Chapter 266 - 201: Wenren Lan (Part 2)

Based on Du’Er’s description and what Wenren Meng had just said, it was clear their family used to be quite well-off. Wenren Lan had been the family’s financial pillar, yet none of them knew what she did for a living or how she earned such a high income. It was undeniably suspicious.

Furthermore, the younger sister had ended up so poor she couldn’t pay rent, and Wenren Meng didn’t seem to have any savings either. So why hadn’t they used the two million? This was a question Wenren Meng ought to be able to answer, so Yang Hui asked it.

"My brother-in-law came by six months ago and took it," Wenren Meng explained. "He said he had a major investment opportunity with huge potential returns. My dad already felt my sister had wronged him, and since the two million was their joint marital asset, he gave it to him. Who could’ve imagined that his so-called ’major investment’ was actually the stock market."

’Well, he’s a real piece of work,’ Yang Hui thought. He wasn’t sure how to comfort her. ’It’s true what they say: every pitiful person has their own detestable flaws. What kind of mindset was that? Did he really think the stock market was an ATM you could just withdraw from at will?’

"Afterward, we asked around everywhere, but my sister didn’t have any particularly close friends she saw regularly. We questioned everyone she had ever been in contact with, but nobody knew her whereabouts. We even posted missing person notices, but still found nothing."

This Wenren Lan was quite the mystery. ’No profession, yet an incredibly high income. No job, yet she was constantly away on ’business trips’ or for ’training’. It wasn’t just Wenren Du’Er’s father who would let his mind go there—anyone would jump to the same conclusion.’

’But even so, not having a single close friend was just bizarre. It was as if she wasn’t from this world at all—appearing out of nowhere and then vanishing just as suddenly.’

He wanted to ask around but didn’t even know where to begin. Still, he offered some comfort to Wenren Meng. "I’ll have some friends help me keep an eye out. We’ll see if we can find your sister."

"You should get some rest. There are only a few of us here; you don’t have to work nonstop. That floor is already clean enough to be a mirror, yet you still scrub it several times a day."

Yang Hui stood up, stretched his back, and prepared to go to bed. Wenren Meng explained, "I just feel like it might still be dirty. Wiping it a few more times puts my mind at ease."

He glanced back at her and realized he’d wasted his breath. ’Is it even possible to reason with a clean freak?’ He decided to just let her be. It wasn’t like he was the one getting tired.

This weekend was Zen’s grand opening. With the experience from the NLB opening under their belts, things felt much more composed this time around.

This was the brand’s debut in Qingjiang, and for the past half-month, Xinyue Group’s official accounts and the various promotional channels for Xinyue Square’s primary location had been running a major campaign.

Since it was also a weekend, the foot traffic in the store was even heavier than it had been for the NLB opening. Fortunately, the company now had plenty of sales staff in reserve. They could handle the influx of customers while still ensuring employees got proper breaks.

Zen’s average sale per customer was slightly higher than NLB’s. Its main draws were its tech fabrics and its comfortable, casual, athleisure style. The new brand Yang Hui and Serene were planning was positioned closer to Zen, except they intended to offer more SKUs and required a larger retail footprint.

Although the brand had never been available in Qingjiang, Zen was already very popular among mid-to-high-end consumers in first-tier cities like Shanghai. It had entered the China market several years ago but had simply never expanded to smaller cities, so it already enjoyed significant brand recognition.

Opening its first store in Qingzhou Xinyue Square attracted many of the brand’s devotees. The combination of tech fabrics, fashionable designs, excellent merchandising, and attentive service from the sales staff also generated massive foot traffic and a high volume of sales.

Near the store entrance, he spotted Yang Na and Xia Jie. The general manager and the head of the store were, of course, expected to be present for an opening.

"Xia Jie, you just joined the company and you’re already working overtime. Thanks for the hard work."

She knew he was just teasing her. Overtime hours could be exchanged for time off later. Besides, if she didn’t even show up for the opening of a store under her management, it would show a complete lack of responsibility.

"Well now, it’s a rare treat to see the boss here. You must be working hard."

Yang Na, unlike the earnest Xia Jie, was directly taking a jab at Yang Hui. By saying he was "working hard," she was really pointing out how little he usually came into the office.

"It’s no trouble, no trouble at all. It is my comrades who are working hard!" Yang Hui feigned ignorance of her real meaning and turned to observe the store.

"Looks like Zen’s performance is going to be even better than NLB’s," Yang Na said, her expression turning serious as she switched to business. "We’ve only been open for an hour, and sales have already surpassed 20,000."

"Yesterday, we tested out a Friday daytime stream for NLB, and it didn’t disrupt the in-store operations at all. You need to hurry and finalize the online streaming authorization with Zen. I’ve already asked Cheng Jun to start promoting the Zen stream on Xinyue Go to build an audience. We need to launch Zen’s first live stream by next Friday and bring in a big injection of cash."

"Right. The process is already in motion, so we’ll definitely have the authorization by next week. We’ve also finalized the product selection for the online channel with Zen. It’s all in-season inventory—10 million in retail value, and we’re getting it for 2 million."

’So they were basically getting the goods for 20% of the retail price,’ he mused. ’That had to be because of Brother Chun’s influence. Normally, you’d never get a discount that steep, especially when you get to pick and choose from the inventory. A deal like that was usually only offered if you bought out their entire stock, including the junk. But Yanghe Commerce had been able to select only the marketable, in-season products. Getting that for a 20% price tag was a massive favor.’

’Serene had been the one to secure the NLB deal, and Yang Hui figured she must have gone to a lot of trouble for it, too. He’d have to find a chance to thank her properly one of these days.’

’For the Zen partnership this time, Yang Hui hadn’t asked Zhang Chun to help negotiate a "pay after delivery" arrangement. For one thing, Zhang Chun wasn’t an insider at Zen, unlike Serene, who was with NLB Company and knew how to work the system. Besides, Yang Hui felt it wasn’t worth troubling Brother Chun and having him cash in a personal favor over a relatively minor issue.’