I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

In the suite where Zhou Man was staying

This suite is much larger than Shen Kang's room. In addition to the bedroom, there is also a large living room with dark wood flooring and a light beige wool carpet. A set of Chinese mahogany sofas and imported genuine leather sofas form the reception area, and there is a door on the wall next to it.

That's the door to the next room, which can only be opened from this side. It's for the guests' attendants in the suite, and Ding Ling will be staying there tonight—of course, this attendant's room also requires an extra fee.

In addition to these, the suite also has a study.

Zhou Man didn't go to rest for the time being; she was in the study looking at documents, while Ding Ling sat beside her, organizing materials.

The document Zhou Man was looking at was about Haobo Group.

Currently, Haobo Group is exploring a dual-engine model, namely "asset management + Haobo Hotel Management" going hand in hand. However, judging from these documents, Haobo Group's asset management segment is not progressing smoothly, and some investments are in a loss-making state.

"Ding Ling,"

Suddenly, Zhou Man spoke up without even looking up, "What do you think of Sun Hongjun?"

Ding Ling paused what she was doing and thought for a moment.

She was brought to Qianlin Province by Zhou Man, so she was a newcomer to the place. However, after a few months of getting acquainted, Ding Ling had basically figured out and mastered the business and personnel of Shengyuan Group in Qianlin Province.

This includes Sun Hongjun.

"We do have the ability," Ding Ling and Zhou Man said frankly, "but we lack interpersonal skills and don't belong to any faction."

Zhou Man understood Ding Ling's meaning—not belonging to any faction, and naturally not to her elder brother's faction either.

"Where is Dai Wangyan?"...

Zhou Man called out a few more names, and Ding Ling answered them one by one, covering every detail and supplementing any omissions Zhou Man might have made.

After asking a few names, Zhou Man looked up from the documents in front of her, her fingers tapping unconsciously on the paper as if she were thinking.

After a long pause, she stopped and slowly said, "Since we arrived in Qianlin Province, we've mainly been familiarizing ourselves with the situation these past few months, with very little actual work. Now that we're fairly familiar with it, it's time to start doing something."

"With the introduction of the four trillion yuan stimulus plan, large-scale infrastructure construction is the main focus. In the next few years, the real estate market should usher in a golden period. I am personally in charge of this aspect."

"In addition, companies in industries such as livestock farming and food will also take a series of actions. As an important part of the group, Haobo Hotel Group will certainly be no exception."

"Haobo Hotel can no longer stay confined to the southwest region. We need to be bold and take the initiative to establish our brand awareness. Xiahai is a great location to plant our flag, and Haobo needs to open its first store there."

At this point, Zhou Man began to give instructions.

"Ding Ling, you will fly to Xia Hai in a few days to conduct business research and cooperation resource work for Haobo Group's first store in Xia Hai."

To open a Haobo Hotel in Xia Hai, you need to go there to do research and resource work? Ding Ling was a little puzzled, but still answered "yes".

"Also, please investigate these projects."

As Zhou Man spoke, she took out several documents from the files in front of her and placed them in front of Ding Ling.

These are some of the loss-making investment projects of Haobo Hotel Group, all of which are related to Xia Hai's securities market.

"Investigate secretly," Zhou Man emphasized again.

Ding Ling finally understood what Zhou Man wanted to do.

"Understood, Mr. Zhou."

Zhou Man continued, "Of course, you're not a hotel professional after all. This is Haobo Hotel's first foray into Xiahai, so it's very important. We need an experienced and professional hotel general manager to ensure everything goes smoothly. I think Sun Hongjun would be a good fit as the general manager of this Xiahai branch."

At this point, Zhou Man laughed, "After all, Shen Kang had a very good opinion of him, and after hearing about my Xia Hai store plan, he strongly recommended him to me."

Although she never told Shen Kang about these things, if the mother and son don't say anything, who would know the truth?

"Ding Ling, take him with you when you go to Xia Hai."

Ding Ling nodded, "Understood."

After thinking for a moment, he added, "President Zhou, should I spread the word that Sun Hongjun got involved with Shen Kang, which is why he was appointed as the general manager of the Xia Hai store?"

Zhou Man said, "Don't tell anyone yourself, but spread this rumor through other channels."

"clear."

Ding Ling thought for a moment, then asked, "President Zhou, what level of commitment do I need to make regarding the Xia Hai store? Do I mean a full-fledged project, or something else?"

Zhou Man shook her head. "Of course you'll go there with the goal of actually making it happen, but who can predict the future? If there's a major upheaval at the top of Haobo Group and things become unstable internally, then of course we'll have to put the plan on hold and deal with the internal turmoil."

Upon hearing this, Ding Ling understood the situation.

……

next morning

After getting up early and washing up, Shen Kang prepared to call Zhou Man to ask her what the plans were for breakfast and whether she wanted to eat together.

Before I could even take out my phone, the doorbell rang.

When Shen Kang opened the door and saw the person outside, he was speechless.

There stood a woman outside his door. She had a sallow complexion, short hair that barely covered her ears, and bangs and hair on the sides that obscured much of her face. She also wore large black-rimmed glasses that covered half of her face. She was dressed in a loose-fitting brown hotel uniform, looking exactly like a cleaning lady from the hotel's housekeeping department.

"...Mr. Zhou, cplay, huh?" Shen Kang couldn't help but complain.

The person outside the door was Zhou Man.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Man was somewhat disappointed. "Is it really that easy to recognize him?"

Shen Kang looked her up and down a few more times, then shook his head. "Actually, it's alright. People who don't know you well probably won't recognize you. Especially since you even wore makeup... What is this, special effects makeup?"

"I guess so, I had a makeup artist do my makeup."

Hearing Shen Kang say this, Zhou Man finally felt a little relieved. "As long as he doesn't recognize me, that's fine."

Shen Kang asked, "So why did you make it like this?"

Zhou Man said casually, "Oh, it's nothing. I just happened to be here for research, and it just so happened that you two both had 'performances' today. I didn't have anything else to do, so I thought I'd go and watch them both."

"It's alright over there with Qiuzhu; probably not many people recognize me. But over there, some people might have seen me before. If I just went there like that, it might cause some trouble, so that's how it ended up. In the end, I'll be a staff member at your venue."

After listening, Shen Kang gave her a thumbs up, "You're really awesome, you can really get things done."

Then he said, "Perfect timing! I was just about to call you to ask what you're planning to have for breakfast. Are you going to eat alone, or with me and He Qiuzhu, or what?"

Zhou Man thought for a moment and said, "Let's go eat with the people from your school."

She was quite happy with Shen Kang and He Qiuzhu's daily campus life. Although it wasn't exactly daily campus life now, it was still considered "extracurricular activities," and she wanted to participate.

"That's fine too. Then I'll say you're a distant aunt."

Zhou Man's eyebrows shot up immediately. "What aunt? My distant cousin!"

"Look at yourself now, do you think anyone would believe you're my cousin?"...

While arguing with Zhou Man, Shen Kang closed the door and went directly to Ma Liang's room with Zhou Man. He finally confirmed Zhou Man's identity at this moment—a distant cousin named Xiao Hong, who worked as a waitress at the Haobo Hotel.

When Ma Liang came out and saw Zhou Man, he was taken aback. "Cleaning guest rooms so early?"

Shen Kang said, "No, she's my distant cousin, Xiao Hong. She works as a waitress here. She knew I was here, so she came to see me and have a meal with me."

Ma Liang glanced at Zhou Man again and obediently greeted her, "Hello, cousin."

He had only met Zhou Man once yesterday, and although he was deeply impressed by her overall image as a "wealthy young woman from a prominent family and a powerful businesswoman," he couldn't recognize her now that she had changed her appearance, deliberately concealed her face, and even applied special effects makeup.

Seeing that Ma Liang, whom she had met yesterday, did not recognize her, Zhou Man was quite happy. She smiled and replied, feeling a little girlishly excited, finding it quite amusing.

After the three reunited, they went to find He Qiuzhu.

When He Qiuzhu opened the door and saw Zhou Man, she was also taken aback.

She was about to ask President Zhou what he was doing when Shen Kang spoke first, explaining Zhou Man's current identity.

"He Qiuzhu, this is my distant cousin Xiao Hong, you've met her before. She heard we were staying here, so she came to visit us today."

After saying that, he winked at He Qiuzhu.

Upon hearing this, He Qiuzhu's eyes lit up, blinking as if she found it quite amusing, and she obediently greeted her, "Hello, cousin."

This was the first time Zhou Man had heard He Qiuzhu call her "cousin," and she was quite pleased, so she smiled and replied with "hello."

Afterwards, the group went to find the others to meet up for breakfast.

Shen Kang and Ma Liang walked in front, while Zhou Man and He Qiuzhu walked behind, whispering to each other.

Shen Kang was lost in thought, unsure if they were talking badly about him.

Ma Liang leaned closer and whispered, "Is she your cousin or He Qiuzhu's cousin? She seems closer to He Qiuzhu."

"Oh, didn't I just say? He Qiuzhu has met her before, they know each other, they're quite close, and they've even slept in the same bed." Shen Kang casually brushed it off.

After inviting Ye Jintong and Qian Mingen along, the group went to the Chinese restaurant on the 3rd floor for breakfast.

……

The Haobo Hotel sponsored breakfast for the participants of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, located in the Chinese restaurant on the 3rd floor. Meal vouchers were given upon check-in; participants could simply use the corresponding vouchers to dine.

A group of students were walking towards the Chinese restaurant. The two boys in the lead were chatting quite enthusiastically—to be precise, one of them was very talkative, while the other was not very talkative.

The talkative young man, with a square face and looking to be in his early twenties, was Pang Dehai, the captain of the Sanshan Academy team. He was currently talking non-stop to the guy next to him: "...It is the provincial capital after all. Even though it is a five-star hotel, it is more luxurious than the five-star hotel in our Sanshan City."

Seeing that the person next to him didn't respond, Pang Dehai continued, "Oh, right, for a while I went to that five-star hotel in our city every day. You know, I run a campus M magazine, which sells GG. Those big bosses often stay in hotels, so in order to persuade them to submit GG to our M magazine, I tried every means to contact and run around to them."

"It's always tough at first. People are naturally distrustful of us since we're still college students, and there are quite a few who make things difficult. But once a deal is struck, those bosses are actually quite easy to talk to. I remember once, a boss who made his own brand of watches was quite difficult at first. I almost knelt down and called him 'daddy.' But after we reached an agreement, he was quite easy to talk to. Especially when our issues of M magazine were published, which led to an increase in their watch sales, that boss was so happy that he specially booked a table at that hotel, invited me over, proactively toasted me and apologized, and even extended GG's subscription for another 10 issues on the spot..."

The boy next to him listened silently, feeling very frustrated.

The boy was Yao Shubin, the captain of the Pingxi College team.

Yao Shubin bumped into Pang Dehai's team from Sanshan College last night when a group of people from Hepingxi College went down to have dinner.

When the Sanshan College team arrived, they hadn't yet figured out which restaurant to dine at, since the Haobo Hotel had several restaurants. Yao Shubin and his team, on the other hand, had already been there all afternoon and figured out which restaurant to go to. Seeing this, Yao Shubin kindly went up to them, introduced them, and took the initiative to lead them to their restaurant.

Then it got stuck.

This morning, Pang Dehai took the initiative to call and invite us to have breakfast together, so the two teams came over together.

Throughout the journey, Pang Dehai kept talking, pulling Yao Shubin aside to recount his "entrepreneurial past," which made Yao Shubin very depressed.

Yao Shubin felt a pang of nostalgia for Shen Kang.

At least, when he was with Shen Kang and the others, Yao Shubin could give a thorough account of the story of "Zhuangyuan Street" and demonstrate his rich historical knowledge to everyone.

At other times, Shen Kang was also very low-key and never said anything nonsense, mostly letting them do the talking. Yao Shubin felt very comfortable with this kind of interaction.

Of course, at the end, Shen Kang did give face remotely. However, it was someone else who gave face voluntarily, not Shen Kang. Shen Kang didn't use this incident to brag; instead, he quietly left the group and went to his room. Therefore, Yao Shubin really didn't dislike Shen Kang at all.

Now that he has Pang Dehai as a comparison, Yao Shubin misses Shen Kang even more and realizes how good Shen Kang is.

After Pang Dehai's long-winded speech, the group arrived at the reception desk in the lobby of the Chinese restaurant, took out their meal tickets, and entered.

Upon entering, you'll see that the Chinese restaurant on the third floor has private rooms and a main dining area. The main dining area is filled with square tables, each seating six people.

At this moment, the lobby was already quite full of people, including ordinary hotel guests and students who had come to participate in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition.

Pang Dehai, Yao Shubin, and their group walked over and quickly found two empty tables.

Since each table has a limited number of seats, the two teams obviously need to be seated at two separate tables.

Finally, he didn't have to listen to his boasting anymore. Yao Shubin breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to lead the people from Pingxi Academy to sit down at the table on the left.

Pang Dehai, however, seemed to want to say more and suggested, "How about we put the two tables together? That way, everyone can sit together and it will be more lively to eat."

As he spoke, he even made a gesture as if he was really going to move the table.

The tonic... Yao Shubin felt like crying.

Fortunately, someone stepped in and stopped it.

She is a hotel employee.

The breakfast at the Haobo Hotel is available in both buffet and à la carte options.

The hotel provided the participating teams with an à la carte breakfast. Therefore, when they arrived, two waiters also came with menus.

Upon seeing that Pang Dehai intended to share a table, a waiter quickly stopped him, "Excuse me, sir, sharing tables is not allowed here. If you would like to sit together, we can book a private room."

Pang Dehai felt a little embarrassed, gave a dry laugh, and asked, "Why can't I do that?"

The waiter simply gave an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, sir, that's just our hotel's policy."

Pang Dehai felt as if people around him were watching and laughing at him, and his face flushed. He quickly said, "Then let's get a private room."

The waiter said, "Okay. However, your voucher only covers set meals in the main dining area. Private rooms are not included and will require an additional fee, with a minimum spend of 80 yuan per person."

Pang Dehai quickly calculated in his mind that at 80 yuan per person, it would cost them six or seven hundred yuan. Moreover, since he was the one who booked the private room, it was obviously impossible for everyone to split the bill; he would have to pay for it himself.

Upon thinking this, Pang Dehai immediately hesitated, but he was too proud to back down now and didn't know what to do.

Fortunately, a student from Sanshan College said, "If it's 80 yuan per person, then it'll be 600 or 700 yuan for all of us. Oh well, Dahai, let's just eat in the main hall."

Pang Dehai breathed a sigh of relief and went along with it, "That's true, we've already paid for the meal tickets, so let's not waste them. Let's eat in the lobby then."

Then, he added to the waiter, "Really, we can't share a table? I've stayed in plenty of five-star hotels, and I've never heard of such a rule. Why don't you go ask your manager?"

He was just making an excuse, and the waiter would most likely just say, "Sorry, that's our hotel's policy," and then he wouldn't bring it up again.

Unexpectedly, someone walked over at that moment.

"What happened?"

The visitor was a man in his early twenties, Sun Yu, the deputy manager of the catering department.

He came to work early this morning and was on duty here. He saw that there seemed to be some trouble here, so he came over.

"Manager Sun." The waiter greeted him as he approached and then explained that Pang Dehai wanted to share a table.

After hearing the whole story, Sun Yu thought for a moment, the things his uncle had said last night flashing through his mind... These people had all come to participate in this competition with Shen Kang, so they probably knew each other and were friends...

Soon, Sun Yu said, "Rules are rules, but people are flexible. Our hotel's most important principle is to satisfy our guests. Let's put the tables together and help these students."

The two waiters were taken aback, but since Deputy Manager Sun had said so, they had nothing more to say and helped Pang Dehai and his group put the two tables together.

Sun Yu gave Pang Dehai a polite smile and asked, "Are you satisfied, student?"

Pang Dehai nodded repeatedly, "Satisfied, satisfied."

He was quite puzzled, wondering why the hotel had suddenly agreed to share a table when they had just disagreed. In the end, he could only conclude that the hotel's service was excellent and that customer satisfaction was truly their top priority.

After the two tables were put together, Sun Yu saw that Pang Dehai and the others had no further requests, so he left.

After everyone placed their orders, the two waiters left.

A male student from Sanshan College finally voiced his doubts: "Why did you disagree to share a table just now, but then suddenly agreed?"

Yao Shubin was frustrated and wanted to ask the same question—"Yeah, why did they disagree just now, but then suddenly agree? It's ruined our breakfast because they're all sitting together!"

Pang Dehai then spoke leisurely, as if to say, "You guys are ignorant, aren't you?", "That's how five-star hotels are. In addition to meeting the standards in terms of facilities, the service quality is also very high. Everything is based on the principle of satisfying the guests."

Upon hearing this, everyone seemed to understand, "No wonder everything is so expensive, it certainly makes sense."

Pang Dehai added, "Also, it might be related to those two waiters. The saying 'the lower-level employees are the hardest to deal with' often applies here; they're the ones who are most likely to make things difficult, while many mid- to high-level employees are much more understanding. I've encountered this situation quite often in my business dealings..."

Pang Dehai began his "great achievements" presentation again.

Yao Shubin became depressed again.

What's even more frustrating is that the two girls from their Pingxi College team seem genuinely interested in what Pang Dehai is saying, listening with great interest.

No, he's just trying too hard to show off, can't you tell? Yao Shubin was even more frustrated when he saw the way the two female classmates looked.

Yao Shubin's current mindset is similar to that of girls who are heartbroken that many boys can't tell the difference between a "green tea" girl and a "green tea b*tch."

Lu Zijian didn't seem to care much, and kept his head down playing a game on his phone.

He's pretty laid-back.

Anyway, Yao Shubin liked to show off like this all the time, and he was used to it. After coming to the Haobo Hotel, the people he met, like Yu Zeliang and Pang Dehai, were just upgraded versions of Yao Shubin, no different from each other.

As Pang Dehai continued his eloquent narration, not only the people at their table, but also those at the two tables next to them, frequently turned their gazes over, seemingly finding something interesting in it.

This made Pang Dehai even more enthusiastic, enjoying the feeling of being the center of attention.

Just then, another group of people entered the Chinese restaurant.

As soon as I entered and walked this way, people kept greeting me.

"Good morning, Lao Shen."

"Good morning, Shen Kang."