Chapter 83

The market team had also begun their mission.

Since Mu Xiaoxiao and Zhu Jingyue were first-time negotiators, Jiang Zhou decided to accompany them.

Their first stop: Shangjing Normal University.

In the early stages of a startup, business development was tough work.

Without lowering yourself a bit, you won’t get anywhere.

Like now, they had arrived too early and had to stand under the scorching sun.

Even though summer was over and autumn was near, the noon heat was still unbearable for college students.

Jiang Zhou, used to chatting in an air-conditioned office, was absolutely miserable.

“Xiaoxiao, did you bring sunscreen?”

Mu Xiaoxiao searched her purse. “Yes. Do you want some, boss?”

Jiang Zhou fanned himself. “Yeah, slather it on three layers.”

“Okay.” She unscrewed the lid and gently applied sunscreen to his arms with her soft hands.

Jiang Zhou sighed. “Middle of the day, and instead of watching Su Nan dance in the office, I’m roasting out here…”

“It’s almost time. Just hold on a bit longer.”

“Xiaoxiao, I gotta call you out for that.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Never say ‘just hold on a bit longer’ to a guy.”

“Wha— Boss, you’re the worst!”

Jiang Zhou grinned. His irritation melted away a little.

Upperclasswomen really knew how to get a joke.

Not like that Feng Siruo girl. He’d been trying to get her to call him “hubby” for over a month with zero success.

Thinking of this, he pulled out his phone and opened their pinned chat.

“Feng Siruo, what are you doing?”

She replied instantly, “Sleeping.”

“I’m out making money, and you’re napping, you lazy bum?”

“Fine, I’ll play Speed Racer.”

“The office computer’s broken.”

“I bought a laptop.”

Jiang Zhou paused. “Fine. I’ll deal with you later!”

“Nooo—”

“No ‘no.’ I will.”

Feng Siruo sent him an exploding bomb emoji in response.

Jiang Zhou could almost see her furious little face behind the screen.

A moment later, she followed up with a crying emoji full of grievance.

“Don’t punish me, okay…”

“That’s probably not possible, so look forward to it.”

Right after Jiang Zhou sent that message, Feng Siruo replied with another bomb emoji.

Clearly, her pleading didn’t work, so now she was just giving up — like a criminal before execution yelling, “In eighteen years, I’ll be a hero again!”

Jiang Zhou shut off his phone and glanced at the time.

There were still thirty minutes before their scheduled meeting.

Mu Xiaoxiao had already finished applying sunscreen for him and was now chatting with Zhu Jingyue.

“What brand is your lipstick? It looks so natural.”

“It’s YSL. Looks good, right? I went to a beauty store just to test the shade.”

“Send me the shade number, I want to go buy one too when I have time.”

“Sure, sure~”

The two were chirping away when they suddenly noticed Jiang Zhou staring at them.

It was still work hours, so as junior employees, they quickly stood straight and quieted down.

But Jiang Zhou was still looking at them, which made both girls a little confused.

“Boss, is there something on our faces?”

Jiang Zhou shook his head. “No, I was just curious about your lipstick.”

Zhu Jingyue widened her eyes slightly.

“Boss, do you want to know the shade number too?”

“Nah, I just wanted to taste what flavor it is.”

“Boss! You’re so bad!”

Blushing, the two girls quickly took half a step back, flustered.

Jiang Zhou helplessly lit a cigarette, feeling like he was straying from his mission.

Am I here to negotiate business or just flirt with my staff?

Damn this Normal University. They are clearly continuing the tradition of dragging things out.

They’d said class would be done in three minutes.

It ended up being delayed by half an hour!

While he was still grumbling inwardly, a girl in a denim skirt suddenly walked over.

“Hi, are you Jiang Zhou?”

He stubbed out his cigarette. “Yeah, that’s me.”

“Oh, Mr. Jiao from the admin office asked me to come get you. Come with me.”

Jiang Zhou nodded and gave a look to the two senior girls to follow.

The four of them walked together into the Normal University campus.

By the time the meeting ended, it was already 5 p.m.

Fortunately, the teacher they spoke with was fairly polite.

After Jiang Zhou clearly explained the project, Mr. Jiao said he’d consider it and give them an answer the next day.

But Jiang Zhou didn’t want to wait. So he called up Yan Weimin on the spot.

While the Normal University was a decent school, it still had to bow its head when facing institutions like Shangjing and Qingbei.

After a 30-minute discussion between the two teachers, Mr. Jiao finally gave the green light for Ganfanren to operate on campus.

Once they left the office, Jiang Zhou led the two girls around the campus for a brief stroll.

“Plenty of girls at Normal U, but not much quality.”

“That’s not true, Boss. The pretty girls don’t come out at noon. They’re afraid of getting tanned.”

Jiang Zhou nodded. “Makes sense. We’re going to the Fashion Institute tomorrow, right? Let’s schedule it for late afternoon.”

“Pervert…”

“Hm? What did you just say?”

Mu Xiaoxiao quickly changed her tune. “We said the boss is wise!”

“Forget wise, say handsome. From now on, just say your boss is handsome.”

“Yes, Boss is handsome!”

With a big wave of his hand, Jiang Zhou led the two girls back to Shangjing.

After a long, busy day, even a farm donkey would’ve collapsed.

He went straight back to the dorm and lay on his bed to rest.

Their dorm had two fans — one on the east side, one on the south.

Jiang Zhou turned on the southern one and let the wind blow gently across him.

Creak!

Before long, the dorm door opened.

Gao Wenkai rushed in, carrying a bag of clothes, and ran straight to the balcony.

“Wenkai, doing your senior’s boyfriend’s laundry again?”

“Uh…”

Jiang Zhou sighed. “Forget it. No need to explain. I know your love is very forgiving.”

Gao Wenkai looked downcast. “Boss, I even used your words when talking to her, but nothing changed.”

“What’d you say?”

“I told her I was tired, didn’t want to keep going like this. I said let’s part on good terms.”

Jiang Zhou sat up from bed. “That’s not bad! That means you’re growing.”

Gao Wenkai paused. “But she didn’t reply all afternoon. Just now, she finally messaged me and asked me to pick up her laundry.”

“Damn, and you didn’t go in harder?”

“I did! I told her from now on she can walk her own tightrope.”

“And then?”

“No reply.”

Gao Wenkai looked like a 200-pound heartbroken teddy bear.

“I was afraid she’d stop talking to me forever, so I added: ‘Even if you walk your own tightrope, I’ll be underneath holding it steady for you.’”

“…” Jiang Zhou flopped back down on his bed. “Hold it, then. Hold it with all you’ve got.”

Gao Wenkai nodded solemnly. “I think I’ll just go back to how things were before. At least she still talks to me.”

“You never thought she might just be stringing you along, using you to get things done?”

“But that means she feels something for me, right? Otherwise, why string me along and not someone else?”

“You’re amazing.” Jiang Zhou gave him a thumbs-up.

“Where’s Xu Haodong?”

“He went to Qingbei.”

“You’re all amazing.”