Chapter 47 Pupil Earthquake
At seven o'clock in the morning, Ye Baoling was woken up by her alarm clock.
The pillow was empty; I had no idea what time Ye Huaizhang had gone home.
She got up and practiced Chen Family Boxing for half an hour on the balcony of the sitting room.
She didn't experience menstrual cramps this time, which she believes is related to her boxing practice. Therefore, even without anyone urging her to continue, she will persevere.
After finishing her boxing practice, brushing her teeth, putting on makeup, and changing clothes, Sister Ping knocked on the door and came in with bird's nest porridge and a steamer of beef rolls.
"You can eat inside; there's no one in the restaurant downstairs."
"Mmm." Ye Baoling also likes to eat alone.
Ping went to tidy up the bedding. Looking at the wrinkled sheets, she couldn't help but mutter, "These sheets are no good. They wrinkle as soon as I sleep on them. I need to ask Sister Yin to have them replaced."
Ye Baoling laughed at her: "I've never seen you so picky when you were in the Gu family."
“That’s different. In the Gu family’s environment, it’s good enough if you can eat well, I can’t be picky. Here, if you’re not picky, then others will take advantage of you.”
Ping, who was making the bed, noticed a short, black hair on the sheet. She picked it up and examined it closely, asking in surprise, "How come there's leg hair here?"
Ye Baoling, who had just changed her clothes, glanced at her and thought to herself, "It's amazing that Sister Ping isn't presbyopia at her age."
She muttered guiltily, "These aren't leg hairs, they're my eyelashes."
Ping looked at the leg hair on her hand, then at her young lady's eyes, and said with a hint of disbelief, "It scared me to death. I thought someone was so dishonest that they left it while working."
Ye Baoling suppressed a laugh and went to the sitting room to eat breakfast.
The most comfortable thing about being here is that Sister Ping takes excellent care of her, and she doesn't have to worry about anything in her daily life.
After tidying up the bedroom, Sister Ping came out to continue tidying up the sitting room.
She asked in a low voice, "What were you doing with the needle last night? Don't tell me you were picking out a corn."
Ye Baoling made up a random excuse: "My wallet came undone, so I had to sew it up."
Ping was slightly disappointed after hearing this, "If you really want to do voodoo dolls, leave it to me, I'll go out and find someone to do it."
Ye Baoling solemnly warned Sister Ping, "Don't talk about this topic anymore. If someone hears us, it'll cause trouble."
"I know. I won't say it again. Do you think I'm the kind of person who would talk nonsense in public?" Sister Ping had always been unhappy about Zheng Junni giving birth to a healthy baby boy. "That old fox's belly wasn't big, but she gave birth to a baby weighing over 8 pounds. If it weren't for the advanced medical technology now that allows for C-sections, it would have been half her life back then. There's an old saying that lucky people are born big; unlucky people are big in the womb."
The implication is that this child doesn't seem to be blessed.
Anyway, she was just unhappy.
Ye Baoling asked, "My second aunt hasn't had any contact with them recently?"
"We're just going through the motions to avoid upsetting the old man, and we'll visit him occasionally. That old fox used to greet everyone with a smile, but now he's all high and mighty. The second wife is even more unhappy than we are. Let's just wait and see; there might be a good show to watch later."
Ye Baoling thought the same thing. Letting the two of them fight each other while she reaps the benefits is indeed a good idea.
After having breakfast, I went downstairs and happened to run into Ye Baoxin at the entrance of Xihetang, who was also heading to work.
Ye Baoxin greeted her with a smile: "Aren't you driving?"
"I did the call."
"Let me drive you to work."
Ye Baoling politely declined, saying, "No need, it's not on my way."
She then went out the door first.
Once she exits the main gate, she has to walk out of Qingtang Street to hail a taxi. Actually, it's a short walk to work, but to avoid trouble, she usually takes a taxi around, gets off in the next block, and then walks to Yulong Building.
But as soon as she stepped out of the old eldest son's mansion, she encountered Gong Jiahua's car.
I don't know if he was waiting near the door on purpose.
Gong Jiahua parked his car next to her. "Baoling, I'll give you a ride."
"It's not on my way," Ye Baoling said, repeating the same thing.
"It's on my way, I'm going to look for someone near the Lihua Building."
It would be impolite to refuse again. Just as Ye Baoling was thinking of getting into the car, she heard the sound of a car next to her.
Looking up, I saw Ye Huaizhang's car pass by behind me.
Ye Huaizhang rolled down the car window and said to Ye Baoling, "Get in the car."
Gong Jiahua thought Ye Huaizhang was deliberately trying to provoke him, and shouted, "What are you doing?!"
Ye Huaizhang smiled and said, "I'm going that way too."
Gong Jiahua was so angry that he almost felt like his head was about to burst into flames. He had never seen such a clueless person before.
Just then, Ye Baoxin's car drove out of the old eldest son's mansion.
Ye Baoling, who was about to walk towards Ye Huaizhang's car, stopped. Not wanting Ye Baoxin to see her and overthink things, she quickly opened the passenger door of Gong Jiahua's car and got in.
Ye Huaizhang, who had intended to help his wife out of the predicament, was speechless.
His face turned green instantly.
Gong Jiahua was overjoyed, his heart and eyes were full of smiles, and he wished he could personally fasten Ye Baoling's seatbelt.
Ye Baoxin, who thought Ye Huaizhang was greeting Gong Jiahua, saw Ye Baoling get into Gong Jiahua's car. She ignored Gong Jiahua, rolled down the window, and politely greeted him, "Good morning, Brother Huaizhang."
Ye Huaizhang gave a polite, fake smile, nodded slightly, and then rolled up the car window.
*
On the way to take Ye Baoling to work, Gong Jiahua explained with a smile, "Huaizhang just likes to see me make a fool of myself."
Ye Baoling asked him, "Don't you usually go to work?"
Gong Jiahua: "I receive a salary, but I don't go to the company office regularly. I occasionally go to the company for a walk, but there's nothing for me to handle."
The real official duties involved attending various charity banquets, participating in public relations activities of major companies, and taking on part-time positions at public welfare organizations.
This is the traditional life of wealthy young men in the port city.
fine.
But it's still a bit far from the life she longs for.
The life she longs for is one where she doesn't attend any social events she doesn't want to participate in, sleeps when she wants to sleep, goes shopping when she wants to go shopping, works when she wants to work, and can lie down indefinitely when she wants to lie down.
You are not responsible for anyone or anything.
That's just aspiration; humans are social animals, and it's difficult to truly do whatever you want.
Back in the product department office, Gao Lizhen arrived earlier than her today.
Recently, Gao Lizhen's condition has improved a lot compared to her previous listless state. Ye Baoling's relationship with her is not yet at the level of caring about each other's mental health, so she didn't ask her much about what happened before.
After the videotape scandal, Gao Lizhen felt grateful to Ye Baoling.
Upon seeing Ye Baoling enter, she proactively asked if there was anything she could help with, and told her to ask her to do it.
Knowing that the other party particularly needed recognition at work, Ye Baoling handed her a simplified version of the jasmine herbal tea research report that she had compiled the day before.
"Please make seven copies for my meeting later, thank you."
"Okay." Gao Lizhen went to work happily.
He Jiayi and Sister Rong came in one after the other. They asked Ye Baoling, "Baolin, did you hear that Manager Lu was fired?"
"I don't know, is it still under investigation?"
Sister Rong shook her head repeatedly: "Oh dear! You can know a person's face but not their heart. He always smiles at everyone, who would have thought that he would do such a thing as framing someone in private?"
He Jiayi pouted, "I've always felt he wasn't a good person."
Ye Baoling didn't chat with them much; she still had to go to the logistics department when it was time.
As is customary, we went to Qi Yuxiu's office first.
Qi Yuxiu was slightly dissatisfied with Ye Baoling's killing of Lu Baohua, "Why didn't you report this to me beforehand?"
Ye Baoling explained, "After A-Xia told me, I came to find you immediately, but Sister Xiu, you weren't in the office. I thought it wasn't urgent and I could report to you another day. Who knew that Lu Baohua would make the first move? I was forced to fight back."
Qi Yuxiu: "Fortunately, you handled it well. However, the distribution plan was your idea, why didn't you mention it to me?"
"I didn't expect the distribution plan to have such a big impact. The chairman found out and even got a promotion and a raise, which surprised me. That day at the social gathering, I brought up this plan with Lu Baohua mainly so that he could gather the several managers from the marketing department together, making it easier for me to extract information and record the conversation..."
This explanation is also plausible.
Qi Yuxiu nodded and coaxed her, "You were able to be promoted to planner because General Manager Ye Kaishen was there at the time. General Manager Ye knew you were one of his own, and it was he who fought for the benefits for you."
Faced with Qi Yuxiu's shameless lie, Ye Baoling smiled gratefully and said, "I knew it! How could they suddenly promote me to planner? Even Qu Zhengming was surprised. Thank you for your help, Sister Xiu. Please also thank President Ye for me."
Qi Yuxiu painted a rosy picture for her: "What's a planner? There are plenty of much higher positions waiting for you. Work hard."
Qi Yuxiu's little trick of simultaneously criticizing and rewarding was something Ye Baoling had already mastered. She smiled and nodded, "I will try my best."
"However, Lu Baohua's matter has effectively crippled Qu Zhengming, which is a good thing. Next, you should try to gather evidence against Qu Zhengming. Now that she manages two departments, that's even better. Taking her down is equivalent to taking down half of Shen Wanjie's power."
Ye Baoling: "Qu Zhengming is quite different from the original Director Liu of the Marketing Department. She is very cautious and doesn't completely trust me. Moreover, she seems very upright, so it's not easy to take action against her."
“The more upright a person appears on the surface, the more despicable they are in private. If you keep an eye on her, you’ll find something to use against her sooner or later.” Qi Yuxiu didn’t believe there were any truly good people in this company.
This is true not only for Ye Qingtang, but for the entire society.
Everyone has their own selfishness. That's human nature.
After leaving the logistics department, Ye Baoling took a walk around the cleaning department and then went to Wang Simin's office.
Wang Simin was eating snacks in her office. Since becoming a junior leader in the security department, managing more than ten security guards, she was good at getting along with people, easy to talk to, and able to coax them. The security guards treated her like royalty, and she was living a very comfortable life.
She boasted to Ye Baoling, "You should have called me directly yesterday. I would have called a few security guards to protect you and beat that Lu guy so badly he wouldn't recognize his parents."
Ye Baoling smiled and advised her, "Be careful, you've only just risen to power and you're already being taken down."
Wang Simin certainly understood. "Don't worry, I'm not that stupid. I'll definitely give the security guards a look so they can keep hitting him, while I pull them away, shouting 'Stop hitting him! Stop hitting him!' Then I'll pretend to be careless and stomp on them a few times. Anyone can act."
Ye Baoling was successfully amused by her; thinking about that scene was quite interesting.
She didn't stay in the security office for long; she went back at exactly 10 a.m. to have a meeting with her colleagues in the R&D team.
Ye Baoling offered her suggestions regarding Ye Qingtang's jasmine herbal tea based on market research.
"It's not about serving as a herbal tea, but as a genuine thirst-quenching beverage. It needs to have a popular flavor to attract the most consumers."
The R&D team leader asked, "What are the standards for a flavor that appeals to the general public?"
"It should be fragrant, slightly sweet, and soothing to the throat and quench thirst. The aroma of jasmine and the bitterness of the herbal tea should be minimized. You have a market research report in front of you from last week, which includes consumer taste analysis. The R&D team should try to make as many different jasmine herbal teas as possible for consumers to taste and test."
How can we get consumers to taste and test the products?
"To determine the flavor, we first need to identify our target consumers. Traditional herbal tea consumers tend to be older, and this market has been refined over decades or even centuries; Ye Qing Tang has already emerged as a winner among many herbal tea brands. Jasmine herbal tea, however, should target younger consumers. Younger consumers drink beverages more frequently, making the market broader. We can collaborate with universities and sports organizations to conduct taste tests..."
After Ye Baoling finished expressing her views, some others agreed and some disagreed.
The objection is: "Our specialty is herbal tea. If we deviate from herbal tea, then it will no longer be Ye Qing Tang's specialty."
"Ye Qing Tang's specialty is traditional herbal tea. We already have monk fruit herbal tea in our new product line, so adding a jasmine herbal tea would only divert attention from our existing market without attracting more consumers. There are so many carbonated drinks on the market right now, but there's a real lack of tea drinks that can attract young consumers. Why don't we try to open up this market?"
Some people say, "Young people don't like tea drinks."
"Is milk tea considered a tea beverage? So many young people like to drink Hong Kong-style milk tea, which shows that as long as the taste is right, young people will not reject tea beverages." The popularity of tea beverages in later generations gave Ye Baoling a lot of confidence. As long as the taste is right, the young people are the consumer potential force that they should fully tap.
Some people hesitated to object, but Xu Chengping interrupted them: "Both are new products, but the sales of the existing jasmine herbal tea are far worse than those of the monk fruit tea. It's already a failed product. In that case, why don't we listen to Gu Baolin's opinion and try something completely new?"
Qu Zhengming nodded: "Yes, since it's already a failed product, we might as well go all in, change direction, and try something completely new."
Will Chairman Shen agree to this direction?
“I’ll talk to him; there shouldn’t be any major problems. We can start our R&D and improvement work now. We need to be quick; the company is going public in September, and the sales of jasmine herbal tea are currently not good, which is detrimental to the IPO.”
Finally, it was decided that the research and development of formula improvements would proceed in the direction suggested by Ye Baoling.
Ye Baoling was fully responsible for the research and development and promotion planning of jasmine herbal tea, and also coordinated with the R&D team, marketing department and brand department.
*
During the lunch break, Ye Baoling ate lunch and returned to her workstation to read the newspaper.
She was reading the third issue of "Tumbleweed Financial Weekly". This weekly magazine only has four pages, but every little piece of content is full of essence and very interesting.
As she was reading, she noticed a news article. She hadn't taken a lunch break and was feeling a bit sleepy, so she immediately sat up in shock.
This news contains two important pieces of information: Edward's Planning has taken on two new projects from listed companies, one is the renaming of "Fukang Douchi" and the other is the listing of Lijing Glasses Trading Company.
Edwards Securities plans to rename "Fukang Douchi" to "Jin Doudou", while Lijing Optical Company will be officially named "Liangjingjing" after its listing.
She has finally collected all three of the most volatile stocks.
These three speculative stocks are: Hot Hot, Golden Bean, and Bright Eyes.
It's truly like searching high and low only to find it unexpectedly without any effort.
Tumbleweed Financial Weekly is practically her lucky star.
Ye Baoling glanced at the editor-in-chief of "Tumbleweed" and noticed that his name was Bai Zhu.
She remembered that the last news reporter from Dapeng Port was Bai Zhulin, and upon closer inspection, she realized that the reporter from Edward Securities News was also Bai Zhulin.
She had reason to suspect that Bai Zhu and Bai Zhulin were the same person.
After reading through four pages of news, besides Bai Zhulin, there was also a reporter.
It seems that this new newspaper has a limited number of staff, so one can imagine that its financial situation must be very tight.
Hopefully they can hold on a little longer.
Ye Baoling put the newspaper away. After get off work, she went directly to Qiyuan Investment to discuss the next investment plan with Liu Haonan.
Her plan was simple: the hot stocks surged in September, while the other two speculative stocks skyrocketed in October before the stock market crash.
Next, the first step was to use HK$10 million to buy shares of Jiaming Co., Ltd., which had not yet been renamed Hot & Spicy.
Liu Haonan asked worriedly, "Jiaming's performance is very poor, and its stock price has been hovering at a low level. Are you sure you want to buy so much?"
If Jiaming Shares weren't so small, Ye Baoling would have loved to invest all 40 million yuan of her own money.
If she were to actually invest 40 million yuan in a stock that was poised to rise 22 times in the future, it would definitely change the trend ahead of time. She didn't want to take the risk, so she could only restrain herself from being too greedy.
"Don't look at its performance, it's not important. There are still more than two weeks left in August, it's no problem to build a position of 10 million."
Liu Haonan could only listen to his boss.
Ye Baoling: "You can decide how to invest the remaining 30 million. I don't need to earn too much, but I need flexibility so I can withdraw the money at any time."
Liu Haonan suggests: "Buy indexes, both Hong Kong stock indexes and US stock indexes are good options. The market is doing well recently, so you can make money by buying any index, and the risk is not that high. When you need money, you can sell at any time without worrying about finding buyers."
Buying index stocks is relatively safe, but the returns aren't huge, and you shouldn't lose money in the current market.
Ye Baoling recalled that before the stock market crash, the Hong Kong stock index rose more than the US stock index. She said, "Then I would spend 20 million to buy the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong and 10 million to buy the S&P 500 Index in the US."
We'll ambush two more speculative stocks a month from now.
She also has HK$1 million worth of shares in Hong Kong-listed companies at Parkway Securities, which have risen quite a bit recently, but she'll leave that aside for now.
Liu Haonan had more funds to manage, so he needed to hire an assistant and an accountant. The recruitment was handled by him and Chen Yulan.
*
The Fang family mansion is located at No. 5 Qingtang Street. The location of this mansion is quite special. It is at the end of an L-shaped street and has one side facing Main Street.
This is Ye Baoling's first time here.
The evening gown she's wearing today was specially prepared for her by Uncle Xing and Aunt Xing at the old man's request.
The necklace she wore around her neck was also one of them.
The eldest son's family spared no expense to ensure her successful marriage.
Although we're on the same street, I still came by car.
The old man of the Fang family is a knighted by the British royal family. His family is not the richest on this street, but they are the most influential in political and civilian circles. He has been a close friend of Ye Qizu and Gong Fonian for many years.
Upon hearing that Ye Qizu had arrived, Sir Fang personally came to greet him with his children and grandchildren.
"Brother Qi Zu, I heard you've become a grandfather again?"
Ye Qizu laughed and said, "Yes, it's a blessing from heaven. Remember to come to the full moon celebration. The whole family will be invited."
"Yes, we'll definitely get there."
Ye Qizu pointed to Ye Baoling and introduced her: "This is my eldest granddaughter, Baoling. She hasn't spent much time at home before, so this seems to be her first time visiting your esteemed residence. Baoling, quickly greet Sir Fang and Uncle Fang..."
Following behind her grandfather, Ye Baoling greeted him with a smile: "Hello, Grandpa Fang. Hello, Uncle Fang."
“Baoling, is that right? I think I met her when she was little. I didn’t expect her to grow up so fast, so graceful and intelligent.” Sir Fang didn’t know that Gong Fonian and Ye Qizu wanted to matchmake their grandson and granddaughter. He smiled and called to his grandson, “Shanxing, take Baoling to meet your friends who are the same age.”
Fang Shanxing?
The male lead's friend in the original script.
Fang Shanxing, Ye Huaizhang, and Gong Jiahua were about the same age, both chubby and very sociable. Ye Baoling was also very outgoing, and the two exchanged only a few words before acting like old friends.
It's a little past 7 p.m. now, and it's not completely dark yet.
Tonight's charity gala will consist of an auction and a cocktail party.
The auction was scheduled to start at 8 p.m. and was held in the garden with a dozen or so tables set up.
The cocktail party was held in the main hall of the Fang family mansion. Some people played the piano, some danced, and guests stood in twos and threes, enjoying wine and food.
Fang Shanxing brought Ye Baoling a cocktail and asked, "Last time when you played pool with Le Yan and the others, I was watching from the sidelines, but then someone called me away and I missed the finale. Who won the last game?"
Ye Baoling laughed and said, "We won the last round. Brother Shanxing, do you know Fang Haiming?"
"My friend, do you know him?"
"I don't know him. I saw his treasure appraisal show on TV before and found him quite interesting. I'll invite him to come out and have fun next time." Ye Baoling thought about how she had changed Man'er's career trajectory and wondered if Man'er would still be able to meet the original male lead. She had to find an opportunity to continue their matchmaking.
Fang Shanxing readily agreed, "Sure, let's play tennis together next time."
"OK."
The two exchanged phone numbers.
Afterwards, Fang Shanxing took Ye Baoling to meet the wealthy young men and women in the circle.
Most people didn't know Ye Baoling, but after learning that she was the eldest granddaughter of the Ye family's eldest branch, they were very enthusiastic.
Someone asked, "Are you and Ye Baoxin sisters?"
The person in the know nudged the questioner's elbow and interrupted with a laugh, "Ignore him."
Ye Baoling replied gracefully, "It's alright, Baoxin is my stepmother's sister."
Because she and Ye Baoxin are the same age, she doesn't even know who is older or younger than her.
"oh."
Those who were unaware before now all know.
Fang Shanxing was a social butterfly; there was no one at the party he didn't know.
"Baoling, let me introduce you to a fitness coach." Fang Shanxing, having heard that Ye Baoling was practicing boxing, introduced her to a handsome man with a muscular physique.
The handsome man very openly exposed his arm, allowing Ye Baoling to touch it.
Ye Baoling reached out to touch it, but in public, she was afraid her grandfather would see and cause her blood vessels to burst.
But in the end, I couldn't resist doing it. So what if my blood vessels burst? Who cares!
As soon as I reached out, I heard a familiar cough.
Looking back, Ye Huaizhang was standing to the side.
LOL.
He was caught after failing to steal the food.
"What a coincidence..." Ye Baoling smiled awkwardly and withdrew her hand.
Gong Jiahua, who had come with Ye Huaizhang, rushed forward and sent the muscular man away.
Fang Shanxing looked at them, completely bewildered: "What's wrong?"
Gong Jiahua thought Ye Huaizhang was on his side, so he puffed out his chest and said, "Shanxing, how could you introduce such random people to Baoling?"
Fang Shanxing rolled his eyes at them: "What nonsense are you talking about? He's a legitimate fitness instructor! He's here to do good deeds. Why are you so nervous?!"
Ye Baoling teased, "These two are from the Qing Dynasty."
Fang Shanxing was amused. "Yes, that's a brilliant way to put it."
Ye Huaizhang deliberately sent Fang Shanxing away: "Shanxing, Sir Fang is looking for you at the door."
"Okay. You guys chat first, we'll play cards later." Fang Shanxing thought his grandfather wanted him to entertain important guests, so he walked towards the front gate after saying that.
Ye Huaizhang then handed the car keys to Gong Jiahua: "Go to the trunk of my car and get the gift for Sir Fang for me. I'll be waiting for you by the pool behind the house."
Gong Jiahua, who was being bossed around, tolerated it because the other party was his future brother-in-law.
He ran happily towards the garage.
Ye Baoling asked Ye Huaizhang, "Why did you send them away?"
"I have something to tell you." After saying that, Ye Huaizhang walked to the back of the house.
Once Ye Huaizhang had walked far away and no one was paying attention to her, Ye Baoling put the cocktail on the table and followed him out.
Behind the house was a small swimming pool, dimly lit at the moment. She found Ye Huaizhang behind a pillar.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
Ye Huaizhang looked at the back mountain: "Want to go for a drive up the mountain later?"
It was pitch black at night, and Ye Baoling shook her head: "It's okay to go during the day, but I'm scared to go at night."
“What’s there to be afraid of if you drive up?”
After chatting for a bit, Ye Baoling wanted to leave, but Ye Huaizhang stopped her: "Didn't you want me to find a way to get rid of Gong Jiahua's pursuit?"
"Hmm. What's your idea? Should we call him up the mountain and beat him up?" Her imagination was running wild.
Ye Huaizhang reached out and grasped her waist. "He's here."
ha?
Before Ye Baoling could react, Ye Huaizhang had already lowered his head and kissed her.
Their breaths mingled instantly.
Gong Jiahua was about to discreetly avoid the couple passionately kissing not far away when he suddenly sensed something was wrong. He turned around for a closer look and his pupils widened in shock!
Ye Huaizhang and Ye Baoling?
His mind was still stuck in the Qing Dynasty, and he couldn't quite process what had happened.
This is...this is...this is simply immoral!
-----------------------
Author's Note: Gong Jiahua: I want to gouge out my own eyes!
Ye Huaizhang: It's not so bad to be blind.
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