2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 83 The First Trip to Beicang

March 26, Saturday, 8:30 a.m.

The doors of Jinpeng Trading Co., Ltd. had barely opened when Li Yanning and her sister saw a tall girl standing at the entrance. The girl said in a clear voice, "Hello, may I ask if Mr. Tan Jincheng works here?"

The girl had fair skin and large, curious eyes as she looked around the office.

She wore a small ponytail with her hair half-up; a light blue French-style cardigan over a white crew-neck T-shirt; a cream-colored pleated skirt; and white sneakers.

Her tall figure, big eyes, and innocent face amazed Li Yanning and her sister, who were both women.

"Yes, you're looking for our boss, Mr. Tan? May I ask who you are?" Li Yanning asked, composing herself.

"Oh, hello, my name is Gu Qingqing. I used to be a clothing model for Boss Tan's Taobao store. I arranged to meet Boss Tan here today," Gu Qingqing replied with a smile.

He then continued to ask Li Yanning, "May I ask how to address you, elder sister?"

"Oh, my surname is Li. Please come in and sit for a while. Our boss usually doesn't come to the company until around nine o'clock." After saying that, he let Gu Qingqing in, led her to the sofa area, and poured her a glass of water.

"Thank you," Gu Qingqing said softly.

"It'll be another half hour. Do you have our boss's phone number? Should we tell him, or should I tell her?"

"It's okay, I'm not in a hurry. Sister Li, you go ahead with your work."

Since that was the case, Li Yanning didn't say anything more. She found a fashion magazine for Gu Qingqing to pass the time and went to work.

"Sister, who is this?" Li Jinglan asked curiously as she approached Li Yanning.

"They say they're clothing models for a Taobao store, looking for Boss Tan. Don't ask around."

In reality, that's all Li Yanning knew, but it was a bit impolite to whisper like this behind someone's back.

"Ask her what she has to offer. She's quite pretty." Li Jinglan muttered to herself as she sized up Gu Qingqing.

Seemingly sensing Li Jinglan's gaze, Gu Qingqing raised her head and smiled at Li Jinglan, who then felt embarrassed to continue looking at her.

Gu Qingqing appeared calm on the surface, but she was actually a little flustered inside. This was her first time in Beicang. Before, it was always Boss Tan who came to visit her, so she didn't feel anything special. She didn't expect it to be so far away and inconvenient.

Beicang is still too remote for Ningbo.

Gu Qingqing got up early and took several buses. Did Boss Tan also take buses back and forth like this when he first started doing business before he bought a car? If so, that must have been quite tiring.

The translation work is temporarily suspended, but the clothing photoshoot will still take place. Gu Qingqing came this time to confirm the photoshoot for the new summer collection. Summer clothes are different from other clothing, and in Boss Tan's words, there are some that Gu Qingqing may not be able to accept.

It was Gu Qingqing who brought up the idea of ​​coming to Beicang on her own initiative. Tan Jincheng was busy preparing for a business trip to Guangzhou and didn't have time to worry about such trivial matters, nor did he have time to visit the Ningbo University campus.

Gu Qingqing didn't know her own mindset or why she asked to come to Beicang to take a look.

If they can't take photos, they can't take photos. I believe Boss Tan will still take photos of him if he can accept the clothes. Besides, it's only been a short time since school started, and he's not short of money.

"I wonder what kind of clothes Boss Tan is saying can't be photographed," Gu Qingqing thought to herself as she idly flipped through a fashion magazine.

Around nine o'clock, Tan Jincheng and Zhang Xupeng arrived at Jinpeng Trading Co., Ltd., chatting and laughing. As soon as they entered, they saw Gu Qingqing sitting on the sofa. Zhang Xupeng was clearly taken aback, then looked at Li Yanning with a questioning gaze. Li Yanning smiled and pointed at Tan Jincheng.

Gu Qingqing also saw the two of them, stood up and smiled at Tan Jincheng.

"Why are you here so early? Have you been waiting long?" Tan Jincheng said to Gu Qingqing, then looked at Li Yanning.

“This young lady arrived at 8:30,” Li Yanning said quickly.

"Why didn't you call me? I've been waiting for so long."

"It's alright, I just arrived too early."

"Okay, come in with me. Old Zhang, you go find Zhang Haiping to hang out with. I have something to discuss with this young lady, and it's not convenient for you to listen."

After saying that, he introduced the two of them to each other.

Zhang Xupeng looked puzzled. He had just arrived at the company and Xiao Tan had been kicked out. What was going on? Zhang Xupeng knew that Gu Qingqing was a clothing model for a Taobao store, but this was the first time they had met.

But what exactly is it that you won't even listen to?
Tan Jincheng's bluntness made Gu Qingqing blush a little, but she still forced herself to say, "Will this affect your work? If it does, I can come another day."

I requested to come today myself, and Boss Tan also said he's been quite busy lately.

"It's alright, he's going there anyway to discuss next month's production volume, it won't affect anything." He then waved to Zhang Xupeng.

"Didn't we just talk about it yesterday?" Zhang Xupeng thought somewhat dejectedly. However, he didn't say anything, gave some instructions to Li Yanning and Li Jinglan, and then left.

After going downstairs, Zhang Xupeng slapped his forehead: "Damn, I forgot to ask Xiao Tan for the car keys."

Zhang Xupeng got his driver's license a couple of days ago. He practiced quite quickly with his own car. He didn't have any problems driving around the Beicang area, even without going on the highway.

"Forget it, let's not go up. Let's just take a taxi."

Although it's unclear what Xiao Tan and that girl were going to talk about, Xiao Tan isn't the kind of person who can't resist women. He wouldn't make fun of his brothers because of a woman, even though the girl was indeed beautiful.

Since it's inconvenient to listen, there must be some inconvenience. Over the past six months, I've been to entertainment venues in Beicang quite a few times, along with Xiao Tan and a group of bosses.

Although she was still a magician, her knowledge and experience were far greater than when she first came ashore. What surprised Zhang Xupeng the most was that, although it was also his first time entering these places, Zhang Xupeng himself was very nervous, while Xiao Tan was as experienced as the owners.

He was quick to get started and chatted as usual, not at all like someone entering a place like this for the first time. Zhang Xupeng had never seen Tan Jincheng like this before.

However, after leaving the house, Xiao Tan said: "When you leave a place like this, just pretend you don't know the women there. Don't have any emotional interaction with them."

Good heavens, that's incredibly ruthless. They didn't say that when we first started working together.

Upstairs at Jinpeng Trading, Tan Jincheng walked towards his and Zhang Xupeng's office, with Gu Qingqing following closely behind him.

"I only have instant coffee here. Would you like some? Or should I have my employee go get you a milk tea?"

(End of this chapter)