Chapter 52: A Refined and Gentle Gentleman

Su Wanyu sat with dignified posture, dressed in a turquoise long dress that fell naturally, revealing only half of her white shoes.

She was quite tall, probably over 1.70 meters, yet her figure was slender, as if a gust of wind could easily blow her over.

When Lu Liang caught a glimpse of Su Wanyu without her glasses, he couldn't help but lose his focus for a moment. She looked like a fresh and delicate early spring cherry blossom, exuding a gentle and endearing aura.

The moment she saw him, however, Su Wanyu hurriedly put on her heavy black-rimmed glasses, causing her natural nine-out-of-ten beauty to instantly drop to a six.

The lenses were very thick, indicating a high prescription that instantly made her eyes appear much smaller and gave her a distinctly bookish, nerdy vibe.

"Mr. Lu, shall we begin?"

Su Wanyu's voice was soft, sweet, and soothing to the core.

She had prepared a variety of teaching tools, such as an electronic drawing tablet and ear-return monitoring equipment needed for pronunciation practice.

"Let's begin."

The two of them went to the adjacent office, where Lu Liang opened the blinds that had been tightly shut all day, as well as the windows for ventilation.

He had a habit when viewing the market: he disliked environments that were too bright. A dim setting helped him concentrate better.

This gesture naturally earned him a favorable impression from Su Wanyu.

In the past, she mostly taught young children and was not very accustomed to being alone in a space with an unfamiliar man.

Although the company seemed to have only Chen Jinchun besides Lu Liang, the transparent glass made her feel quite secure.

"Mr. Lu, today we will mainly review the phonetic symbols. Standard pronunciation is the foundation of everything."

Su Wanyu smiled faintly, took out the electronic drawing tablet, and wrote down 20 vowels and 28 consonants.

The last time Lu Liang had studied phonetic symbols was over a decade ago.

Having not used them for so many years, his accent couldn't merely be called off; it was practically abstract.

Su Wanyu was very patient and meticulous.

She had Lu Liang put on the ear monitors and prepared two small cotton balls so that while he could hear his own voice clearly, his ears wouldn't feel too uncomfortable.

For every single phonetic symbol, from mouth shape and tongue placement to how to produce the sound, Su Wanyu corrected Lu Liang's spoken English time and time again.

During the session, Chen Jinchun knocked on the door to inform them that Liu Jun, upstairs, had delivered an invitation letter. Liu Jun was Meng Changkun's assistant.

Meng Changkun had gone to Yanjing on business and was recently away from Modu, but he hadn't forgotten that Lu Liang was interested in getting into the venture capital circle.

Every June, SUFE (Shanghai University of Finance and Economics) hosted an entrepreneurship exhibition, inviting celebrities from the venture capital circle to participate and build bridges for entrepreneurial students.

Meng Changkun had invested in two listed companies and was a prominent figure in Modu's venture capital circle, receiving an invitation letter every year.

However, he was busy this year and didn't really feel like attending, so he transferred his qualification to Lu Liang.

"Thank you, Assistant Liu."

Upon receiving the invitation letter, Lu Liang called Meng Changkun to thank him and arrange a sea fishing trip together upon his return.

Lao Meng had a wide range of hobbies, including but not limited to tennis, golf, fishing, mountaineering, and so on.

He lived out the idealized dream of every man and served as a great role model for Lu Liang to study and pursue.

Su Wanyu watched quietly, a flicker of curiosity passing through the depths of her eyes.

Every graduation season, SUFE's entrepreneurship exhibition was extremely famous, perhaps stemming from the confidence of a top-tier institution.

The exhibition was open to universities nationwide ranked above tier one, with a few quotas allocated to each school, including SISU (Shanghai International Studies University) as well.

Su Wanyu had a classmate who had been preparing for the entrepreneurship exhibition since the beginning of the year, and through subtle influence, she had learned quite a bit about it.

She was just curious why a small company taking up little space with only one or two people would receive an invitation letter from SUFE.

"Teacher Su, let's continue."

Lu Liang ended the call and resumed his arduous study of phonetic symbols.

Today was Friday and he had plenty of time, so they studied for two sessions totaling 120 minutes.

By the time his tongue was practically tied in knots, he was finally able to fluently read all 48 phonetic symbols to Su Wanyu's satisfaction, without needing further corrections to his spoken delivery.

In the blink of an eye, it was five o'clock. It was time for Chen Jinchun to get off work, but since her boss was still there, she felt embarrassed to leave early.

Therefore, using cleaning up as an excuse, she dawdled until six o'clock, waiting until her boss finished his studies before finally leaving alongside him.

"I'm off, see you next week."

Lu Liang waved goodbye and took the elevator straight down to the parking lot, having no intention of driving them home.

One was merely a colleague, and the other, though somewhat interesting, was still unfamiliar.

...

On Saturday morning, Lu Liang entered the campus with his invitation letter and followed the staff's guidance into the SUFE grand auditorium.

He suddenly understood why Meng Changkun had called the quality unimpressive despite it being hailed as a top-tier temple of finance.

Lu Liang glanced through several business plans; some had even achieved a certain degree of success, boasting tens of thousands of followers across the entire internet.

Yet, being overly wishful and idealistic, lacking a clear monetization method, was a common ailment among college student entrepreneurs.

Moreover, the biggest difference between on-campus and off-campus entrepreneurs was that the former were far too cautious.

Caution was a good thing, but there was a time and place for it; when pitching for investment, it was best to paint a grand picture.

"A project might not make money right now, but it cannot never make money, nor can it lack a profit target."

Lu Liang wove back and forth between investors and entrepreneurs. While such a gathering might seem low-end to Meng Changkun, for him, it was just right.

These investors might be shrewd, but they weren't stupid. Even if a project was obviously a pitfall, as long as the entrepreneurs could convince them, they were quite willing to invest.

Because being able to convince them meant being able to convince others. They only needed to cash out at the right moment, and afterwards, they couldn't care less about the ensuing chaos.

Holding a cup of coffee, Lu Liang wandered through various zones of the exhibition, searching for a long time without finding a project suitable for investment.

With no other choice, he found a quiet and peaceful spot to rest, admiring the beautiful female college students hailing from all over the country.

Suddenly, he spotted Su Wanyu. Before he even had time to reflect on how small the world was, his attention was captured by her ride.

She was riding a yellow shared bicycle,

and a whole row of yellow shared bicycles was parked in the distance.

Lu Liang was suddenly jolted awake. Ever since entering the campus, he had seen many shared bicycles; he simply hadn't paid attention until now.

The frames bore brand logos and were clearly not private vehicles, which also reminded him of the sharing economy he had been researching recently.

Su Wanyu also saw Lu Liang, a look of surprise crossing her delicate and pretty face.

She watched as Lu Liang smiled and nodded at her, then hurried off toward the exhibition's management office.

"What's wrong?" asked her female classmate nearby.

"I think I saw my employer."

"The one who booked 20 lessons with you all at once?"

Su Wanyu nodded. After deducting the platform commission, she still had 7,600 left. If she spent sparingly, it should be enough to sustain her through the postgraduate entrance exams.

Her classmate teased with a smile, "Tell me, did you secretly take off your glasses in front of him, so he was so awestruck by your beauty that he chased you all the way here?"

Su Wanyu glared fiercely. "Don't talk nonsense. Mr. Lu is very proper, studies very diligently, and genuinely wants to learn English."

She mentioned that she had seen Lu Liang receive the invitation letter yesterday, and moreover, Lu Liang had no idea she would be coming over to help today.

Her classmate's eyes were full of playful banter. "Ooh la la... calling him 'Mr. Lu' already. Where is he? Let me take a look at what he looks like."

Su Wanyu put on a straight face, feigning anger. "Go help your boyfriend hand out flyers; I'm going to the library to read."

"No, no, no, I was wrong, I won't say anymore."

There were so many college student entrepreneurs nationwide; just the ones who had come over to SUFE to participate in the exhibition today numbered over two hundred teams.

Investors were few, and those with investment intent were even fewer, so many teams took the initiative to hand out flyers to increase their exposure.

Her boyfriend was a member of an SISU startup team, and since Su Wanyu was her good friend, she had naturally been roped in as cheap labor.

Su Wanyu let out a cold snort, turning her head away haughtily—completely different from the gentle-as-jade persona she maintained when interacting with Lu Liang.

She couldn't help but glance toward the management office, a flicker of puzzlement crossing her eyes as she wondered what on earth had made Lu Liang look so hurried just now.

Su Wanyu still held a very positive impression of Lu Liang—mature, steady, and possessing a strong sense of boundaries.

During their tutoring sessions, he always intentionally maintained a distance; he was a refined and courteous gentleman.