Shen Qiong spent the day showing his younger sister around Lingxi City. They didn't get home until nightfall.
"Whew, I'm exhausted!" He flopped down on the sofa.
After resting for about half an hour, Shen Qiong got up, turned on his computer, and logged into his new Weibo account, Master Shen.
After just one day, he already had over a thousand followers. More than a dozen people had sent him friend requests, too. Delighted, Shen Qiong clicked to take a look. The first person to add him was Chen Yuxiang.
Shen Qiong remembered the name. Chen Yuxiang had given him plenty of publicity, so Shen Qiong accepted his request right away.
Chen Yuxiang was watching a movie at his computer when he saw the notification: Master Shen had accepted your request. He jumped up at once, thrilled. "He accepted!"
Chen Yuxiang quickly typed a message and sent it to Master Shen: "Hello, Master Shen! I'm your fan."
Shen Qiong smiled when he saw the message. He hadn't expected to have fans!
"Thanks." Wanting to leave the other person with an air of mystery, Shen Qiong kept his reply brief.
After rejecting the friend requests from people he didn't know, Shen Qiong browsed the comments on the only post on his Weibo account.
There was just one post on Master Shen's account: the recruitment notice he had written.
Although he had only a little over a thousand followers, there were plenty of comments.
Tomatoes Stir-Fried with Tomatoes: "I only found out about Master Shen through a friend. I'd heard he was quite something, but this recruitment notice really opened my eyes."
Gou Erdan: "My titanium-alloy dog eyes have been blinded. These benefits are way too good!"
Reply to Gou Erdan: "No room for advancement, no five insurances and one housing fund, no commission, no training, and salary to be discussed. These benefits really are astonishingly good."
Chen Xiangyu chimed in, too: "Very good, very powerful. It's the complete opposite of every other recruitment notice."
"I can understand no room for advancement. I think no five insurances and one housing fund is a bit of a rip-off, and I can accept no commission, but I can't stand the no training part! Isn't Master Shen worried there'll be no one to carry on his work?"
Reply to the original commenter: "You clearly don't know. Master Shen is barely in his twenties. Why would he worry about having no one to carry on his work?"
As the old saying goes: "I think everyone's misunderstood Master Shen. The recruitment notice is just a long-winded way of saying you won't get anything you want, so take it or leave it."
"Top commenter nailed the essence of this recruitment notice perfectly."
"Impressive, impressive. I was too shortsighted to see it, but now that you've pointed it out, I get it."
Shen Qiong felt helpless about that comment. That was what he meant, sure, but he couldn't exactly say it outright! How was he supposed to hire anyone then?
"Two words: willful."
"Truly worthy of a master. Even hiring an assistant has to be so particular. I don't really get the part about rejecting anyone with a graduate degree or higher, though. Is being highly educated a drawback now?"
Actually, Shen Qiong thought that if someone with such an impressive education applied, he couldn't hold them back from a better future. He wasn't a real master, after all. He just used WeChat to fool people.
"I think I meet the requirements! Especially those bonus points: looks, cleverness, eloquence. Isn't that obviously describing me?"
"The person above is a narcissist. Case closed."
"I heard you have to submit a photo to book a reading with Master Shen. I'm seriously starting to wonder whether your looks affect your chances of getting an appointment."
Shen Qiong's face darkened when he saw that. The guy actually suspected him! He immediately replied below: "Just to clarify, you need to submit a photo so I can do a Facial Reading in advance. Your looks have nothing to do with your chances of getting an appointment. Also, anyone interested in the assistant job can contact me on Weibo or call me directly."
Guailong Didong replied: "Caught Master Shen in the act! Master Shen, I've tried to book an appointment more than ten times over the past month. When will I finally get one?"
Shen Qiong replied to Guailong Didong: "Spend more time around Shili Street. That'll improve your chances of getting an appointment."
The internet café owner followed Shen Qiong on Weibo, too. He immediately spotted a business opportunity and hurried to reply: "My internet café is less than twenty meters from Master Shen's shop. We're running a promotion: top up one hundred and get fifty free. Come play! Spending more time here can even improve your chances of getting an appointment with Master Shen!"
Shen Qiong cursed, "Damn, that internet café owner's a genius. He'd even use this?"
He replied to the owner with a wry smile: "You owe me an advertising fee."
The owner hadn't expected Shen Qiong to reply to him, and promptly answered, "You got it! I'll prepare your gift money right away!"
A netizen teased below: "What a sight! Master Shen's started charging for ads."
Suddenly, someone left a comment saying they wanted to apply for the assistant job, followed by a long introduction.
"I graduated from a prestigious university in Lingxi City and won the National Scholarship twice. I served as the head of the athletics department, and my grades were excellent... Would the salary be ten thousand a month?"
Shen Qiong asked, "Man or woman?"
"Man. I'm sturdy, so I could double as a bodyguard if anyone came looking for trouble."
Shen Qiong replied: "Thanks, but I don't need a bodyguard."
Countless netizens immediately started making jokes below:
"Thanks, but I don't need a man."
"Thanks, but I don't need an athletics department head."
"Thanks, but I don't need excellent grades."
"Thanks, but I don't need a graduate of a prestigious university."
Shen Qiong rolled his eyes. He really couldn't with these netizens. He shut off the computer and muttered, "Online recruitment really isn't reliable."
These days, college graduates had barely gotten out of school before demanding a monthly salary of ten thousand. It was unbearable! Shen Qiong knew some outstanding people could earn that much, but he was only hiring an assistant. Anyone could do the job; there was no need for that kind of talent.
As Shen Qiong grumbled, he played with his phone. Ever since he unlocked the Life Skill, he occasionally spotted talented people among "People nearby." Unfortunately, they hadn't found him, and he had no way to "point them in the right direction."
Han Jianyuan (within five hundred meters). His profile picture showed a man with rough stubble.
Age: 34 Height: 169 Health Value: 76 Luck Value: 5
Life Skills, ranked from highest to lowest
Cooking: 68 Drinking: 38 Fertility: 35 Communication: 30 Financial Management: 28...
Shen Qiong had figured out that most people had no particular strengths, and their Life Skills generally hovered around 30. Some were even below 10, which meant they had no idea what they were doing.
Anything above 50 counted as proficient, while 60 and above was excellent. Scores over 70 were very rare. Looking at Han Jianyuan, Shen Qiong reckoned he might be a chef at some big restaurant.
Ding-ding-ding. His phone rang.
Shen Qiong picked it up and saw an unfamiliar number.
"Hello, is this Master Shen?" The caller's voice carried a polite greeting.
"Yes, this is Shen Qiong," he answered.
In the living room of an apartment in Wanda Residential Complex, Ren Jingshan was at the age when a man knew his fate. At his age, he had few worries. The only thing he cared about was his precious daughter. Standing by the window with his phone, he smiled and said, "Here's the thing. I wanted to ask if you've found an assistant yet. If not, I'd like my daughter to come for an interview tomorrow."
"Dad..." Her long eyelashes fluttered slightly, and her face plainly said she didn't want to go.
Ren Jingshan ignored her and continued with a polite smile. "That's great, that's great! My daughter's good at everything and very capable. She's just a little stubborn, so I hope Master Shen will be patient with her."
"What's wrong with my personality?" she protested, pouting.
Shen Qiong could tell that a father was doing his best to recommend his daughter. He smiled and said, "That's fine. Let her come."
After they worked out the details, Ren Jingshan spoke over his daughter's repeated protests. "You don't need to say anything. You wouldn't take a job when I arranged one, and you wouldn't manage the shop when I asked you to. This time, you're going no matter what. You can learn a thing or two from Master Shen."
If Shen Qiong had been there, he would have been surprised. The young woman before them was none other than the bare-faced beauty Ren Tianxue he had seen the other day.
Ren Tianxue acted coy. "No way! He made it very clear in the notice that he wouldn't teach anything."
Ren Jingshan gently tapped her nose and smiled. "That's for other people. My precious daughter is smart and beautiful. Who could turn you down?"
"Hmph, some precious daughter I am! You're sending me to the middle of nowhere to be an assistant to some old man who's nearly eighty." Ren Tianxue puffed out her cheeks in anger.
Ren Jingshan laughed heartily. "Don't worry. Your dad checked. This Master Shen isn't some old man in his seventies or eighties. He's barely in his twenties, only a few years older than you."
"I still don't want to, even if he's in his twenties." Ren Tianxue continued to cajole him. "Dad, can you really bear to watch your daughter pour tea for a man in his early twenties?"
Ren Jingshan patted his daughter's hand. "Haha, of course not! I know what you're like. If you don't want to pour his tea, he could die of thirst and still wouldn't get you to budge."
Ren Tianxue looked at her dad, speechless...
Late that night, someone entered the dark study and turned on the light. Ren Jingshan went to the far corner of the bookshelf, where a yellowed letter was wedged between two thick books.
He pulled the dust-covered letter from the shelf and sighed. "After all these years, the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion has finally resurfaced."
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