Chapter 71 One Hundred and Fifty Billion
Huo Jing wasn't surprised at all when she saw Ruan Yao return with a changed expression.
She even admired it somewhat.
This is how the future mistress of the Huo family should be.
Not a delicate flower in a greenhouse, but a rose with claws, ambition, and the courage to fight and struggle.
"Have you thought it through?" Huo Jing smiled.
“I’ve made up my mind.” Ruan Yao nodded vigorously. “This project is my child, and I can’t hand it over to someone who doesn’t understand it. I’m confident that I can do it better than anyone else.”
"That's ambitious." Huo Jing stood up, walked to her side, and patted her on the shoulder. "Then prepare well for next week's assessment and show your full strength."
She paused, then reminded him, "Zhao Yan's rise to his current position in the project department isn't solely due to his smooth talk. He has deep roots and extensive connections within the company, and many of the judges this time are on good terms with him. This will be a tough battle."
“I understand.” Ruan Yao’s eyes remained unwavering. “Thank you for reminding me, Aunt. I will do my best.”
Stepping out of the office, Ruan Yao was brimming with fighting spirit.
She returned to her workstation, immediately turned on her computer, and began preparing for next week's assessment.
If you're going to compete, you should win beautifully.
She not only wanted to prove her abilities to everyone, but also to make Zhao Yan truly convinced of her abilities.
On the other side, Zhao Yan learned that Ruan Yao had not accepted his "good intentions" and was instead going to compete for the position of head of department. In the break room, he gave a cold laugh to his familiar colleague.
"Young people these days are so arrogant. They think they can rise to the top just because they have connections?"
"A fresh-faced young girl who just graduated drew two diagrams and thinks she's someone important. She doesn't even know her own limitations, yet she wants to compete with me for the position of project manager. That's just wishful thinking."
A colleague chimed in, "Exactly! Yan-ge, which project you've led wasn't an S-level project? How can she, a newbie, compare to you?"
"Just wait and see," Zhao Yan took a sip of coffee, a disdainful smile playing on his lips. "Next week's assessment will show her what professionalism is."
*
Ruan Yao devoted almost all her energy to preparing for next week's assessment.
As it was almost time to leave work, she let out a long sigh of relief, feeling as if all the bones in her body were about to fall apart.
The phone screen lit up; it was a text message from Huo Yanzhi.
I'm downstairs.
Ruan Yao felt as if a feather had gently brushed against her heart, leaving her with a ticklish and sweet sensation.
She packed her things almost immediately, grabbed her bag, said goodbye to her colleagues, and rushed briskly toward the elevator.
He came to pick her up from get off work.
This realization relieved the tension I had been feeling all day preparing for the competition.
The black Bentley remained discreetly parked on the street corner.
Huo Yanzhi leaned against the car door, his tall and slender figure accentuated by his well-tailored dark suit, which drew frequent glances from many white-collar women passing by.
In the afterglow of the evening, he was so handsome it seemed unreal.
Seeing her come out, he opened the passenger door.
"Get in the car."
Ruan Yao got into the car, fastened her seatbelt, turned her head, and looked at him with bright eyes.
"Why did you come here? You didn't even tell me beforehand."
Huo Yanzhi closed the car door, walked around to the driver's seat, and said, "I came along the way."
The car smoothly merged into the evening rush hour traffic, but it wasn't heading back to the villa.
"Aren't we going home?" Ruan Yao asked, somewhat puzzled.
"I'll take you somewhere." Huo Yanzhi's profile looked particularly handsome under the dazzling neon lights outside the window.
Ruan Yao's heart skipped a beat. Thinking it was some kind of surprise date, she stopped asking questions and looked expectantly at the street scene outside the window.
The car stopped in front of a brand-new office building in the city center.
This is the newly developed CBD core area in northern Beijing, where every inch of land is extremely valuable.
Ruan Yao got out of the car with Huo Yan and looked at the magnificent glass curtain wall building in front of her, feeling even more puzzled.
What are you doing here?
Huo Yanzhi did not answer, but simply took her hand and led her inside.
The elevator goes directly to the top floor.
Once the door opened, it revealed an incredibly vast and empty space.
The entire floor has been opened up, with huge floor-to-ceiling windows on all four sides, offering a panoramic view of the bustling nightscape of northern Beijing.
The floor and walls are still in a rough state, but the view and lighting are top-notch.
"This place is beautifully designed," Ruan Yao exclaimed sincerely.
"Do you like it?" Huo Yanzhi wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. "I bought it."
Ruan Yao's heart skipped a beat.
He continued to whisper in her ear in that seductive voice.
"How about opening your own studio here?"
The admiration on Ruan Yao's face froze instantly.
She turned her head abruptly, looking at him in disbelief.
studio.
That was her only wish in her previous life, after being kept as a caged bird by Huo Yanzhi.
She wanted a small space of her own where she could freely express her creativity.
She had tried to subtly mention it to him, but he remained silent, filling her walk-in closet with more expensive jewelry and luxury goods, without ever mentioning the studio.
But in this life, he actually took the initiative...
Ruan Yao looked at him, her heart churning with mixed emotions, unable to tell whether it was gratitude or something else entirely.
It was a chilling kind of perfect fit, where everything was foreseen and all desires were fulfilled.
She remained silent for a long time, so long that Huo Yanzhi thought she didn't like it.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Ruan Yao slowly shook her head, then gave him a smile.
"No, I don't want it."
"Why?" Huo Yanzhi's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly. "Don't you like it here?"
"No." Ruan Yao sniffed, trying hard to suppress the urge to cry.
She could no longer accept everything he gave her with a clear conscience.
In his past life, he paid off all of the Ruan family's debts and gave her a huge fortune that she could squander for several lifetimes, but what she brought him was a devastating betrayal.
She owes him so much.
In this life, she will repay him for everything she owes him, bit by bit, with her own two hands.
Ruan Yao stood on tiptoe, wrapped her arms around his neck, and hung her whole body on him, saying in a joking tone, "I'm doing just fine at Lexing Island now, working for your Huo family and making money for you, isn't that good?"
She leaned close to his ear and added playfully in a voice only the two of them could hear, "I'm so capable, I might be able to earn 15 billion for the Huo family. I'm a money tree."
She smiled, her eyes crinkling, as if she were being coquettish.
But Huo Yanzhi's body stiffened for a moment when she uttered the number "one hundred and fifty billion".
15 billion.
A number so precise it's almost unbelievable.
In his past life, when he divorced her, the assets he transferred to her name amounted to exactly 15 billion.
Looking at the girl in his arms, her eyes crinkling with laughter, completely unaware of what was happening, the absurd guess he had forcibly suppressed resurfaced once more.
Could it be that she also...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
