Chapter 209: You Knew I Was Coming All Along?

Sunday, the West City Department Store's promotional day, found Jiang Xiao Yan, the short-term group leader, bustling about handling one trouble after another.

"Xiao Yan, there's a customer wanting to return merchandise—a wool coat she bought the day before yesterday with a tear on it."

"I told her it wasn't sold by our short-term team, and to come back tomorrow to exchange it, but she says it's too much trouble traveling all this way."

"Is the tear newly made?"

"That's exactly why I came to you—I'm not sure. If it were new, I'd have kicked her out already."

"I'll go take a look."

Jiang Xiao Yan rushed to counter #11 and saw the woman demanding the return.

She wore a gray cotton-padded jacket, a half-worn green wool scarf, and black cotton shoes dusted with fresh mud.

Jiang Xiao Yan guessed she'd walked a long distance; her anxious, uneasy expression suggested the coat meant a lot to her.

"Miss, are you the one in charge here?"

The woman in the gray cotton jacket glanced at Jiang Xiao Yan, thinking she was too young to have authority.

Jiang Xiao Yan smiled and said, "Auntie, let me see the coat, please. By the way, when did you notice the tear?"

"Look, look—my husband bought it yesterday, but we only found the tear when we got home.

Our relatives are having a wedding tomorrow, and he needs to wear it, but men are too embarrassed to come back and exchange it. He said the store doesn't accept returns after leaving the counter, so I asked why you didn't notice it then."

"Really? Let me check it for you, Auntie. May I ask your surname?"

"I'm Zhou. Girl, take a close look—my husband kept it packed the whole time, never took it out. It's definitely not us who tore it."

The woman handed the wool coat to Jiang Xiao Yan, continuously complaining about her husband.

Jiang Xiao Yan took the coat and pulled out a magnifying glass from her pocket, examining the tear closely.

This idea had come from Li Ye.

The principle behind modern close-up lenses is adding a magnifier in front of the lens to capture micro-details.

Although close-up lenses are more precisely made than ordinary magnifiers, using a regular magnifier for photography causes distortion, aberration, and chromatic dispersion—but for observing fabric fiber patterns, a magnifier is perfectly adequate.

Any clothing store inevitably faces damaged goods, but distinguishing whether the tear occurred during transport or after the customer took it home is extremely difficult to determine.

State-owned units have one rule: no returns after leaving the counter; returns require connections.

But Li Ye, who once despised e-commerce for refusing returns at all costs, demanded that Pengcheng Factory Seven emphasize "humanization" and not force customers to bear all losses.

This placed higher demands on group leaders like Jiang Xiao Yan, because if the damage wasn't the customer's fault, she had to sign off on it—and might later need to reprimand the salesperson involved.

Why did flawed clothing even reach the sales counter?

In short, this job made enemies, but it also forged character.

To gain experience, Jiang Xiao Yan had once torn and slashed various discarded fabrics using different methods, studying the subtle differences to build her expertise.

Jiang Xiao Yan carefully examined the fabric's frayed edge through the magnifier and ultimately concluded the tear was not newly made.

"Auntie Zhou, we can accept your return—but are you sure you want a refund, not an exchange?"

Auntie Zhou hesitated and said, "Girl, you're kind—I won't hide it from you. I originally wanted to exchange it, but we bought this one for 55 yesterday, and today it's on sale for 44. I'd feel cheated if I just exchanged it. So tell me, should I return it or exchange it?"

Jiang Xiao Yan smiled and said, "Auntie, you misunderstood. Today's promotion is 'buy five, get 20% off'—if you buy just one, it's still the original price.

You need to buy five items to get the 44 price. So, return or exchange?"

"Now I understand—you mean buying individually versus buying in bulk? Then I'll exchange it."

"I'll get you a new one."

"Thank you so much, girl! I heard your service was different, and I didn't expect it to be this good!"

Auntie Zhou happily left with the new wool coat. Jiang Xiao Yan pulled out the return/exchange form, signed her name, and handed it to the salesperson.

The salesperson whispered to Jiang Xiao Yan, "Xiao Yan, that coat wasn't sold by our short-term team. You're exchanging it anyway? When the regular department finds out, they'll come after you."

Jiang Xiao Yan capped her pen, slipped it into her chest pocket, and said firmly, "Let them come to me. It's about the issue, not the person. If there's a mistake, admit it. If you admit it, accept the penalty."

The salesperson gave a thumbs-up: "Alright, Xiao Yan—you've got guts. I'm impressed!"

After months as a short-term group leader, Jiang Xiao Yan had developed a willingness to take responsibility—so long as she was right, she wasn't afraid of making enemies.

Being a nice person earns you a reputation for kindness, but it won't let you stand on your own.

Everything happening with Jiang Xiao Yan was observed by Tian Hongshan, who was crouched at the corner of the third-floor staircase.

Ever since Pengcheng Factory Seven moved into the West City Department Store, Tian Hongshan had developed this habit.

Whether it was a promotional day or a regular workday, whenever he had free time, he came to this spot to observe Pengcheng Factory Seven's operations and compare them with West City Department Store's.

Of course, he now had plenty of free time.

The more he compared, the more depressed he became; the more he compared, the more he realized how reckless and impulsive his own decision had been to blindly copy Pengcheng Factory Seven at West City Department Store.

【This isn't a business gap—it's a systemic gap.】

A bunch of students and "part-time" middle-aged women were treating regular employees as equals, discussing issues on merit—could you ever do that?

Would temporary workers in your unit dare speak up in front of permanent staff?

Even more absurd: the head of these short-term workers was a girl barely in her twenties.

In your own unit, you'd never even dream of such a thing—seniority rules aren't a joke. What's her connection to you? What's her ability? Is she even good at her job?

If she had connections, that'd be one thing—but what if she's genuinely capable but has no connections? You know how gossip can drown a person?

Besides, rewards and penalties can't be implemented in your unit—you'd soon find the same few people always get bonuses, and the same few "lucky" ones always get fined.

"Ah, I'm one of those unlucky ones!"

Tian Hongshan pulled out a cigarette, exhaling thick clouds of smoke as if trying to bury his bitter expression.

Last winter, Tian Hongshan had decisively locked the doors during a West City Department Store promotion, refunded and exchanged clothes for impulsive customers, and crushed a potential riot in its infancy.

But the subsequent mass returns and lingering fallout made him take full responsibility.

"Who gave you the right to return four out of five bundled items? You're responsible for the profit loss."

"So many clothes and goods went missing—such massive losses, you as the responsible person can't escape blame."

"Director Tian, you promised overtime pay—why haven't you paid it? If you don't pay, we're coming to your house for dinner."

"Hmph~"

Even though Tian Hongshan hadn't been Director Tian since that chaotic promotion, all the blame still clung to him, impossible to shake off.

The department store isn't a street stall—clothes are taken from shelves by sales staff and handed to customers. How could they possibly go missing?

Where did they go? Blame me?

Just one day's overtime pay—can't you afford a meal without it?

When the wall falls, everyone kicks it!

Besides, your unit isn't short on money for bonuses—the finance department isn't broke.

After Tian Hongshan's reform failed, Pengcheng Factory Seven quickly negotiated a deal with West City Department Store, which now received a large monthly profit—essentially earning money while doing nothing. Paying bonuses was a trivial matter.

Now more people were complaining: Tian Hongshan treated his own people like dirt, refused a sure thing, insisted on messing around, and got what he deserved.

But Tian Hongshan didn't think that way. After observing Jiang Xiao Yan and others for a month, he felt he'd seen a young tiger—clumsy and cute, yet already hinting at royal power.

When it grows into adulthood and roars through the mountains, how much stronger could bloated West City Department Store be than rabbits and pheasants?

"Lao Tian! Lao Tian!"

A colleague hurried over: "I knew you'd be here—come on, the director's looking for you!"

"Oh, let me finish this cigarette."

"Still smoking? Fine, do as you like!"

The colleague sighed and walked off. Tian Hongshan slowly finished his cigarette, then stood and trudged toward the Supply and Marketing Department.

He used to be head of Supply and Marketing; after his reform failed, he temporarily handed over duties and quietly "studied and summarized lessons."

At my age, what's the point of studying? Whatever.

For the past couple months, Tian Hongshan had basically slacked off at work—his new director had less seniority than him. They both disliked each other, so they just ignored each other.

But today he was suddenly called in—he suspected the rumors he'd heard a few days ago were about to come true.

Tian Hongshan entered the Supply and Marketing Department. Several colleagues glanced at him, then quickly looked away, none greeting him.

It stung. Just a month ago, he'd been the boss of this office; now he was ignored by everyone.

"Lao Tian, come in, sit down!"

His successor was unusually warm, inviting him to sit, then cutting straight to the point.

"Lao Tian, you know our local product procurement point in Yanqing up north, right?"

"Yes," Tian Hongshan said flatly. "I was the one who established it."

"That's right. Since you're familiar with the area, we've decided to send you to replace Ren Daping. Go to Personnel and Labor Affairs to process the paperwork soon—Yanqing offers a subsidy: an extra 6. yuan per month!"

"6. yuan? That's quite a bit."

"."

Tian Hongshan curled his lips into a mocking smile.

Yanqing was over a hundred miles from Beijing, separated by a mountain—plain countryside compared to the capital.

And Ren Daping? He'd been exiled there after taking blame. The man who'd kicked Ren Daping down was Tian Hongshan himself.

Isn't that ironic?

Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—the tables have turned.

But Tian Hongshan didn't argue. Instead, he suddenly asked, "Director Zhao, when's your nephew getting married?"

"What?"

"Isn't your nephew marrying Ren Daping's daughter?"

"."

"Hehe~"

Tian Hongshan chuckled twice, then turned and left the office.

He was already forty-three; if he endured a few more years in Yanqing, he could live out his life in quiet mediocrity, saving his monthly subsidy of six yuan and fifty fen, perhaps enough to buy a color TV.

But was he willing?

Tian Hongshan asked himself, and without realizing it, he reached the Personnel Department door—but just as he raised his hand to knock, a wild thought flashed through his mind.

One second later, Tian Hongshan turned and walked away, his pace quickening.

He squeezed into the promotional event at Pengcheng Seventh Factory and, after struggling through the crowd, finally found Jiang Xiaoyan.

After observing for so many days, he knew this student from Hangkongxue Academy was a fellow townsman with Manager Jin, and could be approached.

"Comrade Jiang, I have a favor to ask—could you help me contact Manager Jin? I need to discuss something with him."

"Wait a moment."

Jiang Xiaoyan finished her current task, then pulled out her notebook, turned to a page, and tore it off directly.

"You can call, or you can go directly to this address."

Tian Hongshan paused, took the paper, stared at the phone number and address on it, and couldn't help asking: "You wrote this out in advance?"

Jiang Xiaoyan smiled: "Our boss said that if you're someone who won't settle for mediocrity, you'll definitely come to us."

(End of Chapter)