Meanwhile, at Manying Company.
Tan Mengying returned to her office with the design draft in hand. As she entered, she saw Zhou Manyin buried in a large stack of documents. Curious, she walked over to take a look. It appeared to be the corporate data dropped off by the security guards that morning.
"Sister Manyin, what are you looking for? You’ve been at it since this morning."
Tan Mengying made a cup of coffee and slumped comfortably into her ergonomic chair. Noticing Zhou Manyin’s somewhat detached demeanor, she pouted, a flicker of dissatisfaction in her eyes. "Besides, you’ve been telling people you aren't in the office, making me run all the errands. Oh, my beautiful legs—if they get misshapen from all this walking, how will I ever get married?"
"I'm looking for someone." Zhou Manyin didn't look up, her eyes scanning the documents rapidly.
"Who?" Tan Mengying leaned in curiously.
"Someone... the person who saved my life last night." Zhou Manyin couldn't help but recall the scene from the previous evening. The stranger had plunged forward without hesitation to shield her from a fatal disaster, only for her to misunderstand him and strike back with pepper spray. She hadn't even managed a single word of thanks. The remorse that welled up within her had kept her tossing and turning all night. No matter the effort, she was determined to find him, offer a sincere apology, and provide proper compensation.
"Oh, ho, ho! A damsel in distress being rescued by a hero? You aren't planning to repay him with your hand in marriage, are you?" Tan Mengying teased.
Zhou Manyin shot her a glance. "What about you? You have plenty of suitors, and your family has been nagging you since you graduated. Don't you plan on finding someone?"
"Pfft, I have no interest in those stinking men." Tan Mengying wrinkled her nose, then held her hands over her heart, looking wistful. "My true love will definitely be a one-of-a-kind hero, not like those idiots." She tossed the design draft she was holding onto the desk. "It’s from the company upstairs; they said they wanted to talk to us again about their revised proposal."
"No need." Zhou Manyin dismissed it with a single glance. "Their designers are subpar. It might have been passable before, but now that we’re looking to scale up, it just won't do."
"True, I think so too. I'll go reject them later." Tan Mengying shrugged, idly flipping through the design draft before tossing it aside and turning to rummage for snacks in the nearby cabinet.
Zhou Manyin looked up, rubbing her sore eyes and shoulders, which were aching from being hunched over for so long. "There's still so much to look through..." She sighed. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the abandoned design draft. Because Tan Mengying had flipped through it earlier, a few pages were exposed. One sheet, featuring a designer’s profile complete with a passport-sized photo, instantly caught her gaze.
"This is..." She froze, then reached out with trembling hands, as if she couldn't believe her eyes, and pulled the page out. "Lu... Chen?"
His face was exactly the same as the man she had seen last night! "It’s him?!" She never expected such a coincidence.
"Hmm? What's wrong? Who is it?" Tan Mengying walked back over, munching on a bag of potato chips, peering curiously.
She watched as Zhou Manyin solemnly picked up the discarded design draft, scrutinized it twice, and murmured, "I suddenly think there are a few bright spots in this proposal."
"Huh???" The bag of chips fell from Tan Mengying's hands with a clatter. She looked completely bewildered.
***
Back at his own company, Lu Chen had already put the matter behind him. Once back at his desk, he started searching online for all the major events that had occurred in the city over the last three days. If he wanted to be truly theatrical, the best way would be to get involved in the high-profile events that had captured the public’s attention.
"Jintan City..." He clicked on a local news site and checked the headlines. Some official visiting some company, a festival event here, a report on a shady restaurant there. *A dignified Progenitor of the Blood Tribe getting involved in such trivialities? That would be too humiliating.* Lu Chen shook his head and closed the site. He needed to think of something else.
Just then, Manager Liu walked over, accompanied by someone. Lu Chen reflexively assumed he was about to get chewed out for failing his task, but as he looked up, he saw the manager beaming, treating the person beside him like an honored guest.
It was a guest he recognized—Tan Mengying, the general manager he had seen downstairs just moments ago!
Manager Liu introduced them with great enthusiasm: "General Manager Tan, this is our designer, Lu Chen. He was the primary author of that design draft."
"Hello, Mr. Lu Chen." Tan Mengying looked at him curiously, then politely extended a hand to shake his. "Actually, after we re-examined your design draft today, we felt it was quite excellent. We’d like to invite you to our company to discuss further collaboration."
"Oh?" Lu Chen was surprised.
Nearby, Qiao Weizhao couldn't sit still and hurried over, trying to get in on the action. "Hello, General Manager Tan. Actually, I’m one of the designers, too. I’m responsible for half of that draft."
"Oh, well, that must have been hard work for you." Tan Mengying offered a polite, perfunctory smile, her gaze not lingering for even a second before returning to Lu Chen. "If you're free, let's head out now."
Before Lu Chen could answer, Manager Liu spoke up, signaling with his eyes: "He’s free, he’s free! Lu Chen, why don't you go with General Manager Tan and have a good chat? No need to worry about coming back today."
Lu Chen nodded and followed Tan Mengying downstairs, leaving Qiao Weizhao standing behind, completely stunned.
"What about me? Aren't I a designer, too?"
"What would you know?" Manager Liu glanced at him with contempt and whispered, "Do you know what the first thing she said when she walked up here was?"
"What?"
Manager Liu said with deep meaning, "She said she was specifically looking for Lu Chen. If Lu Chen didn't agree to go, she was going to cancel the business deal entirely."
"Seriously?" Qiao Weizhao and the other colleagues looked at each other in total disbelief.
***
"Why me?" Lu Chen asked as they headed downstairs.
"Why couldn't it be you?" Tan Mengying smiled.
Lu Chen was silent for a moment. "Is it because I saved General Manager Zhou last night? It wasn't really necessary; I just happened to be passing by and gave a hand."
"To you, it might have been a small favor, but for Sister Manyin, she walked to the very edge of the Ghost Gate Pass and back. You were the one who pulled her back. Isn't gratitude deserved?"
"And you don't need to be in such a rush to decline. The draft really does have a solid foundation. Sister Manyin feels that with just a few small improvements, it will meet our requirements."
"She’ll talk to you about the specifics herself."