Manager Yu's sudden weakness at the scene naturally caught the attention of the chairman's younger brother.
"Manager Yu, what was that phone call about?"
Manager Yu looked at the general manager who was questioning him, feeling his mouth dry and parched. He opened and closed his mouth several times, and only after seeing the general manager's impatient expression did he have to blurt out:
"General Manager, that Happy Pig Farm, their five thousand pigs..."
"What about the pigs? At 7.5 yuan a pound, do they still think it's too low?" After saying this, the general manager saw Manager Yu's hesitant look and frowned slightly. "What happened to those five thousand pigs?! Speak!"
Manager Yu swallowed, plastering a smile on his face as he sat down on the ground:
"General Manager, those five thousand pigs have been sold..."
"Sold?!" the general manager questioned loudly, his brows furrowed as he glared at the dejected Manager Yu sitting on the floor. "Impossible! In our H province, besides us Sanhui, who else can handle such a large quantity?!"
Manager Yu also felt his mouth bitter. He knew that the task of acquiring these five thousand pigs was his first order since becoming the procurement manager. This first order was a complete mess, and it wasn't just about buying them at a higher price, but about not being able to buy any pigs at all...
"I heard that the Beautiful Brand factory in our neighboring S province bought them. Refrigerated trucks have already arrived today, and they are loading at the pig farm. How about... we talk to the boss of Beautiful Brand?"
"Talk, talk! Talk what! Do you know the wholesale price of pork in S province? Besides, that old fellow from Beautiful Brand is stubborn and only wants to make his brand bigger and stronger. We are already competitors, why would he listen to you?"
"Then... we just watch them haul away our pork like this?"
Manager Yu wanted to struggle a bit more, to try and salvage his impending career-ending situation.
The general manager let out a heavy breath through his nostrils and kicked over a nearby office chair.
"Are you an idiot? Don't you know our group's procurement volume? If we miss these five thousand pigs, we won't have enough pork raw materials for next month and the month after! When the production line stops, can you afford the losses?!"
Manager Yu looked at the general manager roaring at him, veins bulging on his neck. He blinked and dared not make a sound, sitting on the ground alone, weak, helpless, and pathetic, no longer showing the arrogance he had displayed in front of Xue Youqian recently.
Seeing Manager Yu's pathetic state, the general manager kicked him hard. Seeing Manager Yu scrambling on the ground, searching for his glasses, he spat and finally said helplessly:
"Damn it, Beautiful Brand! Don't let me catch you next time!"
...
After Liu Chen handed the recipe for starch sausages to Old Master Chen, she returned to her own Dadi Mansion every day after class.
In mid-November, Beijing's daytime high temperature was only seven to eight degrees Celsius. Liu Chen, snuggled in her Dadi Mansion with underfloor heating, wished she could stay in bed all day and not go out.
Fortunately, reason ultimately triumphed over laziness, and Liu Chen still rode her mountain bike to campus for classes every day, rain or shine.
Finally, the weekend arrived. On Friday evening, Lai Jielun, Mi Zhuzhu, Ren Mo, and Sang Ling all rang Liu Chen's doorbell around the same time.
It was the first weekend Liu Chen had moved out, and everyone else's schedules were full with club activities, shooting commercials in photo studios, assisting at TV stations, or working on their startups.
This weekend, however, they all arrived at Dadi Mansion with their backpacks, as if by unspoken agreement.
They sat around a fluffy rug, with "Day Day Up" playing on the television. On the table were four warm plastic cups of creamer milk tea with tapioca pearls at the bottom.
Mi Zhuzhu held a pearl milk tea in a soft plastic cup in her left hand, while using her right hand to poke the straw around the bottom of the cup, trying to get all the 'pearls' into the straw to eat them all in one go.
"Chenchen, shall we go see a movie tomorrow? I haven't seen a movie since coming to Beijing?"
Lai Jielun sat beside Mi Zhuzhu with a hint of grievance. "I want to go see '2012' with Zhuzhu, but Zhuzhu said she wants to go with Chenjie. This movie is really popular lately, and they say the special effects are very good. Even our teacher recommended it to us."
"2012?" Liu Chen recalled. At this time in her previous life, the movie '2012' was also very popular. Because the movie depicted the end of the world on December 12, 2012, and the date was close, many people genuinely worried about the impending doomsday after watching it.
However, Liu Chen hadn't seen it. When the movie was popular, she was working odd jobs and part-time to make ends meet, and couldn't afford to spend tens of yuan to watch a movie.
But this movie was still considered one of the must-watch sci-fi disaster films even more than a decade later. She figured it must be good.
"Then shall we go see it tomorrow?"
Liu Chen looked at Sang Ling and Ren Mo, who were editing photos on their laptops, and asked.
"Sure, it would be good to write a movie review afterward, which would also be a substantial Weibo post." Sang Ling was very interested and agreed immediately. Ren Mo, who was editing pictures on her computer, hesitated slightly.
"But won't it be too late to book tickets now? I heard that movie is very popular?"
Liu Chen blinked and looked at Mi Zhuzhu, smiling mischievously.
Mi Zhuzhu smiled and winked. "Hehe, Chenchen is indeed smart. I previously wrote a movie experience review for a cinema, and they gave me five tickets to '2012'."
"The time is tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 PM, with seats in the middle of the fourth row, prime location. Of course, if you don't want to go, I'll give the tickets to my roommates, it's all the same."
"Hmm? Zhuzhu, how many fans do you have now?" Liu Chen had been engrossed in experiments lately and often didn't have time to check their group chat. She was curious about how old Mi Zhuzhu's Weibo account was for a cinema to invite her to write movie reviews.
When this was brought up, Mi Zhuzhu couldn't help but reveal a smug smile.
"Hehehe~~~ I knew you hadn't checked the chat records, Chenchen, otherwise you'd be praising me to the skies~~ My follower count has already surpassed 100,000!
And the engagement rate is very high. For every Weibo post, the comments and likes are usually in the tens of thousands. If that cinema wasn't near our school, I generally wouldn't accept such invitations~~"
Liu Chen looked at Zhuzhu, who had deep brown curly hair, was wearing a white turtleneck sweater, had delicate pink makeup on her face, and was smiling with full confidence. She felt genuinely happy from the bottom of her heart.
She hoped that Zhuzhu in this life would be happier than in her previous life.
With this thought, Liu Chen gave Mi Zhuzhu a thumbs-up. "Then our Zhuzhu is amazing!"
Mi Zhuzhu, who had been beaming, couldn't help but smile even more when she heard Liu Chen praise her, her gums slightly showing. She waved a hand.
"Oh, it's okay, it's okay. Sang Ling is also amazing, and Sang Ling has even more fans than I do. It's just that Sang Ling's Weibo posts are mostly substantive content, unlike me, who sometimes just posts when I'm happy."
Mentioning this, Sang Ling also smiled and nodded.
"I also took Liu Chen's advice to transform my Weibo into a study blogger account. I discovered that this not only doesn't delay my studies but also motivates me to keep learning so that I can share new knowledge with my fans."
Mi Zhuzhu stuck out her tongue upon hearing this, a look of difficulty on her face. "It's too difficult. It really requires a top student to do it."
Lai Jielun heard this and rubbed Mi Zhuzhu's head. "It's okay, Zhuzhu, just be yourself."
Sandwiched between two couples, Liu Chen inexplicably felt like she was being force-fed dog food. She decisively set the plan to go to the movies tomorrow and then went back to her room to wash up and sleep.
...
Beijing was teeming with people on Saturday, especially at the movie theaters, where every showing was packed. Liu Chen, looking at the long queue of people buying tickets, couldn't help but reminisce about online group buying tickets in her past life.
It was a shame that the money she had on hand was being saved to buy land for the factory; otherwise, wouldn't investing in Meituan allow her to earn money while lying down?
With a sigh, Liu Chen followed Sang Ling, holding a bucket of popcorn, and queued for ticket checking before entering the cinema.
"Hello, your ticket is for Hall 3. It's the first screening hall on the left after entering."
The young ticket checker, with her head down, finished checking tickets and looked up as she handed the ticket to Liu Chen. Upon seeing Liu Chen's smile, she froze slightly, and a blush spread across her face.
"H-happy weekend..."
Liu Chen saw the ticket checker, who reminded her of herself when she was working part-time in her previous life, and smiled back.
"Happy weekend."
Hall 3 had two entrances. Most people were lining up at the entrance on the left with their ticket stubs. Liu Chen glanced at the right and saw that it was open, so she beckoned the other four to go over.
After the five of them entered through the right door, the interior was brightly lit. As they walked up a few steps, they saw a huge movie screen, currently showing advertisements.
According to the seat information on the ticket stubs, Liu Chen counted to the fourth row and led them towards the middle.
As soon as they found their seats and sat down, the cinema lights dimmed, and the promotional trailer for the movie '2012' began playing on the screen. The realistic tsunami and the frozen Shanghai made Liu Chen even see her own balcony at Tangchen Yipin.
After the trailer finished, the movie officially began.
Liu Chen had originally thought she wouldn't be moved to tears as described in movie reviews, but as she sat in the theater, forgetting all spoilers and plot points, Liu Chen felt as if she had traveled with the protagonists to 2012.kuAiδugg
When the movie ended, the end credits and the cast and crew list began to play. Most people in the theater remained seated, still immersed in the greatness of humanity in the face of nature's disasters.
The hall lights suddenly turned on, and Liu Chen realized that Mi Zhuzhu, sitting next to her, had her makeup smeared with tears. Her eyes were red and swollen, clearly having cried a lot.
"Wuwu, Chenchen, what if 2012 really is like the Mayan prophecy in the movie? Wuwu, I'm still young, I don't want to die yet, wuwu..."
Liu Chen, who had been immersed in the movie's emotions, was snapped out of it by Zhuzhu's crying. She couldn't help but smile and cry.
"Don't worry, it's just a movie, it's fake. 2012 won't be the end of the world, don't worry."
Mi Zhuzhu stared with her red eyes, pulled out her phone, and tapped on the keypad. She finally edited it down to one sentence and sent it to Weibo.
'If 2012 is the end of the world, what is the one thing you want to do most right now?'