I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

Shen Kang's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained calm, with a hint of surprise: "Mr. Zhou, are you a dog? You could smell that?"

"My zodiac sign is indeed the dog."

Zhou Man said casually, staring at Shen Kang with a suspicious look in her eyes, "I bought all her shower gel and body lotion lately, and I recognize the scent."

Shen Kang calmly replied, "Oh, it's probably because we've been in this room all day, and I was explaining to her what she should pay attention to during her presentation tomorrow. The space is small, and the windows weren't open, so she got infected."

As he spoke, he waved his hand, as if to brush away the lingering smell in the room.

Zhou Man's suspicious gaze finally subsided, and she became interested in something else: "Wasn't you supposed to be the speaker? How did it become her again?"

Shen Kang then explained the whole story.

After hearing this, Zhou Man found it amusing. "They're holding an industry conference and politely invited you, and you actually went? And you even wanted to give a speech..."

At this point, Zhou Man's expression shifted, as if she had thought of something. She didn't continue, but instead said, "Then you'd better speak well tomorrow."

Shen Kang was somewhat surprised. "I didn't expect you to be so smart, Mr. Zhou. Wise, very wise."

Zhou Man rolled her eyes at him, feeling that the word "wise" that this kid used wasn't a good one.

Having learned everything, she was too lazy to bother with the boy anymore. She got up and walked outside, saying, "I'm going to check on Qiuzhu. You should wash up and go to bed early."

"receive."

Upon reaching the door, Zhou Man asked Sun Hongjun which room He Qiuzhu was staying in.

Sun Hongjun was somewhat surprised; he had thought Zhou Man was only there to see Shen Kang. However, after quickly asking the front desk, he found the room number and took Zhou Man there.

This time, Zhou Man didn't swipe the universal room card to enter directly; instead, she rang the doorbell.

After a short wait, He Qiuzhu came to open the door.

Upon seeing Zhou Man outside the door, she paused for a moment, then her eyes lit up with joy. Although her expression remained as cool as ever, it was clear that she was very happy.

Zhou Man smiled gently, took her hand, and led her inside. "How is it? Is the bed in this room okay? Can you sleep in it? You have to give a lecture tomorrow, so you can't afford not to sleep well tonight. If you can't, we'll change rooms..."

This time, unlike with Shen Kang, Zhou Man even closed the door behind her.

Sun Hongjun and Ding Ling, the two henchmen, stood on either side of the doorway, just like before.

Sun Hongjun pondered silently and soon came to a guess: Shen Kang was suspected to be President Zhou's son, and this girl was very likely the future daughter-in-law that Zhou Man had chosen, which was why President Zhou had come to visit her again.

That makes perfect sense. After all, this girl is so beautiful, well-behaved, and adorable. If I had a son, I'm sure my wife would love this daughter-in-law too…

After standing at the door for a while, the door finally opened, and Zhou Man came out of the room.

Sun Hongjun then arranged for the group to rest in their rooms.

Sun Hongjun personally escorted Zhou Man to her room.

On the way there, Sun Hongjun led the way.

Zhou Man was walking and talking to Ding Ling about work when she suddenly turned to Sun Hongjun, saying, "President Sun."

Sun Hongjun quickly responded, "Yes." He even stopped walking, looking as if he was ready to listen to the sacred teachings at any moment.

Zhou Man smiled, "Don't be so nervous, we're just chatting. Let's talk as we walk."

Sun Hongjun responded with another "Yes" and continued walking forward.

As Zhou Man walked, she said, "Actually, it's nothing much. I was just chatting with Shen Kang, and he mentioned you. He had a pretty good opinion of you."

Sun Hongjun's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't mean it. He just smiled professionally and said, "Making customers satisfied is what we hotel employees should do."

"That's certainly true. By the way, Mr. Sun, I heard that He Qiuzhu is going to participate in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition tomorrow, and Shen Kang is going to attend an industry conference hosted by the people staying at your hotel. I'm planning to go and take a look. Could you help me make the arrangements and keep a low profile so as not to attract anyone's attention?"

"clear."……

After settling Zhou Man and her group into their rooms, Sun Hongjun left, walking slowly down the corridor, pondering Zhou Man's words.

President Zhou suddenly mentioned that Shen Kang had a good opinion of him...

Sun Hongjun pondered, and a vague sense of understanding began to emerge: Was President Zhou implying that he could try to get close to Shen Kang? ...

The further he walked, the lighter his steps became, and a genuine smile unconsciously appeared on his face.

It seems that Old Sun has found "support" within the company...

Sun Hongjun had originally planned to go home and rest after midnight, but there were too many important people present today, even Zhou Man was there, so he didn't dare go back. He decided to spend the night in the office.

Inside Sun Hongjun's office, there is a small room with a bed.

He would stay here when the hotel received important reception assignments.

After washing up, Sun Hongjun was about to go to bed when he saw someone hurrying towards him.

The person arrived before the voice.

"uncle!"

Soon, the person arrived at the office door. It was Sun Yu, who had changed out of his uniform and into casual clothes.

Seeing Sun Hongjun dressed as if he were about to go to sleep, Sun Yu was taken aback. "Uncle, didn't you say you were going home to sleep tonight?"

Sun Yu now lives at Sun Hongjun's house, and often drives Sun Hongjun's car to pick him up and drop him off at get off work.

Today was the same; we agreed to go home together after get off work.

Sun Hongjun slapped his forehead, only then remembering the matter. "I forgot. Xiao Yu, you go back by yourself. I'll sleep here tonight." With that, he prepared to close the door.

Sun Yu couldn't help but speak up, "Uncle, isn't this a bit unnecessary? You don't even know who he is!"

Sun Hongjun paused, his hand already on the door, and after glancing at his nephew, he stopped trying to open it. He then beckoned to Sun Yu, "Come here, Xiao Yu, Uncle has something to say to you."

After Sun Yu came in, Sun Hongjun closed the door.

Sun Yu walked to a corner sofa and sat down. Sun Hongjun sat down opposite him and slowly began to speak: "Uncle wants to have some heartfelt words with you today."

"Actually, when I was young, I was just like you now, with the same thoughts."

Sun Hongjun leaned back on the sofa, his eyes glazed over as he reminisced.

"Back then, my uncle knew everything, but he just wouldn't stoop to doing that..."

This was the first time Sun Yu had heard Sun Hongjun talk about these things.

As Sun Hongjun recounted the events, Sun Yu seemed to see a series of vivid scenes:

A young man, fresh out of college and full of hope for the future, entered a newly opened hotel in the area.

Young people have professional knowledge, ability, and great drive. They never complain about starting from the bottom, but work diligently every day with full enthusiasm and hope.

Young people are smart; they see through many things, including the scheming and maneuvering in interpersonal relationships. But even though they see things clearly and know what to do, they never do it. They're too hot-tempered—if they weren't hot-tempered, would they still be called young?

Young people believe that hard work is the right path and will surely bring rewards.

And that is indeed the case.

The hotel's general manager at the time saw the young man's potential, hard work, and fighting spirit, and greatly admired him.

Young people, too, are constantly moving up the ranks in their work year after year.

Room attendant, senior room attendant, floor supervisor, housekeeping manager, housekeeping manager, executive housekeeper, housekeeping director, operations director...

Ultimately, after the previous general manager retired, the young man successfully took over and became the general manager of the hotel.

This young man, though no longer young in age, remained young at heart, still believing that hard work triumphed over everything and still disdaining scheming. After all, that's how he succeeded.

Then, year after year, the young man remained the general manager of the hotel.

This hotel belongs to a hotel group. This hotel group, in turn, belongs to an even larger parent company, so theoretically, there is still a lot of room for advancement for the young people.

But young people can't get promoted.

The young man had several opportunities for promotion, but each time, someone was always more suitable. Those people, one after another, climbed up by stepping on the young man's shoulders.

The young man has always been the general manager of this hotel.

Time and time again, year after year, young people eventually grow old.

He was no longer young or impetuous. He began to understand and started to work towards another goal, but it seemed too late, and he achieved nothing.

The young man finally gave up and began to accept reality. He felt that he might retire in this position, just like the previous general manager.

Until this day, he received news that a certain competition had been moved to his hotel.

……

"...Looking back, I was a 'connected person' from the very beginning."

Sun Hongjun leaned back on the sofa and chuckled self-deprecatingly. "If it weren't for the old manager protecting me all the way, how could I have gotten to where I am today? But back then, I always thought it was all due to my own abilities, and that even without the old manager, another manager would have appreciated me like that."

Sun Yu remained silent.

He was hearing this part of his uncle's life story for the first time, and it stirred up a lot of thoughts in him.

After sharing this with his nephew, Sun Hongjun slapped his thigh, stood up, and said, "Xiao Yu, go back to sleep. President Zhou is here, so I have to stay here tonight."

Sun Yu was taken aback. "President Zhou? Which President Zhou?"

Sun Hongjun held up one finger and pointed upwards, "Which other President Zhou could it be? Of course, it's President Zhou from Shengyuan."

Looking at his nephew, Sun Hongjun revealed more information to him: "This Shen Kang has a rather unusual relationship with President Zhou. President Zhou came here for him. President Zhou even told me that Shen Kang had a good opinion of me."

Sun Hongjun suddenly laughed, "Hey, not bad review..."

He seemed to be thinking about something. After laughing, he composed himself, pondered for a moment, and then shook his head.

"Xiao Yu, go home and get some sleep."

……