Wanlong Supermarket operated on a 9 AM to 9 PM schedule, with employees working 12-hour shifts under a two-team rotation system.
All of this was planned and implemented after Yao Qianshan joined the company. Although Wanlong Supermarket offered decent benefits to its employees, working 12-hour shifts would eventually drain their enthusiasm.
What she didn’t realize was that even if employees were made to work 12-hour days, most of them wouldn’t lose their passion for the job.
They were eager to prove themselves, to become core members of the team—some even craved the extra effort if it meant securing a permanent position.
Liu Yutong nodded in agreement with Yao Qianshan’s arrangements. While this would increase labor costs, she believed that if employees had no time for social lives, what was the point of living? What was there to look forward to?
Of course, as the store manager, Yao Qianshan would eventually follow the same schedule. But with the new branch just opening and operations not yet fully stabilized, she couldn’t afford to work only six or seven hours a day like she had at her previous company.
Back at the supermarket in XC, Yao Qianshan’s daily shifts had only been about six or seven hours—a rarity in the retail industry for management roles.
Yet despite the shorter hours, efficiency hadn’t dropped. In fact, it had improved.
Beyond adjusting work schedules, Yao Qianshan also integrated many policies from her former company into Wanlong Supermarket.
Her goal was clear: turn the University Town branch into Wanlong’s flagship store, then replicate the successful model across other locations for a full-scale optimization.
Once that was done, she’d likely be promoted to regional manager.
But pulling it off quickly wouldn’t be easy—it was a challenge, to say the least.
The supermarket in XC had built a solid reputation over the years, so competition wasn’t a concern.
Wanlong, however, lacked that foundation. On its very first day, it was already struggling against rival businesses.
Growing anxious, Yao Qianshan hurried to the Wanlong Hui headquarters with Yang Xin.
And there, she witnessed a scene she would never forget for the rest of her life.
At the entrance of the second floor, a group of men in black stood smoking, casually bragging about how they had effortlessly taken down over three hundred gangsters.
"Three hundred gangsters? That’s an outrageous claim," she thought. But the way they spoke, so matter-of-factly, made it hard to dismiss as mere boasting.
Forcing herself to stay calm, she kept walking.
Not far ahead, she passed a martial arts gym.
Through the open doors, she saw—good lord—dozens more men in black, along with a few teenage boys training intensely, swinging weapons at dummies with such ferocity that she barely dared to breathe.
Even more bizarre was the law office next door.
From the outside, it looked like any ordinary firm—except it had two classrooms inside.
One was filled with men in black, their very presence radiating an underworld aura.
The other was packed with young delinquents sporting hair dyed red, blue, green, and every color in between.
All of them were studying intently, some even taking diligent notes.
The whole scene was surreal.
Yao Qianshan had never imagined gangsters and studying could coexist. Yet here she was, witnessing the impossible.
It shattered her worldview.
The deeper she went, the more intimidating figures she encountered—hard-eyed, rough-looking men who clearly weren’t the friendly type.
If not for Yang Xin leading the way, she would’ve bolted. This wasn’t a company—it was a den of criminals!
Just as she was about to ask Yang Xin if they’d taken a wrong turn, something even more shocking happened.
Those fearsome men spotted Yang Xin and immediately bowed in unison, greeting him with a loud, "Brother Yang!"
Yao Qianshan’s mind went blank. She froze like a statue.
Yang Xin—polite, refined, scholarly Yang Xin—was a gangster? And not just any gangster, but their leader?
No way!!!
Noticing her stunned silence, Yang Xin called out to her.
Snapping out of her daze, Yao Qianshan swallowed her shock and followed him nervously to the company entrance.
Above them, three gilded characters gleamed under the sunlight: "Wanlong Hui."
The name reeked of underworld power.
And in that moment, it all clicked.
So this was what "Wanlong" in "Wanlong Supermarket" really meant.
On its own, "Wanlong Supermarket" sounded harmless enough—plenty of businesses started with "Wan."
But add "Hui" to it, and the meaning twisted into something unmistakably gangster-like.
Of course, at this point, Yao Qianshan still held onto a sliver of hope, thinking that everything she was seeing might just be an illusion, a trick of her own mind.
That was until she followed Yang Xin into the office and saw the two highly conspicuous company regulations hanging on the wall—especially the one on the left.
She regretted it instantly.
Yet, at the same time, an unprecedented sense of loyalty inexplicably surged in her heart—she had never in her life felt such a strong desire to pledge allegiance to a company, and what’s more, the kind where she’d never even think of jumping ship!
Yang Xin, truth be told, was feeling quite helpless. Initially, he hadn’t planned on bringing Yao Qianshan to headquarters at all.
But this girl insisted on tagging along, claiming that more heads meant more ideas, and that together they might come up with a solid strategy.
Now look where that got her?
He’d told her not to come to headquarters, but she just wouldn’t listen.
Right now, though, he didn’t have time to explain the headquarters’ rules to her. The pressing matter was figuring out how to deal with their formidable competitor—Mingcheng Supermarket.
"Wanlong Supermarket’s opening day sales were 570,000, with a gross margin of only about 8%. Crunching the numbers, at best, we’re breaking even—maybe even operating at a loss."
"Meanwhile, Mingcheng Supermarket next door pulled in around 900,000 on their first day, nearly double our numbers..."
As Yang Xin reported the day’s performance, his mood grew heavier, his brow furrowed.
He knew full well that Mingcheng Supermarket was running promotions at a loss, but if this continued, they could very well siphon off all of Wanlong’s business.
People tend to follow the crowd. Once one supermarket gains popularity while the other turns desolate, no matter how good your service is, customers won’t come.
Wanlong Supermarket might have some reputation in the three counties and one town, but in Bright Pearl City, it was practically invisible. Mingcheng Supermarket, backed by the Wanjia Group, operated on a completely different level of brand influence.
Playing by conventional rules, Wanlong Supermarket was doomed to lose.
Yang Xin had proposed before—either don’t fight at all, or fight to the death! Force Mingcheng Supermarket to back down.
After all, executives in big corporations—especially those who remained after mergers—were terrified of poor performance. Sustained losses would inevitably lead to replacements.
But for now, Mingcheng Supermarket didn’t have to worry about that, which meant Wanlong was in for the toughest stretch.
The real question was how to counter their price war.
"Yang Xin, do you think we should match their moves?" Liu Yutong already had an idea in mind, but she still wanted to hear Yang Xin’s thoughts.
Without hesitation, Yang Xin replied, "Miss Liu, I stand by my original strategy—either we don’t fight, or we crush them completely."
