Chapter 258: The Company’s Name?

Chen Mo nearly choked on his coffee when he heard Shen Rou’s words.

A Money Tree?

Changing the feng shui?

He had chosen this office space precisely because of its bad feng shui—he wanted the company to lose money.

And now Li Shen was trying to change the feng shui by placing a Money Tree?

That bastard. Came back right after the New Year just to piss me off, huh?

Chen Mo cursed inwardly, glaring at the Money Tree. The more he looked at it, the more it annoyed him.

Whether or not the damn thing worked, it definitely couldn’t stay in the office.

After a moment’s thought, he looked up at Shen Rou.

“This Money Tree doesn’t match the room’s decor. Let’s not keep it. Talk to Li Shen and have him return it or replace it with some other greenery.”

“President Chen, what about the feng shui?” Shen Rou asked hesitantly.

She’d been to this office building a few times and had heard plenty of rumors about the top floor.

Even if the Money Tree didn’t really work, it offered at least some psychological comfort, didn’t it?

“What feng shui? We’re young people of the new era—how can we believe in superstition?” Chen Mo said with a serious tone, as if giving a lecture.

Shen Rou looked a little embarrassed. “Understood, President Chen.”

“That’s more like it.” Chen Mo nodded in satisfaction, then stood up and headed out of the office. He’d finished the tour—time to go back.

At the door, he noticed Shen Rou still standing inside.

“Still in the office? Something else on your mind?”

“Ah! No, nothing.”

“Then let’s go together. I’ll give you a ride.”

They went downstairs.

After dropping Shen Rou off at the subway entrance, Chen Mo drove straight home.

Back at Changbai Scenic Garden, he greeted the Yang Dahai family next door, then went inside to rest.

He’d been driving for most of the day and was already exhausted.

………

The next morning.

Yang Duoduo showed up right on time with breakfast.

Even though he’d been back for nearly a month, the Yang family still made him breakfast the very first morning he returned. It was a thoughtful gesture.

After breakfast, he got ready to head out to Nanhe Coffee.

He had a meeting with Tang Qiu today to discuss the launch of a film and television company, as well as plans for an elderly song and dance troupe. He also wanted to check out how Nanhe Coffee was doing after the New Year—was it still losing money?

“President Chen, where are you headed? Let me drive,” Yang Dahai said, waiting at the door as soon as Chen Mo stepped out.

“Brother Yang, the holiday’s not over yet. You should rest at home.”

“It’s fine. I’d just be idling around anyway. Besides, work’s starting again in a few days—I might as well ease back into it.”

Yang Dahai insisted on coming along.

Chen Mo thought about it and didn’t argue. He could always have Finance count it as double pay for overtime.

When they arrived at Nanhe Coffee, a staff member recognized him the moment he walked in.

“Good morning, President Chen!”

Chen Mo gave a slight nod and looked around, but didn’t see Song Xia or Su Dan.

This was the first coffee shop he’d opened. Back in the day, those two practically lived here. It was odd not to see them around.

“Your managers—didn’t they come in today?”

“They came in this morning but left shortly after,” the staffer replied.

“Did they go to another coffee shop?”

“I’m not sure. They didn’t say.”

Chen Mo didn’t press further. Honestly, he hoped they were out having fun and not checking on other stores.

If even the managers stopped caring, the shop would definitely keep losing money.

He glanced around the shop and noticed two customers drinking coffee. That actually made him uneasy.

Last time he came, there hadn’t been a single customer for half a day.

Now there were two? That was enough to raise his guard.

He found a seat and sat down. Before long, the store manager brought over a cup of coffee.

Just as the manager was about to leave, Chen Mo stopped him.

“How’s the coffee shop doing lately? Has the sales volume gone up?”

Chen Mo looked up at the manager. The original manager here, Lin Zhu, had been transferred to the Cat Café. This guy looked familiar, but Chen Mo didn’t know his name.

Probably one of the first apprentices Song Xia had brought over from Beijing.

“President Chen, sales have indeed gone up this month,” the manager said.

Chen Mo was startled.

Could it be the coffee shop was finally turning a profit?

Just as he was about to speak, the manager continued.

“But the increase is mostly due to the holiday season—more people out shopping, more foot traffic, so more people came in for coffee. The extra sales still aren’t enough to make the shop profitable.”

The manager looked a little embarrassed and quickly added, “But don’t worry, President Chen. We’ll definitely find a way to turn a profit.”

Hearing that, Chen Mo finally relaxed.

Still, profitability was probably a long shot.

He waited in the coffee shop for a while.

Soon, Tang Qiu walked through the door.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, President Chen,” Tang Qiu said apologetically.

“No worries. I just got here early. Have a seat.”

Chen Mo smiled and gestured to the chair across from him.

“President Chen, here’s some information I prepared on the film and television company. Take a look.”

Tang Qiu sat down and slid a folder across the table.

Chen Mo stared at the documents for a moment, a bit surprised.

He’d only mentioned the idea of starting a film and television company to Tang Qiu last night before bed. And yet, here Tang Qiu was, with everything already prepared.

Clearly, Tang Qiu had stayed up late putting it all together right after their call.

Thinking about all this, his emotions grew a bit complicated.

Deep down, he rather hoped that Tang Qiu would be more of a slacker.

Not just Tang Qiu, but everyone in the company.

He sighed quietly and picked up the documents to read through them.

After a while,

He slowly set the papers back on the desk and looked up at Tang Qiu.

“All right, just follow what’s in the documents. Go ahead and register the company. You’ll be in charge of all the related procedures.”

“Understood, President Chen.”

Tang Qiu agreed readily. Ever since the Clothing Factory launched its own fashion brand, she had taken on the task of registering copyrights for clothing designs. But overall, her workload was still pretty light.

So naturally, she was happy to have more to do.

“But President Chen, have you decided on a name for the film and television company?”

A name for the film and television company?

Chen Mo repeated the question in his mind. Truth be told, he hadn’t thought about it at all.

“Just call it whatever…”

Halfway through the sentence, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him.

He changed course mid-sentence.

“Let’s call it Blue Film Studio. ‘Blue’ as in blue sky, and ‘Film’ as in movies.”

Not bad.

It had a nice ring to it—subtly echoing the style of Nanhe Coffee.

And just like Nanhe Coffee, which had been running at a loss since day one, Blue Film Studio was bound to follow suit.

———

The name “蓝片影视” (Blue Film Studio) is an unintentional pun on the term 烂片 (làn piàn), which means “a terrible movie.” The words for “blue” (蓝, lán) and “rotten” (烂, làn) sound very similar in Mandarin