Chapter 417 - 309: This Is Your Playlist

"Because I’m the head of the External Relations Department myself. Whenever there’s an event, I go out and find various businesses..."

Li Ruihao took the opportunity to weave his resume into the conversation, describing his previous workflow and professional strengths.

"Supposedly, we’re getting sponsorships, but every time it’s just the same old deal—hanging up a few banners. The businesses are sick of seeing us, and we often get kicked out..."

"Actually, you can’t blame the vendors. Every school has its own student union, and they all go asking one by one. It’s no different from begging door-to-door, and the businesses get next to nothing out of it..."

"But All-Purpose Campus is different. It includes students from every department and school..."

Listening to Li Ruihao’s pitch, Xue Rui gained a deeper understanding of the man.

’Ambitious and has dreams, but likes to throw his weight around whenever he gets a little power. For instance, before he knew who I was, he made me scan a code just for eating a Xigua. But once he found out, he did a complete 180...’

’Yeah, all in all, he’s just an ordinary guy—a simple man who bullies the weak and fears the strong.’

Having been beaten down by the reality of capital, Li Ruihao had given up on the idea of starting his own business. Adopting an "if you can’t beat them, join them" mentality, he was looking to join a promising startup and become one of its founding members.

"Xiaoli, your perspective is too narrow. We’re here to serve the students. How could we possibly be enemies with the student unions?"

"What we need to do is work with the student unions to grow the market and let them have a piece of the pie too," Xue Rui said lightly.

The first-year students resting nearby couldn’t help but turn their heads when they heard the words "student union," then turned back to whisper among themselves.

"That upperclassman seems to be the head of the External Relations Department for the School of Economics and Finance. Why is someone calling him Xiaoli?"

"Could that be the president of the student union?"

...

Li Ruihao froze for a moment when he heard "Xiaoli," but he quickly understood what Xue Rui meant. Xue Rui wasn’t annoyed by him; his self-introduction just now had been effective.

"You’re right, Boss. When you consolidate the resources, the impact of the advertising will be far beyond what a student union can achieve..." Li Ruihao twisted open a bottle of water and handed it over.

Xue Rui took a sip of water. He hadn’t originally wanted to hire students, but in an era where new media was just emerging, "new media operations" was still a novel concept on the internet...

Given Chang’an’s current economic climate, it was simply impossible to recruit the right people. He might as well hire graduating students to run things.

Senior students have a wealth of campus information, an irreplaceable advantage in the short term. This information could be compiled and shared with other students, increasing the brand’s credibility among them.

"I’ll make you an administrator in the group chat. Privately contact the promotion leaders from each university for this event. Ask them if they’re interested in taking over operations, or if they have anyone to recommend..."

"Oh, and it’s best if they’re girls. Girls who are about to graduate," Xue Rui added lightly.

"Why?" Li Ruihao was confused. ’Is my new boss biased toward women?’

Xue Rui smiled. "Let me ask you this: if you were given a relatively easy job with a monthly salary of three thousand and not much of a ceiling, how long would it take you to save up enough money to get married?"

Li Ruihao lowered his head, lost in thought.

’If I had a job like that... get married? As if! It would take me half a lifetime just to save for a down payment on a house...’

Actually, Xue Rui hadn’t finished his explanation, but he felt that Li Ruihao would understand.

Many low-barrier industries are like this, such as cross-border e-commerce. Some companies even exclusively hire female employees.

This is because society has different expectations for men and women.

Take a job like a waitress, for example. A woman can do that for her entire life, and people will think she’s a good, hardworking, and stable girl.

But if a man is a waiter his whole life, he’s considered a good-for-nothing slacker with no ambition.

A female employee earning a three-thousand-yuan salary can go out to eat and drink with her best friends, living a carefree and comfortable life. She’ll be content with the status quo and more compliant.

A male employee earning a three-thousand-yuan salary will go back to his rented room at night and probably feel like his life is over...

Therefore, once they’ve figured out the ins and outs of the operation, they’re very likely to go solo and become a competitor.

As the realization dawned on him, Li Ruihao looked at Xue Rui in shock. ’He’s already thought this far ahead...’

He laughed bitterly to himself. ’Xue Rui is only a first-year, yet his considerations are far more thorough than I’d imagined. Maybe his family already owns a business or something...’

’The gap between people is just too vast. The experience I had to fight and scrabble for was something he had from the very beginning.’

This only strengthened Li Ruihao’s resolve to follow Xue Rui. He felt he could learn a lot by his side.

"Boss, speaking of which, it seems we’re fated to meet. Our names even share a homophone..."

"Boss, it’s so sunny out here! You should come sit inside."

Li Ruihao was also standing under the hot sun, and now he really couldn’t take it anymore. He was drenched in sweat from the heat.

"Don’t worry about me. Go rest in the shade," Xue Rui said, waving his hand.

"Getting some sun is good for your calcium. I’ll get some too," Li Ruihao said, refusing to budge.

’The boss is standing in the sun. How could I have the nerve to talk from the shade?’

...

After Xue Rui and Li Ruihao had been talking for a while, the students on the field also began a short rest break.

Li Ruihao had been keeping an eye on Gu Muxue’s formation, and as soon as the crowd broke ranks, he helped Xue Rui spot her location.

He had been in similar situations and knew exactly why Xue Rui was sticking around Jiao University instead of leaving. It was obvious he had upset his girlfriend.

Xue Rui carried the water that Li Ruihao had chilled in advance and walked toward Gu Muxue.

A wave of delight washed over Gu Muxue. ’Xue Rui hasn’t left yet. His attitude about apologizing is sincere.’

She nonchalantly shifted her feet, slowly making her way in Xue Rui’s direction.

As they drew closer, Gu Muxue noticed that Xue Rui’s face was also flushed red from the sun, his forehead beaded with sweat.

"Xiaorui, what have you been doing?" Gu Muxue didn’t understand. How did Xue Rui end up looking just like her?