Arriving at the hotel entrance, Evans’s assistant walked over carrying two exquisite gift boxes and handed them to Wendy Lynch with a smile.
"Miss Lynch, these are Verdant Beauty products Mr. Evans specifically asked me to prepare. It’s a small token of his appreciation. Please accept them."
Wendy froze for a moment. Just as she was about to decline, Evans spoke up, "Miss Lynch, this is my way of thanking you. You must accept it. These are our company’s star products; I hope you like them."
Unable to refuse such graciousness, Wendy had no choice but to take the gift boxes, thanking him softly, "Then I won’t stand on ceremony. Thank you, Mr. Evans."
After seeing Evans off, Bowen Rhodes patted Wendy on the shoulder. "Wendy, you’ve worked hard today. Head back to the company and rest this afternoon. I’ll follow up with the rest of the reception work."
Wendy nodded and got into the car with the heavy gift boxes to return to the company.
Back at the office, her colleagues saw her carrying the two exquisite packages and gathered around curiously to ask about them. Wendy gave a brief account of the morning’s events, and everyone couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement.
"Wendy, you’re amazing!"
"Yeah! You even know first aid!"
"I heard Verdant is preparing to negotiate a massive partnership!"
"Lynch, it looks like you’re going to strike it lucky this time!"
"Wendy, what do you have in your hands?"
Wendy dealt with the barrage of questions with a smile. Hearing someone ask about the gift boxes, she had no intention of hiding anything and readily opened them. Seeing the dazzling array of cosmetics inside, many of her female colleagues gasped in awe.
"WOW! This is Verdant Company’s Exquisite Concealer. A single bottle costs over four hundred!"
"This looks like their newly released foundation! I heard it works incredibly well!"
"This is their Rosy Dawn Sunscreen. Rumor has it that it won’t wash off even if you soak in water all day!"
"Wendy, there are so many cosmetics here. You probably can’t use them all by yourself, right?"
"Yeah, yeah! Why don’t you see which ones you don’t want and sell them to us at a discount?"
Hearing the offer to buy them, Wendy didn’t refuse. Between the two boxes, there were at least forty or fifty different cosmetics; it was impossible for her to finish them all alone. Although she had just deposited eighty thousand yesterday, she was far from having so much money that she could turn her nose up at more. Every cent counts, and selling the contents of these two gift boxes would amount to a considerable sum. Moreover, based on the email she had received, Wendy knew that Evans would be sending her a lifetime platinum card tomorrow. With that card, she would receive four gift box sets every year. From then on, she would never be short of cosmetics. Rather than letting them go to waste, it was better to turn them straight into cash.
Wendy smiled and said, "Of course, no problem! How about this: take your pick, and just pay me fifty percent of the market price."
Hearing the massive discount, the crowd grew even more excited. In just a few moments, dozens of cosmetics were swept clean by her colleagues. By selling everything, Wendy easily netted over eight thousand.
Just as she was happily admiring her phone’s bank balance, her shoulder suddenly grew heavy. The voice of Regina Campbell rang out from behind her:
"Alright, alright. It’s working hours. Do you not have jobs to do, gathering around here? Hurry back to your desks! If upper management sees you, I won’t take the blame for this!"
Seeing that it was their team leader, the crowd instantly scattered. Wendy hurriedly put her phone away.
"Ms. Campbell! I..."
Regina waved her hand. Seeing that everyone else had returned to their workstations, she finally lowered her voice and said, "What the client gave you is yours. How you deal with it is none of my business. I heard about the situation from Bowen; you’ve made a massive contribution this time! Mr. Evans is also extremely satisfied with you. As soon as he reached the hotel, he called Vice President Lynch and praised you to the high heavens. Seeing such a rare opportunity, I made a point to mention your transition to a full-time employee. If nothing unexpected happens, you should be officially onboarded before the end of the month!"
Even though she had already learned yesterday that her full-time status would be approved early, Wendy was still thrilled to hear it in person.
"Thank you, Ms. Campbell!"
Regina reached out and gently patted Wendy’s shoulder before speaking in an earnest tone, "What are you thanking me for? I should be the one thanking you! It’s a good thing you were there to help. Otherwise, not only would Bowen be implicated, but I wouldn’t have escaped trouble as the team leader, either. Bowen has connections, but I don’t. If upper management decided to take their anger out on us, I might have been the one packing my bags! Anyway, you did a fantastic job this time. You’ve had a busy morning and worked hard, so you don’t need to stay at the office this afternoon. I’m granting you a special half-day off. Go home and get some good rest!"
Wendy hadn’t expected such a stroke of luck! A free half-day of paid leave was the dream of countless corporate drones.
"Long live Ms. Campbell!"
With a rare half-day off and an extra eight thousand fresh in her hands, Wendy naturally didn’t plan on cooking noodles for dinner again. The reason she usually boiled noodles after work—aside from genuinely enjoying them—was mostly because she was simply too exhausted after a long day at the office to muster the energy to cook a proper meal.
Riding her electric scooter to a nearby supermarket, Wendy’s eyes practically sparkled as she looked at the dazzling array of ingredients. Previously, her salary had been low; even if she saw high-quality groceries, she couldn’t bear to buy them. But things were different now. On top of the eighty thousand from yesterday’s lottery ticket, she had smoothly pocketed another eight thousand today. With money in hand, Wendy was naturally willing to treat herself to a feast.
The fresh food section on the basement level of the supermarket was heavily air-conditioned. Wendy pushed her shopping cart and paused in front of the meat freezers. Various cuts of steak at different price points were neatly stacked inside the glass display. Her gaze subconsciously drifted to the far left of the freezer. There sat the standard filet mignon, priced at 138 per 500 grams. Last month, she had bought half a kilo as a rare treat. At that price point, the quality and texture of the meat were admittedly just average. However, given the cost, it offered exceptional value for money.
Her eyes lingered on the 138 tag for only a second before quickly darting away. Right now, her bank balance was approaching six figures. Value for money was only a concern when you were broke. If she still obsessed over cost-effectiveness when she had money, what was the point of earning it in the first place? Money was meant to be spent!
She rapidly scanned the price tags in the freezer. Soon, her gaze landed on a cut of M8 Wagyu beef priced at 538 per 500 grams. Intricate, snowflake-like marbling was distributed across the bright red meat, giving off a warm, rich luster under the lights. Just looking at it was enough to make her mouth water. Without any hesitation, Wendy decisively picked out a 500-gram slab of the M8 Wagyu.
Having secured today’s main course, she also grabbed some non-perishable ingredients and daily necessities. After checking out, she walked out of the supermarket carrying two large shopping bags. Right by the entrance, a newly opened Tideworth raw marinated seafood takeout shop had just popped up. Glass jars filled with marinated delicacies lined the transparent display window, the tender seafood coated in an orange-red sauce. Anyone walking by couldn’t help but take a second look.