That guy could only be Xu Ye.

And fair enough. There were only so many people who knew her daughter’s phone number, and as for who would do a thing like this — apart from that little devil, there wasn’t a second candidate.

Jiang Meilin pretended nothing whatever had happened and got up to go cut fruit in the kitchen. Chen Qingqing hurriedly hid the parcel in a drawer, then took out her phone and fired off several messages to Xu Ye:

“Xu Ye! You lunatic!”

“Who told you to send me swimsuits?”

“Is there something wrong with you?”

“Don’t come find me today. If you do I won’t open the door.”

“I’m going to block you.”

“You’re so annoying.”

Xu Ye had pinned Chen Qingqing’s chat long ago, and he hadn’t put her messages on do not disturb either, so his phone went off several times in a row.

He picked it up, took one look and replied at once, smiling. “What are you losing your temper for? It’s not as if it’s anything serious. Didn’t we agree before that you’d teach me to swim over the summer?”

Xu Ye: “Besides, what I sent was perfectly respectable swimwear. It isn’t lingerie.”

Chen Qingqing: “A piece of underwear that doesn’t use as much fabric as two face masks — you call that respectable swimwear?”

Xu Ye: “Isn’t that just what they’re all like?”

Chen Qingqing: “Get lost.”

Chen Qingqing: “I’m not talking to you.”

Chen Qingqing: “Don’t come find me this evening.”

Xu Ye: “I’m coming.”

Xu Ye: “I’ll climb the wall to get in.”

“Message sent, but the recipient has declined to receive it.”

Xu Ye put the phone down helplessly, thinking that this evening he was going to have to do some serious coaxing.

…

The factory’s reform could more or less be brought to a close there. The next focus of the work was how to build the Youwei brand up properly — make the brand worth more, and get more people to know the name.

The most effective method was advertising, but advertising cost a great deal of money back then, and it wasn’t an easy trade to advertise in either, so Xu Ye wrote that option off straight away.

Another method was to find a brand ambassador. That cost a great deal too. Bringing in a celebrity would be absurdly expensive, and in this trade the celebrity might not be willing to do it anyway.

So Xu Ye intended to use a third method.

That was to bring in internet celebrities to sell the products.

A few years further on, this model would come to be called “internet celebrity selling.”

Bringing in internet celebrities to sell had two advantages. First, the price wouldn’t be too high; second, there was no shortage of candidates, and there would always be somebody willing to make the money.

At that thought Xu Ye opened the computer and typed straight into the search box: Bilibili.

He went to Bilibili’s home page.

Xu Ye started searching for outfit bloggers and dance bloggers, copying down their screen names and their business contact details one by one.

Zhang Xiaonuan came into Pei Youwei and Xu Ye’s office to look in whenever she had nothing to do. Seeing Xu Ye absorbed in the computer screen, she walked slowly over and glanced at it — and finding that Xu Ye was watching girls in very little clothing doing anime dance covers, she immediately pursed her lips and said with a face full of disdain, “Xu Ye, how can you be so dirty-minded? Watching this kind of thing in work hours.” [TL: 宅舞 — literally “otaku dance” — is a genre of amateur cover choreography to anime and game music, a staple of Bilibili.]

Xu Ye rolled his eyes and explained. “This is work.”

“Tch~”

Zhang Xiaonuan’s whole face said she didn’t believe it.

Seeing that, Xu Ye simply sent Zhang Xiaonuan the internet celebrity names and business contact details he had copied down that afternoon, and said with a completely straight face, “As it happens, I’ve got a job for you.”

“What job?”

“I’m planning to bring in internet celebrities to sell our products. The list I just sent you is some of the ones I found on Bilibili this afternoon. You contact them and say we’re interested in having them sell for us. If any of them are interested, pass the number to me and I’ll go into the details with them.”

Zhang Xiaonuan heard him out and glanced up at Pei Youwei without thinking about it. Pei Youwei said, amused, “What are you looking at me for? He’s a boss too. Just do as he says.”

Only then did Zhang Xiaonuan agree. She took out her phone, had a look at it, and went off to her own workstation next door to start adding all these business contacts on WeChat.

Six in the evening.

Xu Ye was packing up to leave for the day. Pei Youwei wanted to finish early today as well, and seeing Xu Ye get up she asked in passing, “Can I buy you dinner tonight?”

“Another day. I’ve upset my girlfriend today, so I have to go coax her.”

“That’s easy enough for you, though, right?”

“Don’t say that. Use a method once and it doesn’t work the second time.”

Xu Ye said helplessly, “She’s already blocked my messages this afternoon. I don’t even know now whether she’s really angry with me.”

Pei Youwei said, “Bring her over to the factory someday to hang out.”

“Sure.” Xu Ye finished packing up and waved. “I’m off. See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Once Xu Ye had left the factory Pei Youwei was ready to go home too — but she had barely got out the door when she saw Cao Bin coming toward her. “Boss. I’d like to talk to you.”

Pei Youwei paused. Then, thinking of what Xu Ye had said after the meeting that day, she answered quickly. “I’ve got something on right now. Tomorrow. Come find me in the office tomorrow morning.”

And without waiting for Cao Bin to reply she walked away.

She understood perfectly well that Cao Bin had waited for Xu Ye to leave on purpose before coming to her. If it really came to tomorrow, Cao Bin very likely wouldn’t come to the office to find her at all.

That Cao Bin would come to her privately — that little hooligan Xu Ye had guessed it in advance. Was the boy actually some kind of business genius?

…

He arrived at Red Leaf Estate with practiced ease.

The gate was shut fast, sure enough.

Xu Ye sent Chen Qingqing a message first, and when she didn’t reply he called — and she didn’t pick up either.

There was nothing for it. Xu Ye could only send his mother-in-law a message.

Before long Jiang Meilin came out into the yard and quietly opened the gate, and she even said to Xu Ye in a lowered voice, “She’s upstairs. Go on up yourself.”

Xu Ye walked in awkwardly and made his way to the door of Chen Qingqing’s room.

But when Jiang Meilin had secretly opened the gate and let Xu Ye in a minute before, Chen Qingqing had been standing at the window and had already seen it — and the moment Xu Ye came in she immediately locked her bedroom door from the inside.

It was the same now as it had been every Friday afternoon before this.

The feeling of not knowing whether Xu Ye would come find her was like waiting for a typhoon to arrive: afraid he wouldn’t come, and afraid he’d come on too strong.

“Knock, knock~”

Xu Ye tapped lightly at the door twice from outside, and hearing it, Chen Qingqing immediately clapped her hands over her ears.

Xu Ye put his ear to the door, and hearing no movement at all inside, he pitched his voice up at once and called, “Qingqing, open the door, Mommy wants to have a word with you.”

Chen Qingqing was very nearly lost for words.

Is this idiot taking me for a fool?

Seeing there was still no movement inside, Xu Ye sighed and said, “I was wrong, I was wrong. Open the door and I’ll apologize to you properly. All right?”

“I don’t want to see you right now.”

“But I want to see you. I’m begging you, open the door first. I’ll come in and kowtow to you if you like.”

Chen Qingqing was already holding back a laugh. She wrinkled her small nose. “What were you wrong about?”

“Wrong not to have told you in advance before I sent the swimsuits.”

“So next time…”

Before Chen Qingqing had finished, Xu Ye said at once, flatly and with total finality, “There won’t be a next time!”

Chen Qingqing heard that, arranged her expression, and only then went over and opened the door.

Xu Ye walked in cheerfully.

The room was exactly as it had been, unchanged in every particular. Xu Ye sat down at the foot of the bed and said, “Actually, two of the swimsuits I sent you were perfectly normal.”

“You’re still going.”

Chen Qingqing pouted and said with a snort, “It was my mom who opened the parcel today.”

“What? I put your name on it.”

“You still didn’t tell me in advance.”

Xu Ye reached out and took Chen Qingqing’s small hand, tipped his head up and grinned. “All right, all right. I was wrong.”

Chen Qingqing bestowed a dirty look on Xu Ye and pulled her hand straight back.

Xu Ye had been sitting in an office all day. He stretched and lay straight down on Chen Qingqing’s bed. A girl’s bed was soft and sweet-smelling, and lying on it was exceptionally comfortable.

Seeing that, Chen Qingqing went straight over, seized both his hands and tried to pull him up, muttering as she did, “Get up. I only just made that bed.”

Where would she find the strength to move Xu Ye?

Xu Ye pulled lightly, Chen Qingqing lost her balance, and she went straight down on top of him. Xu Ye rolled with it — and the two of them ended up locked in a very suggestive position on the bed.

Jiang Meilin came up the stairs meaning to ask whether Xu Ye would be staying for dinner shortly. She hadn’t set foot on the second floor before a voice came out of her daughter’s bedroom.

“Ow! You’re lying on my hair!”

(End of Chapter 257)