Era: A college student came to the courtyard house

Lin Xianghua frowned slightly, thinking to himself, "What's the use of you staying here? If you don't let Fang Yuan lead the way, you probably won't even be able to get into President Wu's house."

Lin Xianghua snorted coldly, then turned and left the room without looking back.

Li Jianye was left standing there, and when he saw that everyone's eyes were intentionally or unintentionally sweeping over him, he immediately felt his face burning.

Despite harboring resentment, he continued shouting, "Xiao Fang, you must be careful when you're out and about. There can't be the slightest mistake. This is a difficult task..."

Before he could finish speaking, Fang Yuan had already followed Lin Xianghua away in silence.

Having suffered two setbacks within a minute, Li Jianye was even more embarrassed. He dared not have any thoughts about Lin Xianghua, but he harbored resentment towards Fang Yuan.

He had already secretly decided that once he got back, he would definitely find an opportunity to hone Fang Yuan's skills.

We left the guesthouse.

Lin Xianghua and Fang Yuan got into the GAZ jeep one after the other.

Gao Yifan asked, "Secretary, where are we going?"

Just as Fang Yuan was about to give Wu Jinxi's address, Lin Xianghua softly uttered four words: "Department Store."

Fang Yuan suddenly realized that if it was an apology, there was no way to come empty-handed.

It seems that Lin Xianghua intends to balance public and private matters, turning official contacts into personal networks.

As they approached the department store, Gao Yifan found an open space and parked the car.

"Let's all go together."

At Lin Xianghua's call, Fang Yuan and Gao Yifan exchanged a glance and then quickly followed.

Upon entering the department store, Lin Xianghua encountered a dilemma.

When it comes to gift-giving, the key is to give it cleverly to achieve twice the result with half the effort, while giving the wrong gift can backfire.

"Xiao Gao, Xiao Fang, do you two have any good suggestions?"

Lin Xianghua rarely went out to buy things himself, so he was in a bit of a predicament as soon as he entered the gate.

Although Fang Yuan already had a plan in mind, she didn't rush to speak, but waited for Gao Yifan to speak first.

Upon hearing the question, Gao Yifan replied without hesitation, "Secretary Lin, still cigarettes and alcohol?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Xianghua immediately shook his head and said, "No, you may not know, but anyone who brings cigarettes and alcohol to President Wu's house can only talk at the door."

Gao Yifan scratched his head and pulled out his usual second option, if the cheap one didn't work, he'd go for the expensive one: "How about we buy a watch?"

Lin Xianghua considered it for a while, but was still not satisfied: "It's too expensive. They don't want cigarettes or alcohol, let alone a watch. You should think of something that they would feel embarrassed to refuse."

The three of them wandered around, and Gao Yifan suddenly suggested again, "We can buy a fountain pen. President Wu works for a newspaper, and he'll definitely need it when writing documents."

Upon hearing this, Fang Yuan quickly pretended to realize something and slapped his forehead, saying, "Secretary, I suddenly remembered that last night I saw a lot of calligraphy he wrote himself hanging in President Wu's study. Also, he likes to play chess."

"Oh? So what do you mean?" Lin Xianghua asked, seeing that Fang Yuan was implying something.

"My personal idea is that we might as well buy something that President Wu is interested in."

"Don't hold back, just say it all at once."

Lin Xianghua found Fang Yuan more and more pleasing to the eye, so he spoke more freely when only his own people were present.

"What I mean is, could we choose one of the Four Treasures of the Study, and then pick a good chess set? After all, it's better to give a pair than an odd one."

Upon hearing this suggestion, Lin Xianghua immediately stopped and said, "That's good. As expected of a college student, your perspective on the issue is very insightful."

Seeing that Lin Xianghua agreed, Fang Yuan continued, "For the Four Treasures of the Study—brush, ink, paper, and inkstone—I suggest we buy some better quality paper, preferably raw Xuan paper. I saw some of President Wu's works yesterday, and most of them were in cursive script."

"Good lad, I didn't expect you to notice these things, you're very observant." Lin Xianghua immediately clapped his hands and decided, "Then let's buy these two items."

Faced with Lin Xianghua's praise, Fang Yuan smiled and said, "I only remembered President Wu's love of writing after I heard Master Gao mention fountain pens. Otherwise, I might not have thought of it."

Upon hearing Fang Yuan's words, Gao Yifan, who was standing nearby, instantly stopped the faint resentment in his eyes.

Lin Xianghua glanced at the two of them and nodded inwardly in approval of Fang Yuan's performance.

Understanding the ways of the world is true learning; navigating human relationships and social customs is true literature.

Through this short conversation, he could tell that although Gao Yifan was a few years older than Fang Yuan, he was still inferior to Fang Yuan in terms of speaking skills, especially in terms of attention to detail.

Gao Yifan, simply to satisfy his curiosity, continued, "Then why can't we buy the other three items from the Four Treasures of the Study?"

"First of all, among these four things, paper is the most ordinary. If we buy better quality paper, it will better express our feelings. Secondly, paper is also the fastest-consuming item for people who love to write. This way, we can keep a budget."

Fang Yuan answered Gao Yifan's question, and at the same time, he recalled a sentence his master had taught him when he gave gifts in his previous life: When giving gifts, you should choose the most expensive among the low-cost-performance items.

Gao Yifan was still puzzled and asked, "Kou'er? What does that mean?"

Figure it out yourself.

Lin Xianghua had already realized Fang Yuan's meaning. Seeing that Gao Yifan was still standing there, he casually left a sentence, waved his hand, and led Fang Yuan to the third floor.

Gao Yifan quickly followed.

Compared to the bustling crowds on the first and second floors, there were relatively fewer people on the third floor.

This floor is mostly occupied by counters selling stationery.

Therefore, it didn't take much effort to select the best Xuan paper and a set of ebony chess pieces.

Fang Yuan picked out the Xuan paper, Lin Xianghua personally selected the chess set, and Gao Yifan paid for it.

After leaving the department store, Lin Xianghua didn't waste any more time and took the two of them to the car. They arrived at Wu Jinxi's house in no time.

Amidst Fang Yuan's knocking on the door.

The door was opened quickly.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Lin Xianghua, Wu Jinxi led the two into the study.

Seeing that Wu Jinxi was about to finish the calligraphy copybook he had just completed, Fang Yuan quickly put the Xuan paper in his hand under Wu Jinxi's desk.

Regardless of whether Wu Jinxi saw it or not, Fang Yuan finished putting it down and stood aside to start grinding ink.

Lin Xianghua stood on the other side watching Wu Jinxi wield his brush and ink, constantly uttering words of praise.

As soon as a piece of art was finished, before Wu Jinxi could even sit down, Lin Xianghua took out the chess set he had just bought and invited, "President Wu, shall we play a few games?"

Wu Jinxi was slightly taken aback. After glancing at Fang Yuan, she walked to the chessboard and sat down with a thud. Then, she said confidently, "You guys have done your homework very well."

Lin Xianghua picked up the conversation, saying meaningfully, "Insufficient strength is not good, otherwise you might easily be caught off guard."

The two kept moving the chess pieces in their hands, and started chatting intermittently.

After pouring them tea, Fang Yuan stood behind the two men and began to watch the game in silence.

As the battle intensified on the chessboard, Lin Xianghua began to set up an impenetrable defensive formation, while Wu Jinxi launched a relentless offensive.

After another exchange, Wu Jinxi looked at the pawn that had crossed the Chu River and Han border and couldn't help but say, "Your pawn is quite something."

Lin Xianghua laughed heartily and said knowingly, "That's right, a pawn crossing the river can be used as a chariot."

In order to repay Fang Yuan for saving his daughter's life, Wu Jinxi decided to be frank and say, "When Fang Yuan saved my daughter, it was as if our whole family owed him a debt of gratitude. I, Wu Jinxi, am not the kind of person who doesn't repay kindness. I've called this kid several times before, but he never wanted to come. I never expected that he would come on his own initiative this time, but it's because of official business."

"If your Red Star newspaper doesn't need another one like him, I'd like to transfer him to our office."

To help Fang Yuan, Wu Jinxi kept raising the stakes.

Lin Xianghua was clearly surprised that Wu Jinxi valued Fang Yuan so much and had such ideas about him. He immediately assured him, "Please rest assured, President Wu, our steel mill has always attached great importance to young talents."

At this moment, he had already made up his mind that once Su Haixiong returned from his studies at Anshan Iron and Steel, he would try to formalize Fang Yuan's relationship with him.

Having received Lin Xianghua's assurance, Wu Jinxi nodded in satisfaction, then winked at Fang Yuan and said, "Xiao Fang, go out and wait for a while."