Chapter Five: Seeking a Caddie!

Jiang Hong drank the body repair potion before going to sleep and opened his eyes right on time at seven the next morning.

He felt incredibly refreshed. The soreness and fatigue from his tennis practice the day before had vanished, replaced by such abundant energy he felt like he could lift the roof off.

Seeing him in this state, Li Hua’s mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg. "Old Jiang, what happened to you? You look like a completely different person."

"Huh?" Jiang Hong paused. There was no mirror in the dorm, so he quickly leaned over to check his reflection in the window. Goodness, the acne marks on his face were gone, and his skin had a healthy glow. Did this potion have beauty-enhancing effects, too?

If he was handsome before, he was now "handsome plus."

"Did you sneakily use cosmetics?" Li Hua pressed him.

"Where would I even get that stuff?" Jiang Hong spread his hands. Honestly, their dorm didn't even have a mirror; whenever they needed one, they just looked at the glass or their phones.

"Then why did you suddenly get so handsome?" Li Hua looked miserable. He was already handsome, and now he was even more so—how was he supposed to compete?

"I’ve always been handsome, you just didn't notice," Jiang Hong retorted, leaving Li Hua speechless.

As Li Hua prepared to keep questioning him, Jiang Hong dropped the bomb: "If you keep dawdling, we’re going to be late for the eight o'clock class!"

That was more effective than anything else. Li Hua’s face changed instantly. "Oh no!"

He began scrambling to wash up. As freshmen, they hadn't yet unlocked the skill of skipping class, especially for Management, where the professor had declared on the first day that missing three classes would result in an automatic failure. Nobody dared to gamble on that.

Jiang Hong knew better—the professor was all bark and no bite, and would likely let anyone pass by the end of the term. It was the smiling teachers you had to watch out for; their failure rates were absurdly high, and you wouldn't even have a place to cry when it happened.

But even so, the class was useless. Who would he even be managing after graduation? Well, actually, he could learn how to be managed.

Before the eight o'clock bell rang, a sea of students rushed into the lecture hall. Jiang Hong and Li Hua arrived late, and the back rows were already packed.

As soon as the professor entered, he began reciting his "heavenly scripture." It went in one of Jiang Hong’s ears and out the other—no matter how hard he studied, he found after graduating that none of it was useful; it was purely a waste of time.

It was true: in university, you really needed to study a major with a high barrier to entry.

When the class finally ended and the stern old man left, the classroom instantly erupted in noise.

"Old Jiang, let's go get breakfast. I'm starving," Li Hua urged, stretching his arms. You couldn't skip a single meal!

"You go ahead, I need to find someone," Jiang Hong said, waving him off.

Li Hua was puzzled. They were joined at the hip all day, and Jiang Hong didn't even know many people in the class. Who could he possibly be looking for?

Just as he was wondering, he saw Jiang Hong walk quickly toward a girl and stop her: "Su Cheng, wait a second."

The girl was wearing a faded tracksuit top and jeans. Her skin was dazzlingly fair, and she wore her hair in a ponytail, looking like a well-behaved girl next door.

Su Cheng was startled by being stopped and looked up to see the boy’s face. Although she didn't have much of an impression of him, she still remembered his name.

"Jiang Hong? Is there something you need?" she asked, looking surprised. The two of them had no connection, and she couldn't figure out why he would be looking for her.

"Can we go over there and talk for a moment?" Jiang Hong pointed toward the less crowded area by the window.

Su Cheng hesitated, then nodded. "Okay."

Jiang Hong had a deep impression of Su Cheng. She was the recognized beauty of the class; if there were a vote for the class goddess, she would definitely win. But for four years, she had kept to herself, had no romantic rumors, and was always at the top of the class. It was said she had been offered a recommendation for graduate school but declined, spending all her time working at the student jobs office.

That was why, after much thought, Jiang Hong felt she was the perfect person to be his ball girl. After all, dealing with a beautiful woman was at least pleasant; he couldn't spend all day with a big guy!

"It's like this: I'm looking for someone to help me out from six to seven-thirty every morning, about two hours," Jiang Hong went straight to the point.

Su Cheng didn't agree immediately. "What kind of work is it?"

"Picking up balls for me."

"Picking up balls?" Su Cheng was stunned.

"Right. I've been practicing my tennis serve lately, and you’d just be responsible for retrieving the balls at the school tennis court. Forty yuan a day," Jiang Hong stated the job description and the pay.

"Forty yuan?" Su Cheng’s eyes widened; she was clearly shocked.

"Is it too little?"

"No, no, no!" She waved her hands, her smile instantly becoming radiant. "It's not too little at all, it's perfect!"

She looked like a total money-lover! In 2007, a restaurant server might not even make forty yuan a day, so the pay was indeed absurdly high. However, besides picking up balls, Jiang Hong had other tasks in mind.

Su Cheng’s eyes darted around, and she looked up to give him a preemptive warning. "Jiang Hong, I don't plan on dating!"

So, she was worried he had other ideas.

Jiang Hong couldn't help but laugh. "Whether you date is your business, it has nothing to do with me. If you agree, I'll see you at the tennis court at six tomorrow morning. You can try the intensity first, and if you think it's okay, we can cooperate long-term."

Su Cheng had no objections and nodded. "Alright, see you tomorrow."

"Done." Jiang Hong turned and left without further ado.

Su Cheng watched his back and quietly exhaled.

As soon as Jiang Hong stepped out of the classroom, Li Hua grabbed him. "Tell me the truth, what were you doing with Su Cheng?" He acted as if he would use torture if he didn't get a clear answer.

"We agreed to be single buddies, did you secretly get a girlfriend?" Li Hua’s eyes were full of grievance. This guy usually stuttered when he saw a pretty girl, but he couldn't stand it when his "brother" did better than him. It wasn't his own failure that was scary, but his brother's success that stung.

It wasn't until two or three years after graduation that he finally became a gold-medal salesman, using his gift of gab to trick a young girl into dating him. As for his time in university, the only female he ever interacted with was the lady serving food in the cafeteria.

Actually, that little chubby guy was quite popular with the cafeteria ladies. They always piled his plate high, while his own was less than half that. *Sigh, the world really has a bias against handsome guys!*

"Relax, it's not what you think. I'm hiring a ball girl," Jiang Hong patted his head as if he were soothing a child.

"A ball girl?" Li Hua understood, but it still felt wrong. "You hired Su Cheng as a ball girl? You’ve got ulterior motives, don't you! Trying to get a head start, eh?" After all, there were so many people in the tennis club; he could have found someone else, yet he chose a beauty.

"I don't believe you!" He shook his head like a rattle.

Jiang Hong was defeated. "Fine, we’re dating."

Nobody believes the truth these days; did they have to force him to lie?

"N-no way!" Li Hua shook his head even harder, refusing to believe it.

Jiang Hong ignored him and kept walking, with the guy trailing behind him, muttering incessantly.

"You and Su Cheng aren't together, right?"

"You're the worst, actually getting such a pretty girl."

Jiang Hong dug into his ear. "Alright, stop howling. We’re just boss and employee. If we were dating, would progress be this slow?"

This time, Li Hua finally believed him. After all, he was with Jiang Hong all day; if the two of them were dating, it couldn't have escaped his eyes.

Still, to be able to hire the prettiest girl in class to pick up his balls...

"You hateful rich guy!"