"That… I'm not sure," Yang Yunshu said reluctantly. "It should still be some time."

"Is it?" Jiang Yuan's expression darkened. His discontent was evident.

"Mister Jiang, all my colleagues here are very professional too. It doesn't matter who takes the project. Why don't I introduce some colleagues to help you instead?" Yang Yunshu suggested with a smile.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Yuan raised an eyebrow and asked, "Are you the person in charge here?"

His question made Yang Yunshu extremely awkward.

Her lips twitched and her smile stiffened. "No."

"Mister Jiang, can I help you?" Manager Xu walked out of her office and asked Jiang Yuan, shooting a cold glance at Yang Yunshu.

"Manager Xu." Jiang Yuan was much more courteous with Manager Xu—he even put on a pleasurable smile.

Jiang Yuan nodded at Manager Xu and revealed, "I'm here to see Miss Ruan, but I heard that she's on leave?"

Naturally, Manager Xu would not disclose an internal scandal to an outsider. He only told simply, "Yes, she is. May I ask what do you need?"

"Well, do you remember when our general manager came to discuss some work with Miss Ruan? The thing is, we have a case we want Miss Ruan to work on. Our general manager was very satisfied with the design proposals that Miss Ruan sent to us previously, so he sent me here today to discuss the matter with Miss Ruan and if possible, sign a contract with her," Jiang Yuan explained. He noticed that beside him, Yang Yunshu's expression darkened.

She tried her best to maintain her smile, but alas, her smile turned crooked.

The moment Manager Xu heard his explanation, he knew that he could not decline this offer. After all, it was Qi Chenglin's business, so it must be big. Manager Xu inquired, "Must it be Ruan Danchen? We have many colleagues in the design department who are also very professional. I can even offer to handle this case personally."

"That'd be too much of a hassle," Jiang Yuan expressed, sighing. "If we use a different person, we'll have to fix up another plan. Who knows how much time will be wasted there? Our general manager is very meticulous when it comes to efficiency—he'd never allow time to be wasted. Miss Ruan is just on leave. Manager Mu, can you find a way to ask Miss Ruan to come back in? We've already discussed the remuneration but since we're causing some inconvenience by asking Miss Ruan to come back from leave, we're willing to increase the remuneration. Our general manager is an understanding and reasonable man after all."

"That…" Manager Xu was awfully distressed. "I'll have to bring this up to Director Zhao first. Mister Jiang, please hold on."

Jiang Yuan nodded. Manager Xu returned to his office and made a call to Director Zhao.

Jiang Yuan went ahead and sat on Ruan Danchen's seat. Although the desk was now empty, it was still the desk of the general manager's wife. Jiang Yuan sat there and judged it silently.

After a while, Manager Xu rushed out of the office again. "Mister Jiang, Director Zhao is heading over right now."

Jiang Yuan nodded. Barely a few minutes later, Director Zhao waddled in with his protruding belly.

Jiang Yuan stood up politely and greeted, "Director Zhao."

In reality, Jiang Yuan's position was much higher than Director Zhao's.

Director Zhao might have a company, but the scale was largely different, so needless to say he could not compete with Jiang Yuan.

In Qilin, Jiang Yuan's rank was considered higher than that of a manager—he was almost on par with the deputy general manager. When put in front of a man with such a high position, Director Qi could only nod and smile.

"Mister Jiang, please sit down." Director Zhao pointed at the chair Jiang Yuan was sitting on just now. Only when Jiang Yuan sat down did Director Zhao brought Song Yu's chair over and sat down too.

"Mister Jiang, Manager Xu told me that you're here because General Manager Qi has a project for us. Is that true?" Director Zhao asked. Although he was grinning from ear to ear, his heart was racing anxiously.

Jiang Yuan nodded. "Director Zhao, you know that Qilin has recently started a new property development in the north of the city, right?"

"That's right, that's right." Director Zhao nodded intensely. "I hear that the competition there is fierce."

"It is." Jiang Yuan nodded in agreement. "Previously, our general manager was introduced to Beicheng by our Director's wife, Mrs. Qi. She revealed that Miss Ruan is an exceptionally professional designer. She explained that Miss Ruan's name isn't well-known due to her lack of formal qualifications for the industry, but in truth, her skills are no less than a famous designer's. That's why our general director came here personally to have a discussion with Miss Ruan. He wanted to see if Miss Ruan's ability is as outstanding as Mrs. Qi described; if so, he plans to let Miss Ruan handle the design of every single house in our new development."

"Director Zhao, you must've known that this new development is on a massive scale. Every house there are equally luxurious and will be sold fully furnished. Our vision is to let the owners be able to move in with just a suitcase. As a result, there's a need for numerous sets of designs to be made. It's an enormous project and is of great importance to our general manager."

The more Director Zhao listened, the more blanched his face became. His heart ached and his stomach twisted.

"Miss Ruan treasures this opportunity deeply. Up till now, she had presented us with plenty of design proposals," Jiang Yuan continued, maintaining a faint but genuine smile. "When it comes to Miss Ruan's sincerity and dedication, and of course, her design proposals, our general manager is extraordinarily satisfied. Thus, he wants to appoint Miss Ruan for this project."

"That…" Director Zhao uttered troubledly. "I think Xiao Ruan has gone on vacation during her leave. She's not in town."

"In that case, we won't be so tenacious. I'll head back and report to the general manager and we'll switch to another company," Jiang Yuan announced calmly. "Sorry for disturbing."

Having said that, Jian Yuan stood up, ready to leave.

"Mister Jiang, please wait. We can talk over this again." Director Zhao hastily stopped Jiang Yuan. He was unwilling to let go of this dazzling business opportunity. "Didn't you say that General Manager Qi disliked wasting time on matters like this? If you were to switch companies, you'll need to find a new designer and go through new proposals. It'd be the same as using other designers from our company, so why don't you give us a chance?"

Hearing this, Yang Yunshu stood straight with her chest puffed—evidently, she yearned for the position.

"Well, the thing is," Jiang Yuan explained patiently with a smile, "Miss Ruan isn't the only person we reached out to. Naturally, we made comparisons with many other companies. It's just that we never advertised this position publically. Miss Ruan is our first choice. Of course, there are other companies with good proposals too. Since Miss Ruan isn't here, we'll just move on to our second choice. We won't be wasting any time at all."

Director Zhao was frightfully alarmed. His body perspired wildly. How could he let the big fat duck right in front of his mouth just fly free?

In spite of that, he was unwilling to call Ruan Danchen. Although his words were not absolute, it did not change the fact that he had wronged Ruan Danchen. Unlike his wife, he did not believe that Ruan Danchen would do anything like that with a client just for an order. Nonetheless, he took it as a chance to force Ruan Danchen into quitting the job without enraging Song Yu.

The company could not afford to keep someone who contributed nothing to the company anymore. Besides, Ruan Danchen did not have any direct relations with the Qi family. If this went on, not only would the company experience losses, her colleagues would start talking too. Just like Yang Yunshu, who could not stand seeing her misusing her relations.

Director Zhao remembered the incident with Song Yu like it was yesterday. Back then, he had to lower his voice and humble himself to get her back. He truly did not want to plead with Ruan Danchen as he did with Song Yu, giving her the opportunity to take advantage of his desperateness.

He then wondered, 'What is up with the men in the Qi family? Why do all of them have to wait until someone left in anger, only to then come and ask for those employees? Why can't they just come earlier?'

"Mister Jiang, didn't you say that General Manager Qi is extremely satisfied with Ruan Danchen's design proposals? Then why should you settle for anything less? Since the proposals already exist, it won't make a difference no matter who implements it. If there's anything you're unsatisfied with, our designers can make changes accordingly," Director Zhao proposed smilingly.

However, Manager Xu's expression shifted abruptly. Immediately after, Jiang Yuan, who had kept a genial smile on the entire time, darkened his expression too.

"Director Zhao, how can you utter something so unprofessional!" Jiang Yuan's gaze was stern and his expression was terrifyingly cold. "Don't you know that plagiarism is a huge taboo in your industry? If you let another designer use Miss Ruan's designs, in the end, who's name should be credited? Who's design would it be? If credit falls on the designer who implements it, how is that any different from plagiarism?"

Director Zhao broke out in cold sweat. He was indeed planning on crediting it to others. He was terribly anxious—he could not even think about wiping his sweat.

Jiang Yuan continued coldly, "If Chengshi is full of such unprofessional behavior, I'm thankful that Miss Ruan isn't here and our collaboration didn't succeed."

With a frigid expression, he walked past Director Zhao and strode toward the door.

Director Zhao hastily grabbed onto him. "Mister Jiang, please don't be mad. It's my mistake. After all, you're bringing in such an enormous business opportunity. I was so anxious to grasp this opportunity that I let my words slip out without thinking."

Jiang Yuan pouted coldly. He mocked, "If Director Zhao makes mistakes out of nervousness so easily, I think it'd be troublesome to work with Chengshi."

Director Zhao was so humiliated that his face turned into the color of pig's liver—he did not dare to refute.

"I recall that something like this had happened in Chengzhi before. If I'm not wrong, it happened to Mrs. Qi. At first, we've agreed to hire Mrs. Qi, yet the agreement was signed by another woman from your company. Now, Director Zhao, you're suggesting the same thing again. Could this be Chengshi's tradition?" Jiang Yuan scorned, not leaving a shred of dignity for Director Zhao.

Director Zhao's heart was consumed with rage, yet he did not dare to show it—he kept smiling. "No, no. This is all a misunderstanding."

Jiang Yuan grimaced coldly. In a firm tone of voice, he pointed out, "Let's not talk about that first. Even if proposals are lifeless, the designer isn't. I say that our general manager is content with Miss Ruan's proposal, but in truth, doesn't that mean that he's pleased with Miss Ruan's talent? Later on, no matter what requests our general manager has, Miss Ruan will be able to fulfill it. Can the others do the same?"

His words made Yang Yunshu extremely dissatisfied. Jiang Yuan's every word was putting Ruan Danchen on a pedestal as if nothing can be done without Ruan Danchen; as though no one else was worthy of being a designer besides Ruan Danchen.

As Yang Yunshu listened, her heart drowned in hatred and disgust. 'It can't be that Ruan Danchen has some secret relationship with Jiang Yuan, right?!' she thought.

"Mister Jiang, please don't be mad," Director Qi pleaded, still smiling. "Why don't I give Xiao Ruan a call and find out where she is? Her leave only started not long ago—perhaps she's still in B City. If she's still here, I'll ask her to come back instantly. How's that?"

Jiang Yuan chuckled mockingly in his mind. Director Zhao still did not know where Ruan Danchen was?

She was in their general manager's home!

…

…

In Prestige Residences, Ruan Danchen was sitting idle. She sat in the living room, eating fruits and scrolling through a recruitment site, seeing if there were any positions suitable for her.

She knew that she could not stay at Chengshi much longer. Even if she was called back, she would not want to stay there anymore.

Despite that, it was not easy to find a suitable job at that time. As she was scrolling through, her phone rang.

She picked up her phone and to her surprise, saw that it was a call from Qi Chengyue.

Ruan Danchen answered the phone. "Chengyue?"

"Danchen, Song Yu told me that you're being bullied in Chengshi," Qi Chengyue said, jumping straight to the point.

"It's nothing," Ruan Danchen replied, smiling.

"Here's the thing—I just received news that Qilin's design department is coincidentally looking to recruit new designers. Are you interested to give it a try?" Qi Chengyue asked through the phone.

Of course, she was interested. She hastily replied, "Yes, I'd love to try. Of course, you can't tell Chenglin."

"Why not?" Qi Chengyue glanced at Qi Chenglin who was sitting right in front of her. He was the one who instructed her to make this call.

Seeing Qi Chenglin raising his eyebrows, Qi Chengyue might as well put her on speakerphone to let Qi Chenglin listen in.

Raun Danchen explained, "If he knew about this, he'd definitely let me in through a backdoor. No matter what, I can't let others in the company look down on me, thinking that I don't have what it takes and can only rely on him to get in. Moreover, I don't want anyone to be discontent with Chenglin due to this. It'll hinder his work in the future. Additionally, if others know about my identity, they'd inevitably approach me for all kinds of reasons—be it thinking I came in through a backdoor or fawning over me. I'm terribly afraid of these things happening in the office."

Qi Chengyue glimpsed at Qi Chenglin. Seeing him nod, she said, "Okay. Nonetheless, since we have the resource, it's a waste to not utilize it, right? There's no need for my brother to jump in—I'll help you. I'll ask for an exam paper from human resources and find out some interview questions from the examiner. I'll hand them to you so you can prepare at home and increase your chance of succeeding."

Ruan Danchen did not reject Qi Chengyue's proposal. Why would she give up on a chance to make proper preparations? It could even boost her confidence.

Besides, the others who were applying could have a backdoor too. If Qi Chengyue could tell her, that could mean that others in the higher levels, or even ordinary employees, could reveal these things to their friends and relatives.

Ruan Danchen merely did not want others to think she misused her relations with Qi Chenglin, causing him trouble later on. Nevertheless, she was still open to adapt in different ways.

"Alright then, just wait for my message. I think I'll be able to collect all those by this evening. I'll email it to you," Qi Chengyue told her.

"Chengyue, thank you so much," Ruan Danchen thanked sincerely. She was overjoyed.

"We're a family—what are you being so polite about?" Qi Chengyue commented cheerfully. They talked about their lives recently, although they had just seen each other on Saturday, and eventually hung up.

Qi Chengyue glared at Qi Chenglin teasingly. "Brother, why do you use such roundabout ways to pamper your wife?"

"She'll only be happy if she passes with her own abilities," Qi Chenglin stated coolly.

"Can you keep this a secret forever? Aren't you afraid that she'll be mad when she finds out?" Qi Chengyue asked laughingly. She was gloating over this situation.

"She'll only be mad for a while. She doesn't have the heart to stay mad at me." Whenever Qi Chenglin mentioned Ruan Danchen, his expression would soften and his gaze would become warm and tender. Even his voice was gentle. "Besides, she's a capable woman—she can still win her way into Qilin even on her own."

Qi Chengyue was rendered speechless. In front of her, Qi Chenglin had already appeared so gentle when talking about Ruan Danchen. If he was actually in front of Ruan Danchen, Qi Chengyue could not imagine how cloying he would become.

"Both you and Big Brother really pamper your wives at an out-of-the-world level. Let's not talk about Big Brother. I can't believe you made the design department make space for another designer just for Danchen. What if she doesn't succeed?" Qi Chengyue rested her chin in her hands. It was a rare occasion that Qi Chenglin was in the office. She was idle anyway, so she stuck around to chat with him.

_________________________

Extra mini-scene:

At night, Qi Chenglin and Qi Youxuan were bathing together. Qi Youxuan saw the scratch marks on Qi Chenglin's back. "Dad, who scratched your back?"

Qi Chenglin glimpsed at him, then replied coolly, "A cat."

Qi Youxuan then asked, "Since when do we have a cat at home?"

"I was attacked by a stray," came Qi Chenglin's reply.