"What's wrong?"
'I've never taken care of a child before. I'm a bit at a loss.'
'This kid... laughing one moment, crying the next.'
"Dad, thank you for picking me up from school!"
"What's there to thank me for? If I didn't pick you up, was I supposed to let you walk eight kilometers home?"
Once in the car, Wenren Du'Er quickly wiped away her tears, probably because a stranger was present. She wasn't a fragile little girl; she always showed her strong side!
"Dad, will you pick me up from school from now on?"
Before he could answer, the driver in the front couldn't help but glance at them in the rearview mirror.
"Bro, your daughter's in middle school? You look so young!"
Yang Hui glanced at the private hire driver's slightly balding head and weathered face. He looked to be at least thirty. 'And you're calling me 'Bro'?'
But he immediately understood. The man must have seen he had a daughter in middle school and assumed he had to be over thirty as well.
He didn't bother to explain. Instead, he said to Wenren Du'Er, "As long as nothing special comes up, how about I come pick you up, okay?"
The little girl threw her arms around Yang Hui's arm, rested her head on his shoulder, and couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Alright, alright, you're a big girl now!"
Yang Hui patted her on the head and had her sit up straight.
Back at Nanhua District.
"Du'Er, drop your schoolbag. We're going out to eat!"
Wenren Du'Er put her schoolbag in the guest room, then peeked her head out. "Dad, I can cook!"
"Your job is to study hard, not to cook. Let's go, we're eating out!"
He knew she was trying to save money. In her eyes, Yang Hui wasn't a rich man.
"I can do it, really!"
"If you don't listen, I won't let you stay here tomorrow, you know!"
Only then did Wenren Du'Er obediently follow him downstairs.
On the way, he asked about her situation and learned how she had been living alone these past few days.
She still owed the landlord a month's rent for her rented room, a fact she only discovered when the next payment was due.
The landlord had kicked her out and was holding her luggage hostage, demanding that her family pay the back rent before he would return it.
Her living expenses for these past few days had come from her aunt. Her aunt had come over to help handle her father's funeral arrangements, left her 1,000 yuan, and told her she was going back to her hometown to quit her job and would then return to Qingzhou to stay with her. She told her to hold on for a month.
At the time, neither of them knew about the unpaid rent. Otherwise, her aunt would have likely found a way to pay it.
'This landlord is really heartless. A little girl suffers such a tragedy, and he gets hung up over one month's rent? And even keeps her luggage!'
'There is true kindness in this world, but also ugliness!'
"So when your aunt comes, won't she be unable to find you?"
"She can find me at school. She also gave me her phone number, so I can call her in a month!"
He nodded, thinking he should find some time to tell her aunt in advance. The woman would be scared to death if she came to Qingzhou and found the rented room empty.
"Du'Er, I'll buy you a phone tomorrow. Then you can get in touch with your aunt."
"No, Dad, that's not necessary! Phones are so expensive!"
He laughed.
"Don't worry, I have money!"
After dinner, they returned home. He asked Wenren Du'Er for the address of her rented room, planning to retrieve her luggage the next day.
He sent her to her room to do her homework while he sat in the living room, thinking about how to plan his future.
'First, I need to sort out our living situation.'
'Tomorrow, I'll go take care of the housing issue first. With money, there's no need to rent anymore.'
'Then I'll transfer 1 million to my parents for household expenses... Hmm? No, I can't do that now!'
'At least, not 1 million. Otherwise, I won't be able to explain the source of this income.'
'I probably shouldn't even let my parents know about buying a house for now.'
'I need a reasonable cover story, a business of my own. That's the only way to explain my income.'
'What kind of business should I start?'
'I've always worked in the retail industry. It seems that's the only field I'm really familiar with. Maybe I should consider something in that direction.'
'If I want to become an agent for a brand, I could ask Brother Chun. He has a lot of resources and should be able to help me.'
He picked up a pen and scribbled on a piece of scratch paper, finally listing out the things he needed to do in the next couple of days.
One: Buy a house.
Two: Choose a project and start my own business.
Three: Retrieve Wenren Du'Er's luggage and buy the little girl a phone for easy contact.
After sorting this out, he went to his room to grab his pajamas, ready to shower and sleep, completely unaware that the employees at Ruijing Commerce were in an uproar again.
Company Email
[Dear All,
Operations Department Manager Yang Hui has officially left the company on XX/XX/XXXX due to personal reasons.]
'Few words, huge news!'
They had just gotten the news during the day that Yang Hui was promoted to General Manager. How could he have left the company by nightfall, on his very last day no less?
All sorts of speculation erupted:
"What huge mistake did Yang Hui make to deserve such a major reversal?"
"I saw Yang Na crying when she came out of his office this afternoon. Don't tell me he was sleeping with a female subordinate and got her pregnant, right?"
"What's the problem with getting her pregnant? They're both single. I suspect it got exposed and the woman wasn't willing!"
All the little group chats were buzzing with this topic.
The IT Department Manager was dead tired. It was 9:00 PM, and he was still at a store testing the POS system when this email suddenly popped up on the store's computer.
"HOLY SHIT! Yang Hui, you son of a bitch! You quit but still made me come out and work overtime to fix a computer!"
'All this effort today was for nothing!'
When Fang Zheng saw the email, however, he was first furious, then ecstatic.
His fury was because Yang Hui had clearly already resigned, yet still accepted his apology and ass-kissing performance in his office.
Thinking back on his performance during the day, he didn't blame himself. Instead, he felt that Yang Hui was utterly shameless, a real piece of work!
Then, it dawned on him. With Yang Hui gone, didn't that mean the Regional General Manager position was his for the taking?
An immense joy filled his heart. A long-held wish, fulfilled in a single day!
'When I go to the office tomorrow, I'll get to accept "their" pledges of loyalty again,' he thought. 'And this time, there won't be any more reversals!'
「The next morning.」
He woke up right on time at 7:00 AM, a habit ingrained by his biological clock. He always woke up automatically at this time.
'First thing's first, is the system still here?'
'Good, it's here. Everything that happened yesterday wasn't a dream!'
Huh?
He suddenly noticed a message notification on the system interface.
He opened it.
[Let your dreams take flight through job-seeking, let hope set sail from employment! Today is the first day of your unemployment. Please do not be discouraged. Use setbacks as mud and hardship as sand; use failure as bricks to build the ladder to success!]
'What's there to be discouraged about? Weren't you the one who forced me to quit?'
'Besides, if I were discouraged while getting 10 million a month, people would beat me to death if they found out!'
[You're unemployed, I'll help. You're in difficulty, I'll support. You're in need, I'll assist!
Now issuing a job-seeking task: Within one month, find a job with a monthly salary of no less than 10,000 yuan!]