PSMD – Chapter 122

Qiu Yang knew what “gender-bent” meant, but she didn’t agree with Gu Lan’s view. Having worked at Wanming for four years, Qiu Yang had also met President Wen, but she never felt that she resembled Wen Yuan.

The description “gender-bent version” was even more exaggerated.

Qiu Yang pursed her lips slightly, replied with a “Really?”, put down her phone, and turned on her computer.

The regular meeting proceeded as usual. Qiu Yang brought her notebook and pen and entered the conference room. However, what surprised her today was that the person sitting at the head of the table was none other than “President Wen,” whom Gu Lan had mentioned.

Wen Yuan was only 24 this year and looked very young. He was also very good at dressing himself, looking almost like a male celebrity. Furthermore, his appearance leaned towards being well-behaved; just looking at his face, one might think he was still in college. Yet, he was a genuine general manager who had achieved considerable success. This gave him a much more composed demeanor, making him appear somewhat contradictory.

A composed college student…?

Qiu Yang assigned him a character profile.

Qiu Yang sat down in her seat. She didn’t focus too much on Wen Yuan, concentrating instead on the meeting. She occasionally looked up at the screen, where Manager Qu’s presentation was displayed.

“The comparison between Qianyue Company and Pengyi Company is clear. The former focuses on technology, the latter…” Manager Qu spoke seriously, seemingly unaffected by Wen Yuan’s presence.

Qiu Yang listened attentively, and her notebook quickly filled with notes. However, whether it was her imagination or not, she kept feeling that Wen Yuan, sitting at the head, occasionally looked at her.

It wasn’t just a casual glance, but a look directed at her. Yet, when she looked up at the screen, Wen Yuan would shift his gaze, though their eyes met two or three times.

Qiu Yang felt a strange sensation inside but didn’t show it, maintaining a calm expression.

However, before the meeting ended, Wen Yuan received a phone call and left. He didn’t return until Qiu Yang had left the conference room.

Qiu Yang pursed her lips, recalling Gu Lan’s words.

Could it be that Wen Yuan also thought he resembled her?

But that shouldn’t be the case, Qiu Yang furrowed her brow.

Actually, she wasn’t overly concerned about whether they looked alike. She knew it was possible, just like how Yue Chu once thought her eyes resembled Yao Yao’s. She could understand that, but she didn’t think Wen Yuan would also feel he looked like her.

Qiu Yang drank some water, then put away her thoughts, no longer dwelling on these trivial matters, and focused on her work.

However, for the next two days, Wen Yuan appeared in the morning meetings, and the number of times Qiu Yang’s eyes met his increased. She still suppressed the strange feeling in her heart, not showing any of it.

But privately, she couldn’t help but feel more confused, because Wen Yuan’s excessive attention towards her was not her imagination.

But how could that be?

She had worked diligently for four years and had never met Wen Yuan alone. Every time was either in a meeting, during company team building, or at the annual dinner. Before, she hadn’t noticed this kind of attention from Wen Yuan.

After the meeting on Wednesday ended, Qiu Yang furrowed her brow.

Today, President Wen appeared in the conference room again, listening to the meeting content with a calm expression. But Qiu Yang’s and his gazes intersected several times in the air. There was no ripple in his eyes, and his expression remained unchanged.

Recalling the strangeness of the past few days, a even stranger thought arose in Qiu Yang’s mind—

Could Wen Yuan be planning to fire her?

Thinking of this, Qiu Yang couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. If she were fired, finding a new job wouldn’t be difficult, given her education and experience. But finding one as satisfactory as Wanming would be challenging.

Many companies nowadays exploit employees, and working late is standard practice. Wanming’s 5 PM quitting time alone put it ahead of many companies, not to mention its stable performance.

Qiu Yang stared at the computer in front of her, agonizing for a long time, and finally sent a WeChat message to Shen Ningruo: 【I suspect our boss wants to fire me.】

Shen Ningruo finished her meeting half an hour later, opened WeChat, and saw Qiu Yang’s message. She was stunned for a moment, then realized that the “boss” Qiu Yang was referring to was Wen Yuan.

Shen Ningruo’s emotions were complicated. She asked why and quickly received Qiu Yang’s reply.

【He’s been secretly observing me a lot these past few days, and I’ve caught him red-handed. Now that I think about it, I feel like he’s contemplating whether or not to fire me.】

Shen Ningruo looked at Qiu Yang’s message and couldn’t help but find it amusing and frustrating. She could even picture the scene in her mind.

Well.

Her brother, Wen Yuan, was being misunderstood.

Wen Yuan indeed needed the right timing to acknowledge Qiu Yang, but Shen Ningruo hadn’t expected him to observe Qiu Yang so openly, especially since Qiu Yang didn’t know the reason.

Shen Ningruo knew that Qiu Yang definitely wouldn’t guess if Wen Yuan liked her. The answer was simple: that guess was completely illogical.

There was no real familiarity between Qiu Yang and Wen Yuan. A general manager who had met so many people suddenly acting somewhat unusually towards her wouldn’t make anyone think it was love.

In Qiu Yang’s mind, this must be because there was a problem with her work, or the general manager had a problem with his thinking. Ultimately, it boiled down to wanting to fire her, and his presence in the meetings these past few days was merely to decide whether or not to make that final decision.

Thinking this, Shen Ningruo was suddenly startled.

Because she hadn’t realized she understood Qiu Yang so well.

She pursed her lips, chatted with Qiu Yang for a few more minutes, and after ending the conversation, there was a knock on the door.

“Director.” Ke Yezi came in to inform her, “We should head to Wanming now.”

Today was Wednesday, and Qin Yu had scheduled a visit to Wanming Company today. Shen Ningruo was also going, along with Ke Yezi and two other staff members, making it a group of five again.

Shen Ningruo nodded: “Okay, I understand.”

Now it wasn’t just Qin Yu who wanted to see Wen Yuan; even Shen Ningruo wanted to meet him. She believed she was a good judge of character. If Wen Yuan didn’t seem like a good person, then it might be better for Qiu Yang not to acknowledge him.

Of course, that wasn’t something she could decide.

In the business sedan, Shen Ningruo sat in the back seat, with Qin Yu beside her.

Qin Yu occasionally raised his wrist to check the time, his lips pressed together, clearly a little nervous. Shen Ningruo quietly smiled and teased him, “President Qin, you haven’t talked about work in so long, do you still remember how?”

Ke Yezi and the other two staff members sat in the front, their bodies tense and posture upright.

Good heavens, the two leaders of the company were in the back.

Qin Yu lowered his wrist, looking at the scenery flashing past the car window. He maintained a straight face and lightly snorted, “Even if I don’t remember, isn’t Director Shen here?”

The two project team members thought internally: Wow!!!

Ke Yezi thought internally: …

If she didn’t know about Shen Ningruo and Qiu Yang’s relationship, she might even think there was something shippable between Qin Yu and Shen Ningruo.

Shen Ningruo raised an eyebrow: “What if I am? I still want to see President Qin make a fool of himself.”

Qin Yu snorted again. He simply called out to Ke Yezi: “Manager Ke.”

“President Qin.” Ke Yezi was highly focused.

“Was Director Shen this unlikable during the time I was away?”

Ke Yezi shook her head: “The Director is very likable.”

“Really?”

“You’re not lying to me, are you?”

Ke Yezi: …

Spare me.

The sedan moved steadily forward. Shen Ningruo didn’t wait for Ke Yezi to answer and interjected, “President Qin, if you want to mock me, why drag innocent people into it?”

“Tch.”

“Who could ever out-mock you?”

With Qin Yu present, the atmosphere in the business sedan was a little warmer than before. He, as the general manager, didn’t appear often but was very good at winning people over. Besides Shen Ningruo, Ke Yezi had also stayed at Qiyao since joining.

At 10:30, the group got out of the car by the roadside.

It was only a few dozen meters from where they got off to the entrance of the office building, a distance that could be covered quickly. Before they even reached the lobby, they saw Qu Yan standing downstairs, ready to welcome the partners as usual.

Shen Ningruo’s face had turned cold the moment she got out of the car.

“Hello, President Qin, I am Qu Yan from Wanming.” Qu Yan extended her hand and briefly shook hands with Qin Yu. Her smile was professional but also felt sincere.

Qin Yu smiled: “Manager Qu, let’s go up now.”

Shen Ningruo glanced at him sideways, the corner of her mouth lifting almost imperceptibly for a moment.

Qin Yu was really eager to see Wen Yuan.

While the elevator was ascending, Manager Qu briefly updated them on the progress of the cooperation between the two companies. Qin Yu listened attentively, occasionally nodding, but they reached their floor after only a few nods.

Qiu Yang received a message from Gu Lan: 【Holy crap! Xiao Qiu Jie! The boss of Qiyao is so handsome too!】

【I heard he was handsome before.】 Qiu Yang replied quickly and immediately put her phone back in her pocket. Since Gu Lan was at the front desk, her message meant that Manager Qu was already leading the group towards the conference room.

Besides her, there were two other staff members in the conference room, as well as President Wen. She no longer focused on Wen Yuan, sitting upright and waiting for the people from Qiyao to enter.

Less than half a minute later, the door opened.

But the person who entered was Peng Kaimiao. He stood at the doorway, looking at Wen Yuan: “President Wen, I want to report Manager Qu.”