Chapter 11: The Real World (An Unconventional Matchmaking)

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Ms. Xu had chosen a Japanese restaurant as the blind-date venue.

Having accepted the payment, Xu Yiliu simply treated this absurd blind date as work. She found the man by matching him to his photograph, then sat down with a smile.

Her date was a twenty-eight-year-old man in a suit named He Chen. He had deliberately grown a beard along his chin and even sprayed on men’s cologne. After sizing Xu Yiliu up for a while, he asked, “Are you in college?”

Xu Yiliu was concentrating on her udon and merely hummed in reply.

Seeing that her mind was elsewhere, He Chen said amiably, “Would you like some foie gras and sushi as well?”

He was polite and displayed none of the greasy behavior people online associated with blind dates, so Xu Yiliu smiled and said, “Thank you.”

“Thank me for what? I’m the one who should apologize.” He Chen took a sip of red wine.

Xu Yiliu did not understand. She looked at him in confusion. “What?”

He Chen said apologetically, “About this blind date…”

He carefully explained the whole story to her, and only then did Xu Yiliu understand why Ms. Xu had come up with this idea.

It turned out that He Chen had gotten drunk at a drinking party and, in a haze, accepted a ridiculous wager. The terms were that he had to go on three blind dates with the same eighteen-year-old girl. The stake was a project that would determine whether he could be promoted smoothly.

Once sober, he had felt utterly humiliated, but he could do nothing about those wealthy young masters. He also did not dare tell his parents, so he had searched online for a matchmaking agency.

Xu Yiliu rubbed her forehead. “The agency is Everlasting Matchmaking, right? You don’t have to feel so bad. My mother is the manager there… Wait a minute. How much commission did you pay?”

He Chen named a figure that made Xu Yiliu’s eyes turn green with envy.

After hearing him out, Xu Yiliu said with amusement, “You even told the agency what you wanted…”

And yet Ms. Xu had not been willing to tell her any of this beforehand.

Straightening in her seat, she changed tack and said seriously, “It’s only three meals. If you’re willing, Mr. He, you can just treat it as work, especially since it concerns your promotion.”

He Chen saw the determination in her gaze, the steady set of her shoulders, and the calmness of her hands. For some reason, he suddenly felt as though he had returned to the office.

Uncomfortably, he took another sip of red wine, trying to dispel the overpowering air of office life. “Go on.”

Xu Yiliu smiled. “As far as eating and chatting are concerned, I’ll treat you as a friend and cooperate willingly. However, your commission went to the agency, not to me, so I have one additional request.”

He Chen nodded. “What is it?”

Anything that could be settled with money was no serious matter.

Xu Yiliu said, “Tomorrow is the day I register at university. With your impressive education, you should know how important internship experience is while one is still in school.”

He Chen seemed to understand. “You want an internship at my company?”

Xu Yiliu smiled. “You’re so young and already a vice president. Surely what you possess is more than just academic qualifications and excellent professional ability. I want three internship opportunities in different departments, one each during my first, second, and third years.”

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After she finished speaking, He Chen set down his wineglass and said nothing for a moment.

It was not that he was unhappy. He simply had never imagined anyone could approach the matter this way.

Arranging an internship for a student truly was no great problem for him. In fact, it would take no more than a single sentence, and he had no reason to refuse.

After a moment, He Chen extended his hand. “I look forward to working with you.”

Xu Yiliu shook his hand openly. “I look forward to working with you.”

Half an hour later, Xu Yiliu prepared to leave. Before going, she glanced at the affectionate couple at the neighboring table and smiled and nodded at them.

Once her figure had disappeared through the door, the young man in the couple said in shock, “How did she figure it out?”

The young woman pondered for a moment. “She has an excellent eye for detail.”

He Chen sat down opposite them and said helplessly, “It wasn’t intentional, Miss Huo. Du Leng, you both saw it yourselves. The girl is willing to help me complete the wager. You can’t go back on your word.”

Du Leng teased him, “What kind of blind-date dinner was that? We were watching from the side, and anyone who didn’t know better would have thought you were negotiating a business deal.”

“Exactly.” He Chen sighed. “If she didn’t genuinely look like an eighteen-year-old student, I would have thought that agency had fabricated the whole thing.”

“Regardless of anything else, she’s a promising talent.” Du Leng nudged the impeccably dressed woman beside him. “Xuejue, you’re interested, aren’t you?”

Huo Jue did not deny it. She gave a light laugh. “The internship is easy enough. Leave it to me. I happen to be short-handed.”

He Chen glanced at her. “If you can’t make good use of her, send her back to me. Once I become general manager of Skymark, we’ll see how many years it takes her to take my place.”

Du Leng frowned. “Are you two really taking this that far?”

He also thought the girl was quite good, but he had never considered the matter so far ahead.

Huo Jue clinked glasses with He Chen and said slowly, “Hiring people at Skymark is simple. You have plenty of trusted subordinates. It’s not like the Huo family, where everyone is fighting for power and I’m beset on all sides. Who knows when someone will bring me down? Why are you competing with me? What I need most right now is someone like her.”

Du Leng looked at her, only half understanding.

Huo Jue set down her wineglass. “Someone without connections, who seizes every opportunity to climb upward.”

Her phone began vibrating again. After glancing at it twice, she rose.

Du Leng asked, “What’s so urgent?”

Huo Jue said grimly, “Zhiye has called me several times in a row. I thought she was throwing another tantrum, so I ignored her. Just now, she actually told me she couldn’t go on living. I need to go back and check on her.”

He Chen and Du Leng exchanged a look and did not dare stop her.

Everyone knew that the Huo heiress cared most about her younger sister. Even Du Leng did not dare make a flippant remark at a time like this.

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…

With five hundred thousand in her account, Xu Yiliu was unusually generous and took a taxi back to her little rented apartment.

The lease would not expire for another three days, but university started tomorrow. The previous week, she had sold nearly all the appliances and furniture she no longer needed. Whatever remained unsold, she had left behind for the next tenant.

Cleaning work was exhausting, and eating only made her more tired.

After returning to the apartment, she switched on the air conditioner, took a shower, and collapsed onto the bed. She slept until four the next morning.

The system spoke at the worst possible moment:

[The host is advised to improve her daily routine and raise her health level.]

Xu Yiliu ignored it. She washed up, boiled an egg, and heated two steamed buns for breakfast. After eating, she immediately bent over her luggage and began packing.

Her odds and ends and clothing fit perfectly into a single suitcase. Once everything was packed, she hugged a bottle of cola, opened her secondhand laptop, and searched online for information about cleaners.

Unfortunately, all she found were advertisements from cleaning companies. There was not the slightest trace of any cleaner assignments.

Even on forums known for their broad and miscellaneous discussions, none of her colleagues had mentioned such things as strange stories.

Her hand paused on the mouse. She asked the system:

[Can I post information about cleaner assignments online?]

The system replied:

[Cleaners are forbidden from disclosing work-related information to the outside world. The system will intercept such information online. Any relevant words spoken in reality will be automatically replaced.]

Then she could not use that title to sell insurance after all. Xu Yiliu was struck by a headache and spent a while comforting herself.

You still have five hundred thousand and three internship opportunities. Future assignments can earn you money too…

After a long pause, she asked the system:

[Can colleagues at least discuss it with one another? Surely we’re allowed to exchange experience internally.]

The system said:

[Written content will be erased. Face-to-face conversations and telephone calls are permitted, but the system will automatically replace the words heard by anyone who is not a cleaner.]

Xu Yiliu deeply regretted it now. She regretted that, after completing the assignment, she had been so preoccupied with thinking about her reward that she had forgotten to ask Sheng Mo for his contact information.

Whatever else could be said about that man, he was undeniably useful.

The next colleague assigned to her might not be nearly as useful.

Still asleep, Sheng Mo’s calf suddenly cramped. He rolled over and fell straight out of bed.

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