Sun Lanlan glanced at Liu Dahui, who was eating in the distance, unsure of what to say.
These past few days, Liu Dahui had been showing up at the Bun Shop almost daily, always right after lunchtime when there were fewer customers.
If Sun Lanlan was in the lobby, he would even greet her.
If she wasn’t around, he would leave shortly after finishing his meal without lingering.
It seemed like he really just came to eat buns, but Sun Lanlan felt a bit irritated whenever she saw him.
As a business, they couldn’t shoo away a customer who had come to eat.
Su Wensong watched her slightly irritated expression and pursed his lips, seeing Cai Jun cleaning tables nearby, he walked over.
“Is Factory Director Su here for a meal?” Cai Jun asked.
Su Wensong pointed directly at the distant man and said, “Do you know what’s the deal with him?”
Cai Jun glanced at Liu Dahui and nodded, “He’s pretty much a regular at our Bun Shop, coming in every day recently.”
Hearing his matter-of-fact tone, Su Wensong furrowed his brow.
He heard that Cai Jun visited the Sun Family over the Spring Festival; does that mean their relationship is out in the open now?
Seeing the man every day, hasn’t he noticed Liu Dahui’s covetous looks towards Sun Lanlan?
It’s not that he was being nosy, but the situation that day seemed quite dangerous, leading him to check up on this Liu Dahui.
It turned out that there was some history between Liu Dahui and Sun Lanlan, and now he’s visiting the Bun Shop every day, seemingly harboring old feelings, planning to pursue Sun Lanlan?
He wondered if Cai Jun was genuinely naive or pretending to be, with a rival in love practically at his doorstep, yet acting as if it was none of his business.
“Don’t you think his purpose for coming here is not purely innocent? I heard he’s from Mazhuang Town below, nearly twenty kilometers from the county. He travels this far just for buns?”
Worried about Sun Lanlan’s safety, Su Wensong still decided to give a warning.
Cai Jun looked baffled, “If he’s not here for buns, what else would he come to the Bun Shop for?”
Su Wensong’s sharp gaze lingered on Cai Jun for a moment before turning back to Liu Dahui.
Liu Dahui was staring at Sun Lanlan, his gaze almost clinging to her, which darkened Su Wensong’s face even more.
Following his line of sight, Cai Jun finally realized, “He… he couldn’t be interested in…”
Su Wensong gave him a cold glare, and Cai Jun quickly lowered his voice, “Could he be interested in Sun Lanlan? As if that toad could eat swan meat?”
Hearing his tone, Su Wensong frowned even more.
What kind of attitude was that?
Su Wensong had given his reminder and said no more.
He figured Cai Jun, knowing Liu Dahui’s intentions, would be more cautious.
If needed, he would make time to come back a few more times over the next few days.
……………
They say that spring rain is as precious as oil, but spring snow is not so welcome to the common folk.
It’s already the middle of March, yet heaven decided to let a spring snowfall happen, causing the recently rising temperatures to drop again.
Fortunately, the snowfall didn’t last long, only leaving a layer overnight. By dawn, the skies had cleared, and when the sun rose high at noon, the snow on the roads and the eaves had already started dripping away.
Lin Chuxia stepped on the damp ground as she arrived at the Bun Shop, and to her surprise, she saw a long line of customers waiting in front of the shop. Subconsciously, she glanced at the cooked food store across the street, which had only a scattering of people.
Stomping her feet, she walked into the shop and went straight to Qin Han, “What’s going on outside?”
Qin Han chuckled, “I was planning to tell you after work. Since yesterday, our shop has seen a significant increase in cooked food customers. It turns out Director Gao from the Old Food Factory has been transferred away – well, actually, he was dismissed. During the time they were cutting prices on cooked food, they sold a lot but made no profit. The employees there overworked without getting their pay increased, causing widespread complaints. In the end, everything was blamed on Director Gao.”
Lin Chuxia’s lips curled into a smile. She knew that price wars were never a sustainable strategy.
A tactic that harms the enemy a thousand and self eight hundred, sooner or later, one would pay the price themselves.
Gao Hui thought their Xiyang Food Factory, being large in size and business, could drag down their Bun Shop but forgot that the bigger the family business, the more mouths there are to feed.
Dropping prices by thirty percent to sell at virtually no profit margin, the more they sold, the greater the cost.
Their Bun Shop, despite its small storefront and fewer staff, mainly focused on selling meat buns, and the idea of dragging them down was a pipe dream.
“Did you increase the amount of cooked food today? With so many customers, try not to let anyone leave empty-handed.”
“Don’t worry, as soon as we got busy with customers yesterday, I touched base with Wensong. Today we’ve prepared three times the amount of yesterday’s.”
Lin Chuxia nodded; Qin Han had become well-acquainted with the business. She hardly needed to worry about the Bun Shop with him managing.
Looking around the Bun Shop, she didn’t see Qin Lihua, “Where’s Lihua?”
“She’s off this afternoon; she’s not in the store. Is there something you need?”
“Not really, I was thinking about promoting Jianjun to full-time ahead of schedule, but I can’t find the kid and thought I might ask Lihua to tell him at home.”
Lin Chuxia mentioned Qin Jianjun, and she couldn’t help but smile.
Initially, Qin Lihua came to work at the Bun Shop at the behest of Mrs. Qin, approached by Brother Qin.
Back then, Qin Jianjun was envious but thought since his sister couldn’t handle farm work, he didn’t compete with her.
This year, with the establishment of Xiyang Food Factory and its public recruitment drive, especially since the village chief had 20 quotas for Qin Family Village, Qin Jianjun had signed up immediately.
However, during the interview, the village chief ruled him out.
The reason was that he was Lin Chuxia’s nephew, and if he wanted a job, he should speak to his aunt, not waste the village’s quota.
He went home wanting his parents to speak to Lin Chuxia on his behalf, but Brother Qin and his sister-in-law felt that Lin Chuxia had already given them face back in the day and didn’t find it appropriate to repeatedly ask such favors.
Thus, Qin Jianjun felt like an unloved and abandoned pitiful soul, spurned by society.
With nowhere to turn, he brooded at home for three days before mustering the courage to approach Lin Chuxia.
Without beating around the bush, he shared his predicament with Lin Chuxia and simply asked if she still needed workers, declaring he could do anything.
Lin Chuxia hadn’t expected the boy to have faced such a setback.
In fact, she had a lasting impression of him. Among the bridal party during her wedding, Qin Jianjun was the only youngster and the most energetic. Moreover, he seemed to greatly admire Qin Yang.
She didn’t send Qin Jianjun to the food factory to work on the assembly line. With his lively nature and good appearance, Lin Chuxia placed him under Qin Wu’s wing to learn social interaction and business connections.
Assembly line work was something anyone could do, but what she desperately needed were core team members.
Her judgment proved correct. According to Qin Wu’s feedback, Qin Jianjun was quick-witted, observant, eager to learn, and had even secured a deal on his own a few days earlier.
She liked people who sought improvement and naturally wanted to encourage them.
Knowing his younger relative better, Qin Han agreed with Lin Chuxia, “Jianjun has been smart since he was a child. If it wasn’t for Brother Qin’s family having many children and Jianjun putting others before himself by giving up his chance for education to his younger siblings, he might have even been a college student by now.”