Diary of Getting Rich Quick in the South

A week after Fang Liang was arrested, Zhao Chujing asked to meet me.

This time it wasn't a private room in a teahouse, but her own office.

I drove up to the headquarters of Qiangsheng Group and looked up to see that the signs had all changed.

Previously, it displayed the four large characters "Qiangsheng Group," which looked imposing, with gold lettering on a black background, making it visible from afar.

Now it's changed to "Qiangsheng Commerce and Trade", and the font is much gentler, with white background and blue lettering, making it look like a legitimate company.

The interior decoration of the building has also changed.

The walls used to be covered with calligraphy and paintings that read "Loyalty and Righteousness Through the Ages" and "Brothers United in Heart," as well as photos of Zhao Hongqi with various people. Now they've all been removed.

It has been replaced with company rules and regulations, business process diagrams, organizational charts, and several slogans such as "Honest Operation" and "Service First".

The corridor used to be lined with two bodyguards in black suits, but now it's been replaced by two receptionists in uniforms who nod and smile at everyone they see.

The receptionist was very polite. She asked me who I was looking for, and I said I was looking for General Manager Zhao. She made a phone call and then took me upstairs.

Zhao Chujing's office is on the top floor.

When I pushed the door open, she was standing by the window making a phone call.

"Yes, the fuel consumption for that route needs to be recalculated... and the driver's schedule also needs to be adjusted... Okay, that's all for now."

When she saw me come in, she said "Let's talk later" to the person on the other end of the phone and hung up.

"They're here."

Zhao Chujing pointed to the chair opposite her: "Sit."

I sat down and glanced at her.

She's lost weight, noticeably thinner than the last time I saw her. She has faint dark circles under her eyes, but her gaze is bright and determined.

Wearing a business suit and with his hair tied up, he looked like a proper company executive.

The desk was piled with files, next to a cold cup of coffee and a calculator.

"You've changed a lot," I said casually.

"no way."

Zhao Chujing smiled and said, "My brother is in jail, and Fang Liang is in jail too. If Qiangsheng continues down the same old path, it will end up like them sooner or later. I want to completely clean up the company and do legitimate logistics and trade."

"It must be tough, right?"

"It's not easy."

She sighed, "All those clients used to be from the underworld, now I have to replace them one by one and find legitimate clients again."

"Those employees used to be involved in the underworld, and now I have to clean them out one by one, hire decent people again, and sort out the company's accounts one by one. I'm so tired that I can't sleep at night."

Looking at her, I felt quite emotional.

She's truly capable of standing on her own now.

"You came to me just to say this?" I asked.

"no."

Zhao Chujing took a document out of the drawer and pushed it in front of me: "I want to cooperate with you."

When I picked it up, I saw it was a letter of intent for cooperation, a logistics cooperation agreement between Qiangsheng Trading and my company.

It's written very clearly above.

Qiangsheng Commerce outsourced its short-distance delivery and moving services in Kunming and surrounding cities to our company for a fixed monthly fee of 30,000 yuan, settled quarterly, with a one-year contract period.

"What do you mean?" I looked up at her.

"Qiangsheng needs to transform."

Zhao Chujing leaned back in her chair, her tone calm: "My brother is in jail, and Fang Liang is in jail too. If Qiangsheng continues down the same old path, it will end up like them sooner or later. I want to completely clean up the company and turn it into a legitimate logistics and trading business."

"so what?"

"So I want to work with you."

Zhao Chujing looked at me and said seriously, "You do moving and short-distance delivery, and I do warehousing and long-distance logistics. We can share our businesses and resources. You have your customers, and I have my warehouses and fleet. It's a win-win situation."

I was silent.

I don't want to have anything to do with Qiangsheng anymore.

Zhao Hongqi had told me to stay away from anything related to Qiangsheng.

But Zhao Chujing's current state shows that she is indeed on the right path.

Moreover, the terms of this cooperation agreement are very fair, and you could even say they are somewhat biased towards me.

"Aren't you afraid I'll ruin your company?" I said half-jokingly.

"You won't."

Zhao Chujing said confidently, "I know you. The reason your moving company has grown to this size is because of your honesty and integrity."

I didn't reply.

"Chen An".

Zhao Chujing suddenly called my name, her tone changed. She was no longer the CEO Zhao from the business world, but the little girl who used to call me by my name.

"I'm not here to steal from you."

She smiled, a hint of bitterness in her smile: "I know you chose Su Wan, and I've let it go. I'm here with you today purely to discuss business."

I looked at her, my heart filled with mixed emotions.

"Have you really let go?"

"What good is it if I can't let go?"

Zhao Chujing shrugged: "My brother is in there, and the company is a mess. I don't have time to think about those things. Besides, Su Wan is a good woman. I feel at ease with you being with her."

I took a deep breath, picked up the letter of intent for cooperation, and flipped through it.

The terms are fair, there are no traps, it's just normal business cooperation.

"Cooperation is possible."

I put the document down: "But I have one condition."

"you say."

"I only do legitimate business: logistics, delivery, moving—that's all I do. I don't touch anything else."

I looked at her and said seriously, "Besides, we are just business partners, nothing more."

Zhao Chujing smiled, this time a relaxed smile.

"Deal, Mr. Chen."

I smiled too: "It's a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Zhao."

After leaving Qiangsheng Trading Company, I sat in my car and called Su Wan.

"Sister Wan, Qiangsheng wants to cooperate with us on logistics."

"You agreed?"

"I agreed, but I will only do legitimate business."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone, then Su Wan said, "Zhao Chujing is a smart person."

"Um."

"The same to you."

I hung up the phone and started the car.

In the rearview mirror, the Qiangsheng Commercial Building grew farther and farther away.

I took a deep breath and stepped on the gas.

Let bygones be bygones.

The road ahead is still long.

When I got back to the company, Lao Zhou was smoking at the warehouse entrance. When he saw me come back, he came up to greet me.

"Boss, what did Qiangsheng say?"

"It's settled. From now on, they'll outsource their short-distance delivery and moving services to us."

Old Zhou's eyes lit up: "Really? Then we won't have to worry about not having work anymore!"

"Um."

I lit a cigarette: "But there's one condition: we'll only do legitimate business, nothing else."

"clear."

Old Zhou nodded: "Boss, don't worry, although I, Old Zhou, am rough, I still know my limits."

Da Liu and Xiao Sun also came over, and were overjoyed to hear that they had received a big order from Qiangsheng.

"Boss, should we start hiring?" Da Liu asked.

"We definitely need to recruit them."

I patted him on the shoulder: "Now that there's more work to do, you guys will have an easier time."

Xiao Sun, with her sweet tongue, said, "Boss, you're amazing! You managed to take over such a huge company as Qiangsheng!"

Stop flattering me.

I laughed and kicked him.

That evening, Su Wan and I sat on the balcony, watching the city lights.

"Chen An".

"Um?"

"Do you think we'll always be this happy?"

"Yes."

I took her hand: "It will."

She leaned on my shoulder and closed her eyes.

The moonlight shone softly on her face.

Looking at the lights in the distance, I felt very at ease.

From today onwards, my company is finally on the right track.

Things will get better and better from now on.