Lin Yi smiled slightly and nodded, naturally shaking hands with Chu Pengzhan.
Lin Yi handled this routine social courtesy with practiced ease. "Mr. Chu, nice to meet you!"
Chu Pengzhan's enthusiasm made Lin Yi feel a bit overwhelmed. This was the first time he'd encountered such an enthusiastic employer.
Sure, he'd been hired to carry out some mission, but for the chairman of a publicly traded company to act this way seemed strange to Lin Yi. It was like a meeting between equals.
"Mr. Lin! I understand. Perhaps asking you to do this kind of work might seem presumptuous..."
Chu Pengzhan said hesitantly.
Hearing Chu Pengzhan's words getting more and more over-the-top, even the thick-skinned Lin Yi felt a bit embarrassed and quickly said:
"No, not at all... I just weave straw sandals at home and only make a few hundred yuan a month. Grandpa said this job would set me up for life..."
Lin Yi thought to himself that this employer was really sincere. Hiring him to do work and being so polite about it. Unlike other people who'd pay you then start complaining about everything.
"What? Weaving straw sandals?"
Chu Pengzhan looked surprised and studied Lin Yi carefully. He couldn't have the wrong person, could he? But what was this guy talking about? Could it be that Mr. Lin made him weave straw sandals every day to earn a few hundred yuan?
Chu Pengzhan was speechless. He'd heard some rumors about Lin Yi from his father. Just the hostage rescue operation in Africa should have netted him hundreds of millions in USD, yet he was weaving straw sandals for money?
"Yeah, straw sandals sell for four yuan a pair, and I can make three or four pairs a day, so that's a few hundred yuan a month."
Lin Yi nodded. He was also starting to sense something was off. Grandpa didn't seem like he was poor, did he?
Chu Pengzhan figured he couldn't pry into other people's private affairs, so hearing Lin Yi's words, he just shook his head helplessly.
"Your salary going forward will be 30,000 yuan per month. This amount includes tuition and daily expenses. Of course, you can bill Li Fu separately for any costs related to my daughter."
"30,000? Grandpa said it would be a few thousand?"
Lin Yi was shocked. Such high pay?
If he'd known this, he wouldn't have needed to bring money. He wouldn't have had to see that pained expression on Grandpa's face. Lin Yi remembered the scene when he'd demanded 49,000 yuan from Grandpa.
"Wait a minute, Mr. Chu. What did you just say? School? Tuition? And expenses for your daughter? What does all this mean? I don't really understand..."
Lin Yi was confused. What did Chu Pengzhan's words mean? Hadn't he come to carry out a mission?
"Oh? Didn't Grandpa Lin explain anything beforehand? Please, come this way. Let's discuss the details upstairs."
Chu Pengzhan smiled and gestured for Lin Yi to follow, walking shoulder-to-shoulder with him toward the elevator.
Either way, Chu Pengzhan was his employer now, and the salary was pretty good. What Chu Pengzhan was saying was a bit puzzling, but over the past few years, Lin Yi had encountered all sorts of strange missions.
So when Lin Yi walked with Chu Pengzhan, he deliberately slowed his pace to walk behind him. But Chu Pengzhan intentionally tried to match Lin Yi's pace.
Lin Yi naturally noticed this but wondered why Chu Pengzhan was being so friendly toward him.
Though Lin Yi was puzzled, he didn't ask any questions.
After all, this was his first meeting with Chu Pengzhan, and they weren't very familiar yet, so it wouldn't be appropriate to say too much. Things would become clear with time.
Chu Pengzhan's office was on the top floor of Pengzhan Building, covering 200 square meters. One entire wall was floor-to-ceiling windows, making the room particularly bright.
After Uncle Fu escorted Chu Pengzhan and Lin Yi to the office, he left and instructed Secretary Xiao Yu in the outer secretary's office to prepare tea.
"Mr. Lin, what would you like to drink?"
Xiao Yu had already learned Lin Yi's surname from Uncle Fu.
"Plain water is fine."
Lin Yi usually drank plain water at home, so he preferred the same when out.
Xiao Yu looked a bit surprised but still smiled and said, "Certainly, just a moment please."
There was no need to ask what President Chu wanted to drink—it was the same every day.
"Mr. Lin, starting tomorrow Uncle Fu will arrange for you to transfer into Class 5 of the senior year at Songshan First High School. As a high school student, you'll be in the same class as my daughter Chu Mengyao, commuting to and from school together daily, taking care of her daily life, and tutoring her studies after school... Simply put, I'd like you to be her companion... I've been too busy with business these past few years and haven't given my daughter enough attention, which I deeply regret. I want to find someone who gets along well with her to show her more care... This is the real reason I asked you to come... You're close in age, and young people should have common topics to discuss, right?"
Chu Pengzhan said with a smile.
Lin Yi was a bit stunned. Find someone who gets along well with her?
Show more care? Common topics? Really?
This was the so-called lifelong career?
The more he heard, the more it sounded like matchmaking.
Could it be that this young lady had some physiological problems and couldn't get married, so they were trying to set up an arranged match?
"Mr. Lin, is something wrong?"
Seeing Lin Yi's shocked expression, Chu Pengzhan seemed to guess what he was thinking. "I thought Grandpa Lin would have explained the job details to you, but apparently that's not the case?"
"Mr. Chu, please just call me Lin Yi. 'Mr. Lin' feels a bit awkward."
Lin Yi said with a bitter smile. "To be honest, I really didn't know what I was coming here to do. Grandpa just said it was an important mission, and if I did well, it would set me up for life..."
"Set you up for life?"
Chu Pengzhan was momentarily surprised by Lin Yi's words, then burst into laughter. "Hahaha, Grandpa Lin's way of putting it isn't wrong either. If you do well, you really could get lifelong rewards!"
"This is..."
Lin Yi still didn't understand what Chu Pengzhan wanted him to do. "But what exactly is my mission?"
"Just what I said. Commuting to and from school with my daughter and studying together. Of course, I also want you to protect her safety and make sure she doesn't get bullied."
Chu Pengzhan explained.
"Study buddy? Helper?"
That was the only way Lin Yi could describe it.
"Yes... You can understand it that way. That's essentially what it is."
Chu Pengzhan nodded, and before Lin Yi could say anything, handed him a document. "This is information about Songshan First High School. Look it over first."
Lin Yi nodded with some confusion and took the document. This was Grandpa's super-level mission?
Damn, got fooled again?
Just like last time when he went to South America—Grandpa said he was going to rescue one person... but ended up having to rescue a whole bunch of people...
But no matter how you looked at it, the pay was high, the mission was extremely low-risk, and it just had the nature of being a rich girl's lackey. Whatever, he'd treat it as a vacation.
Songshan City First High School was called First High School, but it had actually become a private school long ago.
They just hadn't changed the name when it was acquired. Chu Pengzhan's Pengzhan Group was one of the school's three major shareholders.
That's why he could easily get into this high school despite never even attending elementary school.
Lin Yi had never been to school, but he knew from the internet how difficult it was for rural kids to attend school in the city.
"Understood. I'll do my job properly."
After looking through the materials, Lin Yi nodded.
"Of course, Chu Mengyao might be a bit strong-willed, but she's essentially a good kid."
Chu Pengzhan smiled wryly at this point. "I believe someone as outstanding as you will definitely get along well with her."
Get along well?
Lin Yi didn't expect to get along well with this young lady. They weren't in a romantic relationship—what was the point of getting along well?
But Lin Yi said, "I'll do my best."
Chu Pengzhan seemed to see through Lin Yi's perfunctory response, smiled slightly, then called toward the office door: "Uncle Fu, Yaoyao should be getting out of school soon. Go pick her up and show Mr. Lin around the environment while you're at it."
"Mr. Chu, please just call me Lin Yi. Or even Little Yi is fine. Being called 'Mr. Lin' feels awkward."
Lin Yi said.
"Alright then, I'll call you Little Yi. After all, I'm older than you, so you won't be at a disadvantage. You can stop calling me Mr. Chu too—just call me Uncle Chu."
Chu Pengzhan nodded, not dwelling on this issue further.
Lin Yi nodded and went downstairs with Uncle Fu, taking the elevator down to the underground parking garage on the first basement level.