"I'm serious. I closed a six-million deal, and the commission alone is 300,000!"
Zhao Xiangjun said happily, "That's amazing! See, this just proves I have a good eye for investment. When you get your bonus, you have to treat me to a meal before you pay me back!"
Chen Xiao said, "How about I cover all your meals from now on?"
Zhao Xiangjun rolled her eyes at him. "Save it. You should hurry up and save some money to find a wife. I'll just have one meal!"
"Alright, then. You can pick whatever fancy meal you want, and I'll be in charge of the bill!"
'Are you kidding me? Xu Wu gave me 25,000. Whatever you want, Zhao Xiangjun, I can get for you.'
"I want to eat liangpi and rice noodles, with lots of chili peppers!"
Chen Xiao laughed. "Can't you be a little more ambitious? That stuff costs next to nothing."
Zhao Xiangjun just said, "As long as I like it, that's enough. Why does everything have to be measured by how much it costs?"
Chen Xiao was speechless. 'Alright, I guess my perspective isn't as enlightened as hers!'
The two chatted for a while longer. Chen Xiao discovered that while she seemed to keep people at arm's length, she was actually quite mischievous once you got to know her! And she loved to banter.
When it was about time, the two of them went upstairs together. On the way, Chen Xiao asked to add her on WeChat again. This time, she didn't refuse, but only said, "I don't even have 30 people on my WeChat. They're all relatives, a few classmates, and colleagues!"
Chen Xiao just said, "Then what am I?"
"You're nothing!"
'Alright, that sounds like an insult, but she's just being mischievous again!'
They said good night to each other and went to their respective rooms.
The next morning, Chen Xiao was glowing with vigor. Driving his beloved new car to work for the first time, feeling the thrill of 258 horsepower, 370 Newton-meters of torque, and a 0-to-100 km/h acceleration of 6.5 seconds, he felt that life was so beautiful!
Over the past few days, employees had been gradually returning to their posts at Dr. Feng's Robot. The various functional departments were now mostly fully staffed, and the place was slowly coming back to life.
The sales department also got a new hire: a young, fashionable, and pretty girl named Ma Jing. She was the sales department's assistant, helping with administrative tasks like filing documents.
As the sales manager, Yuan Kai showed her around the company. Then, returning to the sales department area, he pointed at Chen Xiao and said, "This is our department's salesman, Chen Xiao. He's also new, just been here a month."
Chen Xiao politely welcomed her. Ma Jing had a very good impression of Chen Xiao. He was young, handsome, and seemed cheerful. Most importantly, since they were both regular employees, there was no sense of distance between them.
"Ma Jing, since you're new, you can get familiar with a lot of the work with either me or Chen Xiao!"
Ma Jing thought for a moment and said, "Manager, how about I start by following Chen Xiao? Your sales skills are so strong, I'm afraid my current level isn't high enough to keep up. I'll learn from Chen Xiao first, and then once I have some experience, I'll learn from you!"
Yuan Kai was a little displeased. He had wanted to take the beautiful assistant out with him to put on a good show. What man would mind bringing a pretty assistant along to a business meeting?
But Ma Jing's words left him with no room to argue. Finally, he said, "I have a car. He gets around on foot. In this heat, are you sure?"
Ma Jing said, "It's fine, I wasn't raised like a pampered princess! Besides, I'm here to work, not to enjoy the high life!"
Yuan Kai nodded, then said to Chen Xiao, "Alright Chen Xiao, you take Ma Jing today. But be a little generous and call a cab when you go out. Even if the lady doesn't mind, you should still be a gentleman."
Chen Xiao ignored him and said to Ma Jing, "Just wait for me a minute. We'll leave as soon as I finish this round!"
'This round? What the heck?' Ma Jing was completely bewildered. Seeing him bury his head in his work again, she could only wait for him at her own desk.
At that moment, Yuan Kai was also preparing his materials to go out. Whether it was intentional or not, he took out his car keys and started spinning them on his index finger. It was hard for Ma Jing not to notice.
"Wow, Manager, you're amazing! You drive a Mercedes-Benz!" Ma Jing said with a look of adoration.
Yuan Kai smiled smugly. "It's nothing special. Work hard, and you'll have it all too!"
He said it was nothing, but the pride on his face was unmistakable.
"Manager, which model is it?" Ma Jing pressed.
Yuan Kai's voice became quieter. After a moment, he said, "A Mercedes A-Class, the entry-level model. It's just for getting around!"
Ma Jing said, "Oh, I wanted this car before, too, but my dad wouldn't buy it for me!"
Yuan Kai adopted a big-brotherly tone. "A young lady like you driving a Mercedes-Benz is a bit flashy, isn't it? Of course your family wouldn't buy you one!"
Ma Jing shook her head. "My dad said this car isn't good-looking and doesn't drive well, so he bought me a different one!"
Yuan Kai's face darkened, and he grew annoyed. Wasn't this just a thinly veiled insult? He snapped, "So what did your dad buy you, a Volkswagen Polo? That's more suitable for a girl!"
"He bought me a C260. My dad said that's the real entry-level Mercedes, perfect for a girl to drive!"
'Damn it, are you sure you're not humblebragging? I'm so pissed off right now. What was with that look of admiration just now? "Wow, you're amazing"? How can you be such a good actress? If it weren't for the fact that you're young and pretty, I would never forgive you!'
Yuan Kai was so angry his stomach hurt. He was speechless.
Ma Jing's eyes darted around, and she said, "Sigh, I still have to rely on my parents. The manager is the one who's truly amazing, being able to buy his favorite car all by himself!"
'I don't want to talk to you anymore!' Yuan Kai stuffed his documents into his bag and stormed out without a backward glance. 'Who the hell wouldn't want to have rich parents!'
'This new batch of employees is so hard to manage. They're all thorns in my side!' Yuan Kai deeply missed Wang Jing.
"Hey, Brother Chen Xiao, did I offend the manager?"
Chen Xiao held back a laugh. "It's fine. Who'd hold a grudge against a woman?"
Ma Jing pouted. "I was just afraid he'd be tempted by my beauty and get other ideas, so I wanted him to dislike me from the start!"
Chen Xiao glanced at her. 'Beauty?' Ma Jing had a trendy and cute girl-next-door vibe, but she wasn't stunning enough to shake heaven and earth. After his recent interactions with Zhao Xiangjun—now *that* was a beauty on the level of a femme fatale—Ma Jing was just a bean sprout by comparison.
The company's CEO, Feng Feifei, was also a great beauty. With reference points of that caliber around, Ma Jing was truly overthinking things!
Before he could reply, Chen Xiao received a phone call. It was from the property management company of Yunfeng Building. They asked if he was available, as the transfer procedures for the 22nd floor were complete. He could go directly to the property management office to pick up the title deed and documents.
At the same time, the property manager told Chen Xiao that Zhongjian Equipment Co., Ltd. on the 22nd floor was a year behind on rent. The previous owner had been abroad, so now that the property was transferred, the back rent was owed to Chen Xiao!
Because of this, the person in charge of Zhongjian Equipment Co., Ltd. was getting anxious. A new owner could kick them out for unpaid rent at any time and file a lawsuit. Therefore, they had been desperately asking the property management company to contact the new owner to discuss a payment plan for the rent.
"Ma Jing, get ready. We're heading out too!"
Chen Xiao organized his documents, stuffed them into his briefcase, and then led Ma Jing downstairs.