Chapter 54: 053 Something

Yu Xing and Lu Haiying walked beneath the streetlights, never leaving Zhong Zhiling’s line of sight.

More often than not, Yu Xing paid attention to boundaries and distance, avoiding unnecessary trouble.

“Senior brother, offline expansion is extremely difficult, but over these two days leading the team, I’ve seen a slight improvement in the ratio…” Lu Haiying’s mind was filled with the hardships of offline efforts; in Jin Ling, she continuously summarized experience, trying to better communicate with social clientele.

“Xiao Ying, I have a personal matter I want to discuss with you,” Yu Xing said gently. “To be honest, my motivation for starting this company was selfish—I dropped out of school because my family lost a lot of money in investments.”

He briefly outlined his entrepreneurial background and mentioned the urgency of selling the company.

Yu Xing had previously framed “Gui Ai Wang” as a commodity, discussing many real factors—public order and good customs, worsening competitive conditions—but never mentioned personal motives.

Lu Haiying listened silently to her senior brother’s account; past feelings of unease finally became clear.

Yu Xing finished speaking.

Lu Haiying fell silent for a long while, then suddenly asked: “What about Zhong Zhiling?”

She saw her senior brother smile warmly under the streetlight.

The answer was already in that smile.

“At first, I always felt something was off,” Lu Haiying sighed softly. “But I wanted… I wanted to give myself and Zhong Zhiling a chance. Love makes people blind.”

She asked again: “Senior brother, why tell me now?”

“I didn’t speak up earlier not because I cared much about your future together, but because I was deeply worried about Zhong Zhiling’s state—he was emotionally unstable then,” Yu Xing said candidly. “Giving someone in that state something to do actually helps.”

“Now I’m telling you because you need to understand the necessity of selling the company. Also, the websites I discussed with Song Yufeng, and other possibilities after the sale—I believe there’s still room for collaboration.”

Yu Xing added with a hint of regret: “But no matter what, I started this company with selfish motives.”

Lu Haiying nodded: “Senior brother, no need to explain—I understand. Who doesn’t have selfish motives? I don’t think you did anything wrong here. If I must say there’s a mistake…”

She paused, then shook her head slightly: “I’m not even angry. If I were Zhong Zhiling, I’d probably have made the same choice. Since the outcome is slowly improving, what’s the point of dwelling on the past?”

Yu Xing looked at his second-in-command with surprise.

After half a minute of thought, Lu Haiying reached her conclusion: “Just look forward.”

Yu Xing turned to walk back, then asked: “How do we tell Zhong Zhiling about this?”

Lu Haiying looked at her senior brother seriously: “Senior brother, I know you might feel torn—whether to speak or stay silent. But since Zhong Zhiling chose not to tell me, I now choose not to tell him. We’ll just keep going as we are. Still, selling the company is unquestionably the top priority.”

He didn’t know he knew, he knew he didn’t know he knew—so they’d just leave it like this.

Yu Xing thought about it. The two of them had essentially canceled each other out.

He’d helped Zhong Zhiling hide things from Xiao Ying and felt guilty; now he was helping Xiao Ying hide things from Zhong Zhiling and felt guilty again. The two guilt feelings canceled each other, leaving no real sensation.

Yu Xing confirmed that the second-in-command’s decision was sincere. After a brief pause, he shifted to discussing the company’s strategy for this month and next.

The CEO and second-in-command of Gui Ai Wang walked beneath the streetlights for a long time.

Song Yufeng watched for a while, noticing both their expressions were serious—likely discussing business.

He lowered his head, pondered briefly, then asked Zhong Zhiling: “Was it your girlfriend who brought you into the startup team?”

Zhong Zhiling glared at the weakling with irritation—how dare he!

After much discussion, Yu Xing and Lu Haiying finalized the current state of the company, the challenges ahead, Song Yufeng’s marketing tasks, and Zhong Zhiling’s continued Gongjian goals—and then…

Song Yufeng went home. Yu Xing returned to his apartment.

As for the couple, Zhong Zhiling and Lu Haiying, they had their own destination.

Yet as they walked along the road, neither spoke for a long stretch.

Just before reaching the hotel, Zhong Zhiling finally broke the silence: “Are you really that rigid about hierarchy? Is there some work I’m not allowed to hear about? You call yourself second-in-command, but are you really just second-in-command?”

“What do you want me to do? Should personal relationships be mixed into every work matter?” Lu Haiying looked at her boyfriend, eyes bright. “Do you think I must sit in every time you discuss Jin Ling work? What does that have to do with being first or second?”

She countered: “Do you expect me to be present every time you talk to Senior Brother about work, or about Lin’an? Otherwise, you can’t talk?”

Zhong Zhiling opened his mouth, then shrugged, meeting her gaze—and found himself unable to argue.

Lu Haiying then explained: “Besides Jin Ling work and the difficulty of expanding into social clientele, Senior Brother and I also discussed the principle of treating others with sincerity.”

Hearing this, Zhong Zhiling suddenly sounded proud: “Treating others with sincerity? Treating others with sincerity? Your Jin Ling team’s growth these past two weeks hasn’t even matched ours in Lin’an.”

Lu Haiying smiled gently, unmoved by the competition, only remarking: “How pure a person must be, to face others—and themselves—honestly.”

She continued: “Senior Brother truly lives by treating others with sincerity.”

Zhong Zhiling couldn’t help laughing: “Really? Can a senior brother who treats others with sincerity teach the principle of ‘using people to control people’?”

“That’s the difference between Dao and technique. Without sincerity, you cannot master control,” Lu Haiying said seriously. “I believe that even if Senior Brother didn’t run Gui Ai Wang, he’d still achieve great success in any other field.”

Zhong Zhiling snorted. Senior Brother might achieve great things—but that was irrelevant.

Lu Haiying suddenly changed tone and smiled: “Zhong Zhiling, since you care about being second-in-command, do you know why Senior Brother chose me?”

Zhong Zhiling asked without thinking: “Why?”

He was genuinely confused. It had seemed like a joke before, but now the roles felt real.

Lu Haiying smiled and asked: “When you lead your team to Lin’an, do you want your second-in-command thinking about treating others with sincerity—or about using people to control them?”

Zhong Zhiling mulled it over for two seconds—then froze.

Lu Haiying laughed heartily at the third-in-command’s expression.

…

Zhen Ai Wang was moving.

After a small-scale survey, Vice President Wei Jialan, who had personally called Gui Ai Wang for pricing, pushed internal discussions on new business—and quickly secured approval for a trial expansion.

Undoubtedly, social clientele still held massive growth potential. Zhen Ai Wang’s revenue this year was projected to exceed 30 million, and next year’s growth, while unlikely to double to 60 million, could still aim for 50 million.

Even so, campus clientele could still generate at least 10 million in revenue—quite substantial.

Yet no matter how much analysis, speculation, or theoretical debate, nothing compared to actually doing it.

So, only three days after the tentative acquisition of Gui Ai Wang, Zhen Ai Wang’s expansion team arrived on the campuses of Pengcheng—and even Vice President Wei Jialan joined them in person.

And then…

They realized the universities were on break.

Oh right—it was summer vacation.

“If they’re on break, how is Gui Ai Wang even operating?” asked matchmaker Tang Xueqin, puzzled.

“Gui Ai Wang has an online store and has already begun expanding into the social market,” Wei Jialan replied. “This Gui Ai Wang is clearly targeting the matchmaking industry—if it grows, it could become a competitor.”

The social market was larger than the campus market—obvious to anyone with eyes.

If Gui Ai Wang’s expansion succeeds, will it eventually enter Zhen Ai Wang’s traditional business?

Eighty percent chance.

Tang Xueqin asked: “Aren’t they focused on student contracts? How fast are they leaving campus? How’s their expansion going?”

Wei Jialan pointed to the university before them. The answer was right there.

They’re on break!

Gui Ai Wang probably had to shift targets too.

As for their social expansion performance, little more information could be obtained.

“Let’s go to the graduate school. Some graduate students are still on campus. Today isn’t about making money—it’s about experiencing the business firsthand,” Wei Jialan said, adjusting direction.

Since they came, they must gain something.

As expected, there were still people in the graduate school.

Zhen Ai Wang set up banners and booths, mirroring Gui Ai Wang’s products.

But before long, security noticed them.

Wei Jialan and her team pleaded, made several calls, and finally got permission.

Though the booth now had legitimacy, its effectiveness fell far short of expectations.

Passing students hurried past, glancing only briefly before quickly looking away.

Wei Jialan quickly sensed the problem but couldn’t pinpoint the cause.

Seeing no results from waiting, she drew on her sales instincts and managed to lure a few students to the booth, letting them hear about Zhen Ai Wang’s latest offerings.

“Oh, thanks.”

“Actually, no need.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll contact you if I want to buy.”

In half a day, they interacted with twelve customers—but converted zero orders.

At dusk, they packed up. Zhen Ai Wang’s team, including senior management, left disheartened.

“Something’s wrong. The product setup is identical. Our company is definitely bigger than Gui Ai Wang—so why can’t we close deals?” Wei Jialan was baffled. “What’s the issue here?”

Everyone fell silent, thinking. Soon, they voiced their thoughts.

“Wei Zong, I get it!” Matchmaker Tang Xueqin suddenly said. “Have you noticed how these students look at us?”

Wei Jialan frowned: “Look at us how? Why is it strange?”

Tang Xueqin said seriously: “There’s wariness in their eyes. Gui Ai Wang’s people probably don’t get this kind of look on campus!”

Wei Jialan listened—and suddenly understood.

Like attracts like. Students naturally felt distance from people in their thirties and forties.

Today, passersby glanced at the booth and moved on. But if a group of students stood behind the booth, passersby might pause out of curiosity.

The difficulty of acquiring customers was fundamentally different!

Wei Jialan realized the reason and shook her head: “In that case… our company has no real brand advantage on campus. What student would casually pay attention to a matchmaking agency?”

Only social adults seek Zhen Ai Wang. Students find partners far too easily.

She combined her previous discussions with today’s experience—and gained deeper insight into the love contract product born from campus culture.

Wei Jialan understood something, then posed another question: “If the gap between social and campus is so wide, how is Gui Ai Wang solving the transition from campus to social?”

If moving from social to campus is hard, the reverse must be too.

How was Guai Ai Wang resolved?

Wei Jialan’s question received no answers, but everyone sensed the difficulty of the new business, and that Guai Ai Wang might actually be something real.