Huamao Mansion, third floor. The marketing director's office at Pet Guardian Home.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
"Come in."
Qin Yuenan looked up. Seeing it was Lin Shen who had entered, she gestured toward the sofa beside her.
"Have a seat."
"Okay."
Lin Shen sat on the sofa and began his report.
"President Qin, I've finished handing over my work to Xu Lei. However, I still recommend hiring someone new to take over as soon as possible, or else her workload is going to be a bit overwhelming."
"I know."
Qin Yuenan took a stack of documents from her desk drawer and stood up, moving to sit next to Lin Shen.
She was in a different outfit today.
A black blazer, a light white blouse, a black straight-cut skirt, and black stiletto heels.
The hem of her skirt barely reached her knees, revealing straight, toned calves that were clearly the result of regular running.
'Such nice legs. It's a shame she's not wearing stockings.'
Still, this was enough to make Lin Shen nervous for a moment.
'So close!'
Lin Shen averted his gaze slightly, his nose twitching.
He really admired Qin Yuenan's taste in perfume. It was rich without being cloying, with an added hint of a lush floral fragrance.
Paired with her serious, professional attire, it made her seem especially dignified and cool.
"This is your pay stub. Take a look."
With a sense of unease, Lin Shen took the pay stub from Qin Yuenan. His eyes lit up when he saw the final total of 22,000.
'That much?!'
"The project bonus is 8,000. In light of your outstanding contributions to the company, I also applied for an additional 5,000 for you as a semi-annual bonus."
"Thank you, President Qin!"
Lin Shen said, his gratitude sincere.
"You're too good to me!"
"You've earned it. You don't need to thank anyone but yourself for working so hard."
Qin Yuenan said softly, then handed Lin Shen a contract.
"Although I'm hiring you as my assistant in a personal capacity, we're still going through the company's official process. This way, your social insurance and housing fund contributions can continue."
"Okay."
Lin Shen carefully read over the contract.
Although the job title was "Janitor," the actual duties would definitely be what Qin Yuenan had described.
The base salary of 4,000, however, was unexpected.
'I remember my intern salary was only five or six thousand...'
'How did I spend four years in college just to end up making less than a janitor?'
Lin Shen grumbled silently to himself, then signed the contract and returned one of the copies to Qin Yuenan.
"Then everything should be in order."
Qin Yuenan placed the contract in a folder, stood up, and extended her right hand to Lin Shen.
"From now on, we'll be interacting in a different capacity, Assistant Lin."
"I look forward to working with you, President Qin."
Lin Shen stood and shook her hand. Her hand felt delicate and soft.
She pursed her thin lips, hesitating for a moment before speaking softly.
"You should call me something else. 'President Qin' sounds too formal."
'Too formal?'
Lin Shen's expression faltered for a second, then he smiled faintly.
"Then I'll call you Nan from now on."
"Mm."
The change in address made Qin Yuenan turn her face away in embarrassment. She pulled her hand from Lin Shen's grasp and felt a strange sense of emptiness and loneliness.
She took a deep breath to compose herself, then turned and went back to sit behind her desk.
"You can get back to what you were doing."
"Alrighty!"
In contrast to Qin Yuenan's sense of loss, Lin Shen was thrilled.
After leaving the office, he immediately rushed back to his desk to pack up his personal belongings.
Soon, his salary for July arrived.
[Construction Bank: Your account ending in 7946 received a deposit of RMB 22,000 on 07/31 at 16:20. Current balance: 121,000]
[Upgrade Mission: Total assets exceed 100,000 yuan (Completed).]
[Reward: ReceivePal Lv. 3 → Lv. 4]
[1,700/day → 2,000/day]
[Reward Item: Intermediate Random Cracking Card x1]
[Upgrade Mission: Total assets exceed 200,000 yuan (121,000/200,000)]
'Intermediate?'
The level of this [Cracking Card] made Lin Shen ponder for a moment before he clicked on it curiously.
A moment later, an icon with a red paper airplane unexpectedly appeared next to the Gaode Maps app.
[GoGo Maps Lv. 1]
[Decryption Effect: For every Red Point checked in on the map, you will accumulate 10,000 yuan in an industry fund (amount increases based on "GoGo Maps" level)]
[Upgrade Mission: Check in at Modu's famous business district—Wujiaochang.]
[Congratulations on successfully activating a cracked app (3/20)! "ReceivePal" Decryption Effect has doubled!]
[Current Main Quest Progress: 15%]
[ReceivePal Decryption Effect: 2,000/day → 4,000/day]
'GoGo Maps?'
Lin Shen couldn't help but laugh at the name.
But you had to admit, it was pretty clever.
Moreover, these last two cracked apps helped Lin Shen figure out a pattern.
Namely, a low-level Cracking Card would most likely crack a phone's built-in apps, like Sports Health, Camera, or Calculator.
An intermediate Cracking Card, on the other hand, would crack downloaded apps like Gaode Maps.
'So what kind of app would an even higher-level Cracking Card crack?'
Lin Shen was suddenly intrigued, but he knew he wouldn't get an answer anytime soon.
Right now, he was more interested in experiencing the Decryption Effect of [GoGo Maps].
Lin Shen opened it and found that the map was similar to Gaode Maps, except it was covered in many Red Points.
One of them was right on Huamao Mansion, and it was pulsing slightly.
Lin Shen tried tapping it, and a message box suddenly popped up.
[Acquired 10,000 in industry fund]
[Tip: The industry fund can be used to purchase or lease any type of property, including but not limited to real estate, storefronts, office spaces, etc.]
"This is great!"
Lin Shen's eyes lit up.
This [GoGo Maps] was clearly pushing him to start a business.
Although the 4,000 yuan a day from [ReceivePal] was enough to just coast through life, that would only satisfy two of a man's three great dreams: money and women.
The third, power and status, often required substantial properties and assets to support it.
Besides, having more businesses could also create a large number of jobs.
As a university graduate who had once gone through countless hardships just to find a job, Lin Shen knew all too well how difficult it was.
Having been caught in the rain himself, he would definitely hold an umbrella for others if he had the chance.
'With the system as my safety net, what's there to be afraid of?'
'The risk of starting a business is far lower for me than for anyone else.'
"But it's too early to be thinking about all that. For now, I should just relax a bit."
Lin Shen stretched, then ordered a cup of milk tea for all his colleagues in the department.
Although he didn't feel the need to deliberately maintain relationships with his colleagues, he should at least leave some impression before he left.
'What if I need their help with something someday?'
Although Lin Shen didn't actually think he would ever need to call on these connections, ever since being freed from the shackles of money, he had slowly been persuading himself to make peace with this harsh world.
"Hello everyone! Tomorrow is my last day, so I'm treating everyone to some milk tea before I go."
Lin Shen cleared his throat. Once he had everyone's attention, he looked around and announced cheerfully.
Just then, three food delivery drivers walked into the office carrying over twenty cups of milk tea.
Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but look surprised.
The colleagues all looked at each other, until finally, Xu Lei was the first to stand up from her desk. She picked out a milk tea from Lin Shen's desk and said with a grin,
"Thanks, Shen!"
With someone taking the lead, the others no longer held back. They gathered around Lin Shen to offer their well wishes.
"Thanks, Shen! I wish you a bright future!"
"Why are you leaving so suddenly? Let's grab a meal sometime. Thanks."
"Bro, you've lost weight. Let's hug it out."
"Lin, your haircut looks great!"
"Thanks."
This time, Lin Shen's smile was genuine.
Now that he was leaving, he was finally experiencing the friendliness of his colleagues.
Perhaps they weren't deliberately cold, but had just been hurt too many times to express goodwill anymore.
It was just like the lyrics from "The World is Getting Colder"—
♪If you could smile just a little more♪
♪Life would be a little more wonderful♪