Cen Yu listened to Ai Cao's idea with a cold face.
She said, "Even my first draft of the proposal was more complete than yours."
Ai Cao smiled sheepishly and said, "After all, I've never been a boss before."
Cen Yu slammed her hand on the coffee table and stood up, looking as if she was about to throw her 9.98th version of the proposal at Ai Cao's face: "But it can't just be one sentence!"
The mugwort's eyes gleamed.
Cen Yu glared angrily.
The two faced off in silence for a few seconds.
Cen Yu sighed, breaking the eerie silence first: "No wonder you rushed over and asked me who I was with your head in your hands... Turns out you're not very bright."
Ai Cao whispered, "I think there's a market for this."
Upon hearing this, Cen Yu recalled how, every time she submitted a proposal to Cen Lan, she would respond to Cen Lan's questions with, "I think this has a market."
Especially when she submitted her first proposal, she thought every single word she typed was perfect. If Feng An hadn't stopped her, she would have posted her proposal online, offering a thousand yuan to anyone who could change even a single word.
Fortunately, the case stopped her.
Thinking of the plan that had been completely overturned, with no trace left even in the shredder, Cen Yu just wanted to pry open the head of the mugwort to see if it contained a Cen Yu from two or three days ago.
Cen Yu leaned back and asked, "What kind of market is it?"
Ai Cao could hear a similar tone in her voice to Cen Lan's.
Ai Cao opened her smartphone and showed Cen Yu the job postings that only hire men, saying, "Since there are job postings that only hire men, then there must be a market for job postings that only hire women."
Cen Yu decided to include this sentence in her 9.981 version of the project proposal.
Cen Yu continued, "And then? You only plan to build an all-female company?" She stared at Ai Cao, trying to break down her defenses with her gaze, just like Cen Lan had done. "What are the benefits of an all-female company?"
Ai Cao said, "I think the benefits for all women are quite obvious."
Cen Yu curled her fingers and tapped the coffee table forcefully. She said seriously, "If you can't articulate any clear benefits, then there are no benefits. There's no need to add an extra restriction limiting staff to women only."
Ai Cao had the illusion that she was talking to Cen Lan. Although Cen Yu was still very inexperienced, as long as she was given some time and room to grow, she could grow into someone even more capable than Cen Lan.
Ai Cao said, "Reducing the number of male staff can reduce the occurrence of workplace sexual harassment."
Cen Yu thought for a moment and said, "Let's count that as one." She then asked, "Anything else?"
Ai Cao quickly flipped through the documents provided by the system and said, "Increasing the number of women in the workplace can indirectly improve the status of women in society as a whole."
Cen Yu crossed her arms: "But I run a business company, not a charity to give away money."
"This can improve the company's reputation."
Cen Yu retorted sharply: "Only improve your reputation among women? You're saying I'm not interested in men's cake anymore?"
The mugwort remained silent for a while.
She held up her phone and said, "But it's clearly written here that they don't eat women's cake either, right?" She asked Cen Yu, "Why can men not eat women's cake, but women have to eagerly eat a bite from men?"
“I don’t want to swarm around the old cake like ants, just to get a small piece from someone else,” Ai Cao said. “I want to create a new cake that other women can share.”
Her eyes were too serious.
For a moment, Cen Yu was genuinely moved by her passion.
She couldn't help but follow the description of the mugwort and imagine that kind of future.
Cen Yu excitedly pressed Feng An's hand down and said, "Let's discuss the details tonight. I'll revise the proposal based on this!"
At six o'clock the next morning, Cen Yu handed Cen Lan a stack of freshly made proposals, which she named "0.985 - If you change it again, I'll punch the mugwort."
Cen Lan looked at the title of the proposal, which was centered and bolded in Song typeface, unlike any of the previous versions, but exuded a particularly professional feel. Then she glanced at Cen Yu, who had clearly stayed up all night, a fervent smile still on his face—
And behind her, the withered mugwort and the wind-blown table.
Ai Cao whispered to Feng An, "This is the first time I've known that coffee can be bitter in so many different ways."
Feng An whispered, "Different flavored dishwater."
Standing in front of them, full of fighting spirit and refreshed, Cen Yu, who had drunk three cups of dishwater before entering the room, turned around and glared at them angrily.
Cen Lan said, "I know you're in a hurry, but you should at least wait for me to get out of bed."
The fact that Cen Lan could still calmly say this was already the greatest concession she could make to her own daughter.
Cen Yu said, "Why don't you take a look first? It won't take any time!"
Cen Lan sighed: "If you still want to get angel investment—"
Cen Yu quickly grabbed the stack of proposals, deftly pulled the two people who had stayed up all night with her, and slipped out of Cen Lan's bedroom.
Cen Lan looked at the open door and sighed again.
Perhaps her sigh was too loud, because Cen Yu, who had just disappeared from the bedroom door, peeked out from the doorway with a grin and closed the door behind her.
Five minutes later, Cen Lan sat on the sofa in the living room.
She held a freshly brewed, steaming cup of tea, with a project proposal in front of her that she had already reviewed once.
Cen Yu glanced at her, then at the proposal, and tentatively asked, "Do you still want to see the PPT?"
Cen Lan said, "Since it's already done, let's see how it goes."
Cen Yu gave Feng An a wink, and Feng An took out his laptop and placed it on the coffee table in front of Cen Lan.
Cen Lan silently stared at the PPT that Cen Yu had created—a presentation that was both exquisite and outdated—and felt a headache coming on.
She took a sip of tea.
In her silence, Cen Yu's voice, which had been initially passionate and rousing, grew increasingly weak and uncertain.
After she finally fell silent, Cen Lan said, "This time the changes are quite significant; it's gone from two people to three."
Cen Yu dared not utter a sound.
Cen Lan asked, "Now that there's another founder, how many shares do you plan to give her?"
Cen Yu whispered, "...Thirty percent?"
Cen Lan put the teacup back on the coffee table and said, "I remember you also gave me, as an investor, 30% of the shares. If I were to pay for the 21% of shares held by the kid right now, then your company would be mine."
Cen Yu's gaze wandered aimlessly.
Cen Lan continued, "Losing money isn't always better, so I won't do that." Her gaze was stern. "But you have to remember that, after all, this is your company."
Cen Yu responded softly.
The next moment, Cen Lan smiled and waved to them, inviting them to sit down beside her: "Now we can sit and chat."
"Where did you get the idea for an all-women's hotel?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
