Chapter 2146 - 698: Reunion, Breaking Down_4

The car stopped at the drop-off area in front of the South Tower.

Jiang Yourong got out of the car and stepped through the glass doors.

Soon, a familiar figure greeted her.

"Yourong." Shangguan Qiuya was dressed in a black professional suit, her steps clean and brisk, a gentle smile on her face, "Welcome back."

"Thank you, Assistant Shangguan." Jiang Yourong shook hands with her.

"Come on, Chairman Jin is already waiting for you in the office."

"Hmm."

The two took a private elevator straight to the top floor.

"Ding——"

The elevator doors slowly opened.

What appeared was a spacious executive floor.

The decor was simple and artful, with hardly any extra embellishments.

Underfoot was a soft carpet.

The air was filled with a cool aroma.

They walked down the corridor.

The passing employees either walked briskly or focused on their desk work.

Keyboard sounds mixed with printer noises.

Everything seemed busy yet orderly.

It felt familiar yet strange.

Jiang Yourong’s mind started to wander.

She seemed to be back in 2016—

At that time, she was a soon-to-be-graduated graduate student at the Imperial Capital Aerospace University.

Like all prodigies, she was filled with boundless dreams for the future, possessing high aspirations.

She thought she must carve out her own world in this city that represents the heart of Huaxia.

So, she didn’t choose those stable traditional enterprises, nor did she go to those bustling Internet companies.

Instead, under her mentor’s recommendation, she chose a financial company, Smile Investment, which was newly founded and unknown at the time, but offered absurdly high salaries.

Assistant to the Executive Director in the high-tech field, starting monthly salary of thirty thousand, year-end bonus starting at six months, plus high performance incentives.

Remember, this was in 2016!

For a graduate student from a regular working-class family, this allure was fatal.

And the most touching was the young founder who personally interviewed her, Jin Meixiao.

She was a true "prodigy," already famed in the foreign financial markets.

From speaking to her gaze, from her steps to her decisiveness, from her ability to her ambition, she exuded a sense of control all over.

Following someone like her, one’s future was limitless.

After a series of "hell-level" PKs, she finally got this dream offer.

But then, reality gave her a heavy blow.

The salary was high, but the work was really fucking exhausting!

No weekends, no holidays, 24-hour on-call.

Every day was full of industry reports, countless cross-timezone video conferences, and she had to write logically tight business plans in 24 hours for Chairman Jin’s whimsical ideas...

As she first entered society, Jiang Yourong received a whip from the capitalists, the first and most profound one.

She learned the hardships of society.

Eventually, she chose to escape.

She gave up that enviable high salary and turned back to campus, continuing her doctoral studies.

She eventually entered Yan City Normal University and became a comfortable college teacher, directly lying flat in the system.

She was initially very thankful for this decision because the work of a university teacher was indeed comfortable, with high social status.

But soon, she regretted it.

Smile Investment, after she left, turned into a behemoth as if it had boarded a rocket - Smile Holding.

The colleagues who joined with her, Qin Yingxue, Li Shiqin, Shangguan Qiuya, all rose to fame one by one, becoming big shots in their respective fields, calling the shots.

But whenever she brushed past news, or saw Chairman Jin’s interviews...

That hidden regret and remorse crawled into her heart.

Now, she finally had another chance.

At least a chance to see Chairman Jin again.

"We’re here."

Shangguan Qiuya stopped walking, raised her hand, and gently knocked on the dark wooden door in front.

"Knock, knock, knock——"

"Come in."

A familiar female voice came from inside.

Jiang Yourong’s throat tightened, she took a light breath.

She straightened her back and pushed the door open.

Sunlight poured in from the whole floor-to-ceiling window, making the office bright and warm.

The air was pervaded with a light fragrance, both cool and restrained.

Jiang Yourong instinctively squinted until her vision refocused.

The figure from her memory finally appeared again.

She wore a minimalist white silk shirt, the cuffs slightly rolled up, revealing her long wrists.

Her brown hair was pinned up by a shark clip, a few strands naturally draped across her smooth forehead.

The moment she looked up, light and shadow flowed between her brows, it was still the kind of elegance that was hard to ignore back then.

"Jiang Yourong." She stood up from behind her desk, "Long time no see."

"Jin... Chairman Jin."

Jiang Yourong’s voice tightened slightly.

That title made her thoughts instantly rewind seven years.

"Tap tap tap——"

Secretary Jin walked out from behind the desk, her steps neither hurried nor slow.

Neither overtly flamboyant nor with any extra motion.

The silk shirt shimmered softly in the light, her figure like a silhouette in the fog, almost unrealistically elegant.

She stopped in front of Jiang Yourong, separated by no more than two steps.

Closely examining her.

Her eyes carried no obvious emotion but naturally emitted an aura of probing sharpness.

The air gradually thickened.

Jiang Yourong almost instinctively lowered her head, avoiding that gaze.

Her heartbeat like a drum, even her palms sweated.

She actually had too much to say.

But under the oppressive gaze of the other person, it seemed all words were feather-light.

She didn’t even know whether, after so many years, Chairman Jin really remembered the "Assistant Jiang" who sorted documents for her on countless overtime nights.

As her mind was unsteady.

Secretary Jin slightly raised her lips and said something that pierced through her defenses:

"Assistant Jiang, I didn’t expect you’ve gained so much weight, looks like university food is pretty good."