CHAPTER 191: FROM TRIUMPH TO SORROW (III)

Wasn’t his relationship with the Nan Family severed? Didn’t he have to give up his aspirations for the domestic market?

Why did it seem like he was secretly celebrating as if he had found a wallet on the ground?

Hiding their confusion, the reporters sat down one by one.

Something didn’t seem right.

It didn’t seem like a serious press conference.

……

As it turned out, the reporters’ intuitions were very accurate.

As they stepped out after the end of the press conference, the reporters’ legs were trembling. They rubbed their eyes that had been blinded by the displays of affection. They could only raise white flags after such a scene…

Wait, something wasn’t right.

Normally, reporters took notes with them to review press conferences, but all they had on their notes were comments like “Dogs putting on such public displays of affection should die”, “Showing intimacy of that level is shameless”, “Can you give any actual substance? No one wants to hear the story of your romance”, “This seems more like a TV drama”, “Even TV dramas aren’t as melodramatic as you two”, and “Have you heard ‘the more publicly you display intimacy, the faster the relationship deteriorates’?”.

It was hopeless.

……

……

At least, at the end of it all, Xiao Yu understood one thing: when Yan Jin had brought up Xiao Yu’s upcoming birthday, Yan Jin’s “so troublesome” comment wasn’t referring to his birthday being on the 27th, but rather how it fell on a Thursday.

Why was it troublesome to have it fall on a Thursday? Because the entrance to the office was so packed with reporters that it was hard to enter on Friday morning.

If it had fallen on a Friday, then at least the reporters’ enthusiasm would die down somewhat over the weekend. Employees would at least be able to enter the office.

“The press conference ran for so long, yet there’s still so many reporters here. There’s no end to this,” Yan Jin grumbled in the car.

Xiao Yu was left speechless. He had been at the press conference too.

“Maybe it’s because you took the public display of affection too far and didn’t explain the more important matters clearly enough?”

“Not possible,” Yan Jin confidently declared. “I followed Shao Yue’s draft of the speech to the letter.”

“…Are you sure?”

“Pretty much nothing was changed. At the very least, the overall points didn’t change,” Yan Jin pledged to the heavens.

“If that’s true, Shao Yue must have written it in the middle of his sleep.”

“That’s not possible either. I asked him to draft the speech after business hours already started.”

Xiao Yu suddenly realized something. “Oh! That’s why you were nowhere to be seen yesterday morning.”

“Mhmm.”

“Then… I guess it was deliberate.” Xiao Yu grudgingly came to this conclusion. “After all, when the reporters asked, ‘How will YL compete against the new SI?’ and you responded, ‘My love and I will lead the company forward’, they looked completely destroyed.”

“I think that they only couldn’t bear to sit there any longer when they spent so long asking for examples. That’s why I cut that part short,” Yan Jin disagreed.

Xiao Yu tried to remember what example Yan Jin had given.

……

“Question: How does YL plan to compete against SI’s pressure?”

“My love and I will lead the company forward.”

“Do you have any concrete plans for how that will happen?”

“Currently, no, but we have plenty of ways to answer SI’s pressure. A year ago, SI soared through the skies, but then the mystery designer appeared and single-handedly stopped SI. For example, the battle at the Autumn Conference, that was when I found the love of my life. Those feelings still resound through my heart to this day like a…”

Each of the reporters’ faces was more ugly than the next.

They really didn’t want to hear Yan Jin talk about his romance anymore. They were at the point of vomiting.

For the first half hour of the conference, they had listened with great interest, but after, they wanted to drop the romance and move on to more serious topics about the company. However, they couldn’t rescue Yan Jin’s crumbling EQ and IQ.

It was accepted that love made people dumber, but this guy… this guy’s entire personality was crumbling!

Where was the ice-cold chairman who rarely smiled? Who was this idiot grinning ear to ear? They didn’t recognize him!

The reporters clutched their chests in pain.

“…Now, I will give all my power to support my love in any form. Believe in our joint power! There’s nothing to fear from SI,” Yan Jin declared solemnly (or so he believed).

Flashback end.

……

Xiao Yu looked at the man next to him with a complicated gaze.

Yan Jin had even said he had cut that part short! More than that, the problem wasn’t even with how long the example had taken, but rather that the example itself wasn’t good!

Yan Jin had the magical ability to see into people’s hearts. But at that moment, Yan Jin’s EQ was definitely much lower than the average person’s.

“So, do you really have a plan to respond to SI?” Xiao Yu didn’t feel like making fun of the current Yan Jin anymore, so he asked about business matters. “Have you heard of Louis? She’s a very strong female designer who was poached by SI. Their new summer products last month are definitely her style. They’re selling quite well.”

Yan Jin turned to look at Xiao Yu and then turned away.

“…What?”

“I’m looking at how cute you are.”

“…Do you mean anything else by that?”

“Yep.”

Xiao Yu exploded. He unbuckled his seatbelt and charged wildly at Yan Jin. However, he was immediately caught by Yan Jin’s prepared embrace.

“Stop making a fuss.” Yan Jin wrapped his arm around Xiao Yu’s waist and teased, “I really was looking at how cute you are. Sooo cute and innocent!”

“All designers need to preserve some innocence,” Xiao Yu reluctantly admitted. “Only you evil capitalists scheme from day to night.”

“My bad,” Yan Jin genuinely repented.

“So what did you actually mean?”

“I mean that what you said doesn’t only not indicate an increase in SI’s strength, but actually indicates SI’s grim situation.”

“Huh? Why?”

“It’s quite simple. For SI, hiring another high-profile designer brings more problems than benefits. SI’s problem isn’t the quality of their designers. You should be the most clear on this point. SI’s biggest problem is a lack of focus and cohesion. Everyone wants to outperform the others, so their teamwork is a mess. The addition of a new stranger further weakens their internal culture.”

Xiao Yu thought about it and finally understood the reasoning. However, he was unwilling to directly admit that Yan Jin was correct, so he countered, “The old SI was indeed like this. However, their leadership has now changed. NN fired many of my former colleagues.”

“That’s the core of their problem.” Yan Jin sounded like he was watching an amusing drama. “The leftover people can’t possibly fit into the new system. The change in style of their new summer products is evidence of this.”

“That’s true. Normally, the summer products are finished long before they’re released. Louis fired many designers right after arriving. If it were me, I wouldn’t be happy either.”

Yan Jin laughed and rubbed Xiao Yu’s head. “The innocent can be taught!”

“Hmph! Who do you think I am?” Xiao Yu proudly said.

“NN has developed so well in the fashion industry that the Nan Family is becoming too arrogant. Now, it seems like acquiring SI wasn’t a wise decision…”

Yan Jin saw that Xiao Yu didn’t seem too interested in the topic, so he didn’t continue.

Xiao Yu lay in Yan Jin’s embrace for a while, and then unhappily knocked on the car window.

The window was full of microphones pointed at them.

“So, we’ll just wait in the car forever?”

“The road is completely blocked. If we insist on driving, there’ll be bloodshed.” Yan Jin gloomily looked at the reporters covering their window. “I’ve already called security, but with our car so surrounded, it’ll be at least half an hour before they come.”

“*Sigh*…”

Xiao Yu had had many run-ins with reporters over the last two months. He hadn’t cared much about the industry before, but with his current experience, he feared them.

Yan Jin honked his horn twice, and then resignedly took his hands off the steering wheel and killed the engine.

“Well, there’s not much for us to do now. Might as well find something interesting to do.”

“Waitwaitwait, what are you doing…”

Xiao Yu’s intuition sensed something bad. He wanted to shift back to the passenger seat. Just as he turned around, Yan Jin grabbed Xiao Yu’s belt.

A large shadow fell across Xiao Yu.

“Hey, there’s reporters all around outside. Do you want to appear in the headlines?” Xiao Yu gave a final wriggle.

“These windows were specially made to be one-way only. We can see them, but they can’t see us.” With a small movement, Yan Jin undid Xiao Yu’s belt.

“Hey, you… someone will be here soon to clear the way,” Xiao Yu protested extremely softly.

“Then we’ll respond at that time.” Yan Jin’s tone had become very dangerous. “I’ve been so busy lately. Let’s take a break from that…”

“I think you’ve been planning this all along…” Xiao Yu knew he couldn’t escape, so he could only try to bargain. “Okay, fine, if you want to do it, let’s do it. But you can’t go all the way. You wouldn’t want to appear on tomorrow’s headlines either.”

“Why not appear on the headlines for free?” Yan Jin said shamelessly.

“Hey, even if you have no shame, I still have shame.”

Yan Jin stuck his arm out, and Xiao Yu gave it an adorable nip.

……

Half an hour later, the reporters were finally cleared.

At that point, the pair had just finished halfway and were taking a break. Yan Jin happily drove the car into the garage before joining Xiao Yu in the back row to finish the job.

Despite of all of Xiao Yu’s efforts, Xiao Yu hadn’t been able to escape. He now lay on the back seat like a dead fish.

Yan Jin lit a cigarette, and the smoke quickly surrounded him. He felt lighter than ever before.

“I received a message from Master Andy a few days ago. He feels that last time’s collaboration went extremely smoothly, and that he wants you to come to some designer’s showcase in France.”

“Isn’t that the international jewelry world tour that’s held once every three years?!” Xiao Yu said, shocked.

“That should be the one. I’ll come with you. It’s about time that YL starts to develop internationally.”

“My goodness, it’s like I’m dreaming. Less than two hundred people are invited to such a jewelry showcase each time.”

Yan Jin flicked Xiao Yu’s forehead. “Alright, that’s enough dreaming for now. We should go back to work.”

Xiao Yu pouted. “I don’t want to. My back is sore and I don’t have the energy to walk right now. I want to rest here a little longer. You can go up first.”

“I’ll wait for you.”

“Nooo. Hurry up and go into the office. We’re already more than an hour late. If we’re any later, people will know that something’s up.”

“Alright, alright. No need to push me,” Yan Jin helplessly said. “Don’t take the employee entrance upstairs later. You’ll get blocked.”

“I know, I know. Don’t worry about it.”

Yan Jin left him the car keys and got out of the car. Xiao Yu rolled down the window and waved goodbye to him.

“Do you think I’ve succeeded in both love and work now?” Xiao Yu blinked a few times.

“Of course,” Yan Jin said. “My fellow winner in life, come give me a goodbye kiss?”

“Okay okay, just for you.”

Yan Jin angled his face over, and Xiao Yu gave him a light kiss.

Yan Jin extinguished his cigarette and waved goodbye. Xiao Yu watched Yan Jin’s retreating figure from the window.

……

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