Chapter 37: There’s More to the Mystery Box Than Just Leather Goods

After spending more than half an hour, Leng Zhiruo finished reapplying her makeup, practiced her smile in front of the mirror to make her expression appear as natural as possible, and only then exited the bathroom to find her younger sister, Leng Zhimeng, who was wandering around the factory.

“Brother-in-law values you highly, entrusting you with such an important company to manage. He even says you are our future, his precious darling. I’ll have to rely on you for a living from now on!” Leng Zhiruo said with a smile.

“Oh, you’re teasing me, sister. I actually don’t know much at all—I’m just acting as brother-in-law’s overseer, keeping an eye on those programmers to make sure they’re coding properly. Brother-in-law trusts me, which is why he gave me this position!” Leng Zhimeng replied.

“And besides, in the future, it’s us who’ll rely on you, sister!” Leng Zhimeng added. The two sisters laughed together, and everything seemed entirely ordinary.

Yet, in truth, both their hearts were roiling with waves.

On one hand, Leng Zhiruo believed that Huang He must fancy the fourth sister, Leng Zhimeng. Otherwise, brother-in-law wouldn’t have entrusted such a crucial role to her. Leng Zhiruo had followed him straight out of university, serving as his secretary and working tirelessly, yet her position remained unchanged. In contrast, Leng Zhimeng, fresh out of high school, was immediately appointed CEO of a company, her status far above that of a secretary. This, to Leng Zhiruo, was the clearest sign of brother-in-law’s affection for Leng Zhimeng.

As for why he favored Leng Zhimeng, with whom he had far less contact, over herself, who had been at his side for more than two years, it must be because Leng Zhimeng resembled their eldest sister the most. A deeply sentimental brother-in-law would inevitably project his feelings for the eldest onto Leng Zhimeng.

Leng Zhiruo’s heart was bitter.

“Well, whatever happens, Zhimeng is still my sister. If brother-in-law and Zhimeng end up together, we’ll still be family. That’s the best outcome. I can’t bear any grudges, nor stand in their way. On the contrary, I must help them, let them become a true couple!” Leng Zhiruo finally resolved in her heart.

Meanwhile, Leng Zhimeng kept secretly observing her second sister’s expression, her gestures, even the movements of her legs.

Soon, she noticed the tear stains on Leng Zhiruo’s face, and the strong scent of disinfectant lingering on her, clearly from spending a long time in the restroom, likely due to severe vomiting.

All this pointed to one truth: her second sister was pregnant. She’d caught Leng Zhiruo lingering in the restroom twice for an inordinate amount of time—proof enough.

If not for various pregnancy symptoms, why else would her sister spend so long in the bathroom? As for the tear marks, her sister must be feeling lost and confused about her current situation, while that scoundrel brother-in-law still refused to acknowledge her or give her a proper status, and even her second sister hadn’t told him about the pregnancy.

She knew her second sister’s temperament best: always bottling things up, wanting to shoulder everything herself, which made it all the more painful.

“No, I must let brother-in-law know the truth, help second sister open up, break through the barrier between them. Anyway, Mom keeps urging us to tie brother-in-law down—I need to make an effort too!”

Each sister made her own resolution, and their moods lightened considerably. With their deep bond, they completed the afternoon’s work cheerfully, though both harbored secret plans to help the other.

———

“Honey, our business has been declining lately!” early in the morning, Shen Yuequn’s wife complained to him.

He knew exactly what she meant: sales at all the points across the three northeastern provinces were dropping.

But that was only natural. After all, the number of players willing to buy blind boxes in any city was limited, and now most of them had their leather shoes and piles of wallets. Expecting them to keep making repeat purchases was unrealistic—so the drop in sales was inevitable.

“I’ve said it before: the only way to solve this problem is to make the stalls mobile—move from one neighborhood to another, from one city to the next. When the customer base in one area is saturated, move to the next. The three Northeast provinces are huge, with so many cities and towns; rotate through them and everything will work out!” Shen Yuequn explained. “That’s what the chairman instructed us over the phone.”

“But this only treats the symptoms, not the cause. Besides, we’ve expanded rapidly. Across the three provinces, we’ve developed over a hundred agents, and you’re talking about recruiting thousands more, spreading across the entire region… Once we’re everywhere, how will we keep moving around?” After more than a month of experience, Shen Yuequn’s wife had become much more astute and farsighted.

“We’ll find a way!” Shen Yuequn replied with a smile. His wife was about to probe further, but his phone rang. He took the call, and a smile broke out on his face.

“Honey, I’ll need you to manage the stall by yourself today—I have to go pick up some goods!” Shen Yuequn said to his wife.

“Why can’t Xiao Li pick them up? Why must you, the big boss, do it yourself?” she asked, puzzled.

Since taking charge of business across all three provinces, Shen Yuequn felt increasingly pressed for time and energy. Even though he didn’t handle stall operations anymore, he was still overwhelmed. In desperation, the hardworking Shen Yuequn had hired a young man to help with transport and errands, so he could focus on more important matters.

“This batch of goods is extraordinary—very valuable. I have to fetch it myself to be safe!” Shen Yuequn said cautiously.

“What is it, so precious?” his wife asked, curiosity piqued.

“One hundred and twenty smartphones,” Shen Yuequn replied after a moment’s hesitation.

“One hundred and twenty smartphones!” His wife’s mouth dropped open. With the average price per phone at around four thousand yuan, that amounted to forty-eight thousand—truly a valuable shipment, worthy of her husband personally picking it up.

And so, Shen Yuequn, the boss himself, drove his newly purchased secondhand Wuling van to the SF Express depot, and retrieved the shipment of one hundred and twenty smartphones.

“All these phones… are blind boxes?” she exclaimed in shock, seeing the van loaded with neatly packaged blind boxes.

“That’s right,” Shen Yuequn nodded. “The chairman said that starting today, our blind boxes won’t just contain leather goods—they’ll have phones too.”