After chatting for a while, Mei Mengzhen was summoned downstairs by a phone call from He Yiran. Upon arriving on the 8th floor, nearly every lady present warmly greeted her. Mengzhen struggled to find He Yiran in the crowd but eventually located her after a good while. Upon meeting up, He Yiran excitedly said, "Zhenzhen, where have you been hiding? There are so many people here; you should get to know more of them. They’re all our good friends and potential future customers."
So He Yiran had called her down to prevent her from shirking, Mengzhen said irritatedly, "I was with Director An and others, discussing the variety show taking place in a few days. Besides, why are you saying the same thing as Director An? Do I look like someone who avoids socializing?"
He Yiran nodded without hesitation, clearly thinking that Mengzhen had been finding ways to avoid mingling ever since they had parted ways.
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that, He Yiran said, "You’ve been talking for so long; you must be nearly done by now. Come on, please go greet everyone quickly. Dinner time is approaching, and we’re not covering dinner. They have already made reservations for private rooms and ordered their meals."
The invitations they sent out clearly stated that they would only provide lunch for the grand opening of the new Xiyuan. After lunch, guests were responsible for their own expenses and were advised to make reservations in advance. Anyone who had read the invitation carefully would have seen this, so there really wasn’t any controversy.
Looking at He Yiran’s excited face, Mengzhen asked knowingly, "No seriously, if they want to eat, why are you so happy about it?"
He Yiran nudged her in the back with a shoulder, exaggeratingly exclaimed, "Why am I happy? Don’t you know by now? Come on, hurry up, let’s get ready."
Get ready, so what was she supposed to prepare? Was she expected to go to the kitchen to cook or to guide guests at the elevator? What exactly was she supposed to do?
Regardless of what she’d have to do later, greeting the guests was presently the most important task. Followed by He Yiran, she greeted one guest after another. Mengzhen wasn’t completely unfamiliar with these people; in fact, they had visited an auction in Beijing before, and she had seen and greeted most of the ladies present.
With a quick glance, Mengzhen swiftly matched the faces with those in her memory, not even needing He Yiran to introduce her. She conversed naturally, therefore, gaining a favorable impression from the crowd.
Once the greetings were done, and most people had finished their shopping, Mengzhen actually joined He Yiran in helping guide guests to the elevators, directing them to their respective private rooms. Upon reaching the appropriate floors, waiters would take over the arrangements, so they really had no more tasks thereafter.
After sending almost everyone away, the two of them slumped onto a sofa, both sighing and feeling equally exhausted—which seemed to irk He Yiran.
He Yiran asked, "I’ve been greeting guests for several hours, so my tiredness is understandable, but why are you tired? You didn’t greet them for long, did you?"
"Because I’ve been greeting customers elsewhere. But why are you still here? Aren’t you going to the 29th floor?"
"I’m not going there. Brother Fan is taking care of it."
Mengzhen was surprised to learn that Fan Tianyu was greeting guests on the 29th floor, "Then what about the wine?"
"Brother Pei and Tan Jia are there. Their presence is enough. Not to mention, Brother Hao and Brother Zhan are also there. Our floor doesn’t have any trial products; otherwise, it really wouldn’t have ended this quickly."
Ladies who come out require makeup. Not to mention the complicated process of applying makeup, the trial and removal before reapplying wasn’t worth it. Besides, most had already used the products before, and if they liked something, they would simply pick it up and go. Thus, although many people purchased on the 8th floor, the process was fairly quick.
However, the Wine Cellar on the 11th and 12th floors was really bustling. Even though there were no samples for tasting, it was possible to open the bottles on the spot. Drinking without making a purchase was no issue, and they could even have the bottles stored there after completing some paperwork. This led to many guests unboxing and trying the wines, especially in the high-end Wine Cellar Area on the 12th floor.
In hindsight, the Wine Cellar Area did indeed require more help.
Regardless of how these people were to arrange their subsequent time, one thing remained constant: Xiyuan’s business hours were from 10 AM to 10 PM. Security would also be on duty at night, patrolling and guarding the premises to ensure Xiyuan’s safety.
As for overtime, that was a word she was less willing to have in her dictionary. After all, she wasn’t someone who enjoyed working overtime, and there had been no precedent for it in the old Xiyuan. There was no reason to assume that they would have to start working overtime just because the new Xiyuan had opened, so apart from the night shift security, there was really no such thing as overtime for anyone else.
Since there was no overtime, around closing time, they would start playing the off-work music, just like in the mall. At 9:45 PM, the music would begin on time. Listening to this music, which felt familiar yet out of place in this setting, left many people bemused.
Only after inquiring with the workers and realizing that the music indeed signaled it was time to leave did the guests start to understand that this was their cue.
In this regard, the boss of Xiyuan truly had the most ingenious approach—coming up with such an idea.
Even more crucially, everyone felt anger yet dared not express it. If they upset the boss of Xiyuan and got blacklisted, they would be banned from returning, and thus unable to indulge in all the delightful food anymore.
So, upon hearing the music and after getting clarification from the waiters, everyone began to prepare and leave the venue in succession.
Their invitation had reached many, which was why the time to see off guests that night was extended—on a normal day, they wouldn’t have had so many visitors.
What they didn’t know was, with today’s diners spreading the word upon their return, people from everywhere wanted to try Xiyuan, resulting in increasingly good business. When the daily dishes were once again in short supply, Fan Tianyu and Mei Mengzhen were at their wit’s end, completely overwhelmed yet without a solution.
Of course, all these were concerns for another time.
After having seen off all their guests, the opening of the new Xiyuan had come to a successful close.
As the four shareholders of the new Xiyuan, they had a rough idea of today’s individual sales figures. Fan Tianyu said, "My sales were so high, I’m afraid it might scare you, and I don’t remember them too clearly. The purchases were many and varied. I could keep track at first, but later on, I just couldn’t remember."
Pei Ziyu laughed, "My shipment volume was also not low, so I suppose the sales figures won’t be disappointing."
He Yiran naturally didn’t need to say much either, "I’m the same, most of the people were about to collapse from exhaustion."