Rebirth after the college entrance examination

Chapter 190: Sharp tools are essential for good work

This is a huge bombshell.

Xia An pondered for a full three minutes before he could figure out why Liu Xiao had said all this to him.

interest.

Even the ladle that holds profits has a handle.

He and Liu Xiao were not directly related by interest. On the contrary, from Liu Fei's perspective, he and Liu Xiao were actually strategic allies, both trying to extract benefits from Liu Piaopiao.

Xia An knew that he was professing his loyalty to him, subtly indicating: I can continue to help you, and I won't turn against you.

'This is a decisive and efficient beneficiary,' Xia An thought.

But to be able to bury this kind of thing for so long...

'He's also an incredibly cunning and shrewd old man who's been patiently waiting for the best,' Xia An thought again.

For the rest of the time, the two chatted idly and laughed as if the previous conversation had never happened.

At 2 PM, Liu Xiao paid the bill and they all left.

Xia An went straight back to her dorm and went online to dig up old grievances.

His curiosity was truly piqued. There are only two things in the world beyond human control: excretion and love.

Jing Yun, what kind of girl is she?
Searching for keywords, found it.

Although the information was fragmented, Xia An had a strong ability to understand and pieced together all the scattered fragments, making the events relatively clear.

She was a girl from the art college in the class of '99, so she was his senior.

Note that this "Class of '99" does not refer to enrollment.

Starting in 2002, Binhai University changed its student ID system to use the year of enrollment.

For example, Xia An was in the class of 2006, but before that, it was calculated based on the year of graduation.

In other words, Jing Yun, Liu Xiao, and Liu Fei all entered the school in 95.

At that time, the Internet was just starting out in the country, and it was the first year that campus BBS was established.

Therefore, Xia Anben doesn't need to search for "Jing Yun"; he can simply jump to the homepage.

Two-thirds of the posts are about her.

Back then, there wasn't much information, and the atmosphere was countless times more enthusiastic than it is now with Xiaoyouzi and Tang Wan.

Jing Yun was truly the only outstanding student at Binhai University at that time.

Judging from a few blurry photos, her temperament and appearance are in a class of their own, and the public does not hesitate to say that she is really out of step with everyone else's style.

He came from an ordinary family and his academic performance was very average, but he had exceptional talents and skills. In 1996, during his second year of university, he was selected to participate in the opening chorus of an episode of "Zhengda Variety Show".

Later, he even sang for a fledgling music radio station, becoming incredibly popular on campus.

He is very introverted and extremely low-key, rarely appearing in public except when practicing in the dance studio.

Girls like that definitely have few friends, without exception.

Xia An looked at the webpage and thought to herself that even without Liu Fei's actions, she was destined to be alone.

Many posts claim that she is being kept by a sugar daddy or something similar, but there is no concrete evidence.

In Xia An's view, the textual descriptions were simply the most primitive and crude fabricated rumors.

Another post listed a price tag, saying that Jing Yun costs 300 yuan per night.

Xia An glanced at the comments but couldn't distinguish between Liu Xiao and Liu Fei from the vehement rebuttals.

But it is obvious that Jing Yun had far more admirers than enemies. And that makes sense, since girls generally didn't go to internet cafes back then.

After flipping through a few pages, Xia An's eyes lit up with a popular post from 1997.

This was actually the only time Jing Yun spoke out publicly.

I'm Jing Yun, and I don't date. Thank you.

Xia An almost burst out laughing. Liu Fei, what a tragedy.

As the most privileged member of the Binhai University family in the past twenty years, this statement was clearly directed at Liu Fei.

Thank you…

Perhaps it was because of these three words that Liu Piaopiao persisted.

But what exactly is the nature of their relationship?

Such an outstanding and self-respecting girl did not suddenly appear as everyone had imagined back then; instead, she disappeared without a trace after graduation.

Nearly a decade has passed, and the latest comments under some posts are from just a few months ago.

[It's been so long since graduation, does anyone know anything about Jing Yun, the campus beauty from back then? What happened to her?]

One person replied: "Yeah, my kid's starting middle school next year, and I still can't forget that lone figure walking in the rain. It's so damn memorable."

One person replied: "I heard she went abroad. Looking like that, she must have been kept by a super-rich man before she even debuted, right?"

The rest: [Sigh][Sigh][Sigh]...

A beautiful woman's life is as fragile as paper, and her youthful beauty fades like frost.

Xia An also sighed.

If he hadn't been reborn, wouldn't his little pomelo have been even more miserable?

Flowers may be similar, but fates may be intertwined.

Liu Xiao sent a text message out of the blue: 【Thank you】

Love was like a raging fire; the girl from that year will never be forgotten.

Or rather, in this lifetime, one can only experience true love once. I loved you then, and you can't compare to me now.

Xia An closed her laptop.

Don't worry, at least after the first dividend arrives, she won't be washing dishes again.

……

On Thursday morning, Wu Xun, who had been hospitalized for two days, returned home.

When Xia An came downstairs with her car keys, she ran into him and his parents on the stairs.

Oh right, and Xu Wanying too.

Stopping Xia An, Wu Xun smiled and introduced her to his parents, "This is the classmate who took me to the hospital, my class monitor, Xia An."

The other party's parents thanked them profusely and said they would have dinner together later.

Xia An declined, saying she had something to do and would only exchange a few pleasantries.

As they brushed past each other, he saw something he had never seen before in Wu Xun's eyes—a glimmer of light and brightness, as if he had grasped something, or perhaps he was going to delve deeper. He couldn't tell, but he guessed it was the latter.

Last night, Xu Wanying asked him if he would pick up Wu Xun from the hospital today, but Xia An refused. He wanted to take Xiao Le Ning to visit the company.

Besides, his worst car right now is a BMW 6 Series. Was he trying to show off? He didn't want to appear too friendly with Xu Wanying in front of Wu Xun, lest he incur people's jealousy.

It's best to keep your distance from this kind of old man who dares to jump from the fifth floor.

As she reached the corner, Xu Wanying turned back and cast a resentful glance down the steps.
-

"Wu Xun is back?"

"Ah."

"Looks alright?"

"Looks...okay."

As the car entered the torrent of water, Le Ning, sitting in the passenger seat, munched on a large apple and asked Xia An curiously.

"Last night, Teacher Xu cooked sausage porridge for us. It was so delicious."

These past few days, Le Ning and the others have been sleeping with Director Xu. Perhaps it's also because the teachers' dormitory doesn't run out of power. In any case, the older and younger sisters are getting along very well.

"Laughing like he drank half a pot, that's so exaggerated."

"..."

Le Ning took off her shoes and sat cross-legged on the chair. Xia An didn't expect her to have this habit now and advised her that it was not safe to do so.

She countered, saying, "This is so you'll drive more carefully, for my safety."

Xia An thought it made a lot of sense.

He noticed from various small details that Le Ning's basic temperament had changed; she was more cheerful, more carefree, and more petite and playful, which pleased him greatly.

Le Ning tossed the apple core into the trash bag she had prepared, wiped her hands with a wet wipe, and muttered to herself as she looked at the sticker on the back of the car in front of her: "Older single woman... rear-ends her and she'll definitely get married... Ha, how interesting."

It was somewhat funny back in 06.

She turned to Xia An and asked, "How old is considered a 'leftover woman'?"

Xia An asked almost without hesitation: "40?"

Le Ning's tone suddenly shifted: "Okay, will you marry me when I'm forty?"

"..."

Xia An immediately changed her tune: "Thirty years old is considered an old maid."

Le Ning covered her mouth and laughed so hard she bent over.

They could see the edge of the seaside plaza; the company was just two more traffic lights ahead. Le Ning started to feel uneasy and asked him, "Why did you suddenly decide to bring me to the company?"

Xia An knew she was asking a question she already knew the answer to, but still smiled and said, "What I'm doing, what I can do, and how well I'm doing it all must be reported to my wife."

Le Ning gazed deeply at him with her curved eyebrows and eyes.

"Maybe I will make many bad or wrong choices in the future, but I will always remember that the most correct choice I made at this age was to like Xia An."

Even in winter, there are fountains. In the distance, a water dragon shoots straight up into the sky from the center of the square, and the splashing water mist creates a seven-colored rainbow under the warm winter sun.

But none of that could compare to the radiant beauty of the girl's smile in Xia An's eyes at that moment.

Entering the elevator, exiting the elevator, Xia An was the first to push open the door and enter the office with a strong working atmosphere.

In Le Ning's eyes, this is a unique company with modern and youthful decor.

There are no rigid cubicles; it's a large, open work area.

The young men and women didn't wear uniforms; they were dressed fashionably and attractively, and everyone was full of energy.

She looked at Xia An with admiration.

Xia An clapped her hands to draw everyone's attention, saying, "I'll take up half a minute of your time."

Looking at Le Ning, she said, "Let me introduce you..."

Le Ning stepped forward, interrupting him, and bowed slightly to the curious employees, saying with a smile, "I'm Boss Xia's classmate, here for a visit, hello everyone."

Then she tilted her pretty face up and winked at Xia An.

……

Work area, tea room, and rest area.

During the visit, Le Ning repeatedly and subtly avoided Xia An's attempts to hold her hand or put her arm around her waist.

Finally, we returned to Xia An's large office.

Three department heads came over one after another to report on their work and asked Xia An to sign a stack of documents.

After one hour.

Holding a cup of freshly brewed coffee, Le Ning sat on the sofa, raising her eyebrows and saying, "Not bad, not bad. There's an automatic coffee machine in the break room and a bookshelf in the lounge. President Xia, your office is the least youthful and most discordant in the whole company."

Xia An stared at her for a moment, then smiled and said, "Do you really think they can't guess who you are?"

Le Ning's pink lips touched the paper cup, which she held in both hands. She didn't say anything, but just stared at him for a long time.

Xia An waved his hand and said, "Forget it, let's go after we finish our coffee. We're going to visit one of our employees' homes at noon."

Le Ning tilted her head in surprise and asked, "Why do companies do home visits too?"

Xia An reached out, patted her head, and smiled gently.

……

North of the city.

The older residents of Binhai usually live here.

Among the large factories that once supported thousands of families, such as chemical plants and desalination plants, are scattered old residential areas with red brick houses and incomplete supporting facilities.

It appears to be a generation older than Xia An's house in Dongshan.

Li Qiao lives here.

On the way here, Xia An told Le Ning about the family situation of Li Qiao, the expert in on-the-ground sales.

"You want to help him?" Le Ning asked.

"The word 'help' is not quite accurate."

Xia An, while steering the car, looked at her and said, "It's more about mutual benefit."

As if by design, he began to provide Le Ning with advanced training, gradually instilling some slightly deeper concepts in her.

"He has the ability, which is exactly the ability I need at this stage, that's the premise. Secondly, he does have difficulties in life, so I can provide assistance under certain conditions so that he can better and more wholeheartedly contribute his labor to the company."

Le Ning pouted, "I don't like that way of speaking, it's too mercenary."

Xia An pinched her cheek and laughed, "If you don't like what I'm saying, I'll put it another way."

"Then put it another way."

After thinking for a moment, Xia An said, "By helping him, I can not only gain a sense of satisfaction, but also gain more of his loyalty."

Le Ning smiled and nodded, "Yes, that's how we'll say it from now on."

Xia An looked at her amusedly: "Let's watch the stars together tonight, and then watch the sunrise together tomorrow morning."

Le Ning blushed instantly, because by combining the context, her clever little brain immediately extracted what he really wanted to say.

She glared at him and spat, "You think I wouldn't dare say it if we went to a hotel room to have sex?"

Xia An laughed heartily, “Beauty and money, career and love, the former is naked mercenary, the latter is a lofty ideal. Wife, your man has reached the realm of simplicity.”

Le Ning laughed like crazy.

……

Li Qiao set up a ground promotion team in Jinan, but he called his wife Li Xiaotang in advance to ask her to receive Xia An.

Xia An has already given out the previous 80,000 yuan in relief funds.

Li Xiaotang also knew that her husband's boss had taken pity on her and allowed her to work at the company, so she carefully prepared lunch from the morning.

Xia An held Le Ning's little hand, each carrying a box of premium health products as they entered the house.

Upon their first meeting, Xia An noticed that Li Xiaotang, besides being a rather attractive woman, also possessed a striking air of heroism in her brows and eyes.

This is a woman who is extremely difficult to be defeated by the trivialities of life.

Even though wrinkles have appeared and her hands are no longer delicate from caring for the bedridden elderly.

Upon seeing Xia An, she showed no awkwardness whatsoever. Wearing an apron stained with oil, she gracefully invited them into the house.

"I timed it perfectly, the food is still hot. The child is at school today, eating lunch at school and won't be coming home. Mr. Xia, Ms. Le, please sit down, it's just a simple meal."

The room was small and easily visible.

The entrance leads to the kitchen and a small living room. Next to the bathroom is the children's bedroom, and the main room is probably for the elderly, with a large round table full of dishes next to the bed.

So the couple was obviously sleeping on the double sofa in the living room.

The aroma of the food was mixed with a strong smell of Chinese medicine, but it was sprayed with the most common lemon-scented air freshener.

Xia An didn't mince words or make up any nonsense; she naturally sat down and started eating.

While eating, I asked Li Xiaotang three questions.

"I heard that the elderly may not survive the Spring Festival. Can you leave the children after the New Year?"

Li Xiaotang was taken aback, not expecting him to ask so directly, and replied, "Xiaobao is growing up now. He'll be going to junior high next year and will be living at school. He won't need me to take care of him anymore. I didn't really manage him much when we were in Ningbo anyway."

Le Ning curiously blinked, listening intently to their conversation.

She felt something was strange. She had noticed it in the office just now. As soon as Xia An started talking about work, he immediately became a different person, indifferent and cruel... She was familiar with the phrase "a swift and decisive blow," but the person was a complete stranger to her.

But it seems really impressive.

Xia An then asked, "Li Qiao should have told you that I am determined to take this tech company public within three years."

During this phase, there can be absolutely no problems with the finances.

I heard you've worked at two auditing firms and have a CPA certificate. Why didn't you consider using that for a temporary job? Having multiple sources of income would at least reduce the financial pressure.

Li Xiaotang said directly, "If you have too many affiliated companies, they become worthless. When we were in the South, Li Qiao and I both considered that the best way to advance was to find a startup company to grow with and eventually go public."

Xia An stared at her blankly, expressionless.

"One last question: how many methods do you have for laundering one billion in cash, and how long would it take?"

……

In the end, the offer Xia An made to Li Xiaotang made Le Ning's eyes widen.

Even much taller than Li Qiao.

On the way back to school, Le Ning asked in surprise in the car, "An annual salary of 600,000?? How many people like that can you support? I don't understand. It's making me want to switch majors to finance."

Xia An wanted to say, "You can't switch, math is something..."

Fearing that the sour lemon would remind him of candy, he stopped talking.

He just laughed and said, "I don't understand why she's worth so much money?"

"Ah."

Xia An didn't explain much, and turned on the turn signal to merge into the main road.

"If a worker wants to do a good job, he must first sharpen his tools."

Le Ning rubbed her round belly and said, "Doing business is so complicated. I feel like even my mom isn't as tired as you."

Upon hearing this, Xia An couldn't stop laughing.

As she walked halfway down the road, bathed in the afternoon sun, Le Ning received a call from Li Xiaoru.

After exchanging only a few words, he looked at Xia An in astonishment:
"Teacher Xu has resigned."

(End of this chapter)