The film and television city starts from the courtyard

Hearing Li Li's words, the group of business owners didn't press the matter further. After all, Li Li was different from Manager Pan; someone who could run such a large restaurant like Zhizhen Garden couldn't possibly be powerless, and no one wanted to offend her.

Moreover, rumors about Bao and Li have been rampant lately, and the previous Yellow River Road defense battle has further convinced them that Bao and Li have some kind of relationship, so they naturally don't want to offend Bao again.

Li Li knocked on the door, and after hearing a response from inside, she pushed the door open and came in.

Zhao Shucheng was surprised to see Li Li and asked curiously, "Boss lady, what brings you here? You're not here to get Vivian's autograph again, are you?"

Li Li smiled and said, "Of course not, Mr. Zhao. Please forgive any shortcomings in our hospitality."

Zhao Shucheng laughed and said, "Boss lady, you're joking. If you think this isn't good enough hospitality, then what would be considered good hospitality? Do you expect me to hire a bunch of reporters to take pictures and put them in the news for publicity?"

Li Li poured Zhao Shucheng a glass of wine, then poured one for herself, before saying, "Mr. Zhao, you flatter me. Thank you for coming here. It is an honor for Zhizhen Garden. I'll drink to that first."

Before Zhao Shucheng could say anything, she picked up her glass and refilled it, saying, "Thank you for visiting, Miss Zhou. You have made my Zhizhen Garden a great place. So, I'll drink to that again!"

Zhao Shucheng frowned as he watched Li Li down three glasses in a row, and said, "Boss lady, you drank three glasses of wine in one go, there must have been a reason. As long as it's within my power, please feel free to ask. But today I just want to eat in peace and quiet. Let's talk about it another day."

Li Li smiled and nodded, saying, "Mr. Zhao, you've misunderstood. I apologize for interrupting your meal with Ms. Zhou. Many business owners outside hope to meet you, so after you finish your meal, please follow our waiter and leave through the back door."

Zhao Shucheng then understood why Li Li had come over, and nodded with a smile in agreement.

"Thank you, Miss Li, I understand."

Li Li smiled, said a few more words, and then left the private room.

Vivian smiled and said, "This proprietress is quite interesting."

Zhao Shucheng said, "Of course, she has some ability to run such a big restaurant on Huanghe Road and still stand strong."

The two finished their meal chatting and laughing, and were led away through the back door by Manager Pan. The car had already been driven to the back door, so they drove directly away from Huanghe Road.

Abao's business was not going well, so he asked Tao Tao to go to Night Tokyo to drink away his sorrows. However, he unexpectedly learned that Lingzi had not appeared in Night Tokyo for more than a week.

They talked about the wonderful times they had when Lingzi was around.

Tao Tao got drunk quickly. After A Bao saw him off, he looked at the lifeless Night Tokyo and immediately decided to close it down.

Linghong, Taotao, and Teacher Ge had long regarded Night Tokyo as their second home, so they naturally disagreed with closing it down and believed that Lingzi would return sooner or later.

Teacher Ge immediately offered to waive the rent for Night Tokyo, and Lingzi vowed to continue running Night Tokyo and wait for Lingzi to return.

Ah Bao had no choice but to give up. Teacher Ge and the others apologized to each other and vowed to work together to run Night Tokyo well, so that they could give Lingzi a surprise when she returned.

Ah Bao returned to the Peace Hotel dejectedly, where Uncle pointed out Ah Bao's problems to his face.

He appears to be loyal and righteous, but in reality, those women have feelings for Ah Bao, while he only feels loyalty to them. Back then, Ah Bao went to Japan by chance because of Wang Mingzhu, and that's how he met Lingzi. Now, because of Wang Mingzhu, he and Lingzi have a conflict—this is a fated, ill-fated relationship.

As expected, San Yang Brand became a famous brand in Shanghai. No. 27 on the Bund held an awarding ceremony and celebration banquet for San Yang Brand. However, Jin Hua found that A Bao's name was not on the guest list, so she called Uncle to confirm.

Uncle told Jinhua directly that the reason Abao continued to do foreign trade business was entirely for Wang Mingzhu, hoping that she could fulfill her dream from back then. But now that Wang Mingzhu is no longer at No. 27, there is naturally no need to continue.

Ah Bao's reason for not attending the celebration party wasn't just that. He had come to Hong Kong to work on his own brand, and was there to discuss clothing business at the Peninsula Hotel as a consultant for his clothing company's IPO. However, he unexpectedly discovered that his first love, Xue Zhi, was working as a waitress there.

Xuezhi was stunned to find herself encountering Abao here.

Ah Bao didn't want Xue Zhi to continue suffering, so he advised her to return to Shanghai to do business.

Xuezhi had no desire to go back, after all, she was a well-off boss in Hong Kong with her family and acquaintances, and there was no way she could go back.

When Ah Bao heard Xue Zhi say this, he asked Xue Zhi to be his representative in Hong Kong, which would also give Xue Zhi a better life.
Upon hearing this, Xuezhi chuckled and said, "Abao, you don't think I'm just working here as a waitress, do you? Actually, I'm only working here for the connections. The Peninsula Hotel is the most famous hotel in Hong Kong; you often meet wealthy people here. I'm currently the general manager of IKEA's Hong Kong branch, but the boss isn't doing much business right now, so I'm working here."

Abao paused for a moment after hearing this, then said, "You said you invested in IKEA, so what does that company have to do with Zhao Shucheng?"

Upon hearing this, Xuezhi said, "This is Zhao Sheng's company, but he is currently focusing on Shanghai, so there is no business here for the time being. I will manage it."

"I didn't expect you to know him too. I thought he only did business in Shanghai."

Xuezhi smiled and said, "You're wrong. If his visa hadn't expired and he had stayed here, he might have become a true stock market guru in Hong Kong long ago. He came to Hong Kong's stock market with only one million dollars and made tens of millions in just a few months, giving those big players a profound lesson. If he hadn't lacked funds, he might have been able to complete a successful stock market acquisition."

Abao was surprised that Xuezhi actually admired Zhao Shucheng, and his expression immediately turned sour. However, seeing that the other party was doing well, he was finally relieved.

Ah Bao has four years left on his promise to her, so there's no rush.

Xuezhi asked Abao if he had a girlfriend, and when Abao said no, she claimed that she had already found her other half and told Abao to see her again in four years.

Two months later, Abao returned to Shanghai and asked her uncle for help with several large orders from Hong Kong that she had brought back. Meiping, of course, also heard the news and bought some pastries to visit her uncle, hoping he could help Abao complete the order. However, her uncle told her that Abao had already directly contacted Jinhua to make them.

This made Mei Ping very angry. She felt that A Bao looked down on her. She was no longer the Mei Ping she used to be, yet A Bao still despised her. Naturally, she was determined to make something of herself and let A Bao know that she could succeed without relying on him.

Zhao Shucheng also knew that Wang Mingzhu was not invited to the Three Sheep Celebration Party, and that Wang Mingzhu had been working in the warehouse of the Foreign Trade Corporation for the past two months, with no indication of being transferred back.

He found Wang Mingzhu and said, "Miss Wang!"

Wang Mingzhu was pleasantly surprised to see Zhao Shucheng and said, "Mr. Zhao, what brings you here?"

Zhao Shucheng smiled and said, "I came to see you, and also to know what Miss Wang's plans are."

"What plans could I possibly have? I'll just do what I love and love what I do. Sooner or later, I'll return to Number Twenty-Seven with my head held high."

Zhao Shucheng smiled and said, "And then?"

'Then, naturally, you should do your job well, right?'

Zhao Shucheng said, "What about your past dreams? You seemed to have said that your dream was to become the section chief of No. 27, but do you think you still have a chance? After what happened last time, even if you prove your innocence, it will be difficult to get promoted, right? After all, by the time you go back, your mentor will have already left, and there will even be people around your age who have become section chiefs. If you want to get promoted, you can either wait for them to get promoted or leave, or you can only continue to waste your time."

"What do you mean?"

Zhao Shucheng said, "It doesn't mean anything. It's just that there are a lot of salespeople at No. 27, and very few section chief positions. Miss Wang has good performance, is beautiful, and has good interpersonal relationships. If nothing unexpected had happened, the section chief position would definitely have been yours. But you are so dazzling, which is not a good thing for others. You are blocking their way. You are also too trusting and too naive, so you naturally don't realize that you are being envied. That's why you can only be here now."

Wang Mingzhu glared angrily at Zhao Shucheng and said, "Are you saying I'm brainless and not suitable for Number Twenty-Seven?"

"Of course not. I think that a straightforward person like Ms. Wang is better than those who are cunning and calculating. But to be honest, I don't think Ms. Wang's personality is very suitable for Bund 27, and it would be difficult for her to act freely."

Wang Mingzhu asked, "Oh, so what do you think I'm suited for? You can't possibly tell me that I'm only suited to stay in this warehouse, can you?"

"Of course not, I think Miss Wang is actually more suited to going into business."

Wang Mingzhu looked at Zhao Shucheng in surprise and asked, "You think I'm suited for business?"

She had never had such thoughts before. Since graduating, she had been working at Bund 27, and her goal had always been to become someone like her mentor. Besides, her parents told her to focus on her work.

"Of course, the environment is different now than when Miss Wang first graduated. A secure job is no longer what many people aspire to. I'm not wrong about you. Miss Wang is not suited for the treacherous world of officialdom; she's better suited for business, especially foreign trade."

"Look, you have many years of work experience at No. 27, you are very familiar with No. 27, and you are much more familiar with the foreign trade process than the average person. You have a will that ordinary people do not have, and you also have good vision. If you go into the foreign trade business, you will naturally have an advantage over others, and you can even say that you are not much worse than Mr. Bao."

Upon hearing this, Wang Mingzhu asked, "Do you really think so?"

"Of course, although people on Huanghe Road say that Miss Wang only has her current prestige because of Boss Bao, in my opinion, you two have a mutually beneficial relationship. Without Miss Wang, Boss Bao's first deal might not have gone so smoothly, and he wouldn't have been able to earn his first pot of gold, and he wouldn't have been able to grow so big later."

Wang Mingzhu smiled brightly and said, "President Zhao, I must say you have a good eye. Unlike those who only know how to gossip, when President Bao came to No. 27, his orders were so small that no one paid any attention to him. It was I who helped him. So without me, he really wouldn't have achieved what he has today."

Zhao Shucheng said with a smile, "So, Miss Wang, have you ever thought about going out on your own? With your connections at No. 27, you might not be much worse off than others if you go out on your own."

Wang Mingzhu shook her head and said, "President Zhao, I naturally understand your good intentions, but I can't leave now, at least not until I've cleared my name. If I leave, I'll leave with dignity and a clean record."

Zhao Shucheng nodded and said, "Of course I know that. I just reached an agreement with Miss Wang in advance. When Miss Wang is about to leave No. 27 to go solo, please give me a chance to partner with Miss Wang in foreign trade."

Wang Mingzhu nodded and said, "Of course, President Zhao has always had high hopes for me. My own funds aren't enough to support large orders, so I naturally need President Zhao's capital to expand and strengthen my business."

Looking at the spirited Wang Mingzhu, Zhao Shucheng seemed to see a future success story, as if someone was helping him expand his business empire.

Although Ah Bao brought back several clothing brands from Hong Kong and made new progress for the clothing company, he did not achieve his original goal of having Boss Ma's clothing brand replicate the success of Three Sheep.

When Zhao Shucheng learned of this news, Boss Ma's T-shirts had already been on the market at the clothing company for some time, but they had remained lukewarm and had not caused any stir.

Zhao Shucheng sighed inwardly, feeling that A Bao had been blinded by the success of San Yang and had not carefully considered the positioning of his new clothing brand, nor had he prepared a publicity plan.

It's important to understand that San Yang's success wasn't just due to A Bao's strategic planning, but also a result of perfect timing, favorable location, and harmonious relationships. The negotiations alone took almost half a year, and A Bao went to great lengths to find numerous channels to increase San Yang's brand awareness.

However, A Bao's new brand was more hype than substance. It didn't invite any celebrities to promote it, and there were no comparable brands. It even appeared in the clothing company alongside Hong Kong brands, so it was naturally overlooked.

After learning the result, Boss Ma was not discouraged, but he had no choice but to leave Shanghai. However, before leaving, he found A Bao and claimed that he would return to Nanjing Road one day.

Right downstairs at the Peace Hotel, Zhao Shucheng stopped Boss Ma.

Zhao Shucheng originally only wanted to cooperate with the other party, but after seeing Boss Ma's person, he almost blurted out "old fox". Boss Ma really looked too much like Xie Tingfeng, he was exactly like a young version of the old fox.

Boss Ma was surprised that Zhao Shucheng had stopped him and asked somewhat warily, "Who are you?" (End of Chapter)