Page 25

Gu Chen woke the next morning to the sound of his alarm. He still had a pounding hangover. The dorm was empty, so after washing up, he headed to the cafeteria. Along the way, he kept feeling like people were pointing and whispering about him. Every now and then, he caught words like "drunk" and "phone."

Well, damn!

Gu Chen kept a blank expression. He didn't need any context to know what these people were gossiping about.

He got in line at the counter and ordered breakfast. Carrying his tray, he picked an empty seat at random. He had just lowered his head to take a sip of porridge when someone behind him chuckled. "When you're hungover, you order mung bean porridge and banana-pear salad. You really know how to take care of yourself."

Gu Chen turned around and nodded in greeting. "Morning, Senior Zhou."

"I've heard all about it." Zhou Xiaoting carried her tray over and sat across from Gu Chen. "You landed a forty-million-yuan deal on your first day, selling the most expensive apartment in the new development. You earned nearly 120,000 yuan in commission alone. The news is all over several of Great Zhou Group's sales department WeChat groups."

Zhou Xiaoting hadn't made any effort to keep her voice down. The students sitting nearby heard every word and turned to look at Gu Chen in astonishment.

Even A University's brightest students couldn't be unmoved by that kind of money. And ten years ago, 100,000 yuan was worth a lot. Gu Chen had made that much by selling a single apartment in just one day.

"What did you talk about with that big client? I heard he was so pleased that he paid the full amount upfront and even gave you a phone." Zhou Xiaoting asked curiously, "I never would've guessed you were so good at business."

It was no wonder Zhou Xiaoting was curious. Gu Chen usually gave off such a gloomy, taciturn impression that it was hard to connect him with a silver-tongued sales star.

The students around them stirred with excitement.

Gu Chen only had to glance at their reactions to realize that Zhou Xiaoting was helping him dispel some bizarre rumor that had come out of nowhere.

He was already used to rumors flying around about him. Still, he was grateful that someone had stepped forward to clear things up and explain on his behalf.

"Nothing much." The deal involved Tiansui Capital's acquisition of Haoyang Technology, a project worth several billion U.S. dollars, so Gu Chen couldn't go around talking about it. He might accidentally disrupt Zhongli Sui's plans. "The client was a nice guy and made decisions quickly. When he found out I didn't have a phone and only worked weekends, he gave me one. He said it would make it easier to reach me when I was handling the property certificate and the paperwork."

From Gu Chen's careful wording, Zhou Xiaoting could tell there was more to the story. But since he didn't want to talk about it, she wouldn't pry. She had only come over to do him a favor, not to put him on the spot. "That makes sense. For rich people, time and efficiency matter more than money. If he could pay forty million for an apartment upfront, he wouldn't care about spending a few thousand on a phone. You should be smart about this, too. Keep your phone on and don't let him down when he needs something."

Gu Chen nodded. "Got it."

A student sitting nearby couldn't contain his curiosity any longer and cut in. "Does sales really pay that well? You can earn over 100,000 yuan from selling one apartment?"

"You have to be good enough to sell one in the first place." Zhou Xiaoting smiled. "A lot of people work at sales offices for two or three months without selling a single apartment, and eventually have to quit."

"If you can't sell a single apartment in three months, how stupid do you have to be?" The student curled his lip. "I think anyone who gets into A University is pretty smart."

Zhou Xiaoting just smiled without replying.

Someone said sourly, "Senior Zhou is being awfully nice to Gu Chen. You found him such a lucrative part-time job, while all we can get are tutoring gigs that pay a hundred or two per hour."

"You could also look for jobs handing out flyers at shopping malls or working at fast-food restaurants," Zhou Xiaoting replied gently. Then she added, "Stop envying Gu Chen and thinking he just got lucky. Yesterday, when he reported to the sales office, he recited more than seventy pages of internal training materials backward during the interview. I mean literally backward. He also knew the contract terms, all the mortgage procedures, and the tax rates inside out. That's what earned him the chance to meet clients."

Zhou Xiaoting paused briefly. "You people who spend all day envying others—have you ever learned your own course textbooks by heart?"

Who would do something so pointless?

The students exchanged glances and fell silent. Some were still unconvinced, but Gu Chen's skills spoke for themselves. They couldn't find anything to criticize.

The atmosphere fell quiet for a moment.

Gu Xiu had finished breakfast with his two roommates and was about to leave the cafeteria when he happened to spot Gu Chen and Zhou Xiaoting.

After a moment's thought, Gu Xiu walked over and asked Gu Chen, "Bro, are you feeling better? You were really drunk last night and seemed miserable. I didn't wake you this morning because I wanted you to get some proper sleep. You don't have class today anyway."

Then he asked Gu Chen, "Why are you up so early?"

"I have to go to work in a little while," Gu Chen said.

Gu Xiu suddenly remembered. "I forgot you had a part-time job. I almost made you late."

He hesitated, then couldn't help voicing his concern. "Bro, you can work, but you should drink less from now on. You can't even hold your liquor. And those clients—why did they have to make you drink?"

The student who had just been grumbling about Zhou Xiaoting treating Gu Chen differently heard Gu Xiu and immediately spoke up. "So you have to drink with clients to sell an apartment? Then forget it. I couldn't do that job."

"..." Zhou Xiaoting was so angry she almost laughed. "Great Zhou Group is a Fortune Global 500 company. Our sales process is completely professional. There's no rule that employees have to drink with clients to close a deal. Gu Xiu, if you don't know what you're talking about, could you please not spread nonsense?"

Gu Xiu hadn't expected his words to upset Zhou Xiaoting. He hurriedly explained, "I didn't mean that. I saw my brother come back completely drunk last night, and I was worried about him—"

"Last night was my first day at work, and my coworkers at the sales office were all very welcoming. After work, we had dinner, sang karaoke, and hung out to get to know each other," Gu Chen interrupted. He was honestly at a loss.