07. Changes
The Fantuan Care incident caused small ripples in Jiang Nan's calm heart, but these ripples were quickly washed away by busy work and trivial life.
That day, Jiang Nan stood in the company's tea room, pouring herself another cup of coffee. She rubbed her temples and sighed. She'd been working on her plan until two in the morning, and then woke up at seven this morning for a meeting. She felt completely groggy, relying on coffee to keep her going.
The content of the morning meeting was nothing special, except that the company was going to be acquired, and the existing customers were the company's bargaining chips, so they had to hold on to the existing orders.
To be honest, Jiang Nan and Wenwen both hope that the company can be acquired smoothly, and it would be best if the salary and benefits can be increased a little, and then Wang Baopi can be replaced again - Wenwen is from another team, but their team will also be devastated by Wang Baopi.
"Jiang Nan, Director Wang is looking for you." Li Lan, who was in the same group, poked her head in and called out, with a look of sympathy on her face.
Jiang Nan agreed, sighed, and returned to her workstation with her coffee. She put the cup down before quickly heading toward the director's office. Before opening the door, she paused for a moment before knocking three times.
"Come in." Wang Baopi's voice came through the door.
In the office, Wang Paopi was frowning at his computer screen, his shiny forehead gleaming in the sunlight. He looked up at Jiang Nan and pointed to the chair across from him: "Sit down."
Jiang Nan sat down carefully.
"I've reviewed the new proposal for the maternal and infant project," Wang Papi said, taking a sip of water. "The client said the creative direction doesn't align with their latest market research, and they're asking for a complete redo."
"Redo it?" Jiang Nan couldn't help but raise his voice, then quickly lowered it. "But they clearly confirmed the direction last week?"
Wang Paopi put down his cup and spread his hands helplessly. "The market changes rapidly. Besides, the customer is God. If God says to change, we have no choice but to change." He paused and added meaningfully, "This project is very important to the company. Xiao Jiang, you have to pay attention. I want to see the new plan before Friday."
"Friday?" Jiang Nan looked at him in disbelief, "But today is already Wednesday..."
"So you have to hurry up," Wang Papi said with a smile, "By the way, Peter will help you. You can ask him if you have any questions."
Jiang Nan's heart sank.
Peter, that guy, doesn't know how to do anything except flatter. But she could only nod and say, "Okay, Director. I'll fix it right away."
After leaving the office, Jiang Nan returned to her workstation and downed a cup of coffee in one gulp. But afterward, she stared blankly at her computer screen. On it was the PowerPoint presentation she'd been revising the previous night. All those meticulously designed charts and copy now seemed like wasted effort.
At this moment, Jiang Nan's phone vibrated. It was a message from Wenwen:
Baby, I heard the maternal and infant program is being reworked? Is Wang Baopi up to no good again?
Jiang Nan typed quickly:
The client suddenly changed his mind and requested the proposal to be submitted on Friday.
Pete is coming to assist me.
I thank him.
Wenwen replied immediately:
It's that sycophant Pete again.
Is there anything I can do for you?
Jiang Nan thought for a moment:
Please buy me some food to put in the refrigerator after get off work.
I have to stay up late again tonight.
After putting down the phone, Jiang Nan rubbed his sore eyes and reopened the document.
After that, she worked overtime until nine o'clock in the evening, when there were few people in the office.
Jiang Nan stretched, feeling her cervical spine was already overwhelmed. She rubbed her cervical spine while checking the time, wondering if she should hold on a little longer. However, her head was already as dizzy as if it had been filled with water.
"Forget it, I'll deal with it when I get home," she muttered quietly, then saved the document and packed up to leave. It was a while before she saw Wenwen's message. She had already sent a midnight snack to her current residence, and it was said that a man had signed for it.
Jiang Nan laughed it off and glossed over the matter.
——
Walking out of the company building, the night breeze, carrying the warmth of early summer, brushed against her cheeks. Jiang Nan took a deep breath, and suddenly felt her nose sore. She blinked, suppressing the inexplicable grievance.
It was past the evening rush hour, and the subway wasn't crowded. Jiang Nan found a corner to sit down and close her eyes to rest. Her phone vibrated again. She squinted and checked. It was a WeChat message from Chen Yunsheng:
Are you coming back tonight?
Jiang Nan was stunned for a moment.
This was the first time Chen Yunsheng took the initiative to ask about her whereabouts.
She replied hesitantly:
I'm on the subway, just got off work.
Chen Yunsheng's reply was quick:
Um.
Jiang Nan stared at the screen for a long time, unable to figure out what it meant. She stuffed her phone back into her bag, thinking that maybe Mr. Chen wanted to see her again.
It was almost ten o'clock when he got home. Jiang Nan opened the door softly, but the light in the entrance hall still came on, and a floor lamp was on in the living room.
She tiptoed to change into her slippers and prepared to go to the kitchen to wash her hands and find something to eat.
After walking a few steps, she suddenly heard a slight noise coming from the direction of the study.
She turned around following the sound and saw the light coming through the crack of the study door. She decided to move more quietly.
Then, Jiang Nan quietly walked to the kitchen, washed his hands, and opened the refrigerator.
She found a few more lunch boxes with sticky notes on them: Nannan’s midnight snack - Wenwen.
Jiang Nan looked at Wenwen's handwriting and the red heart, and felt warm in his heart.
Then she took out a box and opened it, revealing braised pork ribs and rice.
Seeing this, Jiang Nan's nose felt sore and she almost couldn't hold back her tears.
The braised pork ribs made by Wenwen are the most delicious. When they first started their internship and lived together, Wenwen often made this for her, and she would make all kinds of home-cooked dishes for Wenwen.
Thinking back to the past, Jiang Nan felt that no matter how hard or difficult it was, she still had Wenwen by her side. So, she wiped away her tears and put the braised pork ribs in the microwave to heat up.
After a while, the fragrance spread.
After a ding, Jiang Nan brought out her lunch box and tiptoed to the low table in the living room. But after putting the lunch box down, she turned back to her room and retrieved her laptop. She planned to continue revising her plan while she ate.
She thought that if she postponed everything until tomorrow, time would be too tight.
——
The light from the screen reflected on her tired face, revealing the faint dark circles under her eyes. Jiang Nan sighed at the delicious taste of the spareribs while typing on the keyboard.
However, the delicious taste of the ribs did not make her think clearly.
The direction of the client's requirements was too vague and she couldn't grasp the key points at all.
She irritably deleted the text she had just written and scratched her hair in pain.
"Work is not going well?"
A clear voice suddenly rang out from behind her, frightening Jiang Nan so much that she almost knocked over her lunch box. She quickly turned around and saw Chen Yunsheng standing behind the sofa, looking down at her.
"Mr. Chen?" Jiang Nan hurriedly closed his notebook. "You haven't rested yet?"
Chen Yunsheng was wearing dark gray home clothes, his hair was slightly messy, and he looked like he had just finished something busy.
"I just finished." After answering Jiang Nan's question, he walked around the sofa and sat down on the single sofa chair next to her.
Then, his gaze fell on her slightly red eyes.
"In trouble?" he asked her, his voice sounding a little softer than usual.
Jiang Nan subconsciously wanted to deny it, but for some reason, facing Chen Yunsheng's calm gaze, she suddenly couldn't hold it back, and tears welled up without warning. She quickly lowered her head and pretended to adjust the position of the mouse.
"It's... work," she said, trying to keep her voice steady. "The client changed their requirements at the last minute, so the entire proposal needs to be redone and submitted by Friday."
Chen Yunsheng listened quietly, then reached out and took a tissue from the coffee table and handed it to Jiang Nan.
Jiang Nan took the tissue, wiped his eyes awkwardly, and tried to lighten the mood with self-deprecation: "Sorry. I'm being too pretentious. Maybe I've been staying up too late lately..."
"What exactly is the problem?" Chen Yunsheng asked.
Jiang Nan hadn't expected him to follow up. After a moment's hesitation, she opened her notebook and pulled up the proposal document. "Our company has taken on a maternity and baby product promotion project. Originally, we were aiming for a natural and safe product. But today, the client suddenly said market research showed smart parenting was trending, and they wanted us to change direction."
Chen Yunsheng leaned in closer to the screen and took a look, frowning slightly. "Have you seen their latest research data?"
Jiang Nan shook his head: "No, Wang Ba—I mean the director—he said the client requested a change."
"It's irrational," Chen Yunsheng said bluntly. "Decisions made without data support are blind. Is this how your company treats projects?"
Jiang Nan gave a wry smile. "Of course, whatever Party A says is what we have to do. We, Party B, wouldn't dare ask for the data. We're lucky to be able to keep the order."
Chen Yunsheng was silent for a while, then suddenly asked, "Do you have any product information?"
Jiang Nan nodded and pulled the product brochure from her bag. Chen Yunsheng took it, quickly skimmed through it, and pointed to a page. "Here, the core technology of the product is the natural material extraction process, which has little connection with intelligence. Forcibly changing the direction will only make the promotion lose focus."
"That's it. I feel awkward too, but Wang Baopi - my boss said..." Jiang Nan's voice became smaller and smaller, and he didn't even dare to finish his words.
"Your direct supervisor lacks professional judgment," Chen Yunsheng said calmly but firmly. "The right approach is to stick to your original ideas and convince the client with data. Blindly catering to them will only lead to project failure."
Jiang Nan stared at Chen Yunsheng blankly.
Is this still the same iceberg boss who was so frugal with words? He actually spoke so much in one breath, and all of it was professional insights.
"Then...what should I do? If I argue with my boss...I might lose my job..." she muttered softly.
Chen Yunsheng thought for a moment and said, "First, you need real competitive analysis and market data. I'll have Wei Yan send you some reference materials tomorrow."
He understated it: "Secondly, we need to re-examine the core advantages of the product and find a natural connection point with the concept of intelligence, rather than a blunt conversion."
Jiang Nan listened intently, unconsciously respecting Chen Yunsheng. "Are you saying we can use natural safety as the foundation of smart parenting?"
"That's right," Chen Yunsheng nodded. "The combined technology showcase demonstrates our deepest concern for infant and child health. This is the unique selling point of this product."
Jiang Nan immediately wrote down this idea on her computer. Her fingers tapped the keyboard more swiftly, and the fatigue on her face was replaced by concentration.
"Mr. Chen, you're amazing," she couldn't help but admire. "This angle makes perfect sense, and it also retains most of our previous ideas."
Chen Yunsheng smiled and said, "It's just basic business logic." Then he stood up and said, "It's getting late. You should rest. Let's continue tomorrow."
Jiang Nan looked at the time and it was already past eleven o'clock.
She hesitated: "But the deadline."
"Efficiency is more important than staying up late," Chen Yunsheng looked at her. "I'll have the driver take you to work tomorrow. Now, go to sleep."
Jiang Nan was silent for a while and had to close the computer.
"Mr. Chen, how do you know about advertising planning?" She suddenly stopped, looked up at Chen Yunsheng, and said in a cautious tone, "I... I shouldn't be leaking business secrets, right?"
Chen Yunsheng had already turned and was heading towards the bedroom when he heard her. He stopped and glanced at her sideways. "As for your first question, the MBA curriculum covers marketing, and I've invested in several advertising companies." He continued, "As for your second question, you really trust me too much, but if I want more details about the brochure, I'll get them."
Jiang Nan blinked. She wanted to ask more, but Chen Yunsheng had already walked into the bedroom at the end of the corridor, leaving her with only a simple good night.
Jiang Nan sat holding the computer for a while, thinking to himself, he is really arrogant, but he does have the capital to be arrogant.
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