Assigning a Task

Si Chen rolled his eyes in response, before informing, "I will hand the contract to you tomorrow."

"Sure. I will be waiting for Boss Si in this little store then." Ouyang Xin smilingly responded.

After exchanging a few words with Ouyang Xin, then taking a casual glance around the store, he promptly walked out of the place.

The sky was ocean blue, without the slightest trace of clouds to stop the onslaught of the sun's rays onto the ground.

He stretched out his hands up to the sky, as he exclaimed about how wonderful his life was, where he had food to eat, a place to stay in, and money rolling into his pockets.

Gone were the days when he had to worry about his financial issues.

And he would never forget those hard days where he had it the worst.

The day when he was struck by something, and knocked unconscious, was the true start of his new life indeed.

It was good to check out his progress every once in a while, and reflect on how he was doing. Only then could he realise how much had been improved, and what still need to be worked on.

------

Habitually opening the door to the apartment, Si Chen was greeted with the ever so familiar sight.

There were two people lazily lying in the sofa, and their posture was truly worrying. One had her face glued to the TV, while the other was smiling to himself while watching videos on his phone.

Without a slightest trace of surprise evident on his face, he offhandedly greeted them out of politeness, and they also sluggishly responded.

While he was walking past them, his eyes involuntarily lingered on Yang Ran for a while, before swiftly pulling back.

He had never seen Yang Ran studying for more than an hour a day before, and the only other time he had seen her touch anything remotely related to studies, was during the occasional times when she helped Xiao Meng out with her homework and revision.

With such an idle lifestyle of hers, it was no surprise if she was a bottom feeder in her school. Yet she was exactly the opposite of this, and this only meant one thing, which was that she was a genius.

For someone of her talent to waste her time on unproductive events all day was truly a waste.

If she even bothered to spend her time and dedicate her effort to her studies, she would reach unimaginable heights.

But she didn't, and of course, it was also not his business to care about this.

Laziness was the downfall of many capable people, and he didn't want to fall into such a league.

This was why his entire lifestyle right now, mainly consisted of his business work and learning of relevant knowledge,

Inside his room, he spent a few hours on studying on F&B, and was now undertaking a course on it online.

This time, however, the course was of Standard 2 difficulty, as compared to the previous Standard 1 grade course that he had took.

The F&B Standard 1 certificate was still proudly being displayed in his room, along with the other Art & Design Standard 1 certificate.

Of course, only he alone enjoyed their mighty presences, because the only other person who comes to his room, Xiao Meng, only thought of it as flimsy pieces of decorated paper.

He didn't know whether to cry or to laugh when he heard Xiao Meng say that.

A few hours passed, and it was dinner time. He cooked a sumptuous meal, as always, and after they had all enjoyed the delectable food, Si Chen strode straight towards the sofa.

The TV was turned on at this moment, and was being half-heartedly watched by Meng Yao, who had already came back from her lessons in University.

"You come back a bit earlier these days. In the past, you would only come back late into the night." Si Chen offhandedly commented, as he unhurriedly sat down on the comfy sofa.

Meng Yao slightly turned her head to look at the new presence on the sofa, and a smile rose on her face, "It is all credited to you. I was staying back to look for jobs, which was why I came back so late. Now that I found a boss who could provide for me, I can naturally slack off and return earlier."

Si Chen nonchalantly gave a sound of acknowledgement, then with his eyes still aimed towards the TV, he slowly spoke, "I got a task for you to complete."

"What is it?" Meng Yao curiously asked, without a hint of surprise. It was obvious that she had already expected his words to come.

"There is a western restaurant along the Blue Misty Beach, which goes by the name of HoneyChef Restaurant. I want you to meet their boss and discuss a business deal with them." Si Chen instructed with an impassive expression.

Meng Yao raised her eyebrows to look at Si Chen's emotionless face.

"I want you to negotiate for at least 60% of the shares in the HoneyChef Restaurant. I will give you a $50000 budget for this."

He slightly paused in his words, and pursing his lips, he continued.

"I don't care what you do, but I want a share within that HoneyChef Restaurant. If you are unable to successfully complete this task, then I would have to find someone else more capable instead."

His tone was filled with nonchalance and indifference, as though he was talking about something trivial that was not worth mentioning.

"Do you hear me?" Si Chen turned his head from the TV to look straight at Meng Yao with his sharp, dark eyes.

Meng Yao lightly nodded her head, and her lips curled up into an alluring but sly smile, "As long as you give me the platform where I can put my skills into good use, I am confident of achieving what you had just instructed me to do."

As she said this, her eyes flashed with a cunning glint.

Si Chen continued to maintain his eye contact with her, before he voluntarily broke off the gaze.

"I will give you a week to complete this." He lazily leaned back on the sofa to put himself in a comfortable position, while his eyes turned back to the TV.

This was a good time to digest his food, and take a break before continuing his learning sessions.

Both of them did not say another word after this interaction.

After Yang Ran and Yang Yun came right to the sofa after they washed the dishes, Si Chen stayed on for a while, before he left to his room.

The next day.

After bidding farewell to Xiao Meng who was heading to school, Si Chen went to the Eternal Fashion store with a document within his hands.

He had casually taken a leave of absence from lesson, and this leave of absence will unfortunately, be extended for a longer period of time, and so he was currently free to do whatever he wished.

As he reached the Eternal Fashion shop, both he and Ouyang Xin signed the contract, before Ouyang Xin handed the contract to a lawyer for confirmation, while he went back to the apartment.

Yet again, he had increased his share within an investment, and this portion of shares was going to get him an astronomical amount.

Within his room, he was concentrated with the F&B course.

Every once in a while, there was a soft beep that echoed in his mind.

[Learning F&B knowledge. +1 Proficiency]

[Learning F&B knowledge. +1 Proficiency]

[Learning F&B knowledge. +1 Proficiency]

There was still quite a bit before he was going to be promoted to the next level.

While he was studying, his mind occasionally wandered to his phone.

He had instructed for both Yang Deng and Fang Bin to search up for some suitable locations to rent out for their branch shops.

Although he may have some cash, which is enough to completely purchase off a small piece of land, he was definitely not going to waste his money on such meaningless things when he could earn much more money by allocating it to the development of his businesses.

The monthly rent of such locations could not even be considered much when comparing it to his businesses' daily profits, which had not only be boosted by the passive effects of his business management skill, but also his two other knowledge skills.

He was now waiting for either Yang Deng or Fang Bin to call up and inform him of their progress so far.

And as he had expected, around 3 hours later, he received a call.

"Yang Deng? Have you completed the searching process already?" Si Chen picked up his phone, pressed the 'accept call' button, and seriously asked.

"Yes, Boss Si. I will send the information of what I have gathered so far." Yang Deng directly responded, and a few typing sounds could be heard.

Si Chen then checked up on the email Yang Deng had sent to him, and after a few minutes of scrutinizing and analysing, he slowly spoke, "Let's go with the number 1, 4, and 7 locations. Yang Deng, go and negotiate the rents on my behalf, and I will give you the required money."

Yang Deng took note of the locations which Si Chen had specifically pointed out, and nodded his head in acknowledgement, "Okay."