After leaving Berkeley, Lin Jiang went to Xu Lin’s place.
When he opened the door, he saw Xu Lin in a sports bra and yoga pants. A fine sheen of sweat covered her forehead, suggesting she had been working out at home.
What Lin Jiang didn’t expect was to see a daily mission appear above her head.
Before Lin Jiang could even check the mission details, Xu Lin leaped onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Lin Jiang instinctively supported her bottom, lifting her up.
"My timing isn’t too late, is it?"
"It’s perfect. As soon as I got your message, I sent him to my mom’s."
Xu Lin looked at Lin Jiang. "Reimburse me. 128."
"Reimburse you for what?"
"I told him to go, but he wouldn’t. I had to spend 128 on an Ultraman figure to get him to leave."
Xu Lin looked at Lin Jiang. "So, don’t you think you should be the one to pay for that?"
"No problem. I’ll absolutely cover it. I’ll transfer you 1280 to book ten sessions in advance."
"Then I’d better work out seriously. Otherwise, after ten sessions, you’ll have worn me to death."
With that, Xu Lin slid off of Lin Jiang.
"We’re having hot pot today. I’m using the soup base you gave me. I just smelled it, and it’s unbelievably fragrant."
"Give me your review after we eat. It’s the secret weapon for the hot pot restaurant I plan to open."
"You really are a business genius. Everything you touch turns to gold. Quick, rub some of that good luck off on me."
"I’ll give it to you after dinner."
"You devil."
The two went to the dining table and cooked some lamb slices. The flavor was even better than he had imagined.
Xu Lin also ate with great satisfaction. Seizing the moment, Lin Jiang opened the daily mission.
[Mission Name: Fun Times]
[Mission Description: Wants to accompany her child to the school’s summer camp activity but doesn’t have time due to a business trip.]
[Mission Reward: Fitness Card x1, 20 Points]
Seeing the mission description, Lin Jiang was reminded of Xu Lin’s first mission.
The two were similar.
[Fitness Card: Work out for one hour daily to receive a reward of 2 million per day. Duration: seven days. (No restrictions on time or location)]
’No restrictions on time’ was easy to understand. He could do it whenever.
’How should I interpret "no restrictions on location"? Does that mean I don’t have to go to a gym?’
[Correct. Any form of exercise is included.]
’So you’re saying if I go for a run in the park or play some Basketball, that counts as working out?’
[Yes.]
’Then... does "playing cards in bed" count as exercise?’ Lin Jiang asked weakly in his mind.
Tongzi didn’t respond immediately.
Apparently, its database hadn’t accounted for this possibility.
[It counts.]
’Tongzi, you’re the best.’
’I’ll let you watch when we play cards later.’
"Oh, right. I heard there’s trouble at the mall. A lot of brands are planning to terminate their leases."
Xu Lin’s words interrupted Lin Jiang’s conversation with the system.
"Huipin Group is opening a new mall in the newly launched Star City Bay Phase II, and they’ve poached all of Berkeley’s tenants."
"They could just find new tenants. Poaching from you guys is a bit shady, isn’t it?"
"Real-life business wars are often this petty." Lin Jiang shrugged.
"The two malls are so close to each other that their customer bases overlap. Brands won’t open two stores so near each other. Their best strategy is to snatch Berkeley’s tenants."
"Based on what you’re saying, they must have considered this when they were planning the project. They planned from the very beginning to push Berkeley out."
"More or less. Plus, there’s some personal history between me and them. That, combined with the timing of Berkeley’s renovations, led to the situation we have today."
"So what did you do? Did you let them terminate their leases?"
"Of course. Do I look like the kind of shameless person who would force them to stay?"
"Of course not. The man I’ve chosen would never do something like that," Xu Lin said proudly.
"But, that said, the impact on you guys must be huge. Do you have a contingency plan for this? In the worst-case scenario, how many will leave?"
"One-third."
"That bad?"
"Bad? What’s bad about it? I couldn’t be happier," Lin Jiang said as he ate.
"They’re freeing up space for me. Now I can recruit other, better chain brands. Saves me the brainpower of having to clear them out myself."
"The problem is, Berkeley’s appeal might not be as strong as you think, even after the renovations."
"Don’t worry. I have a secret weapon."
"A secret weapon?"
"Your medicinal oil, are you still selling it?"
Xu Lin nodded. "Mostly online sales now, to my old regular customers."
"I remember you said you developed the medicinal oil yourself, right?"
"Mhm, what about it?"
"Go apply for a patent. I’ll help you run a marketing campaign for it, and we’ll sell it exclusively at Berkeley. I’ll use it to drive traffic."
"No problem. I’ll go take care of it tomorrow."
"If you don’t have time, I can have someone handle it. You just focus on your TCM clinic."
"Okay, that works too. But I’m worried the effect won’t be as good as you imagine, and it won’t end up driving much traffic."
"This is just one way to drive traffic. Besides, I’m sure the effect won’t be bad. Don’t overthink it."
"Okay."
With the serious matters out of the way, the two started chatting about other things.
"Why did you stop eating after just a few bites?"
"I’ve been trying to lose weight lately. I can’t eat too much."
"Even if you’re trying to lose weight, you’re eating way too little."
"I’m afraid if I eat too much, you’ll make me throw up when you’re wearing me out later."
Lin Jiang looked at Xu Lin with a grin. "So you’ve already thought that far ahead."
"You should eat a little less, too, so you don’t feel uncomfortable in a bit."
Looking into Xu Lin’s eyes, Lin Jiang noticed a subtle difference.
Although she had always been enthusiastic about this sort of thing, she had never been as eager as she was today.

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