Just after deciding to buy two river-view flats, Xie Qian sat down to dinner that evening and, under Wang Shuang’s silently pleading gaze, wilfully ticked three expensive dishes.
All three were costly.
All three were extremely spicy.
The impoverished host winced in pain. “Xie-god, I’m pretty sure you don’t eat spicy food…”
Xie Qian set down the menu and said lightly, “Your memory’s off. After all, you came to Shanghai a year ahead of us, we’re far apart, rarely keep in touch, so it’s perfectly normal you wouldn’t know my tastes have changed.”
Had his tastes actually changed?
Wang Shuang didn’t dare make a sound. He suspected Xie Qian was taking a dig at him.
Once all the dishes arrived, Wang Shuang sneaked a glance. Xie Qian hadn’t touched a single one of those three spicy dishes. Wang Shuang knew he’d guessed right.
Xie Qian’s palate hadn’t changed at all. He really was shading him!
Poor, broke Wang Shuang could only seethe in silence. The dishes were already ordered; not eating them would be the real waste. So he buried his head and shovelled food like a starving man.
Xie Qian still refused to let him off the hook. Turning to Wen Ying, who had been quietly enjoying the show, he commented, “Looks like he really is broke. A rich second-generation, reduced to eating like a wild boar fighting for scraps.”
“Pfft—”
“Cough…”
The Sichuan restaurant Wang Shuang had chosen was authentically spicy, and the three big dishes Xie Qian ordered happened to be Wen Ying’s favourites. She’d taken a few extra bites and was drinking water when she heard that. She nearly sprayed it across the table.
Wen Ying desperately tried to hold it in, only to choke herself, and hurriedly turned away to cough.
Wen Ying was choking; Wang Shuang wasn’t faring much better. Both started coughing at the same time.
Xie Qian’s hands moved faster than his brain. One gently patted Wen Ying’s back while the other reached for tissues.
“You alright?”
“Cough, cough… I’m fine, I’m fine. I’ll be okay in a second.”
Wen Ying took the tissues and waved him off, signalling he didn’t need to keep patting her back.
A couple of coughs would have been fine, but in summer, with only a thin layer of fabric between them, the warmth of Xie Qian’s palm on her back made Wen Ying deeply uncomfortable.
Noticing Wen Ying shrink away, Xie Qian’s hand stiffened slightly.
He had started with perfectly innocent intentions, yet suddenly a strange feeling arose in him too.
Wang Shuang, also choking and utterly ignored, was about to complain when his phone rang.
“Senior Sister Hang… You’re asking where I am? I’m having dinner with friends!”
It was Hang Xiaowen.
Wang Shuang put her on speaker straight away.
Hearing he was eating with friends, Hang Xiaowen sounded anxious and said she wanted to come over.
Wang Shuang almost laughed in anger. Come over for what, to keep pitching his friends for investment?
“I’m afraid it’s not very convenient.”
Wang Shuang turned her down.
Hang Xiaowen wasn’t discouraged. “I’ll come alone. I know you genuinely want to dissolve the team. I thought about it all last night. This start-up really was as chaotic as you said. None of us had experience; making mistakes is normal. If we streamline the team and start again, we’ll definitely do better than this time!”
Hang Xiaowen had agreed to dissolve the team!
Wen Ying nearly laughed out loud.
Hang Xiaowen was clever. Seeing that Wang Shuang was dead set on closing the company, and that she couldn’t stop the tide, she decided to sacrifice the pawns to save the commander!
What did “streamline the team” even mean?
Kick out everyone currently involved and leave only the financier Wang Shuang and the person who could actually manage things: Hang Xiaowen herself.
One provides the money, the other provides the work. A perfect partnership.
Wen Ying took out her phone and typed in front of Xie Qian: This senior sister is too persistent. If she can’t be the boss, she’ll settle for being the boss’s wife. She won’t let Wang Shuang go easily.
Did she actually like Wang Shuang?
Xie Qian wanted to comment but held back in the end.
This was Wang Shuang’s business; Wang Shuang had to handle it himself.
Wang Shuang also understood what Hang Xiaowen was getting at, but his mind didn’t go in the “future boss’s wife” direction. He simply sighed at how persistent she was.
“Senior sister, you might not have understood me. We can be friends, but that doesn’t mean we’re suited to start a business together. Ending things now means we won’t turn into enemies.”
The person Wang Shuang wanted to kick wasn’t just the others; it included Hang Xiaowen.
The most valuable part of starting a business is doing everything yourself.
Next time Wang Shuang started up again, even if he still did e-commerce and women’s clothing, he wouldn’t need anyone else to help select styles.
Management?
In the early stages of a start-up, you can’t afford proper management anyway!
Since Wang Shuang had made himself so clear, Hang Xiaowen’s voice on the phone sounded dejected. “So when your friend said our team’s management was chaotic, that was aimed at me? You should know how seriously I take things. I never imagined doing more would mean more mistakes… Since you’ve already decided, I respect your decision. Don’t worry about the others; I’ll persuade them. You put in so much money this time; I won’t let you lose both money and reputation. As for the stock in the warehouse, if you sell it cheap, you should still recover some cash.”
Big straight man Wang Shuang had no time to analyse Hang Xiaowen’s real emotions. He was simply marvelling at how her reaction had been predicted perfectly by Wen Ying.
Wen Ying really was impressive!
“Alright, I’ll leave it to you then, senior sister. Don’t worry about the clothes in the warehouse; I’ll figure something out!”
Hang Xiaowen was trying to be considerate and sell him a favour with some artful words, but Wang Shuang wasn’t buying any of it.
Wen Ying was reasonably satisfied.
Wang Shuang might be a bit dumb, but he was decisive enough. He hadn’t let Hang Xiaowen lead him by the nose or get all sentimental.
“Got it. That’ll trouble you, senior sister. I’ll handle the warehouse clothes myself!”
He followed her polite tone, then quickly hung up and grinned at Wen Ying and Xie Qian, who were watching the drama. “Looks like it’s settled.”
As for the clothes in the warehouse, Wen Ying asked, “What are you planning to do with them?”
Wang Shuang rubbed his hands together. “Honestly, I haven’t decided yet. The easiest would be to sell the lot in bulk, but that would lose a ton of money. I probably wouldn’t even recover cost price.”
When he had 400,000, Wang Shuang wouldn’t have cared about that kind of loss.
Now that the 400,000 had dwindled to just this leftover stock, Wang Shuang wanted to claw back as much as possible!
After all, he was flat broke. The more he recovered, the more start-up capital he’d have for his second attempt.
Wen Ying had seen the product catalogue; the clothes weren’t ugly, but she hadn’t seen the actual items and didn’t know the quality.
Since she’d just eaten a meal on Wang Shuang’s tab, Wen Ying felt like taking a walk to digest.
Xie Qian knew her too well. Before she could even speak, he offered to go check out the warehouse.
Wang Shuang’s eyes lit up. “Xie-god, are you going to help me out?”
“You’re overthinking it. I’m just stuffed from dinner and want some exercise.”
Xie Qian wouldn’t admit it, but Wang Shuang wasn’t listening anyway. Humming cheerfully, he went to pay the bill.
A moment ago he’d thought the meal painfully expensive; now he felt it was worth every penny.
One dinner in exchange for Wen Ying and Xie Qian teaming up to help him: clearly fate hadn’t abandoned him!
Half an hour later, Wang Shuang brought Wen Ying and Xie Qian to a residential building.
He had rented a three-bedroom flat. The living room served as the office area, while the bedrooms were used for storing stock and occasional rest. Even fifteen years later, plenty of e-commerce bosses still operated this way in 2007.
Opening the door, the first thing Wen Ying saw was two computers in the living room.
One of the screens was still on.
Someone was moving about in the room used for storage. Wang Shuang was surprised. “Senior sister, when did you get here?”
The person in the room was none other than Hang Xiaowen.
Seeing Wang Shuang, Hang Xiaowen was equally startled. She smoothed her messy hair and forced a strained smile. “I just arrived too. I’m usually the one who organises the inventory. Since we’re breaking up, I thought I’d help tidy these clothes for you.”
Hang Xiaowen also noticed Wen Ying and Xie Qian.
Xie Qian’s looks momentarily dazed her.
But this wasn’t the time to admire handsome men. Her attention stayed fixed on Wang Shuang.
After greeting Wen Ying naturally, Hang Xiaowen asked the exact same question Wen Ying had asked earlier. “Wang Shuang, what do you plan to do with all these clothes?”
