It takes a few hours to fly from North City to Flower City. Jiang Li didn't sleep much last night.
After boarding the plane, she started to feel sleepy. She pulled down her eye mask and fell asleep.
The plane was bumpy, and her sleep was restless.
When the plane landed, she groggily pushed up her eye mask, squinted at the landing apron outside the window, yawned and stretched. There were faint dark circles under her eyes.
Jiang Li was fully armed in a black baseball cap, black sunglasses and a black mask, covering herself up tightly.
Originally, Sister Chen said she would send Xiao Ye to pick her up, but Jiang Li refused, citing it as a hassle.
It was already midsummer. The green belts in Flower City were filled with the fragrance of white magnolias, and the landmark buildings were also in full bloom.
Even the branches of the cassia trees on both sides of the street boldly stretched out, either obliquely or straightly, blooming one orange flower after another.
Flower City was indeed a romantic city.
However, on second thought, it wasn't entirely so.
For people allergic to pollen, this place might be a nightmare. Just like people in North City loved to enjoy the heavy snow in winter, but she found it hard to endure.
There was no such thing as good or bad in this world. Everyone had their own beauty and romance.
---
When she got home, Sister Chen, Xiao Ye and Jing Yi were all there. When they saw her coming back, they all stared at her.
"Why is everyone at home?" Jiang Li walked over and sat on the sofa, looking at the other three. "Didn't Chen Siqi assign you other tasks?"
This was one of her requests.
"He did, but we thought we'd wait for you to come back."
Sister Chen walked over and took off the cap on her head. "You've arranged everything for us so well. What about you? What's your plan?"
Jiang Li didn't answer directly. She just said that she hadn't eaten anything on the plane and asked Jing Yi to cook her a bowl of plain noodle soup.
Jing Yi was quick and efficient. She soon brought out a bowl of noodles floating with clear oil from the kitchen. There were also two tender cabbages and a cute poached egg in the bowl.
Jiang Li quietly lowered her head to eat. Sister Chen knew she was deliberately avoiding the topic, so she joked, "I think I might as well open a restaurant. You guys can follow me to wash dishes."
"It's not a bad idea." Jiang Li looked up and smiled in agreement. The chopsticks made a clear tinkling sound when they hit the bowl.
Jing Yi immediately chimed in, "I'm good at cooking home - style dishes. I can be a sous - chef."
Xiao Ye wasn't willing to be outdone. "I have a loud voice. I can stand at the door to tout for business. I can also clean up those drunk and rowdy men by the way."
After saying that, she symbolically lifted her arm, showing her strong biceps, with a confident look on her face. "I'll protect the safety of the girls!"
Xiao Ye was always so wacky. Just a few words made everyone burst out laughing.
"So what should we name the restaurant?"
"Let's call it Sister Chen's Restaurant. It sounds so friendly."
They all chattered away, as if they were really going to put this matter on the agenda.
Sister Chen took a deep breath, shook her head with a helpless smile, and said, "I can see that not only Jiang Li but also you two don't want to continue in this industry, right?"
Jing Yi and Xiao Ye glanced at each other, then playfully stuck out their tongues at Sister Chen. "Of course not. We just want to be with Sister Jiang Li."
"Whether it's being an assistant or washing dishes, we're happy as long as we're all together."
We're happy as long as we're all together.
After joking around for a while, Sister Chen finally led the topic back to the serious one. "Lili, General Manager Du of Baijiao contacted me. He said he wanted to recruit you into their drama troupe. I think you can give it a try."
"Sister Chen didn't agree with me switching to drama before. Why are you suddenly encouraging me to give it a try?"
"Before, I didn't agree with you switching to drama because it's too difficult to cross industries. Plus, you had good resources before. It would be a waste if you went into drama... Anyway, considering the current situation, my advice is that you can consider giving it a try."
Jiang Li lowered her head and took a sip of the soup. After thinking for a moment, she said calmly, "Du Shiming is on Old General Manager Sheng's side. Even if he personally appreciates me, with this relationship, I won't be able to sign with them."
Sister Chen saw that her thinking was clear, so she nodded. "I also asked General Manager Du for you. He said it was exactly what Old General Manager Sheng meant."
Jiang Li fell silent.
After a while, she said, "The last time I went to learn embroidery from Grandma Cheng, it already made General Manager Sheng misunderstand me. Now that Baijiao is offering an olive branch, it may not be a good thing."
Jiang Li had already experienced how deep - rooted Sheng Shuocheng's scheming was in their previous encounters.
She knew that she wasn't as Xiao Yan said, being fancied by the old man to be his mistress, but the other party's intention must not be simple.
"So you're going to refuse?" Sister Chen asked her.
Jiang Li ate a few mouthfuls of noodles to fill her stomach. The tired and hungry feeling from before was not so obvious anymore. She looked up, shook her head with a smile and said, "But if I refuse, Sister Chen, you'll have to open a restaurant, and I'll have to wash dishes to support myself."
Sister Chen smiled slightly. "As long as you're willing, it's not impossible."
Jiang Li laughed along. After calming down again, she said, "Make an appointment with General Manager Du. I'd like to talk to him in person about the specific details of signing with the drama troupe."
...
The downfall of Tan Mizong was like the main root of a towering tree breaking for the Xiao Group. It was on the verge of collapse, like a grand building about to topple.
The collateral branches he led also became like loose sand. The major reshuffle of the high - level management caused nearly 70% of the company's original cooperation projects to enter a state of paralysis. Even the company's shares plummeted.
However, at the same time, this also gave opportunities to other competing companies. Some business partners who temporarily terminated their contracts with the Xiao Group had to look for other companies, which benefited many small and medium - sized enterprises.
This internal transformation of the Xiao Group was like a whale fall in the deep sea.
Even though outsiders thought the Xiao Group was in a desperate situation, Xiao Yanzhi, the leader of the Xiao Group, seemed very calm. When responding to the media, he only said a few words, seemingly not caring about this storm at all.
So some industry insiders analyzed that it would be very difficult for the Xiao family to get through this wave. Maybe Xiao Yanzhi was just putting on a brave face and creating an illusion of being unshakable.
Everyone knew very well that with the Xiao Group in such a precarious state and its stock price crashing, as long as there was a little external force, this magnificent building would surely come to an end.
Many economic experts also analyzed that according to the current trend, Chen Siqi would definitely take this opportunity to acquire the Xiao Group, thus turning the two - way confrontation into a monopoly.
But surprisingly, Chen Siqi didn't take any action.
Some insiders even claimed that Chen Siqi wasn't even in North City at the moment. It was obvious that he had no intention of getting involved in this mess of the Xiao Group.