Physiognomy

Su Yao always wanted to bring Bai Lining down even further, but his resources were simply too abundant. Before Bai Lining fell from power, the Bai family's influence was not to be underestimated. After Bai Lining's downfall, Bai Lutong, who followed closely behind, had already carved out a niche for the Bai family abroad with his superb communication skills. Su Yao had to admit that the decision Bai Lining made back then was far more profound than she could have imagined.

Sending Bai Lutong abroad for further studies is indeed a more promising option than marrying him in China.

The dreaded meeting was being held domestically, and it seemed there were those who were just trying to get away with things in the company, always thinking they could get huge returns on a small investment. Su had to watch these people spouting nonsense like they were clowns, angrily accusing them of not fulfilling their due responsibilities.

She tapped her fingers on the table, sitting at the very top. As a medium-sized enterprise, they didn't have the same strict checks and balances structure as the Su family. So Su Yao was a leader with absolute authority. But even though she had absolute authority, she didn't want to display her authority at all. She just watched, as if she were an outsider. Ge Jin sat on one side of her, and Tang Pai sat on the other side. Ge Jin was more mature after all. He didn't show any dissatisfaction. Instead, he respectfully took meeting minutes. Tang Pai's hands were already twisted together. Her nervousness was obvious. She knew that she had worked for Su Yao for so long and had never made so many mistakes one after another.

Su Yao glanced at her, ignored the arguing crowd, stood beside Tang Pai, bent down, took her trembling hand as she held the pen, and guided her to write the two characters "Tang Pai". Then she stood up. Her actions made everyone follow her example. No one knew what Su Yao wanted to do. Only Ge Jin knew that Su Yao was waiting for an opportunity, an opportunity for her to explode.

The person above who was "flying dragons and dancing phoenixes" had stopped his movements. His heart was pounding. He had seen Su Yao angry before, but that time it was sudden, brief, and caught everyone off guard. So when Su Yao made a move, he was the most nervous person present.

These people chose to follow Su Yao instead of staying with the Su family because they valued Su Yao's abilities. They expected Su Yao to bring them great benefits, instead of the Su family, led by Bai Lutong, getting what they wanted.

Su stood up and smiled at the people in front of the stage: "Are you done? Is there anything else you want to say? Go ahead and say it."

"No...that's all." The person on stage staggered off the stage, while Su Yao simply watched his embarrassment as he returned to his seat.

"Is there anyone else who wants to speak?" Su looked around and saw only bowed heads in silence.

During the long wait, Su stood behind Tang Pai, feeling her body trembling. Had things gone too smoothly for her, causing her to feel like she had made a huge mistake as soon as she experienced a little hardship?

Su sighed. Lately, she seemed to have been sighing a lot. "Since no one wants to talk, let's adjourn the meeting."

There was no outburst, no argument, and surprisingly, Su did not defend Tang Pai's accusations.

She left the meeting room, but called out to Tang Pai before leaving: "Assistant Tang, come to my office."

Tang Pai went to the office and knocked on the door, "President Su."

Su said "Please come in," and watched as Tang Pai walked in with his head down, a smile he couldn't suppress playing on his lips. "Hmph, hahaha."

Tang Pai suddenly looked up at her, surprised and bewildered, then suddenly understood, "President Su, please stop teasing me."

"No way, you can't escape what I have to say. Tell me why you made a mistake here?" Su Yao changed his playful expression.

Seeing her expression, Tang Pai earnestly told her, "President Su, it's my fault. You can punish me."

“I’m asking you why you made a mistake,” Su said kindly to her again.

Tang hesitated, unwilling to tell Su Yao.

"Are you in a relationship?" Su asked, trying to guess, remembering what Ge Jin had told her last time.

Tang Pai opened his mouth, but in the end chose to refute, "No."

“Well, I don’t object to you dating, Tang Pai.” Su pretended to think and waved her pen. “As long as it doesn’t interfere with your work, anything is fine. I hired you because your emotional sensitivity moved me, but that’s not a reason for you to arbitrarily interfere with your work.”

In fact, Su Yao, as a leader, is not so easy to talk to. He may seem like a joking leader who always appears approachable, but Su Yao always has his own attitude towards work and is not so easy to talk to.

"Understood, Mr. Su." Tang Pai's attitude of admitting his mistake was sincere. "I will not let any emotions affect my work."

"Okay, good that you understand." Su waved her hand. "Go out."

The door, which was not yet closed and was slightly ajar, was opened, and a knock was made—all in one smooth motion, like a handover ceremony. The person who came was Ge Jin.

"Mr. Bai is in the reception room now. Would you like to see him?"

Su took the things he had just tidied up and said, "I'll be there in a bit. You go ahead and get busy. Thanks for your hard work. Remember to keep an eye on Paipai's mood."

"Okay, Mr. Su." Ge Jin left the house and closed the door behind him.

Su Yao realized that Bai Lutong was only coming to her to curry favor and gain her special attention.

She still chose to see him, but instead of going directly to him, she ignored him for a while.

As Su was about to enter the reception room, Bai Lutong stood up and rubbed his palms together. "You've arrived."

"What answer does Mr. Bai want from me?" Su smiled, her expression calm and composed, seemingly unperturbed by Bai Lutong's actions.

"Are you... angry?" Like a child who had made a mistake, Bai Lutong asked cautiously. Whether he was truly apologetic or had his own thoughts, he was always an unpredictable "actor." If Su Yao hadn't known him for many years, perhaps his harmless appearance would have made people mistakenly believe that he was a person of a different character.

The phrase "life is like a play" truly suits Bai Lutong perfectly in Su Yao's eyes.

Su wanted to sit opposite him, so she gestured for Bai Lutong to sit down. She leaned back on the sofa, her hair falling smoothly over her shoulders, one leg crossed over the other, looking arrogant. Bai Lutong felt like he had seen this look somewhere before.

Yes, it was the engagement party he missed.

Su Yao didn't look disheveled. When she stood on the stage, holding the microphone, announcing the cancellation of the engagement banquet, she had the same look in her eyes, looking down on everyone, or rather, those who looked down on her. That look made him uncomfortable and even a little annoyed. However, he still had that pleading, pitiful look. He remembered that his adopted son had been pitied by her in the same way. He didn't mind being perceived as weak when he needed to show weakness.

"I never thought Mr. Bai would be so stunned." Su Yao's smile, paired with her fox-like eyes, was always captivating. She was absolutely confident, a confidence in herself. She understood all her strengths and brought them to their fullest potential.

Bai Lutong smiled knowingly and sat down. "There's no way around it; a beautiful lady is always sought after by gentlemen."

"Mr. Bai has been abroad for so long, yet he still hasn't forgotten his roots. It seems he is patriotic." The veiled sarcasm in his words revealed the barbed nature of their relationship, and Bai Lutong was like a bucket of water, constantly dousing the simmering flames. "Because you are here. If you come abroad with me, we will be better off, Xiao Yao."

Su Yao had no interest in arguing with him about sweet nothings and even felt a sense of disgust towards him. Her composure, which remained unchanged even when Mount Tai collapsed before her, finally cracked slightly at this moment. Her expression turned serious, and the air instantly froze into a cold and icy confrontation: "Please, Mr. Bai, do not arbitrarily target any of our company's employees."

She understood better than anyone why Bai Lutong targeted Tang Pai.

In an environment where you could hear a pin drop, the sudden laughter seemed particularly eerie, more of a provocation than a sign of relaxation.

Bai Lutong: "Haha, if you had used my men, this situation would never have happened. Xiao Yao, you have to admit that the Su family is much better than before."

Su Yao lowered her eyelashes. The coffee on the table had long since lost its heat. Even though it was still summer, Ge Jin served Bai Lutong a cup of hot coffee. Su Yao's lips curled up slightly, completely unconcerned about Bai Lutong's boastful intentions and attempts to win her over.

In fact, Bai Lutong was too arrogant and failed to realize that the difficulties he faced when he was in power were completely different from those faced by Su Yao when he was in power.

When Su Yao was in power, he had Su Qingye to guard against him from the front and Su Wensheng to seize opportunities from behind. He also had to take care of a bunch of uncles and elders around him. He couldn't afford to offend any of them, so he didn't have a comfortable environment to truly show his abilities. But as soon as Bai Lutong took office, Su Qingye fell ill, and Su Wensheng became wary and eliminated all the idle people, directly streamlining the board of directors. He wasn't afraid of offending anyone, so the difficulties he faced when taking office were much less. However, Bai Lutong confused these issues and made comparisons, which showed his disregard for Su Yao's work and his arrogance.

The only way to deal with this kind of person is to comply. "I admit it, but I don't want my employees to be disciplined like that, sorry."

Bai Lutong was speechless. Under the high-pressure environment of the Su family, survival of the fittest was the norm, and it was not an exaggeration to call it "discipline".

But Bai Lutong, unwilling to be outdone, couldn't swallow this bitter pill. He took a sip of coffee, then stood up, as if only by looking down from above could he gain the upper hand. "Xiao Yao, your current mindset is what led to the downfall of the Su family back then. I will make the Su family a success and give you an explanation."

Su Yao's expression remained calm as he watched him finish speaking and leave the reception room in one smooth motion, without any hesitation.

Only after he left did Su Yao raise his head, let out a long breath, and, thinking about Bai Lutong's words as he left, laughed, "How about you give me an explanation?"