Chapter 15

Zhong Zhiling ran around all day investigating and was utterly exhausted, but the next day he still felt motivated to keep going.

As the data was compiled and summarized, combined with earlier collected figures, he watched in awe as his senior had roughly circled the scale of potential clients.

What had originally been just talk now took on tangible shape—like numbers, the project gradually gained concrete contours.

This feeling…

Though Zhong Zhiling still felt some unease about his romance, that night was the most peaceful sleep he’d had in days.

But after breakfast, when he arrived at the classroom where his senior had ordered the meeting, he was surprised to see three strangers.

“It’s too tiring just the two of us running around, and the data might not be detailed enough—today we’ll bring in more people,” Yu Xing arrived right behind him, explaining, “Let’s finish this today; tomorrow I’ll need to talk to Ying-jie about it.”

Zhong Zhiling nodded—it was what his senior had mentioned yesterday—but he hadn’t expected Yu Xing to have such good connections, pulling people in so early in the morning.

Yu Xing introduced the new members.

Zhong Zhiling listened and realized… one was surnamed Bao, one was surnamed Kao, one was surnamed Guan—respectively, Bao-yan A, Kao-yan B, Guan-xi C.

All three were junior brothers seeking advice on guaranteed graduate admission, graduate entrance exams, and information about Professor Liu; he didn’t know how his senior had gotten them here.

Oh, he should know how he got them here…

Just as Zhong Zhiling had figured out the situation, another person walked into the classroom.

He greeted in surprise: “Liao-ge, what are you doing here?”

The newcomer was Senior Liao Shipeng, same year as Yu Xing, who usually worked in the neighboring lab.

“Liao-ge came to help out,” Yu Xing said, then later revealed this senior’s new name: because he’d promised to give Liao anything unused—reagents, consumables, anything eligible for reimbursement—he was now called Baoxiao D.

Zhong Zhiling looked at these ABCDs, his mood complicated—Yu Xing had been busy all night…

His own ability was only 8.6% of his senior’s, yet he hadn’t worked nearly as hard.

Yu Xing explained the investigation task to the ABCDs, shared his personal experience from yesterday, then divided them up—still following yesterday’s pattern: he and Zhong Zhiling would each take two juniors to get them oriented, then they’d execute independently.

“Yu Xing…” Zhong Zhiling was naturally eager to learn; now his mind was full of insights, and he seized a quiet moment to ask his senior, “Is this also ‘using people to control people’?”

Yu Xing blinked. “Control who?”

Zhong Zhiling gestured with his eyes toward the ABCDs.

Yu Xing laughed helplessly. “Zhiling, don’t think everything is about control—it’s just normal work. If you must label it, it’s treating people with sincerity.”

Zhong Zhiling: ?????

Treat? Sincerity? Who?

You??

He said incredulously, “Yu Xing, how are you sincere? I’m the one you controlled!”

“Didn’t I tell you?” Yu Xing shook his head. “That night, I actually regretted saying those four words—‘using people to control people.’ If I hadn’t, wouldn’t you have never argued with me?”

He patted his junior’s shoulder. “But then I thought—if I could teach you, help you better face our situation, that’s worth it.”

Zhong Zhiling was startled to realize he was now feeling a certain kind of “sincerity.”

“Let’s get to work—let’s cover all universities in Jin Ling today, so we’ll have a clear picture,” Yu Xing shifted focus to today’s task, adding, “Oh, by the way, print out a few copies of your guaranteed-admission insights and study notes—consider it payment.”

Zhong Zhiling looked confused. “I don’t have any guaranteed-admission insights.”

Yu Xing glanced at him. “Then write some.”

He added quickly: “Write them sincerely.”

Zhong Zhiling: “...”

I never meant to fake it—I’m actually a good person…

Regardless, Yu Xing, Zhong Zhiling, and the ABCDs quickly began their market research.

Thanks to the experience from day one—even just one day—Zhong Zhiling moved with far more ease today, even confidently guiding the visibly nervous Bao-yan A and Kao-yan B.

“Don’t worry, don’t be nervous—tutors are just people. Just be polite,” Zhong Zhiling advised Bao-yan A as they parted. “Even if they refuse, it’s fine—there are many schools, many tutors.”

Bao-yan A said sincerely, “Got it! Senior Zhong, you’re amazing—great grades, efficient at everything.”

Zhong Zhiling thought it was nothing, but seeing the faint admiration in the junior’s eyes, he froze—was this real? It felt so childish…

But if I see Bao-yan A this way, does Yu Xing see me the same way?

Zhong Zhiling went out alone, thinking deeply—but today wasn’t as lucky as yesterday; his first three survey attempts were all rejected by tutors.

Sweating profusely in the sweltering heat, his mood grew restless.

After downing a bottle of water, he sat on the steps, breathing deeply, pondering how to improve his work.

Suddenly, a thought struck him.

What would my senior do?

Zhong Zhiling shifted his gaze, feeling renewed energy; spotting a female classmate passing by, he stood up quickly and called out in a refined tone: “Hi, classmate, hello—could you help me out?”

The girl paused, studying the unfamiliar student with a pleading expression: “What do you need?”

“I’m a first-year graduate student at Nanjing Medical University, currently working part-time,” Zhong Zhiling said gently. “I’m trying to get tutors to fill out a survey—do you know any tutors?”

The girl hesitated.

Zhong Zhiling added a touch of playful pleading: “Please, just help me—you’ve got such beautiful eyes, you can tell I’m not a bad person, right?”

As he spoke, he pulled out his student ID.

The girl couldn’t help laughing. “Alright, alright, come on—I’m free now. You’re a grad student? Then you’re my senior—why are you working part-time?”

“I got guaranteed admission—I wanted to ease my family’s burden and build myself up,” Zhong Zhiling spun a small lie.

The girl was amazed. “Wow, you got guaranteed admission? That’s impressive! Senior, help me too—tell me your study methods, give me your phone number.”

Zhong Zhiling smiled. “No problem.”

The two walked up the stairs, chatting and laughing.

With this smooth success, Zhong Zhiling’s entire day shifted gears—his progress accelerated dramatically, partly because of the enthusiastic, good-looking girl E, who helped him complete several surveys.

At 8:30 p.m., they still met in the same classroom.

Yu Xing heard the noise, saw his tardy junior, and asked: “Why so late? Only your surveys are left.”

Zhong Zhiling saw his girlfriend Lu Haiying there, hesitated two seconds, then replied: “Had dinner outside—crowded.”

“Alright, let’s tally up—this should be a fairly clean ‘Jin Ling College Student Dating Survey Report,’” Yu Xing didn’t press further, compiling the last two surveys.

Lu Haiying put down her notebook, smiled at her boyfriend, took his day’s surveys, eager to see the results of two days’ work.

Zhong Zhiling cleared his throat and took his girlfriend’s hand.

“Looks like the numbers are roughly the same as yesterday’s,” Yu Xing said while calculating. “If we extrapolate this data to Shanghai, Hangzhou, and other cities, the potential customer base shouldn’t be wildly off—we’ve already built in plenty of flexibility.”

After about fifteen minutes, the Jin Ling College Student Dating Survey Report was complete—and as expected, the figures didn’t differ much from yesterday’s.

Yu Xing copied two copies for the second and third in command, then assigned tasks: remind them to bring their IDs, and go babysit together tomorrow.

The company's second and third in command walked home, carrying the data results.

“Zhiling, before you came, I asked Yu Xing—if lots of people redeem, will he honor it?” Lu Haiying chatted. “He said he trusts the data, but if it exceeds expectations, he trusts his own character.”

Zhong Zhiling thought back to his first conversation with his senior and sighed: “He said his character is average.”

Lu Haiying burst out laughing. “That’s humility—who says their own character is average? Only people with truly bad character brag about how good theirs is. Aren’t you dumb?”

Zhong Zhiling: “...”