Back to the 1970s: Building My Fortune Through Time Trading

Chapter 189: Gala Night

Su Xiaoxiao glanced casually behind him and saw Xu Cuilan following.

She followed the man with a respectful expression, her attitude very deferential, clearly indicating the man had some status.

Su Xiaoxiao hurriedly nudged Qin Shuang beside her, who immediately understood and gently tugged at Zhang Yulan, who was almost exhausted.

The three of them quickly perked up and looked towards the newcomer.

The calm demeanor, the pretentious air, undoubtedly a big leader had come down to inspect the work.

Sure enough, the middle-aged man walked to the center and stood still. It was five minutes before the lunch break. There were no customers left in the department store.

He cleared his throat twice, his gaze sweeping across each counter, and stroked the short stubble on his chin as he spoke: "Hello comrades, let me introduce myself first, I am the general manager of our department store. I believe many old employees are already familiar with me..."

Immediately, quite a few people below started whispering.

"So, this is our general manager?"

"I wonder what he’s going to talk about? The general manager himself must be here for something important, right?"

"Quickly, let’s listen. What is it about? Is it possible that they’ll give us bonuses?"

Yan Guohua listened to the surrounding discussions, cleared his throat, and continued: "Everyone, please quiet down first. I have something very important to announce to you all."

Instantly, all the murmurs stopped.

"The end of the year is approaching, and the commercial bureau and the department store leaders have discussed and decided that, in order to strengthen relationships among the brother units in our city, unite as one, and strive for new success in the new year, we’re hosting a city-wide gala. At that time, all department stores in the city need to prepare programs, and the leaders will also be present."

"This is a great opportunity to showcase the style of our department store employees, so in the upcoming period, I hope everyone can spare an hour after work every day to prepare their programs. We will conduct a vote among several leaders to determine the list of participants."

As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd that had just quieted down started whispering again.

"Already working like a dog and now expected to work overtime for free? Crazy, whoever wants to participate can do so, I’m opting out."

"No kidding, even if we win, the honor is for the department store, not for us personally, so I’m not participating."

"Every year they come up with this kind of flashy things. At least give us some bonuses or prizes. Going through all that trouble for just a lousy certificate—whoever’s interested can go. I’m not participating."

Yan Guohua listened to the grievances below, and his mouth twitched uncontrollably.

This was something decided uniformly by the higher-ups, and he too felt quite helpless.

In the eyes of the leaders, honor was paramount, but to these employees, honor didn’t compare to getting a genuine reward.

Every year this mobilization meeting was extremely awkward for him.

But as a leader, he still needed to give a token motivational speech.

"If we’re lucky enough to win, it will be an honor for our entire department store. Every employee who actively participates will receive a certain material reward..."

Before he could finish, the murmurs continued once again below.

"Still have the nerve to talk about rewards? Last year, each person got a pen and a notebook, and it was the cheapest kind."

"Exactly, spending an hour practicing every day with several rounds of selection, and that’s the result..."

"I wouldn’t participate even if it killed me this time."

Su Xiaoxiao listened to the murmurs around her, dumbfounded. Isn’t the department store a lucrative unit? How could the leaders be so stingy with the prizes?

Imagine, working to death for a month and ending up with just a pen and a notebook—she might lose it and start cursing on the spot.

Even more crucially, some people work for a month without even making it to the final round.

Su Xiaoxiao fell silent; with this time, she’d better focus on developing her own career.

Right then, she heard Yan Guohua say: "Alright, anyone who wishes to participate, please step forward."

As soon as he said that, everyone took a step back in unison.

Su Xiaoxiao was bewildered and suddenly found that the people around her were gone.

She turned around—oh dear, why had they all retreated?

Wait a moment, doesn’t that mean she’s...

She quickly intended to step back, but before she could move, she met Yan Guohua’s kind gaze.

"Very good, very good, this young comrade over here, what’s your name? Your courage is commendable, truly commendable."

Su Xiaoxiao: "..."

She didn’t want to participate, damn it!

"Manager Yan, you’ve misunderstood, I didn’t want to participate, it’s just that my reaction was slow, give me a moment, I’ll..."

Before she could finish, Yan Guohua interrupted seriously: "Young comrade, no need to be shy; this is a glorious task for our department store, I’ve got high hopes for you."

As he spoke, he cast a kind gaze at the other few who hadn’t managed to step back in time, looking appreciative.

Finally, his gaze fell on one person, with even more admiration in his eyes.

When everyone stepped back, there was actually a male comrade actively responding to the call of the organization, rushing forward, but accidentally took a fall face-first.

This was a real warrior!

At this moment, the comrade who had fallen face-first was angrily getting up: "Damn it, who the hell pushed me out?"

Yan Guohua: "..."

Damn, celebrated too soon.

Never mind, that’s not important. What’s important is, several of the unlucky ones, oops, good comrades are gathered.

Yan Guohua decisively concluded: "Alright, next, I would like the comrades to prepare the program well; I’m looking forward to your performance."

After he finished speaking, he turned and left, afraid that those unaware would backtrack.

Su Xiaoxiao turned to look at her fellow "unfortunate" comrades: "Did you all react slowly as well?"

Qin Shuang: "No, I dropped something and couldn’t catch up."

Zhang Dongmei: "Hmph, I’m not as oblivious as you. There were too many people so I couldn’t squeeze in."

Su Xiaoxiao: That wasn’t as bad as reacting slowly.

She turned her head to the other side again.

Zhang Yulan: "I don’t want to go home early and see my mother-in-law’s scowling face; can avoid it for a while, I better do."

Qian Xiaoyan: "It’s too boring, just joining in for fun."

The man who had just fallen face-first eagerly raised his hand: "I... I’m..."

Su Xiaoxiao: "Alright, since everyone, whether intentional or not, has joined in, let’s work hard together for this next month."

Finally, Zhang Guoqing who didn’t manage to speak out complained angrily: "I haven’t even given my reason?"

A few people: Sorry, we all saw it, no need to explain.

Just then, Xu Cuilan walked over to them with a smile.