After Becoming Financially Free, They Offered Their Loyalty - Chapter 101

Chapter 101: This Simp was a Pure Breed

TL: YYang

At 3 PM, Shen Yuan arrived at the activity room door as scheduled, and the tall Fu Yingzi was already standing there waiting.

She was still wearing denim shorts today, revealing her long, snow-white legs. Her legs weren’t exactly slender; a slight layer of fat on her calves and thighs made them look well-proportioned. On her feet, she wore white sneakers and long white socks.

On her upper body, she wore a form-fitting white printed T-shirt, and as she walked, a sliver of white skin around her navel was faintly visible.

Many girls at the university dressed this way, but very few could pull it off with the same effect as Fu Yingzi. After experiencing Liu Menglu’s captivating charm yesterday, seeing Fu Yingzi’s fresh and pure look today was a pleasant sight for Shen Yuan.

However, the mood was spoiled by Feng Zegui standing next to her.

Shen Yuan subconsciously frowned. ‘Why is this damn simp so persistent?’

Fu Yingzi quickly stepped forward to explain, “Shen Yuan, I’m sorry. He saw me in the cafeteria and insisted on following me. I’ve told him several times not to, but he just won’t listen.”

Feng Zegui, also worried that Shen Yuan would blame Fu Yingzi, came forward and explained, “Don’t blame Yingzi. I just wanted to come and see if there was anything I could help with. The more people, the more strength, right?”

Ever since his little tantrum at the furniture market, Feng Zegui had done some deep self-reflection upon returning. He felt that he had indeed been in the wrong.

She was clearly working on official business, yet he had let his personal feelings get involved. Feng Zegui conducted a thorough self-criticism. From now on, he would no longer interfere with Fu Yingzi’s official duties but would silently assist her from the sidelines.

He would be the man behind Fu Yingzi!

Shen Yuan couldn’t help but roll his eyes. This simp was a pretty pure breed. He wasn’t bad-looking, and although he was only slightly taller than Fu Yingzi, he had to be at least 175 cm.

With these qualities and such a persistent attitude, if he had simped for any other ordinary girl, he probably would have succeeded long ago. Why did he have to be such a doormat here?
‘What on earth is he thinking?’

“Not necessary. You can’t help with our business.”

Shen Yuan replied coolly, then gestured for Fu Yingzi to unlock the door.

After Fu Yingzi opened the door, she handed both keys to Shen Yuan, but he only took one. “You keep the other one. I probably won’t come here often.”

“Okay.”

The two walked into the activity room. Feng Zegui, still not giving up, tried to follow them in, but Shen Yuan slammed the door shut, cutting off his path.

He stood outside the door in a daze, his heart suddenly filled with panic. Once the door was closed, he couldn’t see a thing. The windows were even fitted with blinds.

Feng Zegui couldn’t understand why an activity room would need blinds.

‘Could it be…’ An image suddenly flashed through Feng Zegui’s mind. ‘My Yingzi and Shen Yuan are…’

‘That can’t be, right?’ He felt even more uncertain. Staring at the door, an indescribable sorrow welled up in his chest.

‘My Yingzi…’

Shen Yuan had no idea Feng Zegui’s inner drama was so rich. He walked into the activity room and began to look around. The room was clean and tidy, the desk and boss’s chair were in a style he liked, and there were green plants in all four corners.

Although the blinds on the corridor side were closed, the ones on the other side were open, so the lighting was excellent. Opposite was the girls’ dormitory, and from time to time, he could see a few girls hanging their small clothes out to dry on the balcony.

Shen Yuan gestured for Fu Yingzi to sit on the sofa. “How’s the promotion going?”

Fu Yingzi sat down, smoothing her denim shorts. “The posters and copy were sent out yesterday. The official account, Weibo account, Kuaiyin account, including the school’s confession wall, have all been updated. The current views and attention are pretty good, but it will take some time for that to translate into applications. After all, writing a business plan takes time.”

Shen Yuan nodded, but that wasn’t what he came to talk about today. He then said, “I plan to create another wave of publicity to build up more hype.”

Fu Yingzi was taken aback. “How exactly do you plan to do that?”

Shen Yuan paused for a moment. “I plan to tie the startup base to myself, to let the students of the Foreign Economics College know that this startup base was funded by me.”

“Shen Yuan, you mean you want to put yourself in the spotlight, to let everyone know who you are?”

Fu Yingzi reacted quickly. Considering Shen Yuan was investing in such a money-losing project and now proposed to publicize himself, he must want to gain some kind of attention, or perhaps enhance his personal reputation.

It was a bit like doing charity. Wealthy businessmen, celebrities, and stars didn’t necessarily donate money because they genuinely wanted to, but rather to boost their own or their company’s reputation.

“Right.”

Shen Yuan nodded. “Do you have any ideas?”

Fu Yingzi thought for a moment. “Actually, when the publicity is at its peak, we can post some threads telling everyone that you’re the investor. We could even reveal the investment amount.”

Shen Yuan shook his head. “That’s too plain. It won’t achieve the effect of a long-awaited, highly anticipated reveal.”

Fu Yingzi blinked her beautiful eyes, clearly not understanding what “a long-awaited, highly anticipated reveal” meant.

“Let me tell you my idea.”

Shen Yuan pondered for a moment. “In a couple of days, when the startup base’s popularity is at its highest and most of the students at the college know about it, we’ll release some eye-catching copy or posts.”

“You’ve seen UC headlines, right?”

“For example, ‘Oh my god, someone actually invested 10 million in our school’s startup base!’ or ‘I never expected the startup base to be funded by a current student from our school!’ or ‘You guys probably don’t know, but our school has such a handsome and rich guy!'”

“Something like that, get it? We don’t say who the person is, but through this method, we make everyone eager to find out.”

“Then we’ll slowly release some information, let them guess for themselves, and keep them in suspense. When their expectations are maxed out, I’ll make my appearance.”

After hearing this, Fu Yingzi looked at Shen Yuan with a complex expression. If they followed his plan, the girls at the Foreign Economics College would probably go crazy. The male-to-female ratio at the college was already skewed, with few men and many women. A handsome and rich guy was a scarce resource, let alone a top-tier one like Shen Yuan.

She didn’t quite understand why Shen Yuan would push himself into the limelight like this, but that wasn’t her problem to consider. She just needed to carry out Shen Yuan’s request.
“That’s a great idea. The hype will go through the roof, and the number of applicants will definitely surge. With a larger sample size, we can better screen for outstanding startup applicants.”

“Exactly.”

Shen Yuan had thought about this. If they could achieve this effect, it would kill three birds with one stone. One was accumulating Prestige Value for the school, another was having a large enough sample to screen for high-quality senior and junior female students, and thirdly, after the 10 million was fully invested, he would also receive the Mysterious Property reward from the system.

Of course, to achieve the best effect, they had to keep it under wraps as much as possible in the early stages. The people who currently knew about his investment in the startup base, besides the school’s Youth League Committee and his counselor, were some of the boys in his class, as well as Fang Minhui.

Shen Yuan would also talk to those in the know and ask them to maintain confidentiality.

The counselor and the Youth League Committee certainly wouldn’t take the initiative to announce it. As for the class beauty, as long as he told her, she wouldn’t spread it either. The main issue was Old Huang, Old Cao, and the others.

If those bastards blabbed about him being a “two-timing scumbag” or “fucking his off-campus girlfriend,” his reputation would probably collapse. At that point, it wouldn’t be prestige, but notoriety.

He had to give them a heads-up.

“Will there be any difficulty in execution?” Shen Yuan asked.

Fu Yingzi blinked her beautiful eyes and, after a moment of thought, said, “It’s doable. We can have the unofficial confession wall account post a status, and then use two alternate accounts to comment under the school’s official account and Weibo to create hot comments. People will naturally take notice.”

“Let’s do that.”

Shen Yuan nodded. Fu Yingzi’s idea coincided with his own. This kind of gossip had to come through unofficial channels to have that sense of mystery.

Fu Yingzi was also very smart; she understood things like controlling comments and steering public opinion with just a hint.

Through this matter, Shen Yuan felt more and more that Fu Yingzi was an excellent candidate for a secretary. She didn’t ask for reasons, only thought about how to execute plans to achieve her superior’s desired effect. Moreover, she was efficient and always provided feedback.

For example, with the test paper, Shen Yuan hadn’t even pushed her, but she had proactively reported the progress that morning.

Such talent was indeed worth using.

“Let’s talk about you.”

With that matter settled, Shen Yuan looked Fu Yingzi over, his gaze sweeping across her fair thighs before he said seriously, “What do you want to get from me?”

“Huh?”

Fu Yingzi was slightly taken aback, not expecting Shen Yuan to be so direct. Initially, to get close to Shen Yuan, she naturally wanted to see if they could develop a romantic relationship.

But now it seemed that Shen Yuan not only had a girlfriend but also hadn’t shown any interest in her in that way.

Fu Yingzi thought for a moment and said, “The internship period starts next semester. But as you know, for a private second-tier university like ours, it’s hard to find a job, especially for my major in marketing.”

“Even if I can find a suitable job, it will take at least five or six years to reach a certain level of income.”

“So I want to make money, more money.”

Shen Yuan wasn’t surprised by Fu Yingzi’s answer. But she was still a college student, a bit thin-skinned. ‘If you had said you wanted me, we could have just gone with the flow and gotten it done.’

That way, he would have gained another NPC.

Shen Yuan crossed his legs and leaned back on the sofa. “The ‘more money’ you’re talking about, how much is it?”

Fu Yingzi’s eyes instantly filled with anticipation. She knew Shen Yuan was implying he would pay her a salary.

But she felt a little nervous. If she asked for too much, she was afraid her boss wouldn’t be happy. If she asked for too little, she’d feel like she was selling herself short.

She was aware of the current salary standards in society. For interns or recent college graduates in her major, it was only three to four thousand a month.

But Fu Yingzi was far from satisfied with that salary. Both her parents worked in a factory and earned five to six thousand a month. The reason she was doing so much for Shen Yuan was definitely because she wanted a higher salary.

“8,000?”

Fu Yingzi asked tentatively, carefully watching the change in Shen Yuan’s expression.

Although this salary was already two to three times that of a recent graduate, it didn’t actually meet her highest expectations. She was worried that asking for too much would lead to Shen Yuan’s refusal, so she settled for a middle ground.

Shen Yuan thought to himself that this girl was quite honest. However, he couldn’t treat his first secretary poorly.

“I’ll add another 2,000 to make it an even 10,000. Plus, if you do a good job, there will be extra bonuses and rewards. From now on, you’ll be with me.”

“Yingzi, are you guys done talking?”

“Why is it taking so long?”

Feng Zegui knocked on the door, “thump, thump.” At this moment, his heart was burning with anxiety, terrified that something might be happening between Yingzi and Shen Yuan inside.