Lin Jiang arrived at Chen Jingxian’s home to find she was already there.
"Did your smart mouth get you sent packing?"
Chen Jingxian teased Lin Jiang the moment she saw him.
Lin Jiang stepped forward and gave her a firm slap on the butt, which made a crisp sound.
"Is that any way to talk to your boss? Careful, or I’ll make you work overtime tonight."
"Pfft. Even if I say nice things, I’ll still have to work overtime tonight."
"It seems you already know what’s in store for tonight. You’re catching on."
"I’ll pinch you for that, you jerk."
Chen Jingxian went to the bedroom to change into a nightdress while Lin Jiang lay down on the sofa.
After changing, she sat on the other end of the sofa, placed Lin Jiang’s legs across her lap, and began massaging them.
"Oh, right. I have something to show you."
Chen Jingxian took out her phone, found a video, and handed it to Lin Jiang.
Lin Jiang took the phone and watched. The video showed city officials inspecting Huipin City.
"This type of video has over 300,000 likes?"
Chen Jingxian explained, "The footage is from a news report; they just clipped a segment from it. As for why it has so many likes, they definitely paid for the engagement."
"Ever since their renovation, they’ve been positioning themselves as a rival to Donglai Supermarket. There’s even a slogan going around: ’Beidonglai up north, Nanhui Brand down south.’ It’s completely revived their business."
Lin Jiang watched the video, which even showed an official eating cold noodles while Han Guangqi stood beside him, beaming with delight.
Lin Jiang chuckled. ’They’ve really mastered the art of subtext.’
"Whoever came up with this marketing tactic is pretty sharp. They’ve cut Berkeley out of the picture entirely. If that slogan catches on, it’ll create a mental shortcut for consumers. When people go shopping, Huipin City might become their first choice."
"They started using that slogan right after their grand opening. Now they’ve released this video of the official inspection, and it’s getting a lot of traction."
Lin Jiang handed the phone back to Chen Jingxian and laced his fingers behind his head.
"That’s all just smoke and mirrors. You have to look past the surface to see what’s really going on. Have any influencers been filming content at Huipin City recently?"
"A few."
"As many as we had at our grand opening?"
"Not even close," Chen Jingxian said confidently.
"For our grand opening, practically every influencer in Zhonghai, big or small, showed up. Not to mention all the regular people who came to film. The whole scene was way bigger than what Huipin City is getting."
"That’s exactly the point. We created a massive traffic pool. Anyone who came to film got views. And that traffic pool existed because ordinary people wanted to see it, which is why everyone came to film."
Lin Jiang said leisurely,
"On the other hand, Huipin City hasn’t managed to create that kind of scene. It means they’re a step behind when it comes to organic traffic. That’s the fundamental difference. Give it some time, and problems will start to pop up."
"Still, that Han Guangqi is certainly a bold guy. To come up with a move like that when they were on the verge of going under... he really pulled Huipin City back from the brink. Otherwise, they might not have even made it to New Year’s."
"That’s a good thing."
"A good thing?"
"Their core is pure capitalism," Lin Jiang said. "So no matter how they change, their fundamental nature won’t. And if their nature doesn’t change, neither will their ultimate fate."
"Without Berkeley, they could probably do just fine. But with Berkeley in the picture, they’re inevitably going to go out of business."
"Why do you say it’s a good thing?"
"Just think, how much money did they have to spend to make such big changes in such a short time?"
Lin Jiang looked at Chen Jingxian with a grin. "Think about it. They spent a huge chunk of money right before kicking the bucket. Isn’t that something?"
Chen Jingxian thought for a moment, then broke into a smile as well.
"I guess you have a point."
"So we just have to be patient. It won’t be long before we see the results. We don’t need to focus all our attention on them," Lin Jiang said.
"After the New Year, I plan to expand the noodle shop, the BBQ place, and the hot pot restaurant to ten locations each. I want you to start working on that when you’re back in the office. They should be over 300 square meters. The noodle shops must be street-front locations. The BBQ and hot pot places can be inside malls, but we should still prioritize street-front spots."
Chen Jingxian wasn’t surprised by Lin Jiang’s decision.
Given how popular the noodle shop, BBQ place, and hot pot restaurant were, an expansion was long overdue.
"Based on what we have now and your requirements, that means opening seven more noodle shops, eight more BBQ places, and nine more hot pot restaurants," Chen Jingxian calculated.
"Right, that’s the idea. Focus on the major shopping malls first, and we’ll consider other areas later."
"I’ll get things rolling as soon as I’m back in the office on the fourth."
With their business discussion over, Lin Jiang stood up and swept Chen Jingxian into his arms.
She let out a small shriek and instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.
"What are you doing~?"
"Now that we’re done with all that company crap, it’s time to get down to real business."
"Go take a shower... I’ll get you some pajamas..."
"There’s no one else here. We don’t need pajamas, do we? They just get in the way."
Chen Jingxian’s face flushed. "You still have to shower first~"
"That’s why I’m planning to take you in with me~"
An image of the two of them showering together flashed through Chen Jingxian’s mind.
’She could already guess what Lin Jiang had in mind. Her heart began to race, and she found herself looking forward to it.’
...
Since she didn’t have to work the next day, Chen Jingxian didn’t get up early.
The consequence of not waking up early was being put through Lin Jiang’s "morning exercises." By the time they were done, it was already past 10:00 a.m.

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