Nine Star Hegemon Body Art

The shopping bags of Xiang Ning and her cousin filled the entire car aside from the driver’s compartment. Then, she went off to eat and go shopping with You Qinglan.

Xu Tingsheng went alone to meet Wayne Yang and the investors he had brought over.

In the end, they obviously did not manage to reach an agreement. Xingchen still did not have any intentions of undergoing financing. Even if they wished to in the future, they would at least first have to take care of the national investment firm to which he was an advisor in name, right?

After seeing the Americans off, Wayne Yang was positively weeping in the room, “Bro, can’t you at least give me a mouthful of rice?”

Xu Tingsheng said, “Fine, I’ll treat you to a meal later.”

“I’ll order a whole table of dishes and the most expensive wine then. You’re rolling in cash now, anyway.”

“Order whatever you want,” Xu Tingsheng said, “Anyway, if it isn’t Sha County food, it’ll be Lanzhou Noodles. When you’re done eating, it’s fine even if you order a few packets of takeaway.”

“The heck! You’re so rich, you’re so rich…” After complaining for a while, this fellow who looked shameless but really had great connections and methods abruptly raised his head, exclaiming, “Oh, right! If you don’t let others invest in you, you can invest in others! Your cashflow now is really terrifying. How about it? I’ll help you to get it done.”

“Me, invest? Invest in who?”

“Some American company. Take your pick! Of course, there are some companies that will be more challenging to handle.”

“How about, say, Apple?” Xu Tingsheng recalled with a start how Apple’s first generation IPhone would appear at the start of 2007, its market value skyrocketing non-stop thereafter.

Wayne Yang shook his head, “Very difficult. If you really think so highly of their prospects, go buy their shares.”

Xu Tingsheng spread his hands apart and said, “It’s not that I can’t. Still, if it were just that, would I still need you? Forget it. Besides that, do you have any other suggestions?”

“How about stuff like bank bonds?” Wayne Yang thought about it and proposed.

Xu Tingsheng froze up completely for a while.

“How about it? Are you interested? I can take you for a spin around Wall Street’s banks,” Wayne Yang stretched out his neck and pressed.

As his handphone rang, Xu Tingsheng recovered, got up and smiled, saying, “Let’s talk again when you can help me to take care of Apple. My girlfriend’s looking for me. I’ll be off now.”

“Really, this kind of attitude?”

“Yes.”

“Ya didn’t actually come to Shenghai to discuss investment with me, right?” This dude could do a Beijing accent too.

“Right. I was accompanying my girlfriend to buy clothes.”

“The heck…help me to claim the money for the inbound flight ticket then.”

He was familiar with even Uncle Benshan’s skits.

“Get lost,” Xu Tingsheng said.

The next day, this bastard apparently really ran to Xingchen to claim the money for the inbound flight ticket. Of course, everyone was well aware that his true motive was really just to target Hu Chen and He Yutan, using them to convince Xu Tingsheng.

So, one could imagine how substantial that commission would be if he really managed to broker an investment in Xingchen.

Hu Chen and He Yutan avoided him as the matter fell through. Still, Wayne Yang had actually profited very well from this seemingly fruitless trip. He had grasped a piece of information: Xu Tingsheng thought highly of Apple’s prospects.

Even Xu Tingsheng himself had not expected this, but after returning to America, Wayne Yang promptly bought several transactions of Apple’s shares.

At the same time, he was indeed also seeking a way to help Xu Tingsheng find an investment opportunity in Apple. A commission from Xu Tingsheng would not be low as well. Like how he would ‘sell’ Xu Tingsheng for an upcoming period of time around Wall Street, that fellow really possessed so much money right now he was vexed everyday over where to throw it.

……

When Wayne Yang visited Xingchen the next day, Xu Tingsheng was actually already on his way back.

After sending Xiang Ning and a carload of clothes back home, Xu Tingsheng solitarily returned to Libei.

Upon reaching Jiannan, he received a call from Mr Xu, asking if he had any time.

Xu Tingsheng asked what the matter was.

Mr Xu said that Happy Shoppers was having a series of interviews in Jiannan and asked if he would go over for a look.

Xu Tingsheng agreed.

The interviews that afternoon involved many different positions. As Xu Tingsheng had nothing better to do, he also sat in on some interviews where he did not have to be present.

He met two ‘acquaintances’ there.

First was a colleague whom Xu Tingsheng had been on pretty good terms with in his previous life. He had started working a year earlier than him and taught languages. He had come to apply for a managerial position this time.

Right now, he should already have signed a contract with the school. Xu TIngsheng did not know if he had come here just for fun or if he really didn’t want to be a teacher. Still, he knew that he would become a Vice Principal at a young age in the future with great prospects ahead of him. Also, he had found his wife at the school. She was a good wife and mother and the two had been very loving too…therefore, he decisively rejected the man.

After he left, Xu Tingsheng went after him and passed him a name card, saying, “Making your acquaintance.”

This fellow said, “You’re the Young Boss of Happy Shoppers, right? Xu Tingsheng. Sorry, but can I ask why you rejected me so resolutely? Did I really do that bad in the interview?”

“No. It’s just-I saw that you graduated as a teacher and signed with a school right?” Thinking that he’d better not accidentally crush this person’s confidence, Xu Tingsheng hurriedly said.

The other party nodded.

“That’s exactly it. I’m studying to be a teacher too. It’s precisely because I’ve found you to be very outstanding that I do not wish to snatch talents from the country and our future buds. Anyhow, I find that you’re pretty suited to teaching. Work hard at it. If you find yourself encountering difficulties in any other area, feel free to look for me.”

Xu Tingsheng patted him on the shoulder. In order not to raise any suspicion, he found an excuse and left.

What he did not know was that this actually did induce suspicion in that fellow, whose thoughts ran wild, “The Young Boss of Happy Shoppers, a rich second gen, CEO of Xingchen, nouveau riche…being so friendly to a stranger like me out of the blue, so enthusiastic too…oh heavens! Could it be that he swings that way? I’ve caught his eye? …What should I do? He won’t force himself on me, right? Sigh, it’s all because I’m too good-looking.”

He fingered that name card by the trash can before putting it away as he thought, “I should probably hold on to it. While it does feel pretty disgusting now, who knows I might not also swing that way in the future? I’d have netted someone rich…”

If Xu Tingsheng knew what he was thinking, he’d definitely render him dead. This bastard clearly looked just like a potato, even though he had always loved saying in his previous life, “Tingsheng, of the teachers in our school…we two are the most handsome, you just a little less than me.”

Having already exited, Xu Tingsheng did not return to that same interview office. Instead, he randomly found another and entered. There, he saw someone else.

This person was called Liang Qin.

She could rank third on the list of people Xu Tingsheng did not want to see.

In the accident in his previous life, she had been seated in the passenger seat of the Audi.

In this life, Xu Tingsheng had met her once after bringing Xiang Ning back to Jiannan. It similarly had not been anything good as she had overturned the container of divination sticks that Xiang Ning had been holding.

To sum it up: This young lady was a scourge to Xu Tingsheng.

Liang Qin had actually never gone to university. Also, it seemed that she had not yet met that man who had driven the Audi. She was here to apply for the position of an ordinary employee.

On seeing Xu Tingsheng, her eyes shone and she looked happy as she smiled and nodded at him.

Xu Tingsheng could only nod back at her.

This was immediately noticed by the managerial employees of Jiannan’s Happy Shoppers who were carefully paying attention to their Young Boss. One could guess what sort of weight Liang Qin would have in their eyes in the future.

Consolidating how Xu Tingsheng had suddenly appeared in the interview office for a relatively low position and Liang Qin’s figure that was clearly quite good, they unconsciously let their thoughts run wild. They merely thought about this too, not daring to ask for confirmation.

The smart alecks increasingly thought that this was the case.

“I heard that Young Boss has a girlfriend. So, this one is…well, we all understand. Which rich second gen isn’t like this? It looks like she’s going to be hidden here. We’ve got to be careful, take good care of her.”

Just as they were wracking their brains on how to improve their relationships with Liang Qin in the future, getting closer to her and putting her in a higher role, Xu Tingsheng was actually just completely focused on how to find an excuse and reject her for the position.

Let someone who knocked him dead in his previous life enter his company? How was this any different from letting a fish bone be stuck in your throat everyday? What a joke!

Sadly, he didn’t manage it in time.

This sort of ordinary position did not actually require a real interview. It was basically just to take a look and see if they were passable. Liang Qin was young, beautiful, and had graduated from senior high. It was really more than enough for her to be hired for a position like this.

“Right, you’re hired,” Without even having asked anything at all, a fatty beside Xu Tingsheng declared loudly in front of everyone as if snatching the credit.

Next, he glanced at Xu Tingsheng while looking especially proud of himself, as if seeking credit from him.

Xu Tingsheng really felt like firing him.

At this urgent moment, Xu Tingsheng picked up a namelist and looked at it, asking, “These are the people applying for the position? How many are we hiring this time?”

“Twelve,” The fatty answered before anyone else.

“So, for all those getting interviewed, we decide whether they got through right there and then? If we’ve reached the hiring quota, will we still look at these people at the end?” Xu Tingsheng pointed at the many names on the list after Liang Qin.

The fatty was taken aback, “For the rest, we tell them to wait for our call. Well, Miss Liang’s especially outstanding. That’s why…”

“The rules are there for a reason,” Xu Tingsheng interrupted him.

While thinking that he was really good at pretending, the fatty said, “You’re right, Boss Xu, you’re right. It was my oversight. Miss Liang was just too outstanding, that’s why…”

“We’ll go about it the same way then. That earlier doesn’t count. Notify her by phone when all the other interviews are over,” Xu Tingsheng decided to directly blot her off the list afterwards.

Liang Qin glanced at Xu Tingsheng with a bit of a pleading look on her face. She left the office.

Xu Tingsheng was no longer in the mood for interviews. After sitting in for a while more, he left the office.

To his surprise, Liang Qin was waiting for him by the stairwell.

“Boss Xu,” As the two met, Liang Qin greeted him with a bit of an aggrieved look on her face.

“Hello,” Xu Tingsheng feigned calmness.

“Is it that you don’t want to hire me?” Liang Qin’s tears suddenly flowed down as she was aggrieved to the extreme, “Is it because I overturned that container of lots last time? I know you were very angry at the time…you dragged Xiang Ning away without saying anything. I…”

“Actually, with your qualifications, it’s not very worth it to apply for an ordinary position at Happy Shoppers, right? For a young girl with quite a good image, working in sales positions like branded clothing or makeup products are all also better,” Xu Tingsheng directly said.

Liang Qin wiped her tears while shaking her head, “It’s because I feel that I’ll have prospects at Happy Shoppers. Even if it’s only an ordinary position now, I’ll surely have a chance as long as I work hard. Everyone knows that Happy Shoppers chooses its outstanding employees every year, giving them a lot of prizes. They can even go on tours, get promoted. Some even get to enter the main company.

Xu Tingsheng smiled rather awkwardly.

“I didn’t go to university because my Dad’s health is not good. He’s bedridden in the long term, placing my family in a lot of difficulty. It’s not that I’m not earnest and cannot take hardship…I’ll definitely work hard. I was thinking that if I have a good career and money, I should be able to help my family in the future. Can you give me a chance? I’ll apologise to you.”

Liang Qin fell onto her knees, choking on her sobs.

Xu Tingsheng was rendered rather at a loss.

“Actually, I know what was written on your girlfriend’s lot,” Looking up at Xu Tingsheng, Liang Xin said this with tears in her eyes.

“Really?” Xu Tingsheng grew taut with nervousness all at once.

“Yes. Actually, I caught a glance when I was walking over. Then, it rather rattled my mind, and that’s why I overturned the container,” Liang Qin said earnestly.

“Why didn’t you say it at the time then?”

“It’s because, because I rather like you two. I was afraid you’d feel sad if you knew what was written there…also, I feel that these things are actually not reliable. That’s why I didn’t tell you.”

“What was written there?” Xu Tingsheng asked.

The more Liang Qin was like this, the more desperately Xu Tingsheng wished to know…this mystery had already hovered around him for two lives.

“I…”

“I…”

“Just say it. It’s fine. I don’t believe those things. I’m just curious.”

“I, I didn’t see the whole thing. I only saw a few of the words, and they were from different lines too.”

A rather frantic Xu Tingsheng pressed her in a more urgent tone, “What exactly were the words you saw then? Tell me, what were they?”

Liang Qin looked quite timidly at Xu Tingsheng, her lips trembling lightly as she said, “Separated in life, reunited in death.”