Chapter 993: You Are Very Beautiful

Wang Yan, hands in his pockets, strolled across the street and stepped onto the steps at the entrance of Zhi Zhen Yuan.

Before he even entered, the rich aroma of wine and food wafted out, and the clamor within could be faintly heard.

"Wang Laoban is here, welcome, welcome." Manager Pan, who was greeting guests at the door, greeted him enthusiastically. She said, "Wang Laoban, going to a private room?"

"Are there any private rooms left?"

"If someone else came, there wouldn't be, but if Wang Laoban comes, there is."

"Manager Pan knows how to talk." Wang Yan smiled. "Let's sit at a public table; it's just me, you just watch and serve a table of dishes."

Manager Pan said, "Wang Laoban, better go to a private room; the public tables are all full, and you'd have to wait for a good while."

"Business is good, then."

"It's all thanks to Wang Laoban."

Wang Yan shook his head with a smile. "It's thanks to Boss Bao. I heard from Jingxiu that now stir-fried beef with rice noodles has become a must-order dish at Zhi Zhen Yuan, and it seems the stir-fried beef with rice noodles on this street is selling quite well."

"That is indeed the case. Boss Bao has a big reputation; as soon as he comes to Huanghe Road, someone outside shouts 'Boss Bao is here.' But it's always hard to compare with Wang Laoban."

"Whether Boss Bao and I are friends or not, comparing back and forth is meaningless."

Manager Pan nodded. "Wang Laoban, please this way."

Wang Yan walked with her toward the private room upstairs, and just at that moment, he bumped into Li Li, who was seeing guests off downstairs.

"Wang Laoban is here. I'll see these guests off first, and then I'll go find Wang Laoban for a drink." Li Li said with a smile.

Wang Yan nodded with a smile, glanced at the group Li Li was seeing off, and brushed past her...

He came here to eat, so the dishes were naturally served extremely quickly, all being the first to come out of the kitchen as temporary additions. He also told Manager Pan not to serve a whole table and waste it. Li Li came in with the waiter serving cold dishes, also carrying a bottle of Moutai.

Watching the waiter serve the dishes, Li Li fiddled with the cups and poured the wine. "I thought Wang Laoban felt Zhi Zhen Yuan wasn't good enough and would never come again."

"If I came to eat for free every day, would you welcome me?"

"If it were someone else, it would certainly be better to have some distance. But you, Wang Laoban, coming to Zhi Zhen Yuan—even if you stayed here, it wouldn't be a problem." While speaking, Li Li finished pouring the wine, picked up her glass, clinked it with Wang Yan's, and laughed. "I'll take a sip."

Wang Yan raised his glass with a smile, clinked it with hers, and drank it all in one gulp.

Putting down the glass, he joined Li Li in picking at the two cold dishes that had been served to go with the wine. He said, "I heard from the logistics side that you've introduced eight deals in the past few days; your performance is even better than our sales staff who specifically look for work."

"It's not that I'm impressive; it's that Wang Laoban's logistics company has strong transport capacity, guarantees, and good service."

"I have a count of it myself. To guarantee the drivers' treatment, as well as vehicle costs and supporting services, our company's shipping fees are higher. Relatively speaking, however, the speed is faster, and it's safer for the goods. But more people still tend to go for cheap. After all, if there's a difference of one mao per ton per kilometer, for twenty tons over five hundred kilometers, that's a difference of one thousand yuan."

Relatively speaking, current shipping fees are actually not cheaper than later ones; underdeveloped transportation, imperfect automotive industry, unsound legal system, and so on are all factors in the high shipping prices.

And the treatment Cao Cao Logistics gives drivers is better, and there are corresponding guarantees for the safety of goods and losses in transit, as well as thousands of trucks depreciating every day, etc. —all of these are costs.

This has led to Cao Cao Logistics having a good reputation and occupying the bulk cargo market, but for the broader market, it hasn't formed a strong advantage. Although Cao Cao Logistics doesn't lack work and has always been saturated, there always needs to be more work so that there can be more trucks and more market share.

Wang Yan smiled and said, "Although you lost out with Fan Zong, if you introduce more business, it's a long-term flow, so it can be considered as making it back."

"If possible, I still want to earn that deal from Fan Zong."

"Want to make quick money?"

Li Li raised one eyebrow. "Who doesn't? Wang Laoban himself said that getting rich was by doing business in the Soviet Union."

"That kind of opportunity, unless the United States also disintegrates, won't happen a second time in this lifetime." Wang Yan shook his head with a smile, then turned to ask, "Were those people you just saw off from Shenzhen?"

"How did Wang Laoban know?"

"The dialect, after all. After I walked away, I heard them asking who I was in Cantonese."

Hearing Wang Yan speak Cantonese, Li Li laughed lightly. "How can Wang Laoban say they are from Shenzhen? Couldn't they be from other parts of Guangdong? Or Hong Kong?"

"Because I've already determined that you have a relationship with that 'Mr. A,' so I think those people should also be doing stocks. What, tired of staying in Shenzhen and want to come to Shanghai to get rich?"

"Maybe they're here to take revenge on Wang Laoban and Boss Bao. Is Wang Laoban afraid?"

"Have you heard of Uncle Ye?"

"The old master who leads Boss Bao in business?"

Wang Yan nodded. "When Boss Bao came back after making money and had a gathering at Night Tokyo, Uncle Ye spoke, saying that capital revenge will only make you return to where you came from. I don't agree with this statement; I said at the time that the revenge hadn't arrived yet, otherwise it should be a dump truck coming. Before the New Year, Boss Bao was hit by a taxi and sent to the hospital, and this statement was dug up again."

"I don't understand Wang Laoban's meaning."

"I'm asking you whether they want me to crawl back to my hometown in the Northeast or if they're going to send me a dump truck."

"What do you mean?"

"If they want me to crawl back to my hometown in the Northeast, then I'm not bragging, but their money isn't enough. They can operate by borrowing money from Shenzhen state-owned assets, but they won't be allowed to operate at will. The most likely result isn't me crawling back to my hometown in the Northeast, but them all going to prison together."

Li Li raised an eyebrow. "What if it's a dump truck?"

Wang Yan smiled and didn't say anything more. But Li Li understood that it was probably about being thrown into the sea to feed the fish.

She didn't doubt at all that Wang Yan had such strength, not to mention the unspeakable things Wang Yan did while getting rich in the Soviet Union and trading internationally; just Cao Cao Logistics alone could solve problems, after all, that was a truly opened transport route. In the process of rapid development, who knows how many messy things there were.

And before this, she really looked into Wang Yan's business; she certainly couldn't see the whole picture. But regarding logistics, she knew clearly that Cao Cao Logistics had invested in Fengdan Sihai Tong Logistics in Hong Kong, and the boss of Fengdan Sihai Tong Logistics was a mob boss who had emerged in Hong Kong in the last two years. She also learned that in 1990, this mob boss had his underlings sell barbecue seasoning.

Tracing back like this, she found the transit company Wang Yan used when selling Soviet assets two years ago, and connected it to a woman named Betty, which fell back to the herbal tea she had drunk in Shenzhen before, as well as the Qingxin Herbal Tea promoted in the shop two days ago...

She laughed and said, "Looking for trouble also depends on the person; I think it should be mainly aimed at Boss Bao."

"It's all the same; after all, I earned over four million back then, so I'm implicated. Boss Bao asked me to join in back then, probably with this in mind. When the time comes, if he asks me for money, I certainly can't refuse."

Wang Yan's words were truly sincere. But what everyone didn't understand was that Betty was Xuezhi, the woman A-Bao had missed for many years, the hurdle in his heart he couldn't get past. Furthermore, Miss Wang originally liked Boss Bao, but now she was entangled with him.

However, if one were to be more shameless, A-Bao couldn't handle emotional problems, and Wang Yan was tired of helping him—this was also fine...

Li Li nodded, looking like it had nothing to do with her. "Wang Laoban doesn't need to overthink it; it has nothing to do with me. I just want to earn enough money in a down-to-earth way."

"Earn enough money? How much is enough?"

"37,590,000."

"Down to the last digit." Wang Yan ate and said, "So that 'Mr. A' really jumped into the river and died, and you're paying off his debts."

"Wang Laoban has a lot of imagination."

Wang Yan turned to look at her, as if observing, and after exchanging glances for a moment, he laughed. "Still a lie."

Li Li shook her head, refusing to admit it.

She turned to say, "Two days ago, a Qingxin Herbal Tea came to the shop to promote; it's a factory built in Shenzhen by Hong Kong capital. I hear it sells very well in the south. I don't know if Wang Laoban is clear about it?"

"It's mine."

"But I heard the boss of this herbal tea is a beautiful woman."

"Also mine."

Li Li was stunned for a moment, speechless, looking at Wang Yan not knowing what to say. After a while, she said, "Wang Laoban is truly straightforward."

"I always speak the truth."

"I didn't intentionally investigate..."

"Understanding the situation, it's all understandable." Wang Yan drank a mouthful of wine by himself, picking at the dishes. "I didn't hide anything; these are all public. As long as you have the heart to look and ask, you can basically be clear."

Li Li nodded; as long as there were no misunderstandings, it was fine. Suddenly, she thought of Miss Wang, who was not easy to get along with, and asked curiously, "Then you and Miss Wang are..."

Seeing Wang Yan raise an eyebrow and look over, she smiled embarrassedly.

"Actually, it's nothing; it's just that we've known each other for a long time, so inevitably there are some feelings. She wants the two of us to stay together for a long time, but I'm an honest person, so I told her about Betty—the beautiful herbal tea boss you mentioned. Of course, she wasn't happy. It's already quite good that she's still willing to talk to me now."

Since it had come to this, Wang Yan continued to ask, "What do you think?"

"Uh..." Li Li was truly a bit embarrassed; the composure from the original show was completely gone.

She weighed her words and said, "Human desire, understandable. I know many men have more than one woman, and some men treat women as playthings. It's just that I've never seen someone like Wang Laoban, whose women manage such a large company."

Looking at Wang Yan's smiling appearance, Li Li wisely didn't continue, but changed the subject. "Boss Bao came to Zhi Zhen Yuan two days ago, and he said Zhi Zhen Yuan wouldn't last three months. I don't know what Wang Laoban thinks?"

"You can use my name to find Lu Meilin across the street and talk, and give some benefits, and everyone will naturally get along harmoniously." Wang Yan didn't give his opinion, but directly stated the solution.

"Since you've already used Wang Laoban's name, why give benefits?"

"If you don't give benefits, wouldn't it become bullying? I've always believed that as long as you ensure you aren't bullied, that's enough. People say harmony brings wealth, and this is true. If she isn't harmonious, you make her harmonious, but you can't make her unconvinced."

"Understood." Li Li nodded with a smile; she recognized Wang Yan's statement, and then turned to ask, "I don't know why Wang Laoban is helping me?"

"You actually understand, don't you."

Meeting Wang Yan's deep eyes that saw through everything, Li Li felt a bit flustered, and her cheeks felt a bit hot. She raised her glass, clinked it with Wang Yan's, and drank the remaining few qian of wine in one gulp.

She said, "I don't know why; maybe Wang Laoban is too direct, but I still want to hear you say it."

Wang Yan smiled. "You are very beautiful."

Li Li nodded, stood up, and said, "Wang Laoban, eat slowly; if you need anything, find the waiter at any time. I'll go get busy first."

Wang Yan nodded with a smile, and Li Li walked away steadily.

Casually closing the door of the private room, Li Li finally let out a long breath.

Wanting to like someone the moment you meet them is very difficult. Not to mention that in Li Li's heart, there was still the Mr. A who hadn't faded away. Her emotional fluctuations, to the point of having no composure at all, lay in the fact that she had never seen a man like Wang Yan.

He was so simple, direct, and sincere. Generally speaking, such a person would make people feel very simple and make people see clearly, but it wasn't so with him; he gave people a feeling of looking at flowers through the fog. And this flower wasn't blurry; it was clear, yet all around the flower, it was full of fog.

This contradiction of seeing clearly yet not seeing clearly made her at a loss.

Most importantly, this man unreservedly expressed interest in her—perhaps sexual interest? And this was when she already knew about Betty's existence and his entanglement with Miss Wang.

But as she said, Wang Yan dared to hand over such a large company to Betty, and looking at it, he wouldn't even ask in normal times. She had truly never seen this kind of trust, or confidence.

Although the former Mr. A was also incomparably confident and high-spirited, he jumped into the river. This was the man she was infatuated with and unforgettable; if emotional reasons were excluded, she deeply understood that Mr. A's confidence was ridiculous in front of Wang Yan, because Wang Yan was more powerful.

She certainly wouldn't think Wang Yan was lucky to this extent; the fact that one could get rich in the Soviet Union was known to the whole country. There were many people who got rich, but like Wang Yan, she hadn't heard of any.

And on the other hand, she hadn't seen any boss like Wang Yan who was so relaxed.

Many times, many bosses wanted to grasp everything tightly in their hands. Wang Yan, however, dared to be a hands-off boss, even throwing the company directly to his woman, and dared to throw it to a single mother he didn't know and who didn't have much education. Including the manager of Cao Cao Logistics, who hadn't known Wang Yan for long, but was just a squad leader of a car company who had retired early with Wang Yan. As the logistics grew, he also stepped up to higher positions step by step.

She didn't doubt at all that if she followed Wang Yan, she would also get the same trust as Betty. Even for a moment, she had a feeling that as long as she spoke, the 37,590,000 she wanted to earn, Wang Yan would give it to her without hesitation.

She didn't know why, but she just had such a feeling.

Another deep breath, she looked deeply at the tightly closed double doors of the private room, then the corners of her mouth hooked into an arc, she flicked her wavy hair, and walked away with a light, lotus-like step...

After dinner, Wang Yan was again carrying his big brother phone, under the gaze of Li Li and Manager Pan, hands in his pockets, swaying and leaving. The bill certainly wasn't settled, and Li Li naturally wouldn't speak.

Watching Wang Yan's back, Manager Pan asked, "Proprietress, did you settle it with Wang Laoban?"

Li Li also watched Wang Yan's swaying back. "Make an appointment with the proprietress of Jin Meilin; find a shop further away from here. I'll treat her to a meal tomorrow morning."

"Alright, I'll go over right now."

"Wait a moment, or you can call her directly; keep the commotion small, and take care of their face."

"Understood."

"Oh my, Wang Laoban is here." Lingzi was sitting at a table by the window, drinking beer by herself.

Wang Yan shook his head, amused, went to get a bottle of beer, and sat down. "Why so sarcastic?"

"Wang Laoban is very low-key; not many people know you, but there are always those who do. You haven't shown your face for several days, not a sound, and as soon as you show your face, you go to Zhi Zhen Yuan first. It's hard for you to still think about coming to Night Tokyo. Could it be that the wine and food at Zhi Zhen Yuan can't fill your stomach?"

"Did you get it wrong? This tone of yours should be for Boss Bao. What's the matter? Think I, Old Wang, have charm and have fallen in love with me?"

"Get lost, get lost..." Lingzi rolled her eyes unhappily. "What made you think of coming to Night Tokyo?"

"Haven't seen anyone for several days, and it's still early to go back, so I just came over to sit, drink some wine, and chat. Why is no one here?"

"Teacher Ge went back to soak his feet and sleep, Ling Hong also closed the shop and went back to watch TV, Tao Tao is playing mahjong with Little Xiao Xiao Asao, and Boss Bao is probably busy with the Sanyang business, so he can't be found either. What have you been doing these past few days?"

"Handling business, after all. A new year, making work plans, boosting everyone's morale. Taking advantage of such good era opportunities, taking big steps to enclose land, occupy the market, and earn more money."

"Oh my, you already have so much money, still not satisfied?"

Wang Yan shook his head and laughed. "I certainly have enough to spend, but now my business can only advance, not retreat."

"Why?"

"Do you know how many employees I have?"

"Boss Bao said there are over ten thousand."

"Now there are over twenty thousand."

Lingzi opened her eyes wide in surprise. "Why so many?"

"Hongyun's clothing stores have opened all over the country, and logistics has also opened business in all cities in the densely populated eastern region, and has also launched personal parcel delivery business, setting up business points on urban streets. In addition, last year, the logistics company also established a high-speed service company, contracting the construction and operation of some highway service areas.

On the seasoning factory side, it's about the same as the clothing factory, also divided according to regions like Northeast and North China, building factories and regional distribution. There are also some upstream factories, as well as raw material acquisition companies at the source, primary processing factories, fine processing factories, etc. Basically, they are all service industries that use a lot of people; it would be strange if there weren't many people."

"Then what does that have to do with you not being able to retreat?"

"You also have to use your brain, Lingzi; don't just think about how Night Tokyo loses money and how to hide two bottles of Moutai every day."

"Oh my, if you hadn't said it, I would have forgotten; there's no Moutai left. Get someone to send a few more cases over."

Wang Yan smiled, didn't care, and continued to explain: "Too many people are used, and they have to eat. Over twenty thousand people—can I say I'll collapse just like that? Now that state-owned factories are reforming, too many people have been laid off. Not only can I not collapse, but I have to develop faster and accept more laid-off workers. On the other hand, actually, I don't have much money; I still owe the bank a lot of money."

"How much?"

"Too much, too messy, can't remember." Wang Yan shook his head. "Besides, even if I had so much money I didn't know where to spend it, couldn't I donate to the western region? Build a road, let the produce from the mountains come out. Build a school, give children a chance to study and progress, and change their destiny."

"Didn't see it, you're actually quite loving."

"There's a lot you haven't seen. Felt the charm, right?" Wang Yan raised an eyebrow with a smile.

"Get lost." Lingzi glared unhappily again. "How come I didn't see it before, that you, Wang Laoban, are so glib?"

"Maybe it's because the two of us have had fewer opportunities to talk alone like this. With Teacher Ge and the others, they'd start arguing in a few sentences, and I wouldn't have a chance to speak."

Wang Yan laughed and raised his beer bottle, clinking it with hers.

Lingzi curled her lips, took a sip from her glass, and turned to talk about Tao Tao: "I'll tell you something fresh."

"Hmm."

"Tao Tao has been getting closer and closer to Little Xiao Xiao Asao recently..."

Lingzi told Wang Yan gossip, and she was full of energy, but she didn't pay attention to the fact that she was already thirty-eight years old; perhaps she deliberately didn't want to think about it...

Regarding the fact that the original Jin Fenghuang had become Zhi Zhen Yuan, Lu Meilin had always been brooding, because she had been determined to win it before. What made her even more unhappy was that Li Li used to eat in her shop before and said she wanted to learn how to open a restaurant.

However, facing Li Li's invitation, and still choosing a place outside of Huanghe Road, she ultimately didn't refuse, because she couldn't be sure of Li Li's background.

Looking at Li Li, who was sitting there with a confident smile, Lu Meilin looked at the surrounding environment and waved her hand disdainfully: "Why find such a place?"

"I think it's better to be a bit remote and a bit smaller."

Lu Meilin sneered: "Taking care of your face?"

Li Li smiled and said to herself: "Boss Bao said my Zhi Zhen Yuan wouldn't last three months; I think it's because of your Jin Meilin, as well as other Golden Eight Immortals, etc. I heard that the proprietress of the Jin Fenghuang before couldn't fight you all?"

"So what?"

"Wang Laoban asked me to use his name to come and talk to you."

Seeing Lu Meilin's suddenly changing expression, no longer the various looks of looking down and not seeing, Li Li didn't smile. At this time, laughing would be somewhat inappropriate; she just looked at it faintly, just like in the show, calm and composed.

Lu Meilin accepted this terrible news; she didn't think anyone would dare to impersonate Wang Yan's name. She frowned and asked: "Is the restaurant Wang Laoban's?"

"No."

"Did you latch onto Wang Laoban?"

Li Li didn't mind Lu Meilin's directness and shook her head indifferently: "No."

"Then I don't understand, why is Wang Laoban helping you?"

"There has always been a rumor on Huanghe Road that in 1990, you and Boss Tao invited Wang Laoban to dinner, and something happened. Now it seems to be true. You don't understand why Wang Laoban is helping me, just as I don't understand what happened that day."

Lu Meilin didn't have any thoughts of saying more, just with a cold face: "What do you want?"

"Harmony brings wealth."

Watching Lu Meilin not say much, get up and leave, Li Li smiled and said: "Wang Laoban said you can't bully people, and I also think it should be like this. Zhi Zhen Yuan has changed the gas pipeline; everyone can connect to it, and add a few more stoves in the kitchen. Then that's it, Sister Lu, harmony brings wealth."

Lu Meilin sat there, looking at the hand Li Li extended as she stood up, and ultimately extended her own small, chubby hand and shook it.

"See you again!"

Li Li said it lightly, smiled, and left this unknown little shop, leaving 50 yuan for the boss when she left.

Lu Meilin no longer had any brooding; she just sat there blankly, not knowing if she was thinking of Wang Yan grilling lamb skewers at the entrance of Huanghe Road back then, thinking of the amazement when she first ate the lamb skewers, thinking of the phone call she made to Du Honggen, thinking of Wang Yan walking toward her with a smile that day...

If heaven gave her another chance, she... would still dare!

But it's just big fish eating small fish, she shook her head and smiled, got up and left this unknown little shop; when she left, she left 100 yuan for the boss... ===== CHAPTER 994 =====