Chapter 594 - 376: You Might Make a Small Profit, but I’ll Never Lose (3)

Xue Rui remarked, "Learned something new today."

Triangles are stable, and Xue Rui couldn’t help but admire the wisdom of the ancients.

’Lin Ruoxi will unconditionally let me have my way, while Gu Muxue will give in to Lin Ruoxi and also go easy on me. That makes me the center point connecting the other two, doesn’t it?’

’Wait... that’s not quite right. Is the girl the center, then?’

In any case, it didn’t matter which point was the center. The important thing was that the situation had finally stabilized, and he wouldn’t have to spend all day making up stories anymore.

After their meal, the three of them said goodbye in the elevator and went their separate ways to attend their classes for the day.

Xue Rui sat in the passenger seat, enjoying the breeze. He figured he still had half an hour before he got to the university, so he opened Weibo on his phone and did an intense search using keywords like "Chang’an tourism" and "shared power banks."

Netizen "HateCilantro": [My trip to Chang’an was awful. I waited in line all afternoon to see the Terracotta Army, and they rushed us through in five minutes. What can you possibly see in five minutes?]

Xue Rui silently added his own review: ’Five minutes to see the warriors, two hours waiting in line.’

The next post made Xue Rui burst out laughing...

Netizen "MakingTheBestOfIt": [You guys complaining about the lines are lucky. At least you saw the real Terracotta Army. Me? I just got out of the taxi when the driver said he’d take me to see the Terracotta Army via a shortcut only locals knew, no queuing required. Well, see the result for yourselves.]

Scrolling down, Xue Rui saw that the user had posted a picture of a building mimicking the Pyramids and the Sphinx. He recognized the classic "Eight Wonders Hall" sign...

MakingTheBestOfIt: [I never in a million years expected to see the pyramids. Am I still in China? Where the hell did this guy take me?]

Next up was another picture: a brightly colored Terracotta Warrior, looking like it was painted with Dior 999 lipstick.

[Looks like it just came out of the oven last week.]

Xue Rui facepalmed with a wry smile. Another tourist scammed by a taxi driver. He replied: [You didn’t get ripped off. They went to a 5A-grade tourist spot, but you went to a 6B-grade one.]

MakingTheBestOfIt: [Badass! 6!]

Usually, the posts with the most engagement were either negative or completely bizarre, so Xue Rui couldn’t be bothered to read much further. ’What tourist city doesn’t have its share of scams these days?’

The city’s image was being tarnished by this bunch of opportunistic profiteers.

He kept scrolling and found that the reviews for his shared power banks were quite good. Because they were free during the National Day holiday, the praise was nearly unanimous. After all, who was going to nitpick something they got for free?

Meanwhile, the data Xue Rui received showed something interesting. Because of the 99-yuan deposit and the design with built-in cables, a significant number of users figured they came out ahead by *not* returning the power bank. When leaving Chang’an, they simply chose to buy it outright...

Netizen A: [99 yuan for a fast-charging power bank that comes with three built-in cables. I searched for the same model on Taobao, and the cheapest ones are two or three hundred yuan. What a steal!]

[It’s true! I see it’s co-branded with the Chang’an Culture and Tourism Bureau. Maybe there’s a subsidy? I’m gonna get one too.]

The corners of Xue Rui’s lips curved up. You really couldn’t buy a comparable product for 99 yuan these days. Power banks with built-in cables were expensive to produce and were usually sold by high-end brands.

Of course, some of those comments were from his own shills...

’You might think you’re getting a small win, but I’ll never lose.’

Looking at the poster for "Monster Charging × Chang’an Culture & Tourism," Xue Rui was mentally calculating his profits when, just as he expected, he got a call from Guo Wei.

Guo Wei was audibly suppressing a smile. "Xue Rui, you did an excellent job this time."

He had received the market research data from Li Ruihao this morning and had also checked online himself. This project had brought a huge wave of positive publicity for their department.

The most important thing was that he was the one in charge of Xue Rui’s project. This would be another fine addition to his own professional record...

Xue Rui quickly replied, "Not at all, sir. It was all thanks to your excellent guidance."

"It’s rare to see a young man as humble as you," Guo Wei said, his voice filled with surprise. ’Xue Rui really is a promising one,’ he thought.

Xue Rui said, "We young people should be willing to put in the hard work now. There will be plenty of opportunities to shine in the future. Building a solid foundation to achieve great things later is what truly matters."

Guo Wei laughed. "Very good, very good."

"Uncle Guo," Xue Rui began tentatively, "do you think... it would be possible to get me some kind of official designation, like ’Strategic Partner’? Since we’ve worked together once, it would make things more convenient in the future."

This put Guo Wei in a tight spot for a moment. "Well..."

The main issue was that it required approval from his superiors; he couldn’t just promise it himself. And even if he was 99% certain it would be approved, he couldn’t agree to Xue Rui’s request on the spot since the final decision wasn’t his to make.

"A personal letter of commendation would work too! You can just send it to my university," Xue Rui immediately amended. His strategy was to ask for something big first, which made the request for a simple letter of commendation seem much more reasonable by comparison.

...

Guo Wei was silent on the other end for a long moment. ’I just finished praising him for being humble,’ he thought, ’and now he’s asking for a letter of commendation?’

He couldn’t hold back a laugh. "Alright, I’ll write it for you today."

"Please remember to put the official red seal on it," Xue Rui added. "Otherwise, it’ll be hard for me to get academic credit."

Guo Wei was speechless.