Xiang Feifei glanced at Lu Nan, and they exchanged a knowing look. She really didn’t understand why Dong Hui was so eager to visit the boys’ dormitory. She kept complaining about how messy it was, yet she happily went there two days in a row. Clearly, she was enjoying it. 

She can go if she wants, but does she really have to come back and brag so much? Honestly, she couldn’t care less—whether it’s their underwear or their leg hair. 

Lu Nan understood the sarcasm in Feifei’s eyes, smiled slightly, and subtly shrugged: “You all chat; I’m going to take a shower first.” 

As she headed upstairs, Dong Hui was still sharing her experiences from the boys’ dorm with the other girls from Yunan. Lu Nan couldn’t help but send a WeChat message to Yan Kai: 

‘Has your dorm been lively these past two days?’

‘Don’t mention it! Last night, Yi Wei was drunk and threw up twice; we had to clean up. He felt embarrassed today and said he’d cook us a big meal… But Lu Nan, that girl Dong Hui from your dorm—does she have an issue with you?’  Yan Kai asked hesitantly. 

That caught Lu Nan off guard. 

Chen Xiao’s reminders about reporting part-time work needing evidence could be attributed to his meticulous nature, and Sasha’s discovery of Dong Hui’s dissatisfaction with Lu Nan could be attributed to female attention to detail. 

But Yan Kai was different. He was quite a straightforward man, with the easygoing nature typical of man his age. 

If even he suspected that Dong Hui might have issues with Lu Nan… Dong Hui’s behavior in the boys’ dorm must have been quite obvious. 

Just how clueless was I in my past life to let someone like her push me around for so long?! Lu Nan shook her head silently, regretting her past self for not being more assertive. 

Lu Nan asked: ‘Hmm? What did she say?’

Yan Kai replied: ‘I’m not sure if I’m overthinking, but this evening when she came over, she randomly brought you up at the dinner table. She said you went out for social events with Li Li, otherwise, you could have joined us. Then Wang Xiaoxue said you’re very ambitious; otherwise, you wouldn’t have caught both Brother Xiao and Li Li’s attention. Dong Hui then said you might be someone with a strong career ambition and might be the fastest person in the group purchasing department to become a business supervisor. Anyway, the two of them were exchanging remarks that made it uncomfortable to listen to.’ 

After saying that, Yan Kai seemed to realize he might be gossiping too much, so he quickly added: 

‘I’m just repeating exactly what they said, word for word. I just felt like their tone was weird, like they weren’t really complimenting you.’ 

‘It’s just the same old trick.’ She replied, ‘It’s fine, just ignore them.’ 

Yan Kai was a bit concerned: ‘But if they keep saying things like this, it’s unavoidable that some people might believe it. I’m worried others might misunderstand you.’ 

There were a few business representatives living in the boys’ dorm. At most, Zhou Lei and Yan Kai were business supervisors (the former will likely be Dong Hui’s boyfriend if nothing unexpected happens, and the latter is Lu Nan’s direct senior, so their opinions of Lu Nan won’t change because of what others say or do).  

Would misunderstandings from others affect Lu Nan? Would it lower her salary or cause her to lose dealers? Absolutely not. 

Lu Nan responded dismissively: ‘Time will show a person’s true character.’  

To her, the most annoying thing about Dong Hui’s comments was the mention of braised pork—ah! Tonight, Mr. Yuan had ordered mostly seafood dishes, with sea cucumbers, abalone, and king crab, all incredibly fresh. But… such a down-to-earth dish like braised pork belly? Naturally, it wasn’t on the menu. 

Three-layered, fatty yet tender braised pork belly! 

Melt-in-your-mouth fatty meat and pork skin! 

Oil-rich, sugar-glazed, calorie-packed braised pork belly! 

So soft that it wobbled when picked up with chopsticks!  

Lu Nan expressed her craving for braised pork with a series of parallel phrases in her mind, then drank half a glass of warm water. 

Thinking about this late at night is too sinful. Better go wash my hair and take a shower, then do some writing to clear my mind. 

…… 

The next day was Monday. After the morning meeting, Lu Nan, as usual, found something for herself to do to stay ‘busy.’ 

By noon, she went to a fast-food place and bought half a portion of braised pork and half a portion of braised ribs, telling herself to finish eating and go exercise in the evening! 

Each week, Lu Nan carried a gym bag three or four times, and over time, people in the same dormitory knew about her fitness habit. 

For newly graduated college students, the term “gym” seems to have an oddly sophisticated ring to it. 

Xiang Feifei, who has a tendency to gain weight, couldn’t help but ask Lu Nan, “Is it expensive to get a membership card?” Learning that an annual card costs 1,200 yuan, which is less than 100 yuan per month (since the gym is closed during the New Year, the annual card comes with an extra month, totaling 13 months), she was immediately tempted. 

Lu Nan kindly advised, “As long as you think you can keep it up, the card is worth it. If your enthusiasm for exercise only lasts half a month or a month, then you’re just giving money to the gym owner.” 

Xiang Feifei thought about it and agreed with this reasoning. Perseverance is indeed the hardest part. But seeing that Lu Nan had persisted for a while, she gritted her teeth and said, “I’ll follow your pace. We can keep each other in check, what do you think?” 

Sounds good. Lu Nan felt that Xiang Feifei was quite compatible with her and decided to try becoming friends again. 

So the gym membership consultant who helped Lu Nan sign up gained another client. 

Xiang Feifei, like Lu Nan, began to try exercising three to four times a week. 

Dong Hui, of course, was curious. After learning from Hong Danni that Xiang Feifei and Lu Nan went to the gym together, she felt a competitive urge rise within her. This led her to convince Wang Xiaoxue to get a gym membership at a gym a little farther away, with an annual fee of 1,500 yuan. 

Later, Dong Hui “casually” mentioned to Hong Danni that this gym was a bit more upscale. 

Living under the same roof means there are no real secrets; Lu Nan just smiled when she found out. 

Some people are just born with a tendency to be big spenders. Maybe they only feel at ease when they’ve paid a lot.  

… 

The days passed smoothly after that. Mr. Yang’s small event was held successfully, and the relationship between Liu Meng and Lu Nan also improved, reaching a point where it could be called a plastic friendship.  

One time, before the event started, Lu Nan ran into Mr. Yuan at the hotel entrance. 

The other person had complimented her a few times, and last time, he even helped her out. Lu Nan wasn’t the type to forget that kind of thing, so when she saw him, she naturally approached and greeted him. 

After greeting, Lu Nan also took the opportunity to build a connection between Mr. Yang and Mr. Yuan, suggesting to Mr. Yang that if he wanted to join an executive training class or enroll employees in training or team-building activities, he might consider Mr. Yuan’s company first. She also told Mr. Yuan that whether he needed to print color pages, produce videos, or procure wine, he could contact Feixiang.  

Both Mr. Yang and Mr. Yuan were seasoned businessmen, and after a few minutes of conversation, they quickly made deals and even scheduled to meet for tea next time.  

A few days later, even though Mr. Yuan already had Mr. Yang’s contact information, he still reached out to Lu Nan to buy wine. 

He ordered two cases of ten-year vintage, two cases of fifteen-year vintage, and one case of twenty-year vintage, totaling over 24,000 yuan at the group purchase price. 

Lu Nan sent the list of wines Mr. Yuan needed to Feixiang, and got the payment account details from Sister Pei, then forwarded the payment information to Mr. Yuan. 

After that, the delivery was naturally handled by Feixiang. 

In addition, Lu Nan called ahead to check Mr. Yuan’s schedule and, after confirming he was available one afternoon, visited his company with some gifts for relationship maintenance. 

To show her gratitude to Mr. Yuan, within her scope of authority, she prepared two bottles of fifteen-year vintage tasting wine without outer packaging, a set of tea utensils, and a set of wine utensils. 

Mr. Yuan was indeed very pleased upon receiving them and said that even if he couldn’t successfully recruit her, he would definitely keep in touch with Lu Nan. 

… 

Afterward, Sister Pei transferred 1,500 yuan to Lu Nan as a “reward,” but Lu Nan refused to accept it. 

She did like money and was working hard to earn it, but some money was acceptable to take, and some was not. 

Lu Nan planned to coast at Yuan Chuan, and by the end of the year, she aimed to use the payments from Feixiang to achieve performance bonuses. For now, she decided to set aside these small profits—after all, accepting kickbacks from distributors was strictly prohibited by Yuan Chuan (and, more precisely, by the entire liquor industry) and was something the company was heavily cracking down on. 

When Lu Nan came to the company to request the catering invoice for the event, Sister Pei, with the office door closed, had a serious talk with her. She learned that Lu Nan genuinely did not want the “reward.” 

Sister Pei, understanding Yuan Chuan’s company regulations, gave Lu Nan a bottle of perfume the next day. 

Sister Pei said that if Lu Nan refused even this, it would feel too distant between them.  

Lu Nan smiled helplessly and accepted it, but told Sister Pei not to spend so much next time; she was just doing her job, after all. 

Back in her dorm, she unwrapped the glass paper and box. The delicate glass bottle contained a dreamy, light pink liquid. Lu Nan tried it out in her small dressing room—it was a fruity fragrance, sweet and tangy with a citrusy freshness in the base notes, perfect for a young woman. 

She felt that spraying it directly on her wrist and behind her ears before work would be too strong, so she sprayed it around her clothes (excluding white ones) the night before. The next day, only a subtle, barely noticeable sweet scent remained, which Lu Nan found very satisfactory. 

Clearly, July was very kind to Lu Nan.  

Work was going smoothly: She only needed to work for one or two hours a day, with the rest of her time being free. Besides Mr. Yuan, later Mr. Song also bought a bottle of classic fifteen-year wine, and the president of the Book Readers Club ordered three ten-year and two fifteen-year bottles. All these goods were sourced from Feixiang, so the relationship between Lu Nan and Sister Pei grew even closer. Even Liu Meng and the others began calling her Manager Lu seriously. 

Writing was going well: her saved-up manuscripts were enough to last until mid-August (during this time, she would make sure to keep writing in her spare time, maintaining a good supply). With a daily output of 6,000 words, her earnings were steadily over 200 yuan, so reaching 6,000 yuan in manuscript earnings for July wouldn’t be a problem.

Her health was also good. Although her rhinitis would occasionally bother her, going to the gym three to four times a week effectively alleviated the tension in her neck and shoulders and reduced the frequency of rhinitis flare-ups. 

Everything was going well. 

Except for one thing—her mother called once a week and always asked if Lu Nan had chosen a car. She insisted that Lu Nan must ask her father for more money to buy a good car. 

Lu Nan temporarily avoided this topic, but she knew she couldn’t escape it when she went home for the holidays. 

Lu Nan thought to herself: “I’ll hold onto my investments until October, and then take things one step at a time…”