Good Man Operation Guide

Ke Jialing’s college life seemed very uneventful to many people.

She was obviously a journalism major but every day she only knew to read and study. Aside from going out to eat with her roommates, she basically didn’t participate in any other club activities.

What’s the use of having good grades? With no connections, she would definitely suffer once she graduates and started working.

When she first entered college, she had attracted the attention of many upperclassmen. After all, it was quite rare to be so elegantly pretty in those days.

At that time, many seniors and peers pursued her but they were all directly rejected by Ke Jialing.

The reason for this rejection was also very simple.

She already had a boyfriend.

At the beginning, some people really did believe her. However, after a full year passed, no one had ever seen Ke Jialing’s so-called boyfriend, so even though she repeatedly explained that she really did have a boyfriend, a large number of people thought that this so-called boyfriend was just an excuse Ke Jialing used to reject others.

Because she basically rejected everyone as they came, gradually, no one confessed to her anymore. When they came back after the holiday and were promoted to sophomore year, her roommates were curious to find that Ke Jialing had been smiling ever since she returned to school.

Not that kind of smile from a good mood, but a honey-sweet kind of smile.

You must know, Ke Jialing had always been a very quiet person. In the past, even if she smiled, it was always a light smile, which made her look bashful. But now, she actually has been smiling since she returned to the dormitory to organize her things!

Their dormitory room had always gotten along very well, and one of the roommates couldn’t help but ask, “Jialing, what happened? What made you so happy?”

“My boyfriend and I came out to my parents.”

Ke Jialing didn’t hide anything from them, she put down her luggage and announced with a hint of eagerness, “We’ve already discussed, we’ll get married as soon as I graduate.”

The roommates who always thought Ke Jialing’s claim of having a boyfriend was fake: “What?!”

They couldn’t believe she actually, really had a boyfriend.

Under their babbling inquiries, Ke Jialing honestly told them about her and her boyfriend.

How the hero saved the damsel, going out to fight alone to make a name for himself, the struggle, and the return to the hometown with success. Then finally, successfully paving the road to come out to the family and now their relationship was open and above-board, a bright road towards the future.

“That sounds quite good!”

One of the curious roommates asked, “Is he good-looking?”

A flash of Lin Shiheng’s face appeared in Ke Jialing’s mind, her white cheeks flushed red and she lowered her head in embarrassment, “Very good.”

“Is that true or false? To have you be willing to say he’s good-looking, then just how good-looking does he have to be?!”

You must know, Ke Jialing was someone who could turn down even that school-acclaimed handsome upperclassmen from the next department.

Under the urging of this group of roommates, Ke Jialing could only promise to introduce her boyfriend to them when there was time.

It was just… They never found a good time for this introduction.

In the beginning, Lin Shiheng was too busy. After all, the company was still in the developing stage. So, it was really difficult for both sides to settle on a time.

Later, the news regarding the enterprise under his name came out and the whole thing along with his picture ended up in the newspapers.

The key point was, a roommate also specifically took the newspaper to share the news with the few other people, wondering if such a handsome self-made boss was married or not. It was then said that their department has made it their goal to be able to interview this person for graduation.

Ke Jialing, who was watching from the side, silently went to buy a newspaper, folded it, and placed it under her pillow.

Decided, it was best for her not to introduce Shiheng to her roommates before graduation…

Otherwise, it probably wouldn’t take more than a week before the department’s interview subject would switch to her.

As expected, not even graduation yet but the roommates already no longer waited for Ke Jialing to introduce her boyfriend to them. At first, they were curious but after the long wait, they all assumed that the two had broken up and did not mention it again, so as not to reopen Ke Jialing’s old scar.

After all, how much would a person have to love a man to be able to reject so many people in one go and still remain single after the breakup?

Poor Jialing… She was obviously so good-looking, yet she was the only one among them who didn’t have a boyfriend.

But in the end, upon graduation, the roommates received a wedding invitation from Ke Jialing.

On it, two names were very neatly written: Lin Shiheng and Ke Jialing.

The name ‘Lin Shiheng’ had a greater impact on them than the idea that Ke Jialing really was getting married as soon as she graduated.

“It can’t be that ‘Lin Shiheng’, right?”

“That invisible tycoon who was revealed last year?”

“Probably just the same name and surname? This is simply like a dream scenario!”

All until this group of roommates was sitting at the wedding banquet and watched as the invisible tycoon, who looked so incredibly familiar that the loss of a single strand of hair was worth more than all of them put together, took Ke Jialing’s hand and gently put the ring on her hand. Only then did they fully appreciate what it meant to be on an emotional rollercoaster.

They were no longer the same little girls who would easily scream and yell, but could naturally keep their mouths shut after being asked to keep it a secret. It’s just… Every time they would all get together, they would still find it unbelievable.

Jialing’s boyfriend was actually the invisible tycoon, Lin Shiheng!

***

These several people found jobs one after another, but what made them feel amazed was that Ke Jialing actually did the same as they did and honesty went out to work even though she was married to such a rich man.

Shouldn’t you be enjoying life as a full-time madam and living your life happily?

Facing this question from her several friends, Ke Jialing smiled as shy as before. “I like to give interviews. And Shiheng also supports me.”

Although the ‘favoring males over females’ problem has been relieved, women still had to start out much lower than men did in the workplace. When Ke Jialing interned, while she didn’t receive unfair treatment, she did see many girls her age who were discriminated against because of their gender.

This caused her, who was always soft in nature, to be a bit disgruntled.

They were all people just the same, why should the difference in treatment be so large?

She insisted on not allowing her husband to help and struggled just like her few good friends. The few of them were from the same school and also the same dormitory, so their relationship was naturally closer than others. Gradually, she was also able to sit at a high position using her own ability.

Of course, when Lin Shiheng said he wasn’t helping, he would just cut off the claws of those certain people who coveted his wife instead.

Ke Jialing has dedicated her life to covering the dark scenes hidden from people’s eyes and unfortunate events behind the curtains that nobody paid attention to.

She suffered bitterness and experienced sweetness. Everyone knew that her husband loved her very much while her daughter was very sensible. When she was in her 40s, Ke Jialing announced her retirement.

She and Lin Shiheng waited until their daughter became independent before they both started traveling out of the country.

Ke Jialing took her camera and traveled all over the country with her husband, sending the photos onto the public viewing platform.

Some were very beautiful pictures, while some very nefarious scenes. More and more people started paying attention to her and envied her for being able to live such a carefree life.

The last photo Ke Jialing left in this world was of her holding hands with her husband on a hospital bed.

It wasn’t until ten years after their departure that Chairman Lin published her mother’s autobiography and it became clear that the husband she had mentioned at many points in time was Lin Shiheng.

‘I love my husband very much, not because he is handsome and humorous, nor because he is tall and gentle. I love the way he looks at me with respect and gentleness. Even though he could build an ivory tower to keep and protect me all my life, as soon as I said I wanted to live using my own ability, he willingly hid behind the scenes. And did not allow the identity of Ke Jialing’s husband to be revealed in front of people for a lifetime.’

‘My fondest memory is of a time when I was tasked with interviewing him. When I first saw him, his smile was half exposed, but then he abruptly remembered and took it back before it got captured by the camera. After the interview, he still held his face and waited until we entered backstage before he grabbed my hand and asked me if I was cold. Why didn’t I wear a scarf? He held onto my hands up until a second before he had to leave the backstage area.’

‘When I retired, it was actually during the peak of my career. At that time, I wasn’t young anymore. And neither was my husband. He already didn’t like going to the company very much. Every day, he would lead the dog while carrying a birdcage to walk around the lake in the garden. He was obviously only forty years old but his lifestyle was the same as that of a 70-year-old man. It was then that I realized, my husband was waiting for me.’

‘This retirement thing, I did it without telling him. When I told him, I said: Shiheng, I retired. Why don’t we go on a trip together? He was as happy as a child. That night, he clearly mapped out what we needed to bring and where we would go for our trip and especially stated that I could bring my camera. It was not until our daughter came back at night that the two of us remembered that we couldn’t go out yet, our daughter was still young. So we just stayed at home for another two years. Every day, he sat by the lake and looked at that road map in his arms. Up until our daughter couldn’t stand it anymore, ran to me and said: you and Dad go have fun outside, I can see that he is about to die of anxiety. And so we just went. Then before we realized, it was already half a lifetime of fun.’

“Best dog food in history! My God, this pair really made me cry.”

(TNote: dog food = public display of affection.)

“When I watched the interview at that time, I had already felt that the way President Lin looked at Grandma Ke was a bit wrong. I had even thought that it was my eyes that were blurry, after all, they were already in their thirties at that time. I didn’t think they were actually a couple ah!”

“Ahhhhhhh! How can a wife interviewing her husband be so sweet??”

“Life and death, hand in hand, really like the kind of love within a book!”

***

[Ding, the task is completed. Please choose (1) continue the task or (2) take a vacation.]

Lin Shiheng blurred away the emotional memories of this world, “Continue the task.”

When he opened his eyes again, he was lying on a wooden table with rough pieces of paper and a writing brush on it.

He looked at the coarse clothes he was wearing and flicked his sleeves.

An ancient scholar.