Tomorrow as Bright as Day – Chapter 24
Chapter 24 Part 1
When doing things, people should always be more thoughtful. Contrasting Zhang Min’s reserved attitude as she watched Liang Jiancheng react, Ming Xi felt a dilemma. With one more person here, how was she supposed to slip in the cigarettes and liquor she’d brought…?
Liang Jiancheng naturally noticed the “stuff” Ming Xi had placed on the corner of the sofa. Liang Jiancheng had already guessed why Ming Xi had come to visit today, but he didn’t expect her to bring gifts too. Ever since he’d known her, she was either giving gifts or preparing to give them—and now she’d finally brought one to him.
Liang Jiancheng gave a faint, ironic smile. He was just about to introduce Zhang Min to Ming Xi when Zhang Min spoke first, smiling as she said, “So that’s why you rushed back—you had a client waiting.”
As soon as those words fell, Liang Jiancheng visibly froze; the corners of his lips pressed down slightly. Instinctively, he didn’t like her phrasing.
Zhang Min’s words seemed like she was making an excuse for him, but they concealed suspicion and discontent. On the surface, she sounded understanding, yet in truth she’d twisted the situation between him and Ming Xi.
Ming Xi, too, was briefly stunned, then quickly realized…
A client? How could she look like a client? She was a toady! She’d already behaved so meekly and deferentially… she was terrified of causing a misunderstanding and getting into trouble. Ming Xi felt both bitter and anxious, wishing she could plaster the words bootlicker across her forehead just to prove her innocence.
“Since you have a client, I won’t bother you anymore. See you later,” Zhang Min added, her tone tactful and her gestures polite.
She wasn’t one to get jealous. Even though her former classmate Jiang Meiqian had sourly congratulated her, with just two sentences, she shattered her confidence and dignity. “Byron is a difficult man to deal with, and the fact that you got him so quickly doesn’t mean you’re special. Maybe it’s precisely because you’re not special that you’re suitable to be his wife!”
Zhang Min wouldn’t bother with a woman like Jiang Meiqian, who used her beauty to bully others. However, those two sentences had stuck with her. Especially since Liang Jiancheng had always treated her with polite restraint. They had met through a blind date, not through some passionate romance. Afterward, Zhang Min often imagined what kind of girlfriends he’d had before—had he been hurt, was that why he’d casually chosen her? The more she thought about it, the more she cared.
So when she saw the short-haired beauty suddenly stand up in his office just now—whatever the girl’s identity—Zhang Min instinctively treated her as a client.
“Ming Xi is not a client, but a friend.”
Liang Jiancheng began to introduce Ming Xi’s identity, directly denying the client’s statement.
His tone carried an unmistakable firmness—not because he needed to emphasize Ming Xi’s identity as a friend, but because when it came to men and women, he always kept clear boundaries. In such matters, if anyone was to be misunderstood as taking advantage, it would be the man.
Women were different.
Zhang Min wasn’t especially clever, but she wasn’t slow either. Hearing his clarification, she realized her earlier comment hadn’t made her seem gracious at all—only petty. She smiled awkwardly and took a step back. “I really won’t be interrupting you two, right?”
Ming Xi nodded, then shook her head, repeatedly reassuring, “Not at all, really not at all!”
“That’s good,” Zhang Min smiled, introducing herself. “My name is Zhang Min, and I’m also Jiancheng’s—friend.” Her tone was unhurried, possessing the politeness and pride of a lady from the upper class.
“Hello, Miss Zhang,” Ming Xi hurried to greet her, forcing a smile that looked as though her life depended on it. She couldn’t quite understand—they’re obviously dating, so why call herself just a friend…?
The reason was simple—
Outsiders might not see it, but Liang Jiancheng surely knew why Zhang Min insisted on calling herself that: dignity and self-respect. They’d met on a blind date with marriage in mind, but things had stalled because of her grandfather’s illness. Even so, Zhang Min didn’t want to define their relationship as “boyfriend and girlfriend.” If at first his attitude toward her had been tepid, and even after she’d shown her feeling he remained the same, she couldn’t help feeling uneasy.
She could take the initiative, but only one step at a time.
…
Today was Ming Xi’s first meeting with the legendary Miss Zhang. Once her nerves eased a little, she couldn’t help but study her. Miss Zhang was plainly beautiful, her speech slow and measured, the picture of a proper lady from a good family. Ming Xi rarely met people like that in Yicheng; she couldn’t quite read her temperament at a glance.
But since Miss Zhang had made a point of calling herself only a “friend” of Liang Jiancheng’s, Ming Xi immediately drew a conclusion—this woman was not simple.
Still, Ming Xi stayed composed. She had no reason to feel guilty. Even if she had once entertained certain thoughts about Liang Jiancheng, she’d done nothing wrong. When she was angry, she’d thought about killing people—did that make her a criminal?
“Hello, Miss Zhang. My name is Ming Xi. It’s really a pleasure to meet you.” Her smile warmed slightly as she stepped forward again. After a brief pause for thought, she added clearly, “I’d feel embarrassed calling myself a friend if Mr. Liang hadn’t said so himself… I’m actually a student of his father, now working at Longmao. Because of that connection, my manager, Mr. Li, asked me to come to Mr. Liang for some help.”
Ah, so that’s how it was.
Zhang Min felt a little apologetic—she’d overthought things. But soon she told herself she wasn’t really to blame; after all, the girl was pretty. Essentially, Longmao’s manager must have thought her looks would make things easier. In the workplace, who doesn’t use their looks as leverage at times?
“I’ll have Mark take you around for a tour,”
Liang Jiancheng said, now that the introduction was done. He had already seen what Ming Xi had left on the sofa, and he needed to talk to her privately.
“All right,” Zhang Min nodded and left.
What a false alarm.
After Zhang Min left, Ming Xi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. When Liang Jiancheng said she was his friend earlier, her head felt a bit warm. Fortunately, she wasn’t wearing much, and with today’s weather still being cold due to the late spring chill, her face had already turned pale on the way over. Now that her head was slightly warm, at least her complexion had not turned red.
“Mr. Liang…” Ming Xi began.
“Li Jian has spoken to me. I know how to handle that matter. You can go back and tell him that you’ve passed on the message.” Liang Jiancheng cut to the chase. Before she could even pull out her gifts, he already refused them.
“And I won’t be accepting the cigarettes or alcohol. Take them back,” he added.
Ming Xi: “…”
She couldn’t just take things at face value—had to think on her feet. So she forced a composed smile and thanked him politely, “Thank you, Mr. Liang, for helping out. It’s just that Manager Li already bought these things, and it’d be a hassle for me to take them back.”
A woman’s looks may not always work as a weapon, but a smile might.
“Mr. Liang… this is just a small token of appreciation. If you don’t accept it, I won’t be able to explain it to Manager Li. He’ll think I handled things poorly,” Ming Xi said carefully, her smile cautious yet lively.
Liang Jiancheng suddenly gave her a long, serious look. His eyes were striking—bright and clear, the kind that seemed to see through you. He just stood there, watching Ming Xi act out her part.
Ming Xi: …!
“Why did Li Jian send you?” Liang Jiancheng suddenly asked, casually.
Ming Xi blurted out, “Am I not doing a good job?”
Liang Jiancheng walked to his desk, moved the stack of documents and quotations aside, and turned around with an easy tone. “For things like this, it’s better to have someone with more experience handle it.”
Did he mean that she was too inexperienced? Ming Xi’s smile faltered, and her lips parted slightly, as if she’d been caught off guard by Liang Jiancheng’s casual remark.
After a while, Ming Xi replied confidently and politely, “Manager Li is a good manager, he believes in training young people.”
Liang Jiancheng smiled. It started as a faint smile, but the curve of his lips deepened. He hadn’t meant to call her inexperienced—he’d just wanted to test her reaction.
Thinking it over, his earlier assumption now seemed too simple. Li Jian’s gift was not for him at all… but for Gu Shuangyang of Shuangyang Electronics, who was also his mother. Li Jian had probably failed to deliver it over the New Year, so he’d found this roundabout way to send it through Ming Xi.
A cause sown by old Mr. Liang—now the consequence had landed on him.
He had been thinking things too simply before.
Now that he had figured it out, Liang Jiancheng didn’t want Ming Xi to wade into this muddy water—and certainly not to expose the entanglement of interests between Longmao and Shuangyang to her.
“Well, now that the stuff’s here, I’ll invite Manager Li for tea the day after tomorrow,” Liang Jiancheng gave a clear answer, adding a kind gesture for Ming Xi’s sake: “I won’t call him myself—please help me pass along my thanks.”
“No problem!” Ming Xi immediately let out a relaxed smile. Her eyebrows lifted slightly in delight as she asked, “So… does this mean I handled things well?”
“If Manager Li doesn’t send you again, then yes—you handled it well,” Liang Jiancheng told her.
Hearing that, Ming Xi sensed there was more to this than she understood—but she knew better than to pry. The most important skill for a small employee was knowing when to play dumb.
“Then I’ll be leaving now. Goodbye, Mr. Liang.” Ming Xi raised her hand slightly and hurriedly toward the door.
Liang Jiancheng glanced at her and replied, “Goodbye.”
As the door opened—
Ming Xi turned back politely, nodded to Liang Jiancheng, and left with a composed smile.
Throughout this process, the image of a career woman with a measured mindset had begun to take shape. Compared to the way she’d looked in Yicheng, she was practically a different person. It had only been a few days since the third day of the new year, yet she’d already changed so much.
To be capable in life, one had to learn fast—both in work and in dealing with people. And Ming Xi had clearly learned fast. Liang Jiancheng suddenly understood why his father had been willing to lend her a hand…
There were many people who made his father angry—but very few who made him proud.
And she, being this capable, this ambitious—how could he not be moved?
—
Ming Xi’s early-spring sales performance really was impressive. A complete newcomer, but she had become the top seller in the import section of Longmao!
Privately celebrating, Ding Xiao declared that Ming Xi was born for sales.
She looked at Ming Xi with a complex expression, a mixture of envy and admiration. Her feelings toward Ming Xi were simple and honest—she liked her, genuinely—but there was also a trace of open, harmless jealousy.
Those little sales tricks Ming Xi used? Lingna had taught them before too, and Ding Xiao had brushed them off back then. But Ming Xi not only studied them carefully—she mastered them. Her sales pitch was smooth, her English was the best in the team, and she could easily handle elite foreign clients that others failed to impress. With all that, if she wasn’t the top seller, who could be?
Ming Xi smiled, not being modest, and said to Ding Xiao, “I really am suited to making money off rich people. Who knows—maybe one day I’ll be rich myself.”
“You’re just being cocky,” Ding Xiao snorted.
Ming Xi thought for a moment, tapped her cheek with her knuckles, and slowly shared an insight: “I’ve observed the wealthy customers in our store. They fall into three types: the ones born rich, the ones who became rich themselves, and the ones whose partners are rich.”
“Wow, profound insight,” Ding Xiao said dryly, rolling her eyes so hard they nearly landed in Ming Xi’s bowl.
“True,” Ming Xi admitted, her face bright and youthful, her nose flushed red from the spicy food. She looked like a simple, beautiful girl, but her words were full of ambition: “I mean, we still have a chance to become rich ourselves.”
Ding Xiao’s mouth twitched. “You think I don’t want that?”
Ming Xi’s eyes curved into crescents, smiling playfully. “You want it. I want it too.”
“So where do we go rob someone, then?” Ding Xiao exhaled a laugh.
Ming Xi, full and cheerful, giggled innocently. “I don’t know yet. I’ll tell you when I find out.”
Ding Xiao was speechless, picking up a chicken wing and placing it in Ming Xi’s bowl.
In a society where more and more people could earn money on their own, it meant that ordinary people had more opportunities to rise. Money belonged to society—if others could earn it, why couldn’t she?
Ming Xi could joke and brag to Ding Xiao, but she never spoke recklessly from the heart. She and Ding Xiao had only known each other for a short time, and there was some competition for their performance. So she handled their relationship with care—sincere, but cautious.
Lately, Ming Xi had even mentioned Ding Xiao to Cai Ni over the phone. Cai Ni was very jealous that Ming Xi had made a new friend so soon—but since she was far away, there was nothing she could do about it.
“Am I still your number one best friend?” Cai Ni asked pitifully.
“Yes, yes… of course you are!” Ming Xi could answer Cai Ni with absolute certainty.
But friendship wasn’t Cai Ni’s biggest concern anymore.
Cai Ni began to complain about her job—
Her parents had used every connection they had to get her placed at a rural postal branch outside Yicheng. She wasn’t delivering mail, but working as a teller at the local Postal Savings Bank in the mountains—her daily task basically to squeeze what she could out of poor farmers.
To be fair, it wasn’t a bad job for her. If she worked hard for a year or two, she could secure a permanent position. The post office director was even distantly related to her family, otherwise Cai Ni wouldn’t have been assigned there.
But it’s so far away… she never could’ve found that remote little corner on her own!
From Yicheng to her current post, it took over two hours by minibus. The mountain roads wound endlessly, and with all the new tasks piling up, Cai Ni could only return home once every two weeks.
Life and work had both become unexpectedly difficult. The bright future she had imagined after graduation now felt like a cruel joke.
These days, just getting back to Yicheng required shift swaps and leave requests — let alone visiting Ming Xi at Haigang.
Even more depressing, every time she called Ming Xi and comparing their clients: Ming Xi’s customers were jet-setting elites who could spend thousands on a single cashmere sweater, while hers — most of them had never even been to Yicheng, and their savings came in tens or hundreds of yuan…
Anyone with over a thousand yuan in their account was already considered one of her “premium” clients.
People were different. The world was different. Even money was different.
Every time an old farmer, with calloused hands and cracked nails caked in black dirt, carefully pulled out a bundle of worn banknotes — coins and bills of small denominations — and handed them through the window for her to count and deposit into a tattered passbook, Cai Ni’s heart ached even more.
And to make things worse, her supervisor had the nerve to recommend she read Yu Hua’s ““, which was simply emotional assassination!
“Ming Xi, have you received your first paycheck yet?” Cai Ni couldn’t help it, gritted her teeth, and asked Ming Xi this delicate question.
“Yeah, I did.” Ming Xi did not hide anything from Cai Ni and even told her the amount.
“Oh my God!” Cai Ni, who had been leaning weakly against the office wall, one leg crossed over the other, jumped up in shock. She nearly toppled over and had to catch herself on the wall before she hit the ground.
Not far away, an older coworker shot her a warning look — a silent reminder not to keep sneaking phone calls under the pretense of using the restroom.
Cai Ni ignored her, turned her back, and continued—
“So much money… How do you even spend it all every month?” Cai Ni deliberately asked loudly.
Ming Xi laughed lightly on the other end and replied just as playfully, “Honestly, I can’t! The company provides housing and meal subsidies… I try to spend money every day, but I just can’t.”
What kind of arrogant words are these! That’s too much!
Cai Ni inhaled sharply — several times — her chest puffing with indignation. She had to soak up a bit of that wealthy energy!
If this conversation had happened before she started her job, she would’ve blurted out without hesitation: Then let me help you spend it!
But now, after a month in this poor mountain-town post, she thought twice — and the words that actually came out were: “Then why don’t you deposit the extra money with me? I can open an account for you.”
Ming Xi: …
That sounded far too practical — not like the Cai Ni she knew at all.
Indeed… even Cai Ni herself was stunned the moment she said it. Was she really thinking about attracting deposits instead of living large?
Had she become so pragmatic after only working for a month!
… It really showed how a dull, hopeless job could reshape a person’s entire spirit—
It’s almost shaped Cai Ni’s vain and impetuous nature into a timid yet responsible person!
…
She’d only been working for a month, and already felt herself shrinking. She didn’t dare imagine what she’d become after three or five years in this remote countryside.
She was a well-known fashionista in Yicheng! How could she live such a simple and honest life?
Every day she wanted to quit, but didn’t dare. She couldn’t tell her parents, nor her director-relative. She couldn’t even turn down a local thug who harassed her daily, afraid he’d lodge a complaint.
Because that thug came to her counter every day to deposit one yuan.
What kind of tragic “millennium girl” was this? At least the creeps Ming Xi had run into — like Liu Xinjun — were powerful types with gangster charisma, throwing around tens or hundreds of thousands.
And her? One yuan!
Oh wait — he’d come five days in a row.
That made it five yuan!
…
What a shame.
Ming Xi had originally planned to invite Cai Ni to visit Haigang. After starting her new job, her sales colleagues had recommended several stylish Western restaurants — even a simple set meal there came with flair.
She noted them all down, waiting for Cai Ni to come over so she could take her there and experience them all.
They said everything was authentic, like filet mignon, borscht, pork chop buns, Portuguese egg tarts, even baked ice cream. The sweet ice cream scoops were sprinkled with chopped nuts, with a faint trace of rum in every bite.
But Cai Ni had been assigned to a remote rural post outside Yicheng, and there was no way she could visit anytime soon.
So Ming Xi stopped trying to tempt Cai Ni to come to Haigang, but Cai Ni herself became obsessed with it, calling every few days.
“Do you really don’t want to keep working at the postal bank?” Ming Xi asked her seriously.
“I don’t, I don’t, I don’t!” Cai Ni said three times in a row, all sincerity. “I’d rather go back to Yicheng and work at the factory than stay here.”
Ming Xi understood Cai Ni’s frustration. Given her personality, staying in the remote countryside for so long was indeed very difficult for Cai Ni.
Cai Ni explained that her parents had exhausted every connection they had to get her this job. They told her she wouldn’t have to stay in the countryside forever — just a few years, then they’d find a way to transfer her back to Yicheng.
Cai Ni knew that too.
Her parents had poured out their hearts to her. They only had so much influence — this was already the best position they could secure. They hoped she would cherish it. They told her that not doing well in school wasn’t the end of the world; talent varies, but hard work was up to her. She had to be steady, to see things through, not always quit halfway.
A girl had to learn to support herself if she wanted to stand tall in the world.
They loved her — wanted her to be happy, free, and dignified — but they weren’t the kind of parents with money or power who could pave a golden road for her.
They couldn’t give her a life of ease and choice, and they were sorry for that — but they had already done their best.
Hearing all that, what else could Cai Ni say? She packed her things overnight and boarded the long-distance bus to her post.
She’d tried hard to stick it out for a month… but now, she really couldn’t anymore.
She felt miserable and torn — guilty, exhausted, and small. For the first time, she cried quietly under her blanket while talking to Ming Xi late at night. Her eyelids grew swollen and red from rubbing them too much.
“Am I being really ungrateful, Ming Xi? My parents have been so good to me. Last year they went everywhere, bowing and begging for this job for me, and I don’t appreciate it at all. I’ve never made them proud — couldn’t study well, and now I can’t even hold a job…”
Cai Ni began to blame herself intensely, her voice tinged with tears, her emotions volatile.
Ming Xi interrupted her, “Cai Ni, your parents don’t see you that way. Whether in their eyes, or in mine, or in who you really are — you’re still that lively, ambitious, beautiful girl. You’re just temporarily knocked down by setbacks, but you’re still you. That doesn’t change.”
Hmm…
Cai Ni sniffled, then cleared her throat and asked softly, “Then do you think… if I cry like this when I talk to my parents about quitting tomorrow, will that increase my chances? Maybe they’ll accept it more easily?”
Ming Xi: “…”
It turned out that the previous part was just a half-hearted emotional play.
Cai Ni: “Hello… Ming Xi, are you still listening?”
“I am.”
“Give me… a suggestion.”
Okay. Ming Xi would. About five seconds later, Cai Ni heard her calm, steady voice over the phone — each word deliberated, rational, yet quietly persuasive.
“Cai Ni, if you’re truly determined to leave the postal bank, don’t cry in front of your parents. Crying is what children do. The more you cry, the less seriously they’ll take you. Do exactly what I tell you instead — it’ll work better than tears.”
Her tone was mild but carried a grounding strength, as though she were offering Cai Ni a safety net.
Cai Ni: …
Yes, this was exactly what she’d been waiting for.
Ming Xi had always been like that — quick with ideas, sharp in insight; even when she was bluffing, her ideas somehow sounded reliable.
“Okay, I’ll listen to you!” Cai Ni’s head suddenly popped out of the blanket, with a head of messy curly hair, her eyes firm and full of hope.
Ming Xi paused on the phone —
“So,” Cai Ni asked eagerly, “what exactly should I say?”