Chapter 40 Ask Her for Help

Chapter 40: Chapter 40 Ask Her for HelpThe next day was Thursday. In the morning, Yuan Mei personally provided training for everyone in the front hall, while Han Xu gave some guidance to the chefs in the kitchen. In the afternoon, as the boss, Zhang Jingdong finally skipped class and came out. He discussed the opening promotional activities with Yuan Mei, then went to the print shop to print 10,000 flyers and 100 large posters. Jiangdu University of Technology and Xijiang University together have a total of nearly a hundred thousand people, so this should be just about enough. After leaving the print shop, he first arrived at Jiangdu University of Technology. He parked the car in front of the canteen building on the small square and carried a backpack filled with flyers and posters to the bottom of the Girls’ Dormitory Building No. 1. Just then, two girls came out of the building, and Zhang Jingdong directly approached them, "Hello, can you wait a moment?" Seeing Zhang Jingdong dressed in branded clothes and looking quite handsome, they subconsciously stopped in their tracks. Seeing this, Zhang Jingdong continued, "It’s like this, I’ve just opened a new restaurant on Self-Reliance Road and need to do some promotion, but since I’m a guy, I can’t enter the girls’ dormitory." "So do you think this would work? You help me distribute these in this building, then I’ll give each of you 100 yuan, does that sound okay to you?" They were initially a bit hesitant, but their eyes lit up when they heard "100 yuan". One of them said, "Are you really going to give each of us 100 yuan?" Zhang Jingdong nodded, "That’s right." While speaking, Zhang Jingdong also took out his wallet, pulled out a 100-yuan bill and a business card and handed them over, "This is your advance payment and my business card, after you’re done, give me a call, and I’ll give you another 100." The girls looked at each other, and then one of them joyfully said, "Okay." Seeing that they agreed, Zhang Jingdong handed them the money and then unzipped his backpack and gave them a stack of flyers. Watching them enter the dormitory building, Zhang Jingdong moved on to the next one. For the next half hour, he used similar methods to find people to help him distribute flyers. Guessing that it must take them at least three to four hours, Zhang Jingdong returned to West University. By that time it was already past 5 pm, so he called Lu Yuan. "Hello, Brother Dong." "Are you in the dorm?" "I am, what’s up?" "Is everyone else there?" "They’re all here." "Great, now go to Brother Feng’s Barbecue and wait for me, I’ll be right there. Oh, and don’t wear slippers, everyone wear sneakers. We’ll have something to take care of after we eat." "Whatever it is you need, let’s do the work first then eat." "Haha, no rush, I’ll explain while we eat," Twenty minutes later, at Brother Feng’s Barbecue. Zhang Jingdong ordered a whole table full of skewers but didn’t order alcohol, instead opting for a bunch of chilled drinks. Seeing the doubtful looks on everyone’s faces, Zhang Jingdong explained, "This is the situation. I’ve opened a new restaurant across from the school gate on Self-Reliance Road, which will officially open this Saturday. So tonight, I’m hoping for your help with distributing some flyers in the boys’ dormitory buildings." "Let’s not drink today, I’ll continue to host tomorrow, and we can really drink up then!" Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked! Although they all knew Zhang Jingdong was wealthy, they had not expected him to be so affluent as to be able to open a restaurant! And because of Zhang Jingdong’s style of doing things, they instinctively dismissed the idea that it was just a small restaurant he was opening. Sun Mian stuttered in astonishment, "Brother Dong... you... how much did you spend opening this restaurant?" Zhang Jingdong, looking quite at ease, replied, "Renting the place, buying tables, chairs, kitchenware... all this together should have cost around three hundred thousand by now." "Over 300,000 yuan!?" Zhao Liuquan’s mouth hung open in shock: "Brother Dong, what kind of restaurant are you opening?" "We’ve been to Sichuan Restaurant a few times before, right? My restaurant is about the same size as theirs, but we specialize in Hunan cuisine." Sun Mian couldn’t help but exclaim: "That’s my Brother Dong for you! When you make a move, you aim straight for the top. Awesome!" At this moment, Lu Yuan raised his glass: "Let’s not say anything else, Brother Dong is just too cool... Let’s all toast to Brother Dong’s business flourishing and prospering tremendously!" The others followed suit and raised their glasses as well. Finally, Zhang Jingdong also lifted his glass: "That’s said, though this is my business, it’s also the venture of our dorm 641." "Like I always say, if I, Zhang Jingdong, get to eat meat, I will make sure there’s a bite for my brothers too. Cheers!" Everyone clinked their glasses together and then each drained their drink in one go. Because they had to help Zhang Jingdong with some tasks later on, the meal only took about twenty minutes to finish. Afterward, each person took a stack of flyers and went to a different dormitory building. There are a total of 5 male dormitory buildings in the East area, so the five of them could just cover them all. Once they started their mission, Zhang Jingdong first arranged people to distribute flyers under the other two female dormitory buildings following his earlier strategy, then he arrived at the East 1 female dormitory. He hesitated, then made a call to Lin Shishi. After two rings the call was picked up: "Hello..." "Sister, are you in your dorm at the moment?" "Yes... What’s up?" "Could you come down for a moment? I’ve got something that I might need your help with?" "...Okay, I’ll come down now." Five minutes later, Lin Shishi gracefully stepped out of the dorm building. She was without makeup, her face bare and wearing a pair of black-framed glasses, radiating a different kind of beauty. Lin Shishi had been considering whether to put on makeup, but worried that Zhang Jingdong had urgent matters to attend to, so she came down as she was. Seeing him stare at her, a faint blush spread across her face. Although she was stunningly beautiful, she never used to care about her appearance in front of others. But somehow, standing in front of Zhang Jingdong now, she felt a hint of unspoken timidity. For the first time, she was concerned about her current appearance. To divert his attention, she quickly asked, "What... What did you want to see me for?" It was only then that Zhang Jingdong came back to his senses, replying, "Here’s the thing; I’ve opened a restaurant right opposite the school gate on Self-Reliance Road, and it’s officially launching this Saturday, so we need to do some promotions these next few days." "Sister, could you help me by distributing some flyers in your building with your roommates?" "Of course, I wouldn’t let everyone work for nothing - I’ll give each of them 100 yuan, and for you... I’ll take you out for a meal... Is that okay?" Even though he tried to sound casual about it, the content of his proposition was clearly not that simple. Lin Shishi initially looked surprised: "You opened a restaurant? You... opened it by yourself?" Zhang Jingdong patiently explained, "Yeah, remember I made some money a while ago? I thought about doing a bigger business." "I’ve pretty much invested all my savings into this restaurant, so I must make it work!" Hearing this, Lin Shishi suddenly understood. Looking at the confidence and determination in Zhang Jingdong’s eyes, admiration welled up within her. She then said, "Okay, I’ll get people to help you distribute them, but there’s no need to pay - we’re friends, and a favor like this is nothing." Seizing the opportunity, Zhang Jingdong suggested, "Then how about this: on the opening day, you come over with your dorm mates to my place, and I’ll treat everyone. You can also help fill the place a bit and give us some feedback." Lin Shishi hesitated for a moment, then nodded her head: "Alright then, let’s do that."