The Green Tea Supporting Girl Is Still Playing Her Role Today (GL) - Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Wen Pinghan hurried home and saw Xie Zhifei squatting at her door, head down as she played with her phone.

She walked up, and Xie Zhifei heard the sound, lifted her head to look, and a smile immediately appeared on her face: “Sister, you’re back.”

“How long have you been waiting?” Wen Pinghan asked as she pulled out her key.

“Not long.” Xie Zhifei tried to stand up but failed at once, and Wen Pinghan reached out a hand to her.

She smiled, gripped the other’s hand, borrowed the strength to stand up, patted her butt, followed her into the house, and then sat on the sofa to thump her legs: “It feels like my legs are numb from squatting.”

“Rest for a bit first. Have you eaten?” Wen Pinghan asked after she set down her bag.

“Not yet.”

“There’s still a little bit of food in the fridge. I’ll make something now.” Wen Pinghan opened the fridge and took out meat and vegetables from inside.

“It’s fine, no need to go to so much trouble. Anyway, you’ve already eaten, so I can just order takeout,” Xie Zhifei said.

“I’m not full either. This is a good chance to add a bit to the meal.” Wen Pinghan went into the kitchen, and soon the sound of washing vegetables rang out from inside.

After her legs stopped feeling numb, Xie Zhifei followed in: “Do you need help?”

“No need, it’ll be ready soon.” Wen Pinghan had already washed the vegetables, and then she started slicing potato shreds.

The knife went thump thump thump on the cutting board, and Xie Zhifei watched her knife skills, unable to hold back her praise: “Sister, you’re amazing!”

Wen Pinghan smiled a little, soaked the potato shreds in a basket, sliced two tomatoes, then turned on the stove and said: “You go wait outside. There’s a lot of oil smoke in here.”

“It’s fine. I just want to keep you company. It would make me feel bad to leave you in here cooking alone.” Xie Zhifei said with a smile.

Wen Pinghan poured oil into the pan, tossed in scallion, ginger, and a few dried chili peppers to stir-fry, and the pan sizzled. Then she poured in the potato shreds, added seasonings, and only turned her head to ask while stir-frying: “How come you came back so soon?”

“A client suddenly had someone go into emergency care, so the negotiation got postponed. I just came back first. The moment I left the company, I thought since you live nearby anyway, I’d come find you to hang out… Who knew you were off having a big meal with Gu Zhizhang.” Xie Zhifei’s voice got smaller and smaller.

“Uh, does it taste too sour?” Wen Pinghan asked as she smelled the aroma from the pan.

Xie Zhifei sniffed: “No, it’s sour and spicy potato shreds. Isn’t it supposed to be this sour?”

Wen Pinghan: “Alright, if you don’t think it’s sour, then it’s fine.”

Xie Zhifei: “I don’t think so.”

Wen Pinghan dished out the potato shreds, then stir-fried tomatoes and eggs, and said: “The dishes are pretty simple. Make do with them. That’s all the ingredients left in the fridge.”

“This is what home cooking tastes like! Who hasn’t eaten these two dishes at home?” Xie Zhifei laughed.

“Does your family eat them too?” Wen Pinghan asked.

“Of course. We may have money, but we still have to eat home-style dishes,” Xie Zhifei said as if it were the most natural thing.

Wen Pinghan smiled and filled a bowl of rice for her. They ate and chatted, and as they talked, the conversation turned to Fang Ningshu: “Does she still like Gu Zhizhang? From what I heard from him, it seems like he cares quite a bit about Fang Ningshu. What if one day he suddenly remembers how good she was and goes back to her?”

“He won’t.” Xie Zhifei said with certainty. “At most, he just feels like things at the company got busier after she left, and he misses that capable assistant. He absolutely won’t change his feelings for her.”

Wen Pinghan nodded thoughtfully and said flatly: “You understand him well.”

“Yes.” Xie Zhifei was the one who held the script, but she couldn’t say that out loud, so she just made up a reason: “After all, we’ve known each other for many years.”

Wen Pinghan quietly ate half a bowl of rice and then felt full. Actually, she had already eaten almost enough at the restaurant, and now with a bit more, she really couldn’t eat any further.

As if she saw the difficulty, Xie Zhifei said: “It’s fine, Sister. If you’re full, don’t force it. Then all these dishes are mine.”

“Good. Then eat slowly.”

After the meal, Xie Zhifei did not stay too long and hurried home to handle other matters. The next day, the results of the initial assessment came out. Few people got eliminated, only those who clearly lacked experience or had insufficient education. Everyone else passed.

Lin Zhimin was especially happy. She had not expected a little team member like her to pass, which boosted her confidence greatly, and she began to look forward to the later selections.

The next selection was free team formation, with eight people per group. Those who did not form a group got eliminated directly.

Lin Zhimin felt a bit panicked, afraid no one would pick her. She wanted to cling to Wen Pinghan’s leg, but she also feared dragging the other down. After a day of anxiety, she received a message from Wen Pinghan.

Wen Pinghan: [We have seven people in our group. Would you like to join?]

Lin Zhimin let out a whoop right then: [Yes yes of course yes!!! Han Sis, you’re my god!!]

After the roster went up, HR sent the assessment content to each group and asked them to produce a marketing plan within half a month.

Fifteen days did not sound short at first, but considering it included their regular work duties, everyone raced against time to hold meetings and discuss plans.

After half a month, some slacked off and messed around from exhaustion, while others got poor results because the team lacked coordination and communication. This one item alone showed the situation.

At the selection meeting, besides the Xie father and daughter, a few shareholders came too. These people were from the conservative faction, there specifically to see just how impressive these young people were, so basically after each group reported their plan, they started picking faults.

The Xie father and daughter did not stop them. After all, when facing tough people, a certain ability to adapt was necessary, especially in their line of work.

“Next group, lead presenter Wen Pinghan,” Fang Ningshu announced.

Xie Zhifei immediately focused, stopped twirling her pen, and watched her intently. When the PPT opened, she unexpectedly raised an eyebrow and looked at Xie Hongxu with novelty. Xie Hongxu also took interest.

The others looked around at the people on their left and right in confusion, but only a few shareholders dared to whisper to each other face-to-face.

The marketing plans from the previous groups were nothing more than online and offline promotions, choosing a certain type of spokesperson, or doing co-branded events or the like. A few innovative plans occasionally appeared, but they all aimed at marketing.

But the first page of this PPT actually had the big characters: Charity Plan.

Wen Pinghan opened the second page of the PPT and began her report: “This is the market research our group did. The home appliance market is already saturated right now, and Qisheng’s full categories and full price tiers already occupy sixty-nine percent of the market. Once consumers want to buy home appliances, they cannot avoid the name Qisheng.”

Xie Hongxu and a few shareholders perked up at that and nodded one after another.

“So for Qisheng, which already has such high name recognition, we believe that longer-term development is more important than the current boom. That’s why we focused on charity this time.” Wen Pinghan flipped to another page of the PPT, which showed a map of impoverished areas. “This is what our group member Lin Zhimin investigated. In such a developed and convenient era today, the purchasing power in these areas remains low, and home appliances are an economic burden. Especially in these remote mountainous areas, the schools are rundown, with only fans in summer and no way to stay warm in winter. So our plan is to donate air conditioners for free on a large scale to these schools, striving to let every student in the country study安心 in the classroom. Below is our investment plan and estimated amount…”

Everyone looked at the numbers on that page, and one shareholder said: “Qisheng has done a few donations before.”

“Yes, this is what our group member Lin Jia tallied up of all Qisheng’s past charity projects, which included several well-known impoverished schools. But this time our investment will be more, rolled out across the country, to make a big splash. With internet promotion, it will soon become a hot topic, and at that time the whole country will know Qisheng’s corporate spirit.” Wen Pinghan said slowly. “Qisheng already doesn’t lack name recognition, so we need to focus on deepening customer loyalty, while also planting a seed of hope for the next generation of consumers.”

“So our estimated profit is—” Wen Pinghan clicked to the last page of the PPT, which had four big characters.

—Unable to estimate.

“My report is finished.” Wen Pinghan said, and waited for their questions.

The few shareholders looked at me, I looked at you, then all turned to Xie Hongxu together. Xie Hongxu burst out laughing: “Which group are you from?”

“Group Seventeen,” Xie Zhifei said from the side.

“Group Seventeen, right.” Xie Hongxu flipped through the roster. “Alright, no problems. Next group.”

Wen Pinghan took her computer down and received silent cheers from her team members. The moment she sat down, she looked up toward the main seat and met Xie Zhifei’s gaze. The other propped her forehead, winked at her secretly, then sat up straight again to listen seriously to the next group’s report.

Wen Pinghan withdrew her gaze and smiled down at her lap.

After the meeting ended, it was already evening. Lin Zhimin stuck close to Wen Pinghan and asked nervously: “Han Sis, how did it go? Can we pass?”

The other team members crowded around too. Wen Pinghan said: “We plan in people, but success is up to heaven. We’ve done what we could. The rest is up to fate.”

“That’s true. Ours is a risky move. We’ll see if it’s high risk or high reward.” Lin Zhimin said. “We’ve been busy for over half a month. Let’s go eat hotpot, yeah?”

The others agreed one after another. Wen Pinghan’s phone vibrated once. She took it out, looked at the message, and said: “You all go. I have something to do.”

“What do you have?” Lin Zhimin asked.

“Family matters.”

“Alright then. We’re off.”

“Um.”

Wen Pinghan first went to the supermarket to buy some vegetables, then some fruit. When she passed the yogurt section, she just picked up the discounted yogurt but put it back, then selected the ones with the freshest dates before checking out and going home.

Just as she stir-fried the second dish, the doorbell rang. She hurried to open the door, then dashed back to the kitchen in a panic: “Why do you always come when I’m cooking?”

“That’s simple. Sister, give me a key. Then next time I won’t need you to open the door.” Xie Zhifei smiled as she walked to her side, casually picked up a piece of rib from the plate and ate it, then suddenly leaned her head close, bared her teeth in a grin. “Want to know the assessment result?”

“Move a bit, don’t get oil splashed on you.” Wen Pinghan pushed her face away. “No.”

“Why?”

“Did the result come out this fast?”

“Well, no.”

“So, I don’t want to know from you. Anyway, we’ll all get notified in the end.”

Xie Zhifei laughed, did not mention it anymore, and instead asked: “I just remembered, last time I called you, the one who picked up was that team member of yours, the one who often goes out to eat with you, right? What’s her name, Lin something-min?”

“Lin Zhimin,” Wen Pinghan said.

“It was really her?”

“Um. What’s up?”

“She’s pretty. Sister, do you only make friends with beautiful women?” Xie Zhifei asked.

“No.”

“She can even answer your phone. Your relationship must be super close, right? You attract beautiful women so much?” Xie Zhifei pouted. “I really envy her. Her makeup looks so good. Unlike me, my hands are too clumsy. I can’t do makeup at all, so I can only go bare-faced~”

“…” Wen Pinghan turned her head and lifted her hand to wipe her thumb across Xie Zhifei’s lips.

Xie Zhifei got dazed by her sudden move, her body stiffened a little, and she stared at her in a stupor, unconsciously swallowed, her gaze heavy as it fell on her lips.

“Can’t do makeup? Then what’s this?” Wen Pinghan showed her the lipstick color on her thumb pad.

Xie Zhifei: “This is just my protective color.”

Wen Pinghan: “”