Hearing Ye Linchen's half-true and half-false "accusation," Gu Jingran was not angry at all; instead, he chuckled softly.
He put down his chopsticks, leaned back in his large executive chair, shrugged, and wore a feigned innocence and a barely perceptible air of doting affection on his face.
"Mr. Ye, you're really wronging me." He drawled, sounding somewhat aggrieved. "If you don't believe me, go ask around. Which of them did I force to stay? They all did it voluntarily."
Ye Linchen raised an eyebrow with amusement, said nothing, and just crossed her arms and looked at him sideways.
Those clear, bright eyes clearly said, "Do you think I believe you?"
Her playful yet slightly smug expression softened Gu Jingran's heart.
He looked at her, then simply stretched out his long arm, gently pulled her onto his lap, and sat her down.
"Hey you..."
Ye Linchen was startled and instinctively pushed him, but the force was like a tickle.
Gu Jingran pulled her into his arms, rested his chin on her shoulder, and breathed warmly on her sensitive earlobe as he slowly explained.
"The company has a rule that overtime is paid at double the rate. Once the project is finished, you get the same number of hours of compensatory time off as the number of hours you worked, not a minute less."
"Such great benefits?"
Ye Linchen turned his head, raised his hand and gave him a pat on the shoulder in a mock manner, and asked with a smile, "President Gu, is your company short of people? How about me? I'd like to come and earn double the salary."
Gu Jingran was amused by her money-grubbing appearance and lightly flicked the tip of her nose with his knuckles.
"Well, you'll have to ask HR." He looked her up and down seriously. "If you want to come, I can send your resume for you. But since you haven't graduated from university yet, you can only be an intern. Our company doesn't encourage interns to work overtime, so... overtime benefits are not for you."
"Never mind then." Ye Linchen immediately pouted and struggled to get off him with a look of disgust.
"Interns work hard and are poorly paid, so I'm not going to do it."
"I'd better stick to figuring out my entrepreneurial plan, be my own boss, and enjoy all the benefits."
Gu Jingran's smile deepened. He put his arm around her waist to keep her from moving and nodded seriously.
"Alright, if Mr. Ye changes his mind any day, our company's doors will always be open for you."
"Oh right, I haven't finished talking about the question you were asking in the car."
Ye Linchen looked at him, her heart softening.
He always remembered every little thing she mentioned casually.
This feeling of being constantly thought of is reassuring and warm, a luxury she had never experienced in her previous life.
A warmth rose in her heart, and a smile appeared in her eyes. She stopped making a fuss and nestled quietly in his arms. She gathered her thoughts and recounted the problems she had encountered earlier in detail.
Gu Jingran listened intently, his smile fading and his brows furrowing slightly as he focused on every word she said.
After Ye Linchen finished speaking, he sighed.
"Interviewing entrepreneurs is relatively easy; we can leave it to Li Hongying and her team, and by doing a lot of interviews, we can eventually gather enough candidates. The hardest part is finding suitable startup teams. Even if we do find them, why should we, as students, interfere with their decisions? If we can't get this step right, our report will lack the most crucial practical data."
Gu Jingran nodded, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Your approach is correct, but don't narrow your thinking. In fact, you don't necessarily have to find a newly established company to prove the feasibility of the plan."
Ye Linchen hummed in response, blinking unconsciously, not quite understanding.
Seeing her bewildered expression, Gu Jingran patiently explained, "The ultimate goal of doing this part is to prove that your marketing plan can bring real benefits to the company, right?"
Ye Linchen nodded: "Yes."
"This kind of benefit isn't just something startups desperately need; established SMEs and even some large companies also need it," he explained persuasively. "For example, Tianyin Electronics and Yali Apparel, which you sponsored before, have been established for several years and have stable businesses. But why were they willing to sponsor the model competition? Wasn't it because they saw your proposal and thought it was profitable? As a result, after one event, their brand awareness increased rapidly, and their annual profit increased by 10% compared to last year. Isn't that a living example? Moreover, the credit for this success can be entirely attributed to your proposal, because before you approached them, they had no intention of doing so at all."
Upon hearing this, Ye Linchen's mind went blank.
It seems that these few words have untied all those messy, tangled knots from before.
"yes!"
She suddenly sat up from his arms, her eyes wide open.
"You're absolutely right! How come I didn't think of that!"
She was so excited that she didn't know what to do, so she simply wrapped her arms tightly around Gu Jingran's neck and gave him a loud "kiss" on the cheek.
"Gu Jingran, you're my lucky star! I'll contact those two companies tomorrow. If they're willing to provide the data, my report will be a success! If I can find one or two startups for comparison, wouldn't it be even more convincing? Wow, you're amazing!"
"As expected of a young talent and an industry elite..." Ye Linchen praised Gu Jingran without reservation.
Gu Jingran accepted her praise without any modesty.
"It's nothing. I've walked the same path you're on now, so I can imagine it. You haven't thought of these things because you're still a student and haven't experienced enough. Once you have the experience I have today, you'll definitely be more outstanding than me."
Ye Linchen was about to say something more when he heard him change the subject: "As for startups, if you need them, I can..."
Ye Linchen immediately covered his mouth and shook her head.
"Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Gu, but I want to take this step myself. You've already helped me a lot. Some things you have to experience yourself to grow. If I can't even get over this little hurdle, then it means I'm not suited for entrepreneurship, and I might as well give up sooner rather than later."
Gu Jingran gazed at her, smiled helplessly, but his eyes held more admiration than anything else.
He took her hand and gently kissed the back of her fingers.
"Okay. But remember, you're not fighting alone. If you need anything, you can not only tell me, but also discuss and solve it with your team. The purpose of a team is to work together through thick and thin."
Ye Linchen nodded, pondering for a moment before saying, "Hmm, I thought I would pay attention."
As if remembering something, she said softly, "Speaking of the team, we've had some recent changes."
Gu Jingran raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to continue.
Ye Linchen smiled, with a hint of teasing: "We have a new member on our team. Do you remember my first student, Zhao Yutong?"
Upon hearing the name Zhao Yutong, Gu Jingran's previously gentle expression visibly faltered, and his brows furrowed slightly.
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