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Gu Xiu's face grew redder and redder. Flustered, he said, "I didn't... Then, then I'll treat you to a meal alone another time."

"How much later?" Huo Mingzhang pressed with great interest. "Don't tell me it's just the usual polite 'I'll treat you to dinner someday'? The little beauty hasn't even entered society yet, but you've already learned all the tricks."

"I really didn't mean that." Gu Xiu waved his hands anxiously. "Then I'll treat you tomorrow, okay?"

Huo Mingzhang could not help laughing. "I was teasing you. You didn't actually take it seriously, did you?"

Gu Xiu stared blankly at Huo Mingzhang, looking so wronged he was nearly in tears.

Huo Mingzhang asked hypocritically, "Why are you crying? Don't tell me you can't bear to spend money treating me to dinner again?"

"You—" Gu Xiu glared at Huo Mingzhang angrily. Huo Mingzhang only laughed more and more freely.

The two childhood friends could not be bothered to watch him act lovesick and flirt, so they crowded around Gu Chen and kept pestering him. "Master, Master, teach us how to shoot threes?"

"Didn't we agree? We'll cover your snacks and drinks for the whole semester, and you'll teach us basketball. It's a win-win partnership~"

"Master, why aren't you saying anything? Don't tell me you still don't know who we are? Here, let me introduce us. I'm Jin Wei—the Wei in defending the homeland. He's Tao Jiang—the Jiang in guarding the border. We're both second-year students in Economics and Financial Management at the School of Economics and Management. That makes us your proper seniors, Master. If there's anything you don't understand academically, you can come ask us too. We can help each other and grow together, right?"

Jin Wei and Tao Jiang chattered nonstop behind Gu Chen like two headless flies, making so much noise that he could not focus on reading the materials. Somewhat helplessly, he turned around and looked at the two grinning men. "Can you shut up?"

Jin Wei and Tao Jiang exchanged a look, then tried to sound as timid as possible while making a threat. "As long as you agree to our request, Master, we'll shut up immediately."

Gu Chen finally lost his patience. "Get lost!"

Jin Wei and Tao Jiang did not care in the slightest. "So, about teaching us basketball?"

Gu Chen took a deep breath. "During training, I'll teach you how to play basketball."

Gu Chen placed heavy emphasis on the word "teach." Having lived a second life, he had not intended to dwell on the grudges and debts of his previous one. But now Jin Wei and Tao Jiang were asking to be tortured, practically begging for punishment. They could not blame him for taking the chance to get revenge.

Jin Wei and Tao Jiang chuckled, high-fived in triumph, then hooked their arms around Huo Mingzhang and slipped out of the dorm room like greased lightning—Master was so furious that smoke was practically coming out of his head. If they did not leave now, they were genuinely afraid he would suddenly start beating people.

Master's aura was still pretty terrifying when he was truly angry. Eek.

At last, his ears were quiet. Gu Chen could finally settle down and read the materials. Although being reborn had given him an extra ten years of life experience out of nowhere, he had never worked in property sales in his previous life. There was much he needed to prepare carefully for, whether it was sales etiquette, sales pitches, or the mindset he needed as a newcomer to society.

All of it needed to be readjusted and built up again.

Watching Gu Chen's back as he diligently read through the materials and took notes, Gu Xiu bit his lip and began patiently preparing his own lesson plans.

Soon, the weekend arrived.

Gu Chen got up early and followed the route marked in the materials. After transferring buses twice, he finally arrived at the sales office for the new Great Zhou World development.

The sales office had already received notice from the group headquarters that an intern would be arriving today. Before the morning meeting, a group of people gathered to chat. "Did you hear? This new intern of ours has some serious connections. He came straight in through the young lady's connections, parachuted in without even attending pre-job training."

"I know. Isn't he some top student from A University? I heard he scored seven hundred on the college entrance exam. With talent like that, once he graduates, he'll go straight to the group headquarters and become management, right? The fact that he's willing to come to our sales office is already lowering himself."

"I don't think the manager sees it that way. He knows the intern came through the young lady's connections, and he's practically itching to put him in his place!"

"I think he's the one with ambitions higher than the sky and a fate thinner than paper. The guy is at least a top student from A University. Put nicely, he and our young lady come from the same school. He's just a graduate from some second-tier university, yet because he worked with the young lady for one summer, he daydreams every day about becoming the Zhou family's live-in son-in-law? You can get three keys for ten bucks—doesn't he realize he's not worthy?"

"Hey, stop talking. He's here."

Cao Yan walked into the sales office lobby with a folder and a meeting notebook tucked under his arm. Today, he had deliberately worn the expensive suit he had bought for job interviews in the year he graduated. He had even styled his hair with wax, wore the Rolex watch he had spent more than half a year's savings on, and polished his black calfskin shoes to a shine.

He cast a stern glance at the female employees in front of him, who were laughing and chatting and clearly did not take him seriously. Then he raised his hand to check the time and knowingly asked, "What time is it? Wasn't an intern supposed to arrive today? Are college students these days really so lacking in any sense of time? Late on the very first day of work?"

Everyone knew why Cao Yan was angry, and no one paid him any attention.

Cao Yan snorted. "Who knows what the higher-ups are thinking. Sales for a new development are such an important matter, yet they actually dare to stuff a college student in here to experience life. Aren't they afraid of offending major clients—"

Before he could finish, the automatic doors of the sales office opened. A tall, handsome young man with a cold demeanor strode inside.

Earlier, in order to curry favor with Gu Chen, Jin Wei and Tao Jiang had deliberately gathered information on every female employee at the sales office. Although Gu Chen had not been interested, it had given him an idea. He still asked the two of them to collect information on all the sales office employees—including their educational backgrounds and personality preferences. So the moment Gu Chen walked in, he recognized Cao Yan, the manager of Sales Department One.

"Hello, Manager Cao. I'm Gu Chen, the intern here to report for duty." As soon as Gu Chen finished speaking, the wall clock hanging in the lobby rang. It was exactly nine in the morning.

Cao Yan glanced at Gu Chen. "You showed up right on the dot on your first day? Are you here to slack off?"

Gu Chen's expression did not change. "Sorry. I was afraid that arriving too early would disrupt everyone's work. If the company requires it, I'll come fifteen minutes early tomorrow."