Chapter 18

After noon, Yu Xing stopped discussing the project with Liu Wan, though he had already received her promise to help with registration; he still stuck to his own ideas and fully immersed himself in playing at the amusement park with his junior sister.

Only as evening approached did this blend of childcare and work progress come to an end.

Yu Xing and his junior sister Liu Zhi Shan gave each other a high-five, receiving her evaluation in return.

“Reliable.”

Clearly, Liu Zhi Shan was very satisfied that Brother Yu kept his word.

Yu Xing smiled, thanked Sister Ying once more for her help after receiving the praise.

“Don’t worry, the registration over there is already fast—call if anything comes up,” Liu Wan Ying knew exactly what this senior brother truly cared about.

The group parted ways, and Liu Wan Ying walked off holding her niece’s hand.

Liu Zhi Shan watched Sister Ying’s retreating back and said enviously, “Sister Ying’s legs are so long—why does she give me such a carefree vibe?”

“When you have money, you can be carefree too,” Yu Xing said, pulling his gaze away, “Come on—no matter how long her legs are, they’re not longer than the road we still have to walk.”

“Senior brother…” Liu Zhi Shan thought this metaphor, well, was straightforward enough.

“Tonight, you two talk with your school clubs—yeah, push this project over the next couple days,” Yu Xing’s mind refilled with work, “I’ll go find those student-targeted agencies tomorrow, then dig into Tieba and campus networks—call anytime if anything comes up.”

Zhong Zhiling agreed. Though the company wasn’t registered yet, he already felt the project accelerating.

That night, the second and third leaders of Guai Ai Net met with three clubs at Nan Medical University—the progress… was decent. Though they hadn’t immediately agreed to host events, they promised to consider it seriously.

The next day, Zhong Zhiling took on extra work, showing initiative, and went to other campuses to test the waters.

That evening, he joined his senior brother for dinner and reported his progress—naturally earning some praise.

“I started this project, but it’s also meant to solve your problems,” Yu Xing sighed. “As long as we senior and junior brothers work together, we’ll get through this. Oh, by the way—tomorrow afternoon, you and Xiao Ying come to the classroom. We’ll talk about frontline operations—how to deal with clients.”

“Okay, senior brother. Tomorrow morning I’ll go again…” Zhong Zhiling paused, “...ask more students about their views on the project, compile the feedback, and then simulate some conversations.”

Yu Xing nodded with quiet satisfaction—his junior brother was becoming driven.

The next afternoon, at two o’clock, Yu Xing arrived at the classroom that had become Guai Ai Net’s temporary base.

Moments later, Zhong Zhiling arrived too.

“Where’s Xiao Ying?” Yu Xing asked.

“She found a new potential client—she’ll be here soon,” Zhong Zhiling smiled.

“Alright, wait for her to arrive and we’ll talk together,” Yu Xing nodded, continuing to write relevant data on his notebook.

Zhong Zhiling reviewed the earlier survey report, plugged in his phone, then felt a slight stomach discomfort and got up to use the restroom.

When he returned to the classroom and stepped inside, he immediately heard his senior brother’s loud voice.

“Just cut off contact, got it?!” Yu Xing’s face was stern.

Zhong Zhiling’s curiosity instantly ignited.

Yu Xing raised his voice further, firmly repeating: “Yes, that’s right—no contact, no contact, no contact!”

He hung up the phone.

Zhong Zhiling grinned and asked curiously, “Xing Ge, what’s going on? Is it—”

Halfway through, he noticed the phone in his senior brother’s hand was unmistakably familiar.

Yu Xing slid the phone across the desk to his junior brother, casually saying, “A girl called for you—I turned her down.”

Zhong Zhiling picked it up in shock—damn, it was his own phone!

He checked the call log, utterly bewildered: “What the hell, Xing Ge, what did you do?!”

“You’re asking me what I did? I’m asking you,” Yu Xing frowned. “Are you really this distracted with flirting right now? Don’t give me any nonsense that distracts from the real work.”

“Flirting? Xing Ge, I’m really done with you!” Zhong Zhiling protested. “She’s just a regular junior sister—I met her during my survey.”

Yu Xing said coolly, “I disagree.”

Zhong Zhiling laughed bitterly: “What do you disagree with? Xing Ge, you’re insane!”

“The moment I answered, her tone was off—do you think I’ve never dated or flirted with girls?” Yu Xing said coldly. “I’m warning you—Xiao Ying calls me senior brother too. Don’t mess around.”

Zhong Zhiling gritted his teeth: “Senior brother, you’re underestimating me!”

“Lu Haiying is cheerful, a good girl,” Yu Xing continued. “Even if you want to break up, even if you want to play around, wait until after the company’s settled—don’t interfere with my project now.”

Zhong Zhiling: “You—”

He sighed helplessly: “I really didn’t mean anything—she’s just a regular junior sister. I wanted to ask her and her friends about their views on the project. She just wanted to ask me about study methods.”

“Say whatever you want—it’s already been turned down,” Yu Xing said expressionlessly. “Once this project succeeds, you won’t need Lu Haiying to control you—you can study however you like.”

Zhong Zhiling’s heart jolted—so that’s what this was really about: Xiao Ying calling you senior brother!

Looking at Yu Xing’s expression, he thought: this guy is terrifying.

And you just blurted out that line about using her to control me…

Yu Xing added: “The subsidiary’s shares will be 100% owned by the Xiangjiang company.”

100% ownership meant the previous equity ratio remained unchanged in the subsidiary.

Zhong Zhiling was completely unprepared for the sudden pivot to equity issues.

He instantly revised his earlier assumption—that moral high ground was just a setup for this!

“I disagree!” Zhong Zhiling strongly objected. “Xing Ge, you can’t do this—it’s completely unrelated! Besides, I’ve never done anything wrong to Xiao Ying—she’s just—”

Footsteps approached from outside the classroom.

Zhong Zhiling fell silent.

It was Lu Haiying, cheerfully pushing the door open: “Hey, what are you guys talking about?”

Yu Xing spoke slowly: “Xiao Ying, there’s something important I need to tell you.”

Zhong Zhiling clenched his teeth, silent—this was just his senior brother intimidating him!

“It’s about Zhong Zhiling,” Yu Xing continued slowly. “He met…”

Zhong Zhiling had no choice but to speak: “I met a client…”

He took two steps, turning his back to his girlfriend, giving his senior brother a look of surrender.

“Yes, he met a client—and it made me think deeply,” Yu Xing smoothly took over. “So, considering you’ll need to handle more market work, I need to tell you the most important principle: deal with people with sincerity.”

He walked to the podium, picked up chalk, and wrote those four characters on the blackboard.

Zhong Zhiling rubbed his face—damn!

“How do you deal with people with sincerity? By standing at the balance point between client and us,” Yu Xing said seriously. “This is a world of what ought to be and what actually is.”

“We hope everyone has food to eat, a home to live in—but in reality, they don’t.”

“So, when we can tell the truth, we tell it. When we can’t, we avoid lies. If we must lie, we wrap it in kindness.”

Yu Xing wrote key points on the board: Truth, Don’t Lie, Lie, Kindness.

He gave an example: “How does this apply to our business? For instance, we believe the probability of marriage is 1%. But telling clients that directly isn’t good—so we say, ‘Classmate, we’ve heard fewer than 40% of couples who date end up marrying, so we created this product with sociological survey value.’”

Lu Haiying froze—1%, less than 40%… that’s true!

It’s the truth!

Something clicked in her mind. After long thought, she asked: “Senior brother, you said if you must lie, add kindness—but what if you can’t even add kindness?”

Yu Xing sighed deeply and replied: “Then someone is forcing us.”

Zhong Zhiling, listening silently beside him, thought: damn, your logic actually holds together!

“Dealing with people with sincerity is hard,” Yu Xing put down the chalk and looked at Lu Haiying. “Xiao Ying, you have this talent—I see great potential for you in market work. You’ll be our company’s number two.”

Lu Haiying exclaimed “Ah!” in surprise, glancing at her boyfriend and smiling: “What about Zhiling?”

“He’s number three,” Yu Xing said calmly. “His capability is too low—he’s not fit for greater responsibility.”

Lu Haiying laughed at her senior brother’s dry humor.

Zhong Zhiling laughed too—laughing until he nearly cried. It was just a regular junior sister—he really meant nothing by it…