Before the first set of photos was officially sent to Madam Li, they had actually gone through several rounds of internal review at Deyounian. Whether it was the project team members or President Dai, everyone approved of them and unanimously believed they could win Madam Li’s favor.
No one expected them to be rejected so quickly, which stunned many people.
Of course, Jason had heard the news too. More than shocked, he wanted to see what Xiao Luyan looked like right now.
She must have been sour-faced and depressed. This was tantamount to getting slapped across the face with a smile.
Remembering how she had clung tightly to Su Yiqui at the banquet that night, Jason found it even more amusing. While messaging Quan Ruiyu to report the situation, he pondered the best way to “console” Xiao Luyan later.
If he didn’t curb this woman’s sharp edges, she would think she was the best in all of Deyounian!
Jason pocketed his phone and strutted toward Xiao Luyan’s office with smug satisfaction.
He happened to run into Cheng Yanran who had just come out, and they both froze for a moment.
Ever since returning from the Cruise Auction, Cheng Yanran always gave him the cold shoulder whenever she saw him. Apart from the most perfunctory greetings, she hardly said anything else.
Jason thought she was becoming more and more like Xiao Luyan, so he flashed her a teasing smile first.
“I’m here to discuss something with President Xiao. Is she busy?” Jason pretended to point inside, but his expression betrayed his true intentions.
Cheng Yanran thought he was deliberately putting on a disgusting act. To think she had once believed this guy only wanted to compete with her master for a promotion. Now it seemed she had underestimated his lack of a bottom line. Some people were just nauseating no matter what they did!
She kept a straight face and said coldly, “President Xiao is always busy.”
She wasn’t Xiao Luyan’s secretary and couldn’t block this guy for her master. But Jason wanted to fish for information? No way.
Without giving him a chance to say more, Cheng Yanran walked off with a cold expression.
Xiao Luyan knew he was coming, and it was definitely not with good intentions. She tossed the pen in her hand lightly onto the desk and leaned back in her chair.
“I don’t need any help from you.”
Jason had anticipated she would say that and wasn’t disappointed at all. “Luyan, I didn’t deliberately try to steal your credit. No need to guard against me so fiercely.”
Xiao Luyan curled her lip. She didn’t believe a word of it.
“The project has hit such a major snag. If you can’t handle it alone, don’t force yourself. If Madam Li gets disappointed in Deyounian again, the losses would be incalculable.”
Xiao Luyan continued to eye him coldly. “Do you think everyone is like you?”
Jason paused, his fake smile fading. “What do you mean by that?”
Xiao Luyan said disdainfully, “You know exactly what you’ve done.”
Jason grew annoyed. “Don’t slander me. If you have the evidence, bring it out. Don’t drag others down with you just because you’re in trouble. If you couldn’t handle this project, you shouldn’t have been so arrogant and insisted on hogging it all to yourself!”
Xiao Luyan remained calm, showing no particular reaction to his words.
“Since you know it’s my project, why are you sticking your nose in it?”
“You!” Jason had come to kick her while she was down, but he hadn’t even gained the upper hand in a war of words.
He had thought that with Xiao Luyan frazzled and overwhelmed, she wouldn’t have the mind to trade barbs with him and would just stay silent.
After leaving Xiao Luyan’s office, Jason mulled it over carefully and still felt she was just bluffing and holding on by sheer force of will.
Su Yiqui was already working overtime on her end, with emergency meetings held who knew how many times. Rumor had it Trans was preparing to fly back too. Everything indicated the problem hadn’t truly been resolved.
He chuckled derisively, ready to watch how Xiao Luyan would handle the fallout.
This Touring Exhibition far surpassed the Cruise Auction in both scale and influence. Xiao Luyan had arrogantly taken it all on herself back then. If she really botched it, at least half of the industry reputation she had built over the years would be ruined.
With Jason’s incessant noise gone from the office, Xiao Luyan still felt a headache coming on. She had been working overtime almost every day until late into the night these past few days, so exhausted she could barely drink water.
Lu Yuezhi had asked after her with concern, but she lacked the energy to recount the details. The planned visit they had agreed on had to be postponed again.
She didn’t know how late she would have to work tonight. She was waiting for the latest works from Su Yiqui. After the shoot, they needed to discuss them urgently, not daring to overlook any details.
Before clocking out, President Dai called Xiao Luyan over to ask about the latest progress.
“Luyan, if you need any other assistance, just say the word.”
But Xiao Luyan said, “We have enough resources. The issue now is the shooting.”
She didn’t know exactly what effect Madam Li wanted, and it was impossible to send every set of photos for approval. That was the most maddening part—groping around in the dark was too difficult.
President Dai pondered. “How about having someone else share the load?”
Xiao Luyan instantly became a bit more alert. “Is President Dai afraid I’ll be crushed under the pressure?”
President Dai was frank. “Luyan, I think very highly of you, and I know this is a rare opportunity. But with the current situation, finding someone to share the risk is also a backup plan.”
He valued Xiao Luyan and naturally didn’t want her to suffer a major setback. Failing on this project would deal her a heavy blow.
No one had expected to hit a snag at such a surefire stage. To protect his key subordinate, President Dai wanted to prepare an exit strategy for her in advance.
Xiao Luyan refused. “I took on this project, so I’ll see it through to the end.”
She didn’t want to hand the opportunity to someone else and knew full well what independently bearing the risks entailed. But at this moment, she was unwilling—and too proud—to back down.
Seeing her determination, President Dai didn’t press further.
“If you really can’t communicate with Madam Li, you and Su Yiqui should go see her in person.”
She had considered this option, but Xiao Luyan felt the time wasn’t right yet. If the next set of photos still didn’t get approval, they could discuss it then.
Back in her office, she saw the message from Lu Yuezhi and replied wearily that she had to work overtime again tonight.
Lu Yuezhi responded with her usual words of concern and then didn’t nag further.
Xiao Luyan stared at the darkened screen in silence for a long time. She hadn’t said much, but seeing her messages seemed to give Xiao Luyan a burst of energy.
Suddenly, she missed her terribly. She wanted to have dinner with her, drink the honey water she brewed, hear her caring tone, go home…
Ever since that morning when Su Yiqui’s call interrupted their breakfast, and then the visit plans got delayed, Lu Yuezhi had guessed the project might have run into trouble.
Xiao Luyan’s late returns home and the growing distress etched between her brows confirmed her suspicions.
But she couldn’t seem to help in any way, which left her annoyed at her own earlier “jinxing.”
It was all her fault for getting jealous over nothing and saying that one line about the shoot not going smoothly. Now the bad stuff had come true while the good hadn’t.
She found she had no mood to nitpick over how much more time Xiao Luyan had been spending with Su Yiqui lately, or to imagine how in sync they must be when discussing and communicating.
Her heart was filled only with the burdened Xiao Luyan, her weary eyes, her career crisis.
He Director from the Cultural Heritage Bureau lightly clinked his glass against Lu Yuezhi’s. “Little Lu, what are you spacing out about all by yourself?”
He Director was the lead of the Cultural Heritage Bureau’s new project team and had been in charge of several photography events recently. After interacting with him for a while, Lu Yuezhi found him very laid-back about most things, but quite demanding when it came to photography quality.
“It’s nothing.” Lu Yuezhi glanced around. “I’m not good at chitchat, so I won’t join the fun.”
He Director smiled knowingly but said, “Are you worrying about that person at home?”
Lu Yuezhi froze, realizing who he meant. She was indeed worried about Xiao Luyan, but for He Director to see through it was a big problem.
She wanted to explain, but He Director cut her off. “A project as big as the Touring Exhibition is bound to hit plenty of snags. This time’s issue is indeed tricky, but you don’t need to worry too much.”
Unsure of He Director’s intentions, Lu Yuezhi just gave a faint smile and didn’t respond.
“Luyan must be under a lot of pressure. If you want to go help, the bureau won’t deliberately stand in your way.” He Director suddenly looked at her meaningfully. “But you have to follow procedure, or you’ll give people something to talk about.”
Lu Yuezhi was startled. “He Director, do you mean…”
But He Director had already walked away. “I see an acquaintance. Gonna go chat.”
She turned and saw He Director going over to talk with Bureau Chief Xia. Their expressions looked relaxed, not like they were discussing official business.
She mulled over He Director’s reminder and vaguely guessed that someone was up to no good again.
The Cultural Heritage Bureau’s networking event that night dragged on very late, longer than previous ones. Lu Yuezhi wanted to leave early but got pulled aside by Bureau Chief Xia to ask her thoughts on recent events.
Before she finished, Xiao Luyan had already gotten home. Lu Yuezhi calculated the time—even if she rocketed back, Xiao Luyan would probably be asleep by then.
She felt a bit disappointed at not seeing her tonight. But thinking of how exhausted Xiao Luyan was, Lu Yuezhi figured she should let her sleep early.
Even so, she hurried home as fast as she could.
To her surprise, the moment she entered the living room, she was startled by the figure on the sofa.
She walked over to confirm it wasn’t a hallucination.
“Luyan, why are you sleeping here?”
Xiao Luyan had a thin blanket draped over her legs, slouched against the sofa with a cushion under her neck, and her documents had fallen to one side.
Hearing Lu Yuezhi’s voice, Xiao Luyan opened her bleary eyes, her hazy vision filled with the face she had been missing.
She had actually wanted to sleep after her shower, but also wanted to see Lu Yuezhi before bed.
So she sat in the living room with her documents.
Lu Yuezhi casually placed the documents on the coffee table and tugged the thin blanket over her. “If you’re that tired, go to sleep early. You can look at the documents later.”
She didn’t understand how Xiao Luyan could be this exhausted and still insist on reviewing materials. Such excessive self-discipline was scary.
But right now, she didn’t want to say anything, more worried about Xiao Luyan catching a chill.
Xiao Luyan curled her lip and gave a light chuckle but didn’t speak.
She looked too tired to even talk. Lu Yuezhi didn’t have the heart to chase away her sleepiness, so she stopped nagging.
“Let’s go back to the room to sleep, okay?”
Xiao Luyan’s lashes fluttered a few times, and she gave a soft hum.
But she still didn’t move, unclear if she had even understood. Helpless, Lu Yuezhi asked again, “Should I carry you in?”
This time, Xiao Luyan’s lashes fluttered even more.
She didn’t make a sound, but the hand pinned under the edge of the blanket slowly lifted.
Seeing her open her arms, Lu Yuezhi couldn’t help laughing. “You look like a kid.”
Xiao Luyan suddenly opened her eyes. “Who looks like a kid?!”
Afraid a debate would chase away her sleepiness, Lu Yuezhi yielded. “I look like a kid. Go to sleep now, be good.”
Xiao Luyan closed her eyes again. When Lu Yuezhi picked her up, she lightly tugged at the blanket.
Lu Yuezhi gently placed her on the bed without even turning on the bedside lamp.
The only light came from the living room lamp, dim and faint.
Xiao Luyan opened her eyes, and Lu Yuezhi noticed all the brightness seemed concentrated there.
“You came back very late today.” Her voice was still muffled, thick with sleepiness.
Lu Yuezhi went along with everything to avoid disturbing her sleep.
“Yeah, the Cultural Heritage Bureau leaders were extra chatty today.”
Xiao Luyan gave a soft hum, sounding even more displeased than she was.
