She became a heartthrob among internet celebrities.

The timing of the Future Financier Competition is cleverly designed.

It's summer vacation, and third-year students are about to start their internships. Some are giving up altogether, while others have other plans, such as preparing for postgraduate entrance exams or civil service exams, so they don't really care and just sign up. Third-year and second-year students are the main force behind the signings. Of course, even though this is the first competition, it's not child's play, and those who actually make it to the end still need to demonstrate their true abilities.

Overall, everyone was quite enthusiastic. Jiang Lai and her two roommates successfully registered and passed the preliminary round. They then began preparing for the rest of the competition. The preliminary round was fine; online quizzes were available from anywhere. However, the semi-finals and finals were a bit more complicated.

In mid-July, Jiang Lai and her two roommates, led by their teacher, went to Hong Kong with a group of people.

Teacher Yu and another teacher, Teacher Zhang, led the team, while Teacher Qian stayed at the base camp as a remote instructor. A total of fifteen people went to participate in the competition, and there were exactly five groups in the group stage.

Upon arrival in the port city, the event organizers sent a vehicle to pick them up.

Jiang Lai fell asleep as soon as she got in the car, and Li Xiangyue and Tang Li, who were sitting on either side of her, were also infected by her and fell into a deep sleep.

The younger students sitting in the back exchanged glances, thinking: "These upperclassmen are truly amazing! They have such a great attitude! Unlike us! We're actually a little nervous!"

"Senior, you're not worried about the competition at all, are you?" a boy asked, but his tone was quite certain. "Sigh, when will I be as good as you, senior?"

"It's hard to say. None of those senior students ahead of him are easy to deal with." The person next to him said, "You know there's an academic conference this time, right? They'll invite experts and famous entrepreneurs to give speeches. Some of the senior students have already been invited."

"Your senior, Jiang, has been studying under Professor Qian since her freshman and sophomore years. I heard that Professor Qian intends to take her on as his student. Professor Qian hasn't taken on any graduate students for many years!"

"No wonder Professor Qian always praised her in class and even showed us her thesis."

"She's in your class too, right? Professor Qian really likes her, and that senior Liu in front of us is also one of Professor Qian's darlings."

"But the senior's thesis is really interesting! It's about the interaction and development between the entertainment and finance industries that she wrote in her sophomore year. Professor Qian really liked it back then!"

"Anyway, those senior students in their third year are really monsters..."

On the bus, the senior students in the front were sound asleep, while the junior students in the back were whispering: "I wonder if this competition is interesting. I'm not hoping to make it to the finals, but just admiring the masters is enough!"

"Stop pretending that you got up at 5:30 and studied like crazy! What's the difference between you and someone who said they didn't do well on the test but ended up missing a perfect score by just one point!"

The competition was held in an exhibition hall. The hotel that Teacher Yu and his team booked was not far from the exhibition hall, and it was located in the city center.

"Let's get some rest today!" Teacher Yu said, seeing that everyone looked a little tired. "The competition starts the day after tomorrow. Let's rest well these two days, and then we can explore the area after the competition."

Jiang Lai and Li Xiangyue lived together, but Tang Li also squeezed in from next door, insisting on sleeping together.

"Let's go shopping after the competition! I want to buy some things here~ Or we can go to other places too..." Tang Li said, "I really want the competition to end soon!"

"It hasn't even started yet, and you've already arranged the rest of the schedule?" Li Xiangyue shook her head with a bit of a laugh.

Tang Li lay sprawled on the bed: "Yeah!"

"Don't worry, the game will be over quickly," Jiang Lai said casually.

And reality is pretty much as Jiang Lai said: when you're engrossed in something, time actually flies by.

After the intense group stage, there was the final, followed by the awards ceremony.

Jiang Lai, Li Xiangyue, and Tang Li worked together seamlessly, winning the group stage effortlessly. Then came the final.

Then came the awards ceremony, where both Kang Rae and Lee Sang-yeol achieved excellent results.

"Now, please welcome the investors of this competition to present awards to our winning contestants!" The host's booming voice echoed throughout the exhibition hall through the microphone.

The camera panned across the people walking onto the stage, and also across the bigwigs sitting together in the audience.

Some of them are scholars, some are government officials, and some are successful entrepreneurs.

A middle-aged man clapped his hands and said, "I thought this competition would be boring. After all, it's the first time. I didn't even want to come, but I didn't expect there to be some good prospects. President Qin, don't you think?"

Qin Yijian pushed up her glasses and said, "Mm."

The assistant sitting next to Qin Yijian moved closer and whispered, "Mr. Qin, I saw Miss Jiang."

"Hmm?" "It's that young lady's friend!"

Qin Yijian turned her gaze to the stage.

The middle-aged man followed his gaze and asked, "Does President Qin have any promising talents he'd like to recruit?"

Qin Yijian smiled and said, "No, I just saw an acquaintance. It was just a little unexpected."

The subsequent symposium featured speeches from many prominent figures, as well as presentations by students. Jiang Lai, who had achieved excellent results in the finals and was strikingly beautiful, attracted considerable attention. Her story, along with the preferential treatment she received from Professor Qian and her previously written papers, were all points worth discussing.

Jiang Lai was not intimidated. Even though the big shots asked her significantly more questions than she did, she still managed to keep up with the pace.

The others also performed exceptionally well. Everyone spoke freely, and their ideas sparked new insights or solved long-standing problems.

After the symposium, there was a dinner, giving everyone time to prepare, and the contestants returned to their hotels.

"Should we change our clothes?" Tang Li asked with great interest. "I saw that all those important people were wearing suits and tuxedos. Should we dress up a bit too?"

Jiang Lai packed the medals and certificates she received into her suitcase. "Forget it! I doubt many of the people who came to the competition brought formal attire. Let's not be too conspicuous and just dress casually."

"Oh well, I was actually planning to go shopping with you guys!"

"We're going back the day after tomorrow, so we can go shopping tomorrow."

"Okay!"

-

Just as Jiang Lai said, apart from the big shots, not many students wore suits and formal wear. Most of them wore the clothes they wore for the competition, which didn't look casual or overly formal. Jiang Lai was one of them, but she changed out of her suit jacket to look better, revealing a shirt dress underneath.

The dress is simple in style but not simplistic in design, with subtle details at the neckline, cuffs, and waist. It makes her skin look as white as snow and her figure slender.

It also attracted the attention of many people.

Jiang Lai was immune to the admiring glances and didn't care much. She walked with Li Xiangyue and Tang Li, holding juice in her hand, chatting and eating.

"Damn!! There's a handsome guy at nine o'clock!" Tang Li exclaimed softly.

"Where is it!" Jiang Lai turned her head to look with interest, only to find a familiar face.

He is Qin Yijian, Qin Yifan's older brother.

His figure stood out sharply and upright under the hall lights. A well-fitting suit clung tightly to his body, exuding an air of nobility. He held a wine glass in his hand, standing there calmly, talking to the people around him.

It's Qin Yijian, the one who seems a bit dim-witted! Jiang Lai stared at him for a while, and to be honest, apart from his seemingly dim-wittedness, Qin Yijian was really good-looking, with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and impeccably tailored suit pants, exuding a strong sense of asceticism.

While Qin Yijian was chatting with someone, she glanced casually and saw Jiang Lai staring intently at her, her eyes almost overflowing with admiration and covetousness.

The initial admiration for Jiang Lai's outstanding performance in the competition has vanished.

Qin Yijian sighed helplessly. It was a headache that she was always coveted because she was too outstanding!

Seeing his helpless expression, the person opposite him asked, "Mr. Qin, what's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

"No." Qin Yijian reverted to her cold and domineering CEO persona.

-

"Does Jiang Jiang need to go to the restroom?" Li Xiangyue asked.

“No, you two go!” Jiang Lai refused, saying she would wait for them to return.

My roommate left, and immediately another person came up. It was a student from another school who had come to participate in the competition. The two chatted a few words amicably, and then parted ways.

"Jiang, classmate." A voice sounded behind her.

Jiang Lai assumed it was another classmate from some school coming to chat with her, so she casually replied, "Hey!"

When she turned around, she saw it was one of the CEOs who had been staring at her earlier.

Jiang Lai wasn't stupid; she knew this man was targeting her for his womanizing, so she didn't say anything more and turned to leave.

Unexpectedly, the boss reached out and blocked her way, saying, "Why are you in such a hurry to leave, Ms. Jiang? I also have some questions I'd like to ask you."

"I'm sorry, I'm not very knowledgeable and I'm afraid I can't answer your question. Please ask someone else!" Jiang Lai suppressed the urge to roll her eyes and took a half step back imperceptibly. It wasn't that she was afraid, but she just felt it was troublesome.

The boss's eyes held a lewd glint, but he patiently dealt with her: "I heard that Ms. Jiang is a top student from Beijing University. After graduation, you also want to work in the corporate world, right? Why not consider my company? Being my secretary is a very high starting point, and the future is limitless!"

Qin Yijian's assistant noticed what was happening with Jiang Lai and said, "Miss Jiang seems to be in trouble. Should I go and take a look?"

Qin Yijian saw it too and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Um, that Mr. Wang, his reputation isn't very good..." the assistant said. "It wouldn't be good for Miss Jiang to get entangled with him, after all, he's a friend of the young lady. Shall I go over and check on him?"

Qin Yijian shook her head: "No need."

"Huh? But—" The assistant was a little embarrassed. Even if she wasn't the young lady's friend, she would still have to step in if she saw something like this. Why not do it?

He wanted to persuade him again, but then he saw his boss walking in that direction. He raised his foot to follow, but then silently put it down. One hero rescuing a damsel in distress is enough.

Jiang Lai swirled the glass of juice in her hand and looked the person in front of her up and down a few times.

The man stood tall and straight, seemingly very confident in himself.

But Jiang Lai shook her head: "Sorry, I don't have that idea." Then she turned to leave.

"Hey, don't go yet! We can talk things over." The boss said in what he thought was a sentimental tone, "Are you finding it tiring? I think so too. Girls don't need to be in the public eye; just dressing up nicely is enough. If you don't want to work for me, are you interested in—"

Jiang Lai suddenly felt annoyed and bluntly said, "I have no interest in your company's work, nor in you."

"You're young, and you say one thing but mean another!"

"..." Jiang Lai took a deep breath and said, "I really have no interest in you. You don't meet my expectations in terms of appearance, you're older than me, and you don't have a good figure. Even if I wanted to climb the social ladder, I would have to find someone like President Qin. I can't bring myself to do something like you."

Qin Yijian paused in his steps, then stomped heavily on the floor. "Hmph, I knew she had designs on me!"

He should have turned and left, not giving her any unrealistic hope, but he couldn't bring himself to watch her being harassed by this lecherous man, after all, she was his sister's good friend.

When Jiang Lai heard the sound, she thought it was her roommate returning. Just as she was about to say something, she turned around and saw Qin Yijian walking towards her.

Could it be that he overheard her words?

Forget it, as long as she's not embarrassed, it's others who are embarrassed! Besides, she's just making an excuse to reject this person; she doesn't really intend to do anything!

Thinking of this, Jiang Lai greeted Qin Yijian calmly, "President Qin."

Qin Yijian nodded. "You and President Wang are having a very pleasant conversation here?"

Jiang Lai: How did you come to see that we were having a good chat? Just donate!

"No, just chatting," Jiang Lai said.

Qin Yijian walked to Jiang Lai's side and said calmly, "This classmate is my sister's friend, so you could say she's my sister. I wonder if President Wang has something important to discuss with her?"

Qin Yijian meant: I treat you like a younger sister, so don't try anything with me, give up!

What Mr. Wang heard: "She and my sister have known each other for a long time; she's one of my people."

Mr. Wang's company wasn't as big as Qin's, so he naturally couldn't afford to offend Qin Yijian. He casually praised Jiang Lai a couple of times and then left.

Qin Yijian watched his retreating figure and said, "It's getting cold—"

"Should the Wang family be bankrupted?"

Qin Yijian glanced at her and said, "It's getting cold, wear another layer of clothing." Wearing so little, and with the air conditioning so strong, you look cold.

Jiang Lai: "?"

“But the Qin family does indeed have the idea of ​​acquiring the Wang family’s company.” Qin Yijian glanced at Jiang Lai haughtily: “It’s not for you, don’t flatter yourself.”

Jiang Lai: "??"

Are you okay?