who was furious: "How dare you make your parents divorce?"
Wei Jun shouted back, "What, you don't want a divorce? Are you waiting to be widowed?"
Nie Qingqing got goosebumps when she heard this. Although it was unpleasant to hear, it was a cruel reality.
If Director Min doesn't make it through today, and Xu Cuilan becomes widowed, won't the Xu family from the old factory swarm in and divide everything up? What will be left for Jun's little sister in the future?
"Slap!" Wei Jun received another slap on the other cheek. Xu Cuilan trembled with anger: "How could you be so disrespectful now?"
Min Weijun trembled ridiculously: "Because I almost lost my father! So what if I was disobedient? I can forgive how you treated me, but can't you think about your sister? You said you wanted a daughter, so you had her. Since she can't compare to your uncle and aunt, why did you have her in the first place?"
Nie Qingqing was impressed. Wei Jun was such an honest person; he wouldn't have said these things unless she had pushed him to the limit.
He has grown a lot in the new factory after leaving the old factory environment. He deserved to be scolded; hopefully, it will wake him up.
...
A few days later, Director Min recovered well and was able to be discharged from the hospital, but his health was not as good as before. He no longer had the energy to manage the old factory, so he contacted people to prepare to sell it.
This time, Xu Cuilan did not object and acquiesced to all of Director Min's decisions.
The buyer was quickly contacted, and Factory Manager Min asked Song Zhao to come over to help with the valuation and negotiation, hoping to get a good price.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
