klisemfg Chapter 103: Aren't You Bored Being Alone?
Chapter 103: Aren't You Bored Being Alone?
Zheng Yanyan and Zhou Yuwen were dating, and Su Qing felt full of grievances.But no matter what, Zheng Yanyan was Zhou Yuwen’s girlfriend. Zhou Yuwen didn’t know how to respond to Su Qing’s complaints, so he chose to stay silent. After saying a few bad things about Zheng Yanyan, and seeing that Zhou Yuwen didn’t respond, Su Qing dropped the subject.
After dropping off Zheng Yanyan and the others, it was already around noon. Liu Shuo had managed to arrange part-time security jobs for the students, and he sent several grinning emojis to Zhou Yuwen.
“Brother Zhou, you’re amazing. Other schools only offer 60 or 80 yuan per day for part-time security, but you found us a gig that pays 100 yuan per day. Everyone’s really impressed by you! (grin) (grin)”
Zhou Yuwen replied, “Since the pay is good, make sure they do a good job. With plenty of manpower, we won’t have any trouble finding good part-time workers in the future.”
“Got it, Brother Zhou, I’ll make sure they work hard!”
Liu Shuo told Zhou Yuwen that he had already created a part-time work group chat, which had attracted over 300 members overnight. After organizing the jobs, even more students came to him, saying things like: “Brother Shuo, I’m from Ludong, and I’m half Xu Zhou local. I heard your part-time jobs pay well. Could you help me find one too?”
These 18- or 19-year-old kids were generally honest. They might not have gotten into their dream colleges due to educational disparities, but they were straightforward and eager to earn money. However, they often got scammed in the university town, where those who were too honest were easily deceived. Some worked hard at part-time jobs, only to end up losing money on bus fares.
Rumor had it that Liu Shuo from the Electromechanical Institute, a member of the Xu Zhou Association, had connections and took special care of fellow locals.
So some decided to try their luck. Friends would give them Liu Shuo’s contact information, and they would add him on WeChat.
Liu Shuo welcomed everyone. Back in high school, students like Liu Shuo didn’t have clear paths, as school mainly focused on academics. But once in college, thanks to Zhou Yuwen, Liu Shuo suddenly felt important, able to demonstrate his talents. Naturally, he was thrilled.
He had always loved movies about gangsters or martial arts novels filled with tales of brotherhood and sects rising to power. What he admired most was the loyalty and honor depicted in those stories.
Now, whenever someone approached him wanting to join the Xu Zhou Association, Liu Shuo would grin and say, “Don’t worry. Once you’re in the Xu Zhou Association, you’re a brother of mine. Next time, I’ll introduce you to our leader, my boss, Zhou Yuwen!”
“Thanks, Brother Shuo!”
Zhou Yuwen had already given Liu Shuo Zhao Manager’s number, and with a steady supply of part-time workers from Liu Shuo’s end and a high demand from Zhao Manager’s end, the two were working well together.
Liu Shuo eagerly reported all this to Zhou Yuwen, even joking that Zhou Yuwen was now the president of the Xu Zhou Association, and he was the vice president.
He also mentioned that he had set up four protector halls and eight incense masters under him, expanding the influence of the Xu Zhou Association beyond the Electromechanical Institute. Many students from other schools were now looking to join the association, and he had appointed leaders at each school.
Zhou Yuwen found Liu Shuo’s ideas ridiculous and told him to stop messing around. “We live in a harmonious society. Don’t engage in this kind of regional cliquism.”
“I know! I’m not just recruiting people from Xu Zhou. I’m open to anyone from Ludong or northern Anhui, as long as they want to join us. But you’re right, Brother Zhou. Maybe we should change the name from Xu Zhou Association to Northern Jiangsu Association. What do you think?”
“I think it’s a terrible idea. If you want to keep playing your game, don’t involve me,” Zhou Yuwen said, frowning.
Zhou Yuwen’s idea was simple: since there was a need for labor, he figured they could start a labor company. But Liu Shuo’s antics had gone too far. However, with more and more people joining Liu Shuo’s side, it became clear that Zhao Manager alone couldn’t meet the demand.
Moreover, Zhou Yuwen didn’t like the idea of a third party profiting from their hard work.
After giving it some thought, Zhou Yuwen mentioned to Liu Shuo that they should hurry up and register the labor company. He also suggested that Liu Shuo work more closely with Zhao Manager to secure additional resources.
Liu Shuo was now fully devoted to Zhou Yuwen, having seen the rapid growth of the Xu Zhou Association over just one month, all thanks to his boss’s exceptional skills. Liu Shuo was determined to stick by Zhou Yuwen’s side.
Additionally, Zhou Yuwen thought that since they had plenty of manpower, they should also take over the express delivery business at the nearby universities.
In 2013, university delivery services were typically subcontracted by logistics companies to students, who would then distribute the packages to their peers.
Before 2015, the campus delivery system was chaotic. Students managed the stations, but it was hard work for little profit. Some enterprising students would charge both the logistics companies and their peers, earning small fees from both sides.
At the time, it wasn’t uncommon for students to be charged fifty cents just to pick up a package. Although this fee was technically unreasonable, many schools operated this way for a time, with some even charging as much as one yuan.
Things only changed after 2015, when Jack Ma’s Cainiao Station entered the scene, disrupting the market by investing heavily. During this period, anyone involved in the delivery business could make a decent profit, even at the smallest student-run stations.
At first, the transfer fees for school delivery stations were low, starting at three to five thousand yuan. By the time Zhou Yuwen graduated, the fees had risen to around ten thousand. But after 2015, they skyrocketed, with some stations going for as much as thirty thousand yuan.
Zhou Yuwen hadn’t originally planned on running a delivery station, but he realized that he could buy out the contracts for several delivery stations in Xianlin University City. The transfer fees were still around ten thousand yuan, and by the time he graduated, he could probably sell them for two or three times that amount. It would be a profitable investment.
What’s more, Liu Shuo and his group had plenty of manpower. Running a delivery station would be much easier for them than finding part-time jobs elsewhere.
After hearing Zhou Yuwen’s plan, Liu Shuo’s eyes lit up. “Brother Zhou, if we do this, we’ll control all of Xianlin University City’s delivery services under the Xu Zhou Association!”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
“But Brother Zhou, even if the transfer fee is only ten thousand, I don’t have that kind of money,” Liu Shuo said hesitantly.
“You don’t need to put up any money. Just find the right people at each school,” Zhou Yuwen replied.
“That’s no problem. If there’s one thing we have plenty of in the Xu Zhou Association, it’s people.”
“Good. Let’s do it this way. I’ve got other things to take care of, so I’ll hang up now.”
“Alright!”
After hanging up with Liu Shuo, Zhou Yuwen checked his phone and saw a missed call from Li Shiqi.
He also had messages from Su Qing and Zheng Yanyan. Su Qing’s messages were just her usual attempts at annoying him, so Zhou Yuwen ignored them.
Zheng Yanyan had sent a cute message: “Honey, I’ve boarded the train! (cute emoji)”
She followed up with: “What are you doing? Why aren’t you replying?”
Zhou Yuwen responded, “No calling me honey until we’ve slept together.”
“Tch, who cares.”
In addition to these two, there was one more message that surprised Zhou Yuwen.
It was from Lu Lin: “Did they board the train?”
She had sent it ten minutes earlier.
Lu Lin had changed her profile picture, and Zhou Yuwen barely recognized her. Unlike other girls, Lu Lin frequently changed her profile picture, always choosing gloomy images of girls with cold color tones. This time, it was a girl in a white shirt with her head down.
“Yeah,” Zhou Yuwen replied.
It was already noon, and Lu Lin had sent that message while making herself instant beef noodles in her dorm room. She was planning to spend the day watching shows and eating noodles, thinking that’s how the day would go.
Only after seeing Zhou Yuwen’s dry “yeah” did Lu Lin reply: “Wanna buy me lunch?”
“?”
“[instant noodles pic]”
“No money for lunch. Buy me something.”
Zhou Yuwen looked at the message and felt it was a bit strange. He still hadn’t figured out what was going on in Lu Lin’s mind, so he decided not to reply.
He called Li Shiqi instead, who had asked about a tutoring job.
Zhou Yuwen asked, “Are you at school now?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll pick you up, and we can grab lunch together,” Zhou Yuwen said.
“Okay!”
Li Shiqi hadn’t planned on eating lunch, but since Zhou Yuwen was coming, she thought she might as well invite him to the cafeteria.
During the National Day holiday, two of her dorm mates hadn’t gone home.
At prestigious universities, even during the holidays, students could focus on their studies.
“Shiqi, are you going to the cafeteria?” one of her dorm mates asked.
Shiqi shook her head. “Not yet. A friend from high school is coming to visit me.”
“Is it that guy?”
Shiqi didn’t respond, but her face flushed.
Her dorm mate immediately smiled. “So jealous! You’re going on a date!”
“No, we’re not,” Shiqi said, blushing. “He doesn’t see me that way.”
“But what if he does? Would you say yes?”
Just then, Shiqi’s phone rang again.
It was Zhou Yuwen calling.
“I’m here. Come down,” Zhou Yuwen said.
“So soon? Wait for me.”
Shiqi quickly gathered her things and grabbed an unopened box of watermelon-flavored throat spray from her drawer.
She had bought it a month ago when Zhou Yuwen had declined her offer to go out for spicy hotpot, saying he was feeling under the weather. She had planned to give it to him back then, but military training had gotten in the way, and it had sat in her drawer ever since.
Today, Shiqi decided to finally give it to him.
But when she walked downstairs and saw Zhou Yuwen standing next to a brand-new white convertible, her expression froze.
She didn’t know the exact price of the M4, but when Zhou Yuwen opened the door and said, “Get in, I’ll explain on the way,” it started to dawn on her.
“Oh.”
“What’s that in your hand?” Zhou Yuwen noticed she was holding something.
“N-nothing.” Shiqi’s face turned pale as she hastily hid the spray.
Today, Shiqi was wearing a red dress—a simple outfit typical of a university student. When Zhou Yuwen invited her into the car, she felt a bit out of place, worrying she might dirty the seat. She even thought about spreading a handkerchief over the seat.
“It’s fine, just sit,” Zhou Yuwen said casually.
But Shiqi insisted on laying down the handkerchief before sitting down cautiously.
Zhou Yuwen drove her away from the dorm.
Meanwhile, on the dorm’s balcony, one of Shiqi’s roommates had already snapped a picture of her getting into the car and sent it to their dorm group chat.
The photo immediately sparked a reaction from the roommates who had gone home.
“Is that Shiqi’s boyfriend?!”
“No way! Is Shiqi’s boyfriend a rich second-generation heir?! @LiShiqi.”
Shiqi wasn’t checking her phone at the time. She was feeling a little detached, not particularly happy. Even though riding in such an expensive car attracted attention on campus, she wasn’t pleased.
Despite Zhou Yuwen chatting with her the whole time, Shiqi seemed distracted.
“What’s on your mind?” Zhou Yuwen couldn’t help snapping his fingers in front of her.
“Huh? Nothing.” Shiqi snapped back to reality.
Zhou Yuwen looked at her curiously.
Shiqi asked, “Is this car a gift from your family?”
“No, I bought it myself.”
“You bought it?”
“Yeah. Thanks to all those campus cards you sold for me, I was able to buy it,” Zhou Yuwen joked.
“Campus cards make that much money?”
“This car’s not worth much.”
“How much?”
“Fifty thousand, give or take. I bought it second hand with a loan,” Zhou Yuwen said.
“That’s expensive.”
Shiqi began muttering to herself. Fifty thousand yuan would be enough to cover her entire university tuition. If only she had fifty thousand yuan.
Zhou Yuwen took her to a small restaurant, and they had a simple meal. He ordered just three light dishes. While they were eating, he explained the details of the tutoring job he had found for her.
“If it doesn’t work out, let me know, and I’ll find you something else,” Zhou Yuwen said.
“Okay.” In some ways, Shiqi was still quite obedient.
After the meal, while Zhou Yuwen went to the restroom, Shiqi secretly tried to pay the bill. But when she asked the boss how much it was, she was surprised.
“One hundred and thirty.”
“So expensive?”
Luckily, Zhou Yuwen came back and paid, saying, “When you’re with me, you don’t have to pay.”
Shiqi lowered her head.
Afterward, Zhou Yuwen took Shiqi to meet Zhao Manager.
The job itself wasn’t complicated. Zhao Manager had been entrusted by a client to find a tutor, and he took it seriously. Zhou Yuwen, worried about Shiqi’s safety, decided to accompany her, making sure the family was legitimate.
The job was in a well-known villa district in Jinling. Zhou Yuwen called Zhao Manager, who came out to meet them.
At the gate of the villa complex, there was nothing but a convertible with a man and a woman inside.
Dressed in a suit, Zhao Manager hesitated for a moment before approaching them.
“Brother Zhao, it’s me, Zhou Yuwen,” Zhou Yuwen said.
Zhao Manager was momentarily stunned, then looked at Zhou Yuwen and the BMW M4 behind him before eagerly shaking his hand. “Oh, hello, hello!”
When they had talked on the phone, Zhao Manager had assumed Zhou Yuwen was just another poor student looking for a part-time job. But now, seeing Zhou Yuwen in person, he realized things weren’t so simple.
They exchanged pleasantries and entered the villa district. Zhao Manager was full of gratitude, saying, “Brother, your call yesterday was a lifesaver. I was short on people, and you reached out just in time. You’re my hero.”
Zhou Yuwen replied, “There are plenty of students at University City who need part-time jobs. If you’ve got work, we can definitely keep collaborating.”
“That’s great.”
Zhao Manager smiled and glanced at Shiqi, who was following behind them. “I was just looking for a tutor. I didn’t expect you to personally bring her over.”
“She’s different,” Zhou Yuwen replied without hesitation. “I need to make sure she’s safe.”
Zhao Manager quickly understood the implication in Zhou Yuwen’s words. He nodded and said, “Don’t worry, we’re a legitimate company.” Thɪs chapter is updated by novel⟡fire.net
Zhou Yuwen already knew this, having worked with them in his previous life.
The job was a good fit for Shiqi. It was for a single mother raising a child, and they seemed easy to get along with. After dropping Shiqi off, Zhou Yuwen and Zhao Manager left.
Zhao Manager chatted with the woman for a bit before coming back out, naturally striking up a conversation with Zhou Yuwen about the part-time work.
Zhao Manager assumed Shiqi was Zhou Yuwen’s girlfriend and complimented her. “Brother, your girlfriend is really pretty.”
Zhou Yuwen sighed. “Pretty, yes, but stubborn.”
Zhou Yuwen meant that he wanted to take care of her, but she insisted on working part-time.
Zhao Manager laughed and said, “You rich second-generation kids always like this kind of girl, don’t you?”
Zhou Yuwen didn’t respond, which was as good as confirming it.
Zhao Manager then asked, “Brother, do you think any of the girls in your group are looking for work? I’ve got a lot of events coming up that need hosts and ushers. The pay is good—350 yuan a day. If you can help me find some, I’ll give you 400 yuan per day for long-term cooperation. You can pay them whatever you like.”
By the time they reached Zhou Yuwen’s car, Zhao Manager’s nicotine cravings had kicked in. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered one to Zhou Yuwen.
Zhou Yuwen waved it off. “I don’t smoke.”
“Can you help me find them?” Zhao Manager asked, cigarette in mouth.
“I think so. I’ll ask around for you.”
“Great.”
It was already past three o’clock by the time Zhou Yuwen dropped Shiqi off. With everything settled, he finally had time to go house-hunting.
He hadn’t responded to Lu Lin earlier.
After about an hour of silence from Zhou Yuwen, Lu Lin sent another message: “Zheng Yanyan went home. Aren’t you bored being alone?”