Zhou Rui's face flushed and she said, "Although I have a good impression of Lin Chuan, he also needs to feel the same way about me."

"You silly girl, how come you don't understand?" Aunt Zhou hurriedly sat down next to her and said, "You are so pretty, so smart and articulate, and highly educated. Lin Chuan is a man after all, and since ancient times, heroes have succumbed to the charms of beautiful women. If you put in a bit more effort, how could Lin Chuan escape your beauty?"

"Auntie, are you asking me to go and seduce Lin Chuan?" Zhou Rui became anxious.

"Silly girl, in these times, a man with potential like Lin Chuan is hard to find even if you searched with a lantern." Aunt Zhou urged.

"So what?" Zhou Rui retorted irritably, "It's not like he's the only man in the world."

"Men fear choosing the wrong profession, women fear marrying the wrong man," Aunt Zhou said helplessly, "A woman has two chances to choose in life, one is at birth. That's God's decision and has nothing to do with oneself. The second is choosing whom to marry, and that can be your own choice. It's the most important choice in your life. A good choice, and you might live a carefree life; a poor choice, and you might ruin the latter half of your life. Auntie has been through life, listen to me, I won't mislead you."

Zhou Rui felt somewhat helpless, but under the nagging of her aunt, she had no choice but to let it go in one ear and out the other.

Eventually, Zhou Rui could only nod and say, "Okay, okay, I understand, I will try my best to pursue Lin Chuan. Is that alright?"

"That's more like it." Aunt Zhou nodded, only then feeling relieved and finally leaving Zhou Rui's house.

In the afternoon, Zhou Rui dressed up, putting on boots, a coat, and sunglasses, and went to Feixiang Transport Company. Several subordinates were playing cards on the first floor, and when they suddenly saw Zhou Rui arrive, they immediately threw down their cards and hurriedly ran over, lining up in a row.

"Welcome, General Manager, for gracing us with your presence." Everyone shouted in unison.

"Pfft..."

Zhou Rui covered her mouth and laughed, asking, "What are you all doing?"

"Hehe, we felt guilty about how things went with Mr. Zhou yesterday, so today the brothers wanted to apologize," Li Qiang said with a chuckle.

"Forget it." Zhou Rui waved her hand and said, "It's all in the past. Besides, how's the task I assigned you? Did you do it well?"

"It's done," Li Qiang quickly nodded, "All the walls have been painted. The brothers worked hard all day and got everything sorted. Please inspect, Mr. Zhou."

Zhou Rui went upstairs to take a look and indeed, the walls were as good as new. The floor was also sparkling. The large office desk also had been cleaned thoroughly, despite showing some wear and tear, but at least this boss desk had an authoritative feel. Just... it lacked a prestigious boss chair.

After personally planning, Zhou Rui then went to a furniture store, immediately selecting a chair, a comfortable bed, a large wardrobe, and a set of bookshelves. After paying, she had them delivered immediately. Buying furniture after the new year was cheaper, and everything was ready-made.

Once the furniture was set up, it indeed looked nice. Only it still felt a bit too spacious.

Taking advantage of some free time in the afternoon, she went to the flower and bird market and personally picked out some green plants.

When the green plants were placed in the office, it immediately felt much more welcoming, and the space didn't seem as vast anymore. The office immediately looked very stylish. Even Li Qiang and the others couldn't help but marvel. The place used to be just a pile of junk, but now, after Zhou Rui's transformation, it had become a brand-new, beautiful office.

"Mr. Zhou, you really have a great eye," Li Qiang said excitedly, "You've made such a shabby place look this beautiful."

"Isn't that obvious?" Zhou Rui clapped her hands lightly and snorted lightly, "Right, have someone deliver a set of tea furniture for receiving guests tomorrow. If guests come, we can't have them sit on the floor, can we?"

"Right away," Li Qiang nodded.

"Also, get a set of kung fu tea utensils and a tea tray," Zhou Rui ordered.

Li Qiang took note promptly.

"The money will come out of my own pocket, not the company's," Zhou Rui stated.

"Why?" Li Qiang was startled.

"To avoid idle gossip," Zhou Rui snorted, "What if someone says I haven't made any profits, yet I've spent so much money? Wouldn't that look bad?"

"Who would dare?" Li Qiang's eyes widened.

"Of course, I know you wouldn't dare," Zhou Rui smiled lightly, "but what about others?"

"Then I'll shut their mouths," Li Qiang gritted his teeth.

"What if it's Lin Chuan?" Zhou Rui curiously asked.

"That..." Li Qiang was at a loss, he smiled wryly and said, "Brother Chuan would definitely not say anything."

"One can never fully understand others, who knows," Zhou Rui said with a smile, "Alright, the office is finally set up, we'll just need to air it out for a few days. I officially assume my post one week later. Have preparations ready."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Li Qiang immediately nodded.

Zhou Rui left Feixiang Transport Company, feeling completely satisfied.

A few people were a bit conflicted and puzzled. One of the subordinates curiously asked, "Brother Qiang, I think this woman isn't bad. She's really considering the company's needs. I saw her spending tens of thousands on those items, yet never once thought about asking the company for reimbursement."

"Maybe she genuinely wants to do something good for the company," Li Qiang laughed and said, "That's why, you shouldn't make wild guesses about some things."

"Mr. Zhou might really be a good person," the subordinate said.

"You must respect her from now on." Li Qiang said solemnly.

"Yes!" Everyone nodded.

......

Wujiang originally thought it was a nice outdoor trip. Zhou Kai and Lu Dapao were extremely excited along the way. Sitting on the bus, they excitedly chatted, some even felt excited about getting paid without having to work. Only Zhao Zhonghai, sitting at the front, knew that this was definitely not a tour, nor a game, but a military training second only to those held by major military regions.

After arriving at the destination, Zhao Zhonghai led them to a two-story wooden house on the mountain.

This place was isolated from the world. After getting off the bus, they carried their luggage and walked on mountain roads for an hour to reach this place.

Spring had started, the mountain was lush with greenery, and occasionally one could see rabbits darting through the bushes.

"Wow, there's a rabbit, chase it!" Zhou Kai roared.

Following that, more than ten followers immediately began to chase after a large grey rabbit. However, after more than ten minutes, they returned empty-handed.

Zhao Zhonghai sat cross-legged, gazing at them sternly.

"Brother Zhao, hehe..." Zhou Kai chuckled.

"Line up." Zhao Zhonghai said sternly, "I made it very clear on the way here, once here, everything must be done on my command, and you must ask for my permission to do anything. If anyone dares to disobey, they'll run five laps around this mountain. Since this is your first offense, start running three laps now. If you run one lap less, you'll have to run two additional laps."

Everyone was startled, looking at Zhou Kai.

Zhou Kai, as their leader, had the most influence in front of Zhao Zhonghai. Zhou Kai hesitated and awkwardly said, "Brother Zhao, let's just forget about this. It's our first time, right? It wasn't intentional."

"Start running." Zhao Zhonghai was relentless.

"Run, run, run." Seeing the situation, Zhou Kai decisively started running.

You should know, this mountain is very large, one lap is at least two to three kilometers. Three laps would be six to seven kilometers. Even though they were accustomed to manual labor, their endurance was poor. At first, they ran energetically, laughing and chatting, but they couldn't maintain it. The mountain road was rough, they were exhausted after one lap, their legs turned weak after two, and halfway through the third lap, they couldn't continue. Two followers discreetly took shortcuts back.

After everyone finished running, Zhao Zhonghai, squinting his eyes, said, "Who took shortcuts? Come forward."

The group didn't react.

At this moment, Goudan burst out of the woods with a bunch of straw hats, shouting, "These two."

Zhao Zhonghai looked coldly at the two men. The two quickly defended themselves: "No... definitely not."

"You think we're blind?" Zhao Zhonghai scoffed.

"Did you or did you not?" Zhou Kai glared at the two.

Unable to meet Zhou Kai's gaze, they lowered their heads. Seeing this, Zhou Kai immediately understood, and he angrily said, "You two fools, how could you do this to me?"

"Run again." Zhao Zhonghai coldly commanded, "Three laps, if you dare to slack, then it's ten laps."

Hiss...

Everyone was stunned.

The two could only grit their teeth and start again. They had already run two and a half laps, almost six kilometers, and now, another six kilometers would be deadly. Zhou Kai clenched his teeth and said, "I am their leader, it's partly my fault too; I will run with them."

"Kai!" The two looked at Zhou Kai awkwardly.

"What are you looking at? Get moving." Zhou Kai roared.

With no other choice, the two set off again.

After finishing the three laps, it was half an hour later. The three were drenched in sweat, their hair completely soaked.

Zhao Zhonghai said coldly, "I am your instructor, from now on, everything must follow my commands. Anyone unwilling to comply has two choices: first, run five laps as a penalty; second, you can leave this place. Once you leave, you will never be able to reintegrate into this group. You will no longer be employees of Feixiang Company, nor will you enjoy any of Feixiang Company's wages and benefits. So, decide for yourselves."

"How is that possible?" Everyone was shocked.

"These are Lin Chuan's instructions." Zhao Zhonghai scanned the group, saying, "Anyone who wants to leave can leave now."

Everyone held their breath.

"If not, starting tomorrow, train seriously." Zhao Zhonghai smiled, "Our training tasks are straightforward; a five-kilometer weighted run in the morning. In the afternoon, some simple apparatus training. In the afternoon, you're free to do what you want; you can hunt, and Goudan will teach you some basic survival skills. At night, there will be nighttime training."

"Wow..."

The crowd buzzed in astonishment.

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