Chapter 9: What's the point of practicing Zen if you're this repressed?
At 10 a.m. on Friday, senior executives of Qingyan gathered in the top-floor conference room.
When Yan Yunye stepped into the conference room, his gaze was fixed on the figure in front of the projection screen.
Su Ruan.
She wore a cream-colored satin shirt, tucked into a narrow skirt to accentuate her slender waist.
She was adjusting the projector with her head down, her long hair pulled back, and the pearl earrings on her earlobes accentuated her fair and slender neck.
Seven days have passed since that night in Nebula.
My phone has been unusually quiet this week.
There were no bombardments of "good morning" and "good night" messages, no clingy probing, and not even a single like on a WeChat Moments post.
Su Ruan disappeared completely from his life.
At first, he just felt a sense of peace and quiet, as if he had finally gotten rid of this pest and could finally give his ears a rest.
But there was no news from her for six days in a row.
He inexplicably felt a sense of emptiness.
Even today, she actually showed up at Qingyan's meeting, and she was even the person in charge of a key project?
Su Ruan raised her eyes, and a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes as her gaze swept over the attendees.
Yan Yunye?
What does Yan Tingnan mean by this?
Was deliberately including Yan Yunye in the project to test her attitude?
Or does he want her to hook up with him in front of Yan Yunye?
That's pretty twisted.
She likes it.
The assistant pushed open the meeting room door, and the air suddenly froze.
Yan Tingnan strode in, impeccably dressed in a suit, exuding a cold and aloof aura.
His gaze swept casually over the crowd, lingering briefly on Su Ruan.
Like looking at an insignificant stranger.
"Let's begin."
He took his seat in the main position, his voice low and deep.
Su Ruan nodded, pressed the laser pointer switch, and the holographic concept image of the curator was projected into the halo of light.
"This joint exhibition features twenty works, themed 'Breaking the Cocoon,' and is divided into three sections."
Her voice was clear and bright, her analysis was precise, her logic was clear, and her stage presence was remarkably composed, unlike that of a newcomer.
From lighting design to exhibit placement, every detail was meticulously considered.
Yan Yunye stared at her profile as she spoke eloquently, and suddenly felt a sense of unfamiliarity.
In his memory, Su Ruan was a pretty idiot who was good for nothing except her face.
When did she become so dazzling?
"A dynamic, streamlined layout is adopted, and holographic projection is used to bring the ink painting to life."
A rendering of the Suzhou Soft laser pointer red dot moving across the exhibition area.
"The visitor flow will naturally focus on the core exhibition area, creating an immersive experience..."
Yan Yunye suddenly interjected, "The budget is over."
He looked up, his gaze cold and sharp.
"The cost of holographic projection is three times that of traditional exhibition setup. Does Ms. Su think Qingyan's money is easy to burn?"
The atmosphere in the meeting room became awkward.
No one knew what Young Master Yan meant by suddenly launching an attack.
"Costs are controllable."
Su Ruan opened the appendix, and a set of data popped up.
"The third segment is a public welfare collaboration, where brands are willing to sponsor."
Yan Yunye frowned and tapped his pen: "The circulation design is unconventional."
"Young Master Yan, we tried the conservative approach last year, and the auction sales dropped by 12%."
The laser pointer spun in Su Ruan's palm and pointed at the eye-catching line chart on the PPT.
"The dynamic exhibition area can attract young customers, and the sales of derivative products are expected to increase by 40%."
"The market needs novelty, not repeated failures."
Yan Yunye choked, his face turning ashen.
He hated being refuted in public, and he hated being refuted by Su Ruan even more.
She used to just meekly agree with him, but now she actually dares to talk back to him in public?
"Anyone can create impressive data."
He sneered, his tone mocking.
"I'm afraid it's all talk and no action, just like your face, all looks and no substance."
The moment the words left his mouth, the conference room fell completely silent.
These remarks have gone beyond the scope of work and are purely personal attacks.
"Apologize."
The sudden sound from the head of the table made everyone hold their breath.
"Or get out."
Yan Tingnan didn't even look up, his slender fingers turning the page on the tablet to reveal the solution.
Yan Yunye's Adam's apple bobbed, but under his adoptive father's imposing presence, he gradually bent his back.
"Sorry, I misspoke."
Su Ruan glanced at Yan Yunye's white knuckles out of the corner of her eye and sneered inwardly.
This young master is incredibly arrogant.
He scored full marks in the college entrance examination mathematics and was specially admitted to Tsinghua University. In his sophomore year, he led a team to win the international business competition championship.
At this moment, in front of Yan Tingnan, he was as obedient as a dog on a leash.
She suddenly felt listless.
How could I have ever been so desperate for this kind of person?
She never expected Yan Tingnan to publicly support her.
So this is what it feels like to have someone backing you up.
This tastes pretty good.
She was pondering how to respond when she saw Yan Tingnan suddenly look up at her.
"Has the copyright for the dynamic ink painting been settled?"
The topic changed so quickly that Su Ruan was stunned for a moment before she reacted.
She swiped to the next page and pulled up a scanned copy of the authorization letter.
"The project is being handled by the CAFA team, and they are willing to provide support at a price two percentage points lower than the market price."
Yan Tingnan's eyes flickered slightly: "Curatorial cycle?"
"Twenty days."
Su Ruan met his scrutinizing gaze.
"Including the debugging of holographic projection technology in conjunction with Milan Design Week."
Yan Tingnan put down the tablet in his hand: "The concept is novel enough, but the details can be further refined, especially the core exhibits."
Su Ruan tilted her head and looked at Yan Tingnan.
"Mr. Yan, where do you think it needs further improvement?"
"Why don't you give me some guidance yourself?"
Her voice was soft, and her gaze went straight into his eyes.
It sounded like they were talking about a plan, but it also sounded like they were talking about something else entirely.
A mocking smile curled at the corner of Yan Yunye's mouth.
guide?
Everyone knows that Yan Tingnan hates this kind of overstepping boundaries the most.
Su Ruan's blatant invitation was practically suicidal.
He leaned back leisurely, waiting to see Su Ruan embarrass herself in public.
The rest of the people in the conference room held their breath and stole glances at the person in the head seat.
This newcomer is incredibly arrogant, daring to use President Yan's words as a ladder to climb?
Yan Tingnan lifted her eyelids, and her gaze met Su Ruan's across the distance.
Last night she acted all proper, but now she dares to set a trap for him in front of everyone.
"Can."
Upon hearing this, Yan Yunye sat up abruptly.
The adoptive father actually chimed in?
The executives exchanged glances.
When did President Yan become so patient with newcomers?
"Specific issues will be discussed separately after the meeting."
Yan Tingnan slowly took off his glasses.
"The plan has been approved. The finance department will review the budget before the end of the day today."
His voice was indifferent, as if he were making a businesslike arrangement.
Meeting adjourned.
Everyone felt as if they had been granted a pardon, and the sound of documents being turned over rose and fell.
Only Yan Yunye's knuckles turned white as he gripped the pen, his mind filled with questions.
He had intended to talk to Su Ruan, but just as he stood up, Jing Huai's voice came from behind him.
"Manager Yan."
"The representatives of the cross-border merger and acquisition have arrived ahead of schedule, and Mr. Yan has asked you to be in charge of receiving them."
Yan Yunye paused in his steps.
"Now?"
“Now,” Jing Huai said with a smile.
Yan Yunye gritted his teeth and agreed, glancing at Su Ruan, who was organizing documents, as he turned around.
As the crowd dispersed from the meeting room, Huo Siyue grabbed Su Ruan's arm.
She gave a thumbs up and lowered her voice.
"Sister, you were so brave just now, so cool!"
“I was worried that Nancy would drain you dry, but you finished twenty auction reports and not only did your curatorial proposals become legendary, but President Yan also gave you special tutoring.”
"That was amazing! I'm totally impressed!"
Su Ruan bent down, pulled out the USB drive, and winked at Huo Siyue.
"It's not entirely thanks to you feeding him life-sustaining milk tea every day, otherwise he would have been crushed into a dried-up corpse by the KPIs from above."
As she packed up the documents, she said, "Let's have hot pot tonight, after all, you deserve half the credit for the military achievement."
Huo Siyue nudged Su Ruan's shoulder, grinning mischievously.
"What's so special about milk tea? The real big boss is feeding you the midnight snacks that the administration department stuffs into your mouth every day."
"Michelin is exclusively supplied to the CEO's office; it's the only one of its kind in the entire company!"
Su Ruan paused in organizing the documents: "Isn't it supposed to be a unified delivery during overtime?"
"Unified delivery, my foot!"
Huo Siyue's eyes shone like a chameleon who had just shipped a couple.
"Your workstation is the only one in the entire company that has a Michelin hidden menu."
Huo Siyue's words were full of ambiguous undertones.
"President Yan has never given a personal visit to his employees, not even me and his son have received this treatment."
Upon hearing this, Su Ruan was taken aback.
Ah, so it turns out that Yan Tingnan arranged all these Michelin-starred late-night snacks on his own?
That's interesting.
If someone is so repressed and brooding, what's the point of practicing Zen?
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