When they arrived at the Trendy Apparel Company, Si Wen was already waiting for them.
Xue Yang picked up his docunt bag, taking Lin Xi’s hand as they got out of the car. Uncle He went to find a parking spot.
Si Wen led them straight to the chairman’s office of Trendy Apparel.
Upon entering, Xue Yang’s expression filled with surprise. The office was the complete opposite of Si Wen’s personality. He had assud that with a personality like hers, her office would have a Princess the. Instead, it was a prim and proper chairman’s office.
"There’s no helping it," Si Wen said. "When you’re the boss, you have to put on a show, or people won’t take you seriously."
That was true. Although Si Wen certainly wasn’t short on money, if she didn’t present a professional image, it would be easy for others to take advantage of her.
"Here, these are for you. A belated red envelope to mark the start of work." Si Wen took out two large red envelopes, giving one to Xue Yang and the other to Lin Xi.
"I get one too?" Lin Xi asked, her face filled with pleasant surprise as she took the large red envelope.
"You helped persuade Xue Yang, so of course you get one."
Xue Yang accepted the red envelope with both hands. "I’m truly touched," he said sincerely. "To show my appreciation, I also brought a special gift for you today."
Hearing this, Si Wen imdiately grew wary. "Can I refuse?"
A gift from Xue Yang was never a good thing.
"No, you cannot."
Xue Yang took out a thick stack of mock college entrance exam papers from his bag. "Wishing you great fortune and success on your exams."
I knew it! His New Year’s gift was bound to be sothing awful.
"Your New Year’s blessing is certainly... thunderous," she remarked dryly.
During the New Year holiday, the wish she had heard most was for success on the exams, but all those other blessings had sounded hollow. When Xue Yang said it, however, it felt like it could actually co true.
But these test papers...
"No need to thank . You’re Xiao Xi’s best friend. As her best friend, of course I hope you get into a good university."
"I can get into a good university without your help," Si Wen said confidently.
"Have you picked out a university yet?"
"Xiao Xi and I have the sa goal: Yanbei. That way, we don’t have to go abroad. I have no desire to go to so foreign country."
"Seems my mock exam papers didn’t go to waste, then. Keep up the good work. I hope you make it into Yanbei."
"It’s a great gift. Next ti, don’t bother." She had only just managed to finish the last stack of mock exams he had given her. Now there was another huge pile. Si Wen could already imagine the suffering her delicate little hands would have to endure.
"I won’t send any next ti," Xue Yang assured her.
Then again, it seed there wouldn’t be a next ti. By then, she would have already graduated from high school. So why was she feeling a little wistful?
"Ti is tight, so let’s get down to business," Xue Yang said, then turned to Lin Xi. "Xiao Xi, if you’re sleepy, you can rest on the sofa over there. I’ll wake you when I’m done."
Lin Xi nodded obediently. She really was getting sleepy.
"Hey, aren’t you being a little biased?" Si Wen protested.
"Hmm?"
"You give this huge stack of papers, but you tell her to just go rest? If that’s not favoritism, what is? Shouldn’t the correct way for this to go be Xiao Xi grinding away at test papers right alongside ?"
"You need the papers more than she does," Xue Yang stated flatly.
The implication was that Lin Xi didn’t need to do as many practice tests. Si Wen’s face fell as she rembered the final exams, where Lin Xi—who had barely attended any classes all sester—had surpassed her.
"Right, right! Xiao Xi, go to sleep! In fact, you should probably sleep during class, too!"
"Si Wen, you don’t have to be like that. I’ll just let you win on the next exam." With that, Lin Xi lay down on the sofa and closed her eyes to rest.
She hadn’t rested well during her recent trip to Hui City. After coming back, she missed Xue Yang so much that she had barely slept more than a few hours a night. The night before he returned, she had been too excited to sleep at all. So now, she was genuinely exhausted.
She fell asleep almost as soon as she lay down on the sofa.
Xue Yang took off his coat and draped it over her to make sure she wouldn’t get cold. Only then did he get down to business.
Si Wen didn’t really know the procedures herself, so she just had him sit at her desk and use her computer to get familiar with things. "All the files are on there, including the contracts that need to be signed. You can take a look first."
Si Wen rarely interacted with her employees directly, so not many people at Trendy Apparel even knew she was the big boss. Outsiders knew even less. They only knew that the owner of Trendy Apparel was very mysterious, having managed to capture the Dragon Country market in less than two years. Because the company always used foreign models, many people assud it was a foreign trade company.
Xue Yang was a finance major. While he might not know much about other areas of managent, he certainly knew how to read a contract. The more he read, the deeper his frown beca. When he looked at the financial statents provided by the company’s accounting departnt, his brows furrowed so deeply you could have squashed a fly between them.
Seeing this, Si Wen didn’t dare say a word.
Who was it that told her Xue Yang looked most handso when he was focused on work? He was certainly focused now, but his intensity made her feel as if her father were checking her howork—howork she had done poorly. She felt like she could be punished at any mont. Was it too late to make a run for it?
An hour later, Xue Yang leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh. "This is a money pit."
Si Wen blinked innocently. "How can it be a money pit? You’ve seen how famous Trendy Apparel is in Dragon Country, haven’t you?"
"Then let ask you, have you ever actually looked at Trendy Apparel’s books?"
"Why would I look at that stuff? It’s not like I can understand it."
As expected. Even if he showed her the ledgers, she wouldn’t understand them.
"The capital you’re putting in doesn’t match the profit you’re getting back. Have you really never noticed that?"
"...No." Whenever the company was short on funds, she would just transfer more money in. Since it was all just her allowance, Si Wen never paid it much mind.
"It’s a miracle this company has survived for so long." Xue Yang suddenly regretted agreeing to help her.
"What’s wrong?"
"A Trendy Apparel winter coat sells for around 1,500 yuan on the market, but the material cost alone is over 900. That’s not even including managent fees and other miscellaneous expenses. Doesn’t that tell you there’s a problem?"
"But I get dividends from the Trendy Apparel account every quarter," she argued. She was earning over two million a quarter. Surely that proved sothing, right?
"You pour three million in every quarter, and they pay you back 2.5 million. You call that making money?"
Si Wen’s expression changed. "Is... is that what’s happening?"
"I’m just giving you an example. The reality is likely even worse. You’re a pampered Princess—if you don’t know how to run a company, then maybe you just shouldn’t run one."
Si Wen muttered in her own defense, "I only started it for fun. How was I supposed to know it would get so popular?"
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