Chapter 22: Chapter 22: The Beautiful Leisure Assistant
Seeing Li Yiran approaching, Zhang Jingdong immediately stood up and left McDonald's.
Li Yiran originally thought she had arrived early and would have to wait for Zhang Jingdong, but unexpectedly, he suddenly showed up!
She was instantly surprised: "You... when did you get here?"
Zhang Jingdong earnestly replied, "I was handling some business when you called. By the time I finished, it was almost 1 pm, so I came straight here and had lunch."
"It's been a long time since I had McDonald's. I didn't expect the taste to be quite good!"
Li Yiran smiled serenely: "So that's what happened."
Seeing that the girl seemed to have nothing to say, Zhang Jingdong promptly took out his wallet.
"Is it 10 purses?"
Seeing Zhang Jingdong about to pay, Li Yiran hurriedly said, "You don't have to pay... You already paid last time!"
"Is... is that so?"
For the first time, Zhang Jingdong felt the frustration of wanting to spend money but not being able to.
To be honest, he wished the purses could sell for 1000 yuan each so that he could quickly help her out of her predicament!
Li Yiran nodded, "Mhm."
Saying this, she handed the large cloth bag to Zhang Jingdong.
Zhang Jingdong took it and then gave her the previous big bag back.
At this moment, Li Yiran's originally fair face suddenly flashed a hint of red: "Last time you helped me, and I don't have anything to thank you with. I saw that your wallet was a bit damaged in the hospital, so I made a wallet for you..."
Hearing this, Zhang Jingdong was very surprised.
Without any exaggeration, in his two lifetimes, this was the first time a girl had taken the initiative to give him such a gift.
Especially when the giver was a top beauty like Li Yiran.
He then opened the cloth bag and took a quick look.
Indeed, among a group of handmade purses, there was an especially small brown wallet.
He took it out and inspected it carefully.
The wallet, although woven, had excellent looks and texture.
Moreover, Li Yiran had even made two slots inside the wallet for holding cards and business cards!
Tsk tsk, her craftsmanship is indeed superb!
Zhang Jingdong said thoughtfully, "You made this beautifully, I really like it!"
He pulled out his wallet, transferred all the contents to the new wallet made by Li Yiran, and casually threw the old wallet into a nearby trash can.
Although Li Yiran thought Zhang Jingdong was a bit over the top, seeing how much he liked the wallet she made, she couldn't help feeling joyful.
"As long as you like it!"
Just then, a cool breeze came and dissipated some of the heat.
Li Yiran clasped her hands together: "Well... I'm going back now... Goodbye!"
"Wait..."
Zhang Jingdong finally snapped out of his joy from receiving the unexpected gift.
Li Yiran turned back, hesitantly asking, "What's wrong?"
Zhang Jingdong said with a smile, "Previously, you would set up your stall until 4 pm, so do you have free time before 4 pm?"
Li Yiran hesitated slightly, "Do you need something?"
"I want to buy those two hours of your time."
"Buy time?"
Li Yiran was a bit confused.
Zhang Jingdong deadpanned, "Exactly, you see, all the work we do is actually about exchanging time and effort for money."
"Let's get straight to the point. I have a part-time job for you, are you interested?"
Li Yiran asked curiously, "What kind of part-time job?"
"Be my assistant!"
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"Assistant? What would I need to do?"
Zhang Jingdong explained, "You'd be my leisure assistant, which means accompanying me in doing some stress-relief activities."
"You know, business is tough nowadays, and I'm under a lot of pressure, so I need to decompress appropriately."
"Actually, I've hired several assistants before, but none have been satisfactory. But now, I feel like you might be suitable, at the very least I really like the wallet you made!"
Li Yiran was now completely flustered: "But this part-time job seems..."
Zhang Jingdong interrupted at this point: "Indeed, this job does sound a bit strange, but if you think about it carefully, it's actually quite understandable."
"In essence, I'm paying someone to do some fun activities together, and in the end, we both have a great time. Isn't there a saying, 'happiness is priceless'?"
"Then, I'm offering quite an attractive salary for this position that brings me joy—500 yuan for 3 hours. What do you think?"
Having heard this, Li Yiran finally began to be tempted.
Especially after seeing the expression on Zhang Jingdong's face at that moment, which didn't look like he was joking at all.
But she still had some doubts: "You just said the job is to accompany you in fun... Can you be more specific?"
Zhang Jingdong immediately understood her concern and also realized that his previous phrasing was indeed quite prone to be misconstrued.
He then said: "It's roughly about accompanying me for a walk on the beach, having a chat, or accompanying me for hiking, bungee jumping and the like. I assure you it's all wholesome activities, absolutely no nonsense!"
Upon hearing this, Li Yiran instantly felt relieved, but still did not agree.
For one, she felt that Zhang Jingdong seemed to be purposely helping her make money.
For another, even though Zhang Jingdong had put it that way, she still felt that the part-time job wasn't quite right for her, knowing that she wasn't really the fun-loving type.
Zhang Jingdong, after all, was an experienced hand, and from the look in her eyes, guessed her current state of mind.
So he said: "I know you still have reservations. How about this, you trial for one day today, then we'll both choose afterward. No need for either of us to settle."
"If it turns out well, then you've got yourself a part-time job that pays 500 yuan for three hours, and I get a good companion to play with, making my day a bit happier."
"If it doesn't work out, we can still be friends and partners. It won't affect our future interactions at all, what do you say?"
Seeing Zhang Jingdong put it that way, Li Yiran would seem too unkind if she still bluntly refused, especially since he was indeed looking out for her welfare.
Hence, after another half minute of hesitation, she nodded: "...Okay."
Seeing that she had agreed, Zhang Jingdong immediately said: "Then let's get started right now."
"Actually, I'm not in a great mood today, and when I've felt like this in the past, I would go bungee jumping. Do you like bungee jumping?"
"Bungee jumping?" Li Yiran thought for a moment: "Is it where you are tied up with a rope and then jump down from a high platform?"
Zhang Jingdong nodded: "Exactly that, it's so thrilling. Do you dare to give it a try?"
Zhang Jingdong had intended to suggest hiking, but then he thought, to introduce someone like Li Yiran, who is overly composed, to a new experience, he had to take her to try something more stimulating.
Li Yiran, after hearing Zhang Jingdong's answer, instinctively wanted to refuse.
Yet somehow, a voice deep inside her was telling her: Go ahead, you've never experienced bungee jumping before, maybe it's fun.
Plus, after all, it's him who wants to play. You're just accompanying him, and if you're scared, you don't have to jump!
With that thought, Li Yiran gladly said: "Okay."
Zhang Jingdong fully embraced the playful spirit and said immediately: "Let's go!"
Half an hour later, the two arrived at Longquan Valley.
Here there was a jump platform 61 meters high.
As they approached, they saw a girl jumping down.
Her loud screams echoed through the entire valley.
Zhang Jingdong then said to Li Yiran: "What do you think, thrilling, huh?"
Li Yiran looked up at the platform in mid-air, both amazed and a bit scared: "That's really high!"
This reaction actually amused Zhang Jingdong, as her expression was now rather adorably uncommon.
After buying the tickets, the two took the elevator to the bungee platform.
After getting equipped and securing the safety ropes, they left the prep area.
But when they stepped onto the glass skywalk, Li Yiran panicked immediately, stopping right there and tightly grasping the handrails with both hands.
Zhang Jingdong stopped as well, and feigning ignorance, asked: "What's wrong?"
Li Yiran bit her lip slightly: "I... I'm a bit scared!"
Zhang Jingdong reassuringly said: "Do you know what the greatest significance of bungee jumping is?"
Li Yiran thought for a moment, then shook her head.
Zhang Jingdong continued: "The truth is, the greatest significance of bungee jumping is if we jump from here soon, it would be like having a brush with death, which means all the suffering and setbacks we've experienced before, all of it, will disappear!"
"When we come back up, we will be brand new. We can forget everything and embrace our fresh new life!"
Li Yiran felt an epiphany upon hearing these words, and a strange power seemed to well up inside her.
Seeing this, Zhang Jingdong reached out his hand to her: "Come on, let's go and 'die' once together!"
Li Yiran gazed into Zhang Jingdong's eyes, which flashed with a wonderful light, and then slowly extended her hand, taking hold of Zhang Jingdong's.