This evening, Qin Chuan's visit to the Yang family was highly rewarding.
Not only did his relationship with his future father-in-law improve, but even his usually aloof and cold mother-in-law seemed to have softened towards him, at least able to communicate normally and occasionally show a bit of care.
Only Yang Zimuo barely spoke a word to Qin Chuan throughout the entire drinking session, remaining cool and composed, sitting there.
After Yang Jingye, Yang Conglong, and Qin Chuan finished a bottle of wine, Chu Xiuying stopped them from drinking any more.
Qin Chuan, being perceptive, took the hint and proposed to leave.
"Xiaomo, go and see Qin Chuan off!"
Yang Jingye instructed his daughter.
Yang Zimuo hesitated for a moment before standing up.
"Uncle, Auntie, and Brother Long, I'll be heading off then. I'll be back after the new year to freeload some meals!"
Qin Chuan waved his hand, his social butterfly persona starting to emerge. As expected, his words immediately earned an eye-roll from his elder brother-in-law, and Yang Zimuo, standing beside him, also twitched the corner of her mouth.
Conversely, Yang Jingye thoroughly enjoyed such banter and chuckled, insisting that he must visit after the new year.
"Hurry up and go, you're treating my home like your own!"
Yang Zimuo nudged him, understanding this guy too well; he was the type who would take an inch if you gave him a mile. If you dared to show him a little softness, he would immediately push his luck.
This was also one of the reasons why she had maintained a cold demeanor and a very strong attitude. She truly feared that if she revealed even a sliver of warmth, this man would break through her defenses, leaving her to swallow all the resentment.
Why was it that after men made mistakes, it was always the women who ended up suffering and bearing the brunt? She intended to teach this guy a lesson, lest he bring back a whole troop of trouble later.
The two walked out of the courtyard, one after the other, Qin Chuan's car parked at the main gate.
However, Qin Chuan didn't get into the car immediately. Instead, his gaze was fixed intently on Teacher Yang's exquisite, picturesque face.
"Get in, it's getting late. If you don't leave, I'm going back to sleep!"
Yang Zimuo urged him.
"Why did you come back early?"
Qin Chuan ignored her urging and instead posed a question.
"This is my home, what business is it of yours whether I come back or not?"
Yang Zimuo retorted coolly.
But Qin Chuan's gaze remained intense, making Yang Zimuo a bit flustered.
"You wouldn't have, by any chance, known I was going home tomorrow, and predicted I'd definitely come to your place tonight, so you came back early! The purpose was to see me, because if we missed this chance, we wouldn't see each other again this year, and would have to wait until next year to meet..."
Qin Chuan stated his deduction.
Yang Zimuo acted as if she had heard the funniest joke in the world, her expression exaggerated as she said, "Qin Chuan, I really didn't realize you were even more narcissistic and thick-skinned than I thought!"
"Who says I have to go back tomorrow? Can't our company give us a day off early?"
Qin Chuan took his phone out of his pocket and waved it at Yang Zimuo, "I just messaged Su Xuan. She told me the company hasn't given everyone time off yet."
Yang Zimuo: "..."
Then she exclaimed in surprise, "When did you even get Su Xuan's phone number?"
Qin Chuan grinned slyly, "You don't need to worry about that. The point is, you were lying!"
With that, he opened the car door, got in, and started the engine.
Before leaving, he suddenly seemed to remember something and said to Yang Zimuo, who was standing outside, "Oh right, you also asked Ru Mei about our itinerary for the past few days..."
After speaking, he stepped on the gas and the car sped away, leaving Yang Zimuo standing there in a daze.
After a long moment, Yang Zimuo suddenly let out a shriek, clenched her fist, her face flushed with embarrassment, as if her deepest secret had been discovered.
"Traitors, all of you are traitors!!"
"I'll never trust anyone again..."
The villa's main door suddenly opened, and Chu Xiuying's figure appeared. She called out to her daughter, "Darling, what's wrong? I thought I heard you scream?"
"Mom, it's nothing! Just a bug on the ground!"
Yang Zimuo quickly regained her composure, feigning nonchalance.
"Qin Chuan has left, hurry back! It's cold outside!"
The next day, which was the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month.
This morning, all the thousands of employees at the Xiaomi factory were extremely happy because it was the day their factory was holding its annual meeting.
Everyone, from top to bottom, had been looking forward to this day.
Although the Xiaomi factory had only been open for a short three to four months, it had achieved nationally recognized results in this brief period, leading the pack by a wide margin. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a miracle.
Therefore, everyone was filled with anticipation for today's annual meeting. The entire factory area was lively early in the morning, with cars coming and going.
Some workers were decorating the grand hall for the annual meeting, while others were transporting various gifts, and some were running around busily, helping with odd jobs.
Large red couplets were pasted on all the gates of the factory area, creating a festive and joyful atmosphere.
At ten o'clock in the morning, the much-anticipated annual meeting began.
The venue for the meeting was the large cafeteria, which had the most space and could also provide shelter from the cold. Over a thousand employees had gathered, standing on the stage, a dense, black mass of people.
Someone with poor composure might have their legs go weak just by stepping onto the stage.
At ten oh five, Qin Chuan and Fang Rumei, amidst thunderous applause, stepped onto the stage together. These two bosses, a handsome man and a beautiful woman, immediately drew a flurry of camera flashes the moment they appeared.
As a dark horse enterprise that had recently emerged, every move of the Xiaomi factory was closely watched.
Even though Qin Chuan hadn't deliberately invited these media outlets, they had come uninvited.
"Good morning, brothers and sisters, and friends from the media!"
"I am Qin Chuan!"
"I am Fang Rumei!"
"First, we'd like to wish everyone an early Happy New Year!"
Qin Chuan and Fang Rumei stood on the stage, perfectly coordinated.
Below them, another round of thunderous applause erupted.
"This year's annual meeting is the first for our Xiaomi factory. As bosses and founders, we are very excited, but also filled with trepidation and unease."
Qin Chuan spoke into the microphone.
"Since the opening of the Xiaomi factory, it has been just over a hundred days in total. This short period, in human terms, is like an infant in swaddling clothes, requiring extreme care from adults."
"But to everyone's surprise, the products became so popular, incredibly popular, and even we didn't expect to achieve such results today."
At this point, Qin Chuan paused and continued:
"On behalf of the media, I would like to solemnly thank our supportive 'Mi Fans'!"
"Your adoration has left us overwhelmed!"
The two bowed simultaneously, and a murmur of discussion arose from the audience.
Everyone was attracted by Qin Chuan's sudden new term, 'Mi Fans.' What was a 'Mi Fan'? Wasn't that a type of food? Why was it being used here?
However, upon closer thought, the name was quite endearing and perfectly matched the product's positioning.
Those who bought Xiaomi MP3 products were indeed Mi Fans...
"Without you, there would be no Xiaomi factory today. You are our benefactors!"
"But at the same time, we are also very apprehensive, fearful that our company might start high and decline quickly, being a fleeting phenomenon..."
"To prevent such issues, we will allocate a large sum of capital and our most elite team to invest more in research and development, doing our utmost to improve the quality of our products and strictly control quality."
"We will also expand our after-sales service team. Wherever there are Xiaomi MP3 products in the future, our after-sales department will be there to help resolve any issues for everyone."
...
The lively first annual meeting of the Xiaomi factory thus began.
In the spacious, bright, and festive cafeteria, following Qin Chuan and Fang Rumei's speeches, bursts of enthusiastic applause occasionally erupted. Next were the awards ceremony and the lucky draw.
For this annual meeting, the Xiaomi factory had truly splurged. Leaders from the group leader level and above received bonuses. Some who were recognized with the title of "Outstanding Employee" received at least ten thousand, with some as high as one hundred thousand.
Although not as much as at Kunlun Laboratories, there were many more people here, making it a substantial sum in total.
Especially during the final lucky draw segment, over a thousand people took turns drawing prizes. The minimum prize was one hundred, and the maximum was ten thousand yuan. There were no blank tickets, which truly ignited the atmosphere of the entire annual meeting.
Additionally, for lunch, the Xiaomi factory had specifically hired chefs from a star-rated hotel to prepare the meal. The spread was very rich, with chicken, duck, fish, and meat, but no alcohol.
This was because everyone would still have to work after the annual meeting. The Xiaomi factory's production output was always tight and could not afford to stop.
The factory would not shut down during the New Year period, but anyone willing to work overtime would receive double pay.
It was believed that tomorrow morning, the front pages of major newspapers in Longcheng would be entirely dominated by the Xiaomi factory.