I Really Didn't Mean to Make Money

Chen Mo listened to Jiang Cheng’s account, his mind filled with mixed emotions.

Normally, with employees working so hard and trusting him, he should feel happy and moved.

But the key was, he didn’t need to make money.

It was all because of Li Shen, that old rascal. It seemed he needed to think of a way to handle this.

He considered promoting Li Shen, but the position had to be one that kept him away from the daily operations of the workshop.

However, if Li Shen were promoted, who would take over as the workshop manager?

Chen Mo pondered for a long time, finally turning his gaze to Jiang Cheng sitting before him.

Here was a very good candidate.

Honest and upright, Such a person would never cause trouble like Li Shen.

The more Chen Mo looked at him, the more satisfied he became. He decided to talk to Li Shen when the time was right and finalize this plan.

“Alright, I understand the situation. You can go back now.”

“Okay, Mr. Chen.”

Jiang Cheng nodded, stood up, and walked out.

.................

Business Department.

Li Shen was reclining in his office chair, legs crossed.

“Shen Bro, thanks to your reminder, we wouldn’t have gotten the orders this quickly without it.”

Wu Yu brought over a cup of water and placed it in front of Li Shen.

“Don’t thank me. I only gave a couple of reminders. The orders came in because of your efforts. And it’s also because the clothes from our factory have good quality and low prices.”

“We still need to thank you, Shen Bro. Without your reminder, we wouldn’t have realized that we could run business on the weekends.”

Wu Yu insisted.

Since Wei Yan was reassigned, the Business Department hadn’t received any new orders.

If they waited until the previous one-million-dollar order was finished without any new orders, the workshop might face a gap in production.

He and the two new salespeople had been worried.

Then, a few days ago, Li Shen suggested they go out and try to get orders on weekends, even when the company employees were on break.

They thought about it and realized it wouldn’t interfere with running business, so they decided to visit many clients on the weekends.

To their surprise, they managed to get some results. Some clients who had shown interest before ended up placing orders after this visit.

They also realized that for some clients, one visit wasn’t enough to close a deal, and that continual contact and maintenance were required.

“Alright, I didn’t come here to listen to your flattery.”

“I came to urge you to keep bringing in more orders. The workshop’s efficiency has doubled, and once the million-dollar order from Wei Yan is completed, the two orders you just received won’t be enough to keep us busy.”

“So, you need to keep working hard. The new guys too, business comes from getting out there.”

“Also, make time to learn from Wei Yan. He’s been in the business for over ten years, and his experience is much better than mine. So, when there’s work to do, you’ll know how to handle it.”

Li Shen stood up from his chair and patted Wu Yu’s shoulder lightly before walking out of the Business Department. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

................

Construction Site.

“Come on, hurry up and unload this batch of goods, and then you can eat.”

A man wearing a hard hat shouted loudly.

In the distance, a group of workers were unloading cement from a truck and moving it to a farther location.

It was noon, and the scorching sun beat down on their faces covered in mud and dust, as beads of sweat dripped down.

Lu Pengtao placed the last bag of cement and leaned against the stack, exhausted, using the relatively clean back of his hand to wipe his sweaty face.

He stood still for a moment, finally catching his breath.

He walked over to a bucket and splashed his face with water.

At that moment, the foreman approached and handed him a hundred yuan note.

“Here’s your pay for today. The lunch boxes are over there, go grab one.”

“Thank you.”

Lu Pengtao took the hundred-yuan note, carefully placed it in his pocket, and walked toward the food truck.

He picked up a lunch box and found a shaded spot to eat.

“I say, why can’t I get through to your phone?”

“If I hadn’t called your wife, I’d have thought you were missing.”

Yang Dahai sat down beside Lu Pengtao, matching his posture.

After dropping off Mr. Chen at the clothing factory, he started trying to contact him, but his calls didn’t go through. In the end, he had to call his wife, and found out that he was unloading cement at the construction site.

“This phone’s battery life is no good. It’ll shut off soon.”

Lu Pengtao took out his phone from his pocket, pressed it, but it didn’t respond.

“So, what made you think of finding me? Is there something you need?”

As he spoke, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes, the pack a little wrinkled from work. He pulled out a relatively intact cigarette and offered it to Yang Dahai.

“I’m not smoking anymore, quit.”

Yang Dahai glanced at the cigarette but didn’t take it.

Ever since he started working as Mr. Chen’s driver, he had quit smoking. After all, Mr. Chen didn’t smoke, and as a driver, he couldn’t smoke in the car, so he just quit.

“Good for you, saves money.”

Lu Pengtao took the cigarette back and lit it, taking a long drag.

Yang Dahai looked at Lu Pengtao, covered in dirt and dust, and secretly sighed.

If his family hadn’t met Mr. Chen, they would probably be in the same situation.

No, it would be worse.

After all, he had a back injury and couldn’t even do physical labor like unloading cement.

“So, how did you end up doing this work?”

“No choice. My biggest skill these years is driving, but now I’m too old, and no one wants me.”

“So, I have to do this kind of heavy labor, even if it pays a bit more.”

Lu Pengtao looked into the distance, exhaling a puff of smoke.

“I thought you were supposed to be doing security?”

“I am, but I’m a night guard. During the day, I work as a day laborer.”

“You’re getting older, don’t push yourself too hard. Take care of your health.”

Yang Dahai said with some concern.

“No choice. My kid needs to buy a house and pay the mortgage, and now I’m dating someone and need to save for the wedding.”

“And you, you’ve got two daughters.”

Lu Pengtao sighed and turned to look at Yang Dahai.

“You still haven’t told me, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“Hahaha, I’m getting to the point now. I’ve got a good job for you. Do you want it?”

Yang Dahai laughed loudly, and after the conversation, he knew he could accomplish the task Mr. Chen had given him.

“What’s the job, how much is the pay, is it reliable?”

Lu Pengtao asked several key questions, but didn’t have much hope.

After all, their situations were quite similar. What good opportunity could there be for them?