Lin Qingping and Gu Juncheng

Chapter 496 Being Troubled

Lin Qingping pretended to be clueless and deliberately asked, "What? Is there a promotion at the store today? Can I just take whatever I want?"

All three shop assistants were stumped by the question. One of them, whose bag was already full, laughed, a mocking smile on his face. "Are you kidding me? You think just anyone can take this? Who do you think you are?"

After saying that, he even gave a disdainful "tsk".

Lin Qingping found it amusing. Who was she? She should be asking who she was!

However, she didn't expose her, but continued to pretend, looking innocent, "I didn't know, that's why I asked. I thought the store was having a promotion!"

"Tch, country bumpkins!" The shop assistant glanced at Lin Qingping and Gu Juncheng's clothes, rolled his eyes, and carried the large bag of bread and cakes inside.

Lin Qingping looked down at herself, then at Gu Juncheng. Their clothes were two years old. They weren't exactly new, but they didn't look like country bumpkins either.

The first girl to greet her came up with a blush and said, "Excuse me, is there anything else you need?"

Lin Qingping smiled and handed the tray and clips back to her, "No need, thank you."

After saying that, she gestured for Gu Juncheng to take Zhangzhu and go out with her.

Once outside, Gu Juncheng looked at her, his brows slightly furrowed, "Lin Qingping..."

Lin Qingping waved her hand, "This is my own business, you don't need to worry about it."

She knew that several of his people were involved in the future, and he wanted to interfere.

He thought for a moment, then said, "Okay, I'll go with you."

He quickly realized that this was indeed Lin Qingping's cause. He could help her temporarily, but if he wanted people to be convinced and follow him in the long run, she needed to have her own authority.

He pondered for a moment, then simply said, "Just do things your way, do what you're supposed to do." Meaning, there was no need to consider his feelings, and even if someone was one of his men, there was no need to make things difficult for them.

Finally, he added, "When you need me, never try to be a hero!"

"I know, it's no big deal!" Lin Qingping said softly.

So, she led Gu Juncheng and Zhangzhu to "inspect" all the stores. Except for the second store that was opened that year, the other stores were in similar condition to the main store.

Gu Juncheng's face turned pale. He didn't believe that He Qiancheng and his group were such people, but the situation was right in front of him...

Seeing his constipated expression, Lin Qingping patted him on the shoulder, telling him he didn't need to be like that, and then hailed a car and went straight to the factory.

With more and more shops opening and plans to continue expanding, at the beginning of this year, under Lin Qingping's instruction, a place was rented specifically to be a factory, responsible for production, and then the products were delivered to each shop. Correspondingly, Factory Manager Cheng and He Qiancheng also moved their work location to the factory.

When Lin Qingping arrived at the factory, she didn't get past the first hurdle—the factory had a security guard who wouldn't let her in.

"I'm looking for Cheng Shu." She didn't reveal her identity at first, but seeing that the gatekeeper was an old man in his fifties, she spoke to him politely.

Upon hearing this, the security guard, just like the man in the shop carrying a large bag of bread, scoffed, "What Cheng Shu or Cheng Hua? I don't know them, get out of here!"

Lin Qingping wondered if the gatekeeper didn't know Factory Director Cheng's name. So she said, "I'm looking for Manager Cheng, or Manager He, He Qiancheng."

"Manager He?" The security guard glanced at her, but immediately raised his head even higher. "Who are you to him?"

Lin Qingping thought for a moment and nodded, "I guess we're... relatives."

The gatekeeper's gaze grew even more contemptuous. "A relative? How come I didn't know He Qiancheng had a relative like you?"

Lin Qingping was taken aback. How did you know that He Qiancheng had relatives? "We really are his relatives. This is He Qiancheng's younger brother."

Lin Qingping pointed at Gu Juncheng.

The gatekeeper sized them up, his smile growing even more contemptuous. "How interesting. I've never heard He Qiancheng mention having a younger brother before. Who are you? Which poor relatives from some remote mountain village? Are you here to freeload?"

Lin Qingping found it amusing. He was just a gatekeeper. Even if they were poor relatives who came to freeload, it had nothing to do with the gatekeeper, right?

Lin Qingping didn't want to argue with him anymore, so she said, "Comrade, how about this, could you please pass on a message for me? Whether it's Manager He or Manager Wei, you can ask any of them. Just say that Lin Qingping has arrived and wants to enter the factory."

"I don't care what you're called! Go away, go away, get out of the way!" The gatekeeper chased her away, along with Gu Juncheng, scolding them as he did so, "Don't you know where you are? Who do you think you are? You want to see this manager or that manager? Managers aren't people you can just see whenever you want! Do you think you're in your village?!"

If the gatekeeper was simply doing his job by not letting her in, Lin Qingping would have thought he was being conscientious and responsible. But the arrogance and pride that came with the man's words made him very unpleasant.

Lin Qingping hesitated for a moment, then said, "Comrade, we have identification. Take your identification and ask them whether they want to see us or not."

She didn't bring a letter of introduction this time, which obviously meant that the name Lin Qingping wouldn't work with the security guard. The guard probably didn't even know that the real boss was Lin Qingping. However, Gu Juncheng had a military ID, so seeing the officer's ID wouldn't make them think that they were poor relatives trying to freeload, right?

However, she remained optimistic. When she showed her military ID, the gatekeeper looked at her with even more disdain. "I was wondering where I got such a poor family of relatives! Turns out you're here again, begging for a job! I'm telling you, you're all veterans, can't you be a little more self-reliant? Stop thinking about relying on this person or that person. He Qiancheng is a veteran, and so are you. Why don't you reflect on yourselves? He Qiancheng is also a veteran, so why is he a manager while you can only beg for handouts..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a crisp "slap"—Lin Qingping slapped him across the face.

It seems this person can't distinguish between a discharge certificate and an active duty military ID; seeing a military ID, they assume someone is a discharged soldier. Not recognizing them isn't a problem, but she couldn't stand his humiliation of veterans and immediately took action, even faster than Gu Juncheng.

Gu Juncheng was also startled by her and immediately stepped in front of her, handing her the pearl to hold.

He never expected that Lin Qingping would actually make a move...

That was too impulsive! How could you not consider your own safety?

To be honest, that slap made him spit out a lot of anger. The man's words were really nasty, but he couldn't lay a hand on him; as a soldier, he had to restrain himself no matter what.

The gatekeeper was furious after being slapped, and he turned around to pick up a broom to hit the gatekeeper.