msmithbooks Chapter 1: 25?
Chapter 1: 25?
At the fast food restaurant, Chen Yuanzhou was at the end of the line. Faced with a wide variety of dishes, he only took a small plate of stir-fried bean sprouts and quickly walked past the others who were still choosing, and went to the end of the aisle to pay.
"Is the soup free? And can I get unlimited refills of rice?"
After receiving confirmation from the fast food restaurant cashier, Chen Yuanzhou went to the insulated bucket, picked up the large iron ladle inside, and began to stir it.
"What kind of life is Comrade Chen living? No wonder he tried to commit suicide!" Chen Yuanzhou thought to himself.
As a top real estate agent and a prominent real estate blogger in Jiangcheng, he was staying up all night researching the impact of the "15th Five-Year Plan" on the real estate industry, preparing to write articles and shoot videos, when suddenly everything went black and he lost consciousness.
When he woke up again, he had transmigrated into the body of a pitiful man burning charcoal in a rented room.
After spending the entire night merging the memories, Chen Yuanzhou began to understand why this pathetic wretch had done what he did…
The young man in this parallel world is also named Chen Yuanzhou, and he just turned 20 this year.
Born in a small mountain town, his mother died early, his father remarried, and after his stepmother gave birth to his half-brother, his timid father obeyed his stepmother's every word, leaving him a child completely unattended.
After finally graduating from high school, even though he didn't get into university, Comrade Xiao Chen resolutely packed his bags and fled the place that could never be called home.
After arriving in Jiangcheng, the provincial capital, he spent two years handing out flyers on the streets, posting small posters on door-to-door, washing dishes in restaurants, and even wearing a mascot costume under the scorching sun…
Later, after hearing from a fellow villager that real estate agents could make money quickly, I foolishly applied for a job at a real estate agency.
However, this was in 2008, when the subprime mortgage crisis swept the globe, and the real estate industry was in a slump.
In this environment, Xiao Chen, who was both inexperienced and honest but also dull-witted, couldn't even sign a few clients, let alone get any deals. He even failed the onboarding exam after training.
Today is the day for the make-up exam. If I pass, I can try to get a one-month probation period, but if I fail again, I will be laid off by the company.
Under immense economic and psychological pressure, Comrade Xiao Chen chose to burn charcoal…
Chen Yuanzhou, adhering to the principle of "not having experienced the suffering of others," did not comment on the poor man's choice, but instead began to consider his own situation.
The good news is that I'm still in my comfort zone, and it's still before the first major boom in the real estate industry.
Based on his foresight, abilities, and experience, Chen Yuanzhou couldn't even imagine how happy he would be next!
Even the joy of a mouse entering a rice jar, a wolf among sheep, or Ximen Guanren opening an MCN (Multi-Channel Network) cannot fully describe this happiness!
The bad news is that Comrade Xiao Chen left behind only 23.33 yuan in inheritance, a number that seems to mock his tragic life.
It's only mid-October now. With this little money, I'll probably starve before I even get paid next week, let alone get involved in those lucrative businesses!
Thinking of his newly purchased luxury apartment, the Panamera he had just bought, and all those wealthy female fans with good looks and figures, Chen Yuanzhou felt a little uncomfortable.
Before it was just a headache, now it's a headache!
……
After stirring the seaweed and egg drop soup in the bucket with a large iron ladle for a while, Chen Yuanzhou scooped it out from the middle, only to find a pitiful few strands of seaweed and barely visible egg drop.
Sure enough, the fact that this "Shunwangji" fast food restaurant has become one of the top 100 catering enterprises shows that it has a good way of reducing costs and increasing efficiency. This bowl of seaweed and egg drop soup is almost just clear broth.
Chen Yuanzhou was even more annoyed!
Left with no other choice, he ladled out a bowl of what was nominally seaweed and egg drop soup and placed it on his plate, so that the lonely dish of bean sprouts wouldn't look so pitiful.
"First, I need to pass the job entrance exam, then make some money as soon as possible, otherwise it would be ridiculous for a reborn person to starve to death!"
As Chen Yuanzhou thought this, he picked up his tray and started looking for an empty seat. It was lunchtime, and the fast food restaurant was bustling with people, making it difficult to find a seat.
Just as he was searching, he heard someone call out to him: "Xiao Chen, come and eat with us."
Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw the store manager, Zhang Wang, waving at him, with Wu Ningfeng, the store's top salesman, sitting next to him.
Wu Ningfeng signed two deals last month, which may not seem like much, but it's quite an achievement given the current market conditions.
Moreover, he is a stable contributor who can sign contracts every month, and he is also a reserve of rural residents in the suburbs who are eligible for land expropriation. Therefore, he is usually a bit arrogant and doesn't take anyone seriously except Zhang Wang.
After Chen Yuanzhou sat down, Zhang Wang looked at the mess on his plate and then smiled as he pushed his own food into the middle.
Roast duck, braised fish chunks, stir-fried lettuce with pork...
Chen Yuanzhou stared wide-eyed!
Comrade Xiao Chen had lived a miserable life before, and was really starving. Those meat dishes looked incredibly tempting to him.
Seeing this, Zhang Wang said generously, "Don't be shy, you have a makeup exam this afternoon, eat more."
"Thank you, manager!" Chen Yuanzhou had initially wanted to be reserved, but his stomach wouldn't allow it, so he started wolfing down his food. "I'll treat you to a big meal after I sign the bill!"
"Hehe~" Zhang Wang smiled without saying a word.
As the store manager, he knew this young man's abilities all too well; he was honest but lacked wit, and he couldn't see even a shred of talent as a real estate agent.
The saying goes, "A woman fears marrying the wrong man, and a man fears entering the wrong profession." In fact, Zhang Wang was already thinking about how to subtly persuade Chen Yuanzhou to change careers when he was laid off.
Chen Yuanzhou couldn't think about that at the moment. His body, which hadn't eaten breakfast, was completely hungry after eating two pieces of roast duck. He finished a large bowl of rice in just two or three minutes and got up to get more rice.
"That blockhead must be starving~" Wu Ningfeng said to Zhang Wang while watching Chen Yuanzhou's back. "But if he fails his makeup exam again today, he should be promoted, right? He usually seems so dull-witted, and he can't even speak properly when clients come in. I don't think he has a chance this time."
"It's really too difficult to recruit someone as talented as me! Haha~"
Zhang Wang: "Don't say that. He's just too honest. Sigh, it's a pity our line of work isn't suited for honest people."
He then asked, "By the way, has Wu Jian'an from your village looked at so many houses yet? You haven't made a decision on any of them. You haven't signed a contract this month, you need to hurry up."
Wu Ningfeng curled his lip: "He was quite satisfied with a few of the apartments, but he told me he didn't have the money until the demolition compensation came through. That's ridiculous! Do you think I, from our village, don't know whether he has money or not?"
"Could he have skipped the agent?" Zhang Wang asked warily. "Keep a close eye on him, or you'll end up doing all the work for someone else!"
Wu Ningfeng waved his hand confidently and said, "Don't worry, he already told me that he'll definitely come to me if he buys a house. He won't run away. Besides, we're all from the same village. If he dares to skip out on the deal, I'll make a slingshot and smash their windows!"
Hearing this, Zhang Wang was somewhat relieved. Thinking about it, it made sense. Of all the residents of Wujia Village who were relocated due to demolition, apart from those who bought new houses, all the others had been taken advantage of by Wu Ningfeng, a fellow villager. Without exception, this had always been Wu Ningfeng's biggest advantage.
At this moment, Chen Yuanzhou returned and sat down, continuing his whirlwind of activity.
Seeing this, Wu Ningfeng teased him, "Little Chen, eat slowly, no one's going to take it from you. Here, take this lion's head meatball, you never know when we might have another chance to eat together."
"Can't you say something nicer?" Zhang Wang said with a laugh.
Chen Yuanzhou took a bite of the lion's head meatball without any hesitation and said to Zhang Wang, "Don't worry, manager, the retake is no problem, and signing the contract is no problem either!"
Zhang Wang was somewhat surprised, thinking that Chen Yuanzhou had been in the store for almost a month, and he had never seen him so confident.
Although he didn't think Chen Yuanzhou could do it, he didn't want to discourage the young man, so he smiled and nodded in agreement.
Wu Ningfeng, standing to the side, had no such reservations and directly teased, "Since you're so confident, how about we make a bet? If you pass the makeup exam, I'll cover all your meals for this month, how about that?"
"Can it be converted into cash?" Chen Yuanzhou asked without looking up.
"Hahaha~" Wu Ningfeng laughed: "No problem! How about this, if you pass, I'll give you 500 yuan directly, if you fail, you can just give me 250 yuan."
"real?"
"Really! The store manager can vouch for it."
Chen Yuanzhou chuckled: "Then I'll thank you in advance!"
As he spoke, he finished another large bowl of rice, wiped his mouth, and said to Zhang Wang, "Manager, I'm going to retake the exam."
"Okay, don't feel pressured, relax," Zhang Wang said symbolically.
After Chen Yuanzhou left, he said to Wu Ningfeng, "You went too far with that joke. That's an 'idiot' and it sounds really awful."
"Tch~" Wu Ningfeng shrugged nonchalantly: "With his dimwitted brain, he probably wouldn't even realize I'm insulting him. Okay, I'm not really going to take his money, I just don't believe he's qualified. Speaking of which, you should start preparing to recruit new people, and choose carefully this time, so you don't end up hiring another blockhead."
Hearing this, Zhang Wang suddenly recalled Chen Yuanzhou's confident expression from earlier and smiled: "What if he passes this time?"