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Chapter 74: Chapter 66: I Like Buying for You (Seeking Recommendations!) _1
Sunday.
Morning.
Li Kai had been waiting in his shop for Tang Qing and Wang Yan from early morning. They were ready to take the minivan for a spin at the company. Although it was a bit low-class, they had no choice. At least it was a four-wheeler, right?
Tang Qing was planning to wait until the end of the month to conduct another transaction with Liu Qian. Then he would have the money to buy a good car for himself. He would also buy a few better company cars. As for allocating cars to the management, he figured it was unnecessary. Qi Yan and Yang Kai already had cars. The vice president and the managers could share the company cars when they needed them.
Neither Li Kai nor Wang Yan was worried about Tang Qing’s driving skills. Li Kai knew that Tang Qing had used the minivan many times before, and he had even ridden in it. He knew Tang Qing was an excellent driver. As for driving without a license, he chose to overlook it.
Wang Yan instinctively trusted Tang Qing. In her eyes, Tang Qing was perfect. What was there to surprise about him knowing how to drive?
Today was the weekend, although most of the employees were off, Qi Yan, Yang Kai, and a few managers were still working. They were workaholics, full of energy to accomplish the preset plan. Since the company was newly established, they had to perform well.
Working eight hours a day versus working fourteen hours a day: that’s the fundamental difference between earning three thousand and ten thousand.
"Boss Tang, you’re here." The same old gatehouse guard as before greeted him. At Tang Qing’s request, the company had now hired a total of ten security guards, all retired soldiers. Their quality and discipline were relatively reliable. Even though their wages were high, at least there wouldn’t be any mess-ups, or if anything did happen, they could handle it.
There were now two on duty at the entrance, the old man and a newly hired guard. Tang Qing was aware of the old man’s situation. His name was Wu Qi. His wife passed away many years ago, and his two unfilial children didn’t take care of him. He didn’t have any retirement pension or anything, so he took this job to get by. Despite his age, Tang Qing had no intention of firing him. He just let him guard the door, and moved the surveillance room into the office building.
The main gate was previously a manually pushed iron door. At Tang Qing’s request, it was refurbished into an electric retractable gate. It just got finished yesterday and looked a lot more high-end.
"Yes, Uncle Wu, you’ve worked hard," Tang Qing said with a smile, rolling down the car window.
"Not at all, I am grateful that you kept this old bone of mine here," Wu Qi quickly waved his hand and said. Even though Tang Qing came in a minivan, so what? Usually, if someone came on a broken tricycle, he would look down on them for being poor. But if Tang Qing came on a broken tricycle, he could only assume Tang Qing was being low-key and would still praise him for his restraint.
The impression people have of each other in modern society is just baffling.
"No, no, as long as you’re willing, you can always work here," Tang Qing replied with a smile.
"Thank you, thank you, Boss Tang. Chen Han, come and meet Boss Tang. This is our boss," Wu Qi expressed his gratitude and then introduced the young security guard, Chen Han, next to him.
"Boss, nice to meet you." Chen Han stepped forward, looked at Tang Qing, and responded respectfully. He had been told by Wu Qi before that the boss was incredibly young, maybe seventeen or eighteen, but since he was a retired soldier with a resilient nature, he wasn’t particularly surprised. He was a man who had played with guns, carried cannons, and chased tanks. It’s just money, and he’s just young. There’s nothing to be shocked about or else he wouldn’t be worthy of the country’s education.
"Hmm, hello, you have a good spirit. Work hard, the company won’t let you down," Tang Qing nodded with satisfaction. Soldiers always had a soldier’s demeanor. Even when speaking to the boss, they kept their backs straight. He was very satisfied with this. He needs security guards who can protect the company’s property, not yes-men.
"Thank you, Boss Tang." Chen Han was still as serious as ever.
The praise from a young kid could hardly stir any excitement in him. He was one to admire strength.
"Hmm, I’ll go in first," Tang Qing said with a slight laugh.
...
At this moment,
Qi Yan was not here. She had personally gone to Province City to hire people, and she was very busy. Only Yang Kai and the other managers were here. They weren’t slacking; They were organizing documents, improving systems, and ongoing personnel recruitment.
Especially as they took over the factory, Yang Kai was running there every day. Having had experience as the deputy general manager of a large garment factory, and considering the company’s tight schedule, Yang Kai proposed many suggestions to Liu Desheng, putting Liu Desheng under a lot of pressure. Though he complained in his heart, he still complied; After all, he also hoped that the factory could grow bigger and better.
Tang Qing showed Li Kai and Wang Yan around the company, especially his office computer. Since they had internet access last week, Li Kai joyfully played with it and couldn’t bear to leave. Fortunately, there were no games installed. Tang Qing prevented Li Kai from downloading large-scale online games for the sake of the company’s internet security,
Otherwise, Li Kai would undoubtedly have planned to play all day and come often. In the end, Li Kai could only give up and played browser games on the internet. Wang Yan, on the other hand, sat there reading a book. The previous boss had bought a lot of books that were stored in the bookshelf. Judging from the condition of the books, Tang Qing knew that the previous boss hardly ever flipped them open; he must have just put them there for show.
As for Tang Qing, he went to chat with Yang Kai for a while before leaving. Yang Kai was extremely busy now, so Tang Qing, as an outsider, thought it would be better not to get in the way. He didn’t meet the department managers either. He could meet them next week when things were more settled.
After hanging out in Tang Qing’s office for over two hours, Li Kai reluctantly left. By this time, Wang Yan’s admiration for Tang Qing showed no signs of stopping, which Li Kai noticed and looked at them quizzically, causing Tang Qing to secretly groan.
He somewhat regretted getting too close to Wang Yan, yet he had no desire to cut off all contact with her. After all, he has known Lin Jiaxue since childhood and has been acquainted with Wang Yan, including their three years of high school, for over a decade before his rebirth. How could he have the heart to completely cut ties with a friend he’s known for so long?
Perhaps there were reasons that he was not aware of, but it was causing him to feel torn.
In the end, he didn’t go to the factory, and even though Li Kai had mentioned wanting to get clothes earlier, it was just a casual remark. How could he really bring clothes back home? That would be too much, and considering it was getting late, after visiting the company, Tang Qing drove back to his store.
In the afternoon, after eating lunch at the store, Tang Qing took a cab to Lin Jiaxue’s place, bringing along boxes of apples and various other fruits.
"Tangtang, why did you buy so much again? I haven’t finished eating what you bought last time. They’ll go bad if there’s too much." Although Lin Jiaxue’s words were a reprimand, her tone held a faint hint of coyness making Tang Qing feel especially comfortable.
"It’s not much, you should eat more. When your uncle and aunt go to the store, they can also take some home." Tang Qing laughed. He knew that Lin Jiaxue’s parents would always save the good stuff for Lin Jiaxue, worried that she wouldn’t have enough to eat. Therefore, they usually bought cheaper fruit. Since the fruit Tang Qing got was the most expensive, they felt somewhat reluctant to eat it. Otherwise, with three people in the Lin family eating normally, the fruit from last time should be gone by now.
"Hmm, Tangtang, how did you do on the exams?" Lin Jiaxue peeled a banana for Tang Qing and said gently. This small action made Tang Qing extremely satisfied.
"Very good. I think I may even be the top of the class." Tang Qing took the banana and spoke with a mouth full of banana.
"Hehe, keep boasting. You’re claiming to be the top of the grade now? How could you have improved so much? If you were really the top of the grade, you would probably be in the top ten at our school." Lin Jiaxue looked at him gently and derisively said.
"Well, let’s bet then. What do you want to bet on?" Tang Qing immediately retorted. He normally wouldn’t care about someone disbelieving him, but Lin Jiaxue was the woman he loved most. He couldn’t let her question his character.
"No bets. I don’t like gambling, and you’re not allowed to gamble in the future. Understand?" Lin Jiaxue spoke sternly. There’s no tradition of gambling in her family. Even during festivals, her parents would only watch and not participate. This was something her grandfather had imposed.
Her great-grandfather once lost his fingers to a debt he couldn’t pay because of gambling. Since then, he gave up gambling and forbade his descendants from getting involved in it. If they did, they would face severe family punishment.
"Erm, understood, hehe. How about this, if I rank first, you have to go shopping with me. I’m going to buy you lots of pretty clothes, and you’re not allowed to refuse." Tang Qing suggested after a thought. He was aware of Lin Jiaxue’s great-grandfather’s incidents and agreed with him. Gambling was a no-go.
The saying of "small bets bring joy, big bets ruin lives" was a lie. The reality was, gambling was gambling, and once you got addicted to it, it was impossible to control. It was very likely that you would end up bankrupt, ruining yourself and others and destroying countless families.
"What if you don’t get first place?" Lin Jiaxue curiously asked.
"Then I’ll only buy you a few clothes." Tang Qing answered as if it was the obvious thing to do.
"Why are you always thinking about buying me clothes? I have enough clothes. I haven’t even worn the ones you bought last time much." Lin Jiaxue spoke softly. This was one of the reasons Tang Qing liked Lin Jiaxue. Whether she was angry or showing other emotions, everything seemed softer when filtered through Lin Jiaxue’s gentle manner, bringing to mind a wife’s demeanor that was impossible to ignore.
Tang Qing’s heart couldn’t resist this and was gradually melted.
"Well who else would I buy clothes for? I just like buying for you." Tang Qing stepped forward, held her, looked into her eyes and said passionately. He just wanted to buy things for Lin Jiaxue as long as she liked them.
"No. If you get first place, you can buy for me. If you don’t get first place, I’ll buy for you, okay?" Lin Jiaxue blushed, a rarity, as she turned down his proposal. However, she was filled with happiness as she felt the affection from her lover.
"Alright then, it’s a deal." Tang Qing thought for a while and agreed. He had confidence in himself, the first rank was undoubtedly his, and he had set his mind on buying those clothes for her.
The two didn’t go out in the afternoon, but instead watched TV together. They had no homework and spent this rare holiday together, cuddled up. Tang Qing, holding Lin Jiaxue’s soft waist, resting his head on her shoulder, smelling her scent, and feeling her heartbeat... it was wonderful.
As for what was on TV that afternoon, Tang Qing had no recollection.
That evening.
Tang Qing bought groceries, Lin Jiaxue cooked a feast, and he stayed until quite late before returning to his uncle’s house.
Upon hearing that he had been to Lin Jiaxue’s, his cousin Qin Shiqi scolded him severely, complaining about why he didn’t invite her along. Eventually, Tang Qing had to pay her off with a hundred yuan to soothe Qin Shiqi’s ’anger’.
PS: End of the third Chapter, I’m going to sleep, and will continue with another three Chapters tomorrow. Thanks to reader bianbinking for the recommendation vote.
