Su Duan's eyes instantly lit up. Qin Zhi had known he would react this way. He gave Su Duan a reassuring smile, but didn't continue speaking.

The butler, who was brewing tea, paused his movements when he heard this abrupt question. He raised his head and looked at Qin Zhi with slightly cloudy eyes.

It just so happened that Qin Zhi was also looking at him. The butler made eye contact with him for a few seconds, put down the thin-spouted teapot in his hand, and after speaking softly to Su Duan, left the living room.

Although he could be considered half of Su Zheng's confidant, it was very inappropriate for a servant to be present when the master and guest were discussing such a sensitive topic. It was disrespectful to the guest.

—Even if this guest was still on his guard list, in the end the other party hadn't really done anything outrageously bold, so he had no reason to violate his professional ethics as a butler because of this.

So after the butler put down the teapot, he retreated to the living room door. It was a position where he couldn't clearly hear the conversation between the two people in the living room, but could observe the situation inside.

Waving his hand to let the security guards move further away to ensure that the conversation between the two in the living room would not be known by others, the butler dutifully stood guard at the door, his eyes sweeping into the living room at a frequency of more than a dozen times per minute.

Inside the living room, Su Duan's eyes sparkled as he looked at Qin Zhi for a while, slowly calming down.

The Qin Group was such a huge company, and Qin Zhi had only taken over Su Duan's part for a week. At this time, the internal situation of the Qin Group must also be unstable, and Qin Zhi must be very busy. Asking Qin Zhi to divert his attention to help his brother at this time seemed a bit too selfish.

So although he was very reluctant to let his brother continue to be locked up in a prison without freedom, Su Duan still honestly said to Qin Zhi: "I want to, but you must also be very busy over there. You should—um, take care of your own affairs first."

Meeting those clear black eyes that seemed to have been washed with water, Qin Zhi's gaze also unconsciously became much gentler. He very handily took over the butler's work, reaching out to grab the teapot beside him, pulling Su Duan's cup that was almost empty in front of him, filling it up and placing it back in front of him.

Su Duan held the small teacup, nervously took a small sip, and waited for Qin Zhi's answer.

Qin Zhi lowered his eyes to watch him drink tea. When Su Duan couldn't help but raise his head to make eye contact with him again, he said in a low voice: "Don't worry about the Qin Group's side, it has basically stabilized. The remaining matters need to be dealt with bit by bit, and can't be rushed. Also, helping Mr. Su get out is not something that can be done in a short time, so it's better to plan early."

Su Duan was not very familiar with the situation of the Qin Group, so he blinked at Qin Zhi and quietly asked the system in his heart: "System, is what Qin Zhi said true?"

The system replied: "Yes, and from the perspective of maximizing time utilization, the plan of the healing target is feasible."

Only then did Su Duan feel a little more at ease.

Qin Zhi could see that he didn't want to trouble himself too much, but there was no joy in his heart.

Su Duan not wanting to trouble him meant that he had not yet been regarded by Su Duan as a trustworthy and dependable person.

Although he knew that he had only interacted with the other party for less than ten days, and then had not seen each other for two and a half years, Su Duan of course couldn't treat him as his own person as soon as they met. But when he clearly realized this point, he still felt as if something was stuck in his heart.

So he couldn't help but say in a hoarse voice: "As long as it's for Young...Duan Duan, no matter how tired I am, I will be very happy. Besides, Mr. Su has helped me a lot before, so these are all things I should do."

Su Duan tightened his hands holding the teacup, and after thinking for a long time, he didn't know how to respond to such sincere words, so he could only say just as sincerely: "Thank you, you are a good person."

Qin Zhi shook his head, seeming to have a hint of self-mockery, and said in a hoarse voice: "I'm not—"

Su Duan looked at him with an expression of "don't be so modest", his black eyes falling on him clearly.

Qin Zhi: "..." Suddenly felt an indescribable sense of guilt.

He coughed a few times to clear his throat, and slowly explained to Su Duan how to get Su Zheng out early.

To put it simply, it was still to go through the route of medical parole, find a way to get a certificate of serious illness from the hospital, and then get through the review link of the prison to release the person early.

The process was actually not complicated, but seeing Su Duan listening to him earnestly with his head raised, Qin Zhi subconsciously wanted to delay the time and explained in great detail, even to the point of complexity.

The method Qin Zhi mentioned was actually tried by the confidants left by Su Zheng, but with the passing of their father and mother and Su Zheng's imprisonment, the Su family's business shrank, and the Su family's connections were cut off by a lot. In addition, the mastermind behind Su Zheng's downfall deliberately made things difficult, so the matter had never been resolved.

Qin Zhi had now taken over the Qin Group. Businessmen pursued profit and would not stop cooperating with the Qin Group just because it had a new owner. Obviously, Qin Zhi was also very capable, smoothly keeping all the resources of the Qin Group, and quickly expanding his connections. He even had the ability to do things that the Su family couldn't do.

Qin Zhi patiently explained everything to Su Duan in detail, and finally said the most important point: "It should be possible to get it done, but it will take at least a month at the fastest, and maybe more than three months at the slowest."

Su Duan listened with little circles spinning in his eyes, and when he heard this, he could only nod and even let out a few "mm-hmms".

Qin Zhi lowered his voice and called out to him: "Duan Duan."

Su Duan nodded: "Mm-hmm."

Qin Zhi couldn't help but smile, and Su Duan was awakened a little by this laugh. He was dazed for a few seconds, then put down the cup that had somehow been emptied again without him realizing.

Qin Zhi naturally refilled his cup, but Su Duan had already drunk two or three cups in a row and had a slight feeling of fullness, so he didn't bring it to his mouth again, just holding the warm teacup to warm his hands.

Just as Su Duan was lost in thought, Qin Zhi spoke again unhurriedly: "Duan Duan, I heard that the Su Group is short of a manager recently?"

As soon as this topic was brought up, Su Duan couldn't help but show a trace of loss on his face, and even his eyes dimmed a bit. He sighed: "Yes, it's hard to find one." In just a few short days, he was almost killed by the documents, and he didn't know how long he would have to hold on before he could find a third manager.

But why was Qin Zhi asking about this?

—Qin Zhi had a wide network of contacts, could it be that he wanted to recommend someone to him?

Thinking of this possibility, Su Duan instantly felt a bit more energetic. He held his small teacup and looked at Qin Zhi with anticipation.

Qin Zhi extended his hand with distinct knuckles, took out his business card and placed it on the coffee table. Using his fingertips, he pushed it towards Su Duan. With a hint of a smile in his deep voice, he asked, "May I apply for the position?"

Su Duan suspected he had misheard.

He put down the teacup and carefully picked up the business card Qin Zhi passed over to take a look. The card was very simple and didn't look like a work card. It only had a name and phone number written on it. The signature in the lower right corner was handwritten, smooth yet sharp.

Su Duan held the business card, not quite sure how to react. He looked at Qin Zhi who appeared serious and found it a bit hard to read him. "Are you joking?" he asked.

Sitting across from him, Qin Zhi looked down at him. His determined gaze held a trace of gentleness as he firmly said, "No."

He looked straight at Su Duan and clearly pitched himself in an organized manner. "If Duan Duan believes in me, I can go work at Su Group anytime. I dare not say I'm definitely more capable than the manager you found, but I will absolutely be more loyal to Su Group than him."

"Duan Duan doesn't need to give me the manager position. Just hire me as your personal assistant and set up my desk inside your office. I'll handle the affairs and you only need to sign off and show your stance." Qin Zhi sincerely added, relinquishing all the authority he could possibly get in just a few sentences.

Hearing Qin Zhi's words, Su Duan hurriedly explained earnestly, "No, it's not that I don't trust you. It's just that you are also very busy now, so I can't trouble you."

Qin Zhi paused and softly asked, "Is Duan Duan worried I will be overworked?"

Su Duan nodded. Qin Zhi had already been very kind to voluntarily help rescue Su Zheng. He couldn't push everything onto Qin Zhi.

Qin Zhi smiled gently and said, "I have an absolutely trustworthy partner who shares most of the work at the Qin Group with me. So I'm actually not as busy as you imagine. Besides, Su Group's industry chain is complete now. After getting started, it will just require handling some daily processes, so the workload isn't big."

Thinking of the huge stack of documents in the study that had killed who knows how many of his brain cells, Su Duan couldn't help but sprout a huge virtual question mark on his head.

That workload...wasn't considered big?

Under Su Duan's doubting gaze, Qin Zhi continued his grand plan of persuasion. "Mr. Su will be able to come back and manage Su Group again in a month at the earliest. The interval is too short. Cultivating a completely unfamiliar manager again poses too big a risk for the company. Besides, managers willing to accept this kind of short-term employment generally have mediocre business capabilities and vision."

Su Duan: "..." He felt Qin Zhi made a lot of sense.

Evidently, in terms of persuasion, Su Duan was completely no match for his former servant. By the time he realized Qin Zhi had taken on all the work, it was already time to say goodbye.

Qin Zhi stood at the bottom of the steps by the door and waved at him. Under the illumination of the porch light, his dark eyes seemed to dance with a warm flame. He looked up at Su Duan, his voice sounding especially deep and gentle in the night. "See you tomorrow."

Su Duan answered in a daze, "...See you tomorrow."

After Qin Zhi's figure completely disappeared, the butler saw him standing at the door in a dazed state and couldn't help asking with concern, "Young Master, did something unpleasant happen just now?"

Su Duan shifted his gaze over and shook his head. "No, Qin Zhi...is a good person."

Then, under the butler's complicated gaze, he went upstairs and returned to his bedroom, spacing out as he changed into pajamas and washed up.

Lying on the wide, soft bed, Su Duan asked the system in his heart, "What just happened?"

The system said, "The host verbally hired the healing target to temporarily manage the Su Group until Su Zheng is released from prison, and exchanged contact information. Does the host want to watch the replay?"

Su Duan was silent for a moment before quietly saying, "No need, thanks." After saying that, he turned over on the bed and, like an ostrich, deeply buried himself in the soft bedding.

Early the next morning, Qin Zhi arrived at the Su residence as agreed upon last night to pick up Su Duan and go to the company.

At 8:30, the two arrived at the company on time.

An unfamiliar handsome face following behind Su Duan to Su Group sparked very enthusiastic discussion in Su Group, which had not been peaceful for some time. Even after that unfamiliar face followed Su Duan into the office, there were still people craning their necks to look in the direction of the office.

"Is it the new general manager recruited by the boss? So handsome, wow, his legs are thiiiiiis long!"

"It shouldn't be, right? I didn't hear that the board meeting to determine the new manager was today."

"Whatever, he followed the young boss into the office. He's most likely a new employee! Judging from his aura, he's probably not an assistant, but very likely a department manager or supervisor of some sort! I hope he gets airdropped into our department!"

Amidst the enthusiastic ogling, someone suddenly voiced a different opinion.

"Does anyone else feel this handsome guy looks a bit familiar?"

"Hehehe, Miss Liu, you probably find all the handsome guys in the world familiar, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, to be honest, I even feel like he's my long-lost boyfriend, hahaha!"

Ignoring everyone's teasing, the employee surnamed Liu immediately threw out a photo.

The photo showed an adult man, also wearing a suit. At first glance, he indeed looked a bit similar to the young handsome guy who came to the company with the young boss today. But after looking for a couple more seconds, one could recognize they were two different people.

"This person is called Qin Feng. He's that unlucky heir who just lost Qin Group. About four years ago, our young boss was so in love with this unlucky guy that he was dying. Someone in the company even hired a private detective to secretly take photos of Qin Feng. The photos were circulated to the point of almost everyone having a copy."

"As a five-year veteran, I have some impression. But the big boss was very angry at the time, sealed our mouths, and forbade discussion and spreading. He even fired a string of people because of this, so people quickly stopped mentioning it."

"!! Shocked!"

"First time hearing this! Exciting! So there was this kind of gossip!"

"Holy sh*t! So why why why did the young boss hire an employee who looks so much like his past true love? How how how am I supposed to convince myself this is just a coincidence!"

"So the current situation is...?"

"...Substitute play?"

"..."

"..."

"..." This group chat named "What's the difference between a life without melons and a salted fish," exclusively for female employees of the Su family, suddenly fell into a terrifying silence!

Author's note:

Qin Zhi: Heh, the farmers from the cabbage's family must think that the cabbage and I are a perfect match.

Farmers: No, we just think that this pig seems to have a bit of green on its head _(:з」∠*)_