46: Chapter 46 Xiangdou

Returning to the villa at Biyuntian, I arrived just in time for dinner. After devouring several large bowls of rice, I went back to my bedroom, washed up, and fell asleep as soon as I hit the bed. I woke up late the next day, and since my legs were still a bit sore, I didn't go out and rested at home for the day. While I had free time, I bought all the daily necessities for the Tianxing Garden villa from a local supermarket's online mall and had the merchant deliver them all together tomorrow.

The next day, the May Day holiday ended, and the girls all returned. My younger brother and third sister went back to school. My second sister also returned to Jiangnan Province to work; she would come back to Huanghe City once she received her graduation certificate. Cao Xiao had asked a teacher to help contact a professor of economic management at Huanghe University, and Cao Weilan would take the postgraduate entrance exam for that professor after graduation.

Cao Xiao did not tell his parents about the existence of Tianxing Garden. Up until now, the only people who knew he had bought Tianxing Garden were Elder Chen and Liu Guitang. He went to Tianxing Garden early in the morning. After the supermarket delivery arrived, he contacted the housekeeping company from the day before yesterday and had them send a few people to help organize. Later, thinking that he would often be away and there would be no one to look after the place, he had a private conversation with the most nimble-handed woman among the housekeeping staff. He asked her to quit her job at the agency and come here to do cleaning. After Cao Xiao offered a monthly salary of five thousand yuan, Sister Li agreed without hesitation. She would start working here in two days and would also live on-site in the future.

After finishing the villa's affairs, Cao Xiao drove non-stop to Wujia Village, the closest village to Tianxing Garden. He negotiated with the village chief and asked him to help hire about a hundred villagers to clear the forest land in Tianxing Garden. He also hired a hundred women to help pick fruit in a few days, basically utilizing all the idle labor in Wujia Village. He didn't give the village chief any gifts; this wasn't a case of him begging for a favor. Recruiting so many people to work at Tianxing Garden, even if it wasn't long-term, was a huge benefit to Wujia Village. The village chief agreed with a heart full of joy and would organize the villagers to start clearing tomorrow. After settling on the wages, the village chief warmly invited Cao Xiao to stay for a meal, but Cao Xiao declined. He had many things to handle. It was only when he started considering hiring people that he realized things weren't that simple. The forest land needed a plan before construction could start; for now, he could only clear the vegetation. He needed to buy tools for the workers, reclaim land to plant fruit trees or crops, and tools were also needed for fruit picking. He also had to consider how to sell the fruit. He didn't know who to sell tens of thousands of tons of fruit to, and it had to be sold in a short period, or it would spoil. That cold storage couldn't hold much either.

Lacking experience, he didn't know where to start. Managing a ten-thousand-mu orchard was not that simple, and he couldn't focus all his energy here. Professional matters should be left to professional people. Didn't he have a company? Hao Linger might not be an expert in orchard management, but she could recruit professionals to manage it; she just needed to manage the people. Besides, didn't the company lack business? He could just wholesale the fruit to the company and let the company sell it. It was the best of both worlds; why should he exert so much effort himself?

Thinking of this, he called Hao Linger and told her about the situation and his ideas. Hao Linger didn't say much on the phone. As soon as Cao Xiao finished, she simply told him to wait at Tianxing Garden and hung up.

Half an hour later, a white BMW drove through the gates of Tianxing Garden. The car stopped outside the villa, and Hao Linger, dressed as a white-collar professional, got out of the driver's seat. Simultaneously, the car doors opened, and a man and a woman stepped out from the back seat.

“Cao Xiao, you're really something! I’m busy day in and day out managing the company for you, while you not only ignore everything but also neglect your proper duties to mess around with an orchard. You can't even handle it yourself and end up needing me to clean up your mess. Can't you show some ambition!” Ignoring her image as a young lady, Hao Linger lectured Cao Xiao the moment she got out of the car, her face full of disappointment as if he were a lost cause.

“Authentic old-pit Changhua tianhuang jelly chicken blood stone 'Imperial Concubine' bracelet. It's not easy to find these on the market. Put it on and see if it fits.” Cao Xiao had anticipated that Hao Linger would lose her temper and had prepared a gift to appease her. He hadn't expected her to explode right from the start. He didn't know if it would get worse or if she would think he lacked ambition and quit, so he could only bring out the gift early and present it to her. He firmly believed in the powerful attraction of beautiful jewelry for women.

“Hmm? chicken blood stone? And it's on a tianhuang jelly base? Where did you get this? The price for an authentic one must be at least over a million, right? Are you really giving it to me?” As expected, Hao Linger's gaze was drawn to the bracelet. She looked at Cao Xiao with a face full of disbelief.

“Don't worry about where it came from, just take it. This is my gift to compensate you for your hard work and lack of complaints. Well? Are you satisfied?” Seeing that he had successfully diverted Hao Linger's attention, Cao Xiao offered a flattering smile.

He did feel like he was neglecting his proper duties a bit, doing things in a haphazard way. Facing Hao Linger, he naturally couldn't stand tall. A great man knows when to yield, especially since Hao Linger was helping him manage the company with all her heart. It could be said that from the company's preparation until now, Hao Linger had handled everything herself; he hadn't even visited the company once.

“Mhm, it's okay. I'm naturally beautiful, so anything looks good on me. But don't think I'll let you off that easily. I don't dare trust you anymore. Your so-called 'busy' is just messing around with random things. From now on, you have to go to the office every day, or I'll mess with you every day.” Hao Linger praised herself while putting on the bracelet, but in an instant, she snapped back and threatened Cao Xiao fiercely.

“Pfft.”

Before Cao Xiao could speak, the girl who had come with Hao Linger couldn't help but laugh. Cao Xiao was a bit puzzled as to why this woman was laughing, then he realized that Hao Linger's words just now had an ambiguous double meaning.

“And these two are?” Cao Xiao wasn't angry about being threatened by Hao Linger to go to work. She was doing it for his own good; after all, it was his company. But that woman's sudden laughter was a bit impolite. Without responding to Hao Linger's words, he looked at the two people, who still had smiles on their faces, and asked Hao Linger.

“Since you, the big boss, won't go to the company, I had to bring the employees here to greet you. This is my best friend, Cheng Xiang. She’s a postgraduate in accounting and is also our company's financial director. This toad is the sales director, his name is Hou Jin. He was my university classmate. Like you, he doesn't stick to proper duties; he went into sales right after graduation. He's quick-witted and has a silver tongue, but he doesn't dare say a word in front of me and can't even take a punch. And this is our mysterious big boss who is rarely seen. Hurry up and pay your respects.” Hao Linger said, looking at Cao Xiao resentfully.

“Hello! I am Cao Xiao.” Cao Xiao took the initiative to greet the two, reaching out to shake their hands. Since they were employees of his own company, his displeasure vanished. As a boss, he needed to have proper poise, otherwise, he would be no better than Fang Xuehai.

“Hello, Mr. Cao. Do you have a girlfriend? What do you think of me?” Cheng Xiang was the first to speak. She held Cao Xiao's right hand with both of hers, looking at him charmingly while speaking softly.

“Ahem, that's a private matter, I'm not at liberty to say.” Cao Xiao felt his palm being lightly scratched by her soft fingertips. A jolt of electricity surged through his body. He froze for two seconds before quickly pulling his right hand back and responding awkwardly.

It was the first time he had been treated like this by a woman, especially a beautiful female employee from his own company. The feeling was quite wonderful, yet he felt a faint sense of resistance in his heart.