Genius Club

Chapter 150: Chapter 135: Zhao Yingjun’s Code

“I don’t actually mean for you to be my full-time secretary,”

President Zhao immediately added:

“About this matter… I’ve really thought a lot about it.”

“Honestly, you’re already completely financially independent. Your income each quarter even surpasses that of many large companies’ annual earnings. To have you, in your current position, take on a secretary role really isn’t quite appropriate. This is also why I hesitated to bring this up with you.”

“Even though you’re my subordinate, from the perspective of the company’s survival, perhaps you’re more like the true owner of MX Company. I’ve also considered what would happen to the company if you were to leave MX Company… how it should develop and where it should go. But that’s unrelated to what we’re discussing today.”

“We’ve talked before. You mentioned you have plans to start your own business someday, that you want to learn some business thinking, gather experience, and avoid some detours. I also think that’s necessary, and I support you in doing that. And the position where you can learn these things best… without a doubt, is that of the executive secretary.”

“The secretary, like the president, is exposed to a vast amount of business information and even secrets every day, needs to weigh choices, make decisions, and determine what to take or leave, just like the president. Sometimes, a small decision may impact the entire company’s existence. These are things you can’t learn in any other position… only through first-hand experience, even for me, even for Chu Shanhe, many things are still tackled by facing obstacles head-on.”

“Since the matter has ultimately been brought up today, this is also my heartfelt advice to you. You’ve helped me a lot during this time, and it’s only right that I should pass on my years of experience and lessons learned to you on your entrepreneurial journey.”

“So, you might want to think about this. If you’re considering it… why not try being my ‘part-time secretary,’ without it affecting your daily life and work?”

…

Zhao Yingjun spoke very sincerely.

Lin Xian had never heard Zhao Yingjun speak so much at once before. It seemed she had indeed given this much thought, going roundabout before bringing up this long-deliberated matter.

What she said made sense.

From others’ perspective, having someone who was financially independent and successful like her company ‘daddy’ work as her secretary was indeed not something easy to say.

That was probably why she seemed preoccupied tonight, repeatedly on the verge of speaking.

Perhaps she was afraid Lin Xian might misunderstand, afraid he would think she was belittling him, undervaluing him.

Part-time secretary.

Zhao Yingjun really had given full consideration.

She wouldn’t tie Lin Xian down all the time; most of it was about helping her handle confidential matters she was too busy to deal with, while he was free to manage his own time.

And it was a stroke of luck that he had previously established an image of someone who “wants to succeed,” “wants to advance,” “wants to learn,” which made Zhao Yingjun think about promoting him to be a secretary…

As for Lin Xian.

He had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

“I’d be delighted.”

Lin Xian smiled and said:

“I am honored that you trust me this much, and I believe I can do well in this job.”

Zhao Yingjun let out a light laugh, turned her head away, and looked at the colorful night view across the river as if letting out a sigh of relief. She let her arms, which she had been holding, fall to her sides and rested them on the railing along the riverbank:

“I thought you would refuse.”

“I might have, if it was before,” Lin Xian said softly:

“But now, I really do want to learn some real skills, and being your secretary is undoubtedly the fastest way to grow. What will I need to do?”

“Normally, you can just continue with your work.”

Zhao Yingjun turned back to look at Lin Xian:

“It’s just that in the future, I might call on you more often. The company’s affairs are getting increasingly complicated, and I really can’t handle it all. I’ll be relying on you more in the future.”

“And there are some matters involving the company’s business secrets that I will also let you gradually get involved in. I have a preliminary plan for these, but we can coordinate the specifics later on.”

“Of course… if you have time, I’ll also need you to help clean up the office.”

She laughed shyly, and the evening breeze stirred the stray hairs at her temples and blew into her eyes:

“You don’t need to clean it every day, just whenever you have spare time. Having a clean office is nice for the mood; you just have to keep others from entering, better safe than sorry.”

Lin Xian nodded and took note:

“I’ll do my best to take care of it.”

“Oh right, remember the code for the office’s keypad lock,” Zhao Yingjun rubbed her eyes:

“32375246.”

“It’s so complicated? Does it have a special meaning?” Lin Xian was going to note it down in his phone but figured that wasn’t very secure. He repeated the sequence a few times mentally, making sure he memorized the seemingly random string of numbers.

He had thought there would be some kind of pattern to follow… Why did Zhao Yingjun set such a bizarre password?

“There is no significance,” Zhao Yingjun said with a slight smile:

“Any meaningful password can eventually be guessed or cracked. But a meaningless password like this is relatively much safer.”

“It’s hard to believe when you say it, but I did set this password at random, without any significance.”

“All right,” Lin Xian quietly repeated it to himself several times.

Zhao Yingjun was right.

It was indeed hard to remember…

32375246

This password seemed more likely to stop oneself before anybody else. If he didn’t review it several times before going to bed at night, he might forget it by morning.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it memorized.”

“You must not tell a second person, Lin Xian,” Zhao Yingjun pushed herself up from the railing, glancing at the increasingly thick, heavy clouds:

“Only you and I know this password.”

“I will keep it a secret,” Lin Xian assured her:

“After the New Year, you will see an office as clean as new.”

“Really, I’m looking forward to it.”

Boom!!!!!!

Another muffled thunderclap exploded nearby, seemingly right above their heads.

Drip, drip, the raindrops fell.

From a light drizzle, it quickly turned into big droplets, spattering down.

“It’s raining. Lin Xian, hurry up and get in the car.”

“Okay.”

The two of them ran into the car.

The rain was heavy, pressing thick sheets of water against the car windows. The front wipers moved back and forth at top speed, but still couldn’t keep up with the rain.

“Why has it suddenly started raining so hard?”

“The weather this season… I guess that’s just how it is.”

…

For safety, they drove slowly. By the time Lin Xian dropped Zhao Yingjun off at her home, it was nearing midnight.

“Drive slowly on the road.”

Zhao Yingjun instructed after getting out of the car:

“You don’t have a car either, so you might as well take this car home for the New Year. It’ll be more convenient.”

“That’s too flashy, President Zhao, let’s not,”

Lin Xian shook his head:

“I’ll just park it in the company garage and leave the keys in the ‘Office’ for you.”

“Don’t you always keep your car keys in the ‘Drawer’?”

Zhao Yingjun looked down and smiled slightly:

“Lin Xian, you are my assistant, you can decide on these matters in the future. When you have time, help me tidy up the office properly. Remember the placement of every item, and plan it out well.”

“Understood.”

…

Hum————————

The ferocious engine of the Ferrari LaFerrari roared through the torrential rain.

“32375246.”

Lin Xian muttered these numbers amid the ticking sound of the turn signal.

“Finally… got it.”

A smile crept onto his lips, and Lin Xian’s heartbeat accelerated, incessant as the thrumming of the V12 engine.

That invitation to the Genius Club hidden in Zhao Yingjun’s office… at long last, he could see its contents.

The Genius Club…

This secret organization, hidden in the annals of history for over 600 years, was finally revealing a tip of the iceberg, at least… he could catch a glimpse of its face.

It was so mysterious, and yet so powerful.

It sat at the center of countless enigmas, driving the entire dark vortex to spin.

Xu Yun.

The cosmic constant 42.

New Donghai City.

The Moon shrouded by the Black Hand.

A blank history spanning 600 years.

Time, the past, the future.

Even that safe, CC, Chu Anqing, the bearded man… perhaps all were connected to this cryptic organization.

Lin Xian had always been puzzled about why Zhao Yingjun qualified for the invitation.

But now…

The revelation of the answer…

was merely A Step Away!

Screech—

The Ferrari stopped in the company’s underground garage, where the pounding rain had washed its shell clean of all floating dust, making it look brand new, as bright red as fire.

After locking the car, Lin Xian took the elevator straight up and pressed the button for the 22nd floor.

Clang.

Clang.

Clang.

The elevator, in the wee hours, was deathly quiet.

The sound of each cable rubbing against the steel clips was deafening.

It was past half past midnight, and there was not a soul in the entire company. Even if there were, it wouldn’t matter because he was now Zhao Yingjun’s secretary, and it was perfectly reasonable for him to appear in Zhao Yingjun’s office at any time.

Moreover, Zhao Yingjun was a person who highly valued privacy. There were no cameras in the 22nd-floor hallway, and not even a hint of surveillance equipment in the office.

No one knew what he was up to.

And nobody knew what he was doing inside Zhao Yingjun’s office.

As Zhao Yingjun said…

32375246.

This password was known only to the two of them.

Ding————

The sound of the elevator doors opening was particularly nerve-wracking.

Lin Xian stepped out of the bright elevator, one step at a time, toward the coded door flashing with a breathing blue light ahead.

The elevator doors closed slowly behind him…

The only light, like an ebbing tide, quickly shrank from a fan shape to a thin line, and eventually dissolved into the darkness, leaving only the flickering blue light of the coded door.

It was like a living thing.

Like a heartbeat.

Like breathing.

Like the fluctuating lifeline on an ECG monitor.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Lin Xian’s rain-soaked boots made a particularly heavy, loud sound on the unlit floor.

These mere tens of meters felt like several months to Lin Xian.

From the moment he first saw that invitation to now, finally standing before the coded door, it seemed like both yesterday and an age ago.

He extended his right index finger.

And pressed the hard-won eight-digit code on the keypad one by one.

3, 2, 3, 7, 5, 2, 4, 6.

Bang!

A familiar muffled noise sounded as the double-coded door swung open on cue.

Creeeeak…

He pushed the heavy coded door open.

Facing him was the dimly lit office, where the pouring rain was hammering against the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Even with all the windows firmly shut, the distinctive smell of rain seemed to squeeze through the cracks, filling the office with a damp, metallic odor.

There were no lights.

No moonlight either.

Only the slowly blinking white dot of the computer monitor’s standby light at the bottom edge.

Boom!!!

A flash of lightning struck, illuminating the room as bright as day, but like the flash of a camera, it was fleeting. The rain curtain became a water screen crawling on the vast windows, blurring the outside world.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

…

Lin Xian breathed in the damp, rusty air, his gaze fixed as he walked directly towards Zhao Yingjun’s desk.

He clearly remembered the Genius Club invitation was in the right-hand drawer.

Rustle.

He pulled the drawer open, rifling through it.

Nothing.

Rustle.

He opened another drawer to search.

Still nothing.

Bending down, he opened the filing cabinet beside him.

“Heehee…”

A woman’s light laughter suddenly emerged from behind!

Boom!!!!!!

Another lightning bolt pierced the rain, and Lin Xian sprung to his feet!

On the couch at the side of the office, sat a woman with her legs crossed, swinging her high heels!

She was wearing a trench coat, and her blue earrings fluttered uncertainly in the lightning as she smiled in his direction:

“Lin Xian, what are you looking for?”