After Transmigrating for the Third Time, the Real Young Master Decides to Slouch - Chapter 3

A simple sentence, spoken lightly, was no different from a stone cast into a pool—the other two were splashed right in the face.

Jiang Tong hadn’t even swallowed his cake before asking in shock, “Brother, you’re not taking the exam?”

“Mhm.” Jiang Zao nodded. “I don’t want to take it anymore.”

“But why?” Jiang Tong couldn’t understand. “You’ve put in so much effort. To just quit like this, isn’t it such a waste? Brother, are you under too much pressure? Let me tell you, don’t feel pressured. You’re so outstanding and your grades have always been great. A mere National Exam is nothing to you. You definitely—”

Mother Jiang pulled on his arm, shaking her head to signal him to stop. She looked at Jiang Zao and said, “Xiao Zao, Mom didn’t have much schooling and I don’t understand the world of scholars, but I know that you must have your own reasons for making this decision. Mom believes you can handle it well.”

“Mhm.” Jiang Zao smiled. “Thanks, Mom.”

Jiang Tong swallowed the rest of his words and changed the subject: “Then Brother, what are you going to do next?”

“Look for a job,” Jiang Zao said nonchalantly. “I’ve been graduated for so long. If I don’t find a job to support myself, am I supposed to just live off my parents?”

“But wasn’t the point of the civil service exam to get a job…” Jiang Tong muttered, but seeing his mother’s reproachful gaze, he corrected himself: “Brother, you’ll definitely find a great job. You’re an A-University postgrad, after all!”

“Right.” While he said it, Jiang Zao didn’t think so in his heart. Although he was indeed a graduate of the top-tier A-University, employment for literature majors wasn’t exactly easy—the original body had really been dead set on the exams, picking a major that left very little room for survival.

The topic ended there. Jiang Zao ate his cake and asked Jiang Tong, “Tong Tong, you’ll be a sophomore (Grade 11) when school starts, right? How are your grades?”

Jiang Tong’s face fell, and he gave a forced smile. “They’re alright.”

Mother Jiang sighed. “How are they ‘alright’? He slipped to nearly 300th place in the final exams. If he keeps this up, I don’t see him getting into university at all.”

“Oh?” Jiang Zao raised an eyebrow. He remembered his brother’s grades being quite good; he was in the top ten of his grade back in middle school. How had he fallen so far in high school?

Jiang Tong’s gaze shifted around. “I just got a bit lazy for a while. I’ll work hard from now on.”

Jiang Zao didn’t say much, only nodding. “Keep it up. If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask me.”

“Really?” Jiang Tong was overjoyed. “Thanks, Brother!”

Mother Jiang was also very happy. “That’s wonderful, Tong Tong. Xiao Zao was always first in his grade in high school. With him teaching you, your grades will definitely improve.”

“Yes!” Jiang Tong’s face and eyes were full of admiration. “My brother is the best!”

Jiang Zao looked at the mother and son who were praising him to the skies, and the corners of his mouth curved up.

Returning to his shared rental room, Jiang Zao couldn’t help but feel a headache despite being mentally prepared for the sight of a room filled with study guides and exercise booklets.

Handling so many books was going to be a hassle.

Jiang Zao sat at the desk. On it were civil service exam materials, each thicker than the last. He flipped through them randomly: 30 Days to Success, 8,000 Logical Reasoning Questions, How to Master Argumentative Writing. He glanced at them for a few seconds before closing them and tossing them aside.

Looking at them too much wouldn’t exactly give him nightmares, but since he had decided not to take the exam, there was no need to let this useless knowledge take up space in his brain.

He contacted a scrap metal and paper recycling center online, scheduling a pickup for tomorrow, then downloaded a job-seeking app on his phone.

He had never looked for a job before. In his previous life, he had gone from student to grad student to university staff in one smooth sequence—there had been no need to take the initiative. But now, he had to experience what countless graduates went through.

After filling out his basic information, Jiang Zao started matching for positions. As he expected, the jobs for literature graduates were the same old stories, none of which interested him. So, he stopped the matching and just browsed at random.

Ten minutes later, Jiang Zao put down his phone and rubbed his forehead. He was starting to question life.

What was wrong with this world? Looking for a job meant either choosing a “black-hearted” factory with 996 schedules that ignored labor laws, or small workshops with outrageously low pay. Of course, there were non-shady companies with high pay, but Jiang Zao excluded those at a glance because most of them were subsidiaries of the Rong Group.

Since they were connected to Rong Jingcheng, Jiang Zao didn’t want anything to do with them. That guy was incredibly troublesome.

After flipping through more listings and still not finding a position he liked, Jiang Zao gave up for the moment. It was too late; he would wait until he woke up tomorrow.

After seeing off the scrap collector, Jiang Zao looked at the few dozen yuan he got from selling his exam materials and shook his head with a sigh. These days, knowledge really wasn’t worth much.

It was enough to buy him lunch and some daily necessities, though.

Pocketing the money, Jiang Zao went out for a stroll.

It was late August, and the weather at noon was brutally hot. The cicadas on the roadside trees chirped frantically, adding to the lethargy. After finishing lunch, Jiang Zao walked back carrying a bag of supplies.

A stretched luxury car was parked downstairs. A man stood by the car, dressed in casual clothes with his long hair tied back behind his head, lazily playing with his phone.

Jiang Zao walked straight past the man without a glance.

Just as he was about to enter the stairwell, the man’s aggrieved voice caught up to him: “Xiao Zao, that’s so mean. You clearly saw me, yet you pretended you didn’t.”

Jiang Zao didn’t stop; he kept walking.

His shoulder was caught by a slender hand, and he was immediately unable to move. He turned back and met a pair of deep eyes brimming with laughter.

“Xiao Zao.” The man’s voice was cloyingly sweet, yet it seemed to hide a sharp blade that could easily cut through one’s defenses.

He smiled, radiating charm. “Caught you.”

Jiang Zao brushed the hand off his shoulder, sighed, and greeted him: “Senior, long time no see.”

Rong Jingcheng said beamingly, “Mhm. It’s been nine years.”

Jiang Zao nodded slowly. “Nine years… So, Senior, did you come to find me for something?”

“How heartless.” Rong Jingcheng’s smile faded into an aggrieved pout. “It’s been so long, and the first thing you do is ask what I want, without even catching up or asking how I’ve been.”

The man’s appearance was beautiful to the point of being eerie, but such a small expression didn’t feel out of place on him; instead, it added a touch of vividness and humanity.

Jiang Zao thought to himself that he was indeed being haunted by trouble, but looking at this face—which was almost identical to the one in his memories—he felt a wave of nostalgia. He lowered his eyes and said, “How could the dignified head of the Rong family not be doing well?”

“Oh?” Rong Jingcheng raised an eyebrow. “You know all about my business.”

“I’m not deaf or blind. How could I not know about something so big?” Jiang Zao said, then asked, “What do you actually want? Don’t tell me you just came to have some fun because you were bored.”

Rong Jingcheng tilted his head. “Do I look like that kind of person?”

“Yes.”

Rong Jingcheng burst out laughing. “Xiao Zao’s tongue is still as merciless as ever. But I just love that about you.”

“I came today,” Rong Jingcheng took Jiang Zao’s hand, “to give you a gift.”

He pried open Jiang Zao’s lightly clenched hand, spreading it flat, and slid his fingers into the gaps between Jiang Zao’s fingers.

“Yesterday was your birthday, and I didn’t send a gift. So today—”

Rong Jingcheng looked up at Jiang Zao and smiled, waving their interlaced hands in front of him. “I specifically came to make up for it.”

Jiang Zao pulled his hand back. “Can I say no?”

“No.” Rong Jingcheng tightly gripped the hand he was pulling away and locked it back in place.

Jiang Zao tried to move, but couldn’t. He gave a silent sigh and extended the hand carrying the shopping bag. “Fine. Give it to me.”

Rong Jingcheng said with a smile, “Don’t you want to hear what the gift is first?”

Jiang Zao clicked his tongue. “So much trouble—what is it?”

Rong Jingcheng led Jiang Zao toward the car. “Xiao Zao started looking for a job?”

Jiang Zao glanced at him and gave a brief response.

“Jobs are hard to find, aren’t they?”

“They’re alright.”

“Saying ‘they’re alright’ makes it hard for me to continue the conversation,” Rong Jingcheng protested.

Jiang Zao rolled his eyes and said with a fake smile, “They are very hard to find.”

Rong Jingcheng wore an expression as if Jiang Zao had hit the jackpot and laughed: “Therefore, my gift is—”

He opened the car door. On the back seat lay a black hardbound notebook.

Rong Jingcheng picked it up and handed it over. “This.”

Jiang Zao shook his hand that was still held captive. “Can you let go first? I can’t look like this.”

Rong Jingcheng smiled at him and didn’t let go.

Jiang Zao gave in. “Get in the car. It’s too hot outside.”

Only after they were in the car and the doors were locked was Jiang Zao released. He took the black notebook with gold trim. On it, two words were printed in cursive: Offer Letter.

Jiang Zao opened the cover. Inside was a single sheet of paper stating that Jiang Zao was invited to be a Chinese teacher at Jiayin Middle School.

Everything else was printed, but Jiang Zao’s name was handwritten. Jiang Zao stared at those two characters—it was Rong Jingcheng’s handwriting, the strokes elegant and fluid, with a touch of flamboyant technique.

Jiang Zao closed the offer letter and raised an eyebrow. “You want me to be a teacher?” (The original body had actually obtained a teaching certificate).

Rong Jingcheng smiled and nodded. “Yes. The benefits are excellent.”

“How excellent? Let’s hear it.” Jiang Zao leaned back lazily.

Rong Jingcheng counted them off on his fingers: “A monthly salary of 100,000 RMB after tax, a bonus once every semester, room and board included, a private apartment, holiday benefits, staff trips, and occasional social activities.”

“How about it? Interested?” Rong Jingcheng asked with a smile.

Jiang Zao pinched his chin. “Hmm, it is quite tempting, but…”

“Hmm?”

Jiang Zao shrugged. “Being a teacher is hard work, and students nowadays are difficult to manage. It feels like a lot of trouble.”

Rong Jingcheng enlightened him: “As long as one is alive, one will be entangled in all sorts of trouble.”

Jiang Zao glanced at him. “I really wish you had more self-awareness when saying that.”

But having said that, he pressed his index finger to his forehead and thought for a moment. “It’s not impossible, but I have one condition.”

Rong Jingcheng looked at him with a smile.

“Transfer Jiang Tong into my class.”

“Deal.”

Jiang Zao reached out his hand. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

Rong Jingcheng caught his hand, smiled, and shook his head. He lowered his head, and his cool lips brushed against the back of Jiang Zao’s hand.

“Xiao Zao, happy twenty-fifth birthday.”