"Alright." Diana Harris replied softly, walked to her seat and began packing up her things. Both she and Edward Clark had gone two months without a single sale, collecting eight hundred yuan a month for nothing, so naturally, they were targets for the company's downsizing!

Edward Clark walked into the office, closed the door, sat down properly, and looked at Mr. Brooks with a calm expression, as if he were looking at a piece of wood.

Mr. Brooks was around forty, the successful businessman type, with a protruding belly—when he looked down, he couldn't see his own feet.

"Edward Clark, it's been two months." Mr. Brooks's gaze finally shifted from the departing Diana Harris's backside to Edward Clark's face, his look somewhat displeased, because from his attitude, Edward Clark seemed more like a leader. "But you still haven't made a single sale. When I hired you, I had high hopes for your potential and specifically assigned you two regions that had never been developed. But your performance has really let me down!"

Mr. Brooks had a famous theory: a true salesperson should be able to sell wooden combs to monks and shoes to the legless. The company's product was a residential smart system, and what he expected from Edward Clark was to sell these electronic products to villages that might not even be able to afford electricity.

Edward Clark just smiled and said nothing.

"But I still believe in your abilities." Mr. Brooks sighed, pushed a piece of paper over, and said, "If you work hard, your probation can be extended for another three months, still at eight hundred a month. How about it? This is an opportunity!" His voice was persuasive, emphasizing the word "work hard." He believed that unless someone was an idiot, they would understand his meaning.

"Why not give the opportunity to Diana Harris?" Edward Clark smiled faintly. "Is it because she refused to sleep with you?"

"What did you say?" Mr. Brooks shot up, all composure lost, glaring at Edward Clark. "I dare you to say that again!"

"I said you fired Diana Harris just because she wouldn't sleep with you." Edward Clark sighed. "Her mother was in the hospital a few days ago, getting an IV. You know she needs money and a job, so you made that offer. Too bad, it seems she refused!"

Mr. Brooks sat back down, regaining his composure. "Edward Clark, we're familiar, but if you talk nonsense like this, be careful—I could sue you for slander! You should know, this is a place where the law matters!"

"The law?" Edward Clark laughed, bright as sunshine. "I don't think the law allows bigamy, but I seem to have heard that Mr. Brooks has at least two wives outside!"

Mr. Brooks's oily face suddenly turned pale. "Don't talk nonsense!"

"One in Z City, and the other one..." Edward Clark tapped his head, pretending to think hard. "Let me think... Right, in this very city, though of course she doesn't live at Mr. Brooks's house. You have your wife and kids there. One day I saw you coming out of Jingming Pavilion, hand in hand with her, looking very much in love."

Mr. Brooks's mouth fell open, as if stuffed with two toads. "What are you saying? You, you..." He glanced around, then jumped up like a startled rabbit, guiltily pulled down the blinds, and only then turned back, patting Edward Clark's shoulder hard. "Xiao Ye, I really didn't misjudge you. I knew you were capable. The position of deputy sales director is still open—would you consider it?"

"No." Edward Clark shook his head.

"Name your price." Mr. Brooks was stunned, unable to figure out what this kid was thinking. He'd always handled these matters with extreme caution, only going out once a week or every two weeks. No one at the company knew about it. How did this kid find out, and with such accuracy?

"Don't make this a lose-lose situation. That won't be good for anyone." Mr. Brooks said in a low voice. "You won't gain anything from it!"

Edward Clark stood up with a smile, patted Mr. Brooks's shoulder forcefully, as if he had become the company's president. "Mr. Brooks, my request is simple: give Diana Harris another chance. Wait until her mother recovers, then we'll talk!"

Mr. Brooks stared at Edward Clark in shock, as if looking at a monster. Only when the door slammed shut did he snap out of it, hurried to his desk, grabbed the phone, and said, "Little Miller, has Diana Harris left yet? No? Get her in here, quick."

Section Two: The Buddha Says

Everyone at the company was puzzled. They wondered if Mr. Brooks had been holding it in for too long and urgently needed someone to take care of it, so they couldn't help but worry about Diana Harris.

Diana Harris was only in there for a few minutes before she came out beaming, holding a piece of paper, and ran excitedly to Edward Clark's desk. "Edward Clark..."

"Edward Clark is gone," Little Miller said. "He left when you went in."

"But I still owe him five hundred yuan!" Diana Harris was almost in tears. "He paid the deposit for my mom's last hospital stay."

"Call his cell," Little Miller said hurriedly.

"The number you have dialed has insufficient balance." Diana Harris listened blankly to the prompt, at a loss, holding the company's official employment contract in her hand.

...

Edward Clark walked out of the building, let out a breath, tossed the odds and ends in his hand into the trash, clapped his hands, and muttered to himself, "Just two months, sigh."

"Edward Clark!" a crisp, sweet voice called from behind him, clear and pleasant to the ear.