"It's written, it's in my bag, I'll go get it for you—"
"No need, just recite it to me." Xu Yan tore open the pancake, chewing it slowly and elegantly, as if he were enjoying some kind of precious ingredient.
Seeing this scene, Zhou Luming couldn't help but think that temperament is innate. Some people can even smell the fragrance of stinky tofu. Xu Yan is the kind of person who is well-read and has a refined temperament. Although he may read mostly foreign languages, it does not affect his inherent elegance.
"Today's lipstick doesn't suit you." Xu Yan took a sip of soy milk and stared at the pancake without looking up as she made her conclusion.
Zhou Luming paused slightly, then smiled slyly, "It seems you're quite interested in my lip...color...do you prefer the lipstick color from last night?"
“The place we’re going to today isn’t suitable for such bright colors. Change to another one, or wipe it off,” Xu Yan said coldly.
“Okay, I’ll do whatever you say,” Zhou Luming said.
"You can start memorizing now." Xu Yan picked up the soy milk poured into the glass, looked at its color, and seemed to be tasting wine.
Fortunately, Zhou Luming had an excellent memory and fluently recited the key points of the estate administrator's job that Q had sent to her email early that morning.
"Compile an inventory of the estate, locate all heirs, and distribute the estate in a reasonable manner..."
Xu Yan listened quietly, her expression unchanged, and it was impossible to know what she was thinking.
Just as Zhou Luming finished reciting these, Xu Yan finished breakfast, wiped her hands, stood up, and said, "Pretty good."
"That's it?" Zhou Luming was surprised. She thought Xu Yan would find fault with her to establish her authority, but she didn't expect her to let her off so easily.
"You parked my car in the open-air parking lot last night?" Xu Yan walked to the door and saw his car outside through the glass.
"Yes, because there is no parking lot in my neighborhood."
"Keep the car at my place from now on. You can keep the key; use it whenever you need it." Xu Yan changed his shoes, put his hands in his pockets, stood at the door, and turned to look at Zhou Luming, who was still inside. "What are you all standing there for? Let's go."
Zhou Luming quickly followed and reached out to straighten Xu Yan's collar, saying, "It's a bit windy outside."
Xu Yan remained silent for a moment, her ears visibly turning red.
Thank you for your concern.
After getting in the car, Zhou Luming asked Xu Yan where to navigate.
Xu Yan glanced out the window and said casually, "Lejia Insurance Company headquarters."
Author's Note:
Happy New Year!
Chapter 14
===================
Zhou Luming drove Xu Yan's Land Rover and followed the navigation to Hai City's CBD. Unlike the Yuan Universe Building, which was specially planned to be located in the suburban science and technology park, Lejia Insurance Company was located among the skyscrapers in the city's financial center.
"Are our clients this time insurance companies?" Zhou Luming asked.
"I haven't accepted their commission yet; I'll decide after we meet," Xu Yan said calmly, looking down at her phone and reading the news.
Zhou Luming thoughtfully turned on the radio to broadcast today's morning news.
"More than two years have passed since the disappearance of Singapore Airlines Flight K85. According to the law, all passengers and crew members who were on board Flight K85 can be formally declared dead..."
"Mr. Xu, could the insurance company building we're heading to be the one that underwrote the missing Singapore Airlines flight?" Zhou Luming asked, relying on her keen intuition, one hand on the steering wheel and the other covering her mouth as she yawned. She was feeling a little tired from getting up early to buy breakfast for Xu Yan to please her, and also from having to memorize the key points of the estate administrator's duties that Q had sent her.
"Please keep both hands on the steering wheel and concentrate on driving," Xu Yan said, glancing at her hands.
Zhou Luming had no choice but to comply. This person was really afraid of death. She didn't dare to utter a sound for a while on the road afterwards, but she glanced at Xu Yan out of the corner of her eye. He looked solemn, as if he was looking at something intently. It was probably related to the commission she was going to handle today.
"Did you know that Li Li's company recently updated its game with a new version, adding new features?" Unable to resist, she struck up a conversation with Xu Yan again.
"Hmm?" Xu Yan's expression remained unchanged.
Zhou Luming continued, "It should be Song Tao who made the decision. The new version launched the 'sworn brotherhood' friend function. Unlike the 'marriage system' of other games, their function is open to people of all genders in the game. That is to say, in their game, men can marry men and women can marry women."
"Hmm," Xu Yan replied perfunctorily.
Zhou Luming was slightly disappointed at not getting the response he wanted, but he still said cheerfully, "This can be considered a response to Li Li. Although it was subtle, Song Tao did provide a response and a way to commemorate him."
"Do you have a faith?" Xu Yan suddenly asked.
Zhou Luming was taken aback, then shook his head and said, "I have no faith."
"When a person dies, everything is extinguished, leaving nothing behind. If you don't cherish life while you're alive, and only regret it after you're dead, what's there to praise about that?" Xu Yan commented on Song Tao indifferently, then added, "As far as I know, Zhou Luming really has no faith. Congratulations, you've passed another test."
Zhou Luming: ...
It seems we have to be ready to deal with her questions anytime, anywhere, and we can't let our guard down for a moment. Xu Yan is very cunning; she deliberately asks sharp questions when we're least on guard. Once she catches us in the act, we'll be exposed.
Zhou Luming decided he couldn't afford to be distracted while driving, lest Xu Yan catch him off guard and ask another dangerous question. He turned up the volume of the radio and drove silently all the way to the underground parking garage of the insurance company building.
"What are you looking at?" Zhou Luming locked the car and turned his head to look at Xu Yan's phone screen.
Xu Yan quickly put away her phone, saying, "It's very impolite to look at someone else's phone without permission."
Zhou Luming stuck out her tongue, "Okay." She noticed that Xu Yan was actually shopping; she was buying a fishing rod, the brand of which she didn't know, but it was very expensive. Zhou Luming was very sensitive to prices; the fishing rod cost 80,000 RMB. If Xu Yan hadn't opened this page, she wouldn't have known that a fishing rod could be so expensive!
Considering Xu Yan's villa, car, and everyday items, Zhou Luming felt that Xu Yan was far wealthier than the background information Q had provided suggested.
Majored in law, minored in economics...
Looking at Xu Yan's profile, Zhou Luming had great admiration for people with a business mind. Without a doubt, Xu Yan belonged to this category—smart and with a keen business sense. He had probably made a lot of money in the capital market, and his salary as an estate administrator was also quite substantial…
"Mr. Xu, can I discuss something with you?" Zhou Luming quickly followed.
"If you're asking for money, I advise you to keep your mouth shut," Xu Yan continued, coldly and quickly refusing.
These were the things Zhou Luming was thinking about, but Xu Yan forbade him, and he immediately deflated like a tire punctured by a nail.
"I'm not asking you to give me the Zhou family's billions in assets. I just want a little bit of bank interest. Can you give me seven days' worth of interest, or rather, three days' worth, as pocket money?" Zhou Luming grabbed Xu Yan's sleeve and pleaded in a softer tone.
"Three days?" Xu Yan stopped, his tall figure elongated by the basement light. "Do you know how much interest is in a day?"
Zhou Luming shook his head.
Xu Yan said, "Based on current bank interest rates, even at the lowest current account interest rate, if you deposit 100 million yuan in a bank, you might earn about 350,000 yuan in pure interest per year. The inheritance left to you by the Zhou family is dozens of times more in cash."
Zhou Luming's eyes widened; she couldn't calculate the interest for three days at all.
Xu Yan slowly pulled his sleeve from her hand and stood at the elevator entrance waiting for the elevator. "I will not leave this money and securities in the bank to earn interest. Other estate administrators may just try to avoid mistakes, but I can make the estate grow rapidly."
Zhou Luming asked, "Aren't you afraid of accidentally causing damage to the estate and having to pay compensation?"
Xu Yan said confidently, "I never miss." Her face shone with extreme confidence. If this expression and tone were on someone else, Zhou Luming might have beaten them up, but he couldn't bring himself to do it to her.
"Hmph, do you know how much you deserve a beating?" Zhou Luming couldn't help but say.
"I know," Xu Yan said. The elevator dinged as it arrived. Xu Yan walked in and stood in a corner, raising her eyes. "Because many people have said this to me."
Zhou Luming was taken aback. The dim lighting in the basement had made Xu Yan's face appear hazy, but as soon as they entered the elevator, a beam of white light shone down on her head, making her look like an angel descended from heaven. However, this angel had a sharp tongue and was arrogant and annoying.
While Zhou Luming was still in a daze, the elevator doors closed automatically. Zhou Luming rushed forward to stop them, but it was too late. Xu Yan, who was inside the elevator, was stunned for a moment, then smiled triumphantly with a slight curl of the corners of her mouth.
"The next elevator is coming up; I'm on the twelfth floor."
Snap—
The elevator doors closed right in front of Zhou Luming.
How childish.
Zhou Luming added this evaluation to Xu Yan.
The elevator Zhou Luming was in suddenly got crowded with people from the first floor, trapping her in the innermost corner, making it difficult for her to breathe. Even during her previous negative pressure chamber training, she had never experienced such a suffocating feeling. Only the space at the top was still somewhat spacious; the rest of the area was filled with a mixture of odors, making Zhou Luming, with her keen sense of smell, suffer terribly.
She tried to stand on tiptoe, taking advantage of her height to breathe in the air above, and managed to keep breathing until she reached the eleventh floor. This time, the group rushed out again in an instant, and Zhou Luming's clothes were caught by the people in front of him, and he was taken out of the elevator along with them.
Having dealt with the hook, Zhou Luming would have to wait for another elevator to go back.
The commotion behind them continued, making Zhou Luming, who was already a little curious, even more curious. She pricked up her ears to listen to what they were arguing about.
This was roughly a reception room with several meeting rooms, all packed with people. These people clearly came from all walks of life, men and women, young and old, dressed in all sorts of clothes and with all sorts of different appearances.
The crowd seemed to be surrounding a person who was wearing the insurance company's uniform blended suit with a name tag that read "Insurance Broker," and was anxiously and helplessly explaining to the crowd.
After listening for a while, Zhou Luming understood. It turned out that the parties involved in the Singapore Airlines case had indeed rushed to the insurance company to claim compensation.
The family members were emotional and indignant, their noisy, shrill voices occasionally reaching Zhou Luming's ears, causing her to frown. She really admired the insurance company employee; he was a young man who looked quite inexperienced, probably not long out of school, and had been pushed out by his supervisor to deal with this group of people.
Zhou Luming felt sorry for the young man, but it was his job, and she had to continue doing her own work.
Just as Zhou Luming turned around to enter the elevator, a sudden commotion erupted behind him. Zhou Luming sensed a crisis approaching. Looking at the mirror-like tiles on the wall next to the elevator, Zhou Luming quickly dodged. Then, a phone slammed into the tile in front of him, smashing a hole in the tile and shattering the phone into pieces.
"Why did you throw my phone!" The young man finally squeezed through the crowd to pick up his phone. Several buttons were missing from his clothes, his hair was messy, and there were even a few scratches on his face.
The people behind him followed, watching him bend down to pick up his phone, but he seemed to be in back pain and couldn't bend over for a moment. Just then, a pair of hands picked up the broken phone for him, and a clear, melodious voice said, "Is this your phone? Here you go—"
The young man saw an extremely beautiful face, paused slightly, and took the phone from her hand in a daze, but his eyes were reluctant to leave her.
"Th...thank you."
"You're welcome." Zhou Luming turned and entered the elevator, waving to the young man.
The young man stared blankly as she left, and before he could even ask who she was, he was surrounded by the crowd behind him again.
When will your manager be out?
When exactly can we receive our insurance payout?
"Now that the court has officially declared him dead, are you still trying to deny it?"
"Young man, can you make that decision?"
"..."
The young man felt like his head was about to explode; all the voices had turned into piercing screams. He covered his ears in agony and yelled, "Stop arguing! Please, stop arguing!"
The crowd was stunned by his sudden outburst, and for a moment they actually fell silent.
The young man managed to piece together the battery, but the phone was completely broken and wouldn't turn on.
He loosened his tie, walked to a landline at the front desk, and dialed a number. "Hello, Manager Ma? They're looking for you..."