"Has Chairman Xiao been contacted?" Wang Jinlong asked Fang Shizhong beside him.
"No. Their phones are off."
"Perhaps their batteries died?"
"That's also possible."
Xiao Yun's phone had indeed run out of battery.
However, she was still deeply asleep, unaware that Wang Jinlong and the others were looking for her.
Guo Xuyang's stamina had been too fierce that morning, and she couldn't handle it alone. Yet, she couldn't refuse, so she had endured with all her might, eventually passing out completely.
Guo Xuyang woke up when Ye Zi brought the breakfast, and he sat up directly.
"Where were those two taken?"
"Back to where they were picked up."
"Were they discovered?"
"No. It was dark, no one saw."
"Why did you return so late?"
"I drove past yesterday when I went, but I remembered the place wrong. We took a longer route."
"Okay, after breakfast, come with me to check out the jewelry store."
"Alright. I went with Sister Yun yesterday to take a look. Everything seemed normal inside.
It was only after hearing about the escort vehicle being hijacked that things became a bit chaotic."
"Let's go check the situation out. Why did you think of booking a room here yesterday?"
"Didn't you say this place was yours? Sister Yun came ahead to check things out."
"Who is the manager here now?"
"I'm not too sure. Sister Yun handled everything."
"What about Yu'er?"
"She's still sleeping in the next room. She couldn't sleep early this morning, disturbed by you. She's gone back to catch up on sleep now."
"Then let the two of them sleep here. Let's go take a look ourselves."
Guo Xuyang said, popping the last piece of pastry into his mouth.
"Then you get dressed, and I'll drive the car to the entrance to wait for you," Ye Zi said, starting to walk out.
"We're staying together tonight. I looked for you this morning, but you had already gone downstairs."
"What are you thinking? We'll talk about it tonight." Ye Zi playfully hit him and turned to leave.
It wasn't that Guo Xuyang was too much of a scumbag, but he understood women's psychology.
If these women couldn't be treated equally, he didn't know what kind of trouble would arise in the future.
"Manager Jiang, where are you?" he called Jiang Qixin.
"Yangzi, what's up?"
"I'm at the Anran Hotel in Shanghai now. Do you know who's in charge here?"
"Xu Liping, why? Didn't she tell you?"
"Xu Liping? How come it's her?"
"Didn't you go out with Liangzi? I saw her as your agent in Shanghai, so I let her manage it temporarily.
I overlooked this matter and forgot to tell you. Haven't you met her?"
"No. It was already past midnight when I arrived here yesterday."
"No wonder. You're such a hands-off manager, truly impressive." Jiang Qixin joked.
"Alright then, Manager Jiang. We'll talk more when I get back."
"How's that thing you were handling? I haven't heard anything from you."
"Xiao Xi's father disagrees, saying it should be postponed to next month. So I didn't call you."
"Didn't you say Xiao Xi is pregnant? Won't postponing it to next month make it more obvious?"
"I can't do anything if her father disagrees. I can't just barge in and take her, can I? However, Xiao Xi is staying in the provincial capital now."
"I can't understand the games you young people play. We have to depart in about ten days, don't mess things up then."
"I won't. I'm just here to check things out. I haven't been back here since I left last time."
"As long as you remember. The team has been scaled down this time; having you alone is enough.
Some security and crew members have been removed.
Your team will have a total of twelve people this time. Of course, your four-person squad remains unchanged.
The personnel who were removed will be assigned to another team, so you all will have more time to rest."
"Xin Dali, Xu Dahai, and Zhang Li haven't been moved, right?"
"No. Some of the female colleagues were taken off."
"It's good that the three of them are staying. After all, I've been on an expedition with them before, so I'm relatively familiar with them."
"With you and Ye Zi on this team, security issues shouldn't be a problem. Everything else is negotiable."
"Will our team members be further reduced after we return next time?"
"It's hard to say. If your capabilities are sufficient, perhaps only seven or eight of you might be sent."
"You're cruelly exploiting us."
"The capable should work harder. How is the Anran Hotel's rectification going?"
"I've noticed a significant drop in occupancy."
"You can organize some activities appropriately. Spring is here, and the peak tourist season is approaching. You could collaborate with a few travel agencies."
"You always have good ideas. I'll discuss this with Xu Liping when I get back. I won't bother you any longer. Goodbye." Guo Xuyang said and hung up the phone.
"Why haven't you come down yet? I've been waiting for you for a while." As soon as he hung up, Ye Zi's call came in.
"Wait for me at the entrance for a bit. I need to make two calls and will be down soon," Guo Xuyang said and dialed Xu Liping's number again.
"Manager Xu, where are you?"
"Chairman Guo, I'm at the jewelry store. Where are you?"
"I'm at the Anran Hotel. When will you be here?"
"Please wait a moment, I'll be there shortly."
"Don't come over. I'm about to go to the store to have a look. You wait for me there."
"Okay, Chairman Guo. I'll wait for you here."
After Xu Liping hung up, she immediately arranged for the store staff to expedite the cleaning.
Xiao Yun's sudden arrival yesterday had caught them off guard, and now Guo Xuyang was here. She wondered what was going on.
Was it possible that he was dissatisfied with her work? Xu Liping thought to herself.
As she pondered, she called Wu Youzhi: "Dazhi, Chairman Guo is in Shanghai today. Do you know what's happening?"
"He did mention this a couple of days ago, saying he hadn't been back since he left Shanghai last time, so he planned to go and have a look.
What's wrong? Is something the matter?"
"No. I just thought he might be dissatisfied with my work.
Yesterday, I heard from President Xiao that a batch of jade brought from the provincial capital was hijacked."
"What? How much? I really didn't know."
"I didn't ask for the exact amount. It seemed to be quite a lot. President Xiao seemed a bit distracted."
"Don't worry, with Brother Guo here, nothing will be missing.
You should continue with your work as usual. Don't pry into things, and definitely don't mention these matters to other people in the store."
"Several store employees overheard President Xiao when she mentioned it yesterday."
"You need to keep them steady. Don't spread rumors or cause trouble.
Brother Guo should be feeling anxious right now. Don't add to his troubles."
"Alright. There's also something I forgot to mention to Chairman Guo.
Manager Jiang assigned me to be the manager of the Anran Hotel, but I never told Chairman Guo."
"How could you not tell him about something so important? How will he see you if you do this? You didn't even tell me."
"I've barely paid attention to the matters over there, spending most of my time at the jewelry store.
The staff there are still the same as before, so I didn't mention it."
"Your lack of involvement in those matters indicates negligence.
Since Manager Jiang assigned you to be the manager there temporarily, why didn't you take charge of the hotel's operations?"
"It was a mess, and I was afraid of getting into trouble."
[Author's aside]: This book has three updates a day, morning, noon, and night. Please continue to follow along, dear readers. Cast your free silver tickets, and let's all get excited.