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◎Why aren't you saying anything?◎
After saying goodnight to Xie Zhiyan, Ning Yuxuan returned home.
Ning Fei was still awake and waved to her daughter.
"Xuanxuan, come and sit down." Ning Fei looked at her daughter gently. "Mom wants to talk to you."
Ning Yuxuan walked over and sat down next to Ning Fei.
She had a pretty good idea of what her mother was going to ask her.
Sure enough, Ning Fei spoke up: "Xuanxuan, what are your own thoughts on buying a house?"
Since overhearing her daughter's conversation with Xie Zhiyan, the two haven't spoken alone.
Ning Yuxuan said truthfully, "I think it's a bit early, but... Xie Zhiyan said he would provide the money and effort, so we can buy it."
Ning Fei: "Do you think it's too early to live together, or too early to talk about marriage?"
She has always been open-minded, and given her daughter's age, she does not object to her daughter living together before marriage.
But we need to get to the bottom of things.
This question stumped Ning Yuxuan.
She kept the marriage certificate a secret from her mother from the beginning, but if possible, she wanted to avoid telling any more lies.
One lie requires countless lies to cover it up, and Ning Yuxuan is already beginning to understand this.
After thinking for a moment, Ning Yuxuan asked Ning Fei, "Mom, if you were to give me advice from someone who's been through it all, would you suggest I get married?"
Ning Fei paused slightly, thought for a few seconds, and then slowly replied, "Marriage is when two people's feelings reach a certain point and they reach a consensus to move to the next stage together. I can't give you advice because only the two of you know the true meaning of it."
Ning Yuxuan hesitated: "But..."
Ning Fei looked at her daughter and suddenly smiled: "Are you trying to ask if I'll advise you not to get married because my own marriage didn't end well?"
It has been almost twenty years since I divorced my husband. Now, when I talk about that marriage, the pain and struggle I once experienced have long since vanished.
Ning Fei said this with a calm expression.
However, this was the first time the mother and daughter had discussed this topic.
The two rarely had the opportunity to talk to each other. Their daughter had never asked Ning Fei similar questions, and Ning Fei would never bring it up herself.
Ning Yuxuan nodded.
Ning Fei looked at her daughter tenderly: "Marriage is like drinking water; only the person drinking knows whether it's hot or cold. I won't assume that you will repeat the same mistake just because my own marriage failed. Besides... whether you get married or not, Mom will always be your support."
Years ago, Ning Fei entered the entertainment industry alone, not only having to support herself but also paying off her father's debts.
Therefore, she became financially independent at a young age, but that does not mean that she was mature enough at the time.
So after meeting Lin Yuanfeng, she was quickly moved by his passionate pursuit and chose to retire from the entertainment industry and marry into the Lin family.
The lack of parental love in her childhood made her crave love too much, believing that marrying Lin Yuanfeng would give her the family she had always dreamed of and a stable and happy family life.
It turned out that this was not the case. However, Ning Fei had no way out in her life, and she had to bear the consequences of her wrong choice.
But it's different for daughters.
The Ning family's assets, and she herself, are her daughter's fallback plan.
Ning Fei stroked her daughter's soft, long hair: "So Xuanxuan, you can make your decision without worry. Mom will always be here for you."
Ning Yuxuan leaned against Ning Fei's shoulder and hummed in agreement.
"Mom," Ning Yuxuan straightened up after a while and asked her mother, "Can I ask you one more question?"
Ning Fei said softly, "Of course."
Ning Yuxuan: "If...if you had the chance to live your life all over again, would you still choose to get married and have children?"
Ning Fei replied without hesitation, "Of course."
Ning Yuxuan asked in surprise, "Why?"
She thought her mother's answer would be a denial, or at least a long hesitation.
Although her mother has come to terms with it now, Ning Yuxuan knows that Ning Fei went through a very painful period during and after her marriage.
Ning Fei looked at her daughter and smiled: "Silly girl, because if I didn't get married and have children, you wouldn't exist."
Ning Yuxuan was stunned.
Ning Fei's gaze was gentle and calm: "Having you as my daughter is the greatest meaning of my marriage."
In an instant, a sour feeling welled up in my nose.
Ning Yuxuan didn't want to cry, so she deliberately joked with her mother: "You can't let Ning Shiyue hear this, otherwise he'll definitely yell that you're being biased."
Ning Fei couldn't help but laugh: "You and Xiao Yue are the best gifts God has given me."
Ning Yuxuan blinked: "But I'm still the more special one, aren't I?"
Ning Fei gently tapped her daughter's nose: "You already know, why ask!"
...
On Monday morning, Ning Fei had an appointment to meet with her screenwriter teacher, so she left home first.
Before leaving, she instructed her daughter, "Xuanxuan, if you're going to Huayuan today, have Uncle Li take you."
Ning Yuxuan had just gotten up and finished washing up.
The advantage of working for your family company is that you can arrange your work hours flexibly. If you don't have any meetings to attend, you can go to the office later or even work from home.
Ning Yuxuan asked her mother, "Mom, aren't you going to let Uncle Li take you?"
In the past, Ning Yuxuan would stay at home except for the occasional date. Ning Shiyue had a company car, so Uncle Li was enough to drive her.
Later, after Ning Yuxuan started managing Huayuan, the mother and daughter inevitably had to go out together at some point.
But finding a driver you know well isn't easy, and for now, the family only has one driver.
Ning Fei hasn't driven much since getting her driver's license. If both mother and daughter need to go out, Ning Yuxuan will ask Uncle Li to take her mother first, while she drives another car.
Ning Fei smoothed her lipstick in front of the mirror and smiled at her daughter: "No need. Ji Huai just happened to be in the vicinity on business and gave me a ride."
Ning Yuxuan blinked slowly: "Oh, okay then."
Ning Fei waved to her daughter, a smile playing on her lips, and said, "Then Mommy will be going now."
Ning Yuxuan watched Ning Fei's retreating figure, lost in thought.
Liang Jihuai is a veteran actor in the entertainment industry, a double Best Actor winner, and his mother's old colleague.
Ning Yuxuan's intuition told her that her mother's relationship with this actor, Liang, might be somewhat unusual, or that he might be pursuing her mother.
Ning Yuxuan never doubted her mother's charm; her mother was beautiful and gentle, so it was impossible for her not to have suitors.
Although Ning Fei doesn't talk about these things with her children much, and has never brought a boyfriend home, Ning Yuxuan knows that her mother had a boyfriend over the years, when she was just starting university.
For some unknown reason, her mother broke up with her boyfriend before she even graduated from university, and Ning Yuxuan still doesn't know what that man looked like.
Later I heard that some men pursued my mother, but she probably didn't accept them again.
If her mother really wants to start a new relationship, Ning Yuxuan fully supports it.
However, it's also possible that she's just overthinking things. In any case, since her mother didn't mention it to her, there's no need for her to ask.
After breakfast, Ning Yuxuan went to the Huayuan headquarters office.
If there are no other plans, Ning Yuxuan still prefers to work in the office, as it is more efficient and not far from home by car.
After a morning of work, Ning Yuxuan was eating takeout at noon when Zhou Lin, the hotel's deputy general manager, knocked on her office door.
The company previously had a fixed furniture supplier who covered Huayuan's annual furniture wear and tear and replacement costs.
The two parties have had a good working relationship over the past few years, and there is no reason to change manufacturers for the opening of a new store. The management team unanimously agreed to continue cooperating with this supplier.
The new store is currently under renovation and the furniture has not yet arrived, but the process is progressing steadily. The contract has been basically negotiated and is just waiting for the final decision.
This time, Zhou Lin came to tell Ning Yuxuan some unexpected news: the furniture supplier changed their mind at the last minute, saying they would only sign the contract if the price increased by 10%.
In the past, if an emergency occurred, Zhou Lin and Chen Jun would discuss a solution and then report it to Ning Fei, who would then make the final decision.
However, Ning Fei now intends to gradually transfer management to Ning Yuxuan and completely step down from the front line.
Upon receiving the news, Zhou Lin immediately went to discuss it with Ning Yuxuan.
"This matter involves the furniture supply for all the new stores, so it's very important," Zhou Lin said. "I'll call a meeting in half an hour, and we'll discuss with the others how to handle it."
Ning Yuxuan glanced at her watch; it was a quarter past one.
"Two o'clock," she said, "so as not to interfere with everyone's lunch break."
Zhou Lin was both amused and exasperated.
It's unclear whether Ning Yuxuan is simply unaware of the seriousness of the situation or just has a very strong heart.
Ning Yuxuan smiled and said, "It's not like we're opening this afternoon. The employees went on strike this morning. Even if it's urgent, a quarter of an hour won't make a difference, right?"
Zhou Lin compromised: "Okay, then two points it is."
She sent a meeting notification on the work software, informing several people in management that the meeting would be held at 2:00 PM sharp.
Ning Yuxuan had only eaten half of her lunch.
However, she knew that Zhou Lin was impatient, and since she was already there, it would be difficult for her to go back and wait for her.
Ning Yuxuan raised her hand: "Aunt Zhou, please sit down. I'll eat while you tell me what's going on."
Zhou Lin was more than happy to oblige and immediately sat down opposite Ning Yuxuan.
“For the past five years, Huayuan has been cooperating with this factory for its furniture supply,” Zhou Lin said. “This has never happened before, so when they suddenly said they wanted to raise prices, I immediately asked them why.”
Ning Yuxuan put a piece of green vegetable into her mouth, nodded, and gestured for Zhou Lin to continue.
Zhou Lin: "I originally thought the other party would say it was due to reasons such as rising raw material prices and labor costs, but I didn't expect them to tell me directly that a seller had offered a higher price to buy their inventory."
Ning Yuxuan frowned slightly.
Zhou Lin continued, "So if they want to supply us with goods as originally agreed, they want us to pay 10% more to offset the losses they might incur by refusing a new seller."
As Zhou Lin said this, a look of indignation appeared on her face, indicating that she was very disgusted with this argument.
Sure enough, the next second Zhou Lin cursed, "They're shameless! They breached the contract first, and they still want us to compensate them for their losses."
Ning Yuxuan waited until Zhou Lin finished ranting before calmly saying, "There's nothing we can do. After all, the order hasn't been signed yet, so legally they're not in breach of contract."
“Of course I know that,” Zhou Lin said. “It’s just that Huayuan has been cooperating with them for so long, and every time we’ve made a deposit without hesitation, and paid the balance as soon as the goods arrived. I never expected them to set us up like this.”
Ning Yuxuan didn't join in the cursing; her focus was on Zhou Lin's earlier question: "Did they say who the seller who offered the higher price was?"
Zhou Lin suddenly realized: "Oh, they really did say it. When I asked, I thought they wouldn't answer, but strangely enough, they told me—"
Ning Yuxuan: "The Gu family?"
Zhou Lin: "...Yes."
She stared at Ning Yuxuan, sensing something was wrong: "How did you know?"
Ning Yuxuan took a sip of water and said slowly, "Because, just like Aunt Zhou said, logically, they shouldn't have revealed the new seller's information. Since they did, there's only one possibility: the other party intentionally let us know."
Zhou Lin pondered for a moment: "You mean, someone in the Gu family wants to use this to put pressure on us? Why?"
There are many large chain hotels in Beicheng, so it makes no sense to target a small chain hotel like Huayuan.
Ning Yuxuan: "Because I have a grudge against the Gu family."
To be precise, she had a grudge against Gu Yunhao.
In the original book, Hua Yuan's eventual bankruptcy was also orchestrated by Gu Yunhao.
However, according to the original plot, it was Gu Yunhao who acquired these four new stores, thereby gaining the approval of the Gu family and gaining more say, gradually swallowing up the original Huayuan.
Now that she beat him to it, Gu Yunhao had no choice but to find another way to cause her trouble.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Lin looked at Ning Yuxuan with a hesitant expression.
Ning Yuxuan laughed: "Aunt Zhou, are you trying to say how I got into such a big mess?"
Zhou Lin: "..."
She said tactfully, "The trouble is indeed quite significant."
After a pause, Zhou Lin added, "But since we've already gotten ourselves into this mess, we'll discuss how to resolve it in the meeting later."
Ning Yuxuan smiled and said, "Thank you, Aunt Zhou."
She couldn't explain to Zhou Lin that no matter what she did, Hua Yuan couldn't avoid confronting Gu Yunhao.
As the plot dictates, whether she begs Gu Yunhao to get back together like in the original novel, or breaks up with him like she does now, she can't escape this fate.
However, she now knows the plot in advance, has Xie Zhiyan as her "backer," and has also received assurances from Lin Yuanfeng.
Ning Yuxuan believed that Hua Yuan's ending would definitely not be as described in the original book.
At 2 o'clock, Huayuan's general manager Chen Jun, deputy general manager Zhou Lin, and several other members of the management team held a meeting to discuss the emergency.
Most people thought they would agree to the price increase for now and terminate the cooperation once the new store stabilized.
Although they suffered a loss in silence, the 10% loss was still within Huayuan's capacity to bear.
With four new stores needing to be renovated and reopened, there are many trivial matters to handle, and temporarily changing suppliers is not a wise choice.
Furthermore, switching to a new manufacturer involves many issues, and the final loss might be greater than the 10% price difference.
But Ning Yuxuan was determined to switch to a new manufacturer.
Besides the reasons she gave at the meeting, there was something else that only she knew.
Gu Yunhao is deliberately trying to annoy her this time; he might be waiting for her to come to him right now.
If she goes along with Gu Yunhao's wishes this time, unless she starts to submit to him from now on, such incidents will only increase in the future.
To Ning Yuxuan's surprise, Zhou Lin firmly supported her at the meeting.
“I agree with President Ning’s view,” Zhou Lin said. “If we back down easily this time, it would be tantamount to showing the outside world that Huayuan is a pushover, which would not be good for the company’s future development. At present, our funds are sufficient to bear any potential losses, so there is no need to compromise.”
When Ning Fei was not present, Zhou Lin took the lead in addressing Ning Yuxuan as "President Ning," giving her ample face.
Ultimately, with Zhou Lin's insistence, Chen Jun, who had initially disagreed with changing manufacturers, relented.
The three people with the most say, including the boss Ning Yuxuan, reached a consensus, and the matter was naturally settled.
The remaining task is to find a new partner manufacturer as soon as possible.
After the meeting at Huayuan ended, Ning Yuxuan and Zhou Lin urgently prepared a document together.
At five o'clock in the afternoon, she went home, changed into a dress, and put on evening makeup.
When she made her relationship with Xie Zhiyan public, she added several businessmen from Beicheng as friends.
These people are basically trying to get close to Xie Zhiyan through her, not really wanting to cooperate with her personally, otherwise they wouldn't have chosen to add her on WeChat.
After adding a few people, Ning Yuxuan stopped accepting friend requests to avoid engaging in pointless social interactions.
If there is a real opportunity to collaborate, we can add each other using our work account later.
But Ning Yuxuan has now changed her mind: it is still necessary to get to know more people.
For example, Mrs. Wu, whose husband owns several furniture factories.
It was something Mrs. Wu had mentioned when she introduced herself to her on WeChat.
Mrs. Wu sent Ning Yuxuan an invitation to a dinner party a couple of days ago. Ning Yuxuan was hesitant about whether to go or not, but now she has no choice but to go.
After putting on her makeup, Ning Yuxuan asked Uncle Li to take her to the banquet hall.
Ning Yuxuan was initially worried that although she had an invitation, she might not be able to see the person she wanted to see.
Unexpectedly, Mrs. Wu recognized him as soon as he entered the banquet hall.
Mrs. Wu recently became the talk of the town among the wives' group because she got the first-hand gossip about Xie Zhiyan and Ning Yuxuan.
Upon seeing Ning Yuxuan, Mrs. Wu immediately greeted her with great enthusiasm.
"Oh my, isn't this Miss Yuxuan?" Mrs. Wu said with a smile. "I didn't expect you to grace us with your presence at our dinner party."
He spoke with Ning Yuxuan as if they were old friends, as if they had met before.
Of course, from Mrs. Wu's perspective, she was already very familiar with Ning Yuxuan.
Out of curiosity about what kind of person Ning Yuxuan was, that she could actually win over Xie Zhiyan, a powerful figure, Mrs. Wu not only looked up Ning Yuxuan's information, but also watched all the variety shows Ning Yuxuan participated in.
After reading it, Mrs. Wu found that the girl's personality was quite to her liking.
After Ning Yuxuan explained the situation, Mrs. Wu first expressed her sympathy and then said that there was no problem and she would definitely help her solve the problem.
"Isn't that easy?" Mrs. Wu said. "I'll take you to see my husband right now, and he'll definitely agree."
In fact, while people in the elite circles of Beicheng were amazed by Xie Zhiyan's special treatment of Ning Yuxuan, very few were truly optimistic about their future together.
In this circle, a man who likes a woman can spoil her rotten, but when it comes to interests and marriage, it's a different story.
It's only because this man is Xie Zhiyan that his relationship with Ning Yuxuan has received so much attention.
But most people still believe that no matter how much Xie Zhiyan dotes on Ning Yuxuan now, he will not ultimately choose to marry her.
Therefore, no one seriously tried to discuss cooperation with Ning Yuxuan.
It's fine to flatter Ning Yuxuan a few times, but if you really have to spend real money to please her, the effort and reward will probably be disproportionate.
However, Mrs. Wu didn't think so.
Based on some intuition, Mrs. Wu felt that this Miss Ning might actually end up with Xie Zhiyan.
Therefore, she was very happy to facilitate her husband's cooperation with Huayuan, since it was not a difficult task for her husband. Even if Ning Yuxuan and Xie Zhiyan eventually broke up, her family would not suffer any major losses.
Mrs. Wu took Ning Yuxuan to meet her husband, Wu Shangdong.
The furniture factory is just one of Wu Shangdong's businesses, and the amount of furniture Ning Yuxuan needs is not much compared to the scale of his factories.
For Wu Shangdong, this favor was something he did without much trouble.
With his wife's recommendation, and Ning Yuxuan's concise and detailed information, coupled with her clear and articulate speech, Wu Shangdong quickly agreed and even offered a relatively favorable price.
It's lower than the previous one.
After repeatedly thanking Wu Shangdong, Ning Yuxuan went to the dessert table and got some food to eat by herself.
I was in such a rush that I didn't even have time to eat.
Ning Yuxuan was pondering whether she should take this opportunity to get to know some more people in order to lay the foundation for possible future collaborations.
A familiar figure appeared at the entrance of the banquet hall, looking around.
Gu Yunhao.
Ning Yuxuan frowned, instinctively feeling that this person was looking for her.
After thinking about it, she didn't dodge.
If Gu Yunhao really came specifically to find her and couldn't find her here, he might chase her somewhere else.
Let's solve this problem right here.
After searching for a long time, Gu Yunhao finally met Ning Yuxuan's gaze.
Like a predator eyeing its prey, the man quickly walked over.
"Ning Yuxuan." Gu Yunhao stopped in front of Ning Yuxuan, his expression arrogant, yet with a hint of smugness. "So? You came here to resolve the supplier issue, right?"
Ning Yuxuan said indifferently, "You deliberately caused the manufacturer and Huayuan to break the contract just to show off in front of me?"
Gu Yunhao didn't expect Ning Yuxuan to be so calm.
These days, besides being busy with his own affairs, he's been thinking about how to make things difficult for Ning Yuxuan.
He discovered that the furniture manufacturers that cooperated with Huayuan had business connections with Gujia.
So Gu Yunhao, as the eldest grandson of the Gu family, met with the other party and asked them to raise the price for Ning Yuxuan first, and then find a way to delay the delivery of the project.
At first, the other party was reluctant to agree because Ning Yuxuan was Xie Zhiyan's girlfriend.
But Gu Yunhao persuaded the other party.
Every year, the amount of business between Gujia and the manufacturers is dozens of times that of Huayuan, bringing real profits to the manufacturers.
Ning Yuxuan is just Xie Zhiyan's girlfriend, and they might break up someday.
Xie Zhiyan invested in Huayuan because he couldn't resist Ning Yuxuan's persistent pleading, so he casually let some money slip by.
In reality, given Gu Yunhao's influence in the family business, he may not necessarily be able to dictate the business cooperation between the Gu family and the manufacturers.
However, after listening to Gu Yunhao's confident assertions, the manufacturer concluded that Huayuan was indeed a small company and there was no need to risk offending the Gu family by maintaining a cooperative relationship with Huayuan.
If Xie Zhiyan really valued Ning Yuxuan as his girlfriend so much, why didn't he just give her a subsidiary of the Xie family to manage, instead of only investing a little money in a hotel under her mother's name?
The money Xie Zhiyan invested in Huayuan was just a drop in the ocean compared to the Xie family's total assets.
This shows that Xie Zhiyan wasn't that serious about Ning Yuxuan either.
After weighing the pros and cons, the manufacturer finally agreed.
Gu Yunhao came to the banquet specifically for this occasion.
He facilitated the manufacturer's breach of contract with Huayuan, partly to make Ning Yuxuan uncomfortable, and partly as a test.
Ning Yuxuan's appearance at the banquet further confirmed his guess was correct.
Xie Zhiyan didn't care about Ning Yuxuan as much as rumored, otherwise he would have easily solved this problem for Ning Yuxuan long ago, and Ning Yuxuan wouldn't have needed to find a solution herself.
Wu Shangdong is a notorious shrewd old fox.
Ning Yuxuan has only been in the business world for a short time. Without Xie Zhiyan's personal support, how could she possibly win over Wu Shangdong in just a few words?
Gu Yunhao wanted to see Ning Yuxuan's frustrated expression, and even more so, he wanted to see her regret it and try to please him.
In Gu Yunhao's view, Ning Yuxuan's indifference at this moment was just a facade.
"Ning Yuxuan," Gu Yunhao said with his nostrils flared, "If you regret it now, say a few nice words and I might be able to negotiate with the manufacturer to maintain the original price. A 10% price difference is a considerable loss for your little shabby hotel, isn't it?"
...
Seeing that Ning Yuxuan didn't answer for a while, Gu Yunhao frowned: "Why aren't you saying anything?"
Ning Yuxuan glanced at him: "Are you done talking?"
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