Chapter 52: A Refined Gentleman
Seated gracefully, Su Wanyu wore a flowing emerald green dress. The hem cascaded naturally, revealing only part of her white shoes.
She was tall, likely over 1.7 meters, yet slender to the point of appearing delicate, as though a light breeze might topple her.
For the first time, Lu Liang saw her without her thick black-framed glasses and was momentarily taken aback. She exuded the charm of cherry blossoms in early spring—fresh, delicate, and endearingly fragile.
Noticing his gaze, Su Wanyu quickly put on her glasses. Instantly, her appearance seemed less radiant, her nine-point beauty dropping to a modest six. The thick lenses, likely of high prescription, shrank her eyes and added a bookish, slightly awkward air.
"Mr. Lu, shall we begin?" Su asked, her voice soft and soothing, like a gentle stream flowing through the heart.
She had brought an array of teaching tools, including an electronic writing board and in-ear monitors to assist with pronunciation practice.
“Let’s start,” Lu Liang said, leading her to the adjacent office. He opened the blinds and windows, allowing the room to ventilate after being shut all day.
Lu Liang preferred dim lighting while monitoring the stock market, finding it helped him focus. This thoughtful gesture of airing out the space earned a quiet note of approval from Su Wanyu.
He quickly understood why Meng had dismissed the event as lacking in quality despite the university’s elite reputation.
Flipping through several business proposals, he found projects with some success, even boasting tens of thousands of followers online. Yet, they were plagued by overly idealistic visions and a lack of clear profit models—a common flaw among student entrepreneurs.
Moreover, the biggest difference between campus and external entrepreneurs was excessive caution.
Caution wasn’t inherently bad, but when pitching to investors, it was often better to oversell.
“A project doesn’t need to make money right now, but it can’t lack a path to profitability,” Lu Liang thought as he moved among the investors and entrepreneurs.
While such gatherings might be too elementary for someone like Meng, they were just right for Lu Liang, who was still finding his footing in the venture capital world.
These investors, though often unscrupulous, were rarely foolish. Even if a project seemed like a money pit, a convincing entrepreneur could still secure funding. If they could persuade the investors, they could likely persuade others, allowing the investors to cash out at the right moment.
Holding a coffee cup, Lu Liang wandered through the expo but found no projects worth investing in. Instead, he retreated to a quiet spot to rest, observing the stream of university beauties from across the nation.
His idle gaze was interrupted when he spotted Su Wanyu.
Amused by the coincidence, he was about to greet her when his attention was drawn to her ride—a shared yellow bike.
A row of similar bikes was parked nearby.
It struck him that he had seen many of these bikes since entering the campus, though he hadn’t paid them much mind. Branded with a company logo, they were clearly not private vehicles. This brought to mind the shared economy models he had been researching.
Meanwhile, Su noticed Lu Liang and was momentarily surprised before offering him a shy smile.
Lu Liang returned the gesture with a nod before hastily heading toward the expo management office.
“What’s going on?” asked Su’s friend, who stood beside her.
“I think I just saw my employer.”
“The one who booked 20 sessions at once?”
Su nodded. After the platform’s commission, she would net 7,600 yuan, enough to sustain her while preparing for her postgraduate exams.
Her friend teased, “Spill it! Did you take off your glasses in front of him and stun him so much that he’s been chasing after you?”
Su glared. “Don’t talk nonsense. Mr. Lu is very proper, serious about learning, and genuinely wants to improve his English.”
She recounted how Lu Liang received the invitation yesterday and wasn’t even aware she would be here helping out.
Her friend grinned mischievously. “Oh, calling him ‘Mr. Lu’ now, are we? Where is he? Let me see how good-looking he is.”
Feigning anger, Su turned her nose up. “Go hand out flyers with your boyfriend. I’m heading to the library.”
“Don’t go! I’m sorry! I won’t tease anymore!”