Chapter 20 Board of Directors' Questions
Huo Yanzhi's tall figure disappeared at the entrance of the banquet hall, and the faint scent of fir trees in the air also dissipated.
Ruan Yao remained standing there, clutching her phone tightly in her hand.
She was so happy she wanted to jump up on the spot, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up.
"Yaoyao?"
Shen Yu's gentle voice rang in her ears, pulling her back from her wandering thoughts.
Ruan Yao then remembered that there was someone else next to her, and put her phone back in her bag.
"How do you know President Huo?" Shen Yu's smile remained perfect, as if it were just a casual question.
Ruan Yao's heart skipped a beat.
"We're not very close." She lowered her eyelashes, intending to leave.
"Not familiar?" Shen Yu chuckled. "If we weren't familiar, why would President Huo give you his private number?"
"I accidentally dirtied his suit," Ruan Yao said, using a pre-prepared excuse. "That's why I left my contact information in order to pay him back."
Shen Yu's smile deepened, as if he believed him, and he asked again, "How did you end up here?"
Ruan Yao didn't want to say another word to him; the suffocating feeling of being deceived and used by him in her past life surged up again.
She glanced around and said in a feigned hurry, "Oh right, I came with Tangtang. She's probably looking for me everywhere. I have to go now."
After saying that, before Shen Yu could speak again, she turned and ran away like a frightened little rabbit, as if she were hiding from something.
Shen Yu stood there, watching her almost fleeing figure, and the gentle smile on his face finally disappeared completely.
He picked up his wine glass, gently swirling the amber liquid inside, his mind replaying the scenes from just moments ago.
Ruan Yao said she has someone she likes.
Could it be... Huo Yanzhi?
After Ruan Yao ran away, she searched for Jiang Tangtang's figure in the hall.
Soon, she spotted the familiar little black dress in a corner of the food area.
Jiang Tangtang was excitedly waving her fist at the air, her face filled with uncontrollable elation.
"Tangtang." Ruan Yao walked over quickly.
"My dearest girl!" Jiang Tangtang saw her and rushed over with a big shout, hugging her tightly. "I did it! I did it! I succeeded!"
She grabbed Ruan Yao's shoulders, so excited she was almost incoherent: "Yao Yao, you're amazing! How did you know that Mrs. Li has been looking for someone to restore an old Suzhou embroidery screen left by her mother? I just mentioned to her, as you said, that my great-aunt is a successor of Suzhou embroidery, and her eyes lit up!"
"President Li immediately asked me to come to his company next week to discuss our project in detail!" Jiang Tangtang excitedly hugged Ruan Yao's arm and shook it. "My God, I still feel like I'm dreaming!"
Ruan Yao was happy for her, and smiled with her eyes crinkling, "I only heard about it by chance, I didn't expect it to actually work."
In her past life, this Mrs. Li sought help from almost everyone in Beijing's social circle to restore this screen. In the end, she turned to the Huo family for help. Huo Yanzhi asked someone to invite a master craftsman from Suzhou to come and finally fulfilled her wish.
Later, Mr. Li personally visited to express his gratitude and presented many gifts.
"Is this what you call useful? This practically saved my life!" Jiang Tangtang waved her hand generously. "Come on! It's my treat tonight. Order whatever you want, don't hold back on ripping me off!"
Ruan Yao smiled and agreed, "Okay."
She did indeed have some incredibly good news to share with her best friend.
Jiang Tangtang calmed down and realized that Ruan Yao's lips had never fallen into a smile. She was even happier than Jiang Tangtang herself, and her doe eyes were sparkling as if they contained the entire Milky Way.
"Something's not right." Jiang Tangtang narrowed her eyes and leaned closer with a gossipy look on her face. "Your smile is so lovey-dovey! Tell me! Have you run into some romantic luck too?"
Ruan Yao's cheeks flushed, and her heart raced uncontrollably.
She nodded, a little embarrassed but also a little proud.
"I got the phone number of the person I like."
"What?" Jiang Tangtang's voice rose instantly, then she realized what she had said and quickly covered her mouth, lowering her voice, "Wait, you... the person you like isn't Brother Shen Yu?"
In Jiang Tangtang's mind, Ruan Yao had no other men besides Shen Yu.
"It's not him."
Ruan Yao leaned close to Jiang Tangtang's ear and whispered a few words in a voice only the two of them could hear.
"I'm pursuing Huo Yanzhi."
"Huo Yanzhi of the Huo Group."
Jiang Tangtang's expression froze instantly. She was stunned for a full three seconds before she could process this information.
Then, she widened her eyes, looked at her best friend who had been pampered since childhood, and gave her a thumbs up.
"Awesome."
*
A week later, the news came that Jiang Tangtang had successfully been promoted to a permanent position. She was so excited on the phone that she kept shouting and insisted on dragging Ruan Yao out for another celebratory meal.
While Ruan Yao was happy for her, her own work was also entering its most crucial stage.
After repeated revisions and polishing, the "Summer Wonderland" series proposal was finally placed on Huo Jing's desk.
Huo Jing was full of praise for her design drafts, especially when Ruan Yao suggested that they could try selling them using the "blind box" concept that was just emerging among young people. Huo Jing's eyes lit up.
The two hit it off immediately and spent the entire afternoon in the office discussing and finalizing all the details.
However, at the final project review meeting, this proposal, which they had placed high hopes on, encountered unprecedented resistance.
"Blind boxes? What are those?"
Chairman Wang of the board was the first to raise a question. He was over fifty years old and had been with the Huo family since they built their empire. He was known for his composure and steadiness.
"I disagree. Our Happy Island makes high-end trendy toys; every design is a work of art. How can we treat it like gambling, letting consumers try their luck?"
“Exactly,” another director immediately chimed in, “I’ve never heard of this sales model before. It’s too risky. If the market doesn’t accept it, all our products for this quarter will be stuck in our hands.”
“Young people these days have a lot of ideas, but we can’t let them do whatever they want. A junior assistant who just joined the company can just casually come up with an idea, and we’re going to invest tens of millions in a production line to play along with her? That’s too frivolous!”
Several veteran board members took turns criticizing the proposal, leaving it almost completely torn apart.
"Chairman Wang, this is not gambling; it's a new marketing psychology."
Huo Jing sat in the main seat, exuding a powerful aura. "Young people today have a different consumption view than we did. They pursue a sense of surprise and social interaction. Trendy toys alone are no longer enough to impress them."
"The blind box concept has huge potential among young consumers, as it taps into their curiosity and desire to collect. We have conducted detailed market research, and the data does not lie."
Huo Jing pushed another document to the center of the conference table. "This is our estimated return on investment, as well as the marketing plan for the first phase. You can take a look."
Ruan Yao also spoke at this moment, her voice was a little tense, but her thoughts were clear.
"Distinguished board members, I'd like to add something. The fun of blind boxes can easily go viral on social media. Unboxing videos and trading hidden items can bring us huge amounts of free traffic. This is not just a sales method, but a completely new way to engage in social interaction."
"Market research?" Another director chuckled, his tone tinged with disdain. "Young lady, you've just graduated. How authoritative can your market research be? This kind of thing that no one has ever done before is too risky. If it fails, who will be responsible for the backlog of inventory? Can you bear that responsibility?"
In the conference room, a group of men with an average age of over forty-five were engaged in a heated debate with Ruan Yao, a girl in her early twenties.
Huo Jing frowned and raised her hand to interrupt them.
“I will take responsibility for the risk of inventory.” She looked around. “She is my subordinate. I will personally oversee this project. If there are any problems, I will take full responsibility.”
“Director Huo, this isn’t about who’s in charge,” Chairman Wang said earnestly. “Lexing Island is a subsidiary of Huo’s Group, and our annual performance is related to the group’s overall financial report. Such a major sales strategy reform, if it goes wrong, will affect the entire Huo’s Group’s stock price. We can’t take such a risk.”
The atmosphere became tense and deadlocked.
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