Chapter 35

Chapter 35

That's easy to guess.

Jiang Yicen hadn't forgotten the fleeting physiological reaction he'd glimpsed on Nan Shuyi that morning.

Nan Shuyi wouldn't normally go for a run late at night; at most, he would use the treadmill. With the temperature dropping last night, it was possible for him to catch a cold if he sweated and then got chilled by the wind. Running at home wouldn't have caused that.

The weather was warming up, and the home heating had been turned off half a month ago. There was no doubt Nan Shuyi had a strong physique, but if he took a cold shower after a run and didn't cover himself properly while sleeping, even an iron body couldn't withstand it.

Nan Shuyi found losing control of his body too embarrassing, so he insisted, "I just had insomnia because of something."

As soon as he finished speaking, he sneezed again.

Rather than getting to the bottom of it, Jiang Yicen was more concerned about his health: "What should we do? If there's a pharmacy nearby, we can buy some on the way back." At least it wasn't serious yet, and it might still be preventable.

Nan Shuyi didn't think he would get sick: "What could happen to me?"

A colleague noticed Nan Shuyi sneezing and also started to show concern.

"Young Master Nan, did you catch a cold or is it allergies?"

Nan Shuyi: "Maybe it's just pollen allergies now that spring has arrived."

Everyone's conversation shifted to which parks in spring had flowers like tulips, cherry blossoms, and rapeseed blossoms.

Jiang Yicen didn't join their discussion; only he knew Nan Shuyi wasn't allergic to pollen at all.

After lunch, everyone returned to the company, rested for a bit, and started working again.

Nan Shuyi went to the break room to discuss the Cuizhu Restaurant matter with Liu Dan.

Liu Dan had visited Cuizhu Restaurant today and offered several suggestions for kitchen renovations. He also needed to verify the recipes developed by the Liu family ancestors that Jiang Yicen had given him. Additionally, Jiang Yicen had provided an extra Cantonese cuisine recipe from the Republic of China era.

Liu Dan's idea of using purely original cooking methods coincided with Jiang Yicen's, and Nan Shuyi ended up being the executor. On the phone, Liu Dan criticized the chaotic management of the original kitchen, the lack of effort from the assistants, and the need to improve hygiene.

Nan Shuyi listened to Liu Dan rambling on until his head ached; he wanted to sneeze but couldn't. After enduring half an hour, he finally freed his ears, bought a bottle of water from a vending machine, and returned to the office area.

He put down his phone but didn't see Jiang Yicen, so he asked the girl sitting next to him: "Where's Jiang Yicen?"

Jiajia was still savoring the Thai food from lunch: "I didn't notice. I don't know where he went after we got back."

Nan Shuyi didn't ask further; he was about to send him a message, but then thought since they were both in the company, he wouldn't get lost, so he put the phone down, not wanting to seem like he couldn't be apart from Jiang Yicen.

Just when Nan Shuyi was being hypocritical in his mind for who knows how many times, Jiang Yicen walked into the break room carrying a bag and came back holding a cup of prepared Chinese patent medicine cold granules.

He placed the new cup in front of Nan Shuyi: "President Nan, I bought it for you."

Nan Shuyi enjoyed all kinds of exciting and high-risk sports and liked to keep fit. He worked so hard precisely because he disliked taking medicine—whether Western pills or Chinese herbal decoctions, he didn't want to ingest any of them. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to deny to Jiang Yicen that he had a cold.

He had an ominous premonition about the cup Jiang Yicen had handed him.

But Jiang Yicen didn't know that; even if he did, he would still insist on persuading Nan Shuyi to take the medicine.

The colleagues nearby pricked up their ears, but Jiang Yicen didn't explain much.

Nan Shuyi regretted his decision that morning. If he had known, he would have taken over Jin Huanxin's office. But since he couldn't publicly reveal Jiang Yicen's identity for now, he could only stare at that dark, murky liquid and pretend not to see it.

Nan Shuyi held the cup and said, "Thanks," while his brows started to furrow slightly.

Jiang Yicen noticed his resistance: "I just brought it for you while I was at it."

When Jin Huanxin came out of his office looking for Nan Shuyi, he saw Jiang Yicen fawning over Nan Shuyi. He thought: Wasn't he pretty tough before? How come he's now currying favor with the young master of Nanyuan? No longer tough?

Nan Shuyi leaned back in his chair and looked up at Jiang Yicen standing, finding it quite interesting. In his memory, most images of Jiang Yicen were of him sitting. This angle was novel. But then Jin Huanxin's long, thin face appeared, making him feel like the surrounding air had been polluted.

"I'll drink it. You sit down." Nan Shuyi thought Jiang Yicen should stay away from Jin Huanxin.

Jin Huanxin thought Nan Shuyi didn't like Jiang Yicen, since he was sending him back to his seat.

He wondered what Jiang Yicen had poured for that young master Nan. A cup of black, hot coffee?

He had also followed Nan Shuyi and had seen him complain on social media that he never drank hot coffee. It seemed there were different tiers among the rich young masters. Nan Shuyi didn't even take a sip of the coffee and visibly pursed his lips.

Jin Huanxin snickered inwardly, thinking Jiang Yicen had probably flattered the wrong person.

Nan Shuyi didn't look happy to see Jin Huanxin: "Is there something?"

Jin Huanxin's good mood immediately dropped: "President Nan, do you have a moment? I'd like to go over the marketing department's work plan for next quarter with you."

He thought resentfully: He had worked for Nanyuan for seven years. When he joined, Nan Shuyi had just graduated from college, still a greenhorn. Now he, who had contributed a lot to Nanyuan, had to hold his nose and report to this playboy—it was completely upside down.

Nan Shuyi nodded and glanced at the cold granules beside him: "Oh, okay."

He stood up, ready to slip away, but was stopped by Jiang Yicen: "Mr. Nan."

Nan Shuyi froze: "..." He found Jiang Yicen smiling at him, so he had to turn around and take the cold granules with him. If it weren't still a bit hot, he would have pinched his nose and downed it in one go.

He really didn't want to take medicine, but since Jiang Yicen had called him "Mr.," he would reluctantly take a sip.

Jin Huanxin watched Nan Shuyi walk into the office with that cup of "hot Americano," his face showing nothing but resistance.

He pointed to the trash can nearby: "President Nan, if you don't want to drink it, you can pour it here."

He thought Nan Shuyi was quite nice; he didn't pour out the coffee Jiang Yicen had brought him in front of him, probably still concerned about the person behind Jiang Yicen.

Nan Shuyi completely ignored the script: "Who told you I was going to pour it out?"

Jin Huanxin: "..."

Nan Shuyi didn't want to discuss his personal matters with him: "Weren't we going to talk about the marketing department plan for next quarter?"

After the incident where his new hire's proposal was replaced, Jin Huanxin knew that the higher-ups had their eye on him and directly sent Nan Shuyi to supervise the marketing department. Jin Huanxin dared not say anything; it was his own carelessness that gave others leverage. Who would have thought Jiang Yicen's backing was so strong? He figured that marketing proposal wasn't written by Jiang Yicen either.

Jin Huanxin thought to himself: Jiang Yicen was still someone who got in through connections, and as for Nan Shuyi, he really didn't dare to have any objections, unless he made a shitty decision.

Nan Shuyi: "Then why didn't you just send it to me directly?"

Jin Huanxin: "There are too many people outside. This quarter's plan is still in the confidential stage, and some new products can't be disclosed yet."

Nan Shuyi took a sip of the granules. It was surprisingly sweet, even a bit too sweet, but much better than bitter Chinese medicine. It was like drinking sugar water. He wondered where Jiang Yicen had bought it. However, he liked to tough it out when sick and rarely took medicine; it had been many years since he last had granules.

After hearing Jin Huanxin's words, he looked at him with a half-smile, implying: are you guarding against Jiang Yicen?

Nan Shuyi took a few more sips of the granules, finishing them while reading the proposal Jin Huanxin had written.

Only by using Xiao Liuzi's prepared granules could he get through Jin Huanxin's unoriginal and boring quarterly plan. Marketing needed innovation, and Jin Huanxin had no innovative thinking left.

"General Jin, your plan is as good as not written. Rewrite it again. No need to send this one to me." Nan Shuyi didn't even want to look at it again.

Jin Huanxin asked with forced patience, "What's wrong with it?" He hadn't even finished listening before jumping to a conclusion. Young Master indeed—if it weren't for having a good father, he wouldn't be standing here talking to him.

Nan Shuyi: "An AI could write an identical work plan. You wrote this plan yourself, right?"

Jin Huanxin went pale and red at the mockery. "Of course."

Nan Shuyi didn't let him off. "Redo it, please, General Manager Jin. This market plan affects the entire company. Your work plans haven't changed a bit each quarter. Anyone would think you copied last year's plan."

Stung by the sarcasm and insults, Jin Huanxin shot back, "But this is the current state of Nanyuan! Every year, I submit my plans to Chairman Nan, and he approves them. Master Nan, you can't just waltz in here and dismiss everything I've done!" He slammed a stack of contracts on the desk, furious. "If you have a better plan, if someone's way more capable than me, I'll walk out of Nanyuan!"

Nan Shuyi remained calm this time. He was always skilled at irritating people. Jin Huanxin didn't know him at all.

Now he spoke seriously: "Alright. Competition is what will give Nanyuan a future. General Manager Jin, no one denies your contributions to Nanyuan. But you've also taken plenty of benefits from it—like that candy endorser deal, and how many other under-the-table arrangements? I won't list them all. As for the last three years, you've definitely been slacking off. Nanyuan's success relies on its strong brand."

Nan Shuyi could say without modesty that in recent years, Nanyuan had faced two major marketing crises, and he had helped divert attention away from them. He hadn't been at Nanyuan before, so he didn't know what was going on, but now that he was here, he saw where the root of the problem lay.

Jin Huanxin began to break out in a cold sweat. Nan Shuyi's words brought him back to his senses completely, making him realize he had become arrogant and that things were spiraling out of control. He sat in his chair, chilled to the bone. Wasn't Nan Shuyi a playboy? There's no way he could know about any of that. Nan Shuyi was just bluffing. He didn't want to leave Nanyuan; that was just a hot-headed remark meant to intimidate Nan Shuyi.

Then Nan Shuyi said, "How about this—to be fair. You've done real work for Nanyuan. You draw up a plan for next quarter. Meanwhile, I'll have that new guy in your department, Jiang Yicen, do one too. Then we'll call a meeting with Finance, Legal, Product, and representatives from each department. Whoever has the better plan gets to stay. How about that?"

Jin Huanxin was trembling. "This is ridiculous!" Nan Shuyi was trying to force him out of Nanyuan!

Nan Shuyi's lazy demeanor vanished, replaced by a cold expression. "If you're unwilling, you can resign voluntarily. My father can forgive your mistakes and give you a chance, but I can't. I don't tolerate corruption."

He walked out with his empty mug, ending the conversation.

He'd laid it all out because he didn't want to waste time playing games. The capable should lead, and Jin Huanxin's character flaws were already in plain sight. Besides, the man had bullied someone under his protection. Nan Shuyi had been holding this in for a week and needed to get it off his chest.

Nan Shuyi went to the break room and gave his new mug a good wash, and then relaxed his stern expression. He walked back to his desk light on his feet.

Jiajia and Dabing had gone to a meeting, leaving only Jiang Yicen busily typing at the large round table.

Jiang Yicen was busy coordinating with the Product Department on a new product packaging design and then started a conversation with the manager handling the co-branding partnership. It seemed to be going poorly; the plan was Jiang Yicen's, and it had caused friction with Jin Huanxin, who still preferred going back to celebrity endorsement if the co-branding didn't work out and had dumped the matter entirely on the Brand Department.

That put Jiang Yicen in a tough spot. He paused to think.

Nan Shuyi stood beside him. Jiang Yicen typed slowly, but his replies were logical, concise, and free of filler—pleasant to read.

"Don't they want to cooperate with Nanyuan?"

Jiang Yicen: "No, they don't. Manager Yang said they've likely been approached by other candy brands with co-branding ideas. Nanyuan's brand isn't trendy enough—it's a bit old-school. Their interest is weak."

Seeing Jiang Yicen's distress, Nan Shuyi couldn't bear it. "Let's set up a meeting with their brand manager."

Jiang Yicen's face lit up. "We'll go together?"

Nan Shuyi: "Yes. Ask Manager Yang to arrange another time."

Jiang Yicen immediately forwarded Nan Shuyi's message to Manager Yang.

After Jiang Yicen took his hands off the keyboard, Nan Shuyi said, slightly guilty, "I just gave you a task?"

Jiang Yicen: "What task?"

Nan Shuyi cleared his throat. "I want you to draft the detailed marketing plan for Q3."

Jiang Yicen couldn't believe it. "Are you joking?"

He'd just started—hadn't even passed his probation—and now he was supposed to write the marketing department's next-quarter plan? That was too much.

Nan Shuyi shrugged. "No joke. I even made a bet with Jin Huanxin."

Jiang Yicen fell silent, staring straight at Nan Shuyi, unable to speak.

He realized that his quick integration into the modern era and his ever-increasing workload were all thanks to Nan Shuyi.

Ah, truly his dear husband.