Who Would Fall in Love After Being Reborn?

TL: Etude Translations

The next morning, at the hotel’s buffet restaurant, Room 208 gathered in a circle for breakfast. No one dared mention the plan to climb the Great Wall, as if the discussion had never happened.

“Damn, I’m exhausted. We visited three or four sights yesterday. Waking up with trembling legs, even special forces couldn’t handle this, let alone climbing the Great Wall. Climb my ass! Especially with the air quality here, it’s really uncomfortable after a while.”

“Today…”

“Boss, let’s play poker today!” Dong Wenhao quickly responded.

Jiang Qin nodded in agreement: “Right, let’s play poker. It exercises the brain without tiring the legs. Everyone on vacation should stay in the hotel and play poker.”

Although what Jiang said was as nonsensical as his promise of crazy fun, no one disagreed at the time.

Travel is supposed to be enjoyable, not worth ruining your legs over.

So, after breakfast, everyone headed to Dong Wenhao’s room, breaking into groups to play poker and chat.

“Bomb.”

“Three fives.”

“Bomb.”

Lu Feiyu widened his eyes: “Boss, are you crazy? You’re throwing bombs right at the start?”

Jiang Qin smirked: “I’m just showing off, any objections?”

Su Nai, resting her chin in her hand, looked on confused: “Why is the boss so arrogant today? His card skills are terrible. Without his wife, even an eight-year-old could make him cry in defeat.”

“That’s because we’re not playing for money today. Play for money and see, the boss takes three minutes just to pick a card,” Dong Wenhao revealed the truth.

“Why don’t you play for money?”

“As soon as money is involved, the boss calls his wife to take over, and then you’ll see what it means to have your salary reclaimed. It’s unbeatable.”

“…”

Playing cards and chatting, the relaxing days passed quickly. The next morning, the group of fifteen took an early flight out of the capital, landing in Shanghai.

As a city on par with the capital, Shanghai’s first impression was far more modern.

Everyone in Room 208 knew that Feng Nanshu was a local little rich lady from Shanghai, so they immediately looked to her upon leaving the airport. In their eyes, this was her home turf, and she must be very familiar with the city.

But Feng Nanshu seemed lost for a long time, almost unable to discern north from south.

Jiang Qin laughed to himself, thinking how she was still socially anxious a year ago, unlike her current bossy demeanor, confidently spouting nonsense.

Yes, she’s from Shanghai, but she grew up in Jizhou. Although she spent holidays here, she never dared to go out, so she knew nothing about the city.

Think about it, she once rode an electric scooter the wrong way and argued that it was because the Earth is round. How could they rely on her as a guide?

“Seeing you so clueless reassures me,” Jiang Qin said cheerfully.

Feng Nanshu: “?”

“Let’s go check into the hotel first, then look up some routes, and discuss it over dinner.”

“Okay, boss.”

Afterward, the group left the airport and headed to a hotel near the university town to rest for about two hours. Then Jiang Qin held a banquet in the first-floor hall to discuss the three-day “tour plan.”

Jiang Qin liked standardized processes, meticulous and strategic in his approach.

Just like when he worked on Zhihu and group buying, he would first find a suitable promotion routine at Linchuan University, then refine and standardize it into a complete execution standard.

This market research trip was no different. He encouraged everyone to use their experience from the capital to conduct group research in several university towns in Shanghai.

Standardized processes maximize work efficiency, a case of practice makes perfect.

So, the day after landing, everyone started to act independently. With pre-arranged tour guides, they visited different university towns, conducting thorough research.

Promoting Zhihu was relatively easy. Sneaking into libraries and leaving website URLs on frequently borrowed books would definitely attract a dozen new registrations, as Zhihu inherently had a trendy appeal.

But the promotion of Zhihu was to lead to group buying, so they had to consider both aspects during their research.

Exhausted after the first day’s tasks, they realized the enormity of the work. Shanghai had eight university towns, scattered in different areas. Even visiting just one or two universities in each town was a huge task with their limited manpower.

This time, even Jiang Qin joined in, taking the little rich lady Feng Nanshu to inspect the university town in Songjiang District.

This is the essence of market research. Each region has its own characteristics and habits. Some areas have concentrated universities, while others are more dispersed. Different strategies and approaches are needed for promotion in each case.

For instance, Shanghai and the capital would require entirely different entry points and methods.

“I feel like I’ve toured the Forbidden City twice and climbed the Great Wall twice today,” Dong Wenhao said, lifeless eyes.

Lu Feiyu, lying on the table, spoke weakly: “Xuemei, check if my legs are still there.”

“They’re gone.”

“You didn’t even look.”

Lu Xuemei, also feeling weak, didn’t want to lower her head: “If you don’t believe me, check for yourself.”

Lu Feiyu waved his hand: “Never mind, whether they’re there or not doesn’t matter anymore. I’ll just lie down a bit longer.”

While they were talking, Jiang Qin and Feng Nanshu came in, hand in hand, and sat at the head of the table: “Where are Nana and Lanlan? Why aren’t they here?”

Hearing this, Dong Wenhao raised his hand: “They went to buy milk tea.”

“They’ll be back soon, right?”

“They’ve been out for about ten minutes, they should be back any moment now.”

“Okay, let’s start serving the food then. We’ve been running around all day without a proper meal.”

As they ate, they discussed the day’s research findings, and the atmosphere in the banquet hall gradually livened up.

Su Nai and Wei Lanlan returned to the private room after about fifteen minutes and joined the discussion.

Time was tight in Shanghai, and the task was challenging. The dispersed nature of the group meant that most people’s research results were not comprehensive. Except for Jiang Qin, Dong Wenhao, and Wei Lanlan, almost everyone else failed to clearly identify the key points for promotion.

So, on the second day, they decided to revisit the sites, both to collect the survey questionnaires and to reorganize the previous day’s research findings.

However, because the journey was too long and the timing uncertain, everyone decided to leave their luggage at the hotel front desk. They planned to move to a hotel near the Bund after returning to enjoy themselves thoroughly.

“Boss, it costs 300 yuan to store fifteen pieces of luggage.”

“What the fuck, we have to pay just to store luggage?” Jiang Qin couldn’t believe it.

Wei Lanlan nodded: “They said it’s because of the large number of bags and the presence of valuable items like laptops and cameras, so they’re charging separately. We can choose not to pay, but then they won’t be responsible if anything is lost.”

“Why don’t I just book a separate room to store the luggage then?”

“That’s why this situation is truly frustrating…”

Jiang Qin waved his hand, thinking that they had already spent a lot of money on this research trip, so a few hundred yuan more didn’t matter. Any problem that can be solved with money is not a problem.

After storing their luggage, they split into pairs and set out again, revisiting the sites in the cool of the early morning.

By the time they finished, it was already 3 PM. The temperature was still high, and the air felt sticky.

When Jiang Qin and Feng Nanshu returned to the hotel from Songjiang District, they found Wei Lanlan, Tan Qing, and Su Nai surrounding a front desk clerk, the atmosphere slightly tense.

“What’s going on? Why are you all gathered here?”

“Boss, we stored fifteen pieces of luggage, but they only returned thirteen,” Wei Lanlan explained the situation.

Jiang Qin frowned slightly: “Whose luggage is missing?”

Su Nai raised her hand: “Mine. It contains a Lenovo workstation worth over 10,000 yuan, and Xuemei’s laptop worth 5,000 yuan. There’s also the company’s SLR camera, worth 8,000 yuan.”

“…”

Jiang Qin looked at the front desk clerk: “You mean, even after paying for storage, you still lost our luggage?”

The male clerk hurriedly replied: “Dear guests, please don’t worry. Your luggage must be in the hotel; it can’t be lost. It might have been stored separately. I’ll arrange for someone to look for it right now.”

“What if you can’t find it?” Jiang Qin asked, eyeing his name badge.

“Don’t worry. Since we’ve charged a storage fee, we’ll ensure your luggage is safe. I believe it’s still in the storage room. Please have a seat and wait; I’ll go check now.”

The clerk turned and left the front desk, disappearing down the employee corridor for quite some time.

When he reappeared, his expression was noticeably more panicked, and he seemed too nervous to look up. Wei Lanlan was about to ask about the outcome when he turned and went back through the employee corridor.

“Have you found them yet?”

“We’re still looking. Please wait a bit longer.”

According to their original plan, they should have already been enjoying the bustling beauty of the Bund by now. Instead, they were delayed by this incident, but they had no choice but to wait on the sofas.

Doing business is like that, not always smooth sailing. Some hiccups are part of life.

Jiang Qin thought if he were interviewed again, he’d have a new story to tell about the hardships of doing business, like losing luggage while conducting market research in other cities.

“Su Nai, Xuemei, don’t worry too much. Let’s wait for the outcome,” Wei Lanlan tried to console them.

Su Nai pursed her lips: “If they find it, good. If not, my reputation is ruined.”

Wei Lanlan was puzzled: “Why?”

“Because her computer has lots of videos about the origins of life and the mysteries of love,” Jiang Qin revealed the truth.

Hearing this, Su Nai couldn’t help but bare her small fangs, looking ready to bite someone.

…

“Songjiang is a suburban district of Shanghai. It has a land area of 605.64 km² and a population of 1,909,713. Owing to a long history, Songjiang is known as the cultural root of Shanghai.”

“The Bund is a waterfront area and a protected historical district in central Shanghai.” Basically prime real estate.