1RomanceEB Chapter 130 Business Trips Also Involve Eating in the Cafeteria
Chapter 130 Business Trips Also Involve Eating in the Cafeteria
After leaving the station, Chen Che took a taxi to Alibaba's headquarters. He managed to find a place that could be considered a security guard's room. Looking at the endless park, he took out his phone and called Fang Si.
"Hello, Manager Fang, I've arrived at your headquarters campus. How do I find you?"
"Where are you?" Fang Si asked.
"Uh... wait a moment while I ask." Chen Che asked the security guard which entrance this was, and told Fang Si. A while later, a white Lexus drove up.
The car window was lowered, and a woman with short, neat hair and a capable demeanor leaned out, glanced around, and spotted Chen Che.
"Uh...you're President Chen Che?" Fang Si was a little surprised to see a relatively young face.
"Yes, Manager Fang, hello there." Chen Che smiled, unfazed. He took such looks as praise, a compliment for what he had accomplished that surpassed most of his peers.
"Oh... hello, then get in the car first." Fang Si didn't quite understand whether she should use the honorific "you" to address Chen Che, but she decided to just tell him to get in the car first.
Once in the car, Chen Che thought for a moment and decided to take the initiative to start a few awkward conversations to ease the atmosphere and the distance between strangers. So he said, "Manager Fang, you've really worked hard, coming to the company to work overtime on the weekend."
Unexpectedly, Fang Si shook her head as if it were a matter of course, and replied as if it were a habit: "What is this overtime? Of course we should work on weekends too. This is a manifestation of the fighting spirit of us Alibaba employees."
"Uh..." Chen Che was speechless for a moment. Even though he was a senior executive in his previous life, Chen Che's philosophy was that work was for a better life.
There's never enough work to do, especially in a large corporation, where there are all sorts of trivial communication and coordination tasks.
Fortunately, Chen Che was quite experienced in dealing with people, and he smiled and continued to flatter him, "You're right, Manager Fang. No wonder you're so young and accomplished, with your hard work and dedication."
"What's so special about this? There are many colleagues who are more outstanding and work harder than me. I'm still far behind," Fang Si said matter-of-factly, without even a smile, showing no sign of humility or politeness.
"Well……"
The handsome guy was speechless.
With noon fast approaching, Chen Che took the initiative and said, "Manager Fang, it's lunchtime. How about we grab a quick bite together?"
Fang Si didn't refuse, nodded, and said okay.
"Hehe, I'm new here and don't know anyone. You must be a veteran here. Are there any good restaurants around here? Could you show me the way? It'll be my treat," Chen Che said with a smile.
Without even thinking, Fang Si said directly, "It's too troublesome outside. I still have a lot of things to take care of. Let's have a bite to eat in our cafeteria."
"Hmm...that's...okay."
Had he stumbled upon a mere work machine? Chen Che wondered to himself.
Alibaba's headquarters is huge, and it takes some time to drive to the cafeteria. Chen Che was too lazy to say anything. Just like Grandma Liu visiting the Grand View Garden, it was good to see the workplace of these socially recognized elites, broaden his horizons and gain some knowledge.
Looking around, all that could be done was sigh. No one knew why all the wealth in the world seemed to flow to people with the surname Ma.
At this moment, Fang Si Conan also felt that the atmosphere in the car was too quiet, so he casually asked, "Mr. Chen, are you still a student?"
"Yes," Chen Che nodded, "I'm a college student."
"Oh, no wonder I noticed your application materials listed the company registration address as being at the school," Fang Si nodded thoughtfully, then continued, "Then I'll call you 'Little Chen,' you don't mind, do you?"
Chen Che smiled and shook his head, saying, "It doesn't matter. Many people call me Little President Chen, and I quite like that title."
Fang Si chuckled and continued, "Mr. Chen, are you a junior or a senior? Are your classmates all looking for internships? You've already started your own business, that's quite impressive."
Chen Che calmly replied, "Manager Fang, I'm a freshman in college."
"Freshman year?" Fang Si was taken aback. Does that mean he graduated from high school not long ago and just finished the college entrance examination this year?
…………
When they arrived at the cafeteria, Chen Che benefited from Fang Si's help and got a free lunch. That was good; he didn't have to go out to eat, and he even made back some of his round-trip train ticket money.
Back at the table, Chen Che ordered a crispy fried ribbonfish, a sweet and sour spare rib, and a hot and sour shredded potato, while Fang Si ordered a whole fish.
Chen Che stared at the fish for a while, which made Fang Si a little curious. She asked, "Mr. Chen, if you want to eat some too, you can get one. It's on me in the cafeteria anyway."
"No," Chen Che shook his head and said, "Manager Fang, this isn't the legendary West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce, is it?"
"Yes," Fang Si nodded and said, "That's right, this is considered a local specialty of Hangzhou. Would you like to try it?"
"Uh... never mind." I've heard so much about West Lake Vinegar Fish that it's legendary. West Lake is West Lake, vinegar is vinegar, and fish is fish. Non-professionals should not attempt this.
"Manager Fang, do you like this dish?"
"Yes," Fang Si nodded, "I think it tastes great."
"Really? I see..." Chen Che nodded thoughtfully.
Your elite taste is truly exceptional; no wonder we ordinary people can only remain ordinary, haha…
After eating a bite or two to fill his stomach, Fang Si couldn't help but get down to business.
"Mr. Chen, you should know the contents of the documents you submitted, right?" Fang Si asked.
"Mm." Chen Che nodded.
"So what do you think is the reason you were able to pass our online verification?"
Chen Che thought for a moment and replied, "It's because we have all the necessary qualifications, excellent technology, and a good reputation. We're not much different from those large, reputable companies, are we?"
"Hehe," Fang Si couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Young Mr. Chen, with such an optimistic attitude, no wonder you started your business at such a young age and managed to make a name for yourself."
"To be honest," Fang Si put down her chopsticks and said crisply, "based on the materials you submitted, our colleagues in charge of the review should have rejected them directly."
"However, we held a large meeting within our group before to discuss how to use our online model to transform the existing traditional offline distribution systems such as supermarkets."
"Your project on the 'French Fries at the Hour' platform hits this theme perfectly. Our colleagues thought it might be a good opportunity, so they submitted the materials to me, and now the case is in my hands."
Fang Si gave Chen Che a deep look and asked, "Why do you think we chose you?"