After finishing his meal, Yang Hui hailed a private car and headed for the Mercedes-Benz dealership.
He wanted to buy a car. Normally, a Mercedes might seem a bit stuffy for someone his age, but he was a businessman, after all, and the car's professional air was a good match.
Mostly, it was because he found the current generation of BMWs a bit ugly, while the current Mercedes lineup was incredibly solid.
His budget for the car wasn't particularly high. He only had three million yuan on him and planned to spend around 400,000 on a vehicle that could serve as both daily transport and meet his business needs.
A rough outline for his life plan was already taking shape.
With this "Unemployment Assistance System," he wouldn't be short on cash anymore. In fact, to keep the system's benefits growing, he might have to constantly seek out jobs and then get fired to increase the payout amount.
'Is my life just going to be about grinding for cash? What fun is there in that?'
He definitely needed his own business. As for what kind of business he wanted to develop, he hadn't thought about it in depth yet, but he planned to use two million of his three million to open a shop.
What kind of shop to open was something he needed to consider soon.
On the way to the dealership, he received another message from Yang Na.
[Yang Na: I'm so fed up right now. When are you going to get me out of here?]
'Why does that sound so ominous? Get you out of here?'
'Fortunately, I know what she means.'
[Yang Hui: Just a few more days. Do you want to work for a company with me, or do you want to build something with me? I might be starting my own business.]
[Yang Na: I'm fine with either. I'll follow your lead. You're the boss, after all!]
[Yang Hui: Has the time for the farewell dinner been set?]
[Yang Na: Tomorrow night. Dinner first, then karaoke. It's all been arranged!]
Qingzhou Dongsheng Star Mercedes
"Sir, are you here to look at cars?"
She wore a tailored skirt suit, its sharp, cinched-waist design accentuating her curves perfectly—not too tight, but not too loose, either.
He nodded.
"Hello, my name is Xiaolang. Do you have a specific model in mind? I can give you an introduction."
Standing at five-foot-six, she wore two-inch black block heels, her steps steady yet graceful. The sales consultant was quite attractive.
"I'd like to take a look at the Mercedes E-Class. It's my first time here, so I'll probably compare it with the BMW 5 Series later."
Xiaolang smiled faintly, a picture of confidence in her product. It was as if she knew that any customer who came to test drive the Mercedes E-Class wouldn't be able to walk away.
The display model was a Mercedes E300L Prestige.
It had to be said, Xiaolang's confidence was well-founded. The car perfectly suited Yang Hui's aesthetic tastes, and it would also meet his daily and business needs.
He sat inside to get a feel for the interior—another of Mercedes's strong suits—and naturally, he couldn't find any major faults.
But for a car costing several hundred thousand yuan, you couldn't expect every single detail to be perfect.
"Do you have this model in stock?"
Xiaolang paused. 'Is this customer going to place an order without even a test drive?'
"Which trim level are you interested in?"
"The top-of-the-line."
Sales for this trim level were generally low, so besides the display model, dealerships rarely kept them in stock.
"We have one, but it's already been reserved!"
"Well, that's unfortunate. Alright, I'll go check out other dealerships then."
He wasn't about to wait a week or ten-plus days. He'd just check other dealerships to see if they had one in stock.
'It's not like this is the only Mercedes dealership, anyway.'
Seeing her customer about to leave, Xiaolang grew anxious. After confirming that Yang Hui was serious about buying the car, she quickly said, "Please wait a moment, sir. Let me contact the other gentleman. If he's not in a hurry, perhaps he'd be willing to let you have this one first?"
Guiding him to the lounge area, Xiaolang brought him a cup of coffee and asked him to wait while she called the other customer to negotiate.
A short while later, he saw Xiaolang walking over with a middle-aged man. He quickly stood up. What a coincidence—he'd run into an acquaintance!
"A Hui!"
"President Wang!"
Xiaolang asked in surprise, "You two gentlemen know each other?"
'Of course, they knew each other. They'd just had dinner together two days ago.'
Wang Qing said with a smile, "Xiaolang just told me a young boss had his eye on this car and wanted to see if I'd be willing to let it go first. I wasn't going to, but since it's for you, my friend, I can wait a little longer!"
"Oh, I couldn't possibly. I wouldn't want to delay you from getting your car!"
"It's no problem. I don't have much use for it, really. I usually drive a company car. Even if I took it home now, it would just sit in the garage!"
Since that was the case, Yang Hui didn't stand on ceremony any longer. He knew he now owed the man a favor.
Wang Qing had originally planned to pick up the car today, so it had already been washed and was ready for immediate delivery.
He had Xiaolang start the paperwork and sign the contract. Since he was paying in full and didn't need to arrange financing, the process was relatively quick.
The car's MSRP was 599,800 yuan, discounted to 485,800. Seeing Yang Hui pay in full, Wang Qing couldn't help but give him a few extra glances. He hadn't expected him to have this kind of financial means.
Wang Qing knew of Ruijing Commerce; it was a company of average standing. On a salary from there, forget a top-of-the-line Mercedes E-Class—it would be difficult to even afford a Volkswagen Passat.
'Considering Zhang Chun treats him like a brother,' he thought, 'this Yang Hui must be more than he seems!'
Next, Yang Hui had to go handle the registration and other paperwork. Since Wang Qing wasn't picking up his car anymore, he said his goodbyes, arranging for Yang Hui to visit his office for tea in the next couple of days.
He had definitely incurred a debt. Besides, if he was going to run his own business in the future, he would indeed need to maintain good relationships with these business magnates.
-----------------
Xinyue Group, Regional Office
The Vice General Manager heard from his subordinate that the newly appointed Regional General Manager and the head of the Operations Department from Ruijing Commerce were here for a visit.
He agreed in a heartbeat, which the Business Development Manager found utterly baffling. The boss clearly had plans to go out this afternoon! Since when did Fang Zheng have that much pull?
It wasn't until he led Fang Zheng and Yang Na into the Vice GM's office that he saw the look of baffled surprise on the Vice GM's face.
"Isn't your Operations Manager a man?"
None of them knew that the reason he had agreed so readily was that he had wanted to meet Yang Hui.
His subordinates didn't know why the Xinyue Group's regional office had been taking such good care of Ruijing Commerce for the past two years, but he did. In the office of the Regional General Manager—his boss, President Tian—he had more than once overheard him on the phone with someone named A Hui. Upon asking, he learned that A Hui was the Operations Manager at Ruijing Commerce.
"This is our newly appointed Operations Manager, Yang Na!"
Fang Zheng was practically bowing and scraping before the Vice GM. After all, this was a regional vice general manager, a level of executive he hadn't even been qualified to meet when he was just a store manager. It was only because of his recent promotion that he had the chance to meet such big shots.
The Vice GM invited them to sit, his mind still wondering, 'Did Yang Hui change departments?'
It was a shame he didn't get to meet Yang Hui in person, but now that Fang Zheng and the others were here, he couldn't very well kick them out.