On Yancheng North Road, inside a moving Rolls-Royce.
Si Wen, with her arms folded, watched Lin Xi massaging her own sore ankles beside her.
"You’re really sothing else, actually planning to walk to school. That’s a 10-kiloter trip. If it were , I definitely wouldn’t have done that."
"It’s his fault for sending another man to pick up without my permission."
"Although I don’t quite agree with your thods, I have to say, that was pretty aweso. If I were in your shoes, I’m not sure I could’ve pulled it off."
Perhaps this was why Si Wen was willing to help Lin Xi and Xue Yang all along! It was because she saw a completely different version of herself in Lin Xi. The spirit Lin Xi possessed was exactly what she lacked, sothing she could never achieve in her lifeti. She hoped Lin Xi would win because if she did, it would feel as though she had won as well.
"Si Wen, thank you for coming. Otherwise, if I had to walk all ten kiloters, it would’ve been dark by the ti I finished."
"And here I thought you were so determined. Turns out, you were just counting on to show up."
Lin Xi hugged Si Wen’s arm. "You’re the best."
Si Wen shrugged helplessly. What else could she do for her best friend? Spoil her, of course.
"In that case, let borrow Xue Yang’s notebook again."
"Alright."
"Now *that’s* what a best friend is for."
"Are you sure you don’t want to get one multiple-choice question wrong on the next exam? Otherwise, you still won’t be able to beat , you know."
"No need. I want to beat you with my own skills. Winning like that wouldn’t be honorable."
"How ambitious."
Si Wen was speechless. Half a month ago, she had said those exact words to Lin Xi. To think that in just two short weeks, Lin Xi would throw them right back at her. What goes around cos around. Fate spares no one.
***
Although Xue Yang had promptly changed out of the Xiang Naier coat, the brand’s representatives had already seen the photo of him wearing it and imdiately tracked down his phone number to call him.
Xue Yang stared at the unfamiliar number on his phone, a little surprised. It seed he was getting a lot of calls from unknown numbers lately. After a mont’s thought, he pressed the answer button. A very pleasant and professional female voice ca through the line.
"Hello, may I ask if this is Mr. Xue Yang?"
The voice was gentle and almost magical, making it difficult to refuse.
"This is he. May I ask who’s calling?"
"Hello, Mr. Xue! I’m a custor service representative from Xiang Naier, employee number 0713. I was calling to ask if you might be available to co to our company for a eting tomorrow."
"May I ask what you’d like to discuss?" Xue Yang asked, puzzled.
"It’s like this, Mr. Xue. We’ve seen the photos of you wearing our latest collection and would like to invite you to our company for a test shoot. If the photos pass our review, they will be featured in the latest issue of our weekly magazine."
A feature in Xiang Naier’s magazine was an opportunity many celebrities would kill for, yet here they were, offering it to Xue Yang unsolicited. Any normal person would jump at the chance.
Unfortunately, Xue Yang wasn’t a normal person. He was a man burdened by debt and, moreover, soone who disliked having his picture taken. The only reason he had done the photoshoot for Chao Apparel was because of Lin Xi.
"I’m sorry, but I can’t accept your request."
There was a brief pause on the other end. "May I ask why?"
"Because I’ve already signed a contract with another company, it wouldn’t be appropriate for to do promotional photos for other brands during this period."
"Is it with Chao Apparel?"
"I’m sorry, I can’t divulge that information."
"That’s a real sha. Well, I wish you all the best!"
"Thank you!"
With that, Xue Yang hung up.
"Who was that?" Cui Hao asked.
"She said she was a custor service rep from Xiang Naier."
"What would Xiang Naier want with you?"
"They wanted to co to their company for a test shoot. If it went well, I could be featured in their latest ad campaign," Xue Yang stated calmly.
"You got an offer that good?"
"Yeah. I turned it down."
"What? You turned it down?" Cui Hao and Yu Kexin looked up at the sa ti, staring at him in shock.
Xue Yang nodded nonchalantly. "I did."
"Xue Yang, are you nuts? That’s Xiang Naier we’re talking about, and you just rejected them?"
"I’m currently the spokesperson for Chao Apparel. Besides, I still owe them six million."
"I forgot about that. If you’d taken the loan a little later, you could have beco Xiang Naier’s spokesperson. Forget six million—another six million on top of that wouldn’t have been a problem."
Is this what they call ’you win so, you lose so’?
"Don’t even think about it. Even if I wasn’t the spokesperson for Chao Apparel, I wouldn’t have beco the spokesperson for Xiang Naier."
"Why not?"
Xue Yang looked up at Cui Hao and Yu Kexin. "Do you want our company to go out of business?"
That made sense. If Xue Yang pursued other opportunities, their ga company couldn’t continue.
"So, to thank our big star, Mr. Xue, for not abandoning us, how about we all go out tonight?" Cui Hao suggested.
Yu Kexin chid in, "Good idea. We haven’t had an official company dinner since we were founded. Tonight’s the perfect opportunity."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!"
The three of them shut down their computers and locked the office door.
Staring at the blank door, Cui Hao said, "It’s about ti we gave our office a na."
Xue Yang, also looking at the blank door, replied, "No rush."
He did have a few nas in mind, but there was still a problem. Their ga was related to *League of Legends*, and he was trying to contact its parent company to discuss a potential collaboration. However, they didn’t have much leverage at the mont. If they went to negotiate now, they certainly wouldn’t get a good deal. They might even find that all their hard work had just been to benefit soone else. Xue Yang didn’t fight battles he wasn’t sure he could win.
"We’ll listen to you."
Cui Hao and Yu Kexin had complete trust in Xue Yang. Whatever he said, went.
Xue Yang was touched but also felt the pressure. He couldn’t let Cui Hao and Kexin down.
The three of them headed out, one after another. Since the school holiday had just begun, the comrcial street near University Town saw a sudden surge in foot traffic. Most students wanted to avoid the rush, planning to wait out the first peak period before booking tickets ho.
"What should we eat?" Yu Kexin asked.
Xue Yang said, "You’re the girl here. You decide what we eat."
"Exactly! You’re the only girl in our company. Whatever you want to eat, we’ll eat."
Yu Kexin thought for a mont, her eyes landing on a billboard across the street that read, "The allure of hotpot, the warmth of ho. Let our food and passion bring joy to your palate."
"The weather is so cold," she said. "Let’s go get hotpot."
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