Qi Shaobai was very observant.
Taking advantage of when her father and stepmother were not paying attention, she quietly walked towards her own room.
Yet once again, when she was just about to slip away, she was stopped in her tracks by a cough from Sheng Mumu.
"Come back, there's still two more, finish reciting them."
Qi Shaobai slowly turned her head: .........
Ahhhhh, why was she still caught!
She must have eyes growing on the back of her head!
*
Sheng Mumu was strict with Qi Shaobai, and also did not go easy on herself.
Recently, the flower shop's business was especially good.
The numbers on her bank card had increased several fold.
Making money was addictive, once you start you can't stop.
That day.
When she arrived at the flower shop, a well-dressed young couple happened to be leaving the store.
Cheng Zhuo saw that she had arrived, and greeted loudly:
"Sister Sheng, you're here, I was just about to call you."
Sheng Mumu raised her eyebrows slightly: "Oh? What's the matter, did something happen?"
Cheng Zhuo tidied the documents in his hands while explaining:
"The couple who just left are from Hai City. They saw someone promoting our flower shop online, and specifically flew to the capital to ask if we can be responsible for the floral arrangements and designs for their wedding. Price is not an issue."
Finally, he added:
"I recognized the girl, so I secretly looked her up online. Turns out she's the only daughter of a hotel tycoon in Hai City."
Sheng Mumu understood the implied meaning in Cheng Zhuo's words.
For such wealthy families, the guests invited to the wedding were usually local elites.
If they could be responsible for the floral arrangements at their wedding, it was very possible for the "Yueji" name to gain traction among Hai City's rich circles.
Sheng Mumu fell silent in thought, and did not respond to Cheng Zhuo.
Expanding the flower shop's business to more cities was something she had always wanted to do.
But for some reason.
Now that an opportunity had presented itself.
She hesitated.
Was this the right thing to do?
Would she be overreaching, and cause undesirable results instead?
"Let me think about this issue a bit more. How did you respond to them earlier?" Sheng Mumu asked.
Cheng Zhuo: "I gave them my business card, and told them I'd get back to them."
Sheng Mumu was very satisfied with how he handled it. "Mm, good."
The two exchanged a few more work-related matters briefly, then Sheng Mumu hugged her laptop and found a seat more inside to sit down.
She browsed the various posts on Weibo about Yueji Flower Shop.
With just a casual search, she could find many posts from wealthy madams.
Most were sharing photos of the fresh flowers they received daily.
The comments section was filled with discussions.
Some asked where they bought them, some asked if delivery was available nationwide.
There were also those who complained the prices were too expensive, only people with more money than sense would buy them.
Sheng Mumu's shapely eyebrows knitted slightly as she fell deep in thought.
The initial target customer base for the flower delivery service was the high net-worth population living in wealthy neighborhoods.
But with the influence of the internet, quite a few white-collar workers chasing lifestyle aesthetics had also taken interest in Yueji's flower delivery service.
Sheng Mumu wondered.
Should she take advantage of the momentum and move aggressively - open branch stores while also launching a sub-brand?
After rough consideration.
The "daily bouquet" concept of the sub-brand could be changed to "weekly bouquet".
And the $388 to $988 price range could be lowered to around $200 per bouquet.
Targeting a wider audience.
Two little people in her heart kept pulling and fighting.
One urging her to take it slow, one telling her entrepreneurship was all about speed.
Branding and corporatization.
It was a threshold for entrepreneurs.
The world was completely different on either side of it.
Once she really decided to do this.
Things would get extremely busy.
It would definitely be beyond what the current few flower shop employees could handle.
Sheng Mumu asked herself in her heart.
Was she prepared and did she have sufficient courage to venture into the unknown?
She spent the entire afternoon pondering the issue of branding the flower shop.
And researched many examples of brand establishment domestically and abroad.
Gradually, of the two little people in her heart, the one yelling "be brave" had quietly gained the advantage.
Near closing time, Sheng Mumu gathered the employees for a short meeting.
There was only one topic - giving out bonuses.
The flower shop's income had been considerable recently. Just focusing on Xi Yu Yue Ting, over 20 households in the luxury apartment had subscribed to Yueji's flower delivery service.
Attracted by the reputation, quite a few households in the surrounding high-end neighborhoods had also come to become customers.
A rough calculation showed the income over the past few months had already reached what she envisioned when first starting the business.
Even if she left the Qi family in the future, relying solely on this flower shop, she would have no issues supporting herself.
She gave all the shop employees a raise.
Cheng Zhuo, who handled the most tasks and had the strongest work abilities, received the highest raise.
When they got off work, everyone was elated, continuously praising how great it was to have Sheng Mumu as their boss.
Two days off per week without overtime, timely salary payment with no delays, an approachable boss who won't suddenly call after work hours, and good relations between colleagues.
Sheng Mumu was praised until she felt light as air, laughing as she waved her hands:
"It's only right, it's only right, this is all just the basics."
"Stop praising me, stop praising me, or I might get arrogant."
......
After bidding the staff farewell, Sheng Mumu did not head straight home.
Instead, she drove to a nearby bank.
She decided on the spot to share this joyful news with father and daughter Qi Mo and Qi Shaobai.
She withdrew 20,000 RMB cash from the ATM, then went to a small supermarket next door to buy a red envelope.
Treating it as a formal occasion, she carefully put the cash into the envelope, and borrowed a marker from the supermarket owner to write a few sentences on the back.
This was for Qi Mo.
A mere 20,000 was probably negligible to Qi Mo.
But she thought, for a businessperson, nothing beats a good luck charm.
She used this rationale to conceal her distress over being unable to think of what else to give him.
It was much simpler to prepare a gift for Qi Shaobai.
She thought of it almost instantly.
She drove to a nearby bookstore.
Making a beeline for the "High School Entrance Exam Essentials" shelf.
She spent a full 20 minutes picking out 5 sets of English past exam papers for Qi Shaobai.
When checking out, she noticed there were gift wraps and boxes next to the cashier counter.
A hint of mischief flashed in her clear eyes.
She suddenly thought of a way to tease Qi Shaobai a little.
"Boss, can you wrap these up as a gift for me?"
The boss looked puzzledly at the thick stack of high school entrance exam test papers, and asked to confirm, "You mean, wrap up these stacks of paper?"
"Mm-hmm, use this gift box," Sheng Mumu nodded while pointing to a gift box that looked the most expensive, "Tie it with a ribbon outside, wrap it carefully please, thanks!"
Ten minutes later, looking at the exquisitely wrapped gift box in her hands, the corners of Sheng Mumu's eyes curved in satisfaction.
Very good, a $300 gift wrapped to give off a $30,000 vibe.
She placed the gift box and red envelope in the passenger seat, and started heading home.
While waiting at a traffic light near the entrance to Xi Yu Yue Ting and the surrounding high-end neighborhoods.
A familiar figure suddenly appeared up ahead.
Her eyes froze, and she looked closely.
Cheng Zhuo walked towards a black Maybach, chatting on his phone while pulling open the driver's door and driving into that luxury neighborhood.
Sheng Mumu's hands gripped the steering wheel tightly.
Many suspicions that she had suppressed floated back up in her mind.
She recalled running into Cheng Zhuo at the mall when buying ski gear.
At the time, Cheng Zhuo had said - "No trouble, it's close by."
Back then she didn't think much of it, assuming he meant his home was close to the mall.
She didn't expect it to be close to Xi Yu Yue Ting.
This area was prized real estate in the capital, with every inch of land worth its weight in gold.
The only people who could afford houses here were the rich and powerful, and they certainly wouldn't rent their places out.
Driving a luxury car, yet not renting...
Just who was Cheng Zhuo?
