Chapter 298 - 198: Lu Fan: Silu, I’m Giving You a Design Company to Manage

Chapter 298: Chapter 198: Lu Fan: Silu, I’m Giving You a Design Company to Manage

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Jinling Institute of Technology campus.

Xu Junjie sat in his dorm room, staring at the ledgers on his computer, almost tearing his hair out.

The dense numbers on the screen looked like a swarm of crawling ants, making his eyes blur and his head pound.

He had been staring at these ledgers for three whole days, but he still couldn’t figure out where the problem was.

His phone rang again.

He glanced at the caller ID and his heart skipped a beat. It was that convenience store owner, Boss Wang.

He hesitated for a few seconds before answering.

"Hello, Boss Wang—"

Before he could finish, the voice on the other end started chewing him out. "Xu Junjie! What kind of crappy accounting is this?! The damn tax bureau called me in for ’a cup of tea’ yesterday! Did you know that?!"

Xu Junjie’s face went pale. He quickly tried to explain, "Boss Wang, please calm down. There might be a misunderstanding—"

"Misunderstanding, my ass!" Boss Wang’s voice was so loud it nearly shattered the phone. "The people from the tax bureau went through the ledgers with me, line by line. The mistakes were ridiculous! The extra tax I had to pay was almost a month’s worth of my profit! How did you even do these books? Do you even know what you’re doing?"

Xu Junjie was so thoroughly reamed out that he couldn’t say a single word.

"Let me tell you, you’re going to reimburse me for this!" Boss Wang roared. "Otherwise, I’m going to your school to file a complaint! Let’s see what the school administration thinks about how their students do business!"

With that, the line went dead with a CLICK.

Xu Junjie stared at his phone, his hands trembling.

This was already the fifth client to yell at him this month.

The first few hadn’t been so bad, just asking him to redo the work. But this one was threatening to file a complaint.

’What did I do wrong?’

’I followed those tutorials perfectly. Every step matched up. How could it be wrong?’

He ran his hands through his hair in frustration, pushed his laptop aside, and slumped over his desk.

The dorm room was quiet. His roommates weren’t around.

He was all alone, his thoughts a chaotic mess.

’Maybe I should go find Jiang Sifan?’

The thought startled even him the moment it surfaced.

’Find Jiang Sifan? Wouldn’t that be admitting defeat?’

The last time he’d approached Jiang Sifan about a partnership, he had been met with nothing but cold sarcasm.

But if he didn’t ask for help, he’d never be able to sort out these clients’ books.

If they really filed complaints, he’d have a hard time explaining himself to the school.

He gritted his teeth, picked up his phone, and found Jiang Sifan’s number.

But his finger hovered over the call button, unable to press it.

He remembered that day at the Dual Innovation Department, how he had thrown Jiang Sifan’s application form into the trash.

He remembered calling Jiang Sifan a few days ago, only to be humiliated by him.

Going to him now would just be asking for more humiliation, wouldn’t it?

Xu Junjie tossed his phone aside and slumped back onto the desk, motionless.

After a long while, he shot up, grabbed his phone, and made another call.

"Hey, Ah Dong, are you in the dorm? Come out for a bit, I need to talk to you."

Ah Dong was his roommate, and also the only person he felt he could really talk to.

About ten minutes later, the two met up at the entrance of the small shop downstairs.

When Ah Dong saw the state he was in, he was taken aback. "Jun Jie, what’s wrong? You look terrible."

Xu Junjie sighed. "Ah Dong, can you help me get in touch with those guys who did the accounting before?"

Ah Dong looked awkward. "Jun Jie, last time you owed them money for a long while. Even though you paid up in the end, they’re still sore about it. They won’t do it unless you can pay them upfront this time."

Xu Junjie’s face darkened. "I’ll figure out the money."

Ah Dong glanced at him, looking like he wanted to say something but held back. In the end, he just nodded. "Alright, I’ll ask around for you."

...

It was already afternoon by the time Xu Junjie got home.

He unlocked the door with his key. The house was silent.

He changed his shoes and took a few steps inside when he heard a noise from the kitchen.

He walked over and saw Mrs. Xu busy in the kitchen, something steaming in a pot on the stove.

"Mom," he called out.

Mrs. Xu turned and, after a moment of surprise, broke into a smile. "Jun Jie, you’re back! Why didn’t you say you were coming? I would have made you something nice to eat."

Xu Junjie leaned against the kitchen doorway and explained, "It was a last-minute trip. Something came up."

Mrs. Xu wiped her hands. As the saying goes, no one knows a son better than his mother. She walked over and asked, "What is it?"

Xu Junjie hesitated. "Mom, I need to borrow some money."

"Borrow money? How much?" Mrs. Xu was taken aback.

"Ten thousand."

"Ten thousand? Why do you need so much?" The smile on Mrs. Xu’s face froze.

Xu Junjie explained, "My startup project needs some capital for cash flow. I’ll make it back soon."

Mrs. Xu looked at him, her eyes filled with worry. "Jun Jie, what’s really going on with that startup of yours? Why does it always need money? Didn’t I just give you five thousand last time?"

"Mom, you don’t get it. You have to invest in the early stages of a startup. I’m so close to succeeding, I just need this one last push." Xu Junjie was growing impatient, afraid his cover would be blown if his mom kept asking questions.

Mrs. Xu wanted to say more, but seeing the look on his face, her heart ached for him.

She sighed. "Alright, I’ll get it for you."

She turned and went into the bedroom, returning a moment later with an envelope, which she handed to Xu Junjie.

"This is my private savings. Your father doesn’t know about it, so use it sparingly."

Xu Junjie took the envelope and glanced inside. It was a thick stack of cash.

A complicated feeling suddenly welled up inside him. He said in a low voice, "Thanks, Mom."

Mrs. Xu ruffled his hair and said with a smile, "Silly boy, you don’t have to be so formal with your own mother."

Just then, the sound of a key turning in the lock came from the front door.

Xu Junjie’s expression changed instantly, and he quickly stuffed the envelope into his pocket.