Since Su Yiqui didn’t object, things became much easier to handle. Xiao Luyan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Su Yiqui added, “But if both of them come to try, we can only submit one piece of work.”
It was impossible to let both create separately and then have Madam Li choose; that would make Deyounian seem too unprofessional. Xiao Luyan thought for a moment. “Then let’s have a little contest first and decide who goes up afterward.”
She figured that even if Lu Yuezhi didn’t win this contest, it wouldn’t matter. At least she could perform in front of Trans and Su Yiqui—this was a rare opportunity in itself.
But she also had inexplicable confidence in Lu Yuezhi’s talent and felt it wouldn’t be much worse than River’s. Perhaps it was the filter of their relationship that made Trans favor her. If he saw Lu Yuezhi’s performance, he might change his mind.
With that in mind, she felt even more that they couldn’t miss this chance.
Since Xiao Luyan had put it that way herself, Trans and Su Yiqui also felt the possibility of open favoritism had dropped a lot, so they agreed.
Not long after the meeting adjourned, Xiao Luyan saw that annoying face swaying toward her. In no mood to deal with pleasantries, she kept her face cold.
Jason approached with a fake smile and asked in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, “I heard President Xiao strongly recommended Lu Yuezhi to save the day. I find it hard to believe, so I came to confirm it myself.”
Xiao Luyan kept her face cold. “What’s so unbelievable about it?”
Jason feigned surprise. “This is so unlike you, President Xiao!”
His exaggerated expression and deliberately raised volume easily drew attention from those nearby. But everyone knew these two presidents never got along, so they only dared to eavesdrop quietly, not openly taking sides.
“You think you know me that well?”
The disdain in Xiao Luyan’s tone irked Jason, and he said bluntly, “Pulling Lu Yuezhi into the project to save the day—isn’t that a miscalculation? Even an internationally renowned master couldn’t handle it, and you want her to? You’re not taking Deyounian’s reputation seriously, nor everyone’s sharp eyes.”
Cheng Yanran listened nearby, her heart pounding with fear one moment and anger the next.
Though she was surprised that her master had strongly recommended Lu Yuezhi, she couldn’t accept Jason slandering her master like this. His words implied that her master mixed public and private interests, willing to risk Deyounian just to boost Lu Yuezhi’s fame.
That was too big a hat to put on her!
But since Xiao Luyan hadn’t spoken up, if she jumped in publicly, it might cause even more misunderstandings about her master.
Compared to Jason’s indignation, Xiao Luyan was calm as a humanoid ice block.
Facing the barrage of accusations, she remained utterly indifferent. “You love fantasizing so much—you’d make a good self-media creator.”
With that, she brushed past him and left without a moment’s pause.
Cheng Yanran followed her into the office and saw Xiao Luyan standing by the window with her arms crossed, her shoulders rising and falling slightly.
She thought, Master is actually angry too—she just didn’t want to become street clowns with Jason.
“What do you think?” Xiao Luyan asked suddenly, her back still turned.
Cheng Yanran paused, a bit hesitant.
Xiao Luyan turned around. “You think I’m mixing public and private, doing this just to help Lu Yuezhi?”
Cheng Yanran shook her head repeatedly. “No, I don’t think that.”
She thought for a moment. “Master, I think it’s because you believe Lu Yuezhi has that kind of ability, so you suggested letting her try too. You know her better than we do, and you understand this project better than us, so your decision must make sense.”
Xiao Luyan curved her lips. “This much faith in me?”
“Of course!” Cheng Yanran frowned. “But bringing it up at a time like this will definitely make people suspicious. Sometimes, these things are hard to explain clearly.”
Xiao Luyan certainly knew the reasoning that even Cheng Yanran understood.
Not to mention a dead rival like Jason—even during the meeting earlier, she had seen similar doubts in many people’s eyes.
Given her relationship with Lu Yuezhi, it was indeed hard to completely clear herself of suspicion.
But because of that relationship, should they deprive Lu Yuezhi of the chance to show herself?
That wasn’t fair—it was too unfair to Lu Yuezhi.
“Those doubts in other people’s heads—I could explain all day and it wouldn’t change anything.” Xiao Luyan chuckled lightly. “I can’t just stop her from being a photographer because she married me, right?”
Seeing her tone, Cheng Yanran could tell she had already made her final decision after fully weighing the pros and cons.
She smiled too. “Then ignore them.”
The disgust Jason had stirred up in Xiao Luyan dissipated. After Cheng Yanran left, she immediately called Lu Yuezhi.
She thought Lu Yuezhi would be thrilled.
She decided to downplay the importance of saving the day—she didn’t want Lu Yuezhi bearing heavy pressure. If creation was too constrained, the results wouldn’t be good.
It was normal for Su Yiqui to feel pressure since she had signed the contract and taken the money, but Lu Yuezhi had no need.
She was just there to showcase herself; success or failure in saving the day wasn’t the main point.
Xiao Luyan took a deep breath and explained the matter clearly.
Unexpectedly, Lu Yuezhi’s tone was even steadier than hers, without the excitement and delight she had anticipated.
She even confirmed a few details, sounding very businesslike.
“At the latest, when do we start?”
Xiao Luyan suppressed her faint displeasure and disappointment. “This Friday.”
Lu Yuezhi glanced at her calendar—only three working days left.
When she first heard Xiao Luyan needed her help, Lu Yuezhi’s initial reaction was joy because she felt clearly “needed.” But soon she felt heartache: a project so valued by Xiao Luyan had reached the point of needing outside help, which showed how great the difficulties were.
Before the call, she had received an email from Trans saying something similar. She had wondered then if Xiao Luyan would ask her.
She hadn’t replied to Trans right away, wanting to wait for Xiao Luyan.
Sure enough, the call from Xiao Luyan came soon after. The answer went without saying—Lu Yuezhi was definitely willing to help, but she would appear as Lu Yuezhi, as the person recommended by Xiao Luyan.
Director He’s words from that night echoed in her ears. Lu Yuezhi silently calculated the process; with expedited handling, it should be in time.
Xiao Luyan didn’t know what she was calculating, but Lu Yuezhi’s silence lasted a bit longer than expected, leaving her puzzled and a little uneasy.
“Yuezhi, you don’t want to come?”
“No.” Lu Yuezhi said firmly. “How could I not want to?”
Xiao Luyan felt a little more at ease. “Then why were you quiet just now?”
Lu Yuezhi skipped the complicated backstory. “I was calculating the Cultural Heritage Bureau’s approval process time.”
Xiao Luyan hadn’t expected her to be thinking about that; her unease faded further. “You don’t need to worry about that. I’ll…”
“Luyan, I can handle it.” Lu Yuezhi reassured her. “You just focus on work. I’m pretty familiar with the Cultural Heritage Bureau side already.”
Lu Yuezhi now had an official collaboration with the Cultural Heritage Bureau. If she was just casually helping Xiao Luyan, that was fine. But joining the project meant she had to properly inform them.
Xiao Luyan hadn’t expected her to be so meticulous as to consider even this. It made her feel even more reassured that she had preemptively eliminated a potential issue.
Her irritated heart calmed considerably; she really felt Lu Yuezhi had shouldered a lot of pressure for her. “Then go ahead and handle it.”
The official contract signing with the project team was this Friday, but the internal competition with River was set for tomorrow. Xiao Luyan didn’t want to pressure her too much, but time was tight, so she could only apologize to Lu Yuezhi.
“Why are you apologizing to me?” Lu Yuezhi comforted her instead. “I should be thanking you for fighting for this opportunity for me.”
Trans’s email had made it very clear just how rare this opportunity was. Of course, it had also spelled out the pressure.
But Lu Yuezhi didn’t care about the pressure of saving the day; she just wanted to share the burden for Xiao Luyan.
She was a little annoyed that Xiao Luyan had shouldered it alone until now, but mostly she felt heartache.
Lu Yuezhi knew that tomorrow at Deyounian, only she would show up. But the doubts Xiao Luyan faced wouldn’t vanish because of that, so she had to use her skills to shut those people up.
“Luyan, I need to do some prep in the studio today. I’ll be back late.”
“I’m planning to work overtime too.” Xiao Luyan thought for a moment. “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”
Lu Yuezhi laughed. “I have no pressure.”
Xiao Luyan knew she said that, but couldn’t persuade her otherwise. Sure enough, when she got home that evening, Lu Yuezhi still wasn’t back. Tomorrow’s meeting was important, so Xiao Luyan didn’t dare slack off and didn’t wait in the living room.
The next day when she saw Lu Yuezhi, there were faint dark circles under her eyes, but her spirits were still good.
“You stayed up very late last night?”
Lu Yuezhi had brought two large bags today, both packed with her gear.
“It’s fine.” Lu Yuezhi pointed to her bags. “I’ll drive myself over.”
It really wasn’t suitable for them to show up at Deyounian together—that would only fuel more suspicions.
“I’ll wait for you at Deyounian.” Xiao Luyan left first.
She arrived at the company a bit earlier than usual and unexpectedly ran into Trans and Su Yiqui in the break room.
Xiao Luyan subconsciously glanced around—no unfamiliar faces. Had River not come with them?
As if reading her confusion, Su Yiqui smiled. “Today’s competition is canceled.”
“Canceled?” Xiao Luyan was stunned. How did she not know?
Trans smiled too. “River rejected my invitation. She said she had something more important.”
Though Xiao Luyan was surprised, she also breathed a sigh of relief. With River not coming, Lu Yuezhi was now the sole star today.
Thinking of those two heavy backpacks, she felt a bit heartbroken yet full of anticipation.
Su Yiqui half-jokingly said, “President Xiao looks very pleased.”
Xiao Luyan smoothed her lips and calmly replied, “I’m sorry to see River’s decision, but I believe Lu Yuezhi’s performance today won’t disappoint you.”
Trans didn’t say much, just sighed, “No matter the choice, as long as you stick to what your heart wants, there are no regrets.”
Xiao Luyan felt like Trans wasn’t angry or upset about River backing out—in fact, he seemed supportive?
But he had been so insistent when recommending her yesterday. Wasn’t this contrast a bit big?
This River was pretty strange too. If she was really from Sea City, she should know full well the weight of this project. To give it up so easily—did she really plan to develop long-term in this field?
She hadn’t expected someone even less invested than Lu Yuezhi appeared. By comparison, Lu Yuezhi actually had the upper hand.
Her lips nearly curved again, but fortunately, Lu Yuezhi called at that moment.
Xiao Luyan steadied herself, exchanged a few simple words with Trans and Su Yiqui, then had Cheng Yanran go pick up Lu Yuezhi.
She needed to head to the conference room first to take charge. Even though everyone knew about their relationship, that made it all the more important to keep public and private separate.
Cheng Yanran even brought two other colleagues to help, since Xiao Luyan had said Lu Yuezhi’s bags were heavy.
Unexpectedly, Lu Yuezhi wouldn’t let go of them. Cheng Yanran could only brief her more on the project details on the way.
Carrying the two heavy backpacks, Lu Yuezhi was led into the conference room.
