The elevator doors to the top floor of Qixing Company slowly opened, and Liu Jingxiao entered at a leisurely pace, followed by several assistants and bodyguards. He was in a good mood today, having just finished a meeting with his father, where he learned that the company's research and development was progressing smoothly and that they would soon be ahead of the competition in the Nascent Soul-level mecha market.

"Master Jingxiao, this afternoon's inspection is scheduled for the test laboratory on the 17th floor. Do you need to go to the rest area first?" the assistant asked cautiously.

Liu Jingxiao waved his hand lazily: "No need, just go directly." He leaned against the elevator wall, intending to close his eyes and rest.

Just then—

"Wait a moment!"

With the sound of hurried footsteps, a figure rushed into the elevator. Just as the door was about to close, the person squeezed in with a leap of faith.

"Huh—I caught up." Xiang Fan wiped the sweat from his forehead and stood up breathlessly. Then he realized that besides himself, there was a large group of executives in suits and ties in the elevator.

The air suddenly became quiet for a second.

Liu Jingxiao frowned slightly, opened his eyes, and looked at the sudden intruder.

——Dirty work clothes, trouser legs stained with oil, a trace of black oil on the face, and even small scratches on the hands left when disassembling the mecha.

More importantly—

A strong mixture of the smell of machine oil and sweat immediately spread in the enclosed elevator space.

Liu Jingxiao's brows instantly wrinkled into the shape of the Chinese character "川", and his expression looked extremely ugly.

"What's that smell?" He shook his head slightly, his tone filled with undisguised disgust.

The assistant beside him also covered his nose and whispered, "Master, this should be a worker from the company's maintenance workshop..."

Liu Jingxiao glanced at Xiang Fan, his eyes full of contempt and impatience.

"Which department are you from?" Liu Jingxiao asked unhappily in a low voice.

The assistant immediately opened the virtual terminal and quickly searched the personnel files of Qixing Company. After just a few seconds, he quietly reported:

"In reply to the young master, this is the mechanic in the maintenance workshop on the ground floor. He's Xiang Fan, a cultivator in the Qi training stage, with average education, and has only been employed for three months."

"Qi training stage?" Liu Jingxiao sneered and glanced at Xiang Fan with contempt.

In his opinion, cultivators in the Qi Condensation stage were unworthy of a place in the world of immortal cultivation. They wouldn't even be qualified to sweep the floor, let alone work at a large company like Qixing. He even wondered if the company had lowered its recruitment standards, allowing even low-level cultivators like him to get in.

"Anyone can come in..." Liu Jingxiao whispered to himself.

In the elevator, the atmosphere became subtly awkward.

Xiang Fan certainly heard this, but he didn't think much of it, nor did he bother to bother with this seemingly difficult young master. Anyway, he had only one goal in mind today - to use his lunch break to go to the nearby discount supermarket and grab some cheap, almost expired food so he could stock up for dinner.

He watched the floor numbers on the elevator slowly tick down, thinking silently:

"I hope today's special steamed buns haven't sold out yet."

The entire elevator was silent, with only the sound of the elevator running.

Liu Jingxiao seemed to completely ignore Xiang Fan's presence and directly asked his assistant, "Is there anything worth noting in the maintenance workshop recently?"

The assistant immediately flipped through the report and replied businesslike, "In the past few months, the company has updated a large number of repair equipment, which has improved the efficiency of ground-level maintenance. However, due to staff shortages, the workload of some small repairmen has increased."

"Lack of manpower?" Liu Jingxiao sneered and said sarcastically, "That means they are incompetent, their efficiency is too low, or there are too many useless people."

The assistant immediately agreed: "Yes, young master, the maintenance workshop is full of low-level cultivators, most of whom have low cultivation bases and mediocre cultivation aptitude."

Xiang Fan, who was standing aside, was still staring at the elevator floor number with a blank look on his face. He had no interest in paying attention to the conversation between the group of people.

But Liu Jingxiao's eyes became more and more disgusted. He looked at Xiang Fan's clothes and felt even more unhappy.

"He doesn't even have a storage bag, no protective equipment, and he's filthy..."

He felt that this person was not only shabby, but also a complete "low-class person" and was not worth looking at at all.

"The company should strictly screen its employees. People who are too low-end will sooner or later become a drag on the company." Liu Jingxiao said lightly.

The assistant nodded and responded respectfully: "Young Master is wise."

Xiang Fan: “…”

(Wait, why do I feel like I'm being scolded?)

However, Xiang Fan just shrugged and continued to ignore the group. He only had steamed buns and discounted food in his mind and didn't take Liu Jingxiao's words to heart at all.

"bite--"

The elevator reached the first floor and the door slowly opened.

Liu Jingxiao walked out, followed closely by his assistants and bodyguards. He walked with a calm demeanor, as if surveying the entire company. His figure stood out in the crowd.

Xiang Fan, carrying his worn tool bag, walked out quietly among the crowd, and no one noticed him at all.

Liu Jingxiao's car had already stopped at the company's entrance. He glanced at the crowd behind him, his eyes passing over Xiang Fan, and his heart became more certain:

"This kind of person is not from the same world as me."

At this moment, the assistant accidentally glanced at Xiang Fan and found that he was not heading towards the staff cafeteria, but turned to another road.

"Master, that person... doesn't seem to have gone to the company cafeteria?" the assistant asked in confusion.

Liu Jingxiao raised his eyebrows slightly: "So?"

The assistant thought for a moment and whispered, "Generally speaking, although the food in the company cafeteria isn't top-notch, it's plenty enough for ordinary employees. He actually didn't go to the cafeteria, but went outside instead... Is that—"

Liu Jingxiao's eyes turned cold: "Don't worry about such insignificant things."

The assistant nodded immediately, stepped aside respectfully, and said no more.

5. Xiang Fan’s lunch break – grabbing discounted food

At the same time, Xiang Fan walked quickly towards the discount supermarket near the company, muttering to himself:

"It seems like there's still quite a bit of bread on sale at the supermarket yesterday. I hope they don't all run out today..."

He touched his small wallet and confirmed that today's budget should be enough to buy some steamed buns, half-price beef jerky and a bottle of psychic milk that was about to expire.

After entering the supermarket, he immediately rushed to the discount area skillfully, exchanged glances with several aunties, and started a silent competition.

"That bun! It's mine!"

He was quick-eyed and quick-handed, and broke through the crowd of middle-aged ladies who were rushing to buy, picked up the last bag of half-price steamed buns, and stuffed it into the shopping cart with a look of joy on his face.

"This is the way to survive in the world of immortal cultivation!"

Xiang Fan paid the bill with satisfaction, carried his spoils, and walked back happily.

But he had no idea that Liu Jingxiao had already completely classified him as a "useless person at the bottom of society" and was even too lazy to remember his name.