Chapter 12 - Disciple

"Eight hundred thousand!"

Zhao Zhen's heart skipped a beat.

This figure was even higher than his annual salary in Prosperous Flavor.

"That's the salary of the General Manager."

Ye Feng threw out another bombshell.

He had considered this annual salary carefully.

The General Manager of Hedilao was definitely worth 800,000 yuan, but this was on the premise that Zhao Zhen deserved this amount.

"General Manager, 800,000 yuan!"

Zhao Zhen's heart skipped a beat once more.

Even though he had some savings, his breathing still quickened when faced with this number.

"His family background… is much better than I imagined!"

"Boss Ye!"

At this moment, Zhao Zhen had a complicated feeling in his heart. It was as if he had a myriad of words to say, yet didn't know how to express them.

"Why? Are you afraid that I can't afford it?"

Ye Feng teased Zhao Zhen as he looked at him.

"Hahahaha, what am I afraid of? If anyone here is afraid, it should be you."

Zhao Zhen didn't mind at all. Then, he stared at Ye Feng with bright eyes and said, "Boss Ye, I'm starting to suspect you're my distant relative."

"If I was your relative, I would've thought about not paying you at all." Ye Feng laughed and said, "Boss Zhao, please sign the contract."

"Waiter, bring me a pen! "

After both parties finished signing, the matter had been settled. Ye Feng started to speak again. "Boss…"

This time, he only said one word before Zhao Zhen interrupted him. "I'm your employee now. It's not appropriate for you to call me Boss Zhao anymore."

"This…"

Ye Feng thought about it and agreed. Thus, he rephrased himself and said, "Then I'll call you Big Brother Zhao."

"Don't be in a hurry to say no. You're older than I am, so it's only right that I call you that."

Ye Feng picked up his cup of coffee. "Big Brother Zhao, here's to a prosperous and flourishing Hedilao."

"Yes!"

Zhao Zhen finished the rest of his coffee in one gulp. "Boss Ye, when are you bringing me to meet our employees?"

"This…"

Ye Feng felt a little awkward when he heard that. "Don't you have autonomy over the employees? So, when it comes to employees…"

Zhao Zhen's eyes widened. "Then, can you let me see the shop?"

"Uh, this… The shop is still being renovated."

"Then what about the boss of the supply chain?"

"…"

"Then let me see the other members of the management team!"

"…"

"Big Brother Zhao." Ye Feng patted Zhao Zhen's shoulder and looked at him expectantly. "Our store will depend on you!"

"Does that mean that other than you, the boss, and me, the manager, there's no one else at our Hedilao?"

Zhao Zhen widened his eyes and felt his teeth ache.

This wouldn't do. He had to take it slow. This was getting a bit above the surface.

"No, we still have a shop!

"… Although, it hasn't finished renovating yet."

Ye Feng immediately corrected him when he heard this.

"Boss Ye." Zhao Zhen looked at him with a complicated expression. "I feel like I've fallen into your trap."

He picked up his cup of coffee and wanted to drink from it, but realised that his cup was already empty. Thus, he had no choice but to put it down.

"Why do I feel like this coffee… is a little bitter?"

"Really? I feel that it is a little sweet."

Zhao Zhen left in a hurry.

In his words, time was tight if he wanted to solve these problems before they opened for business.

Meanwhile, Ye Feng looked at the contract in his hand and was in a good mood.

There were two copies of the contract, and Zhao Zhen had taken one copy.

"Is this what it feels like to leave everything to others?"

After handing everything over to Zhao Zhen, he felt much lighter. He even felt like humming a song.

But soon, he no longer thought that way.

"What did you say? Two lattes for 250 yuan?"

Ye Feng widened his eyes and looked at the waiter.

The waiter said patiently, "It's like this, sir. You ordered our signature latte. Look, the price is clearly stated."

"Hiss!"

Oh no. This was the feeling of heartache.

"Damn!"

Ye Feng gritted his teeth and walked out of the shop. Then, he turned around and looked at the signboard of the cafe.

"If I come here again, I'd be a stupid person!"

At the door, the waiter glanced at him and pursed his lips.

"Eight hundred thousand? You wasted so much time just paying 250 yuan. Pui!"

"Whoa!"

"Fourth Bro, why are you dressed like this? Did you go on a blind date?"

The moment he entered the dormitory, he heard Yang Chao's voice.

"Don't be ridiculous."

Ye Feng smiled and pushed him.

"That's right." Liu He adjusted his glasses. "This isn't a blind date. In my opinion, it's most likely an actual date."

"With your sister?"

Ye Feng rebutted and changed the topic. "Where's Boss?"

"Where else would he be? He's busy with the student union."

Yang Chao spoke casually.

"Boss is really… busy."

Ye Feng was slightly speechless.

Boss was almost treating the student union as his second home.

Ye Feng pulled open his desk and sat down, planning to do his homework.

He was not that busy today. When he was free, he should finish his homework by himself.

However, just three seconds later…

Ye Feng said, "Liu He, lend me your homework."

He had no choice. During class, all he could think about was Hedilao. Thus, he did not listen to the class at all.

"You're copying homework again!"

Ye Feng felt very wronged.

How could a scholar be accused of copying?

"Heh, who do you think I am? Liu He, let me steal your homework!"

Ye Feng spoke confidently.

Back at home, Zhao Zhen carefully placed the contract down and sat down on the bed.

Then, his phone rang.

"Little Liu?"

Zhao Zhen was surprised.

Little Liu was his disciple when he was the Deputy Manager. Now, Little Liu was already the Manager.

However, Zhao Zhen did not really like his disciple.

After all, just like Li Xin, he was a refined but self-interested person.

"Brother Zhen."

Little Liu's anxious voice sounded through the phone. "I just found out that you resigned during the meeting.

"Brother Zhen, do you think there's any misunderstanding between you and President Li that can't be resolved? Did you have to go so far as to resign?"

"Don't worry about it, Little Liu." Zhao Zhen replied to him after a moment of thought. "If we're not on the same path, then we shouldn't gather together."

"What happened between me and Li Xin was not as simple as a misunderstanding."

"Brother Zhen, you… Sigh!" Little Liu said, "I don't know what to say either…"

"How about this? If you are free, come over to my house and we can have a good drink."

"In my heart, you will always be my master."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhen felt a surge of warmth in his heart.

Had he been too harsh on his disciple?

That was right. After all, humans were not devoid of feelings. After all, Little Liu was the disciple that he had brought up personally, from a staff member to a manager. How could he be heartless?

Zhao Zhen's heart skipped a beat when he thought of this. "Little Liu, I'm guessing that you won't have a good life there after I leave. Why don't you resign and work for me?"

"Brother Zhen, have you found a new job?" Little Liu asked.

"Currently, I'm the manager of Hedilao. It's also a hotpot restaurant."

"I don't think you've heard of it. It's fine. Haha, you'll hear about it soon."

"Brother Zhen, this… Forget it. I don't have any other dreams. I just like stability. Also, I feel attached to Prosperous Flavor now. Let's not talk about it anymore as I still have something on. I'll treat you to a meal later."

Zhao Zhen shook his head when he heard the busy tone from the other end.

"This Little Liu… Forget it, I don't care anymore."

At Prosperous Flavor…

A smart-looking young man hung up the phone.

"This Zhao Zhen went to be the manager of another store."

"It's getting worse!"

"Am I going to give up on my decent job as a Manager… and start over with you?"

"Hedilao… what's that? Never heard of it."

"However, this information is very valuable…"

"The newly appointed Vice-President is not on good terms with Zhao Zhen. Furthermore, everyone in the company knows that I'm on Zhao Zhen's side…"

"This Zhao Zhen… why did he quarrel with President Li for no reason? He even resigned and made his life difficult!"

Little Liu did not understand. He had done everything well, so why was he involved in this matter?

"I just hope that this piece of information can improve Director Wang's impression of me."

Life was not easy. Little Liu sighed.

Then, Little Liu thought about it and dialed another number.

The call was picked up very quickly. Little Liu immediately bent down and his tone became much more respectful.

"Director Wang, it's like this. I have some news to report…"

  1. 250 is slang for "stupid person" in Chinese