Chapter 85: Partnership?

She was a thin, dark little girl, only seventeen or eighteen, timid and self-effacing. Because she was so slender, her eyes seemed especially large. She was not uneducated; she had graduated properly from junior college, majoring in foreign languages. She spoke English well, could carry on a conversation in French, and knew a little German too.

Wearing shoes that were a size too big, standing beside Xu Jier with her hands clasped nervously, she kept blinking those large eyes at the strangers from time to time, looking frightened of people and trying to press close to Xu Jier. Xu Jier herself was only a young girl, but at that moment she seemed like the older one, taking good care of Xiaoyou.

Aya said, “The paperwork is done. You’ll start at the company tomorrow. Don’t be afraid.”

Xiaoyou was very scared. Xu Jier told Aya that the girl had been working her way through school on her own since junior high, and had plenty of work experience, only she lacked confidence.

Compared with the bright, beautiful girls blessed by nature, Xiaoyou really was not pretty. Her cheekbones were a little high, and her skin was dark.

Compared with her, Aya suddenly felt much luckier. At the very least, she had never had to suffer in her working life. This girl not only had to help wash vegetables in the kitchen, but also had to look after the restaurant floor. She was doing the work of three people for one person’s pay, and when asked to quit, she even felt reluctant.

The salaries at Eiffel were indeed quite good, but that was for the front-of-house staff. In the kitchen, Xiaoyou was only a kitchen helper, earning just a little over three thousand a month. The girl was reluctant to buy clothes, and it looked as though even where she lived was make-do and shabby.

Just as the two of them came in, a young man driving a Cayenne followed them inside, and Xiaoyou grew even more afraid. She hurriedly shrank behind Xu Jier, not daring to lift her head.

Aya could not help laughing. She glanced at Xu Jier, and in her heart she was also thinking that this little girl probably knew a thing or two about Yang Changfeng. It seemed that if she wanted to understand him, this girl would be an excellent bridge.

She was also helpless. She had only just left the company, and now she had to go back again. But there was no choice. Chen Aijia had already admitted her mistake, and to keep pressing the matter would be going too far. Besides, after so long working together, and with the working conditions being so good, Aya truly did not know whether she could adapt to another job after leaving the company.

After they entered, Sun Zhaoxing rolled his eyes at the man and sneered, “Well now, divorced and you’ve even changed cars. A Bugatti Veyron too. It may not be a limited edition, but it still costs over ten million, right? What, did you squeeze a lot of divorce money out of your senior sister?”

The man was obsequious and fawning. In front of the one surnamed Sun, he did not dare act the least bit presumptuous.

“I really don’t understand why Boss Chen ever fancied you in the first place, you spineless piece of trash,” Sun Zhaoxing mocked, tapping the table. “Got anything to eat? Just throw together something. I’m starving.”

Yang Changfeng watched Chen Aijia go to settle the bill and said, “Are you all just naturally cheap? This place charges high prices, and the food isn’t necessarily all that good. Yet whenever you have nothing to do, you come eat at these so-called high-end restaurants. Do you think it makes you look especially classy?”

Sun Zhaoxing was displeased and cursed, “Who are you calling cheap? I’ll eat whatever I run into. Otherwise, you could treat us to hotpot.”

At this hour, what was there left to eat?

No one in the restaurant dared to stop Yang Changfeng and demand compensation. If they really tried to argue with him, once Xu Jier filed a complaint, Eiffel would have to shut down for rectification again, and the boss would surely take it out on them, the employees.

Forget it. Nothing important had been damaged anyway, so there was no need for compensation.

Outside, they found a noodle shop nearby and ate their fill. Yang Changfeng told Chen Aijia and Aya to take the two girls back first, but the girls were unwilling.

Xu Jier protested, “Brother, we’re doing fine. Don’t worry about us. Xiaoyou is living with me now, and nobody dares bully us anymore. Just rest easy.”

That made sense too. Yang Changfeng was not the kind of person who forced others to obey him completely. He handed all the change in his pocket to Xu Jier and told her and Xiaoyou to take a car back. Chen Aijia gave them the address clearly and told them to look for Aya when they arrived tomorrow morning.

“What are you going to do?” Yang Changfeng was very dissatisfied. She was the boss; why was she dumping everything on others?

Chen Aijia said, “I’m going to clean up the company. Some people are no longer useful. The company doesn’t support idlers. I’ll hold a meeting tomorrow morning and dismiss them. You handle the outside matters as you see fit. From now on, no one at the company will be telling you what to do anymore.”

Sun Zhaoxing laughed. “Old brother, why not just come work for me? Later we can open a gym. When I’m not in Jiangzhou, you’ll be the boss. How free would that be?”

A gym?

Was this Sun fellow crazy? What kind of gym was he opening?

Sun Zhaoxing said helplessly, “Do you think I want this? If I don’t have a little asset under my name, whenever people ask about me outside, they’ll just say I’m drifting through life. Even if it’s only a small business, that’s better, isn’t it?”

“But I can’t stay in Jiangzhou forever. Boss Chen, how about helping out and putting in some capital? Count it as a big share on your end, as long as it’s in my name.”

Chen Aijia thought for a moment, then looked at Yang Changfeng. “How about the four of us go in together?”

Yang Changfeng waved a hand. “I’ll pass. I’ll put in the money, and give my girl a little stake.”

With Young Master Sun’s name attached, the gym could be turned into a club, and at the very least it would make some money. This could also give Xu Jier a more stable source of income.

Xu Jier shook her head. She was not a greedy person.

“I don’t want it!” she said, pressing her lips together. The shape of her face was very much like her brother’s.

Yang Changfeng stared, only to be stared back at by the girl.

Her reasoning was quite sound. “I have hands and feet. Why should I take so much? You’ve already given me plenty of money, and I know that’s your own. Once I save up more from my own work, Xiaoyou and I have already agreed that we’ll open our own shop. We don’t want yours.”

Xiaoyou nodded vigorously. The place she had originally been living in had gone up in price, and when she was looking for a new place to stay, Xu Jier happened to be looking for someone to share expenses and cut costs, so the two girls got to know each other that way.

Chen Aijia said, “That’s fine too. When they open their shop, I’ll help them. Let’s have the four of us be partners. We’ll only put in money and take care of nothing else. As for how it’s run, Young Master Sun, you handle that. We won’t interfere. Would that work?”

“Seven million. I’ll provide the venue and put in the biggest share. I’ll take forty percent, and the remaining three of you can divide the rest equally,” Sun Zhaoxing said generously. It was obvious he was the one taking the loss.

But this guy just wanted something to do, and he did not seem to care much about anything else, so they could only let him have his way.

A gym worth more than ten million was no longer just a gym. It was a club.

Sun Zhaoxing sounded quite serious. He said he would send over the proposal later. According to his idea, whether the gym made money was one thing, but its image had to be impressive. It had to be shaped into one of Jiangzhou’s most distinguished private clubs, using fitness and sports as its signature attraction, drawing in the social elite, and gradually developing into an upscale forum on the model of the Jiangzhou Economic Forum.