The Heiress's Game

For a full hour after the interview ended, Li Chunjing sat on the bus on her way back, her mind replaying the scene from the Suiyuan Tea House.

She had been interviewed many times, but never like this before.

It wasn't an HR interview conducted in a meeting room following standard procedures; it wasn't a group interview or a stress interview.

A young woman was sitting in a wicker chair holding a cat. She poured her a cup of osmanthus oolong tea and asked her a few questions.

The question isn't "What is your biggest weakness?", but rather "When was the last time you independently solved a problem that no one told you how to do?"

The question wasn't "What are your salary requirements?", but rather "What was the thing your previous boss couldn't live without you?"

She didn't use many of the prepared interview terms when she answered, because she found that the other party didn't buy into them at all.

Gu Yunjin listened to her recount her experiences in the General Manager's Office over the years, and how she managed to pull the company's annual meeting back on track after it was almost canceled by the supplier. After listening, she neither nodded nor shook her head.

Then Gu Yunjin asked her, "You still have a lawsuit to deal with. If your work requires you to maintain a high level of focus every day, can you do it?"

Li Chunjing said yes.

Gu Yunjin looked at her for a few seconds and said okay.

And then it was over. So simple it felt unreal to her.

After returning home, she waited until the next day and paced around the rented room for the entire day.

My phone rang—it was the HR specialist from Gujia. The caller congratulated me on passing the interview; the position was a personal assistant, with a monthly salary of 20,000 yuan during the internship period.

Meals and accommodation are provided. The work location is in Suiyuan. The dormitory has been arranged. Report for duty next Monday.

She stood in front of the window, phone in hand, the yellow leaves of the pothos plant swaying gently in the breeze. She said thank you three times, and only after hanging up did she realize her hands were trembling slightly.

Twenty thousand a month. Internship period.

She worked in the general manager's office of that internet company for three years, earning a salary that rose from 4,000 to 15,000. Including overtime pay and year-end bonus, her annual income was just over 200,000.

The current internship salary is 20,000 RMB, and it will only be higher after you become a full-time employee.

Moreover, meals and accommodation were included—she no longer had to pay rent or transfer her salary to the landlord's account month after month.

The caller also mentioned that if you perform well, you could be promoted to a work assistant, with a clear career path.

She didn't know the exact salary of the work assistant.

On the day she reported for duty, when Sister He was showing her around, she casually mentioned that there was another guy joining the company that day—Lu Xiao, who was recommended by a headhunter and was directly assigned to the position of work assistant with a monthly salary of 60,000 yuan and an additional year-end bonus.

When Sister He said this, her tone was very ordinary, as if she were talking about today's weather.

Li Chunjing kept those words to herself for a long time, without asking why. She simply set a goal for herself in her heart, a clear goal like planting a flag on a new map.

She is to become a work assistant within six months.

She had carefully calculated the 200,000 yuan dowry from Fei Yang's family, and based on her current monthly salary during her internship, she could pay it all back in less than six months.

After checking in that afternoon, she hung the last piece of clothing from her bag into the closet and went to the window to open it.

Suiyuan was larger and quieter than she had imagined.

The servants' quarters were in a separate small building behind the main house.

She closed the window, drew the curtains, changed into the work clothes Sister He had given her, and walked to the mirror.

The person in the mirror was wearing a well-fitting light gray business suit, with her hair tied up, revealing the outline of her entire face.

Her eyes were exactly the same as when she was working, even more determined than before—back then she had no worries except for her future, and she still does now.

"The only way to relieve worries is through work."

She whispered something to herself in the mirror, then picked up her work phone and went to report to Sister He.

When Lu Xiao arrived at the private room in the restaurant, his mother had already called him three times to urge him to get there.

"Why are you so late? Your cousin brought her boyfriend home today, the whole family is here, you're the only one missing."

Lu's mother sounded both anxious and proud on the phone, "I heard that Xiao Sun's family is in real estate and has a net worth of tens of millions. You should have a good chat with them later and learn how they do business."

Lu Xiao parked the car and straightened his shirt collar in front of the rearview mirror.

He didn't tell his mother whose car it was—a black Mercedes-Benz S-Class, the work car that Gu Yunjin had provided for him, saying it was for the convenience of his work assistant.

He didn't tell his mother how much he earns a month, only that he works as an assistant at a small company.

"An assistant? What future is there in being an assistant?" His mother sighed on the phone.

"Forget it, let's just keep doing this. It's better than doing nothing."

Lu Xiao agreed, saying, "Let's get started."

He didn't explain that his direct supervisor was Gu Yunjin, the second young lady of the Gu family. Well, even if he did, they probably wouldn't know who Gu Yunjin was anyway.

What truly interested him wasn't just the salary; after all, who wouldn't be tempted by a monthly salary of 6?

Gu Yunjin, the boss, is quite interesting.

On the day of the interview, he was in front of Li Chunjing in line. When that girl came out of the president's office, her expression was as calm as if she had just finished a class, and he could not tell whether she was happy or angry.

When it was his turn to go in, Gu Yunjin didn't ask him any of the usual questions.

"Your resume says you had two years of management experience, and your previous boss described you as 'too full of ideas.' Tell me, what does 'too full of ideas' mean?"

Lu Xiao's heart skipped a beat.

The reason he left his previous job was indeed because he had a disagreement with his boss on strategic direction. As a result, he left, and his boss lost more than 30 million yuan six months later due to a decision-making error.

He didn't write these things on his resume, but Gu Yunjin had obviously found them.

He told the truth.

Gu Yunjin then asked a series of other unconventional questions. Gu Yunjin listened without any expression, only wrote a few words on the paper, and then said, "Come to work tomorrow."

Lu Xiao later learned that Gu Yunjin chose him because she didn't want a mere servant who only served tea and water, but someone who could handle things independently and dared to tell the truth in front of her.

These thoughts were gradually figured out by Lu Xiao after he had been working there for half a month.

After figuring it out, he felt a chill run down his spine—this twenty-six-year-old woman was more cunning than any old fox he had ever met in the business world.

But that's a work-related matter.

As Lu Xiao pushed open the door to the restaurant's private room, he was greeted by the aroma of hot dishes filling the table and the high-pitched laughter of his cousin, Tao Xinxin.

"Cousin! Why are you so late! Let me introduce you, this is Sun Haozhe, my boyfriend."

Tao Xinxin stood up, linking arms with a man, her smile conveying a sense of "Look how great my boyfriend is!"

Sun Haozhe was wearing a Givenchy sweatshirt covered in logos and a Panerai bracelet on his wrist. When he stood up and shook hands with Lu Xiao, he shook it vigorously twice, as if it were some kind of carefully practiced social gesture.

He was probably in his early thirties, with a slightly upturned chin. When he spoke, he habitually scanned the entire table, as if looking for someone with more presence than him.

Lu Xiao greeted everyone and sat down next to his mother. His mother leaned closer and whispered:

"Look at that young Sun, so impressive! When are you going to bring one home too?"

Lu Xiao smiled but didn't reply. He poured himself a cup of tea, intending to finish his meal quietly and then leave.

Sun Haozhe clearly had no intention of letting him have his quiet.

After the dishes were served, Sun Haozhe began to comment on each one. When a steamed grouper was served, he picked up a piece with his chopsticks, chewed it a couple of times, and then frowned:

"This fish was overcooked by thirty seconds; the cooking time was wrong. I ate fish steamed by Chef Chen himself at Lung King Heen in Hong Kong, and that was the standard tenderness. In these restaurants in China, not to mention the head chef, even the sous chefs don't have the basic skills."

Tao Xinxin looked at him with admiration, while the Lu family relatives exchanged bewildered glances.

Lu Xiao's uncle tentatively asked, "Is Long Jingxuan the one with the Michelin three stars?"

"Yes, I've been there many times and I'm quite familiar with their head chef."

Sun Haozhe put down his chopsticks, his tone as casual as if he were remarking on the nice weather.

"Actually, Michelin three stars are just so-so, it mainly depends on who the chef is."

Chef Paul Pairet from Shanghai UV Restaurant, for example, I've had his limited-edition set menu, which cost 28,000 yuan per person—he's definitely got some skills. Jingzhaoyin Restaurant in northern Beijing is also good, but their vegetarian dishes have their limits.

Lu's mother listened with her mouth agape, then turned to Lu Xiao and whispered, "Look at how ignorant she is."

Lu Xiao lowered his head and drank his tea. He recalled that he had gone with Gu Yunjin to Zhang Zhuoran's new company that morning to sign the investment agreement.

Who is Zhang Zhuoran? He is the eldest son of the Zhang family, with assets worth billions of yuan. His business empire spans real estate, energy, and technology, making him the kind of person who truly makes headlines in financial news.

When Gu Yunjin took him there, the two of them stood in Zhang Zhuoran's new office, which was not yet fully renovated. Zhang Zhuoran was wearing a Uniqlo plaid shirt and jeans.

"This office is a bit messy, please don't mind." Zhang Zhuoran peeked out from behind a bunch of server racks, holding a cup of Luckin Coffee.

"Would you like some coffee? We only have Americanos, and we're out of sugar."

Gu Yunjin looked around, sat down in a folding chair, and took out a checkbook from her bag:

"Twenty million, payable in three installments, the first installment of eight million arrives today."

Zhang Zhuoran took the check, glanced at it, and casually slipped it into a well-worn copy of "Machine Learning in Action," as if he were tucking in a sticky note.

"By the way, your assistant is quite capable. He recognized that my server uses an NVIDIA A100 at a glance, and even identified the model and batch number."

Gu Yunjin glanced at Lu Xiao but didn't say anything.

Twenty million, and they hadn't even signed a formal contract or set up a decent table. The two of them finished the business deal amidst a pile of server packaging boxes.

The entire process was conducted without a single wasted word, a single unnecessary action, or a single sentence boasting about which Michelin-starred restaurant one had dined at or which chef one knew.

Lu Xiao snapped out of his daze, but Sun Haozhe was still continuing.

"...So, most of the so-called rich second generation in China are only superficially glamorous."

You have absolutely no access to the real elite circles. At gatherings of that level, the conversation over a single meal can amount to a lifetime's income for an average person.

Sun Haozhe picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and said in a tone of someone who had been through it all, "You know the Gu Group, right? I had dinner with the secretary of Gu Mingcheng, the eldest son of the Gu family. We sat at the next table at a charity gala earlier this year."

Lu Xiao paused for a moment, holding his teacup.

Gu Mingcheng's secretary—that's just a secretary, after all. But Sun Haozhe spoke of this title as if it were a close brother.

"Cousin, where are you working now?" Sun Haozhe suddenly turned the conversation to Lu Xiao.

All eyes at the table turned to them.

Lu Xiao put down his teacup and said in a calm tone, "I work as an assistant at a small company."

Sun Haozhe's expression immediately showed a hint of sympathy and understanding, the kind of "I knew it" kind of understanding.

"Being an assistant is fine too. Take your time and gain experience. How about coming to my company? I happen to be looking for an administrative supervisor, and the salary will definitely be better than what you're currently getting."

"No need, I'm quite satisfied," Lu Xiao said.

Tao Xinxin snorted from the side, "Cousin, you're too modest. My mom said you didn't work for a long time after you quit your job, and now that you've finally found one, we're all happy for you. Haozhe means well, don't be shy."

Lu Xiao did not explain.

He recalled another incident from earlier that morning—after Gu Yunjin signed the check, Zhang Zhuoran suddenly brought up a matter concerning the Gu family.

"What's your dad's attitude towards your coming back?" Zhang Zhuoran asked directly.

Gu Yunjin capped the pen, her movements unhurried: "Actually, it was him who gave me those twenty million."

Zhang Zhuoran then asked, "By the way, what are your plans for the future? Are you really not going to join the Gu family?"

"My older brother is afraid of me." Gu Yunjin took a sip of water, her expression indifferent.

"My older brother is afraid of me, Wang Manyun is afraid of me, but Sister Mingyue isn't afraid of me because she's never taken me seriously. So many people don't want me to go, wouldn't it be pointless for me to go?"

"So what if I get in? Right now, the big boss calls the shots in the real estate sector, and Wang Manyun is also eyeing the board like a hawk. Several old ministers are sitting like nails in the boardroom."

"If I went in, I'd just be a high-level errand boy, a waste of time."

She said this in the same nonchalant tone as when she was talking about what she ate that day.

Zhang Zhuoran didn't show any surprise, he just nodded.

Lu Xiao stood to the side and listened to the entire conversation.

The man in front of me, Sun Haozhe, was dressed in a blatant display of logos, constantly boasting about his multi-million dollar fortune and extensive connections. He even took the opportunity to show off to his girlfriend's relatives.

Lu Xiao slowly took a sip of tea, a smile playing on his lips.

This meal was worth it.

Sun Haozhe was still talking at length about how he exchanged business cards with a big shot at a high-end cocktail party when Lu Xiao's phone suddenly lit up.

It was a message from Gu Yunjin, just one line:

"Zhang Zhuoran is having his first project meeting tomorrow morning at nine o'clock. You need to organize the information on the AI ​​chip supply chain and take the meeting minutes."

Lu Xiao replied with "Received" and turned his phone face down on the table.

His mother came over again: "Who is it? Is there an emergency at the company? Why can't your assistant get a break on the weekend?"

"It's nothing, just some materials we need for tomorrow's meeting," Lu Xiao said calmly, picking up a piece of food with his chopsticks.

Sun Haozhe, having apparently overheard this, spoke in a tone befitting someone with experience:

"That's how small companies are; the boss wants to do the work of three people. Just bear with it, and once you've accumulated enough experience, you can switch jobs."

Lu Xiao looked up at him and smiled.

"Okay, I'll think about it."