The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 352 - 351: Connections

Chapter 352: Chapter 351: Connections

"Xiaoguo, look over there, there’s a handsome guy. Just look at that face and body, you can tell he’s not from Rongcheng."

Guo Xin followed her colleague’s gaze.

The man was over six feet tall, broad-shouldered, with a straight back, handsome features, and deep-set eyes. He exuded a mature and masculine aura that was unmistakable.

Men in Rongcheng usually didn’t have this kind of presence.

When Guo Xin’s eyes shifted to the old lady next to the man, she exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, isn’t that my grandma?"

"Grandma, what are you doing here?"

Guo Xin immediately dashed out from behind the counter and approached the old lady, her gaze subtly sweeping over Pei Yang.

Up close, she realized not only was the man handsome, he also smelled good.

It must have been a men’s cologne he was wearing, very refreshing, like a mix of grass and tea leaves.

"Grandma, who is this?"

The old lady glanced at Pei Yang, "Met him on the way. He insisted on bringing me here, so eager and fussy."

Her tone had a slightly mocking edge to it.

Pei Yang hurried to introduce himself, "Hello, you must be the old lady’s granddaughter? We accidentally bumped into each other at the entrance. She mentioned she was coming to get keys from you, and as I was heading in to take care of some business, I offered to bring her over."

As he spoke, he handed over some pastries to Guo Xin, "These are from our company. Consider it an apology for the mishap with your grandmother. They’re not expensive, but please have them with your family."

Once Pei Yang had left, the sales clerks familiar with Guo Xin immediately gathered around, gossiping and inquiring about Pei Yang’s identity.

Guo Xin briefly explained the situation.

The clerks teased her saying, "I bet he’s taken a liking to you, and is looking for an excuse to befriend you."

"Bumping into someone on the street is no big deal, but he apologized and gave you a gift. He definitely has his eye on you."

Guo Xin spat, "Don’t talk nonsense, the man is married."

"How do you know?"

Guo Xin raised her left hand, "I saw a ring on his ring finger, a gold ring."

Hearing this, the clerks immediately lost their gossiping zeal and became curious about the items in Guo Xin’s hand.

"Judging by the packaging, they don’t look cheap. Open it up. What’s inside?"

Guo Xin happily indulged their curiosity, unwrapping each item.

All of the clerks from the snacks counter were well-versed in every brand of candy and cakes, yet they were still impressed by the flavors of the flower cakes, snowflake crisps, and chocolate with liquor centers.

Clerks from other counters came over when they heard the news.

The few boxes of pastries were quickly devoured, and Guo Xin herself only managed to have one piece of snowflake crisp and half a flower cake.

...

Four o’clock in the afternoon.

Guo Xin, along with three or four female colleagues, chatted and laughed as they walked out of the department store’s back door, heading towards the parking lot to retrieve their bicycles.

Suddenly someone pointed to the main entrance of the department store, "Guo Xin, isn’t that the man who gave you pastries this morning?"

Guo Xin looked over and sure enough, she saw two tall figures squatting at the curb, one of whom was the man who had given her the gift.

"Let’s go ask where he bought those pastries. I want to buy some too; they tasted pretty good."

Someone suggested and they all giddily moved toward Pei Yang.

"Hey, handsome, where did you buy those pastries?"

Pei Yang pulled out a business card, handing one to each person and explained that they were vendors attending Rongcheng’s Food and Drink Fair, currently without an official dealership in Rongcheng.

He also mentioned that they had been waiting there for several days, hoping to get a chance to see the general manager of the department store.

After the other colleagues had left on their bikes, Guo Xin stared at the business card in her hand, pondered for a moment, and then turned back.

"You want to move into our department store, right? There’s no point talking to the general manager about this."

Guo Xin’s return was expected by Pei Yang, but he pretended to be pleasantly surprised, "Miss, how may I address you?"

"My surname is Guo."

"Miss Guo, you just mentioned that it’s no use going to the general manager, then who should we look for?"

"What’s in it for me if I help you out?"

Pei Yang immediately said, "You can put forward any requests, we will fulfill them if we can."

Guo Xin thought for a moment, then smiled, "I haven’t decided yet, I’ll tell you when I’ve made up my mind."

With that, Guo Xin briefly explained the internal management structure and the authority of each department within the department store to Pei Yang.

The internal struggle at Rongcheng Department Store was incessant, with the general manager, the secretary, and the deputy managers in a three-way balance of power.

The purchasing department, responsible for onboarding new products, was under the jurisdiction of Deputy Manager Ren Shengchun.

It wasn’t easy to meet Ren Shengchun, but he had a younger sister-in-law, Meng Qi, who had a good relationship with Guo Xin.

With Guo Xin’s help, Pei Yang met Ren Shengchun’s sister-in-law Meng Qi.

That evening, Pei Yang took Guo Xin and Meng Qi out for a meal at the best restaurant in Rongcheng and stuffed a red envelope with a hundred yuan into Meng Qi’s hand before she agreed to help.

"I can pass your items to my brother-in-law, but I can’t guarantee he will agree to cooperate with you."

"Of course, Miss Meng, if the deal doesn’t go through, it’s our fault for not being capable enough, but if it does, I will surely repay you handsomely."

"Then it’s settled."

After the meal, they parted ways outside the restaurant.

Meng Qi and Guo Xin lived in the same direction, so they rode their bikes home side by side.

Guo Xin said to Meng Qi, "I’ve earned you some extra money today, so you owe me a meal. I want to eat steak."

Meng Qi glanced at her with a teasing smile, "Say, you’re not interested in that guy, are you? Going to such lengths to help out after only meeting him once or twice."

"Don’t talk nonsense, he has a family."

After a pause, she joked again, "Though he is quite handsome. If he weren’t married, I’d definitely chase him and make him our son-in-law in Sichuan and Chongqing."

Meng Qi was skeptical, "Looks alone won’t fill your stomach. You need someone with money and capabilities. Poverty makes a difficult marriage."

Guo Xin agreed with this.

However, she did have her own ulterior motives for helping Pei Yang, but she couldn’t reveal them yet.

...

"How can two young ladies eat so much? You devoured over eighty yuan’s worth of food in one meal."

On the way back to the hotel, Shen Chaobei was dwelling on the cost of the evening’s meal, "Plus the gift we gave, that’s almost two hundred. If the deal goes through, it’s fine, but if not, it’s like tossing money into the water."

Pei Yang, however, didn’t see it that way, "Just because it didn’t work out this time doesn’t mean it won’t in the future. The geese may leave, but their calls remain. Now that we’ve shared a meal, we’re acquainted, and they won’t give us the cold shoulder should we come asking for help again."

Upon hearing this, Shen Chaobei thought it made sense and stopped brooding over it.

Two days later, through Meng Qi’s connections, Pei Yang finally met Ren Ping.

Ren Ping was Ren Shengchun’s nephew and the director in charge of non-staple food categories in the purchasing department of the department store.

After a few rounds of drinks and a variety of dishes,

Ren Ping got straight to the point with his offer, "One thousand for the inferior location, one thousand five for a medium, and two thousand for a prime spot."

Pei Yang didn’t take up Ren Ping’s offer but instead took out a pre-prepared partnership proposal for Ren Ping to look over.