Two days later, the Ancient City Rice Expo officially kicked off.
Although Wu Jun was the president of Junheng Trading Co., Ltd., and his company’s rice was selling like hotcakes, he was still a rookie in the business. Lacking any experience with expos, he had simply left everything for Dong Lizhu to handle.
Early in the morning, Dong Lizhu took a group of young women from the company, along with a few regional managers, to join the excitement at the Rice Expo, leaving only one person on duty at the office.
At the warehouse, Wang Qidong stayed behind to handle deliveries. They had issued a lot of new membership cards in the past two days, and rice sales had recovered somewhat from the initial dip after the price hike.
Wu Jun would have liked to sleep in, but with all the people coming and going at the small supermarket, he got up early with Xu Fei to have breakfast.
After breakfast, he drove to the company and took a nap on the large sofa in his office.
At ten in the morning, Li Xiaoxiao, the customer service manager on duty, knocked on the door of Wu Jun’s office.
After entering, Li Xiaoxiao saw President Wu looking at her, bleary-eyed and dazed, and realized she had disturbed his sleep.
"What’s wrong, Li? Is it lunchtime already?"
Wu Jun rubbed his face, pushed himself up from the sofa, and gave a big stretch.
He had been up half the night with Xu Fei and her aunt and still hadn’t recovered.
They played "Fight the Landlord" for half the night, and when they tallied the scores in the end, nobody had won.
Li Xiaoxiao averted her gaze from Wu Jun’s tall and well-built frame and said softly, "President Wu, Ms. Dong just called for you. She said it was urgent."
"Got it, I’ll call her back right now." Wu Jun took out his phone and saw three missed calls, all from Dong Lizhu. He must have been sleeping so soundly he didn’t hear it.
"Well, I’ll be heading out then..." Li Xiaoxiao reluctantly tore her eyes away from Wu Jun and turned to leave.
’I finally get a chance to be alone with President Wu, and I was so excited, but nothing even happened...’
After Li Xiaoxiao left, Wu Jun dialed Dong Lizhu’s number.
"Jun, things aren’t going so well here at the expo." As soon as the call connected, Dong Lizhu’s anxious voice came from the other end.
"What’s wrong, Auntie? Don’t worry, tell me slowly." Wu Jun frowned, consoling her. He asked, "What’s the situation at the expo?"
Dong Lizhu said, "It’s been almost the whole morning, and we haven’t sold a single bag of rice."
"What happened?" Wu Jun was bewildered when he heard his aunt’s words.
This Rice Expo was led by the city government and attracted many foreign buyers. Although it only lasted for one day, it typically generated orders for several thousand tons of rice each year.
’Hongyun Rice is such high quality. Even if the price at the expo is a bit steep, there’s no way we haven’t sold a single bag!’
"Let me talk," the voice on the other end changed to his uncle, Ma Chaoyun. "Jun, someone is deliberately messing with us. You need to get over here, quick. Xuedao almost got into a fight. Qian Na just dragged him outside."
"I get it. Keep an eye on Xuedao and make sure he doesn’t get himself into trouble. I’m on my way." After hanging up, Wu Jun hurried downstairs.
"President Wu, are you heading out?" Li Xiaoxiao greeted him when she saw him coming downstairs.
"You’re working hard today, Li. Treat yourself to a nice lunch." Seeing that Li Xiaoxiao was the only one holding down the fort in the entire large company, Wu Jun took two hundred yuan from his wallet and gave it to her.
"It’s no trouble at all. It’s my pleasure to serve Junheng." Li Xiaoxiao took the money with a playful smile. "Well, I won’t be polite then, President Wu. Thank you, President Wu."
Watching Wu Jun’s dashing figure as he turned and left, Li Xiaoxiao’s eyes were practically sparkling. On her very first day at the company, she was the one who had asked if he had a girlfriend.
’President Wu is young and handsome, and he’s so easy to get along with. A man this good is so hard to find!’
Li Xiaoxiao carefully tucked the two bills Wu Jun had given her into a hidden compartment in her wallet. She planned to treasure this money.
After leaving, Wu Jun opened his car door, got in, entered the address into his navigation system, and headed straight for the Ancient City Rice Expo venue.
’I was hoping to land a big fish this time, to make a huge profit off those foreign buyers. But it’s almost noon, and we haven’t sold a single bag. This can’t be happening.’
A little over an hour later, Wu Jun drove into the parking lot outside the convention center.
Qian Na and Bian Xuedao, who were waiting outside for him, saw his car and came up to meet him.
"Cousin, what’s going on inside?" Wu Jun asked Qian Na after parking the car and getting out.
Bian Xuedao said angrily, "It’s definitely that bastard Meng Zalang pulling strings. What a fucking son of a bitch. If your cousin hadn’t stopped me, I would’ve slapped those assholes silly."
"Would you just behave yourself?" Qian Na said, angrily pulling Bian Xuedao’s ear. "There were so many of them. If I hadn’t stopped you, your own mother wouldn’t recognize you by the time you got home."
"You two, knock it off." Wu Jun was speechless. He stepped forward to rescue Bian Xuedao. "Let’s go inside and see what’s going on first."
Qian Na glared at Bian Xuedao and warned, "Don’t you drag my cousin into a fight, or I’ll divorce you."
"Am I that kind of person..." Bian Xuedao said with an innocent look.
With that, Qian Na turned and led the way. Wu Jun and Bian Xuedao followed behind, and the three of them entered the convention center.
The moment he walked in, Wu Jun thought he had stumbled into a car show. The convention center was filled with stages of all sizes, and the girls on them were dressed more skimpily than the last.
As they reached the central area, a very familiar exhibitor’s name caught his eye. This was Meng Zalang’s spot—a large, luxuriously decorated area.
In front of the booth, numerous buyers were engaged in heated conversations with the reception staff.
The skimpily dressed receptionists were so intimate they were practically nibbling on the clients’ ears.
"Are they here to talk business or to talk romance, for fuck’s sake?" Wu Jun was astounded.
"Cousin, is our booth far from here?" Wu Jun hurried forward a couple of steps to ask Qian Na.
Qian Na pointed to the northwest corner and said, "Our booth is over there. We registered late, so the location is a bit poor."
Following her finger, Wu Jun saw a sign for "Junheng Trading Co., Ltd." in the northwest corner of the exhibition hall, nearly a hundred meters away from the central area.
A circle of people was gathered in front of the booth. It looked quite popular.
’So many potential customers, yet not a single order? Could the price really be set too high?’
Bian Xuedao came closer and pointed at the crowd outside the booth. "President Wu, see that bunch of assholes? They aren’t fucking customers, they’re all here to cause trouble."
"All here to cause trouble?" Wu Jun frowned.
Qian Na said, "This group has been surrounding our booth since this morning. When one wave leaves, another one takes its place. The two groups take turns, forming a tight wall in front of our booth. No other customers can get through."
"Those bastards are like a bunch of starving ghosts reincarnated," Bian Xuedao said angrily. "The rice we steam for customers to sample is gone the second it’s ready. They’re just here to freeload!"