Chapter 984: The Fifth Meeting

A-Bao's business was doing well, so Ye Dongjing's business naturally wouldn't be bad. At dinner time, everyone came here to look for A-Bao, wanting to discuss business or wanting to make a fortune with A-Bao.

In fact, Ye Dongjing's business was usually passable; it wasn't really losing money. Even if Lingzi's attitude was poor, the service quality wasn't high, and the prices were expensive, it couldn't stop Little Monk's cooking skills from improving. Previously, it was barely at the third level, but after more than two years, it had reached the peak of the third level, and a few signature dishes could occasionally break through to the fourth level.

This level was already quite good; he was a player who could stand in the front row even in big hotels. Over a long period, the business naturally improved quite a bit.

Lingzi sat in front of the counter, happily checking money and bookkeeping, doing daily inventory. Perhaps checking money made her neck tired, so she raised her head to move it. As soon as she raised her head, she saw a black sedan stop outside the window.

Immediately, she saw a man with slicked-back hair, wearing shorts, a half-sleeve shirt, and sneakers, holding a bag and a big brother phone, get out of the car. With one hand free, he locked the car door with a key and walked toward the store.

Lingzi smiled, put the money aside, and got up to welcome him: "It's been a long time, Wang Laoban."

"Hey, clearly we met during the New Year."

"Oh my, how can you be embarrassed? The New Year was four months ago. Looking at your outfit now, you're really done this time?"

"Done, I'll have more time in the future." Wang Yan sat in an empty seat by the window. "Your business is quite good now."

"It's thanks to Boss Bao; he's doing well, so I'm doing well here, as you know."

"What about Teacher Ge and Tao Tao? Did you break up?"

"Of course not; they're at Teacher Ge's place. They're going to play mahjong tonight. Oh my, they really don't fear the heat. Teacher Ge's room isn't big, and they squeeze together to play mahjong; they're really looking for suffering. Oh, there's one more thing. The room you originally had was rented out; it's a tailor from Suzhou, everyone calls her Little Xiao Xiao Asao. Oh my, Little Xiao Xiao Asao's voice is crisp, and her eyes are charming. Tao Tao is drooling."

Wang Yan nodded: "Hurry up and serve the food, landlady; I want to see if Little Monk's skills have improved."

"They've definitely improved, but the progress in the past year and a half is limited; you still have to guide him. What do you want to eat?"

"You arrange it. I haven't come often in a year and a half; am I rusty? Don't you know my appetite is good?"

"Oh my, you don't know—Teacher Ge and Tao Tao talk about you every day."

"Drinking my wine, receiving my gifts, and still talking bad about me?"

Lingzi shook her head with a smile: "It can't be called talking bad; you know them—it's just complaining. It feels like without you, it's not lively at all."

She turned and went into the kitchen, and when she came out, she had already brought a cold dish, and took a bottle of Moutai from the counter. "You sit for a while, Wang Laoban; it's quite busy right now, you have to wait a bit. If you can't wait, then do it yourself."

Wang Yan nodded with a smile, not needing Lingzi to greet him, and drank and ate on his own, very comfortable.

Outside the window was an era changing with each passing day, and inside the window was endless wine, sex, wealth, and spirit. Wang Mou sat by the window drinking, already standing at the peak of the tide...

This feeling didn't last long. With the bells tied to the door clanging as it opened, Teacher Ge, Tao Tao, and Ling Hong were already surrounding Wang Yan.

"Did you call them?" Wang Yan tilted his head toward the back.

Lingzi said with a smile: "Wang Laoban is back, it shouldn't be so cold; we have to welcome him."

"Little Northeast, you have no conscience. You should have called us before coming; it would have been great if everyone had welcomed you together."

"That's right, Wang Laoban, drink old wine, talk about your glory outside, and broaden our horizons."

Ling Hong also said on the side: "That's right, Wang Laoban, you're not particular; you didn't tell us in advance. If you had told us in advance, everyone would have been lively tonight."

Wang Yan shook his head: "It's not like we can't see each other; what's the rush? After finishing this year and a half, I'll be free and easy in the future; I'll have plenty of time."

Teacher Ge asked in surprise: "You're not leaving this time?"

"What kind of talk is that? I never left. It's just for the sake of life, thinking about making more money, so I had to run around everywhere; that's something that couldn't be helped. Just now Lingzi told me that you old guy and Tao Tao were drinking my wine, receiving my gifts, and still talking bad about me."

"Oh my, Wang Laoban, I don't have that guts. Don't listen to Lingzi's nonsense; I just miss Wang Laoban, and you didn't have any news, so I said it—Wang Laoban doesn't know where he's making a fortune, and I don't know if he still remembers Ye Dongjing. I know you definitely remember, otherwise why would I drink Moutai every day? The bad words were all said by the old guy; he said you have no conscience, and every time he mentions you when drinking, he says how he took care of you at the beginning..."

"Tao Tao, you can't wrong me like that."

"Then did you say it or not?"

"Oh my, Little Northeast, am I wrong? In 1990, you came over alone; was it me who rented you the house..."

"Alright, alright, saying it over and over is the same set. Didn't you drink the Moutai? Or do you want to return the money?"

"That's our friendship; I can't ask for it. Besides, I don't have money; if you want it back, I'll spit it out for you."

"The old guy is getting thicker-skinned." Wang Yan shook his head with a chuckle.

"He's getting more shameless as he gets older." Tao Tao took the opportunity to mock.

"Agreed." After Ling Hong finished speaking, she didn't give Teacher Ge a chance to fight back, and turned to ask, "Wang Laoban, I remember you sued Nike before? Why has there been no movement recently?"

"The movement before was also news I bought with money. Now it belongs to stopping while you're ahead; you can't always market, and the leaders handling it are also in a difficult position. Moreover, my direct sales stores haven't opened all over the country yet, and those who benefit the most are the counterfeit brands that imitate my brand; they've already sold all over the country. Even worse, some people take counterfeit clothes to my store and ask me to provide after-sales service and change their clothes."

Speaking of these, Wang Yan also shook his head with a chuckle.

Suing Nike was a matter of last year. After he sent the silk banner to the clothing department, he arranged for people to do it, and then bought various news, promoting it overwhelmingly. It was to step on Nike, a foreign brand, to prove how good his Hongyun was. Although Nike copied the design, at this time, it was indeed stronger than Hongyun in materials, but marketing, you know, must ignore it.

He directly raised Hongyun to the same level as Nike, wantonly condemning them for being shameless and engaging in plagiarism. At the same time, Wang Yan also canceled all discounts at home and abroad, and the price directly matched Nike. Yes, he didn't just buy news in the country, but also abroad.

Anyway, it was belittling Nike and raising himself.

The effect was quite good. During that period, the sales of less than a hundred stores increased sharply, and supply couldn't meet demand. Fortunately, Wang Yan had anticipated this situation and had arranged for excess production tasks in advance to strengthen inventory.

But as Wang Yan said, the biggest beneficiary was the one making fakes. As long as they imitated the style and pasted the Hongyun pattern, it would sell very well for ten or eight yuan. After all, it was cheap, good-looking, and heard it was some big brand.

This lawsuit had been going on for almost a year, and it had been noisy several times, and there was still no specific result until now. Nike continued to copy, and Wang Yan continued to sue. Marketing stopped after the New Year, the cheap was taken, the lawsuit was unclear, and Nike was still playing dead. If he marketed again, he would be causing trouble for relevant units and leaders. Everyone had a headache, and it wasn't easy at this time. Wang Yan was very understanding.

"Wang Laoban, then I don't understand. Nike can't be sued, and those making fake goods shouldn't be left alone, so why not sue them?" Ling Hong asked directly, and her thoughts were also direct.

"Although there are individual manufacturers who are bold enough to sell fake goods at the same price as my authentic ones, the vast majority are very cheap. They are all small workshops and don't have very good machines. My clothing styles are novel and sell well, so of course they do it. If I sue them and make them pay, how will they eat in the future?"

Tao Tao thought for a while and said: "Doesn't that affect your authentic sales? The streets are full of such clothes; others spend ten, I spend a hundred, then I don't feel comfortable."

Wang Yan shook his head and said: "More people will secretly laugh in their hearts. You can't afford the authentic and buy the fake, or you don't even know it's fake, so I have a sense of psychological superiority."

"Hey, Little Northeast is right; instead, it will make people who wear fakes go to his store to buy authentic clothes in the future."

"I don't have that many thoughts; I just want to earn money from rich people. Foreigners can sell for over a hundred in China; there's no reason for them to earn all the money, and no reason for me not to earn it. I don't believe that everything foreign is good."

"Have ambition."

Wang Yan waved his hand: "How have you all been lately? I heard a little sister-in-law moved into the room I used to live in, and she's got Tao Tao so infatuated he's lost his soul?"

"Oh my, Wang Laoban, don't talk nonsense. If Fang Mei hears it, I'll lose my life. Women, which man can resist not looking? Speaking of which, it's still Teacher Ge's fault. The old guy is old but his heart isn't, renting the house to a single woman."

"Don't talk nonsense, what single woman did I rent to?"

"Still stiff-necked, what single woman did you rent to? Lingzi, Ling Hong, Teacher Shi, Little Xiao Xiao Asao, Jinbao's mother, and..."

Teacher Ge felt very wronged: "Get it straight, Tao Tao. You were the one who came over to rent this store first, later Boss Bao came over, then brought Lingzi to rent my house, later Ling Hong came back from Japan. Jinbao's mother, I saw her alone with a child making a living, it was really not easy..."

In a few sentences, these people were arguing again.

Lingzi didn't participate, because the waiter was busy, and only she went back and forth to serve dishes, take bowls, chopsticks, and wine glasses, and everyone was eating and drinking lively together...

Wang Yan, of course, wasn't really idle. After all, the business was in a period of rapid development, and he still had to do some work, such as personnel, finance, etc., all of which he had to have a number in his heart, and the direction of development also had to be grasped well. Some internal corruption also had to be controlled, and relationships in all aspects had to be coordinated.

In addition, he also had a semiconductor company. He had to participate in the research projects over there and give some research suggestions. Moreover, now that university students were assigned jobs, it wasn't a problem of talent, but a problem of using people. He also had to go out and find some people to join in and do research.

However, he was an experienced boss and fully trusted the work ability of his subordinates—if they couldn't, they could. He had always believed that people had potential, but lacked a platform. Perhaps there was indeed an upper limit, but obeying orders and listening to commands—where was such a high upper limit needed? Things were handled clearly, personnel were managed clearly, or rather, as long as the management wasn't chaotic and high-quality safe production was done well, there wouldn't be any major problems.

In the final analysis, this was an era of barbaric growth and running horses to enclose land. Even if there were some small problems, they would be suppressed in the rapid development of business and the rapid expansion of the company, and wouldn't produce any major impact.

So he was very at ease.

Every day, he just walked around and looked. Occasionally, he would take a camera out to take some pictures.

Since he came back, he hadn't seen A-Bao. It was said that he went out to inspect factories, and by the way, did some treasury bonds. When the base of wealth reached a certain level, making money would become simple. Now A-Bao was no longer what he used to be, his wealth was accumulating rapidly, and he also had prestige. Truth be told, the current A-Bao was much more awesome than the original A-Bao. He was still more or less influenced by Wang Yan.

However, Wang Yan had no interest in A-Bao's brilliance; he was still living an easy life...

"Miss Wang is here." The owner of the pork chop rice cake place greeted warmly.

"Boss, same as usual."

Miss Wang's voice was still so energetic. She responded to the owner, took a bottle of iced soda, sat in the seat by the window, and drank a gulp, happily enjoying the coolness.

She supported her chin with both hands, looked at the window with empty eyes, and asked without looking back: "Boss, Wang Laoban has been here, right?"

"Oh my, he really hasn't been here. Since he came once at the beginning of last year, he hasn't been here for almost a year and a half."

"Miss Wang, aren't you and Wang Laoban friends? If you have anything, just call him."

"It's different, you don't understand."

Miss Wang replied lazily. The owner was familiar with this tone; it was that she didn't want to talk anymore. The little girl was fierce, so he closed his mouth and didn't say anything more.

Her last meeting with Wang Yan was when Wang Yan went to No. 27 to send a silk banner. It had been more than half a year since then, and they had made several phone calls in between, all asking her to help handle the customs clearance procedures. Because Wang Yan's clothing stores were opened in many places, and major cities in the Asian region basically had stores. Opening a country meant one more procedure. Apart from that, it was nothing more than asking if everything was well, and there were no more words.

She often thought about what she felt for A-Bao. In the winter when she met A-Bao, A-Bao invited her to the Peace Hotel to participate in the New Year's activities. She admitted that she was very moved that day and suppressed such a feeling. But later, she was a little uncertain.

She shook her head, continued to support her chin, drank with a straw in her mouth, and looked out the window, looking forward to the fifth meeting at the pork chop rice cake place...

Under her gaze, a black Santana stopped at the door. She saw Wang Yan in a cool outfit of shorts and a half-sleeve shirt waving at her, and she also responded with a smile.

Then, she saw Wang Yan seem to remember something, and saw him bend down to take out a camera from the car and start taking pictures of her. She also smiled and cooperated by posing. After such a while, Wang Yan threw the camera into the car, locked the car door, and came into the pork chop rice cake store.

"Oh my, Wang Laoban, long time no see. Just now Miss Wang asked if you had been here; it's really a coincidence." Seeing Wang Yan come in, the owner was very pleasantly surprised to greet Wang Yan.

He wasn't sure before, but now he was very sure that Wang Yan was the richest person he had ever seen.

"Oh my, the boss is still so energetic. Oh, you're wearing Hongyun clothes? The boss has taste." Wang Yan gave him a thumbs up.

"Knowing that Hongyun is Wang Laoban's business, I specifically support Wang Laoban's business. But Wang Laoban, I have to tell the truth; it's really too expensive. This half-sleeve of mine cost ninety-nine yuan."

"Look, you still have a misunderstanding about my brand. You say the foreign devils' are high-end when they sell them expensive, but when I match them, you say it's expensive? That's not appropriate. Look, Miss Wang is clear; Hongyun is also an internationally renowned brand. I've opened it all over Southeast Asia."

Wang Yan waved his hand, no longer making things difficult for the owner who hadn't thought of how to respond, and said with a smile, "You support my business, I support your business, still the same, remember it, right?"

"That's impossible in this life, Wang Laoban. Sit, I'll make Miss Wang's first, it'll be ready soon."

Taking a bottle of soda, Wang Yan stood there, looking at Miss Wang. She was wearing a Hongyun half-sleeve of the year and a half, a floral skirt on the lower body, and white shoes produced by Hongyun. Because the weather was relatively hot, her permed hair was tied high, and she was still wearing the glasses Wang Yan gave her.

Miss Wang was embarrassed by the look, her eyes dodging, but she was a self-centered character after all, and asked loudly: "What are you looking at? What's so good to look at? Sit over here!"

Wang Yan raised his eyebrows at her and laughed: "Miss Wang is even more beautiful after half a year."

"Is Wang Laoban also sweet-talking now?"

"Miss Wang is truly beautiful; I never lie."

Watching him sit down with a smile, Miss Wang said: "Looking at your outfit now, are you completely idle?"

"Almost, but it's not easy either. You know, it's a logistics company, a seasoning company, and a clothing company. Clothing also has overseas business, so there are still quite a few things. It's just that I don't have to fly around the world like before. Looking at it this way, it's indeed relaxed."

"When did you return to Shanghai?"

"It's been ten days, right?" Seeing the unhappiness in Miss Wang's eyes, Wang Yan continued: "I didn't forget that you wanted to treat me to dinner, but fate is really unpredictable, and I can't grasp it. I came early, afraid I wouldn't meet you, and came late, also afraid I wouldn't meet you. It's been these days, and I felt it was about time, so I came. I didn't expect our fate to be so big.

Known for two years, this is the fifth time I've come here, and every time I can meet you. You treat me to this meal, it's settled."

"No problem, I'll treat you, eat whatever you want." Miss Wang patted her chest, very happy.

"How has it been for the past half year?"

"How do I look?"

"I see you're beautiful."

Miss Wang clicked her tongue, ignored Wang Yan's teasing, and said: "Thanks to you and Boss Bao's care, my work is very outstanding, and the leaders are very satisfied. Oh, right, later you have to let your finance find me again; we are going to do a half-year inventory. Your company is the only domestic brand sold abroad, and we have to track the sales situation abroad."

"Good, I'll go tomorrow." Wang Yan nodded with a smile. "Miss Wang, how is my clothing company doing?"

"Of course it's good. I take back what I said to you before. I really didn't expect that in just two years, you would build the brand and sell it abroad."

"Actually, there's no need to take it back, because I'm losing even more now. The money for buying storefronts, except for a large part that I paid myself, also has loans from the bank. The scale of the factory has expanded, and there are more workers, all of which are money. I also acquired textile mills and chemical fiber plants, the equipment is more expensive, and there are researchers doing experiments, and the experimental equipment is not easy to get. Oh my, don't mention how much of a headache it is."

"Who told you not to think it through and insist on doing brand clothing? I heard from Boss Bao that you earned a lot of money in Russia. Now it's good, all smashed into the clothing company and logistics company. Money? I haven't seen how much you earned, but there are thousands of employees. If one thing goes wrong, you'll go bankrupt, which is light."

Miss Wang pouted, then smiled again. "But it's also because you have guts that you can do it to this point. You're still amazing."

"It's still Miss Wang who has vision."

"If I really had vision, I wouldn't have said so many discouraging words to you at the beginning."

Wang Yan shook his head with a smile: "I'm saying you praise me for being amazing, having vision!" As he spoke, he raised his thumb and pointed it at Miss Wang's face.

With a *slap*, Miss Wang pushed his hand away, and Wang Yan helped take the things from the owner who came over with a smile.

"Eat, your favorite."

Miss Wang aligned her chopsticks on the plate: "It's the favorite. Hey, Wang Laoban, don't you like eating pork chop rice cakes?"

"When we met here for the first time, you asked a similar question. At that time, I said, not bad."

"Not bad means delicious, then why don't you come often? You were busy before, but you always had rest time. Driving here to eat a meal doesn't take long."

"I think there are many delicious things. Once you eat the same thing continuously, you lose that good taste. So I like to stretch the time, eat a meal occasionally, which will retain my expectation for delicious food."

"I'm different; my favorite is pork chop rice cakes, um, it's the favorite!" Miss Wang emphasized her tone and said, "I told you, I've been eating this pork chop rice cake since I was a child, and I can never eat enough."

Wang Yan nodded with a smile: "Go to Huanghe Road for dinner another day?"

"There are so many good hotels, isn't there one on Zhapu Road? Isn't there one on Yunnan South Road? Why must you go to Huanghe Road? Besides, I can't afford it. Eating occasionally is fine; it can be said to be business, but going often is making a mistake."

"Eating occasionally is fine, that means you can go." Wang Yan nodded. "How about this, let's go to Jin Fenghuang tomorrow and see how they are doing."

Miss Wang turned to look at the smiling Wang Yan, but didn't refuse, but didn't agree with Wang Yan's choice: "I've been to Jin Fenghuang with Boss Bao. It's not that I'm saying, but Jin Fenghuang's chef doesn't have your skills, Wang Laoban. Why must you go to Huanghe Road?"

"Miss Wang must have forgotten that Wang Laoban made his fortune selling mutton skewers on Huanghe Road." The owner who served the dishes took the conversation. "Now that Wang Laoban's business has gone abroad, of course he has to go back to the place where he started."

"Oh, right, right, how could I forget." Miss Wang patted her head. "So you want to go to Huanghe Road to regain your face?"

"That's not right; I've never lost face. I made a fortune through hard work by setting up a stall to grill mutton skewers on Huanghe Road. Later, the landlady of Jin Meilin caused me trouble, and she still paid me ten thousand in settlement fees. But I can understand what you mean."

Wang Yan laughed. "Two years ago, when I first arrived in Shanghai, my savings were only over a thousand yuan. At that time, Huanghe Road was so prosperous, but I couldn't afford it. On the 755-meter Huanghe Road, over a hundred restaurants were opened, but I only ate at Jin Meilin. That was because they couldn't stand the discussion later and asked me to go over to make a show for everyone. At that time, it was with Tao Tao.

Later, I had money and could afford it, but I didn't have time. I went to the Soviet Union to do business, and I was even busier for a year and a half. Now that I have money and time, I have to taste it. Not just Huanghe Road, Zhapu Road, and this Yunnan South Road now—I have to eat them all once.

Jin Fenghuang isn't delicious, so forget it, what about Red Heron? I heard that Red Heron is the place Boss Bao goes to most often; the taste should be quite good, right?"

Miss Wang nodded: "Better than what you make."

Wang Yan shook his head with a chuckle: "Have I become a standard of measurement?"

"It was originally, your skills are quite good."

"Then let's make an appointment to go to Ye Dongjing next time; I'll do it again to consolidate for you. If you forget what I cook, that wouldn't be good."

"Good, it's settled. What's your best dish? Is it the ones we ate last time?"

"Of course not." Wang Yan, who was eating rice cakes, couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. "Actually, my best dish is stewed old hen soup, which can be considered medicinal food, very nourishing, and also an ancestral recipe."

"Your ancestors are really good, passing everything to you."

"It's not good either; I mainly didn't learn it well enough."

Miss Wang smiled, knowing that Wang Yan was being modest, and asked: "Then make it for me to taste next time?"

"This won't work. Normal people shouldn't eat it; it has to be when you're in confinement, injured, or something, when you need to supplement nutrition. And it's very troublesome to make; we'll talk about it if there's a chance in the future."

"Then go to Red Heron tomorrow?"

"Go to Red Heron. If I remember correctly, you get off work at 5:30, right? I'll wait for you downstairs."

"It's settled, let's toast." Miss Wang raised her soda bottle.

Wang Yan nodded with a smile and very cooperatively raised his soda bottle, clinking it with Miss Wang's.

The glass collided, making a crisp sound. It vibrated the soda, turning bubbles from the bottom up.

For the fifth meeting, Miss Wang was very happy. They didn't have the slightest unfamiliarity of not seeing each other for a long time; instead, they seemed closer, so natural... ===== CHAPTER 985 =====