Chapter 312: The Secretary and the Apprentice

Ji Runzhi’s planning was now much more in line with the Transmigration Group’s productivity than before, but he still habitually came up with many unrealistic ideas. Along the coast of Dadonghai, he couldn’t help but plan a tourist resort area, specifically for building various vacation and leisure facilities: hotels, holiday villas, a golf course, a sanatorium, plus a diving club—everything except for bikini-clad girls playing beach volleyball.

The model was beautifully made. Ji Runzhi, relying on the simplest materials and the tools he had brought, had created a large sand table model in the atrium of the construction company headquarters. As soon as this model was unveiled, it attracted widespread attention. Many members of the Executive Committee came to see it. Contrary to Ji Runzhi’s expectations, many of the committee members showed great interest in the tourist resort area, which he had originally thought was just his own quirky taste. A few individuals even consulted him on where the best environment in the Dadonghai area was for building villas and the like.

His professional planning proposal had indeed caught the attention of the Executive Committee. After Wang Luobin saw it, he immediately decided to transfer Ji Runzhi to be the director of the Sanya Special Zone’s Planning and Construction Office.

“He’s our only certified planner. If you transfer him, our company will have no one to do planning,” Mei Wan lamented the loss of his staff. After Yan Quezhi was transferred, now Ji Runzhi was being transferred as well, leaving him with even fewer people.

“No problem. If there are any planning requests in the future, just mail them to Sanya for him to handle,” Wang Luobin said. “Besides, there’s not much left to plan in Lin’gao now.”

Mei Wan had no choice but to agree to let him go. As Ji Runzhi was leaving, he was tempted to tease the head of this Lin’gao Bauhaus school, Mei Wan, whom he privately called the “foreman architect,” but seeing Mei Wan’s genuine disappointment, he let him off the hook.

After expressing some clumsy admiration for Chief Engineer Wang, the two engaged in a profound yet simple discussion on the enjoyment of architecture and the flesh. The topic mainly revolved around houses. Ji Runzhi expressed a series of views on what kind of houses suited what kind of women. For example, he believed that Japanese-style houses were particularly suited to the elegant and quiet temperament of Asian women, although, of course, such houses were not suitable for enjoyment in winter.

After this conversation, Ji Runzhi received an order to build Wang Luobin’s future holiday villas. It was preliminarily decided that the summer villa would be built in Hokkaido and the winter villa in the Maldives.

Ji Runzhi hummed a little tune as he returned to his dormitory to pack his luggage. He was in a great mood. A successful job change and the attention of the leadership—these two things combined meant a boundless future.

His luggage was simple. Besides the issued equipment, his most treasured possessions were his compound bow and a number of carbon arrows. This thing was very powerful, but there was no real-name registration for it when he set out. He would, of course, take his drawing board, drafting tools, and laptop with him. As for the books and data CDs in his professional field of architectural planning, he selected a small number to take with him to Sanya. The rest were all packed in boxes, ready to be handed over to the Grand Library for safekeeping, where the preservation conditions for books and CDs were the best.

After completing the formalities, Hu Qingbai called him and asked him to go to the National School to pick someone.

“Chief Engineer Wang specifically requested it. You should come and choose quickly, so you can take them to Sanya together.”

“Chief Engineer Wang is really considerate of us common folk,” Ji Runzhi was so moved he almost wanted to sing “Chief Engineer Wang is our bosom friend.” He excitedly rushed to the Fangcaodi Education Park.

The education park was a scene of bustling activity. On the sports field, the rugby team was engaged in a fierce battle, playing with great enthusiasm. On the baseball field, people were constantly shouting. The loudspeakers on the tall wooden poles were playing majestic marches in rotation.

On another part of the sports field, students with wooden guns were learning bayonet fighting and drilling. The sound of their slogans was deafening. The army NCOs in charge of military training were like barking dogs, roaring around the student formations, occasionally delivering a fierce kick.

“So full of vitality,” Ji Runzhi felt it was very novel. As he walked past the teaching building, he found a different scene. The students, both male and female, were all hunched over their desks, studying hard. Some were reading, some were doing homework. Not a single one was idle.

Ji Runzhi was quite ashamed—he hadn’t been so serious in high school.

Hu Qingbai was already waiting for him in his office.

“My requirements are not high. I will completely follow your arrangements. But I have a small request, which I don’t think will be too difficult for you,” Ji Runzhi said enthusiastically. “As for looks, just decent is fine. It’s best if she’s tall. If she has good curves, a little shorter is also acceptable. Oh, and no bound feet…”

Hu Qingbai looked at him with a strange expression, then couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “What are you talking about?” he said, handing him a roster.

Ji Runzhi flipped it open. The first page was a bald-headed boy, which made him pause. He flipped further, and they were all bald-headed, with the gender column invariably marked “male.”

“This—” he said, “is there a mistake? How can a man be used… ahem, take care of my daily life…”

“A boy can also take care of your daily life,” Hu Qingbai said with a smile. “Don’t the young masters of rich families all have pageboys?”

“Well—well—” Ji Runzhi wanted to say that he wasn’t interested in chrysanthemums and that he needed a girl, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. He looked embarrassed.

“Alright, I won’t joke with you anymore,” Hu Qingbai had long known he had misunderstood. “This is a boy to be your apprentice. Chief Engineer Wang thinks it would be a pity if your knowledge and skills weren’t passed down to an apprentice—he wants you to train a successor early on.”

So it was about finding him an apprentice. Ji Runzhi suddenly felt like a deflated balloon. He said listlessly, “Didn’t they say that everyone going to Sanya would get a personal assistant?”

“Where did you hear that?” Hu Qingbai shook his head. “The communiqué never mentioned it. Where did this baseless rumor come from?”

Ji Runzhi was at a loss for words. Thinking back carefully, the communiqué had never said that cadres going to Sanya would be assigned personal assistants. It must have been a rumor from the canteen.

“Sigh!” Ji Runzhi’s good mood plummeted from its peak to rock bottom. He had originally planned to “rectify” his secretary tonight. Now, he didn’t even have the interest to go back and watch porn.

“Why does the apprentice have to be a boy? There are plenty of female architects and planners,” Ji Runzhi said listlessly.

“You’re from the construction company yourself, can’t you understand? Our architects don’t just sit in the office and draw. At most, they go to the construction site to take a look. They all have to go to the site to supervise or even work themselves. How can you use a little girl for that?”

“I never intended to take on an apprentice in the first place,” Ji Runzhi had thought about raising a loli, but the idea of taking on a disciple or student had never crossed his mind—he thought it was too much trouble. It was better to leave education to the specialized schools.

“I’ll take a girl as an apprentice,” Ji Runzhi suddenly had this idea. He looked at Hu Qingbai with enthusiasm. “Is that okay?”

“Well—that’s not very good—” Hu Qingbai hesitated.

For the next fifteen minutes, Ji Runzhi continued to talk about the relationship between houses and women. After accepting the order for Hu Qingbai’s future “harem,” Hu Qingbai finally relented and agreed to give him a girl as an apprentice.

“But you have to take a boy too, otherwise it will be hard for me to explain when I report it.”

“Alright,” Ji Runzhi readily agreed, thinking that teaching a female student was also a popular fantasy, and it wouldn’t be bad to try it out for himself.

And so, Ji Runzhi absentmindedly took on two apprentices. It was only when the apprentices came to him that he realized he had made a huge mistake.

The boy was fifteen years old, tall and thin. After seeing him, he first gave a ninety-degree bow and stood respectfully. Then, a girl’s head peeked out from behind him. Her hair was sparse and yellow, and she looked at Ji Runzhi with some fear.

“Don’t be afraid. This is your master. You will follow him from now on,” Hu Qingbai comforted her.

Encouraged by Hu Qingbai, the girl shyly stood in front of him and bowed, so deeply that it almost went past her knees.

Ji Runzhi immediately regretted it to the core. Yes, according to the file, this female apprentice was fourteen years old, but she looked like an undeveloped little girl.

“These two are your apprentices now. They will take your surname. You can give them a name,” Hu Qingbai said.

“That’s not very good. You’ll have to change their files. Let’s just use their original names.”

“No problem! Their original files only have numbers. The names you give them will be their official school names,” Hu Qingbai explained that there were too many children they had taken in, and it was too much trouble to name them all at once. So they just registered their numbers and fingerprints first and would gradually name them one by one.

“…Besides, their original names are not very good anyway. It’s better for you to name them. This will make them feel a sense of attachment to you.”

The girl had no name originally, only knowing that her surname was probably Wang or Huang. The boy’s original name was Yang Ergen.

Ji Runzhi had no choice but to name the girl Ji Yuan (Garden) and the boy Ji Shu (Villa).

“A garden and a villa, you’re really creative,” Hu Qingbai said with a smile. “They both have a Type B diploma. They finished a two-year course in one year and passed the exam. They are not only smart but also very hardworking. They also have some talent for drawing. They should be qualified to be your successors.”

“It’s just that I have no experience in taking care of children…” Ji Runzhi looked worried.

“Haha, you’re really kidding,” Hu Qingbai began to lecture him. “Do you think this is the place we came from? A thirteen or fourteen-year-old child here is a laborer. Don’t worry, they will take good care of you and serve you, their master, comfortably.”

“I wish that were the case,” Ji Runzhi looked at this yellow-haired girl, Ji Yuan, and thought to himself that she was so thin. Let alone using her, he would probably have to take care of her himself. At this thought, his good mood vanished, and he cursed Wang Luobin dozens of times in his heart.