Chapter 109: Not Learning Means No Skills, Just Wasting Time

“I'm going to be scared to death! You didn't see the look the general manager gave me earlier, oh my god! My poor little heart is going to be scared to death, and I still have to pretend to be calm—it's terrifying!”

Ruan Mianmian hurried over and covered Xiang Nuan's mouth, warning her softly, “Be quieter, or you'll scare everyone in the office.”

Xiang Nuan made a shushing gesture, but the shock in her eyes remained vivid.

Ruan Mianmian found it amusing and sized her up once more.

“Take that whole getup back with you,” she said. “Last night you looked so pretty and fresh. Why dress up like that now?”

Xiang Nuan looked embarrassed. She scratched her head and replied, “My sister says the world is too complicated. One careless slip and you end up getting tricked by a con artist like Old Chen. I have to protect myself.”

“This…”

Ruan Mianmian stifled a laugh. Her curiosity about the story between Chen Ci and Xiang Kui suddenly surged.

“I want to hear how exactly your sister fell for that guy Chen Ci.”

“The tale is long, I swear! Oh my god, it’s pure thunder and lightning—bloody as hell from start to finish.”

Ruan Mianmian covered her mouth, her mood instantly lifted by the tale’s drama.

“Tell it slowly, slowly.”

Ruan Mianmian linked arms with Xiang Nuan and walked toward the design department.

In the conference room, silence hung thick with tension.

Jian Ziyun swept his cold gaze across the room and said indifferently, “Do I need to elaborate? You know what to do.”

Li Heng wiped a sheen of sweat from his forehead and nodded, regret biting into his features.

Not long after Ruan Mianmian returned to the design department, Xiang Nuan sidled over, all curiosity.

“Director, Li Heng and Guo Rui have both been let go!”

Li Heng and Guo Rui had been the ones who joked about her.

“Fired?”

She didn’t really care.

Facing Ruan Mianmian’s calm answer, Xiang Nuan’s curiosity only deepened.

She lowered her voice. “So the general manager really has feelings for you?”

“Cough, cough—”

After the words left her mouth, Xiang Nuan gave an awkward cough, realizing she had been too direct. Yet her curiosity wouldn’t let her stop.

When Ruan Mianmian glanced at her, she saw several colleagues listening nearby.

Many people shared Xiang Nuan’s intrigue.

Ruan Mianmian curled her lips and answered calmly, “I don’t care what he’s thinking. I have no interest in him anyway.”

“Huh?”

Xiang Nuan wore an expression of pure gossip. “So the director rejected the general manager?”

“…”

Ruan Mianmian was speechless. She rubbed her forehead and instantly lost all desire to discuss it further.

Just then, Jian Ziyun’s figure appeared at the doorway of the design department, sparking fresh cheers.

Ruan Mianmian covered her forehead and refused to look, yet the gasps around her left little doubt.

“I told you to wait in the office. Why come here again?”

Jian Ziyun’s voice rang above Ruan Mianmian’s head, loud enough for the entire room to hear. He seemed to enjoy the attention.

Ruan Mianmian shot him a sideways glance. “What exactly do you want?”

Jian Ziyun lifted an eyebrow. “Are you sure you want to say it here?”

Ruan Mianmian was now certain he was doing it on purpose—words vague, teasing everyone’s curiosity.

“Me!”

She fell momentarily silent. She rose abruptly, the chair scraping loudly against the floor as if it were venting her frustration.

“Let’s go.”

Ruan Mianmian strode ahead toward the exit.

Jian Ziyun smiled triumphantly, then strolled past the crowd with exaggerated ease.

The moment they left, the office exploded in cheers that shook the walls.

From half a corridor away, Ruan Mianmian heard it all clearly at the elevator.

Her lifelong purity had been destroyed.

She seemed to have forgotten that, in the original owner’s time, there had been nothing left to protect.

Ruan Mianmian followed Jian Ziyun into his office.

He settled back into his chair with relaxed poise, clearly in high spirits.

Ruan Mianmian stood opposite him, arms crossed, glaring as if she meant to bore a hole through him.

“Spit it out!”

She couldn’t bear the casual elegance of his pose and snapped, “What do you want?”

Jian Ziyun idly polished his gold-rimmed glasses, his dark eyes gleaming with amusement.

“What are you so anxious about?”

Ruan Mianmian was about to retort when he added in that same familiar tone, “Whether here or anywhere, I’m just drifting through life without learning. I know you better than anyone.”

The familiarity only ignited her anger further.

“Do you have a problem? You summoned me here just to watch you wipe your glasses with such refined grace?”

“You’re truly insane!”

Ruan Mianmian’s steps grew restless, already turning toward the door.

Jian Ziyun smiled faintly. “I called you here for a reason. Of course, if you want to watch, I won’t stop you.”

“Go check yourself in the mirror more often.”

Ruan Mianmian spoke with open disgust.

Jian Ziyun placed the gleaming glasses neatly on the desk and looked up at her.

“What are your thoughts on the upcoming cooperation with Kaiyue Group?”

What thoughts could she possibly have?

Ruan Mianmian leaned back, her voice lazy. “You already said I’m just messing around without learning. What thoughts could I have?”

“Tsk!”

Jian Ziyun glanced at her with amusement. “You really are a broken pot that refuses to mend?”

“Exactly. I was born that way.”

He shook his head to himself. “Don’t forget—the day after tomorrow is Kaiyue Group’s CEO’s wedding banquet. You’ll attend with me.”

“What does a wedding banquet have to do with anything?”

Ruan Mianmian continued indifferently. “They’re getting married. Would you really talk business at the feast? It would ruin everyone’s mood.”

In her view, it was unbearably tactless.

“Indeed, that would be inappropriate.”

Jian Ziyun murmured, and Ruan Mianmian’s expression darkened.

“You summoned me here just to hear you drone on?”

Jian Ziyun clearly had nothing better to do.

Ruan Mianmian’s patience had reached its limit.

“Actually, it’s nothing,” he said, lips pursing. His gaze turned serious. “I suddenly wanted to be good to you, but didn’t know where to begin. Today, by taking care of those two people for you, I wanted to see how you would react.”