In the days that followed, Aheng continued to accompany Ningyuan to work every day.
Rong Zhaonan seemed very busy, only managing to deliver meals to Ning Yuan three times in quick succession, exchanging a few words before leaving.
Sometimes, when the two parties don't have the same schedule, they don't even have anything to say to each other.
Another week has passed in the blink of an eye.
There was a big meeting early Monday morning this week, with leaders from several city departments inspecting the construction site.
Ning Yuan got ready early in the morning, got into the car and sat next to Assistant Ye, while Aheng got into the passenger seat.
Assistant Ye's secretary habitually rode in a minivan—
A special assistant and a secretary are not the same. In large multinational corporations, a special assistant is actually a senior executive.
As for Aheng...
A group of Hong Kong men were almost robbed by bandits who had been eyeing them as easy targets because they were late getting off work one day.
After Ah Heng single-handedly defeated four thugs armed with shotguns and daggers, the proud Hong Kong men respectfully invited him to ride in their car.
Soon after, the two vehicles arrived at the construction site of the Tenth Department Store, put on safety helmets, and went inside.
Ah Heng was too lazy to participate in such occasions, so he simply waited in the car.
As soon as Ning Yuan entered, she saw Director Qiao wearing a safety helmet, leading a gaunt-looking old man and a middle-aged bald man, pointing at the blueprints and talking about something.
Surrounded by a group of followers, he looked around curiously.
At first glance, it doesn't look like a construction site; it looks more like an opening ceremony.
Ning Yuan muttered to herself, "The bigwigs from the Industry and Commerce Bureau, the Finance Bureau, and the Architectural Institute are all here today."
Qiao's secretary was the first to spot Ning Yuan and Assistant Ye's group and greeted them.
Assistant Ye walked over apologetically and shook hands with them: "Leaders, we are late, we are really sorry."
Director Qiao smiled and said, "No, we deliberately arrived half an hour early so we could take a look ourselves first."
Assistant Ye smiled and said, "Thank you all for coming to the site to provide guidance. It is an honor to have you here."
Ning Yuan was deeply impressed; the executives were all incredibly shrewd!
In the past month and a half, Assistant Ye's Mandarin has improved rapidly, and he has also learned how to speak official jargon in mainland China.
Ning Yuan obediently followed Assistant Ye, shaking hands all the way. When she reached Director Qiao, she smiled brightly with her big eyes and said, "Director Qiao!"
Uncle Qiao stared at her round face with a mysterious look: "Hello, Comrade Xiao Ning. You've been very busy lately. You've lost weight. You should eat well so as not to let down the organization's trust."
Ning Yuan quickly lowered her head at a 45-degree angle, trying to make her slightly rounder face appear smaller, and gave an innocent, dry laugh: "Ah... isn't this all for the sake of striving to build the Four Modernizations, ah... haha..."
Uncle Qiao discovered that she was doing a great job as an informant "spy," secretly sending him stacks of notes and meeting minutes from the Hong Kong government team.
So, this older man started inviting her to his home again, asking Aunt Qiao to cook for her and also to learn about her knowledge of antiques!
But she didn't have time. Besides, she was secretly having people deliver those things to Uncle Qiao like a mouse carrying food, and Assistant Ye had already turned a blind eye.
She had just recognized her mother, so she didn't want Ning Bingyu to accuse her of "betraying her own people."
So he made up the excuse that he was too busy and had lost weight, and didn't go to Uncle Joe's house for dinner.
But... she forgot that after recognizing her as her mother, her mother's maternal instincts have recently kicked in, and she goes to the market every day to find fresh ingredients, as if she wants to stuff all the food that she owed her for the past twenty years into her mouth.
The food was so good that her belly and face became rounder.
It's a bittersweet pain...
And Uncle Joe even noticed that he hadn't lost weight at all, but had actually gained weight! Oh my god!
Is she really that obviously fat? Huh?!
Uncle Qiao looked at her grinning face and just snorted, "Alright, you're just talking nonsense! Come on, show us around!"
A middle-aged bald man with a face resembling Maitreya Buddha smiled and said, "Old Joe, is this the young woman you mentioned who's quite capable of implementing the reform and opening-up policy?"
Ning Yuan knew that the bald man was a bigwig in finance, so she quickly greeted him, "Director Li, you're too kind. I'm just holding the title of advisor in name only."
Director Li smiled kindly and shook his head: "That's not what Old Qiao said."
The contract between the city and the Ning family is very clear: they hold the majority of the shares, but they cannot interfere with the management rights and can only follow the Ning family's arrangements.
They cannot interfere in personnel appointments, removals, or selections; they can only offer advice.
It's a wonder that Old Qiao came up with the idea of using the Ning family's scholarship program to force a young girl into the Ning family as an "advisor".
Uncle Qiao snorted without any politeness: "That's right, Old Li. Don't let her youth fool you, she's got a whole set of ideas in her head."
Ning Yuan coughed lightly: "You flatter me. It's all thanks to Director Qiao's promotion."
Was it a compliment? Anyway, she took it as a compliment!
The old man, who hadn't spoken until now, smiled and pushed up his glasses: "I've also heard that the young lady has her own ideas about interior design?"
Ning Yuan turned around and greeted him respectfully, "Mr. Qiu, you're too kind. I only considered the interior design from the perspective of facilitating business operations, and I can't compare with professional designers."
Old Qiu is a big shot and an authority in the architectural design institute. He was sent down to clean cowsheds back then, but like Grandpa Tang, he has survived to this day!
She would give sufficient respect to elderly people like this.
Old Qiu smiled and said, "Let's go, let's meet with the Hong Kong government team again and see what the advanced foreign designs will look like after they are implemented."
Yes, domestic design teams can only assist the Hong Kong government team. They can offer their opinions, but the government may not necessarily adopt them.
Ning Yuan was the one who could speak up. Old Master Qiu got a lot of design drawings from the Hong Kong government team from her. Although the annotations on the drawings were not professional, they always included her own design ideas in great detail.
The idea wasn't professional, but it was very creative.
Old Qiu had always had a good impression of this honest young girl he had never met, and this was the first time he had seen her.
The three adults and one child chatted happily, walking and talking at the front, while Assistant Ye and his entourage lagged behind and became mere accompaniments.
He was very well-mannered and didn't get angry.
Local leaders already had some complaints about the Hong Kong government team being so unyielding and difficult to persuade.
However, the capital city has given the order for their full cooperation, so they have no choice but to comply.
Miss Ning Yuan is already the biggest "informant" they can infiltrate, and Assistant Ye is not stingy in letting Ning Yuan do this favor.
The reason the young master made these demands was that he didn't want some people from the mainland to interfere recklessly, do good deeds but end up doing bad things, and ruin the project.
In the end, the blame was still placed on the Ning family.
Ms. Ning Yuan was well aware of this and acted as a bridge between the two parties.
Ning Yuan explained the blueprints to the senior executives: "...Our team wants to set up an open counter, which will make it convenient for people to shop and try on clothes. In the middle, there will be landscape flowers, and the mannequin windows will have different themes every week, such as late spring in March, April..."
The bigwigs listened intently, having never seen anything like this before – what is it called?
Assistant Ye watched from the side, and smiled faintly.
Not to mention the leaders and managers in mainland China who were surprised, even her team members thought her ideas were very forward-thinking.
However, the solution developed in collaboration with the design team, once implemented, was even more stunning than the Hong Kong government's shopping mall.
But a cool voice rang out, completely out of place.
"But, Comrade Ning Yuan, don't you think these designs are a bit impractical? Is this the level of the Hong Kong government's team?"
Ning Yuan turned her head and saw a refined and fair-skinned handsome face.
The man wore old-fashioned, thick-rimmed black glasses with thick bottoms, but his features were still quite good. He was dressed in work clothes, but when he smiled, his narrow, fox-like eyes behind the lenses carried a hint of coldness and contempt.
Old Master Qiu frowned: "Ziying!"
This child is usually very polite, why did he speak like that this time?
Ning Yuan smiled slightly: "It's alright. I don't know how to address this comrade. If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them."
The other person smiled slightly and extended their hand: "Xiang Ziying, an architectural designer at an architectural design institute, but I am also in charge of interior design."
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