Chapter 23: Chapter 18 Li Shiqi
Actually, Zhou Yuwen was somewhat worried that the number of people registering for cards tomorrow wouldn't reach a hundred.
After all, the premise of Zhou Yuwen's contract with the service hall was that the number of people getting cards tomorrow would surpass a hundred, and the total number must exceed a thousand. Zhou Yuwen had approached many people during today's orientation.
However, as everyone knows, university students are the most unreliable. There are always a couple of students who, after more reflection, feel it's unsuitable and thus give up on getting a card.
So when Li Shiqi said she had thirty people needing cards, Zhou Yuwen was really taken aback.
This was a big order, and it must be treated with special care.
Hence, Zhou Yuwen made a call to Li Shiqi right there on the spot.
At that moment, Li Shiqi had just finished taking a shower, dressed in a simple nightgown, her hair not yet dry, a bit damp, happily organizing today's list of card registration personnel at her small desk.
During high school, Li Shiqi was beautiful and studied well. There were countless boys in the class who secretly admired her, but Li Shiqi seemed very aloof or rather hard to get along with.
Although many years had passed, Zhou Yuwen still remembered her vividly. His deepest memory was from the first day of high school when the headteacher hadn't arrived yet, and the classroom was noisy.
The students from various middle schools were meeting for the first time to form a new class, and everyone had endless topics to discuss, creating a buzzing environment in the entire classroom.
But what deeply struck Zhou Yuwen was that Li Shiqi was the only one who didn't talk to anyone, heads down, vigorously writing.
Zhou Yuwen was curious and took a glance, only to find out she was actually working on algebra problems meant for second-year students!
At that time, Zhou Yuwen thought this woman was really terrifying!
Just think about it, everyone had just started high school, and she had already begun doing problems meant for the second year!
Actually, when Li Shiqi later became a diplomat, Zhou Yuwen wasn't surprised at all.
This girl really fought her way through.
Thinking back, Zhou Yuwen's impression of Li Shiqi seems to be entirely from high school when she was heads down working on problems.
She worked on problems when others chatted.
She worked on problems even when others were cleaning.
It was only after every major exam, when everyone thought, "Ah, finally time to relax!"
She was still working on problems!
Thus, Zhou Yuwen understood Li Shiqi, yet also didn't understand her. He couldn't associate this academic achiever with the girl who sold thirty phone cards.
What Zhou Yuwen didn't understand was that Li Shiqi was born into a single-parent family. Her father had passed away when she was very young, and her mother then remarried to a man who ran a mahjong parlor and was bald.
Li Shiqi's childhood was gloomy, to say the least - seemingly without a glimpse of light.
Thus, Li Shiqi knew from an early age that studying was her only way out. She studied desperately, not wasting a single minute, hoping to get into a good university and completely escape that family!
And in fact, Li Shiqi succeeded!
The day she arrived in Jinling alone, carrying her large and small bags, standing in front of Jinling Station, she felt the sunshine was exceptionally dazzling!
Even the air, she felt, was fresh!
She knew this was her new life!
From now on, she would never go back to that oppressive family!
The beginning of a new life is always inseparably linked to money.
Her mother had no status in that man's house, and Li Shiqi had always been termed as a money-losing proposition by him, arguing there was no need to spend so much. Just the tuition fees alone, one didn't know how they were scraped together, not to mention living expenses. On her body, Li Shiqi only had six hundred yuan that her mother gave her when she was leaving!
She knew she had to make money to survive in the city.
And that was when Zhou Yuwen's message appeared in the class group.
Selling cards, one could earn a commission of twenty yuan for each one!
After reaching an agreement with Zhou Yuwen, Li Shiqi spared no effort in starting to sell cards in the school and class. Zhou Yuwen had said that students could get a card from him for 130 each.
But Li Shiqi sold them to her classmates for 140 each, earning a ten yuan commission per card.
Lately, she also started posting on forums in the university town, asking if anyone wanted a card? 145 each, cheaper than what the school provided.
"The school charges 150 each, why is yours cheaper? Are you a scammer?"
Li Shiqi was still very naive. She thought that doing business required honesty.
"I'm not a scammer, this is my student ID, and I'm a student at Jinling University. If I were a scammer, everyone here is welcome to come to my school and find me (smile) (smile)"
Li Shiqi posted her student ID in the forum; it contained her photo.
And in this society, a beautiful girl truly receives all sorts of favors.
When everyone on the forum saw Li Shiqi's photo, they were totally stunned.
"What the hell? She's that pretty? Must be a fake photo, right?"
It was the year 2013, and although there was no girl traveling thousands of miles for a bowl of spicy hot soup anymore, netizens on the internet were still relatively innocent. When a burst photo appeared on the forum, people did not automatically suspect it of being fake, but seeing Li Shiqi, such a clean and beautiful girl, students couldn't help calling their friends to admire her together.
"Brother Dog, come look! There's a beauty!"
"Seriously? And she's from Jinling University, a highly educated beauty?!"
"She looks so innocent. Hey, do you think we should get our cards issued by her instead? It's even five yuan cheaper than at the school."
"Sure! Doesn't matter if it's a bit far, let's go see if she really is that beautiful in person."
Such incidents occurred in male dorms across various universities in the college town.
It's safe to say that thirty people were the fewest.
Even now, countless people were privately messaging Li Shiqi asking if the 145 yuan card was real or not?
Li Shiqi, faced with these inquiries from classmates, was of course very happy. If thirty people got the card, then she would earn ten yuan in commission from each, making a total of 450 yuan!
Plus, Zhou Yuwen had said he'd give her an extra 200 yuan as a reward.
That would be 650 yuan in total.
Actually, Li Shiqi didn't know her high school classmates very well, and she hardly had any impression of this Zhou Yuwen.
But through this business deal,
Li Shiqi thought that Zhou Yuwen was pretty decent!
At this moment, Zhou Yuwen called.
Li Shiqi was very respectful, feeling that she was now making a living under Zhou Yuwen, essentially his subordinate, so she quickly answered the call.
"Hello? Zhou Yuwen?"
Li Shiqi's voice was very pleasant, sweet.
Zhou Yuwen always used speakerphone, so when Li Shiqi's voice rang out,
Chang Hao and Li Qiang, who were puffing away, reacted like alert rabbits, their ears perked up at once and both turned to look at Zhou Yuwen.
Female voice! And a pleasant one!
What the hell! Since when did Old Zhou have such luck with women!
But Zhou Yuwen just speechlessly looked at these two teenage brats for a moment, then took his phone outside.
"Yes?," Zhou Yuwen replied to Li Shiqi as he walked outside, taking her call in the corridor. He actually just wanted to ask how she managed to get the slots for thirty card issuances? Logically, being a girl who had not been in the college town long, she shouldn't be able to do this.
Li Shiqi felt a little embarrassed to tell Zhou Yuwen because she thought, at that moment, that Zhou Yuwen and his team hadn't thought of using online sales, only she had been that smart.
So she sounded hesitant on the phone for a long time, then asked Zhou Yuwen if providing a new sales strategy would result in a reward from headquarters?
Zhou Yuwen hadn't expected Li Shiqi to be so money-minded.
"How about I personally treat you to a meal?" Zhou Yuwen asked.
There was no response from the other side for a while, then tentatively she asked, "Can it be cashed out?"
"???"
Damn! You're the first woman to ever turn me down!
Zhou Yuwen really hadn't expected this girl to be so obsessed with money, so he said, "Okay, if you really come up with a new sales channel, I'll add another 200 as a reward, but the channel has to be realistic and effective."
Hearing Zhou Yuwen say this, Li Shiqi happily shared what she had done.
She was a little proud.
But after hearing it, Zhou Yuwen understood why.
It could only be said that the rise of the internet era really gave beautiful girls too much convenience.
However, this business of making every card five yuan cheaper felt a bit unfair to other campus card agents, and it might provoke others to cause trouble.
Especially since she was advertising in other schools.
But then again, it had nothing to do with him.
"Did you guys think of this?" Li Shiqi asked, slightly proud.