New Hire
Even though her job had nothing to do with these topics and they weren’t particularly useful, she still enjoyed learning about them.
Constant learning made her feel as though her mind was growing younger.
Looking at the book in front of her, she sensed that her chance had come—she was going to have a different future!
The day before departure, Li Xiaolan called again to confirm the address. Wang Dashan had been out and about lately, so he was quite familiar with the neighborhood. Li Lanlan planned to have Wang Dashan pick up her older sister when the time came.
Early the next morning, Wang Dashan headed over to the West Station. After dropping the kids off at school, Li Lanlan wheeled in that day’s supply of cold noodles and zongzi on a small cart.
She had barely finished preparing the seasonings when she heard a knock at the door.
She opened the door to find three people standing outside.
The younger version of her sister-in-law’s husband was standing there too!
Li Lanlan’s face fell instantly. This Li Xiaolan—she’s got me figured out, doesn’t she?
Seeing her sour expression, the group—who had been chatting cheerfully just moments ago—fell silent. They stood there like lambs awaiting judgment, not daring to utter a word.
Li Lanlan plowed straight through the middle of the three of them. They stumbled back but didn’t dare make a sound.
Only after making sure there were no children behind her did Li Lanlan say irritably, “Come on in, older sister. It’s all set up now. I didn’t see you being this well-behaved when you were acting first and asking for permission later!”
Li Xiaolan muttered to herself: After all these years, her younger sister still has such a terrible temper.
They say people who get angry easily tend to develop health issues, but that wasn’t the case with Li Lanlan. She was the type who lived by her own rules—if she was angry, she let it out right then and there, never waiting for later. As a result, she was actually in excellent health.
Li Lanlan saw that her older sister hadn’t brought much with her—just a small bundle—so she figured she’d at least listened to her advice. If her brother-in-law was coming, so be it. Beijing was such a big city; anyone could find a way to make a living here.
She just needed to clarify whether her brother-in-law was coming to work with her family. She didn’t want to get ahead of herself and make all the arrangements, only to have them drop the ball—that would be a real joke.
But they had to set up their stall soon.
“Sister, why don’t you and your husband get some rest first? Dashan and I have to set up the stall later. You can go to that room—it’s got bedding and everything.”
Li Lanlan pointed to the room where they’d been storing ingredients. The original owner had partitioned it into two small rooms, so one half was for living quarters and the other for supplies.
Li Xiaolan was flustered. Rest? Of course they should be making money right away! “Lanlan, your brother-in-law and I won’t rest. We’ll set up the stall with you guys!”
It was the middle of summer, and Li Xiaolan and the others had been cooped up on the train, sweating and smelling a bit. But seeing how eager they were, Li Lanlan didn’t want to dampen their enthusiasm.
“Then go take a shower first. We’re in the food business—cleanliness and hygiene are a must.”
Li Xiaolan realized there was nothing to be embarrassed about; she didn’t have any pretense to uphold. They’d never run a food business before, but she thought to herself that if she were going to buy food, she’d definitely choose a place that was clean and hygienic.
The couple split up, taking turns showering and getting ready. In no time, they were fresh and clean. The weather was perfect—after washing their hair, they stepped out into the courtyard, and the sun dried it in no time.
After their shower, they felt refreshingly clean.
Li Lanlan handed each of them an apron to keep their clothes clean and maintain a tidier appearance. These aprons had been provided by the distributor of the wholesale seasonings.
Having four people milling around a single small stall looked rather odd, and it was more staff than necessary. The portable tables and chairs Li Lanlan had purchased earlier came in handy.
Before, when she was working alone, she was too busy selling food to set up tables and chairs for customers to eat on the spot, so she never got around to it—and as a result, she lost some customers.
Now that there were more people, she could finally make up for that.
Everyone had done chores at home before; even the men had some experience in the kitchen, so there was no question of them not being able to handle the work.
They all got the hang of it quickly. Li Lanlan offered guidance from the sidelines while Li Xiaolan and Wang Dashan handled the cash register. Li Xiaolan served the food, and her brother-in-law, Zhou Zhijun, cleared away the used dishes and wiped down the tables, leaving everything spotless—a sight that was a pleasure to behold.
Business was even better than before. Seeing that everyone could handle things on their own, Li Lanlan no longer worried about it. Although her older sister and brother-in-law could roughly estimate their monthly income, Li Lanlan wasn’t really concerned.
She certainly wouldn’t neglect her sister and brother-in-law. They’d be perfectly capable of running the business on their own in the future. There was no shortage of business opportunities, and there was no need for family infighting. She saw things clearly and had no intention of having them work for her for the rest of their lives.
Li Lanlan did remind Wang Dashan not to mention to family, relatives, or outsiders that she earned a high salary at the tutoring center—it was best not to flaunt one’s wealth.
These past few days, Li Lanlan had been tagging along to observe; she no longer interfered much with the prep work, but the blending of seasonings was still handled by her and Wang Dashan.
She had no intention of handing it over just yet; it was better to keep certain things under her own control for the time being. Once they’d saved up a decent family fortune, she’d consider putting some of it to use.
The adults were busy with their business and lesson planning, and the kids had finally gotten used to their new surroundings. Now, children from other families were coming over to play with the eldest.
The playmates of the other three children were still quite young, and their parents weren’t comfortable letting them out on their own.
It happened to be a weekend. Li Lanlan was home alone watching the children when someone suddenly knocked on the door. She opened it to find the little girl from next door. “Auntie, is Wang Zheng home?”
Seeing that the girl was looking for her eldest daughter, Wang Zheng, Li Lanlan invited her inside. The eldest was quite the social butterfly; no matter where she went, she always made plenty of friends.
This was quite unlike her and her husband, but it was a good thing. After all, this is a society where personal connections matter—the more friends you have, the more opportunities open up.
Li Lanlan let them play in the yard. The other three kids were playing too. The second-oldest was cooking pretend food—who knows when she’d saved up those potato peels—and was using a toy knife to chop vegetables.
The two youngest were riding their scooters and playing bumper cars. Kids have boundless energy; they played for quite a while without getting tired. Li Lanlan gave them some water to drink, then sat down at the desk by the window to continue reading her training materials.
She could keep an eye on the children just by glancing up; they were behaving themselves.
Early Monday morning, Li Lanlan took her documents to process her onboarding. Zhang Wan at the front desk took her documents and gave them a look.
Seeing that surname—though it was a common one—people are always looking for a way to make a profit wherever there are people, especially in a position so closely tied to money. It was hard not to think of something.
“Is Li Yanqing a relative of yours?” Zhang Wan asked curiously as she handed her the forms to fill out.
People these days really have no sense of boundaries; they just ask whatever comes to mind.
Li Lanlan was truly speechless inside. One from the Northwest, the other from the Northeast—this person really did think the distance between them was as vast as three thousand li!
Li Lanlan gave a faint smile but didn’t answer directly. As for what this person thought, that was her own business.
Seeing that she wasn’t saying much, Zhang Wan belatedly realized there must be some sort of family connection.
The Down to the Countryside Movement in previous years had given many families relatives all over the country. She decided not to say anything more—after all, Li Yanqing was considered a rising star in the company.
He might even become one of the top executives someday. While she wasn’t afraid of that, there was no need to create tension with the sales team.
After verifying the documents, Zhang Wan handed the contract to Li Lanlan.
“Please take a look at the contract terms first, especially these sections. If you’ve read them carefully and have no issues, just sign it. There are two copies of the contract; once the company stamps it, we’ll return one to you.”
Li Lanlan carefully reviewed the contract. It stated a base salary of 5,000 yuan, with commissions calculated based on class hours—exactly as Li Yanqing had explained to her earlier. As long as she worked regularly, she could easily earn 10,000 to 20,000 yuan a month in class fees.
She didn’t know much about the law, so she could only judge it based on her simple values. After a quick glance, she realized it was a standard form contract.
She had signed similar contracts before; there weren’t any particularly unfair terms—just the usual stuff about following the law and company policies. Li Lanlan read it over carefully and signed her name right away.
After signing, Zhang Wan took her through the process of getting her employee ID and other essentials. The ID wasn’t a card yet, but rather a student-ID-style booklet with a photo attached, encased in a plastic sleeve.
Li Lanlan pasted her photo and filled in her basic information herself, then handed it to Zhang Wan. Zhang Wan took it to get the official company seal stamped on it before returning it to her.
By the time all this was finished, it was around 9:30 a.m. Since she had been directly recruited by Li Yanqing, they didn’t bother verifying her professional certifications or anything like that. With no other issues, once the onboarding procedures were complete, Zhang Wan took her to the office area.
Following Zhang Wan to Li Yanqing’s team’s office area, Li Yanqing happened to be there at that moment.
“Pick any seat you like. There aren’t many people in our team right now, so take your pick!” Li Yanqing said with a sweeping gesture.
Li Lanlan looked around and saw that there were indeed plenty of seats—all rectangular workstations with swivel chairs.
Li Lanlan took a look; the desks were all pretty much the same. She chose one that was farther from the printer but closer to the water cooler, and set her things down.
Li Lanlan sat down to test it out and found it quite comfortable.
Li Yanqing handed her a thick, A4-sized bound booklet. “This is the training materials for instructors. Take a look and get yourself prepared.”
After giving her the materials, Li Yanqing went back to his own work. He was currently tutoring high school students—mostly incoming freshmen preparing for their first semester—so he was quite busy.
Li Lanlan, however, wasn’t yet qualified to teach; she had to observe classes first to gain experience. Since it was winter break, the training school’s schedule followed the same schedule as regular schools.
Li Lanlan tidied up her desk a bit, then picked up the office supplies she’d been given and headed off to observe a class.
Her only prior experience with education came from her own children, and even then, it was limited to subjects like Chinese and English; she was at a loss when it came to the other science subjects.