Chapter 42

　I hurriedly said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

　　As I spoke, I quickly stepped back and closed the door.

　　He kept wondering to himself, “Who is this woman? I’ve never seen her before.”

　　Could it be the new manager?

　　I left the office feeling uneasy, then ran to the door to smoke. As I went over, I saw Yang Yi and Zhao Qian smoking at the door.

　　As soon as he saw me coming, Yang Yi tossed me a cigarette and said with a smile, “You’ve come at the right time. I have something to tell you.”

　　”What’s wrong?” I asked, puzzled.

　　Yang Yi smiled and said, “Our new manager took office today, so we’re going out for dinner together tonight to welcome her.”

　　New Manager

　　My heart skipped a beat. Oh no, it’s probably the woman I saw in the office.

　　I was thinking about whether I should try to curry favor with her, but now it seems I’m lucky she won’t make things difficult for me, so currying favor is obviously out of the question.

　　I couldn’t help but lament my bad luck, thinking to myself, how could I be so unlucky? The first thing I saw when I entered the office was her putting on stockings.

　　”Where to?” Zhao Qian asked, exhaling a smoke ring.

　　”Juweilou.” Yang Yi patted our shoulders and said, “Let’s get ready to get to work after we finish our cigarettes.”

　　As soon as Yang Yi left, I couldn’t help but ask, “Old Zhao, how did your date go last night?”

　　”Hey, don’t even mention it!”

　　Zhao Qian’s face immediately fell. “Damn it, I thought it was really the beautiful woman in the photo, but I didn’t expect it to be a woman in her thirties. I asked her why she looked different from the photo, and she actually told me confidently that she had told me before that there was a difference between her and the photo, but I didn’t expect the difference to be so big. She’s a completely different person.”

　　After hearing Zhao Qian’s words, I almost burst out laughing, and then asked, “And then what happened?”

　　”Later,” Zhao Qian threw away his cigarette butt and said with a lewd laugh, “Although she wasn’t the beauty in the photo, she was still a woman, right? So I took her to a rented room and had sex with her all night.”

　　”You really don’t discriminate between hot and cold.” I said, somewhat speechless. I was worried that he might be set up by a honey trap, but I didn’t expect him to actually sleep with that woman.

　　Zhao Qian rolled his eyes at me, and said with a hint of exasperation, “Little Tang, I’m not trying to criticize you, but these days you should sleep with any woman you can find. That’s the only way to avoid losing out, especially since that woman is quite pretty.”

　　”Really?” I was skeptical of his words.

　　Seeing my disbelief, Zhao Qian angrily pulled out his phone and opened a photo. “See? Not bad looking, right?”

　　When I looked at the woman in the photo, she looked to be in her early twenties, with long hair, and she had the gentle and elegant feel of a woman from Jiangnan.

　　”He is good-looking, but are you sure you’re not lying to me this time?” I handed the phone back to Zhao Qian.

　　Zhao Qian rolled his eyes. “Why would I lie to you? We had a long chat last night. She’s not only polite, but also very gentle.”

　　He paused for a moment, then continued, “I suddenly realized I’m in love.”

　　”You’re in love?” I was speechless. “You’ve only met her once, and you’re already saying you’re in love? Don’t you think that’s a bit hasty? Besides, you found her through a local search.”

　　”No, brother, this feeling is different.”

　　Zhao Qian, with his seasoned experience, said, “I’m a man with extensive clinical experience. No woman can hide anything from me. I’m sure this is her first time going out on a date with a man. She’s dressed very attractively, and she’s wearing a Longines watch on her wrist and carrying a Gucci handbag.”

　　”The more you talk, the more I feel this woman is someone else’s kept woman.” After all, what Zhao Qian said was outrageous, and I found it hard to believe. “Are you sure you can tell if it’s the real thing?”

　　”What are you talking about? I used to be rich, you know,” Zhao Qian said with a chuckle. “Can’t you even tell the real from the fake? But she’s divorced and has a child.”

　　”Divorced?” The more I heard this, the more suspicious I became. “Old Zhao, the more you talk, the more confused I get. Are you sure you weren’t drunk last night?”

　　”Get drunk, my ass.” Zhao Qian glared at me. “I’ll bring her here later, you’ll see. Now, get to work.”

　　We had just returned to the warehouse when we ran into Yang Yi.

　　Upon seeing us enter, Yang Yi hurriedly said, “You’ve come at the right time. The manager said he wants to hold a meeting for us. Let’s go together.”

　　A meeting?

　　My heart suddenly skipped a beat. Oh no, was I going to be publicly criticized?

　　However, I couldn’t back down now, so I had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow behind Yang Yi.

　　As soon as we arrived, we saw that everyone in the unit was already standing in the open space in front of the office. The three of us quickly stood in the crowd.

　　Actually, our company has quite a few people. In addition to the female office clerk, there are about ten deliverymen.

　　We had just stood still when the woman I had spotted wearing stockings came out of the office.

　　I hadn’t looked closely before, but now I see that this woman is probably around twenty-five or twenty-six years old. She’s wearing five-centimeter high professional heels, and her long legs, especially with the black stockings, make them look even straighter and longer. She’s wearing a white shirt tucked into her black short skirt, and if you look further up, her full and proud breasts look like they’re about to burst the buttons off her shirt.

　　Wow, it’s huge! It needs at least a cup!

　　Looking further up, she had fair skin and an inverted triangle face that exuded a charming, delicate, and unique temperament. She also wore black-rimmed glasses on her small, delicate nose.

　　When I saw her face clearly, my heart skipped a beat. What a beautiful woman! She was just as beautiful as my cousin, and even seemed to have a stronger presence than my cousin.

　　No wonder Yang Yi looked like a lecher when he told us about it.

　　As soon as she walked up to us, she said in a deep voice, “It’s a pleasure to meet you all. I’m the new manager, my name is Chen Hui, Chen as in ‘ear east,’ and Hui as in ‘wisdom.’ Next, I will lead you all to continue to reach new heights, improve the company’s performance, and make your wallets bulge.”

　　I have to say, her last sentence was really touching, after all, we go out to work to earn money.

　　We quickly burst into applause.

　　After the applause subsided, Chen Hui continued, “I don’t know what your previous management regulations were, but today, I’m going to announce my management regulations. First, obey the company’s arrangements and obey my arrangements. If you have any complaints about me, you can raise them at any time, but what I want is for you to obey my arrangements first.”

　　”Everything else will remain the same for now. Tonight, I’ll treat everyone to dinner at Juweilou Restaurant. We can all go together after get off work,” Chen Hui continued. “Everyone, let’s get back to work. Meeting adjourned.”

　　After I finished speaking, I noticed that her gaze seemed to linger on me for a while, making me feel a little uncomfortable.

　　Fortunately, she turned and left without saying anything to me.

　　I breathed a sigh of relief and then began preparing for today’s delivery work.

　　But just as I was busy loading the truck, someone suddenly called out to me from behind, “Tang Zheng.”

　　When I turned around, I found that it was Chen Hui.

　　My heart skipped a beat. Oh no, she’s definitely here to cause me trouble.

　　”Manager Chen, hello,” I replied politely. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

　　Chen Hui’s face remained expressionless, as if nothing had happened, and she continued to ask calmly, “I’ve seen your resume, and it’s one of the best in the entire company. So I’d like to ask you, why did you choose the courier industry?”

　　Her question caught me off guard. Did she see my resume and was planning to fire me?

　　My mind raced, and then I grinned and said, “Manager Chen, every industry needs people, and although this industry is a bit tough, it’s relatively free, and the salary isn’t bad.”

　　After I finished speaking, I suddenly felt as if I was being accused of lacking ambition.

　　However, I think it’s already pretty good that I can establish myself in the city, and my biggest goal right now is to move to a better place so that I can live with my cousin.

　　”Then keep it up,” Chen Hui replied expressionlessly, then turned and walked away.

　　Watching her sway back, I couldn’t help but wipe the cold sweat from my forehead. If she had caused me trouble earlier, I really wouldn’t know what to do.

　　I turned around and was busy loading the truck when Yang Yi popped up again, looking somewhat evasive, and asked, “Xiao Tang, what did the manager just say to you?”

　　”No, they just asked me why I chose this industry,” I replied truthfully, because I didn’t think there was anything to hide.

　　Yang Yi’s small eyes were fixed on me. “Really?”

　　”Do you think I would lie to you about something like this?” I was a little disgusted by his look, as if Manager Chen had told me some secret behind his back.

　　I know he’s always been trying to climb the ladder, but his methods are a bit too obvious. He even went so far as to find out what Chen Hui and I were talking about. I really despise him.

　　”It’s nothing, I was just asking,” Yang Yi said with a shifty expression. “Then you can continue with your work.”

　　I really want to give him the middle finger.

　　After a busy day, just as I was about to finish work, a message suddenly came to the work group. It was sent by Chen Hui, who tagged all of us: “Go to Juweilou at 7 p.m. sharp. If you need to go home to change clothes after work, be quick.”

　　It was seven o’clock, the time I was supposed to pick up my cousin, when she called me. As soon as I answered, I heard her say, “Zheng, I get off work at seven, can you come pick me up?”

　　Without thinking, I replied, “Okay, I’ll come pick you up later.”

　　”Okay, I’ll be waiting for you.” My cousin smiled sweetly and then hung up the phone.

　　I was originally thinking of replying in the group, but after thinking about it, I felt it would be better to say it in person.

　　So I went to Chen Hui’s office and said, “Manager Chen, I have something to take care of tonight, so I won’t be able to attend the dinner.”

　　Chen Hui replied expressionlessly, “Something’s up.”

　　”Yes.”

　　”Have you forgotten what I said in the meeting?” Chen Hui narrowed her eyes, two cold glints shooting over. “I said you must obey my arrangements.”

　　Unexpectedly, this woman actually took it too seriously.

　　I cursed inwardly, but kept a straight face and said, “Manager Chen, I really have something urgent to attend to. Please understand.”

　　”Then you go ahead and take care of your own things,” Chen Hui said. “Let’s get together again next time we have time.”

　　This woman’s expression changes way too fast.

　　I thanked them and then left the office.

　　Just as I was on my way to pick up my cousin, Wang Qin suddenly called me.

　　As soon as I answered the phone, I heard Wang Qin’s voice, trembling with tears, “Tang Zheng, something’s happened…”

　I hurriedly said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

　　As I spoke, I quickly stepped back and closed the door.

　　He kept wondering to himself, “Who is this woman? I’ve never seen her before.”

　　Could it be the new manager?

　　I left the office feeling uneasy, then ran to the door to smoke. As I went over, I saw Yang Yi and Zhao Qian smoking at the door.

　　As soon as he saw me coming, Yang Yi tossed me a cigarette and said with a smile, “You’ve come at the right time. I have something to tell you.”

　　”What’s wrong?” I asked, puzzled.

　　Yang Yi smiled and said, “Our new manager took office today, so we’re going out for dinner together tonight to welcome her.”

　　New Manager

　　My heart skipped a beat. Oh no, it’s probably the woman I saw in the office.

　　I was thinking about whether I should try to curry favor with her, but now it seems I’m lucky she won’t make things difficult for me, so currying favor is obviously out of the question.

　　I couldn’t help but lament my bad luck, thinking to myself, how could I be so unlucky? The first thing I saw when I entered the office was her putting on stockings.

　　”Where to?” Zhao Qian asked, exhaling a smoke ring.

　　”Juweilou.” Yang Yi patted our shoulders and said, “Let’s get ready to get to work after we finish our cigarettes.”

　　As soon as Yang Yi left, I couldn’t help but ask, “Old Zhao, how did your date go last night?”

　　”Hey, don’t even mention it!”

　　Zhao Qian’s face immediately fell. “Damn it, I thought it was really the beautiful woman in the photo, but I didn’t expect it to be a woman in her thirties. I asked her why she looked different from the photo, and she actually told me confidently that she had told me before that there was a difference between her and the photo, but I didn’t expect the difference to be so big. She’s a completely different person.”

　　After hearing Zhao Qian’s words, I almost burst out laughing, and then asked, “And then what happened?”

　　”Later,” Zhao Qian threw away his cigarette butt and said with a lewd laugh, “Although she wasn’t the beauty in the photo, she was still a woman, right? So I took her to a rented room and had sex with her all night.”

　　”You really don’t discriminate between hot and cold.” I said, somewhat speechless. I was worried that he might be set up by a honey trap, but I didn’t expect him to actually sleep with that woman.

　　Zhao Qian rolled his eyes at me, and said with a hint of exasperation, “Little Tang, I’m not trying to criticize you, but these days you should sleep with any woman you can find. That’s the only way to avoid losing out, especially since that woman is quite pretty.”

　　”Really?” I was skeptical of his words.

　　Seeing my disbelief, Zhao Qian angrily pulled out his phone and opened a photo. “See? Not bad looking, right?”

　　When I looked at the woman in the photo, she looked to be in her early twenties, with long hair, and she had the gentle and elegant feel of a woman from Jiangnan.

　　”He is good-looking, but are you sure you’re not lying to me this time?” I handed the phone back to Zhao Qian.

　　Zhao Qian rolled his eyes. “Why would I lie to you? We had a long chat last night. She’s not only polite, but also very gentle.”

　　He paused for a moment, then continued, “I suddenly realized I’m in love.”

　　”You’re in love?” I was speechless. “You’ve only met her once, and you’re already saying you’re in love? Don’t you think that’s a bit hasty? Besides, you found her through a local search.”

　　”No, brother, this feeling is different.”

　　Zhao Qian, with his seasoned experience, said, “I’m a man with extensive clinical experience. No woman can hide anything from me. I’m sure this is her first time going out on a date with a man. She’s dressed very attractively, and she’s wearing a Longines watch on her wrist and carrying a Gucci handbag.”

　　”The more you talk, the more I feel this woman is someone else’s kept woman.” After all, what Zhao Qian said was outrageous, and I found it hard to believe. “Are you sure you can tell if it’s the real thing?”

　　”What are you talking about? I used to be rich, you know,” Zhao Qian said with a chuckle. “Can’t you even tell the real from the fake? But she’s divorced and has a child.”

　　”Divorced?” The more I heard this, the more suspicious I became. “Old Zhao, the more you talk, the more confused I get. Are you sure you weren’t drunk last night?”

　　”Get drunk, my ass.” Zhao Qian glared at me. “I’ll bring her here later, you’ll see. Now, get to work.”

　　We had just returned to the warehouse when we ran into Yang Yi.

　　Upon seeing us enter, Yang Yi hurriedly said, “You’ve come at the right time. The manager said he wants to hold a meeting for us. Let’s go together.”

　　A meeting?

　　My heart suddenly skipped a beat. Oh no, was I going to be publicly criticized?

　　However, I couldn’t back down now, so I had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow behind Yang Yi.

　　As soon as we arrived, we saw that everyone in the unit was already standing in the open space in front of the office. The three of us quickly stood in the crowd.

　　Actually, our company has quite a few people. In addition to the female office clerk, there are about ten deliverymen.

　　We had just stood still when the woman I had spotted wearing stockings came out of the office.

　　I hadn’t looked closely before, but now I see that this woman is probably around twenty-five or twenty-six years old. She’s wearing five-centimeter high professional heels, and her long legs, especially with the black stockings, make them look even straighter and longer. She’s wearing a white shirt tucked into her black short skirt, and if you look further up, her full and proud breasts look like they’re about to burst the buttons off her shirt.

　　Wow, it’s huge! It needs at least a cup!

　　Looking further up, she had fair skin and an inverted triangle face that exuded a charming, delicate, and unique temperament. She also wore black-rimmed glasses on her small, delicate nose.

　　When I saw her face clearly, my heart skipped a beat. What a beautiful woman! She was just as beautiful as my cousin, and even seemed to have a stronger presence than my cousin.

　　No wonder Yang Yi looked like a lecher when he told us about it.

　　As soon as she walked up to us, she said in a deep voice, “It’s a pleasure to meet you all. I’m the new manager, my name is Chen Hui, Chen as in ‘ear east,’ and Hui as in ‘wisdom.’ Next, I will lead you all to continue to reach new heights, improve the company’s performance, and make your wallets bulge.”

　　I have to say, her last sentence was really touching, after all, we go out to work to earn money.

　　We quickly burst into applause.

　　After the applause subsided, Chen Hui continued, “I don’t know what your previous management regulations were, but today, I’m going to announce my management regulations. First, obey the company’s arrangements and obey my arrangements. If you have any complaints about me, you can raise them at any time, but what I want is for you to obey my arrangements first.”

　　”Everything else will remain the same for now. Tonight, I’ll treat everyone to dinner at Juweilou Restaurant. We can all go together after get off work,” Chen Hui continued. “Everyone, let’s get back to work. Meeting adjourned.”

　　After I finished speaking, I noticed that her gaze seemed to linger on me for a while, making me feel a little uncomfortable.

　　Fortunately, she turned and left without saying anything to me.

　　I breathed a sigh of relief and then began preparing for today’s delivery work.

　　But just as I was busy loading the truck, someone suddenly called out to me from behind, “Tang Zheng.”

　　When I turned around, I found that it was Chen Hui.

　　My heart skipped a beat. Oh no, she’s definitely here to cause me trouble.

　　”Manager Chen, hello,” I replied politely. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

　　Chen Hui’s face remained expressionless, as if nothing had happened, and she continued to ask calmly, “I’ve seen your resume, and it’s one of the best in the entire company. So I’d like to ask you, why did you choose the courier industry?”

　　Her question caught me off guard. Did she see my resume and was planning to fire me?

　　My mind raced, and then I grinned and said, “Manager Chen, every industry needs people, and although this industry is a bit tough, it’s relatively free, and the salary isn’t bad.”

　　After I finished speaking, I suddenly felt as if I was being accused of lacking ambition.

　　However, I think it’s already pretty good that I can establish myself in the city, and my biggest goal right now is to move to a better place so that I can live with my cousin.

　　”Then keep it up,” Chen Hui replied expressionlessly, then turned and walked away.

　　Watching her sway back, I couldn’t help but wipe the cold sweat from my forehead. If she had caused me trouble earlier, I really wouldn’t know what to do.

　　I turned around and was busy loading the truck when Yang Yi popped up again, looking somewhat evasive, and asked, “Xiao Tang, what did the manager just say to you?”

　　”No, they just asked me why I chose this industry,” I replied truthfully, because I didn’t think there was anything to hide.

　　Yang Yi’s small eyes were fixed on me. “Really?”

　　”Do you think I would lie to you about something like this?” I was a little disgusted by his look, as if Manager Chen had told me some secret behind his back.

　　I know he’s always been trying to climb the ladder, but his methods are a bit too obvious. He even went so far as to find out what Chen Hui and I were talking about. I really despise him.

　　”It’s nothing, I was just asking,” Yang Yi said with a shifty expression. “Then you can continue with your work.”

　　I really want to give him the middle finger.

　　After a busy day, just as I was about to finish work, a message suddenly came to the work group. It was sent by Chen Hui, who tagged all of us: “Go to Juweilou at 7 p.m. sharp. If you need to go home to change clothes after work, be quick.”

　　It was seven o’clock, the time I was supposed to pick up my cousin, when she called me. As soon as I answered, I heard her say, “Zheng, I get off work at seven, can you come pick me up?”

　　Without thinking, I replied, “Okay, I’ll come pick you up later.”

　　”Okay, I’ll be waiting for you.” My cousin smiled sweetly and then hung up the phone.

　　I was originally thinking of replying in the group, but after thinking about it, I felt it would be better to say it in person.

　　So I went to Chen Hui’s office and said, “Manager Chen, I have something to take care of tonight, so I won’t be able to attend the dinner.”

　　Chen Hui replied expressionlessly, “Something’s up.”

　　”Yes.”

　　”Have you forgotten what I said in the meeting?” Chen Hui narrowed her eyes, two cold glints shooting over. “I said you must obey my arrangements.”

　　Unexpectedly, this woman actually took it too seriously.

　　I cursed inwardly, but kept a straight face and said, “Manager Chen, I really have something urgent to attend to. Please understand.”

　　”Then you go ahead and take care of your own things,” Chen Hui said. “Let’s get together again next time we have time.”

　　This woman’s expression changes way too fast.

　　I thanked them and then left the office.

　　Just as I was on my way to pick up my cousin, Wang Qin suddenly called me.

　　As soon as I answered the phone, I heard Wang Qin’s voice, trembling with tears, “Tang Zheng, something’s happened…”