Meng Zihan was very satisfied with Linda's attitude. She toured the shop like a queen, picked out a few minor flaws, and then swayed her hips and left satisfied.

She was completely unaware that her "career," which she was so eager to achieve effortless success, had been fundamentally undermined.

The moment Meng Zihan left, the smile on Linda's face vanished.

Holding those crucial sketches, she turned and went into the office behind the shop, opened the safe, and locked them together with all of Meng Zihan's previous "masterpieces" original manuscripts.

Then, she went into the design department.

Both designers Wang and Li looked nervous when they saw her, fearing that she might bring some "surprise" again.

Linda, however, was uncharacteristically serious. She closed the door and her face was unusually solemn.

“Mr. Wang, Mr. Li,” she lowered her voice and got straight to the point, “President Meng said that for the upcoming summer new products, she wants us to refer to the styles that are currently popular internationally and take a look at the latest fashion magazines.”

This was the first lie she told.

The two designers were taken aback, then their faces lit up with joy. This was much better than Meng Zihan's incongruous designs.

Linda continued, "In addition to our own designed products, President Meng also instructed us to send someone to the factory to select some goods to include in the new products. She said they must be fashionable and well-designed, and not easily recognizable as factory goods. This will enrich our product line and also allow us to test the market response."

This is the second lie she told.

The two designers stared wide-eyed, speechless with astonishment.

This is completely different from what President Meng said before!

Linda noticed that the two had sensed something was amiss, cleared her throat, and said, word by word, "President Meng has entrusted this matter entirely to me."

"If anything goes wrong, I'll take full responsibility. I'm only asking you guys, are you going to do it or not? Do you want us all to pack up and leave next month, or do you want to take a gamble and save this shop?"

The two designers exchanged a glance and saw agreement in each other's eyes.

"Let's do it!" Designer Wang nodded immediately. "Ms. Linda, we'll do it your way."

Linda nodded upon hearing this: "Mr. Li, you will be in charge of leading the team to study the magazine and come up with several ready-to-wear designs that can sell as soon as possible."

"Mr. Wang, go to Shenzhen tomorrow. I'll give you a few addresses; they're all factories that manufacture for big brands. Go and pick out the goods. Remember, the company will reimburse your expenses, but you need receipts for every single transaction."

While undercurrents were swirling around Meng Zihan's side, a thousand miles away in Jiangcheng, a startup discussion was also in full swing in Ye Linchen's rented apartment.

School is now on summer vacation, and Lin Xuemei and her boyfriend have gone back to their hometown in the north.

However, she would call Ye Linchen every week at the appointed time to inquire about the project's progress and report in detail on the improvement of her part of the copywriting.

Because of the distance between them, communication was inconvenient, so Ye Linchen asked her to be mainly responsible for polishing and proofreading the existing drafts.

This is a meticulous task, which is perfect for showcasing her thoughtfulness.

The ones who really tackled the tough challenges were Ye Linchen and Li Hongying, who stayed in Jiangcheng.

Using Ye Linchen's rented apartment as their base, the two of them continued to complete the unfinished, yet most important, part of the project.

Operational and financial plans.

Lin Xiaojuan, as the core of the team's technology, was not only responsible for keeping up with the software development progress, but also for writing reports on the technical implementation and software architecture.

This was a completely new challenge for her.

She can stay awake for three days and three nights without closing her eyes when asked to write code, but when asked to write a "report" for laymen, she feels it is more difficult than solving a complex programming problem.

She struggled for a long time in front of the manuscript, but what she wrote was either full of professional jargon that ordinary people couldn't understand, or just a few dry descriptions of functions, which were completely unappealing.

“No, no, Xiaojuan, if you write it like this, the reviewers won’t understand a single word.” Li Hongying held Lin Xiaojuan’s first draft, both amused and exasperated. “You have to translate these technical terms into plain language that we can understand.”

Ye Linchen was more patient. She took a piece of white paper and drew a frame for Lin Xiaojuan on it.

"Look, Xiaojuan, just follow this line of thinking. First, what is our software used for, and what headaches can it help customers solve? Second, how is it better than other products on the market? Is it simpler to operate, or more powerful in terms of functions?"

"Third, how can we upgrade it in the future and make it even more powerful? Don't think about those complicated codes. Just think of yourself as a salesperson. Write it in a way that can sell your product."

Lin Xiaojuan looked at the outline that Ye Linchen had drawn up, seemingly lost in thought.

Although Lin Xiaojuan had never been exposed to this kind of content before, she was smart, had a strong sense of logic, and most importantly, she was willing to learn and completely trusted Ye Linchen and Li Hongying's professional judgment.

She thought for a while, then picked up her pen and paper again and started rewriting her report.

The second draft was a completely different story. Although the writing style was still simple, it was well-organized and highlighted the key points. With just a few minor modifications to some business terms, it was already quite presentable.

However, when they pieced together their individual parts, a new and more challenging problem arose.

“Xiao Chen, look…” Li Hongying pointed to the two reports, somewhat embarrassed, “Xiao Juan’s part is very well written, but it seems to be the content of two separate reports from the financial services section we just discussed, and we can’t integrate them together.”

Ye Linchen also noticed this problem.

In the 1990s, financial consulting and computer software development were considered by most people to be two completely unrelated fields.

Currently, most financial consulting firms outsource technical support to specialized technology companies; there is no precedent for them to establish dedicated internal technology departments.

Their business plan includes not only financial consulting services but also the development of financial software.

Furthermore, it uses its own financial software to support its financial consulting business.

In the eyes of those judges with traditional views, this is likely not innovation, but rather a "hodgepodge" and "unprofessional".

When it comes to the defense, if they seize on this point and relentlessly question them about why they invested their precious start-up funds in non-core software development, a slightly careless answer could result in being eliminated.

What Ye Linchen thought of, others naturally thought of as well.

Everyone was at a loss for what to do.