Wang Yue looked at the spacious shop next door and thought about the spare funds he had on hand. He asked Xiao Nan to talk to the Malatang shop's landlord about buying the place, while he would handle the payment.
After eating wontons and saying goodbye to Xiao Nan, Wang Yue returned to the dorm and found two people he hadn't expected there.
"Zhang Kai, Xu Kaiyang, what are you two doing in my dorm?" Though Wang Yue said this, he'd known this day would come. It had just come much sooner than he'd expected. It seemed Zheng Wei really was important to Xu Kaiyang.
"Wang Yue, we want to work at your shop!" Just as Wang Yue had expected, Zhang Kai and Xu Kaiyang made their request.
"What can you do?" Wang Yue asked deliberately.
"I can get the sales prices for all kinds of building materials, and I can help buy them, too." Xu Kaiyang had no qualms about using his family's connections.
"All right. The company only handles design; we don't need to buy anything!" Wang Yue rolled his eyes.
Seeing that Xu Kaiyang was about to say something, he cut him off. "But those prices you mentioned are important to me. I can get them through other channels, but I can't recommend them to customers. So you two can join the company and help us build up our database first. Once that's done, you'll be in charge of finding clients. The work is flexible, and you'll only get commission. I think Young Master Xu has great connections!"
"Of course! I'll start tomorrow!" Xu Kaiyang saw that he'd gotten what he wanted and left looking smug.
"Boss, his real goal is Zheng Wei," Second Brother Zhang Yang kindly reminded him.
"I know!" Wang Yue didn't look the least bit worried.
"You're not concerned?" Fourth Brother Liu Lei asked, astonished.
"If Xu Kaiyang had a chance, would Chen Xiaozheng still be in the picture?" Second Brother Han Wen said contemptuously before Wang Yue could answer.
The next day was Sunday. When Wang Yue arrived at the company, Xu Kaiyang was already there, sitting close to Zheng Wei.
"Wang Yue, Xu Kaiyang really came to work at our company!" Ruan Wan looked at Wang Yue, unable to figure out what he was thinking. Didn't he like Zheng Wei? Why bring his rival into the company? What kind of move was that?
"Mm!" Wang Yue wanted to explain, but knew it wouldn't come out right, so he said helplessly, "With your intelligence, it shouldn't be hard to see that Chen Xiaozheng isn't right for Zheng Wei. We might as well see if Xu Kaiyang has any tricks that can make her forget Chen Xiaozheng."
"Nice use of force against force. I've learned something!" Ruan Wan suddenly imitated Wang Yue in a solemn voice, leaving him momentarily stunned.
"What a clever girl, hiding her intelligence behind a foolish act!" Wang Yue sighed as he watched Ruan Wan look pleased with herself. But he truly believed that as long as Zheng Wei didn't end up with Chen Xiaozheng, Little Flying Dragon would remain Little Flying Dragon.
Xu Kaiyang's arrival sped up the company's operations. He went straight to the purchasing department at his family's company and got a full list of all kinds of materials. He slapped it down on Wang Yue's desk and said smugly,
"This is enough work to last me a month. I'm free for the rest of the month!"
Wang Yue was startled by his stunt, but soon understood: Xu Kaiyang was afraid Wang Yue would send him far away, where he couldn't see Zheng Wei.
Wang Yue rubbed his temples and said to Xu Kaiyang, "I thought you'd take Zheng Wei with you, so she could stay far away from Chen Xiaozheng!"
"You'd help me out of the goodness of your heart? Don't think I can't see what you're up to!" Xu Kaiyang still looked convinced Wang Yue couldn't fool him.
"I'm not helping you. Zheng Wei's clearly fallen into the trap of Chen Xiaozheng's spell, and someone needs to pull her out. I'm not good at taking people out to have fun!" Wang Yue hadn't realized Xu Kaiyang also thought he was devoted to Zheng Wei, and spoke with some awkwardness.
"Even if you were, I know this city better than you do!" Xu Kaiyang suddenly realized that his love of having fun could actually be an asset, and looked smug.
"Right, you're the local big shot, Young Master Xu! I'll leave it to you!" Wang Yue encouraged him shamelessly.
"But the job's already done, isn't it?" Xu Kaiyang felt utterly exasperated.
"You still have to find clients. Just say there are some aunties you're not comfortable talking to, and ask her to help." Wang Yue hurriedly sent him on his way.
"By the way, aren't you worried that being so close to her will give me an advantage?" Xu Kaiyang couldn't read Wang Yue. He didn't know whether he was being sincere or not.
"Even after you knock Chen Xiaozheng out of the running, there's still Lin Jing. You've got a long road ahead. Why are you worrying about me?" Wang Yue felt completely wronged, so he regretfully reminded him.
"You're such a killjoy!" Xu Kaiyang left Wang Yue's office looking dejected.
Wang Yue picked up the book he'd been reading and continued where he'd left off. Civil engineering—there was so much to learn.
How had Xiao Nai learned so much?
Wang Yue felt that he still had a long way to go before becoming a "god." Keep it up!
On Zheng Wei's birthday, everyone at the studio celebrated her twentieth birthday together and offered their best wishes. Xu Kaiyang gave her a necklace and a ceramic ring ornament, but Zheng Wei only accepted the ceramic ornament. No matter what he said, she refused to take the necklace.
When everyone looked toward him, Wang Yue asked them to come outside. On the lawn not far from the studio, a hole had been dug, with a camphor tree waiting inside it.
"Zheng Wei, come here. This camphor tree is my gift to you, to commemorate your twentieth birthday. Let's plant it together!" Wang Yue called everyone over to help.
"Thank you!" Zheng Wei's eyes sparkled in that moment, making several of the young men's hearts flutter.
"Happy birthday." Wang Yue looked at Zheng Wei's happy face and couldn't help thinking how easily a girl could find joy.
"Happy birthday." Bao Bao felt miserable inside, but Bao Bao wasn't saying a word. Sigh, why hadn't he thought of that?
After Zheng Wei's birthday, Xu Kaiyang began taking her along to meet female clients from time to time, and her life grew busier.
When people were busy, they had no time to dwell on nonsense.
And when someone got used to another person's company, that person's sudden absence made everything feel unfamiliar.
These past few days, no matter what Chen Xiaozheng did, he felt as though something was missing. Everything had become dull.
Zeng Yu noticed something was off with Chen Xiaozheng and felt a little lost herself.
She remembered that when she was a freshman, as the daughter of a wealthy family, Zeng Yu had met all kinds of young men. But she'd never met anyone like Chen Xiaozheng.
As Wang Yue had said at the party, Chen Xiaozheng was like a leopard cat: independent, hardworking, poor but ambitious, yet sensitive. It was no easy thing to get close to him.
Zeng Yu had spent two years trying, but still hadn't reached his heart. Yet that free-spirited girl had needed so little time to unsettle him.
Thinking of Wang Yue, Zeng Yu found him hard to figure out. His student records said he was from a rural family, but he seemed entirely at ease with life in a big city. She'd heard from classmates that he already had his own studio as a sophomore. He was truly dazzling.
But she'd also heard that Wang Yue seemed to pay a lot of attention to that free-spirited Zheng Wei. Was that girl really so wonderful?
"Chen Xiaozheng, do you still remember your dream?" Zeng Yu shook her head, pushing away her other thoughts. "In your current state, you might not be able to achieve it."
"I know!" Chen Xiaozheng was still downcast, but when he went back to studying, he no longer seemed so distracted.
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