4. Sprained ankle

No wonder Gu Tingshen hadn't left home so late; he was on vacation. She looked at him and said, "Are you available? Otherwise, I can have someone from the company come and pick me up."

"I'll take you. What time do you leave?" Gu Tingshen didn't refuse and agreed readily.

"If it's convenient, let's go now." Ye Zhenzhen didn't stand on ceremony; she wanted to get to the company as soon as possible.

The housekeeper watched the two leave, his smile deepening. He sighed, thinking that Madam Gu was indeed resourceful, and that the drivers should continue their vacation.

Ye Zhenzhen followed behind Gu Tingshen, marveling at how tall he really was. She was 166 cm tall, but even in high heels, she was still almost a head shorter than him. He must be at least 1.9 meters tall! And look at those shoulders, that waist, those long legs, he's so handsome, he makes me feel so safe!

The Maybach had been fitted with a child safety seat in the back, and the butler drove a Cayenne out of the garage.

Gu Tingshen wore a light gray shirt and heather gray trousers. His hair was unkempt, and the shirt collar was buttoned all the way up. He strode over and opened the passenger door.

Ye Zhenzhen, wearing high heels, followed behind him, thinking to herself that this domineering CEO was actually quite gentlemanly. After thanking him, she sat down inside.

Having missed the morning rush hour, there was no traffic congestion on the road, and the two arrived at Fengming Building without incident.

The security guard at the door took the car keys and went to park the car. The receptionist saw the two of them come in together and recognized the young master of the Gu family. She quickly went up to them and said, "President Ye, President Gu, good morning."

She quickly walked a few steps, pressed the button for the private elevator, and after the elevator doors closed, she hurriedly called Song Chengcheng.

"Sister Song, President Ye has come upstairs, and President Gu has arrived too!"

Upstairs in the general manager's office, everyone was busy preparing various documents early in the morning, and upon hearing this, they were even more flustered.

"Who's here?! Quick, turn on the air conditioning in the meeting room!"

"Why is President Gu here?"

"Where are the documents Mr. Ye requested? Give me the folder quickly."

Song Chengcheng was completely baffled. Didn't President Ye always dislike the Gu family's heir and forbid anyone from mentioning him? Why was he at the company?

Ever since she received the call from Mr. Ye this morning, her eyelids had been twitching. Sure enough, with Chairman Ye involved, things were bound to go wrong. She couldn't understand it, so she simply stopped thinking about it.

"Quickly tidy up the conference room and meeting room. Li Na, take some people and come with me to the elevator to meet President Gu and President Ye."

Just as the two of them and the secretariat staff came to a stop, the elevator doors opened with a ding, and President Gu followed President Ye out.

Everyone greeted him in unison, "Good morning, President Ye, President Gu."

"Um, hello everyone?"

Ye Zhenzhen was startled by this scene. The original owner was young and had no airs at the company. Taoyao's atmosphere was always relaxed and free, and she had never encountered such a situation before.

Song Chengcheng led the way, opened the door to the general manager's office, and invited the two inside.

Everyone returned to their workstations, their faces calm, while the group chat was buzzing with discussion.

Wow, their relationship has improved? The atmosphere seems quite relaxed, and President Ye has a smile on his face the whole time.

[Mr. Gu is so tall! His presence is so powerful that I didn't even dare to look him in the eye.]

The colors of their clothes match today; they're both gray. Are they wearing matching outfits?

[President Gu has such broad shoulders; even President Ye looks petite and delicate in comparison.]

Wow, what a great figure! I love it!

…

In the conference room, Song Chengcheng and a group of department heads sat at a long table, sitting upright and waiting for the boss to speak.

Facing a group of workplace elites alone, Ye Zhenzhen felt a mix of being interviewed during an internship and the subtle thrill of playing The Sims. She tried her best to remain calm as she spoke, "I was criticized and trended on social media because of this variety show, so I figured this show was bound to be a hit."

The subordinates thought to themselves, "It's the same old princess speaking so willfully."

"So I want to use this program to develop Fengming and Taoyao. I want Fengming Jewelry to be the title sponsor of their program. When they invited me before, I saw a bit of their filming script. There will be various ancient and modern scenes. We will provide the jewelry used by the actors to promote our products."

Upon hearing this, Wang Debang, the vice president of Fengming Jewelry, perked up. He was a long-time employee of Fengming, deeply attached to the company and ambitious. Since the passing of Ye's mother, Fengming Jewelry's development had nearly stagnated; they hadn't launched any new products in three years, and their market share had been significantly taken over by emerging brands. Hearing his boss's words naturally stirred his emotions.

"As for Tao Yao, have Zhan Yan and Zhou Jin been up to anything lately?" Ye Zhenzhen asked again.

These two are the only two artists under Taoyao's management, both quite good-looking. Zhan Yan is a mature and sophisticated woman with a stunning figure; Zhou Jin has well-proportioned features, with particularly striking eyes. The original owner was a sucker for good looks, and her only requirement when choosing people was that they had to be naturally beautiful!

Song Chengcheng said that the two of them have so much free time that they are almost ready to retire.

"I have no other requests than to get them into the 'I Am an Actor' competition. Once they're on the show, they absolutely have to beat Bai Xue." Ye Zhenzhen thought of how Bai Xue's fans had previously criticized her acting skills. "I ignored her before, but her fans kept chasing after me and cursing me. I want them to step up and get back at me."

Ye Zhenzhen thought that now that she had money, she should give people benefits for doing things. "Whoever wins against Bai Xue in the end, I will directly invest in a TV series for him and let him play the lead role."

The two's agent, Liu He, also brightened up. The two had been with the company for almost half a year, and had been idling at home every day. She needed to go back and have them prepare properly. She tentatively suggested, "President Ye, how about we assign them an assistant? They haven't had any activities before, so we haven't assigned them a dedicated assistant."

"..." Ye Zhenzhen was speechless. Was this really just for retirement? "Let Assistant Song arrange it. Assistants, makeup artists, nannies, all the things other artists have, provide them with. As long as they work hard and produce results, I will never treat them unfairly."

"Mr. Ye, do you have any other requests?" Song Chengcheng noted down her request and thought to herself that the boss was quite reliable this time.

The cast for "I Am an Actor" isn't even complete yet, and there's no title sponsor. However, director Li Fengnian is a very creative and marketing-savvy person, and his previous works have all been quite successful. If the investment is only in "I Am an Actor," the only way to get a share of the profits later on is based on the show's profitability. But according to the boss's idea, it's not only a promotional opportunity for Fengming Jewelry, but Taoyao can also promote her artists.

Even the boss's tendency to trend on social media can be used for publicity and promotion. For variety shows, once the buzz is high, they naturally become popular.

The subordinates were all excited. As expected of Chairman Ye's daughter, the boss had a natural business acumen!

Just as everyone was about to start discussing the plan, they saw the boss holding a folder, his brows furrowing more and more as he flipped through it.

"Are these all the new styles from Fengming Jewelry this year? Why are the designs so outdated?" Ye Zhenzhen looked at Fengming Jewelry's product information and realized she had forgotten something: there was a nearly ten-year time difference between the two worlds.

On Earth before she transmigrated into the book, the designs of gold and jewelry were becoming increasingly youthful and personalized, either exquisite and fashionable or using intangible cultural heritage techniques such as filigree and engraving, which were very popular among young people. She herself was a jewelry enthusiast, paying special attention to the jewelry in museums and dramas. In college, she often bought loose stones to design her own jewelry, making wire-wrapped and woven pieces to earn pocket money.

That's why I wanted to promote Fengming Jewelry's products through variety shows.

But now that I've seen Fengming's design drawings for this year, I realize that the gold jewelry styles are outdated and bulky, and the craftsmanship is simple and crude; the gemstone inlays have no sense of design at all. The audience of "I Am an Actor" is mainly young people, and such products have no appeal to them at all.

Fengming's Vice President Wang Debang slapped his thigh and complained bitterly, "President Ye, you've hit the nail on the head. These styles are indeed a bit outdated. We've invested too little in design and R&D in recent years, and there haven't been any new technologies or products. Several experienced craftsmen have also left, so it's a huge loss in terms of technology."

Upon hearing this, Ye Zhenzhen remembered that her mother was originally a designer with extremely high aesthetic standards. After her mother passed away, the original owner of this body studied abroad and was arranged to get married immediately after graduation, never having managed Fengming Jewelry. Song Chengcheng, who was in charge, could only follow the old practices, and the R&D investment remained the same as before, but compared to her peers, it seemed insufficient. With the old master craftsman gone, the old designs could no longer be produced well.

"Can we find the old master craftsmen who left?" The older generation of craftsmen are all treasures; we'd be grateful if we could find even one.

“One of the masters, Master Liu, is no longer able to work, but the others should be able to be found. They’ve mostly gone to enjoy their retirement with their children. I visit them every holiday. The old masters have worked at Fengming their whole lives and have a deep affection for the company. Much of your dowry was made by them.” As Wang Debang spoke, he realized he had said something inappropriate and touched a sore spot for his boss, so he quickly fell silent.

Ye Zhenzhen remained silent for a while, a pang of sadness gripping her heart. The deepest emotions remaining in this body, besides anger towards her father, were the profound longing for her mother. Thinking of her parents, far away in another world, she felt a pang of sorrow, but forced herself to continue the meeting.

Phoenix Jewelry was the culmination of Ye's mother's life's work. To give it new life is a way of making up for some of the original owner's regrets.

"Then let's go and invite him back. It doesn't matter if Master Liu is not in good health. If he is willing to come back as an advisor and guide the young people, that's fine too. You've done a great job. For those who don't want to come back, please send them a gift as a token of my appreciation."

She thought for a moment and added, "The design department should recruit another batch of jewelry designers to diversify the designs as much as possible. Products aimed at young people should be unique and exquisite. Ancient techniques such as filigree, enamel, engraving, and cloisonné should not be abandoned. We can replicate some ancient masterpieces."

The person watching Fengming nodded, and she concluded, "In short, just like Taoyao, Fengming hires people when it's short of staff and comes to me when it's short of money. As long as there are results, it's easy to discuss whether it's a raise or a bonus. When 'I Am an Actor' airs, I hope the audience will be amazed by the beauty of our Fengming jewelry, rather than complaining about its ugliness."

"You guys can discuss the other professional stuff, I don't understand it either, so I'll be leaving now." Ye Zhenzhen checked the time and decided to go back first; Gu Tingshen was still waiting for her in his office.

Song Chengcheng led everyone to see her off, and when they returned, they started a lively discussion.

When Ye Zhenzhen returned to the office, she saw Gu Tingshen sitting on the sofa drinking tea. The white porcelain cup with hand-painted pandas matched his temperament fairly well, but the Hello Kitty cushion behind him and the pink snack shelf on the corner of the table seemed a bit out of place.

She felt a little embarrassed for having such a big CEO as her driver and for making her wait so long. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. Let's go back."

"It wasn't long." Gu Tingshen shook his head, stood up, and went downstairs with her.

The two remained silent as before, but Gu Tingshen noticed something different. When they arrived, she had a smile on her lips and seemed cheerful, but now she appeared shrouded in shadow, pale and forlorn.

Her face was always turned towards the window, her long, thick eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings, and her petal-like lips had lost their color.

Gu Tingshen drove, his eyes constantly glancing at her, but in the end he didn't say anything, just silently kept her company.

When the car arrived at the villa, Ye Zhenzhen suddenly came to her senses. Having maintained the same posture for too long, her movements were a little sluggish. Gu Tingshen had already gotten out of the car and opened the passenger door for her.

She gave him an apologetic smile, unbuckled her seatbelt, and prepared to get out of the car. However, her high heels didn't land properly, and she stumbled and fell out of the car.

A sharp pain shot through her ankle, and she gasped in surprise. The next moment, she was pulled into a cedar-scented embrace.