Chapter 71 Coincidence? Lin Yuwei felt it was both expected and...
The clock on the wall quietly pointed to ten o'clock, and the rain outside the window was pouring down, with dense raindrops pattering against the glass.
Lin Yuwei was completely absorbed in drawing the blueprints for the new project. It wasn't until she finished a section and put down her pen that she belatedly heard the sound of rain pouring down outside the window. She was so focused that she hadn't even noticed when the heavy rain had started.
She got up to get a glass of water and walked out of the office. She heard the sound of a mouse clicking. Lin Yuwei didn't expect that someone would still be working overtime so late. Xiaoyu's workstation was lit up, and she was staring intently at the screen.
Lin Yuwei approached, her voice gentle: "Why aren't you home yet? Have you been too busy with tasks lately? You can tell me, and I'll adjust. It's too late; it's not safe for you to go home alone... Quick, save this, I'll take you home now."
Xiaoyu looked up, rubbed her sore eyes, and explained with a smile, "Sister Weiwei, the workload hasn't increased. I'm waiting for my boyfriend to pick me up; he's also working overtime. If I go home early, I'll be alone anyway, and I'm a little scared of this kind of thunderstorm, so I might as well draw one more diagram in the office."
Lin Yuwei's eyes lit up: "You're dating? Didn't you say before that your family was pressuring you to go on blind dates?"
Xiaoyu seemed to be caught off guard by the question, lowered her head, and said in a muffled voice, "Ah... we only started dating recently. He doesn't like to post on social media, so I didn't make it public."
“That’s normal. Many guys don’t like to show off their private lives.” Lin Yuwei nodded, then casually asked, “What does he do? Why is he working so late?”
Xiaoyu blinked her big eyes, her voice slightly hesitant: "He... works in IT..."
“Okay, then you can continue waiting for him. If you want to leave early, just let me know and I'll take you.” Lin Yuwei picked up her teacup and walked towards the tea room, then turned back to remind her, “You don’t have to work in the office. After drawing all day, watch some dramas or listen to some music to relax your mind.”
"Okay, thank you, Sister Vivi."
About half an hour later, Lin Yuwei heard a cell phone ringing outside. A moment later, Xiaoyu appeared at the office door with a bag on her back: "Sister Weiwei, my boyfriend has arrived. I'm leaving now! You should go back and rest early too."
"Okay, go ahead, I'm about to leave too." Lin Yuwei waved with a smile.
Xiaoyu blushed, nodded, and left with light steps.
Lin Yuwei stretched, glanced at the time, and decided it was too late. She thought she might as well go to the car and get some blankets to spend the night in the office.
She went downstairs and saw Xiaoyu still waiting by the door. A black SUV slowly drove in through the rain. Out of concern for her team members and a little curiosity, Lin Yuwei stopped and wanted to see what kind of person Xiaoyu's boyfriend was.
The car stopped, and a tall figure got out. It was Zhang, whom Lin Yuwei knew, a key technical staff member of Qichen Technology. He gently ruffled Xiaoyu's hair and carefully opened the car door for her.
Xiaoyu's boyfriend is actually Engineer Zhang? Not bad taste. Lin Yuwei nodded slightly and continued walking towards her car.
In that instant, a flash of inspiration struck her. Zhang Gong was Gu Qingyan's most capable subordinate, and Xiaoyu was deeply in love with him. Could that naive girl, who couldn't keep a secret, be the "messenger" who inadvertently revealed the information?
To verify this conjecture, a plan quietly took shape in Lin Yuwei's mind.
Before Monday's routine meeting, Lin Yuwei was reviewing the key points for discussion when her assistant, Xiao Li, knocked on the door and placed a hot Americano beside her. "Isn't President Zhou coming back this week either?" Lin Yuwei nodded. "He probably won't be back until next week at the earliest. We can have the meeting as scheduled." Since Zhou Xubai's mother's health improved, she had been missing life in China, so he went abroad to accompany her for a while and took the opportunity to arrange for his parents to move back to China to live permanently.
At the meeting, Lin Yuwei showed the team information about the new project, which was the first "Chengshi Light and Shadow Art Festival" in Mingchuan City.
The main project partner has been selected, and the organizer is currently secretly soliciting partners for a secondary project. The scale of this project is too small for "Shiguang Studio" even if they were to be the organizer, and Lin Yuwei would not normally take it on.
But she has other considerations right now. Precisely because it is small in scale and has low attention, it is not easy to attract Gu Qingyan's attention. Taking on this secondary project is a good way to test who his "eyes and ears" are within the studio. At the same time, it will not take up too many of the studio's core resources, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.
After the meeting, Lin Yuwei kept Xiao Li, Chen Lu, Li Xiao, and Xiao Yu behind. She gestured with her chin and asked the last person to enter to close the door, which inexplicably made the atmosphere in the office more serious.
"The Light and Shadow Art Festival project," she got straight to the point, handing four identical project proposals to the four people. "It's not a large project, and I plan to have the five of us take the lead in driving it." Her gaze swept over the four people in front of her, her tone softening, and carrying a weight of trust: "If you have any questions about the workload, you can come to me directly now or later, and I will coordinate."
The four nodded in succession, indicating that there were no problems with taking on the project at present.
"In addition," Lin Yuwei leaned forward slightly and lowered her voice to add a special request, "before the project summary meeting next week, I hope everyone will complete their respective preliminary ideas independently and not exchange ideas in advance." She then gave a reasonable explanation: "I want to see more diverse ideas from you, rather than prematurely converging on a single viewpoint."
With the mission assigned, the four accepted their orders and left.
The office door closed gently. Lin Yuwei leaned back in her chair, but her gaze remained fixed on the door, as if she could see through it and discern the undercurrents surging outside.
Those four seemingly identical project proposals actually concealed a secret: in each document, she had hidden a subtle difference that only she knew about.
For example, the budget for the project given to Xiao Li was set at an almost absurdly low figure. Any tech company that wanted to cooperate would almost have to offer "free sponsorship" to participate. Given the small size of the project, it is reasonable to assume that Xiao Li would likely seek favors from small tech companies that needed something from Shiguang Studio. If, under these circumstances, Gu Qingyan's Qichen Technology still "condescends" to help again, then the possibility that Xiao Li is the "insider" is very high.
In the document given to Xiaoyu, the project budget was all normal, except for the "project site inspection" section. Lin Yuwei specifically marked an extremely specific and obscure location: "Crossing Art Space" in Hechang City, which was converted from an old shipyard. This location itself was not special; its only value was as a carefully laid bait.
Once Lin Yuwei goes to Hechang City, and Gu Qingyan "coincidentally" appears there and "accidentally" meets her, then the answer to who accurately transmitted this message becomes self-evident.
Now that all the bait has been cast, she only needs to wait and see which line Gu Qingyan will take the bait on.
Four days later, Xiao Li, Chen Lu, and Li Xiao submitted their project progress reports one after another. None of their submissions had any connection with Gu Qingyan or Qichen Technology, so they could be largely ruled out as suspects.
On Friday, Lin Yuwei arrived in Hechang as planned. Xiaoyu's report was awaiting completion of her investigation.
Standing before the art space transformed from the old shipyard, the salty sea breeze rushed towards her. The sky was crystal clear, and the sunlight gilded the rusty steel frames. Lin Yuwei took a deep breath; the crisp sea breeze and expansive view made her thoughts clearer than ever before. The answer to who the "insider" was was about to be revealed—it all depended on whether Gu Qingyan would appear here today.
Lin Yuwei made an appointment for the visit in advance.
So after she went to the front desk to report, a stylishly dressed woman quickly came out to greet her. She was about thirty years old, wearing high heels but walking with a brisk pace, and extended her hand with a bright and cheerful expression: "Hello, Mr. Lin, just call me Ms. He." The two exchanged pleasantries and walked side by side into the shipyard.
The old shipyard is vast, and a complete tour would take several hours. Ms. He thoughtfully led her to a panoramic map, lightly pointing to a few marked areas: "These are the highlights of the renovation that incorporates modern technology. The rest of the area is mainly for exterior renovation. I suggest you focus on visiting these essential parts and then choose two representative areas. That way, you'll grasp the overall renovation concept." Lin Yuwei readily agreed: "Okay, as you suggest."
Following in Ms. He's footsteps, Lin Yuwei witnessed many exquisite designs. Although the initial purpose of this trip was to "make a feint," the artistic soul that the old shipyard infused while retaining its industrial skeleton truly broadened her horizons.
After strolling for about half an hour, Ms. He pointed to a half-open metal door: "This is our intelligent control center, responsible for the temperature control, multimedia lighting, and other systems of the entire space. Shall we go in and take a look, and maybe we can rest for a bit?" Lin Yuwei smiled and nodded, but her heart was inexplicably racing. A thought surged into her mind—would he appear here?
Miss He pushed open the door and entered. The dim blue light of the electronic screen illuminated four figures. Two of them were dressed in shipyard uniforms, obviously internal staff, and were debugging the equipment. The tall figure next to them, with his back to the door and holding a tablet computer, was Gu Qingyan.
Lin Yuwei felt it was both expected and surprised by Gu Qingyan's way of making his entrance.
Ms. He lightly patted her forehead: "Look at my memory, I forgot the tech company came to upgrade the system today." She turned apologetically to the departing figure: "Mr. Gu, may we take a look around?"
"Please go ahead." Gu Qingyan didn't even look up, his finger still swiping across the screen, but the next second he seemed to sense something and turned his head, his gaze piercing through the flashing device to accurately capture Lin Yuwei's figure. He showed just the right amount of surprise: "President Lin? What a coincidence?"
Is that a coincidence?
Lin Yuwei suppressed the smile that was about to appear on her lips and calmly nodded: "It is indeed a coincidence."
Miss He looked the two of them up and down curiously: "Do you know each other?"
“We’ve worked together before.” Gu Qingyan put down his tablet and naturally steered the conversation toward a more professional topic: “Is President Lin here this time because he’s interested in the intelligent control system?” He looked at Ms. He and suggested in a gentle yet businesslike tone, “Would you like me to explain this module?”
Miss He's eyes lit up immediately: "That's wonderful! I couldn't have asked for this. You're the expert on this module, and I can learn from you."
Gu Qingyan nodded slightly, her gaze returning to Lin Yuwei, a fleeting smile playing on her lips: "It's my honor."
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Author's Note: Gu, the guy pursuing his wife, is really showing off like a peacock! [Veteran dog emoji]
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