Chapter 325: Miss Taozi Face

"Taozi, you've really done a great job here. Is everything ready? When do you plan to open for business?"

As soon as they sat down, the chubby Li Hongli spoke first. When she was around, she was always the one who talked the most. Of course, it wasn't that she was particularly eloquent, but rather that she was very extroverted, daring to speak and loving to talk. People like Jiao Yang and Lan Weiwei were not as boisterous as her.

"It'll take a while yet. We haven't even finished hiring staff, so how could we open?" Yang Tao laughed. "It's just as well, the wedding market is quite average right now, so we might as well take it slow."

Jiao Yang pushed up his glasses. "Really? This bridal shop has been under renovation for three months, right? You two haven't even interviewed staff yet?"

Wang Yan nodded with a smile. "Hiring people will only take a week or so; it'll be quick. Taozi is right, taking it slow is fine, we aren't in a rush."

"Oh my, it's so good to be rich. A storefront this big, how much is the monthly rent? If it were an ordinary person, wouldn't they be racing against time? These two, on the other hand, are unhurried. I'm so envious and jealous. No way, I have to eat the rich for lunch today."

"Jiao Yang, if you're talking about getting rich overnight, I think that's unlikely," Li Hongli laughed. "Finding a rich woman might still be achievable. Keep it up, I believe in you."

"I want to be a kept man too, but I don't have the opportunity. Does anyone here know a rich woman to introduce to me? I'm willing to go all out."

Lan Weiwei pointed at Li Hongli. "You have to ask her; she knows quite a few."

Li Hongli suddenly turned serious. "If you take good photos of me, and I'm satisfied, I might reluctantly introduce you to a rich woman." After saying this, she couldn't hold it in and burst into laughter.

The group laughed. Jiao Yang was a good sport; he didn't mind at all being the butt of the joke. In fact, he laughed the loudest, even louder than Li Hongli.

Moving past the topic of money, Jiao Yang looked at Yang Tao's belly. "It's been over three months, right? We haven't gathered much lately, but seeing this, the change is really fast; the belly is already so big. You'll be a mom by next spring, tsk tsk..."

"It's nothing good. I'm sleepy, greedy, don't like to move, and I'm gaining weight. Let me tell you, I've gained over ten pounds since I got pregnant. I can see the difference every single day. By the time I give birth and finish the postpartum recovery, oh my, I don't even dare to think about how fat I'll be." Yang Tao was full of worry, and the more she spoke, the angrier she got. She gave the culprit beside her a hard poke. "It's all your fault. If I can't lose the weight later, just see if I don't bite you to death."

Wang Yan exaggeratedly rubbed the spot where he was poked, baring his teeth as he pulled her into his arms. "Wife, don't worry. No matter what you become, you will always be the most beautiful in my heart." As he spoke, he pursed his lips and gave her a kiss.

"Oh my, everyone is here, what are you doing? So annoying." Yang Tao disdainfully stretched out her hand, fingers splayed, and pushed against Wang Yan's face, shoving him back.

"Taozi, you're still okay, you still have a sense of shame, that's good," Jiao Yang laughed. "I really didn't see it, Wang Yan, you're so clingy."

"Hey, we're an old married couple, what's the big deal?" Wang Yan waved his hand. "Like when Taozi and I first got together, just now, she would definitely have responded. Let you all feel the sour stench of love. Now... tsk tsk..."

Yang Tao blushed and glared at her man. "No, can you stop talking?"

Wang Yan shrugged at the group, then turned his head and made a zipping motion across his lips at Yang Tao.

"You're something else." Yang Tao gave a beautiful eye-roll, then turned to Li Hongli. "Girl, don't you want a child?"

"Don't mention it, we're trying." Li Hongli couldn't help but sigh. "We started right after we got married. You say it's been almost two months, how come there's no movement at all?"

Lan Weiwei interjected, "There's nothing wrong with you. After all, you've given birth before, right? Just keep trying, keep it up."

"I think so too. I've been thinking about going to the hospital to check in the last two days, to see if there's a problem with my guy." Li Hongli waved her hand, composed herself, and her face was full of teasing. "Alright, let's stop talking about me. What are you thinking, Weiwei? I think this Li Kui is not bad. You two have been in contact for... a month, right? I think, don't hold back. We're getting old, we can't delay anymore. Taozi is about to be a mom, you two need to hurry up too."

Lan Weiwei turned her head to look at Li Kui, who was smiling beside her, and said insincerely, "I'm not in a rush, let's see."

Li Kui knew what was going on; he just smiled politely without speaking. He had already said what needed to be said, and he could clearly feel the distance between them closing rapidly. It could be considered flirting, so it wasn't a big problem.

Hearing this, everyone laughed, but they didn't continue to dwell on it. Jiao Yang still didn't like Lan Weiwei. Wang Yan saw it clearly; just now when Lan Weiwei spoke, a flash of discomfort crossed Jiao Yang's face...

The group chatted about idle things for a while longer—giving birth, skincare, this and that. Jiao Yang was chatting enthusiastically with the three women, while Wang Yan and Li Kui just exchanged a smile and listened from the side.

Li Kui wasn't very familiar with them yet and didn't really study these things; chasing women was boring, so it was just boring. Wang Yan was different; he understood too much. If they really started talking, none of these people would be a match for him; they could only listen to his ramblings. But now that he was living a life with Yang Tao, he didn't need to use these things to show off or attract people, so he just stayed quiet, scrolling through news on his phone, which was quite nice.

After chatting and laughing for a while, Yang Tao took out her phone and glanced at it. "Alright, you've all seen my place. It's about time, let's go eat."

Jiao Yang stood up immediately. "Oh, I've been waiting for those words. You don't know, Taozi, in order to eat the rich, I didn't even eat breakfast, just waiting for this."

"Then keep it up, let us open our eyes and see just how 'hard' your 'eating the rich' really is." Yang Tao laughed, and with Wang Yan's support, she stood up. "Let's go eat, let's go have a big meal..."

The restaurant was a private kitchen Wang Yan had booked in advance, just for this good day. Last night, he had already had a happy meal out with his mother-in-law, Duan Xifeng, and Su Qing, which counted as celebrating that their life had stepped onto a new level and had a new beginning.

Among these people now, Li Hongli was a player, someone who had seen the world, and the person she was with now was rich, so the conditions went without saying. Moreover, the men she had dated and married over the years were not in bad shape either. Lan Weiwei's situation was about the same; she didn't look for men with poor conditions, so she could be considered to have enjoyed life. Li Kui was a player with an annual salary of a million, so that went without saying.

Jiao Yang's conditions were the worst; he was just an ordinary worker, couldn't be like the women, and hadn't really found a rich woman to be a kept man, so he relied on himself for everything. In the past, when everyone hung out, it was partly about feelings, partly about character, and partly because their conditions were similar. However, Yang Tao was also a down-to-earth person and didn't have the habit of looking down on people just because she had made it. She even complained to Wang Yan when she felt she was drifting away from Jiao Yang, and later maintained the relationship with care.

Arriving at the private kitchen, a meal for several people cost over ten thousand, which was a blow to Jiao Yang. However, it wasn't too big; he really had a normal mindset and ate with great relish, just as he had said, "hard."

When it came time to pay the bill at the end, Li Kui insisted on contributing. But today was Wang Yan and Yang Tao treating their friends for this good day, so of course, they couldn't let Li Kui pay. So naturally, the group agreed to have another meal in a few days, hosted by Li Kui.

With Li Kui being so sensible, Lan Weiwei was of course happy. In any case, she had been grinning from ear to ear all night, laughing non-stop, and her speech was much denser than usual. Combined with her intentional or unintentional posing, Li Kui thought it was quite good.

So, all in all, this meal was quite good, and everyone was quite happy.

"Hey, husband, I think that Li Kui is actually quite good."

After the meal, the two returned home, sprawled on the sofa watching TV. Yang Tao took a bite of an apple and brought up today's events.

"Of course he's good, but I still don't know what he's thinking," Wang Yan said, sipping tea. "It's not that I'm badmouthing others behind their backs, but I haven't seen any trait in Lan Weiwei that would make someone of Li Kui's level pursue her so tirelessly. And Lan Weiwei is actually stringing him along; I can't figure it out."

"Well, that's feelings, who can say? Li Kui just took a fancy to her. Besides, Weiwei isn't bad looking, and she's a yoga instructor; she's kept her figure very well for so many years. She's still very attractive to men, not like you said."

"You say she has a good figure, that's certainly true; just her curves are something ordinary people can't compare to. Maybe it really is a case of 'a turtle looking at a green bean'—they just clicked."

"Curves, right? You like that kind?" Yang Tao looked at him with a smile.

"That's not it, you said she had a good figure, and I agreed with your point of view, why are you talking about whether I like it or not?" Wang Yan was between laughter and tears. "Besides, I just like your 'A-cups'; they're much better than hers."

"'A-cups'?" Yang Tao looked down at herself, then turned her head to look at Wang Yan with dangerous eyes. "Are you complimenting me?"

"No, I mean I just like you like this. Look, I'm more outstanding than Li Kui, right? I didn't see the traits in Lan Weiwei, but I saw them in you. And it's not just one or two points; they're all advantages." Wang Yan counted on his fingers. "You're kind, beautiful, like to learn, self-improving, not vulgar, not wasteful, thrifty, helpful, generous, warm-hearted, and also..."

Speaking of this, Wang Yan spread his fingers and placed them in front of her. "Look, wife, look how outstanding you are. My two hands can't finish listing your advantages. Being able to marry you is Heaven taking care of me. Really, I've hit the jackpot. I can't even imagine being able to marry such a perfect wife. Oh my, I'm so happy."

"You're something else, you're so glib." Yang Tao's eyes were bright and charming, and she gave him another poke as encouragement. "I'll let you pass, then I'll reward you by making me a fruit bowl. Go quickly."

"Received, Leader, please wait a moment, the little one will be right back." Wang Yan used a theatrical tone, held up his fingers like a sword, pointed at the kitchen, stood on one leg with the other slightly bent, and even added his own "Qiang Qiang Cei," hopping into the kitchen.

"Stinky show-off..." Yang Tao pouted, watching TV happily.

After staying at home for another day and getting through Sunday, the couple got busy.

The main thing was to start interviewing staff. Last week, they had already scheduled some people to come for interviews this week. As the store manager, Yang Tao naturally held the power of personnel appointments.

Yang Tao was incredibly attentive to her own career. In the following week, from morning till night, Wang Yan just watched from the side as Yang Tao chatted with people one by one. She chatted in such detail, from life to hobbies, and even her thoughts on wedding dresses and the future.

To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that their wages were sufficient and the benefits were good, people wouldn't be stringing someone like Yang Tao along. However, Wang Yan never said much from beginning to end, only helping her confirm who to hire when Yang Tao had difficulty choosing after screening the candidates and felt everyone left was good.

Finally, they decided on six girls as sales assistants and two male photographers to take wedding photos and such.

Of course, this photography manpower was not enough, after all, they planned to take travel photos, which required team operations. However, the relevant business hadn't started yet, and they didn't know what the team configuration would be. On the other hand, business wasn't good right now, it was the off-season, so they just found two people to support for now, slowly exploring the experience, and would see the situation later.

During this period, the store's plaque was also finished and hung up. The name had been decided long ago, otherwise, they couldn't have obtained a business license. It was called "Miss Taozi Face" (Tao Yan), and the logo was a plump, big peach. Looking at the name, one could tell it was taken from their two names, but "Yan" was changed to "Face" (Yan) for the sake of sounding and looking better. Originally, they wanted to call it "Miss Taozi Blossoms" (Tao Zhi Yao Yao), from the "Tao Yao" poem in the Book of Songs, but it was already taken, so they used the current one, which was also quite good.

The finished plaque had a white background, and on the left was a big pink peach. On the peach, in dark gold, were the two characters "Miss Taozi Face" written in Wang Yan's own cursive calligraphy, flowing like a dragon and dancing like a phoenix. To avoid the awkwardness of others not recognizing or being able to call out the name, the characters weren't too cursive and were quite easy to distinguish. There was a large empty space in the middle, and only in the bottom right corner were the black characters "Wedding Dress · Photography," letting people know what the store did. The overall style maintained Wang Yan's consistent simplicity, which was quite good. The important thing was that Store Manager Yang was very satisfied.

Opening a business required promotion, of course. The flyers had already been made, and they found a company to distribute them for a whole week. Of course, it was somewhat useful, but not very much; it counted as psychological comfort, mainly comforting Store Manager Yang.

According to Wang Yan's wishes, it would just be like that—if there were customers, they would take them; if not, forget it. After all, they weren't short of money. Although they were supporting eight more people now, it didn't matter; they would live their lives as they always had, without any impact.

However, Store Manager Yang wouldn't have it. This child was strong-willed; if she was going to do it, she had to do it well. Wang Yan just let her be; being happy and in a good mood was better than anything.

After everything was ready, on this day, November 25th, the 12th day of the 10th lunar month, it was a good day for starting work and opening for business, which Wang Yan had calculated again by divination.

At 10:00 AM, with two rows of neatly arranged flower baskets and a red carpet at the store entrance, Yang Tao, wearing a cotton-padded jacket, had a flushed face—it was hard to tell if it was from the cold or happiness. With her belly sticking out, she stood at the entrance with Wang Yan, thanking the good friends who came to congratulate them, and letting the staff lead curious customers into the store to walk around and take a look. It was busy and very lively.

Guo Ran and Hu Qixing looked at the couple standing at the entrance with smiles. "Congratulations, congratulations! Wishing you a grand opening and abundant wealth."

Wang Yan responded with a smile. "Feel free to take a look around. If there's nothing else, hurry back; I'll treat you to drinks later."

"Hey, this is the first time I've seen someone chasing people away. You kid, that's not right."

Hu Qixing played the straight man to Guo Ran. "Exactly, Brother, never seen business done like this."

"Hurry up, I'll definitely drink you two under the table later."

"People came with good intentions, why are you talking to them like that?" Yang Tao revealed her white teeth. "Sure enough, Qixing, thank you both. We're too busy here, and indeed the hospitality is lacking. Later, I'll have Wang Yan treat you to a big meal."

"Hey, we don't care about that, we're all friends," Guo Ran laughed. "Alright, you two get busy, we'll just stroll around and leave, won't add to your trouble."

Wang Yan nodded with a smile and patted Hu Qixing's sturdy frame, telling them to hurry off.

Lan Weiwei walked over slowly with her parents. "Taozi, Wang Yan, wishing you abundant wealth."

"Thank you, Weiwei." After responding, Yang Tao looked at the people behind and called out, "Auntie Lan, Uncle Hao, why are you two going through all this trouble? It's so much better staying at home."

"You child, we watched you grow up since you were little. Now that you have your own career, how could we not come?" Lan Cai-ping looked at her big belly with envy. "It's been four months, right?"

"Yes, Auntie Lan."

"How wonderful. Weiwei, you need to hurry up too, look how far behind you are."

Lan Weiwei nodded repeatedly. "Oh, I know. Dad, Mom, let's hurry in and take a look, don't stand here and add to their trouble."

Lan Cai-ping didn't forget the key point. "Taozi, is your mom inside?"

"She is, Auntie Lan. Please, hurry in." Yang Tao nodded in response.

Lan Cai-ping sighed imperceptibly and followed Lan Weiwei inside.

Wang Yan knew what she was thinking just by looking at her. Of course, his mother-in-law couldn't help but show off, and Lan Cai-ping had to smile and take it; it would be strange if she didn't feel uncomfortable.

To be fair, his mother-in-law was really something. The lineup at the wedding, except for a few from out of town, happened to be on a Sunday, so basically everyone in Beijing came. It wasn't to collect red envelopes, but for promotion. His mother-in-law was inside, promoting to relatives and friends one by one, asking them to introduce relatives and friends in need later to support their family business. Now, the people coming and going were basically relatives, with only a few being customers just there for the excitement.

Of course, Li Zhaoxian, who had been very close to Xue Sumei for the past two months, also came and had already promoted it to relatives and friends. Now he was inside helping Xue Sumei. Since everyone knew each other, he also wanted to take the opportunity today to meet Lan Weiwei's parents. Li Kui didn't come; he had gone abroad on a business trip and had been gone for half a month.

Duan Xifeng knew these relatives and friends and was also inside greeting them. The eldest cousin, Su Qing, didn't come; she was six months along and couldn't be careless, and with so many people, it wasn't easy to be distracted, so it was better to stay at home.

In fact, if it weren't for the fact that Yang Tao was the boss's wife and had a strong will herself, Wang Yan wouldn't have wanted her to go through all this trouble. But then again, there were women nine months pregnant who still worked, and Yang Tao wasn't that tired, so he just let her be. ===== CHAPTER 326 =====