Chapter 27

Chapter 27

At the meeting, Nan Shuyi’s mind wandered for quite a while. When he snapped out of it, his gaze locked onto Jin Huanxin.

As things stood now, Nanyuan was no longer under his control—he didn’t have the final say. Nan Anru wouldn’t agree to let him fire Jin Huanxin immediately either. If it were up to him, this man would have packed his things and left today. He shot several cold glances at Jin Huanxin.

At that moment, Jin Huanxin noticed the Young Master suddenly appearing in the meeting room. Combined with being summoned by Assistant An at noon, he ran the meeting nervously.

Jin Huanxin had been called upstairs by Assistant An at noon for a chat. The new marketing plan had passed his approval, but it hadn’t passed Chairman An’s, and had been sent back.

Jin Huanxin directly asked Assistant An, “Assistant An, I’ve discussed it with Manager Liang from the product department. They think this product packaging is feasible. Why didn’t it pass? Was it over budget?”

Assistant An had dealt with Jin Huanxin before, even had work interactions with him, but couldn’t understand why he was being so dense this time.

Seeing that Jin Huanxin was completely disregarding the original author of the plan, he reminded him again, “Why don’t you think about it again?”

Assistant An thought to himself, I’ve spelled it out for him, surely he can figure it out. He remembered Jin Huanxin wasn’t usually this clueless.

Jin Huanxin really hadn’t considered that angle. “Could you give me another hint? I really can’t figure it out.”

Assistant An turned his laptop screen toward him: “I have a better plan here, Manager Jin. Would you like to reconsider this one?”

Normally, after he’d already dropped two hints about Jiang Yicen, how could Jin Huanxin still commit such a blunder? Not only did he do it, but he got caught. He knew whose plan this was, yet he dared to appropriate it for someone else. The plan’s author didn’t even get a mention. That was like burning the bridge after crossing it—or worse, straight-up theft.

Jin Huanxin saw the familiar plan name and author, identical to the one Jiang Yicen had sent him.

His heart raced: “You… how did you get this plan? Is it from Jiang…”

Assistant An cut him off, thinking to himself how petty Jin Huanxin was. He stated clearly, “No, someone else found it. Jiang Yicen didn’t mention it to anyone. Don’t put that on him. It’s just that he had shown this plan to someone before sending it to you.”

Jin Huanxin ran through the names in his head of several higher-ups and board members. Who exactly was this Jiang Yicen? He couldn’t find any corresponding supervisor or director. If only he had known Jiang had such connections, he would have thought twice. But why didn’t Jiang Yicen make it clear from the start?

His heart sank: “I… this… what should I do?”

Assistant An’s expression was flat: “Manager Jin, your eye for talent hasn’t been great these past two years. If it were me, I’d prefer the original plan over that second patchwork piece. You can’t dismiss someone’s effort just because they’re young and inexperienced. Give the younger generation a chance.”

Jin Huanxin started panicking: “Sorry.”

Assistant An: “Apologizing to me is useless.”

He could only silently tell him to watch his back. It was clear that Jin had been pushing newbies around—of all people, he had to bully the Young Master.

The marketing department’s proposals had been getting worse and worse. No wonder someone had wanted to replace him for a while.

Jin Huanxin was flustered all noon, and during the afternoon meeting, he was distracted. When he saw Nan Shuyi voluntarily attending the meeting, his panic intensified. He didn’t dare ask what this meant. If anyone else had suddenly showed up, he could have asked higher-ups. But with Nan Shuyi present, asking anyone was useless.

Similarly, Jiang Yicen was also puzzled by Nan Shuyi’s arrival.

He wasn’t in the habit of using his phone to send messages during meetings, so he just sat next to Nan Shuyi and focused on the meeting.

Jin Huanxin knew Assistant An was there for work, but who Nan Shuyi represented was unclear. After Assistant An’s hint, he immediately changed his earlier decision and decided to bring Jiang Yicen’s plan up for discussion in the meeting.

When Jiang Yicen saw his own plan displayed on the projector, he found Jin Huanxin rather funny—a classic kill-two-birds-with-one-stone move.

First, he was bowing to higher-ups. Second, since he couldn’t make the decision himself, let everyone decide—whether to adopt it or not was out of his hands. This way, he could salvage his mistake by shifting the problem back to the plan’s creator.

“Here is our newcomer Jiang Yicen’s marketing plan. Yicen, please explain the key points of this marketing push. All departments can discuss any needed changes.”

Jiang Yicen hadn’t expected this move. For an inexperienced employee, this would have been putting them on the spot.

But Jin Huanxin had picked the wrong person to mess with this time. Jiang Yicen was very confident in presenting his own plan.

Nan Shuyi shot a glance at Jin Huanxin, then watched as Jiang Yicen walked to the screen and explained the marketing strategy slide by slide on the PPT. He spoke eloquently, confident and composed, not like a fresh grad at all.

Deputy Zhang from the Brand Promotion Department asked Jiang Yicen, “Why cancel the celebrity endorsement? Fangyan Cheng has been collaborating with us for five years. Abruptly dropping him would lose us part of our customer base.”

Celebrity endorsements had always been a major expense in marketing, and also a key tactic to attract customers.

It was indeed a concern, and Jiang Yicen had discussed it with Nan Shuyi.

Jiang Yicen: “This candy is actually not suitable for a celebrity endorsement. The male star is already older, has nothing to do with our target customer group. I looked into his commercial activities over the past two years—they’re minimal. He has almost no influence left. Recently, there was also negative news about him. Although it was suppressed, the company should still flag him as a risk.”

Nan Shuyi was surprised (in a good way). When he had talked with Jiang Yicen earlier, the matter of the male star hadn’t come up, but he agreed with canceling the candy’s celebrity endorsement.

Deputy Zhang frowned: “But he’s been with us for years. Many old customers recognize our brand by seeing his face.”

Jiang Yicen found a slide showing recent candy sales figures: “Sales have been declining year by year. This star clearly has no influence. Whether customers recognize our brand through him, or if he rides on our brand's coattails, is debatable.”

Deputy Zhang: “If we don’t have an endorsement, can you promise candy sales will increase?”

Nan Shuyi flat out mocked: “Can’t you read the data? Sales are dropping year after year. If you ask me, this star should have been replaced long ago. What's wrong with your marketing department? You can’t even see such obvious data comparisons. If you can't do it, we'll find someone who can.”

Jin Huanxin was scolded directly and turned pale, but he didn’t dare say a peep.

Assistant An jumped in to break the tension: “I also agree to drop this endorsement.”

Nan Shuyi might be speaking his own opinion, but Assistant An definitely represented Chairman An’s will. Deputy Zhang dropped the issue. It was clear to everyone that since the boss's son was pissed, Jin Huanxin must have done something.

Jiang Yicen’s plan was innovative. Everyone present knew after hearing it that the marketing plan was feasible. The plan Jin Huanxin had submitted earlier nobody brought up again—it had obviously been shot down by upper management.

The only one still shocked was Tan Ping. He had thought he would be the one to present the new plan. But if he had to go up and face so many bosses nitpicking, he probably couldn’t have remained as calm as Jiang Yicen. However, after the plan was approved, he felt nothing but jealousy. This should have been his chance to shine, but Jiang Yicen had snatched it.

This time, the plan was finalized. Still, some details needed revision. Jiang Yicen hadn’t managed to note down all the responses to everyone’s questions, but Nan Shuyi had already scribbled down the details on Jiang Yicen’s brand-new original computer.

How so old-school—the screensaver hadn’t even been changed. A new computer used like a grandpa's computer, without a single game installed, and the password was still the factory default 123456.

Tsk, he must have left it like that on purpose.

Everyone else saw Nan Shuyi using Jiang Yicen’s computer and just assumed the young master always acted entitled. They didn’t think deeply about their relationship. Only Assistant An, the chairman's spy, took a second look. Later, he’d have something to report back.

After the meeting, everyone left the conference room. Jiang Yicen didn’t leave immediately; Nan Shuyi was blocking the door.

Jiang Yicen, seeing everyone gone, asked him, “Don’t you have to go back to that company today?”

Nan Shuyi finally told him: “My dad wants me to study at headquarters for a while.”

Jiang Yicen recalled that before their marriage, Nan Shuyi had been studying under Nan Anru.

“Can you handle the schedule?” He remembered those two companies also needed him.

Nan Shuyi: “No problem. I’ll just travel back and forth. When I have time, I’ll come here to learn.”

A flicker of joy passed through Jiang Yicen’s eyes: “Does that mean we can go to work and leave together?”

Nan Shuyi nodded: “Yeah, you’ll have a free ride from now on.”

“I already had a free ride.” Jiang Yicen glanced outside. He wasn’t ready to reveal his identity yet, and he figured Nan Shuyi wouldn’t want that either—after all, he seemed against the marriage from the start. Better to keep it hidden for now.

But what if someone finds out about us?

Nan Shuyi's mood sank instantly: "Don't worry, I won't put you in a difficult position. No one will know about us."

Jiang Yicen could tell at a glance that he seemed unhappy, maybe because of something he'd said.

"Thanks for today, Shuyi."

Nan Shuyi's mood gradually lifted: "I just can't stand people who throw their weight around. They're playing with the company's interests."

Actually, he knew that Jin Huanxin had been in frequent contact with that celebrity's agent, accepting a ton of gifts every year.

After this, the higher-ups would probably cut back his authority. Best case scenario, he gets transferred; worst case, he gets fired.

As for the proposal, he just needed to keep following up; subsequent coordination with several departments would be handled by others after he submitted it.

He didn't refuse the new task Jin Huanxin assigned him, and the deadline was still loose.

After that, Jiang Yicen had proven himself in Marketing, and internally, people began speculating about which prominent family he belonged to.

Only Tan Ping complained to colleagues in private, saying it was all because of his connections.

Jiajia overheard this and quietly told Jiang Yicen, but Jiang Yicen didn't give a damn. Who he was wasn't important; what mattered was that the proposal was approved. It's just work rivalry; all that matters is the end result.

What worried him more now was the upcoming trip with Nan Shuyi to see Liu Tan.

Before they knew it, Saturday rolled around.

Nan Shuyi had been extremely busy recently, sometimes staying overnight at his own company. However, whenever he didn't come back, he would let Jiang Yicen know. They chatted more often on WeChat, at least texting "goodnight" every night before sleeping.

Jiang Yicen got up early. The housekeeper had made breakfast. He guessed Nan Shuyi had stayed up late again, so he asked the housekeeper to pack the breakfast into a takeout container.

The driver dropped Jiang Yicen off at Nan Shuyi's apartment building.

Since the apartment had to be near the business district, they could only choose a high-end one. There were no other standalone buildings nearby, so Nan Shuyi just made do.

It would just be the two of them today. Nan Shuyi didn't plan to bring a driver; he decided to take Jiang Yicen to Ningzhou.

Last night, Jiang Yicen had made a small request to him.

Nan Shuyi got in the car and spent some time eating breakfast. He wasn't the type to act all high and mighty; he would eat whatever Jiang Yicen prepared for him.

Still, his taste buds could tell the difference.

"The porridge today is really tasty and aromatic, not what the housekeeper usually makes."

Jiang Yicen: "I had the housekeeper add some dried scallops to it. Isn't it more flavorful now?"

Nan Shuyi: "Mm, it has a seafood flavor but no fishiness. I've never had this at any other place."

Jiang Yicen smiled faintly and said, "It's a secret recipe. You won't find it anywhere else."

This porridge dish used to be very popular at Yongjiang Restaurant, but now you probably can't get it anywhere.

Nan Shuyi was a bit puzzled: "The Jiang family doesn't run a catering company. How do you know so many recipes? Did you meet an old chef in the US?"

Jiang Yicen thought for a moment, figuring out how to answer Nan Shuyi: "I do know an old master, but it has nothing to do with the US. He's also a long-time family chef of the Jiangs." But not for the current Jiang family.

As they were talking, the driver announced.

"Young master, Master Jiang, we're here at the high-speed rail station entrance."

Jiang Yicen's eyes lit up with excitement as he looked out the car window.

That's right, he had made a small request to Nan Shuyi yesterday: he wanted to take the bullet train to Ningzhou.

He often heard about high-speed rail in the news and coworkers talking about grabbing bullet train tickets for trips. So he also wanted to give it a try.

Nan Shuyi looked at his excited expression and sometimes really felt he was like a little old man, or like a child who had just arrived in a city, finding everything novel. Perhaps he had left the country too early and hadn't taken the bullet train much. Seeing his excited expression—so lively and cute—it was no big deal to go with him on a crowded train ride.

The two got out of the car. At the entrance of the high-speed rail station on a weekend, it was packed with people.

Jiang Yicen clutched his ID card in his hand, a bit at a loss.

Seeing this, Nan Shuyi grabbed his wrist and said, "Follow me."