In a small building with unique style, Bai Jinxuan stood at the window sill, looking at the empty street below with a tired expression.

With a creak, the door was pushed open from the outside.

A woman in her twenties came in and said, "Jinxuan, I cooked some porridge for you. Eat some, don't starve."

Bai Jinxuan turned around and looked at her expressionlessly, "He Li, how long do you plan to keep me locked up?"

He Li smiled bitterly and said, "Jinxuan, President Qin has personally said that you should rest here for a while. We are just employees, so we will do whatever the boss says."

"It turned out to be President Qin."

Bai Jinxuan thought of the usually kind-looking man, but she didn't feel too angry. Mr. Qin was undoubtedly a businessman. She just didn't expect that he would be so decisive and give orders so quickly, not giving her time to react.

Originally, according to the plan, she was going to another country to participate in a travel variety show, but halfway through, she was lied to and told that she had to transfer. She was sent here without any preparation, and her cell phone and passport were taken away.

Now, she was in a foreign country, she couldn't speak the language, she didn't know where to run. And she couldn't talk to the outside world. She didn't care about anything else, she was just worried that after Chen Xu saw the news, he would add her and not get a reply, which would lead to some misunderstanding.

She was anxious, but there was nothing she could do. The more trustworthy people, such as Fang Fang and several other assistants, had something urgent to do and did not come with her. Now that she thought about it, it must have been Boss Qin who did it.

She asked, "Where is Manager Shao?"

He Li looked back outside the room and whispered, "I heard that Manager Shao had a big fight with CEO Qin, and then CEO Qin transferred him to another position, and he is no longer in charge of the artists."

"Just rest here with peace of mind. President Qin will come to see you in person in a couple of days."

Seeing that she was about to leave, Bai Jinxuan grabbed her hand and whispered, "Can I borrow your phone for a moment?"

He Li sighed and said, "My phone was taken away before I came up. I really can't help you. You should eat some of this porridge. If nothing else, you need to eat enough before you can fight them."

After saying that, she left.

The door closed again. Bai Jinxuan was helpless and sat on the chair, looking at the pot of white porridge and two side dishes.

After a while, she walked over, filled a bowl of porridge, and started eating with the dishes. She knew that she couldn't rely on Aunt Shao completely. She had to rely on herself in the end. He Li was right. If she didn't eat enough, how could she fight against Mr. Qin and his people?

The conflict between her and Mr. Qin was just about interests. As long as Mr. Qin wanted to make money from her, everything was negotiable. Although her bargaining chips were pitifully few, she had the ability to overturn the table. As long as she showed her determination, Mr. Qin would not go too far.

As she thought about it, she ate a bowl of porridge in big gulps and then served another bowl.

…………

May 1st, sunny.

Chen Xu stood on the side of the road, looking at the people around him.

"This place is good, the rent is not expensive, and most importantly, there is no transfer fee, and you can sign a contract for several years. Where did you find it?" Old Tang walked out of a shop behind him, marveling.

Chen Xu turned around and said with a smile, "I hired several real estate agents. One of them called me in the middle of the night and said there was a good place. I came over to take a look, listened to the conditions, and signed the contract immediately."

"You've got a great bargain," Old Tang exclaimed. "This store is in a better location than your first one, and it's bigger. As long as you renovate it, I guarantee that business will be booming once you open it."

Chen Xu said, "The most important thing is that this place is not far from the first store."

Old Tang said, "But, logically speaking, a place like this shouldn't be hard to rent out. How did you run into this?"

"I heard that the last tenant here was a rogue who had delayed paying rent for a year and couldn't be evicted. It seemed he was involved in organized crime and the landlord couldn't do anything about him. It just so happened that the anti-gang campaign happened and he was arrested two days ago. The landlord took back the shop and wanted to rent it out quickly, but then I ran into him."

Chen Xu explained the whole story. "The landlord said the rent is negotiable, but I have to pay two years' rent first. I guess he's scared."

"So that's how it is. It seems that your luck has started to turn around." Old Tang said. Seeing that he was staring at the cars on the road, he asked, "Why, you don't look very happy."

Chen Xu took out a pack of cigarettes, handed one over, lit it, took a deep breath, exhaled a long breath, and then said, "I just think it's a bit too coincidental."

"What a coincidence?" Old Tang used to be a heavy smoker, but he quit in order to have a child. After the child was born, he would occasionally smoke a cigarette, and every time he smoked, his movements and expressions showed that he was extremely cherishing.

Chen Xu shook his head and said, "Maybe I'm overthinking it."

The two stood under the shade of a tree by the roadside and smoked a cigarette quietly.

After a while, Old Tang asked, "How are you going to decorate it?"

"I think the decoration of the previous store is good, exquisite and simple, so I will follow that style."

Chen Xu already had an idea in mind. "The female college student who sublet the store to me studied design. I asked her and she designed the decoration of the store..."

As they were talking, a red Bluebird stopped by the roadside, and a young girl got out and greeted them, "Chen Xu, Tang Wenhai, sorry, I'm late."

"We are here too early." Chen Xu said with a smile, "The store is over there. I'll take you to have a look."

The girl's name is Xu Xiaoxiao. She has a sweet appearance and has changed a lot compared to a few months ago. Whether it is her clothing style or makeup, it is obvious that she has transformed from a green college girl into a young and fashionable urban girl.

"Chen Xu, I never knew you were so good at business. It's only been a few months and you're already opening a branch." Xu Xiaoxiao sighed as she walked, "It's not the same for us. The same store is half-dead in our hands, and we're losing so much money that we're almost vomiting blood."

Chen Xu said, "You just don't have experience."

"Forget it. After this incident, I've realized that I don't have the brains for business. I'd better just work honestly."

"Shangyun Design."

Old Tang said in surprise, "That's the design company with the highest salary in the industry. I heard the competition is very fierce."

Xu Xiaoxiao smiled and said, "Have you heard of our company too?"

"My wife used to study design, but later changed her career," said Old Tang.

"So that's how it is."

As the three of them were talking, they had already entered the store. Xu Xiaoxiao began to look around the store and said, "The location and layout here are very good. The rent must be expensive."

"good."

"Then I'll start." Xu Xiaoxiao took out a ruler and started measuring the shop.

"Then let's go outside and smoke a cigarette." Chen Xu said, and took Old Tang to the place where they had just smoked. Each of them lit up a cigarette.

He asked, "What is the origin of Shangyun Design?"

"It is a design company with high standards and strong connections. It has cooperated with many large companies. The company's headquarters was renovated two years ago and it was designed by them."

Chen Xu asked again, "What's their boss's last name?"

"She's a woman named Wen, and she's very capable. It's said that she was a student of a certain architectural design master in the United States. She later returned to China to start a business and quickly became famous."

Chen Xu asked, "She must be quite old then."

"I guess he's around 40, which is considered very young in this industry." Old Tang said, and asked curiously, "Why are you asking about this?"

Chen Xu shook his head and said, "Nothing, I thought it was someone I knew, it seems I was wrong."

Seeing him say that, Old Tang didn't ask any more questions. He glanced at Xu Xiaoxiao who was busy in the store and said, "I feel like she seems to be interested in you."

"Don't say such things casually." Chen Xu said, frowning subconsciously.

Old Tang smiled and didn't continue the topic. "These past few days, you've been the one picking up Mr. Luo from get off work, right?"

"Well, she was afraid that people would gossip about me, so she wouldn't let me go up."

"If you don't go up, others will guess. These past few days, Mr. Luo has left a few minutes early, and then everyone is there discussing the two of you."

Chen Xu smiled and said, "I didn't say anything too harsh."

"No one would say that kind of thing in front of everyone. They would definitely say it in private. You, you've taken such a big advantage, and you don't allow others to say a few words? Let me tell you, you're almost becoming the male public enemy of the entire building. If you dare to show your affection with Mr. Luo in public, someone might secretly stab you."

Chen Xu could imagine what kind of unpleasant words they would say.

He had a classmate in college who had a crush on a girl in high school. In his junior year, he suddenly found out that the girl had been dating a boy whom he had looked down upon before, and he collapsed on the spot.

According to that classmate, no matter who she was with, he would not have such a big reaction, but it happened to be a boy he looked down upon. That feeling was worse than being fed shit.

Chen Xu felt that most people in the company probably felt similarly.

He asked about the company's recent situation, "How is the cooperation with Fang Dong going now?"

"Didn't Mr. Luo tell you?"

"When I'm with her, we never talk about work." Chen Xu said that when he had dinner with her these days, they talked about things in their dreams. They both had some confusions with each other, and after talking, they suddenly realized that the other person had such thoughts, which was very interesting.

Old Tang said, "It's almost done. It will be officially launched in about half a month. By then, I will definitely be very busy."

Chen Xu thought about it and said, "Well, at that time, my branch noodle shop will also be open, so it happens to be quite busy."

The two chatted for a while, and then the sun began to rise higher. The weather was too hot, so they ran back into the store.

It just so happened that Xu Xiaoxiao had some questions to ask him about decorating, so they sat together and started discussing it.

Before I knew it, it was noon.

"Let's go and have dinner." Chen Xu said, "What do you want to eat?"

Xu Xiaoxiao said, "You guys decide. I can do anything."

Old Tang also said, "It's all right."

"Then let's go to the restaurant across the street. I heard that the environment there is nice." Chen Xu said, standing up, "You guys go first, I'll wait for my girlfriend to come over."

Xu Xiaoxiao smiled and said, "Okay." and went over with Lao Tang first.

PS: This is the first update today, the next chapter will be before 9pm.

(End of this chapter)