Huamao Building third floor, Petyou Home Marketing Director's office.
Knock knock knock—!
"Come in."
Qin Yuenan looked up and, seeing it was Lin Shen entering, gestured toward the sofa nearby.
"Sit first."
"Okay."
Lin Shen sat on the sofa and reported.
"President Qin, I've finished handing over my work to Xu Lei, but I still suggest hiring someone new to take over soon, otherwise her workload will be quite heavy."
"I know."
Qin Yuenan took out a stack of documents from her desk drawer and got up to sit beside Lin Shen.
Today she'd changed her outfit.
Black blazer + light white blouse + black straight skirt + black thin heels.
The skirt hem barely reached her knees, revealing straight, firm calves—clearly from frequent running.
Such beautiful legs, too bad she wasn't wearing stockings.
But this was enough to make Lin Shen nervous for a while.
So close!
Lin Shen glanced sideways, his nose twitching slightly.
He appreciated Qin Yuenan's perfume taste—rich but not cloying, with an added touch of floral fragrance.
Combined with her serious outfit, it appeared particularly solemn and cold.
"This is your pay stub, take a look."
Lin Shen nervously took the pay stub from Qin Yuenan's hands, and seeing the final amount of 22,000, his eyes immediately lit up.
So much?!
"Project bonus 8,000. Given your outstanding contributions to the company, I applied for an additional 5,000 half-year bonus for you."
"Thank you, President Qin!"
Lin Shen was genuinely grateful.
"You're too good to me!"
"This is what you deserve. You don't need to thank anyone, just thank yourself for working hard."
Qin Yuenan said softly, then handed Lin Shen another contract.
"Although I'm hiring you as my personal assistant, we're still going through company procedures so we can continue your benefits."
"Good."
Lin Shen carefully reviewed the contract.
Although the position was listed as cleaner, the work content would definitely follow what Qin Yuenan said.
The base salary of 4,000 was beyond Lin Shen's expectations.
I remember my internship salary was only five or six thousand…
How is it that after four years of college, I'm not even as good as a cleaner?
Lin Shen silently complained, then signed the contract and returned one copy to Qin Yuenan.
"That should take care of everything."
Qin Yuenan put the contract in a file folder, stood up, and extended her right hand to Lin Shen.
"From now on, we'll interact in a different capacity, Assistant Lin."
"Please take care of me, President Qin."
Lin Shen stood up and shook hands with Qin Yuenan, feeling softness and delicacy in his palm.
She pressed her thin lips together, hesitated for a moment, then said softly.
"Change how you address me. President Qin sounds too formal."
Too formal?
Lin Shen was stunned for a moment, then smiled slightly.
"Then I'll call you Sister Nan from now on."
"Mm."
The change in address made Qin Yuenan embarrassedly turn her face away. After withdrawing her hand from Lin Shen's grasp, she felt inexplicably empty and lonely inside.
She took a deep breath, adjusted her mindset, then turned back to sit behind her desk.
"Go ahead and get busy."
"Will do!"
Compared to Qin Yuenan's dejection, Lin Shen was excited.
After leaving the office, he hurried back to his workstation to pack his personal belongings.
Soon, July's salary came through.
「China Construction Bank: Your account ending in 7946 received RMB 22,000 on July 31 at 16:20. Current balance: 121,000」
[Upgrade Task: Total assets exceeding 100,000 yuan (Completed).]
[Reward: Payment Treasure lv.3→lv.4]
[1700/day→2000/day]
[Reward Item: Intermediate Random Crack Card*1]
[Upgrade Task: Total assets exceeding 200,000 yuan (121,000/200,000)]
Intermediate?
This Crack Card's level made Lin Shen think carefully, then he curiously clicked it.
Soon, a red paper airplane icon appeared next to the Gaode app.
[Lowde lv.1]
[Crack Effect: Each red dot checked in on the map accumulates 10,000 yuan in industry funds (increases based on "Lowde's" level)]
[Upgrade Task: Check in at Shanghai's famous business district—Wujiaochang.]
[Congratulations on successfully activating a cracked app (3/20)! "Payment Treasure" crack effect doubled!]
[Current main progress: 15%]
[Payment Treasure crack effect: 2000/day→4000/day]
Lowde?
This name made Lin Shen want to laugh.
It was quite clever, really.
And these two cracked apps also helped Lin Shen figure out a pattern.
That is, basic crack cards would likely crack apps that come with every phone, like fitness, camera, calculator, etc.
While intermediate crack cards were for downloaded apps like Gaode.
What could higher-level crack cards unlock?
Lin Shen suddenly became interested, though he wouldn't get the answer anytime soon.
He was more interested in experiencing Lowde's crack effect now.
Lin Shen opened it and found the map was similar to Gaode's, just with many red dots added.
One was right at Huamao Building, pulsing slightly.
Lin Shen tried clicking it, and an information box popped up.
[Obtained 10,000 industry funds]
[Tip: Industry funds can purchase or lease any industry, including but not limited to real estate, storefronts, office areas, etc.]
"This is great!"
Lin Shen's eyes lit up.
This Lowde clearly wanted him to start a business.
Although Payment Treasure's daily 4,000 yuan was enough for lying flat, that could only satisfy money and women among a man's three dreams.
Power and status often required substantial industry support.
Moreover, more industries could create many job opportunities.
As a college graduate who had struggled to find work, Lin Shen had long experienced those hardships.
Having been rained on, he'd definitely hold an umbrella for others if given the chance.
With the system as backup, what was there to fear?
The entrepreneurial risk was much lower than others'.
"But it's too early to think about this. Right now I should just relax."
Lin Shen stretched, then ordered bubble tea for all his team colleagues.
Although relationships between colleagues didn't need deliberate maintenance, he should leave them with some impression before leaving.
What if he needed their help in some way?
Although Lin Shen didn't think he'd need these connections, since breaking free from financial constraints, he'd gradually convinced himself to make peace with this harsh world.
"Hello everyone! I won't be coming to work starting tomorrow. Before leaving, let me treat everyone to bubble tea."
Lin Shen cleared his throat, and after attracting enough attention, he looked around and said cheerfully.
At this moment, three Meituan delivery riders entered the office carrying over twenty cups of bubble tea.
Seeing this, everyone looked surprised.
Everyone looked at each other, and finally Xu Lei was the first to stand up from her workstation, picked out a cup of bubble tea from Lin Shen's desk, and said with a smile.
"Thanks, Brother Shen!"
With someone taking the lead, others naturally stopped being polite and came to Lin Shen with blessings.
"Thanks, Brother Shen! Wishing you a bright future!"
"Why did you suddenly resign? Let's have dinner sometime, thanks."
"Bro, you've lost weight. Give me a hug."
"Xiao Lin, your hairstyle is really handsome!"
"Thank you."
This time Lin Shen smiled from the heart.
After resigning, he finally experienced the friendliness between colleagues.
Perhaps everyone wasn't deliberately cold, they'd just been hurt too much and stopped expressing kindness.
Like the lyrics in "Global Cooling"—
♪If we could smile a little more♪
♪Life would be a little more beautiful♪