Chapter 115 - 112: Riverside Scenery

Chapter 115: Chapter 112: Riverside Scenery

[Ding! Charming Uncle - Confident Man Mission 2.0 Initiated]

[Mission]: A real man should charge forward, fearless and undaunted.

[Mission Reward 1]: Little Ai Capsule.

[Mission Reward 2]: 5 Experience Points.

[Note: This capsule can be formulated from various potent medications and will allow the body to effectively resist Xiaoai for one year.]

Gao Yuan glanced doubtfully at Tongtong as he read the system mission.

His expression didn’t change, but his mind was racing. ’This is... troublesome!’

’For the system to issue a mission like this now... could Tongtong be a ticking time bomb?’

In that instant, Gao Yuan felt he was standing far too close to Tongtong.

A gentleman doesn’t stand beneath a crumbling wall, and he, Gao Yuan, was a thoroughly clean man.

As for the system’s talk of charging forward fearlessly, Gao Yuan was ready to chicken out, even with the Little Ai Capsule as a reward.

"How about we go out for a bit?"

But Gao Yuan couldn’t bring himself to give up on the system’s reward.

The problem of Xiaoai plagued the entire world, and no one had a solution.

The Little Ai Capsule provided by the system was truly one of a kind, a class of its own!

This wasn’t just a consideration for his fellow men; it reeked of money.

’If I could produce these Little Ai Capsules myself,’ Gao Yuan thought, ’at a hundred thousand a pop, the line to buy them would probably circle Blue Star!’

’For the rich, even if they were perfectly healthy, wouldn’t they want to take one every year just in case?’

For now, though, Gao Yuan was just thinking about it. He’d just have to secretly take one for himself first.

"Where do you want to go, Brother Yuan?"

"I happen to be free today, you know~"

Tongtong’s eyes lit up when she heard Gao Yuan’s suggestion.

The last time in the office, they had only dipped their toes in the water. It was thrilling, yes, but it wasn’t the real deal.

Now that Gao Yuan wanted to take her out, Tongtong’s mind immediately jumped to the nearby Marriott, or maybe that beast of an SUV would be a good spot, too.

Gao Yuan simply told Lin Wanyu and Li Mengqing he was going out to wash his car, then went downstairs with Tongtong.

Once they reached the parking garage, even though Tongtong already knew Gao Yuan’s ride was a Brabus G900, she still put on a shocked expression and, after getting in, started snapping a flurry of photos.

Gao Yuan started the engine and drove out of the garage. Before long, the car pulled up to the Hang City First People’s Hospital.

Tongtong stared in utter confusion as Gao Yuan parked at the hospital. ’Shouldn’t we be heading to a five-star hotel right now?’ she thought.

’Even just pulling over somewhere remote would have been fine!’

"Brother Yuan, are you not feeling well?"

Gao Yuan rolled down the window, lit a cigarette, and took a drag.

He didn’t plan on beating around the bush. "I’m taking you for a check-up," he said bluntly.

"A check-up?"

Tongtong was stunned for a moment, but it didn’t take her long to figure it out.

She had heard stories about this. Some people, before they "played," required a clean medical report from a hospital. It was the price of admission.

A flicker of anger ignited within Tongtong.

She was angry because she never imagined that one day, she would be just like *those* women, needing a medical report to get in the door.

She was a major influencer with over two million followers, for crying out loud, yet here she was, getting the same treatment as some wannabe model.

Tongtong watched Gao Yuan as he smoked in silence, his gaze fixed outside the window. She hesitated for a long time.

Gao Yuan didn’t rush her. Whether she got the check-up or not was her decision.

If Tongtong refused, he would just find a different girl, a stranger, to complete the system’s mission.

He would even abandon the mission altogether before he’d put himself at risk.

CLICK.

After a long moment, the car door clicked open.

Tongtong stepped out and stood by the open door. Looking back at Gao Yuan with a pitiful pout, she called out, "Brother Yuan, aren’t you coming with me?"

Inside the hospital, Tongtong opted for two tests: a blood test and a urinalysis.

Both tests had a quick turnaround. After waiting for about half an hour, they had the reports in hand.

After reviewing the reports, they went straight back to the car.

Gao Yuan started the car and headed toward the banks of the Qiantang River.

「Qiantang Riverfront.」

A Brabus G900 was parked quietly on a remote road by the river.

No, wait.

It wasn’t quiet at all.

This was where the high price tag of the Brabus G900 really proved its worth.

The Brabus G900 was only rocking gently.

Half an hour later,

Gao Yuan got out, lit a cigarette, and leaned against the hood, a plume of smoke drifting into the distance on the wind.

Tongtong, panting for breath, watched Gao Yuan through the windshield.

She had completely surrendered.

She didn’t have the strength to even move a muscle.

Faced with a powerhouse like Gao Yuan, even the most fertile fields couldn’t withstand such tireless tilling.

He finished his cigarette.

Gao Yuan got back in the car.

He glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Tongtong looking up at him. She shot him a sultry look.

Gao Yuan paid it no mind, but in the next instant, Tongtong draped herself over the back of her seat again, suggestively shaking her body at him.

"Fuck!"

Gao Yuan threw the door open and got out.

This time, Tongtong was actually crying.

Tears streamed down her face as she begged for mercy.

An hour later, Gao Yuan pulled into the underground garage of a residential complex. Tongtong, wearing a mask, shakily stepped out of the car.

A sharp pain shot through her with every step. In this state, she wouldn’t dare return to the office; she couldn’t bear the thought of embarrassing herself in front of everyone.

Besides, if someone with ill intentions filmed her and posted it online, her career would be over.

That was how so many influencers faded into obscurity.

Watching Tongtong slowly make her way to the elevator, Gao Yuan drove off.

Lin Wanyu was still in Li Mengqing’s office, and he had to go pick her up. But before he went back, he needed to get the car washed.

He’d had the car for nearly a week, after all. The exterior wasn’t as shiny as it used to be, and the interior was covered in Sheltie fur.

A good wash is always healthier!

「Li Mengqing’s Office.」

The moment Gao Yuan walked in the door, Lin Wanyu shot him a glare.

After staying for a little while longer, Gao Yuan left with Lin Wanyu.

Lin Wanyu was planning to stay at her family’s home again tonight. Once Li Xiumei was able to get out of bed and walk, she could move back to No.1 Courtyard.

Gao Yuan dropped her off right at the gate of the Jiangnanli District and didn’t go inside with her.

He had arrangements for the evening. Sister Sun had invited a dozen or so colleagues out for a dinner gathering.

After dinner, he had also arranged for everyone to unwind at IN11.

He needed to be there for all of it. Getting these people to join his company was the first step to building his team.

「That evening, at the Hang City Mu Shouxi Restaurant.」

A dozen or so people were seated around a huge square table.

On the table were two bottles of Maotai and two bottles of red wine.

Since there was an after-party planned, Gao Yuan didn’t want everyone drinking too much at dinner.

At the dinner table, after a few rounds of drinks, Gao Yuan raised his glass and toasted everyone again.

He then brought up the topic of his new startup. Although Sister Sun had already spoken with them, and everyone present was presumably interested, he wanted to address them personally.

Gao Yuan personally laid out the details of the project he was launching.

He made sure to mention the Lin Group, using their reputation as a "tiger’s skin" to give his potential recruits a boost of confidence.

When the meal ended, Gao Yuan didn’t press for an answer. Instead, he led the group to their next destination.

Since the point was to relax and have a good time, he didn’t want to put any pressure on them. All that could wait until tomorrow.

Meiting had already arranged everything at IN11: a large, standard private room.

There were no special "programs" arranged—it was just a chance for them to sing karaoke and have some fun.

They partied until well after 10 PM. Gao Yuan declined Meiting’s offer to see him out personally, instead having an IN11 staff member drive him home.

When he got home, Li Mengqing saw he had been drinking heavily, but she didn’t ask why. She simply made him a cup of tea.

Gao Yuan told her about the gathering. Starting tomorrow, he would be living the nine-to-five life.

「One week later.」

Gao Yuan was in his office at Century Center, standing on the balcony and looking out at the city lights.

Only now, he no longer had any need for his old thermos filled with goji berries.

He had originally thought building the team would be quick, but he hadn’t anticipated the bumps in the road.

When his subordinates started resigning one after another, President Guo realized the severity of the situation. He began recruiting new employees while deliberately stalling the processing of their resignation papers.

It wasn’t until the day before yesterday that Gao Yuan was finally able to get his foundational team in place.

In addition to the eleven people from his previous company, Gao Yuan had also hired eight new recruits.

Sister Sun had also decided to come out of retirement to help him again, mainly to handle recruitment.

The company currently had a total of 22 employees.

The plan for the traditional e-commerce side of things was also adjusted; they opened stores on both Tmall and TikTok, with a standard three-person team assigned to each platform.

One person was in charge of main operations, supported by an operations assistant and a channel assistant.

For interest-based e-commerce, the focus was primarily on TikTok, where they had currently set up a single livestreaming team.

This team consisted of three hosts, one operations manager, and two production controllers.

They had hired one person for graphic design, four for customer service, and two for warehousing and shipping.

At this time,

The newly designated warehouse area was now stocked with 1,000 cases of facial masks, and the online stores had begun daily operations.

As a brand-new store for a no-name brand with zero influence, visitor traffic was pitifully low.

Even with paid promotions running, the results were unimaginably poor.

He sat back down in his executive chair.

Gao Yuan stared at the previous day’s data report, lost in thought.

The paid advertising budget for all three stores couldn’t even spend 3,000 yuan in a single day.

Total traffic for the entire day was less than a thousand visitors, and sales were even worse: just 17 orders for a total of 21 boxes of masks.

As for livestreaming e-commerce, they had made no progress on either the Taobao-affiliated platforms or TikTok.

Influencers either demanded exorbitant slotting fees with no sales guarantee,

or they simply weren’t interested in promoting "GY masks" from a new, unknown company.

The few orders they did get were likely from people who were impressed by the store’s visual design and decided to try something new.

During the week, Li Mengqing had taken a case of the masks. Gao Yuan knew she intended to give them to some of the streamers at her company to try out as samples.

He had specially marked that particular case.

But so far, he hadn’t heard any feedback from them.

Half an hour before the end of the workday, Gao Yuan called all his employees together for a short meeting.