If you need anything, just let me know!

Putting away his phone, Chen Ling glanced again at Jin Youde.

Jin’s face wore an air of indifference, as if to say, “My life’s already in shambles—do what you will.” Someone who still bore a grudge would never have that attitude.

Love and hatred alike can be a person’s driving force. But in Chen Ling’s eyes, that fire had long since faded from Jin Youde. Or perhaps, he realized, Jin was no longer struggling against anyone but himself—

Struggling against fate.

“Leave me your number,” Chen Ling said, patting him on the shoulder.

Jin Youde looked bewildered. What was this all about now?

“If there’s business in the future, I’ll remember to call you,” Chen Ling said with a smile. “Honestly, you’ve lost far more than I have. Seeing you like this, I can’t help but feel for you.”

“You really have such a good heart?” Jin’s gaze was wary. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll pull a fast one on you again?”

“Even if I gave you two extra lives, would you dare?” Chen Ling retorted.

Jin Youde paused, seeming to consider it seriously, then finally handed over a simple business card.

After the group moved on, a young ticket scalper dared to sidle over from afar. “Hey brother, what did those guys want with you? Judging by their faces, I thought you were about to get beat up.”

“Did you sell them fake tickets or something?”

“Get lost!” Jin Youde snapped. “Even scalpers have their code—selling fake tickets, what kind of lowlife—”

“Uh, just don’t do it again!” the young scalper stammered.

The young man was left utterly confused.

As he walked, Chen Ling fell into thought.

It was understandable that Zhou Jing didn’t hold a grudge against him. After all, Zhou was a poor student alone in a strange city—no family, no backing. It was fortunate enough not to be bullied. He lacked both the courage and the means to bear a grudge.

But now, even Jin Youde harbored no resentment.

That left only one possibility: Xu Ming.

At this, Chen Ling patted Zhang Peng. “By the way, that Xu Ming you looked into last time—any progress?”

“I’ll call and check.”

“No need, let’s just go to the office. Sister Dou just called—there might be something up.”

“Alright.”

So they got into the car and drove straight to the Qianjiang District office.

—

Wang Zhe’s life had not been smooth of late.

He had once been the director of the Real Estate Division at Pengcheng Group, in charge of managing the company’s property business. As a senior executive at the leading local enterprise in Ou City, he had everything—money, houses, cars, women, respect.

His days were so good he felt he’d never envy the immortals.

True, the economy had been sluggish for a year or two and the real estate division had suffered losses for two consecutive years. But he blamed the broader circumstances, never his own abilities! So why had he been kicked off to Linzhou, to be the cursed head of a branch office?

At first, Wang Zhe was cheerful—he thought the group was expanding and he was being sent as a regional governor.

He never expected he’d be playing nanny instead.

A nanny for the group’s princeling, who was barely an adult?

But still, this was the heir. If the young master ascended one day, Wang Zhe would be credited as a loyal retainer. The young master was still inexperienced; naturally, he couldn’t make decisions yet. Wouldn’t that let Wang Zhe become the regent minister in all but name?

But—ha! The young master promptly sidelined him, assigning only trivial errands, but giving every ear to those inexplicable schoolmates.

He’d brought an entire filing cabinet of project proposals, but hadn’t so much as opened it since arriving. All his painstaking work was left to gather dust.

Wang Zhe wanted to shout to the chairman: “There’s a traitor at the young master’s side!”

—

“Teacher Feng—Minister Feng!”

In the office, Wang Zhe slouched in his boss’s chair, his face stony as he addressed Feng Lifang with growing impatience. “I’m just following procedure here—it’s not about making things difficult for you!”

“See for yourself—the requirements for employment clearly state a minimum of a technical college diploma.”

Feng Lifang sighed helplessly, patiently explaining, “These two newcomers may only have high school diplomas, but they’re real talents. I may not have worked in frontline sales, but as a teacher, my experience and judgment—”

“You admit it yourself!” Wang Zhe seized the opening. “If you’ve never worked in frontline sales, on what basis are you judging?”

“If they were really such talents, wouldn’t they have gotten into college? What era is this—colleges have been expanding admissions for years! Can’t even get into college? What are they if not duds?”

“I’ve told you before—you need to be flexible and adaptable. Arguing with me gets you nowhere. Show me some real results!”

Feng Lifang’s expression darkened. “Director Wang! You can’t judge a person’s potential by their diploma alone! There are so many variables in a person’s development. Education is not the only—”

“I don’t care about variables. Bottom line: you want my signature on this hiring form? Not a chance!”

Feng Lifang was anxious, momentarily speechless, utterly stifled by Wang Zhe’s rebuke.

“Don’t just stand around—go do your work,” Wang Zhe said, pointing at the door. “No need to see you out!”

Feng Lifang’s expression shifted, but in the end, she stormed out in frustration.

As her graceful figure disappeared, a sly glint flashed in Wang Zhe’s eyes—

Little minx, you think I can’t handle you? That mouth of yours just won’t do anything but talk, will it? Ever thought of trying a different approach to get me on your side?

What vexed Wang Zhe most about Linjiang was this: everything else was fine, except he couldn’t bring over his flock of beauties from Ou City.

He had a particular quirk—he didn’t like to spend money, preferring to flirt with decent women. It wasn’t that he couldn’t afford it; he was addicted to the thrill of seducing respectable ladies.

And ever since the scandal with Teacher Chen, Wang Zhe had developed another, darker obsession: sharing his own “original resources” on eMule. Among his peers, he was known as the “eMule Blood Donor, Conqueror of Amateurs.”

But this superstar of eMule hadn’t uploaded anything in a month.

Now, just as he was growing restless, Feng Lifang dropped from the sky.

“Tsk tsk, with that figure, it’s a shame she doesn’t pose as a roast goose leg!” he mused. “I’ve dropped hints twice—if she still doesn’t get it, looks like I’ll have to escalate.”

—

Back in her own office, Feng Lifang looked at the two boys sitting upright and felt a pang of guilt.

According to the company rules Chen Ling had set, the real estate brokerage industry didn’t particularly care about academic qualifications. But for “professionalization” and “differentiation,” they had set the minimum at a technical college diploma.

Other companies did the same, but not until a decade later. In 2008, for most sales jobs, education? That was irrelevant.

But that was the future of the industry. For now, it was too high a bar. So Chen Ling had told Feng Lifang that if she found truly promising candidates, she could still hire them.

She had followed his advice and recruited two outstanding young men. They had impressed her in the interview and shown remarkable enthusiasm and talent during training. So she decided to bring them on.

Now, with all hiring procedures nearly complete, Wang Zhe was blocking them at the final step.

“You two—” Feng Lifang wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words.

If these two hadn’t been such rare talents, she would never have called Chen Ling for help.

“Miss Feng!”

One of the boys, with sun-kissed skin and an honest smile, said, “Please don’t trouble yourself over us, we’re used to it.”

The other, a slender youth, smiled at her and flashed a set of gleaming white teeth—pure and innocent.

Their names were Li Bailing and Liu Hechu. One was eighteen, the other nineteen. One was optimistic, the other diligent.

“No! I must get you both hired today!” Feng Lifang declared suddenly, taking out her phone and dialing Chen Ling’s number once more.

Unexpectedly, a ringtone sounded right outside her office—

“Sister Dou!” Chen Ling entered with a smile, glancing at the two boys before looking at Feng Lifang.

“If there’s something, just say it!”

----------------
[Three hundred and sixty degrees of humble prostration!]
[Please vote!]