Governing the country, enriching the people, an unparalleled imperial tutor

The woman in the black suit paused. Her gaze shifted from Lin Yanzhou's face to Lin Xiaoya, then back to Lin Yanzhou. Her smile faded, but the corners of her mouth still held a slight curve. The young saleswoman beside her whispered, in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Sister Liu, don't you think they're acting?"

The woman in the black suit turned her head and replied in a low voice, "Just acting. She'll leave on her own when the card won't work. I've seen this kind of thing a lot."

The intern started filling out the form with her head down. When she got to the payment information section, she looked up and asked, "Who is paying? Do I need to swipe my card here?"

Lin Xiaoya took out her wallet, rummaged through it, and her expression changed slightly. She unzipped the inner zipper and looked inside, then felt around in her coat pockets before whispering, "I think... I left my bank card at home."

Her voice was very soft, but the sales office was quiet, and everyone around could hear her.

The woman in the black suit's expression changed. It was a complete, undisguised laugh, a snort coming from her nose, with a "see, I told you so" kind of composure. She crossed her arms, leaned back in her chair, the chair legs scraping lightly on the tiled floor. "Oh dear, forgot your card? That excuse is so lame. Sister Liu, isn't it?" She glanced at the young saleswoman, who laughed along, though it was suppressed, it could be heard throughout the entire floor.

The woman in the black suit stood up and slowly walked to the signing area, looking down at Lin Yanzhou. "Brother, you've had a tough time. You've looked around, you've strolled around, you've taken the photos, right? You can brag to your friends about it for a while now." As she spoke, she tapped the desktop on her tablet. "Alright, alright, don't waste our time. There are other clients waiting."

She gestured with her chin toward the customers at the next table wearing mink coats, then looked down at the intern: "Xiao Zhao, put the contract away. Don't waste paper."

The intern gripped the pen tighter, the redness spreading from the base of her ears to her neck. The pen tip hovered three inches above the paper, but she didn't write.

Lin Yanzhou stood in the signing area without explaining. He glanced down at his phone, answered an incoming call, and held it to his ear.

About five minutes later, the glass door of the sales office was pushed open from the outside. A middle-aged man in a dark gray suit strode in. He was about fifty years old, slightly overweight, with a ruddy complexion, and a dark badge pinned to his chest. His gaze swept around the sales office before heading straight for the reception desk.

His voice wasn't loud, but the entire floor fell silent: "Who just greeted the client from the corner unit of Emerald Garden?"

The woman in the black suit's expression changed for a moment: "Mr. Chen—they're looking at middlemen properties—"

"I was asking about the outlying households." Mr. Chen's gaze shifted from her face to the intern. "Xiao Zhao, are you the one who received them?"

The intern nodded, his voice a little strained: "Yes...yes."

Mr. Chen turned to look in the direction of Lin Yanzhou and Lin Xiaoya, walked over quickly, and bent down slightly: "Are you Mr. Lin? Mr. Hu just called and said he reserved a house with you. He doesn't need to pay the deposit, he can just complete the formalities directly, and I'll have the keys prepared today."

He turned to the front desk and said, "The contract for that corner unit will be issued today, through an internal gifting process. Bring me the keys now, and all property management fees will be directly charged to the head office account starting today."

The air in the sales office seemed frozen. The woman in the black suit had her mouth slightly open, her facial muscles stiff—the face that had just been carrying a calm, cold smile was now just a blank space weighed down by something heavy. Her tablet computer was still tucked under her arm, the screen already automatically locked, and she hadn't touched it since. The young female saleswoman next to her was pretending to organize documents, her head bowed low, flipping through the papers three times over, the tips of her ears burning red. The intern stood behind General Manager Chen, the pen still clutched in her hand, her fingertips leaving deep dents, her face filled with disbelief.

Mr. Chen then turned to Lin Yanzhou and bowed slightly: "Mr. Lin, Mr. Hu said on the phone that you are a big businessman. Consider this house a small token of Mr. Hu's appreciation. We hope you will be comfortable in Nancheng."

"Please thank Boss Hu for me," Lin Yanzhou said, then casually added, "I'm going to see him this afternoon; I do have some things to discuss."

Mr. Chen paused slightly, a layer of something appearing in his eyes for a moment. "Then I won't keep you any longer." He turned to the receptionist and said to the intern, "Xiao Zhao, well done. This deal counts as your performance. You'll be promoted to a full-time employee tomorrow, directly working with the major accounts team."

The intern's pen finally landed on the table with a soft tap. She glanced at Lin Yanzhou, then at President Chen, her lips moved slightly, but she only managed to utter three words: "Th...thank you."

Behind her, the woman in the black suit was staring intently at the intern. Her eyes held a complex mix of emotions—disbelief and shock, the embarrassment of being overshadowed in public, and a barely suppressed jealousy. She stared at the intern's name tag, still on her chest, her lips pressed into a thin line, as if mentally rehearsing the words, "This deal counts as your achievement" and "You'll be a full-time employee."

The woman in the black suit suddenly spoke, her voice much lower than before, carrying a dryness that seemed to be suppressed to its limit: "Mr. Chen, that client just said he wanted to consider it—"

"Consider what?" President Chen glanced back at her. "President Hu personally called to offer a free meal to a customer; you want him to consider it?"

The woman in the black suit closed her mouth. She stood there, the tablet slipping from under her arm; this time she didn't catch it, and it fell to the ground with a dull thud. As she bent down to pick it up, the intern had already walked past her with the contract. As he passed her, the intern paused slightly and glanced at her.

The woman in the black suit straightened up, clutching her tablet computer, a thin crack running across the corner of the screen. She watched the intern's retreating figure move through the office area, her gaze following her from the copier to the filing cabinet, and back to the contract area. A young saleswoman leaned closer and whispered, "Sister Liu, that order was supposed to be with our client, right? How did an intern end up…?"

"Stop talking." The woman in the black suit spoke in a short, sharp voice, a sharpness she had suppressed. She turned around and stared blankly at the landscaped path outside the window, where ginkgo leaves were falling, her fingers gripping the corner of her tablet.

As Lin Yanzhou passed the front desk, he saw the woman in the black suit with her back to him, organizing data on her computer screen. Her fingers were clicking rapidly on the mouse, as if she was trying to cover something up. A young female salesperson sat next to her, pretending to answer a phone call, her voice extremely low. But Lin Yanzhou noticed that her hand, hidden under the table, was gripping the side seam of her suit skirt, twisted into a knot.

The intern stood at the door to see him off, holding the new set of keys that had already been handed over. Her voice was much steadyer than before: "Mr. Lin, here are the keys. I've already spoken to the property management; you can move in anytime."

Lin Xiaoya walked a few steps beside him, then suddenly turned her head, her voice tinged with barely suppressed laughter: "Did you already know that President Hu would give it to you?"

"No, not at all," Lin Yanzhou said. "He called me, and I happened to answer, but he's been wanting to see me lately."