Chapter 100: What Kind of Female Secretary Can't Go on a Business Trip?

In the end, Manager Zhang did everything in his power to persuade Rang Weidong and his secretary to take a few artistic photos, insisting they would surely come in handy for major occasions later on.

Some of the poses included Rang Weidong sitting down while the secretary stood gracefully beside him. They tried to get Shen Cuiyue to join in as well, but the girl wouldn't even take off her mask; one look at her eyes and it was clear she was politely but firmly declining. Rang Weidong figured she was someone from the "gray" side of life who didn't want to leave any digital footprint. He didn't push it.

He paid the bill in full regardless. Based on his experience from ordering takeout and eating barbecue, you should never try to get a free ride on the work of a skilled professional.

Zhang Lanzhi, however, was quite intense and earnest during the shoot. She had incredibly high standards for her image, agonizing over the placement of every single strand of hair. Yet, once the photos were taken, her expression would turn serious again, and she would follow him with her lips pressed tightly together, silently observing the conversations between him and the others.

Rang Weidong took the opportunity to deliberate: "Tonight, you two go discuss the details with them. Pay each of them five hundred first, and get a complete written guide on how to process the ingredients and add the seasonings. I’ll head over immediately to visit the peer in Yuezhou that Uncle Zhao mentioned to learn the ropes. Once I return and confirm the flavor, I’ll pay another thousand, and settle the rest upon delivery. From then on, it’ll be two thousand a month in salary each; I’ll come over to collect the money and bring it to you."

During the actual discussion, Shen Cuiyue wasn't at the table. She didn't ask why he was going to Yuezhou; she simply took the address and the cash and agreed.

Rang Weidong had to buy a train schedule on the spot to check, only to return from Shangzhou empty-handed: "Damn it, there’s no direct train from here to Yuezhou? The earliest one is tomorrow morning."

Shen Cuiyue looked at him apologetically: "I’ve never been away before."

Zhang Lanzhi was even less experienced.

Rang Weidong simply said his goodbyes: "Either way, we have to go to the train station to buy tickets. We'll see if I make it back tonight. Comrade Zhang, whether you go back to Rongdu or return to the factory is up to you. I have the key to the office at the former barracks guesthouse; you can go there to rest. Just give the key to the manager when you leave."

To his surprise, the secretary refused the key: "I’m going to Yuezhou with you."

Rang Weidong laughed: "Didn't a word of what I said before dinner sink in? What would you even be doing trailing after me? Back in Rongdu, at least Xiao Dong could help me streamline the university and sales work, but I wouldn't dare entrust sales to you. Even with the exclusive agreement I signed with Old Cheng, I still don't trust you."

The masked girl's eyes brightened, and she took the initiative to leave: "I’m heading back to the shop first. Stay safe. I’ll make sure everything is handled with Uncle Zhao’s side."

She created space with perfect timing.

Rang Weidong felt quite comfortable with her: "Look at her—when I run this food factory, she can help me contact the head chefs, she doesn't complain about living in a dormitory with a bunch of fellow migrant workers, and she stays busy at the shop all day. Not to mention that bit of 'underworld' experience she mentioned earlier, about how to guard against people like Old Jin and his crowd. What can you do to help me?"

The secretary, who had likely held herself in high regard since childhood, bit her lip. He didn't know what she was thinking, but standing there by the roadside in her tall, fair stature and military uniform, she was quite a sight.

Even a straight-laced guy like him thought she looked good, but he wouldn't let his heart soften: "Others might think it's prestigious to have a female secretary, but I don't need that. I’m out here suffering and getting things done. If you're afraid of being criticized by the factory, just go back to Rongdu and enjoy your quiet life; the atmosphere there is better suited for that."

He waved his hand and prepared to walk away.

The secretary looked like a rabbit pushed into a corner: "I can endure hardship too, I... I have an introduction letter! You need the paperwork to find people!"

Oh? He hadn't realized that while she was sitting there stuffed from dinner, she had been silently absorbing everything.

Rang Weidong's plan was to go there and try to use his old introduction letter from the *Sunshine Daily* or the transfer order from the Shangzhou Regional Committee. If that failed, he’d just spend some money to stay there, eat, and ask the waiters. But he actually knew that most of these early domestic five-star hotels were for foreigners only; ordinary citizens weren't allowed to stay there, and sometimes they weren't even allowed to wander inside. Otherwise, if a bunch of country folk in old military uniforms were seen peering around, wouldn't it be a laughingstock for the foreigners?

Some people were very sensitive about that. He had seen it for himself when he and Gou Dan were walking around the Bund in Shanghai.

So, hearing this, his expression changed immediately: "You have an introduction letter? Let me see."

The secretary opened her black shoulder bag and actually pulled out a stack of blank introduction letters stamped with an official seal!

Damn, this was practically the equivalent of a fat translator handing a stack of travel permits to the Eighth Route Army during the War of Resistance. The Hongguang Factory hadn't even given Rang Weidong blank letters; after all, if someone used them for illegal activities and trouble ensued, the factory would be implicated and held accountable.

Rang Weidong reached out to take them, but the secretary dodged vigilantly: "Don't think you can just take them and run off on your own! I’m coming too!"

Rang Weidong reasoned with her: "Look, this is at least a week-long round trip. Train tickets and lodging are so expensive—adding another person will cost an extra hundred or even two hundred yuan..."

He never expected the secretary to say: "I have my own salary. I’ll pay for myself!"

Paying for her own business trip? What kind of spirit was this?

Rang Weidong was very puzzled: "What are you after? You don't seem like the type with such strong career ambition. Could it be... you just want to eat Yuezhou cuisine?"

To his surprise, Zhang Lanzhi quickly replied, "Yes, yes, exactly! I’ve heard that Yuezhou morning tea is delicious, and I want to go try it."

Well, well. Even in this era, there were "fairies" willing to travel thousands of miles just for morning tea. Rang Weidong had to give her credit.

Let's go.

Actually, he had always been a bit intimidated by the south, like Yuezhou or Pengzhen. He knew that all the big shots were heading south right now. It was arguably the region with the highest density of intelligent people in the country; it was a gathering of masters, a cutthroat battlefield. Yu Qili still hadn't really gotten involved there, and Rang Weidong felt he should stick to his own simpler path, at least for the initial stage of his "cowardly" development.

He was feeling a bit timid.

As it turned out, the advantages of having a secretary with an introduction letter became immediately apparent. The Jiangzhou train station was already packed. The migrant worker wave he had witnessed when he first went to Zhezhou and Shanghai had already turned the station square into a sea of people.

Crowds were sitting on the ground everywhere, making one wonder why they didn't go to the waiting room. But once you actually waited, you realized there were even more people. And they were all headed to Yuezhou. This was why Rang Weidong didn't want to squeeze through there. Just queuing for tickets took forever, and many people had been camping out in the square for days because they couldn't buy a ticket.

But he hadn't expected that Zhang Lanzhi, in her military uniform, could use the military lane—buy and go!

It was wonderful! The best part was that when Rang Weidong stood nearby and casually asked if there were any sleeper berths, the clerk replied that as long as they had an introduction letter, it was fine.

He had to pull Zhang Lanzhi over immediately and sign a letter on the spot! The combination of military status and a military factory was truly invincible. At that moment, the boss-man was even feeling a bit fawning. Last time he came back from Shanghai, he had to buy his sleeper ticket from a scalper.

Zhang Lanzhi, clearly also buying a sleeper ticket for the first time, tried desperately to act like it was a normal occurrence, but she was still visibly excited—just like the time she first climbed onto Rang Weidong’s large truck.

When the two of them left the ticket window, they were still being hounded by a long line of scalpers trying to hitch a ride on their luck. At that moment, Rang Weidong only realized that the secretary added a "buff" of agility and comfort. It wasn't until they got on the train that he discovered she also added a "social" buff.

Compared to the crowded, noisy, and cramped hard-seat carriage, the sleeper carriage was spacious and comfortable. Their neighbors were inevitably people from the class that could only buy tickets with introduction letters—either sales representatives from various units, officials attending meetings, or scientific intellectuals. There were even university professors.

Rang Weidong habitually bought two of the cheapest upper bunks, intending to sleep as soon as they got on. But Zhang Lanzhi, for once, tugged at his clothes, wanting to sit by the window to take a photo. She had an AX camera in her bag.

"Why are you being so pretentious?" the straight-laced Dong frowned, looking disgusted, but he still complied.

She was indeed a bit dawdling, striking various poses—resting her chin on her hand, looking longingly into the future, leaning against the window in deep thought. She even agonized over whether to wear her hat or not.

She was full of drama. If it weren't for the fact that a film camera required developing after the roll was finished, Rang Weidong felt that every shot would have been subject to her picky scrutiny and "retouching." As it was, they took seven or eight shots before they were done.

By the time they reached the second stop, Zhang Lanzhi excitedly pulled him to point outside. The Xishan factory, that third-line factory for optical equipment, was hidden right behind this platform. She didn't speak, but her refined, bright eyes expressed all her emotions.

Rang Weidong couldn't be bothered to decipher the complex components of her feelings; he just climbed onto his bunk to sleep. Researching the train schedule to figure out transfers was much more interesting than being pretentious here.

As it turned out, a gentleman in the lower bunk was attracted to the female soldier quietly leaning by the window. He moved to the seat opposite her and began enthusiastically striking up a conversation. Although Zhang Lanzhi ignored him with cold indifference, Rang Weidong still heard the man introduce himself as a teacher from Echang University. "Do you know Echang University? Echang is the city with the most university students in the country, and Echang University is the best university in Echang..."

Rang Weidong was shocked by this trivial knowledge. Shouldn't it be Pingjing or Shanghai? And in the eighties, how many university students were there? How could Echang have the most?

If he had a mobile phone, Rang Weidong would have certainly messaged his secretary, ordering her to use her "beauty trap" to extract more information. He leaned out to peek and felt the teacher certainly wouldn't have any interest in wasting breath on him.

He listened for a while, but just as the man was unilaterally displaying his feathers, the train attendant’s voice came over: "Sunflower seeds, peanuts, boxed lunches, boxed lunches..." He peeked again and, sure enough, found the secretary getting restless again.

He was a bit confused—you’re on a self-funded business trip, you can't buy a boxed lunch?

After enduring for a few minutes, the impatient secretary finally climbed the ladder and gently tugged at Rang Weidong's trouser leg: "Aren't you eating? I'm hungry."

Rang Weidong was annoyed: "Look, if I were on a business trip alone, I could sleep from morning till night, at most eating a boxed lunch. Why don't you eat a boxed lunch?"

The secretary actually said: "The food is so dirty..."

Damn it, she was just a typist at a third-line factory; how could she be so picky? But seeing her pouting in grievance and subconsciously adjusting her posture, he noticed the university teacher sitting by the window staring, his eyes fixed.

Rang Weidong decided to let it go; they were in the sleeper carriage only because of her. He had no choice but to take her to the dining car.

Just like when he took Gou Dan to eat train lunch boxes last time, it was still that kind of aluminum lunch box that had to be returned after eating. But now, the dining car actually cooked to order like a restaurant, and it wasn't too expensive. At least it wasn't as expensive as the Queen Restaurant.

Shredded pork with garlic sauce was two yuan; double-cooked pork was one yuan eighty. The menu even had braised shark fin!

Rang Weidong saw the secretary twisting and turning again, even wanting to order wine. He had to say, "Aren't you afraid you won't get shark fin in Yuezhou? That’s where it’s authentic. Just get full on the train."

Only then did Zhang Lanzhi settle down, as if she were a snake spirit that had changed its tune. But she ate with such relish that she wanted to take photos! She especially wanted to highlight the environmental characteristics of being on the train.

If it weren't for the fact that he was riding on the coattails of her introduction letter and military uniform, Rang Weidong’s blood pressure would have exploded. But he still took the opportunity to suggest: "Can you talk to people more? Which university has the best economic conditions? Which one has a photography club? That will make it easier for us to sell cameras."

The secretary, holding a small bowl of rice, was actually quite dedicated. "Mm, mm, mm," she replied, telling him to go eat two more mouthfuls so he could get back to work!