Tomorrow as Bright as Day – Chapter 36
Chapter 36
Mark had always considered Liang Jiancheng to be a perfect figure: young yet calm and sophisticated, proactive and resourceful. In just the first spring quarter, Xinghai had already exceeded the annual targets of other foreign trade companies. Mark felt deeply honored to work for such a capable boss, and proud to be his subordinate.
And undeniably, Boss Liang’s face was truly handsome—handsome in a quiet, understated way. He wasn’t the type to deliberately show off, yet his unintentional charm often made employees steal extra glances at him.
However, don’t be fooled by Mr. Liang’s face. If anyone mistook him for some well-dressed, pampered playboy, they would be seriously underestimating him. In many respects, Mr. Liang was no less shrewd than seasoned veterans of the business world, and his grasp of profit, risk, and business interests was razor sharp.
Especially when it came to product quality and production standards—Mr. Liang absolutely could not tolerate even a grain of sand.
Besides orders, the most important thing in foreign trade was product quality. That was why Mark had often followed Liang Jiancheng into factories to supervise production.
A boss who controlled product quality cared about long-term business, not just quick cash like a get-rich-quick opportunist. Privately, Mark felt that in this respect, Mr. Liang’s working style even reminded him a bit of Director Gu of Shuangyang Electronics.
Still, Mr. Liang was a boss who could be reasoned with. He simply didn’t smile much. So when Mark saw him smiling at his laptop screen, he had been genuinely stunned.
Even when Liang Jiancheng smiled, it wasn’t very obvious—only the slightest lift at the corner of his lips, like a hint of pleasure that still made him difficult to read.
Mark sneaked another glance, then subconsciously licked his lower lip and relaxed, smiling faintly himself.
Maybe it wasn’t online romance, but just a fun chat with friends?
However, one was called “A Smile is Worth a Thousand Gold” and the other is “Smiling Without Talking”. No matter how you looked at it, the pair felt like matching couple usernames.
Mark hadn’t meant to pry—he had only peeked at the name list. However, he only saw the names and didn’t dare to read the content of the chat.
“Smiling Without Talking” VS “A Smile Worth a thousand gold”, how interesting… Who would’ve thought that Mr. Liang, who looked so serious and proper on the surface, could be this playful in private!
…
A tiny hesitation flashed through Ming Xi’s mind, but was quickly dispelled.
[Yicheng’s clay-pot casserole, I like it very much.] [Yicheng’s people, I also like.]Seeing these two lines, Ming Xi was terrified that Jiangliu Dadao would confess his love to her in the next sentence. She was so startled she nearly blurted out her real identity, and almost typed that she was a woman.
Then, a long paragraph of Brother Jiangliu’s comments on the people of Yicheng appeared in the chat box.
[People from Yicheng are warm, intelligent, hardworking, especially those with a knack for small business. They have a natural nose for business opportunities and a spirit of innovation, with business talent you rarely see elsewhere.]…It turns out that Brother Jiangliu doesn’t like “him”, but likes all the people in Yicheng.
Ming Xi almost embarrassed herself.
But this also fit his personality. Jiangliu Dadao was someone with broad vision and human warmth. In her eyes, he was knowledgeable, insightful, and mature—how could a person like that casually flirt with some “little man” on the Internet?
Ming Xi pursed her lips, clicked on Brother Jiangliu’s profile picture, and found that the note under his account saying that he would not add a female account was gone.
Her thoughts wavered.
Should she tell him she was a woman? Forget it. Even being a man didn’t feel safe online. If she deliberately revealed her gender… wouldn’t that mean she wanted to flirt with him?
Brother Jiangliu said that there was indeed someone he knew in Yicheng.
Ming Xi was curious, and asked as “Brother Ximen”: [Brother Jiangliu, the person you know in Yicheng—are they a friend or a business partner?]”
[Friend.] Brother Jiangliu replied to her. [I’m about to board the plane. Let’s talk later.] Jiangliu Dadao sent the last message.Oh.
In real life, Jiangliu Dadao must be someone with many business dinners and social obligations. Even when he wandered online, his messages never carried the sloppy tone of typical internet chatter—his phrasing was always polished and courteous.
Since he had gone offline, Ming Xi also prepared to log out—when suddenly, a friend request appeared.
The other person also had a cute puppy avatar, and the username was “A Good Person”.
For some unknown reason, Ming Xi hesitated for a moment and then accepted the other person’s friend request.
A new chat window immediately popped up:
[Ming Xi. Where are you right now?]Ming Xi was really shocked.
Who on the internet knew her name was Ming Xi—and call themselves “A Good Person”?
Ming Xi could only think of one person, so she directly asked: [Are you Ming Decheng?]
Only someone who claimed to be virtuous and honest would name themselves “A Good Person.” That was why she had accepted the request.
But the reply came slowly—as if typed by an old man. When it finally appeared, Ming Xi nearly stopped breathing.
[I’m not your father. I’m your father’s creditor.] From the self-introduction of “A Good Person”.Ming Xi: … Damn it.
[I’m Liu Xinjun, you haven’t forgotten me, have you?]Two sentences popped up in the chat box in succession, startling Ming Xi so much that her fingertips on the keyboard trembled slightly. Forget him? How could she dare to forget Liu Xinjun?
Anyone with a debt collector like him had to stay vigilant at all times—especially since this creditor was practically a small-time gangster. She was so cautious, yet she was still deceived by a “A Good Person.” Who would expect a gangster to call himself “A Good Person”?!
Ming Xi moved the mouse and studied how to delete friends on OICQ. At this moment, “A Good Person” Liu Xinjun suddenly sent a message so sincere that her heart softened, and she felt shameless for thinking badly of him.
This sentence was—
[Don’t worry, I’m not here to collect your debt. I just want to make friends with you.] [How did you get my OICQ number?] After a while, Ming Xi calmly asked Liu Xinjun as if he were an ordinary fellow townsman. [Given to me by Yang Kangde. We met when he was the network administrator for my internet cafe. He came back to Yicheng to buy some supplies and asked to borrow 20,000 yuan from me. I asked him to give me your contact. He refused to give your phone number, so he gave me this instead.]Liu Xinjun took a lot of time to type out so many words.
Ming Xi was silent, not because she blamed Dezi, but because she was shocked by one thing: Why could both Yang Kangde and her father borrow money from Liu Xinjun so easily?
Did Liu Xinjun lend them money because their names contained the character “De (德 means virtue)”? Did he think that having the character “德” in their names meant that they were virtuous?
This… was unbelievably generous.
No wonder he called himself “A Good Person.”
Because of that explanation, Ming Xi’s bad impression of Liu Xinjun, the gangster prison boss, inexplicably dissipated. Someone who lent money so readily couldn’t be all bad.
In fact, she felt that Liu Xinjun was a bit of a sucker.
Ming Xi suddenly wondered, could anyone borrow money from Liu Xinjun as long as they knew him?
If so, could she?
Ming Xi was a woman of action. The next second, she typed in the chat box: [So as long as someone you know wants to borrow money, you’ll lend it?]
The sincere answer from “A Good Person” was: [It depends on the situation and the person.] [What about me? If I borrow it from you, will you agree?]
Ming Xi had no shame—who could refuse befriending a walking god of wealth, even if he looked a bit scary?
Liu Xinjun didn’t reply immediately. After a long while, a short and incredibly cool sentence appeared:
[How much do you want?]Ming Xi: ….!!!
All right. If she ever dared call Liu Xinjun a gangster again, she wouldn’t deserve to call herself human!!
Five seconds later, “A Good Person” followed up sincerely
[Ming Xi, I’ll lend you however much you want as long as you sleep with me.]!!!
[Hooligan.]Without hesitation, Ming Xi dropped the word “hooligan” into the chat box. Then she found the “delete friend” option on OICQ and ruthlessly removed “A Good Person.”
Inside a dim internet café in Yicheng, Liu Xinjun suddenly grabbed the young kid next to him and smacked him hard on the head. Staring at the system alert that he’d been deleted, he was furious—his face twisted like he wanted to crack the kid’s skull open.
“F**k your mother, are you stupid? Did you ever go to school? Do you know how to type?!”
“I’m going to lend you whatever you want, as long as you to me!!!”
“Idiot!”
“Idiot!”
“Idiot!”
The little brother who’d been helping Liu Ge type was covering his head in pain, begging for mercy, deeply resentful that this task had fallen on him…
He really had… suffered too much because of literacy.
Among all the kids who hung around Liu Xinjun, only this one had graduated high school—everyone else barely made it through junior high.
Just because he was “the most educated,” Liu Ge made him type messages.
But even a high-school graduate made typos…
“You call yourself a high-school graduate!” Liu Xinjun gnashed his teeth, wishing he could boil and eat this idiot. He’d watched Ming Xi’s attitude warm up toward him during the chat earlier.
And one wrong character—everything was ruined!
“…Maybe Miss Ming is just shy.” the high-school graduate tried to excuse himself weakly.
Liu Xinjun kicked him once, but it wasn’t enough to vent his anger, so he kicked him again: “Shy? SHY MY ASS! I can’t type, but I can read! She literally called me a hooligan, you idiot… and you’re telling me she’s shy?! I’ll show you shy!”
…
Hmph.
Ming Xi walked out of Anteng Internet Cafe with her hands in her pockets.
No matter how much a hooligan might have the potential to become the God of Wealth, at the end of the day, a hooligan is still a hooligan.
To think she’d entertained the idea of being friends with one—Ming Xi felt like she must’ve lost her mind.
—
That afternoon, Dezi had just finished picking up goods in Yicheng. Without even sorting his cargo, he rushed straight to Haigang, sprinted to Jianghui, and begged Ming Xi for forgiveness.
“Ming Xi…Ming Xi…Ming Xi.”
At the back door of Longmao Parkway, a slick-tongued young man was bent over with a flattering smile on his face, apologizing to a pretty girl in a sales uniform.
That attitude was really servile and full of fawning.
Today, Ming Xi had slipped out during a break to meet him. She was still angry. She didn’t expect her friends to fight for her, but they couldn’t just sell her out!
It’s not that exaggerated. He just thought Brother Liu was a good person, so he wanted to do him a little favor.
Besides, everyone had moments of confusion and pressure.
Dezi thought for a moment, took two steps closer, and, with his likable yet annoying face, he faced Ming Xi and softly called out, “…Boss Ming?”
Dezi was imitating Liang Jiancheng in calling her “Boss Ming”. The sharp-eyed Dezi had noticed that the night they ate the clay pot, Ming Xi was quite fond of the name “Boss Ming”.
As expected, her expression loosened. She no longer seemed ready to cut ties with him on the spot.
Since she’d already been “sold out,” she might as well make it worth something. Ming Xi asked: “You borrowed 20,000 from Liu Xinjun—what did you need it for?”
Dezi confessed honestly, “Didn’t Junjun and I get some goods from the Yicheng Market last time and set up a stall to sell them at the night market in Haigang? Turned out Yicheng’s goods sell pretty well here, so we figured we’d get more and expand the stall.”
After hearing this, Ming Xi asked, “How much goods did you take?”
Dezi looked hesitant, but he told her everything: “This time, Junjun and I each invested 20,000 yuan, and we bought a total of 40,000 yuan worth of goods. Junjun’s family is generous and willing to give him 20,000 yuan, but my parents don’t trust me… I have no choice but to ask Brother Liu to borrow 20,000 yuan.”
He deliberately highlighted his difficulties.
Ming Xi listened silently and couldn’t help but frowned.
“Ming Xi…are you still angry?”
Ming Xi wasn’t the type to get angry easily, and she calmed down quickly. She was simply worried. The key to night stall business was to keep things small and viable; expanding the stall wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Fashion trends were unpredictable, changing with each season. She was worried Dezi and Han Junjun might have stockpiled too much and wouldn’t be able to sell it. Accidentally leaving a large inventory behind was a real hassle.
However, Ming Xi would not say anything discouraging. She said to Dezi, “We’re all working hard in Haigang now. If I run into trouble, you’ll help me. If you need help, you have to say it. I can’t promise big help, but one more person means one more idea. Our foundation here is unstable, so we have to take every step carefully and discuss everything together.”
After Ming Xi said this, Dezi also understood her good intentions. Usually he was unserious, but now he sincerely expressed his gratitude to her and said: “Ming Xi, you’re a big-hearted person. I, Yang Kangde, have decided—you’re my friend. I may be a businessman now, but let me be clear: I, Dezi, am not greedy for money, but for loyalty. To me, money is like dirt, and friends are worth a thousand gold! You and Cai Ni are my—”
He shifted his tone
“My invaluable noble lady friends, hehe!” Dezi added shamelessly.
Ming Xi couldn’t help it—she waved him away in disgust. “Stop being annoying. I need to get back or they’ll dock my pay.”
“Okay, okay.” Dezi tilted his head, grinned his hooligan grin, and gave her a small salute. “Then I won’t bother Boss Ming. Go make money.”
Ming Xi straightened her clothes and returned to the counter.
Now she fully understood why Cai Ni and Dezi had known each other for so long and were still just friends.
Who would fall for a hyperactive monkey?
—
It was Monday—slowest day for foot traffic, and the import section was no exception.
When there were no customers, management wasn’t strict, and it was fine for the sales staff to chat occasionally. The topics they often discussed were basically gossip about VIP customers.
Ming Xi rarely joined—not because she was noble or cautious, but simply because she was not interested in these things.
Nothing new under the sun—just men and women doing what they do. If they ever learned about Boss Ming Decheng’s drama from Yicheng, they’d probably drop their jaws.
Today, they were talking about someone Ming Xi knew—
Zhang Min.
Compared to people like Liang Jiancheng and Gu Shuangyang, who had a distinct sense of distance in terms of status, Zhang Min felt less distant from ordinary people. It wasn’t because Zhang Min’s family background wasn’t high, but because after returning from studying abroad, Zhang Min had interned at Longmao for a few months.
Her internship position was at the management level, but no matter how high the role, she was still only an assistant manager. Later, Miss Zhang didn’t want to work in retail, so with her family’s arrangements, she joined a foreign-owned insurance company.
Now, she was already a senior white-collar employee in an office tower—not the most glamorous job, but enough to make most people envious.
“Zhang Min must come from a wealthy family, otherwise why would Gu Shuangyang choose her as a daughter-in-law?” someone said.
“Yeah, some people work themselves to death every day. Really envy those who are born lucky. And Zhang Min isn’t even that pretty. Her life is just too good.” Another chimed in.
“It’s better to have a good fate than to have good looks.” The person continued, then shot a glance at Ming Xi.
Ming Xi felt a little amused by this glance. Could it be they meant that she was beautiful but had a bad fate? , so being able to have one was good enough, right?”
Ming Xi curved her lips at them—not quite smug, but not polite either.
This person…
How could someone be so boldly shameless in taking advantage like this!
“Do you know who Zhang Min’s fiancé is?” the topic continued.
“He came over last time, didn’t he? Gu Shuangyang’s son.”
“Do you know who Gu Shuangyang’s son is? He’s also one of Longmao’s regular VIP customers—”
“Who?”
“Boss Liang from Xinghai Foreign Trade in the Zhongjin Tower up front…”
“Oh my god, that guy? The one who looks like he’s hardworking and sexy at the same time—the young !” A male sales associate who spoke in a sissy voice suddenly interrupted, almost standing on tiptoes with a hand over his mouth, showing an exaggerated expression of shock.
The female sales associates all suffered internal injuries listening to that, silent for a full second.
Hardworking, sexy, young daddy…
They didn’t expect someone could kneel harder than they could.
Ming Xi walked over to Ding Xiao, who was leaning against the counter, looking at the gossiping colleagues with a look of disdain. She turned her head and said, “Look at those spineless bootlickers.”
Ding Xiao’s mouth was only slightly more fragrant than the newly emerged toon buds in spring.
With a warm smile, Ming Xi subtly shifted her body to the side, deliberately shielding Ding Xiao a little, saving her some face.
“Do me a favor and deliver some goods for me.”
Ding Xiao turned around, raised her chin, and pointed to the two bags of clothes under the counter. “These are for guests staying at the Scully Hotel. He needs them for a meeting this afternoon, so he wants them delivered before noon.”
Ding Xiao wasn’t a bad person by any means, and she was quite upright. But one thing about her always rubbed people the wrong way: she acted far too righteously. Every time she asked someone for help, she did it like it was only natural. And when she received favors, she accepted them without guilt. She wasn’t like what Cai Ni said—someone who loved taking advantage of others—but her refusal to take even the smallest loss meant most of her performance relied on old customers.
“Sure.” Ming Xi agreed readily, “I’ve never been to the Scully Hotel, so I’d like to go and broaden my horizons.”
This order was from a foreign customer, so Ding Xiao should have delivered it herself. But since Ding Xiao asked her for help, she must have stayed at the counter at noon to receive more important old customers, and simply couldn’t spare the time.
Ming Xi wasn’t the type to nitpick. Since she agreed, she would handle it neatly, without making Ding Xiao feel she was difficult.
“Thank you. I’ll treat you to a meal next time,” said Ding Xiao.
Here we go again.
Ming Xi’s lips curved into a teasing smile. “Alright. I’ll be sure to remind you.”
Taking the chance before the boxed lunches arrived, Ming Xi headed to the Scully Hotel.
The Scully Hotel was a purely foreign-owned five-star hotel in Haigang. It was not only five-star, but also a very high-end five-star hotel.
In Haigang, she might still dare to set foot inside those little upscale restaurants. But the Scully Hotel was the kind of place that made ordinary wage earners retreat at first glance.
Thankfully, she was there as a legitimate delivery person.
Ming Xi carried two large luxury-brand shopping bags with steady hands. She wore a fitted light beige suit.
The weather was gradually warming up, and Longmao’s sales uniforms had switched to linen-cotton fabric—lightweight and comfortable. Paired with high heels, she walked confidently from the hotel entrance to the elevators, steps easy, back straight.
Confidence can be faked.
In the elevator hall, a hotel staff politely pressed the floor button for her, his gaze gentle and respectfully attentive—even though she was just a Longmao salesperson making a delivery.
Suddenly, she understood why wealthy people felt different from ordinary folks. They were used to receiving this kind of respectful treatment all the time. Naturally, their aura grew. The wealthy carried high energy within themselves, and combined with the envy of the common crowd, their presence only intensified.
So, as an ordinary person, staying poised and composed was the only way to protect one’s own energy.
As she was thinking, the door to the suite opened slowly, and Ming Xi immediately lifted her polite professional smile.
But when the door opened fully, she was silently taken aback—
A handsome young man with blond hair and blue eyes opened the door for her, wearing only a half-length robe, exposing both his upper body and his lower body.
Ming Xi’s hands stiffened slightly, tightly holding the two bags in her hands.
The blond guy suddenly showed an amused expression, leaning coolly against the doorframe as he sized up the pretty girl delivering clothes.
He tugged on the neckline of his robe, making the already loose garment fall even more open—revealing his dramatically inflated bronze chest.
Ming Xi’s gaze couldn’t help drifting to the revealed scenery.
His chest was sharply contoured, the lines smooth and defined, like two mounds pushing outward. In the middle—there was a patch of soft hair…
Ming Xi didn’t dare to look up, nor could she look down, so she could only look straight ahead.
Because she was looking straight ahead, her gaze was directly facing his two “mounds.”
The air in the corridor seemed to buzz slightly. Ming Xi had never seen an adult male body before, and for a moment, her expression and reaction matched exactly what a girl her age would feel—embarrassment and discomfort.
And that subtle sense of being violated.
“Pfft—”
Then she heard a soft snicker.
It came from the blond man’s high, straight nose.
As if she was some clumsy, uncool, and shy Chinese girl…
Who was losing face here exactly?! Ming Xi’s polite smile completely collapsed. A sudden surge of pride pushed her to make a decision—she was NOT going to let this “exhibitionist” laugh at her.
She quietly took a deep breath, pressed her lips together, and under the guise of being proper and calm—
She lifted her chin and smiled again. Not the fake salesperson smile from before, but a smile from a position of equal footing—as she deliberately let her gaze sweep across his chest, giving him a reaction that was subtly amused.
Her bright, fearless eyes openly traced the exposed chest, then slowly traveled upward. Finally she tilted her head slightly, met his blue eyes, and pulled her lips into a small curve.
She treated him as nothing more than a slightly attractive guy showing off—and politely gave him just enough reaction.
Finally, the blond man pulled his robe back in place, reclaiming his dignity as a man.
Ming Xi: … Turns out you’re just a show-off!
Straightening her posture, proud and unimpressed, she lifted her hands and offered the bags to him.
At that moment, the door to the suite across the hall suddenly opened with a loud thud, as if it had hit the wall.
Before Ming Xi could turn around, the blond man spoke first.
“Hi, Byron!”
A somewhat familiar English name.
Right after, a low and crisp voice replied behind her, unmistakably American in accent.
Ming Xi lowered her gaze slightly, catching sight of a very familiar coat hem.