Chapter 2 Predicament

  "Is that Wu Lun still in the hall?" Investment Director Cheng Lao's proud and cold voice.

  "Director Cheng is here," Li Na replied.

  "Have him come to my office."

  "Alright."

  Ready to call Wu Lun, he raised his head and saw a pair of deep black and bright eyes staring at him, scaring him into a loud cry. Wu Lun smiled, "Do I look like a beast?"

  Li Na blushed and her face turned slightly red. The other person was not ugly, but rather handsome. "Director Cheng asked you to go there."

  Wu Lun smiled, his smile not quite pure, but also wouldn't make people feel disgusted. Li Na hastily lowered her head, knowing he had left, yet couldn't help but raise her head to take a glance at his back figure.

  Lü Zhòng wasn't there, so the woman named Chéng Lù opened the door and said straightforwardly, "After evaluation, we have already recruited a suitable investment manager candidate. However, we are willing to give you an opportunity to serve as an assistant investment manager on a trial basis with a monthly salary of 3,000 yuan during the probationary period. Considering your current difficulties, we can advance one month's salary to you."

  Wu Lun's face was calm, "No problem, when do I start work?"

  "As for tomorrow, the company will provide lunch coupons and also provide employee dormitories. However, with your current position, you can only share a house with other colleagues. Of course, you can also consider renting a separate apartment, but during the probationary period, the company does not provide any subsidies."

  "OK, I'll go first." Wu Lun didn't care about these things anymore. As long as he could solve the problem of food and lodging, other problems were gradually not a problem for him.

  Cheng Lu stared blankly at Wu Lun's departing figure, although it was the result she had expected, but it seemed too neat and tidy. After hesitating for a moment, she still dialed Lv Zhong's phone number, "He agreed."

  "According to the minimum wage standard for assistant level?"

  "Uh-huh."

  Lv Zhong smiled bitterly, Cheng Lai really could say it out loud. Don't mention whether this sea return is true or false, even an ordinary domestic graduate student, 3,000 in Beicheng is a very low salary standard. "If the probation period proves that he has the ability, his rank and treatment will be raised, otherwise you can't keep him."

  Cheng Lu smiled indifferently, "Why stay, just leave if you want to."

  Lü Chóng smiled and shook his head.

  Wu Lun went to the logistics department to pick up his meal vouchers, but did not receive his prepaid salary. He was told to go to the finance department to collect it. As for the staff dormitory, the logistics department had only rented a set of commercial housing in the company's name, which was intended for the newly recruited investment manager. Wu Lun, as an extra recruited investment manager assistant, temporarily did not have a staff dormitory provided for him. Apart from the logistics department's MM secretly glancing at him a few times, Wu Lun received only undisguised disdain from the middle-aged female logistics department manager, clearly his fake "sea turtle" rumors had already spread far and wide.

  Wu Lun did not receive the kind of treatment from Program Director Cheng Lai that would make things awkward, someone as young and already a high-ranking executive in the company wouldn't try to fool him with these kinds of things. The woman simply overlooked it, she wouldn't care if the company had extra apartments or not, in her eyes she was just a small figure with a bit of personality. Wu Lun smiled self-deprecatingly, he could understand what that woman was thinking precisely because he used to be that kind of person himself.

  Wu Lun received the money smoothly, and Cheng Lü was obviously accountable to the finance department. No matter how big or small the company is, every penny must be accounted for clearly and reasonably. Cheng Lü did not lack sensitivity in this regard.

  As Wu Lun walked out of the building, he glanced back at the words "Rong Xing Building" and thought that although Rong Xing Investment only occupied one floor of the building, the entire building belonged to the Rong Xing Group. Having a whole building in the financial center of Beicheng seemed like a big backing for Rong Xing Investment, which didn't fit his original intention of finding a small investment company. However, he had no other choice at the moment. Taking a deep breath, he looked around at the bustling streets, the crowded traffic, and smiled contentedly to himself. His mind was now racing with plans on how to use the 3,000 yuan within a month to meet his basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter. If his colleagues on Wall Street knew about this, they would probably be shocked, but he liked it and was already enjoying it.

  Wu Lun first needs to find a place to live, previously he didn't care about such trivial matters, but that doesn't mean he's not familiar with human relationships. As an assistant, he only has the right to share accommodation, and based on the style of the logistics department he encountered today, the landlady will turn this into a pending case by saying Wu Lun is not entitled to enjoy a suite, and the company temporarily hasn't recruited another investment assistant to live in the same house.

  Wu Lun checked into a 50-yuan-per-night street-side hotel, lying on the clean white sheets and smelling the faint mildew in the room. He knew he had failed. He knew nothing about this city. It wasn't until he went to look for houses near Wufang Bridge in Chongwen District that he realized his company was located in Haidian District. He didn't have a private car, so every day he spent a lot of time and bus fare commuting back and forth. He finally learned that 3,000 yuan couldn't rent a house with a monthly rent of over 1,000 yuan because the landlord usually required him to pay three months' rent in advance. He also knew that there was no free lunch, when he found a house in a luxury district with a monthly rent of only a few hundred yuan, he would be shocked to see that inside it was a different world, with partition boards and upper and lower bunks as standard furniture. Wu Lun didn't mind the poor living conditions, but he couldn't tolerate sharing a room with strange men. He believed he would have nightmares every night.

  A day of running around had shrunk Wu Lun's wallet, and this was the first time he had made a loss-making deal, but it didn't affect his sleep at all. The next morning, Wu Lun woke up feeling refreshed and went out to find food early. After spending nearly 100 yuan on breakfast at the hotel, he suddenly realized that if he continued like this, he would go bankrupt just from breakfast alone. With this worry, he arrived at the company and followed his colleagues to punch in, but couldn't find his card anywhere. It wasn't until Li Na, the receptionist he had met the day before, kindly reminded him, "You're an investment assistant, you don't need to punch in. Only ordinary employees need to punch in."

  Wu Lun forced a smile, but Li Na's next sentence made him depressed. "You don't need to come so early either, we are before 8 o'clock, you only need to come before 9 o'clock."

  Wu Lun knew he was being played by the logistics department's manager, a big mom!

  ……

  Cheng Lü glanced at Wu Lun who was sitting lazily in the lobby lounge and asked, "What are you doing sitting here?"

  Wu Lun smiled and said, "No one knows where my office is."

  Cheng Luan suddenly said, "Come with me."

  This time Wu Lun was stunned, and Cheng Lai seemed to have no intention of bullying him anymore. What appeared before his eyes was a single room of over 30 square meters, with plenty of natural light. The morning sunlight poured in unobstructed, and through the floor-to-ceiling windows, he could see the lush greenery of the back mountain. With all the windows open, the air was fresh and there was no need to worry about the constant noise of traffic. Seeing that there was only one office desk, Wu Lun still asked unnecessarily, "Just me?"

  Cheng Lü said coldly, "If you want to save office resources for the company, I can coordinate with other departments and squeeze a few people in for you!" Cheng Lü was somewhat annoyed, feeling that his good intentions had been misunderstood. If he had known earlier, he would have just stuffed him into the storage room, then there wouldn't be any questions.

  Wu Lun originally wanted to ask if the company allowed employees to live in the office, and if so, he wouldn't need to rent a house. The sofa there could solve his sleeping problem, at least it was much better than that damp underground hotel. However, this woman seemed to have no patience with herself, Wu Lun didn't want to get himself into trouble.

  Cheng Lü finished speaking and turned to leave, Wu Lun subconsciously pressed down on her shoulder, "What should I do next?" Cheng Lü seemed not to have heard, she shrugged off Wu Lun's hand with a look of disgust, Wu Lun smiled self-deprecatingly at his own habitual action.

  After a brief moment of awkwardness, Cheng Lu dropped a sentence, "You help me with some chores first," and then left.

  Imagining an angry woman throwing a bunch of trivial things at him to give himself a headache, but Wu Lun had nothing to do all morning, and it wasn't until lunchtime that Cheng Lai knocked on the door to remind him. This made him feel like he was wasting his time as a small person. The two walked to the elevator entrance, the cafeteria is on the third floor, and at this moment, it's just rush hour, after going down a few floors, the elevator was packed with people, this is the trouble of the business building. Wu Lun used both hands to prop open the adjacent walls of the elevator, isolating out a slightly more spacious space for Cheng Lai, but in doing so, the two were face to face. To avoid awkwardness, Wu Lun looked away, and it was good that he did, as he saw a note stuck on the elevator with transparent tape, saying that one room of a three-bedroom, two-hall apartment was for rent. Without thinking, the person who posted the note must work in this building, and the rental house is definitely not far from the building. Even if it means sharing an apartment with others, as long as it's not the same room, Wu Lun was willing to tolerate it. In his current situation, personal preferences had to take a backseat.

  Although the note stuck in the elevator has a very short lifespan, many people must have seen it by now. Wu Lun naturally understands the principle of first come, first served, so he quickly dialed the phone number he remembered earlier. As soon as the call connected, Wu Lun's heart sank halfway - it was a young woman's voice. Wu Lun held onto his last shred of hope, "I'm calling about your rental information..."

  The woman quickly turned to Wu Lun and said, "Ah! There are two girls living here, is it you who wants to rent?"

  "It's me." Wu Lun replied.

  "Sorry, I was in a rush at the time and didn't make it clear, but I'm actually looking for a female tenant." The woman's tone was slightly apologetic and soft.

  Wu Lun smiled, "It's nothing, but you might still receive a few more calls from men like him."

  The woman's voice on the other side suddenly became clear, "I know who you are now, you're Wu Lun, aren't you!"

  "Who are you?"

  "It's me, Li Na!" The woman burst out laughing.

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