Chapter 196: Seeing Xiao Ya Again

After Chen Feng got on the highway, he received a reply from Wu Mengting. Knowing that she had just set off, he didn’t need to speed up.

When he arrived at the first highway service area, he didn’t have to wait long before Wu Mengting also arrived.

They both decided to take a break at the service area first.

Wu Mengting bought a cup of milk tea, while Chen Feng got a bottle of purified water.

The two sat on an open-air bench next to the parking lot.

Wu Mengting asked casually, “I plan to find a part-time job when I get back to Xiuzhou this time. Do you have any suggestions?”

Chen Feng said with some surprise, “Is that necessary? As long as you focus on writing, I believe you’ll earn a lot. You might as well write more and update more with the time you’d spend on a part-time job.”

“I’ve written several openings for my new book, but I’m not very satisfied with any of them. I’ve been living off my savings until now. So, I’ll find a part-time job to supplement my income first. When the new book takes off, I might quit the part-time job depending on the situation.”

After thinking for a moment, Chen Feng said, “Then why don’t you be my assistant? I have two investments right now. One is in Mengyao’s cosmetics company, and the other is in a milk tea shop in Xiuzhou. I also have two shops, as you know, one here in Xiuzhou and one on Longhua Road.

If I manage these myself, it’s quite tedious and troublesome. Besides, I’m a full-time stock trader now, and with my health issues, being tied down by these trivial matters will drain my energy. So, I really need a trustworthy person to help me with these trivial matters. If you become my assistant, I’ll give you a monthly salary of ten thousand, plus room and board. What do you think?”

Wu Mengting asked with some surprise, “When did you invest in a milk tea shop? Why haven’t I heard you mention it?”

Chen Feng thought to himself, do I have to tell you everything?

However, Chen Feng still explained honestly, “This milk tea shop was opened by a mistress I used to keep. I’ve told you about her. I broke up with her later, but I had promised to invest in a milk tea shop for her, so I kept my word and invested.”

Wu Mengting hadn’t expected such an answer. After a moment of stunned silence, she asked with a complicated expression, “Then how much did you invest in her? How many shares do you own?”

Chen Feng didn’t hide it and gave her the answer, “I invested 500,000 and own a 40% stake.”

“How much does she own? How much did she invest?” Wu Mengting continued to ask.

Chen Feng was a little embarrassed, but in the end, he still said truthfully, “She invested 200,000 and owns a 60% stake.”

Wu Mengting couldn’t help but look at him strangely and sighed, “You’re really good to the women you keep.”

“Of course,” Chen Feng said with a smile. “After all, they’ve been with me. I certainly won’t treat them poorly. However, for the one who opened the milk tea shop, the main reason I gave her so many shares is that I value her personal ability. She comes from an ordinary family, but she’s very ambitious, hardworking, and knows how to run a business. I’m very optimistic that she can make this milk tea shop a success.”

Wu Mengting chuckled twice, obviously not believing his words.

Chen Feng continued to ask, “What do you think about being my assistant? You don’t have to clock in and report to work every day. You just have to be available whenever I need you.”

“Available whenever you need me, including at night?” Wu Mengting asked with a smile.

“No. Just during the day,” Chen Feng quickly explained. “Your job is also very simple. It’s to help me manage my personal investments and other daily trivial matters. You’d be my financial assistant and personal assistant. It might be a little tiring sometimes, for example, I might ask you to go back to Lushi to supervise and review the accounts of Guo Mengyao’s cosmetics company, or to represent me at meetings or events. The same goes for the milk tea shop here in Xiuzhou. I might have other investment projects in the future that will also need you to manage.”

After thinking for a moment, Wu Mengting nodded slightly and said, “Alright, I can give it a try. If I feel I can’t do it, you can find someone else.”

Chen Feng quickly said, “You’re a top student from Donghai University, how could you not be able to do it? You definitely can.”

Wu Mengting smiled and asked, “This mistress of yours who opened the milk tea shop, what’s her name? How old is she?”

Chen Feng immediately corrected her, “I broke up with her before she opened the milk tea shop. She’s not my mistress anymore. Her name is Xiao Ya, and she’s my schoolmate. She’s about twenty-three or twenty-four.”

“Oh, she’s quite young,” Wu Mengting said casually, then continued, “After we get to Xiuzhou, you can take me to meet her.”

Chen Feng was stunned for a moment, then said, “There’s no need to be in such a hurry. The shop has only been open for a few days. I’ll take you to see her after it’s been open for a full month. It won’t be too late.”

“It’s only been open for a few days? Then you, the shareholder, haven’t even been to the shop to see it?”

“Uh, I haven’t been there yet.”

Wu Mengting couldn’t help but roll her eyes, “You’re too careless. You invested 500,000, after all. Since you’re back in Xiuzhou, it’s too foolish not to go and check the accounts. I know you trust her very much, but you’ve broken up with her now, haven’t you? Business is business. Necessary supervision and preventive measures are definitely needed. Otherwise, if you don’t manage it for a long time, you’re really testing her conscience and morals.”

“Alright, alright. We’ll go see it tomorrow and check the accounts, okay?” Chen Feng was convinced by her.

“Why tomorrow? We’re driving to Xiuzhou now anyway. Wouldn’t it be great to stop by this milk tea shop on the way?”

“OK! If you really want to go today, then let’s go today. Oh, right, let me ask for the address first.”

As Chen Feng spoke, he picked up his phone to send a WeChat message to ask Xiao Ya for the address of the milk tea shop.

“You don’t even know where the shop is?” Wu Mengting’s eyes widened.

Chen Feng gave an embarrassed smile, “I’m just an investor. I put in the money and that’s it. I haven’t managed anything else.”

Wu Mengting couldn’t help but shake her head, “You’re really careless.”

Chen Feng sent the WeChat message, but Xiao Ya didn’t reply immediately.

After a few minutes, when the two had rested enough, Xiao Ya finally sent the location.

After Chen Feng forwarded it to Wu Mengting, the two set off again.

It was almost six in the evening when they arrived in Xiuzhou. Following the map navigation, they both drove their cars to the milk tea shop opened by Xiao Ya.

After parking the car, the two walked towards the milk tea shop. From a distance, they could see a crowd of people gathered at the entrance of the shop, mostly young people.

This was a commercial street not far from East Lake. The milk tea shop was not large, at most about ten square meters. But the decoration of the shop was very stylish and eye-catching.

There was a sign at the entrance offering an 80% discount for the grand opening, which was probably one of the reasons for the booming business.

When the two of them reached the front of the shop, Chen Feng was about to queue up to buy two cups of milk tea when a woman in a work uniform came out of the shop. She was wearing an apron and a baseball cap.

At first, Chen Feng didn’t recognize her. It wasn’t until she stood in front of him and called him “Brother Feng” that Chen Feng finally recognized her. It was Xiao Ya.

It was just that she had changed her hairstyle to a short cut, and she had lost a lot of weight. Her face, which used to have some baby fat, had very little flesh on it now. In addition, she was wearing a baseball cap and a work uniform with an apron, and it was getting dark, so it was really normal for Chen Feng not to recognize her at first glance.

“Why have you lost so much weight?” Chen Feng looked at her with some surprise and said with a hint of concern, “Business is important, but you don’t have to work so hard.”

Xiao Ya smiled slightly and said, “I’ve been trying to lose weight. It’s good that I’ve slimmed down now. The milk tea shop was a bit busy at the beginning, but I’ve slowly gotten used to it now. And I’ve already hired four employees, so it’s not very tiring.”

“That’s good.” Chen Feng nodded and didn’t say any more words of concern. After all, their relationship was different now, and saying too much might make her misunderstand. He turned to introduce Wu Mengting, who was beside him, “Her name is Wu Mengting. She’s my friend and also my assistant. I’ll leave my investment matters to her to manage in the future. In the future, she will be the one to discuss some matters in the shop with you.”

“Hello.”

“Hello.”

The two women looked at each other and smiled, then both extended their hands to shake, and then quickly separated.

“Alright, I mainly came over to see the shop and to introduce you two to each other. You can continue to be busy now. We’ll be leaving.”

Chen Feng wanted to go back to see Sun Xiaorui early and then wash up and go to sleep.

But Xiao Ya said, “Why don’t we find a place to eat and chat about the milk tea shop’s business situation at the same time?”

“Okay.” Before Chen Feng could say anything, Wu Mengting spoke up and agreed, saying with a smile, “We haven’t eaten yet either.”

Seeing this, Chen Feng couldn’t object.

So, the three of them went to a nearby stir-fry restaurant, got a private room, and ordered a few dishes.

Xiao Ya briefly reported the current situation of the shop to Chen Feng. The two had invested 700,000 in the early stage. The shop rent, decoration, franchise fee, equipment, and raw materials cost more than 500,000 in total. Advertising and flyer distribution cost more than 20,000.

In total, about 600,000 was spent in the early stage. And the business had been quite good these past few days since the opening. Excluding the discount, the daily turnover was over 10,000. Especially in the first two days of opening, the turnover was over 20,000, and then it gradually fell back to over 10,000.

As for the gross profit, it was about half. That is to say, on average, they made at least several thousand a day these past few days, which seemed like a lot. But they still had to deduct the shop rent, labor, utilities, and other miscellaneous expenses, as well as the cost of equipment depreciation and maintenance. So, they had to deduct at least another half. The rest was the net profit for the bosses, Xiao Ya and Chen Feng.

A rough calculation for these few days showed that their average net profit was about two or three thousand. That is to say, at this average level, Xiao Ya could earn at most fifty or sixty thousand a month, and Chen Feng forty or fifty thousand.

This was a relatively ideal state.

So, although the milk tea shop looked very popular, it wasn’t as profitable as everyone imagined. The shop rent accounted for a large part of it. The more prosperous the street and the greater the flow of people, the more expensive the shop rent.

Because it was close to East Lake and had a large flow of people, the monthly rent for the shop was as high as 32,000, and this was the result of repeated bargaining.

So, most of the shop owners were working for the landlord.

Xiao Ya finally concluded, “The profitability of the milk tea shop is much worse than I expected.”

“So, do you regret opening this shop now?”

Chen Feng asked Xiao Ya with a smile. She had made thorough preparations to open the milk tea shop, even going undercover to work at a milk tea shop for nearly a month to understand the real operation of a milk tea shop. But she was not the shop owner, after all, so she obviously hadn’t figured out the specific profitability.

“Of course, I don’t regret it,” Xiao Ya shook her head. “Although it’s a bit tiring, working from seven in the morning to nine at night, if I can earn fifty or sixty thousand a month, and hundreds of thousands a year, I’m content.”

After thinking for a moment, Chen Feng nodded, “That’s true, but if you keep this up for a long time, it will be too tiring. Look at how thin you’ve become. If you ruin your health, it’s not worth it. Why don’t you hire a store manager? You can just come over every day to check the accounts and supervise.”

Xiao Ya smiled and nodded, “I’ve thought about it, but it’s only been open for a short time, so I definitely have to be here in person. After the shop’s business is on track, I’ll hire a store manager, or select one from the current four employees to be the store manager.”

“It’s good that you have a plan.”

The meal only took about half an hour, and then they parted ways with Xiao Ya.

During the meal, Wu Mengting basically didn’t speak. After Xiao Ya left, Wu Mengting said to Chen Feng, “This woman seems very career-minded. She didn’t talk about anything other than business the whole time. A woman like that is really not good.”

Chen Feng nodded, “You’re right. I broke up with her because I felt she was too career-minded and too utilitarian, and I found it boring. I was originally worried that she would be dissatisfied with me or sad about it, but now it seems she’s more carefree than me. When she faces me, I can’t see any emotional fluctuations. She’s very calm and composed.”

Wu Mengting shook her head, “That’s not necessarily true. She might just be good at pretending. Didn’t you say she lost a lot of weight? Maybe it’s because you dumped her.”

“How is that possible? She must be busy opening the milk tea shop, and then busy with the shop’s business. She’s too busy, so she lost weight. Didn’t you hear her say she works from seven in the morning to nine at night?”

“Anyway, I think you should try not to have contact with her in the future. Otherwise, you’ll be embarrassed, and she certainly won’t feel good about it either.”

“That’s true. From now on, you’ll be responsible for contacting her for me. You’ll handle the monthly account reconciliation, profit distribution, and everything.”

“Okay.”

The two walked and talked until they reached the parking lot.

Chen Feng said he wanted to go directly back to Red Villa Bay. Wu Mengting suggested that they all stay at the East Lake villa tonight and have a gathering of four.

Lin Wan and Sun Xiaorui had already returned to Xiuzhou.

Chen Feng said he had already arranged to meet Sun Xiaorui, and the four of them would gather at the East Lake villa tomorrow at noon.

In the end, Wu Mengting couldn’t persuade Chen Feng and parted ways with him in the parking lot.

Speeding back to Red Villa Bay, seeing the lights on in his villa from a distance, and thinking of Sun Xiaorui, whom he hadn’t seen for a while, a warmth rose in Chen Feng’s heart.

He drove the car to the front of the villa and had just stopped in front of the garage. As Chen Feng was looking for the garage remote, he saw the garage’s rolling door automatically rise.

Looking up, he saw the lights in the garage turn on. At the entrance of the garage, the elegantly dressed Sun Xiaorui was standing there, smiling at him. Under the orange light, it gave a feeling of home. A smile also appeared on Chen Feng’s face.

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