Chapter 5
With Pan Yueyi taking over the collaboration with Chi Yu, Murong Cheng returned to his usual state of idleness.
As the product launch drew nearer, everyone worked later and later. Although he had nothing to do, Murong Cheng felt awkward leaving on time. He forced himself to stay for dinner, attending every meeting he could, and only then returning home to continue his unproductive existence.
A week later, Chi Yu delivered the completed artwork as per the contract. After multiple approvals, Pan Yueyi was overjoyed but immediately dove into the next task. With the product launch imminent, unforeseen issues cropped up constantly. The department’s workload was like a leaky roof, requiring constant patching. Chi Yu’s concept art, while a significant piece, was just one of many holes.
More and more colleagues were dispatched across the country for promotional activities. Xu Yayun was constantly flying between cities, and even Zou Xun embarked on a week-long business trip, visiting three different locations. Only Pan Yueyi remained at headquarters, along with Murong Cheng, the newly hired “insider.”
The large conference room screen displayed a shared screen. Dozens of department members, mostly located remotely, attended the meeting via video conference. The otherwise empty room held only Pan Yueyi, Murong Cheng, and a few colleagues who had just returned from business trips and were scheduled to leave again soon.
“The company needs someone to go to K City and deliver the main promotional image,” General Manager Xu Yayun’s voice came through the computer, delegating tasks remotely.
K City wasn’t close to A City. Including travel and discussions, a round trip would take more than a day, possibly even two.
Pan Yueyi looked troubled, clicking through the work allocation chart on her computer. “How about Xiao Li?”
The colleague she named immediately protested, “Yueyi-jie, I’m flying to C City the day after tomorrow.”
Pan Yueyi: “Leave this afternoon, you should be back tomorrow. Or see if you can fly directly from C City to K City.”
Back-to-back business trips were exhausting. Xiao Li grimaced, trying to decline again. “But I have a lot of urgent reviews to complete in the next two days…”
“K City might require visits to several branch offices. A day and a half might not be enough,” Xu Yayun interjected.
After a moment of hesitation, Pan Yueyi looked up. “Then I’ll go.”
There was no one else available in the department.
Xu Yayun: “I can’t return yet. You need to stay here and oversee things.”
As the situation reached an impasse, Murong Cheng, who had been zoning out, felt the executives’ gazes fall upon him.
“Yueyi-jie, why don’t I go?”
If it was just delivering a promotional image, it shouldn’t be too difficult. Communication was easy these days. He could just act as a courier, demonstrating the company’s commitment to the partnership.
“Yes, let Murong Cheng go!” Li Dong, who had just narrowly escaped the assignment, was the first to agree.
Pan Yueyi and Xu Yayun exchanged glances through the camera.
Xu Yayun nodded. “Alright, Ah Cheng will go. Xiao Pan, explain the details to him and inform our partners in advance.”
Pan Yueyi: “Understood, Manager Xu.”
Xu Yayun paused, then added, “Tell them Ah Cheng’s title is Supervisor. Assistant Specialist doesn’t sound impressive enough.”
The next morning, Murong Cheng, a Supervisor after just one month on the job, boarded a flight to K City.
With the company covering airport transportation expenses, he splurged on a taxi for the first time.
While he took a taxi to the airport in A City, a representative from the partner advertising agency picked him up at the K City airport.
The promotional images were professionally printed on thick paper. The larger ones were shipped directly to the advertising agencies, but the concept art, the piece Chi Yu created, hadn’t been delivered yet. Murong Cheng’s mission was to personally deliver this artwork. It was packed in a high-quality briefcase, padded with protective materials, and quite heavy.
Murong Cheng guarded the briefcase carefully, terrified of losing it and facing his superiors’ wrath. Upon arriving at the advertising agency, he was informed that all the materials had already been sent to the product launch roadshow venue and was given an address to deliver the concept art directly.
With the driver who picked him up nowhere in sight, Murong Cheng had to take another taxi to the distant shopping mall.
Inside a white-walled exhibition area on the first floor, staff were busy setting up. Murong Cheng asked several people but couldn’t find anyone expecting the concept art. Everyone was focused on their assigned promotional posters, unaware of his arrival. Finally, he located the person in charge, who, after learning what he was delivering, instructed him to take the concept art back to the agency for registration, after which they would handle it.
Suddenly, it started pouring rain.
He had no umbrella and carried a valuable item that couldn’t get wet.
Standing at the mall entrance, staring at the twenty-plus people ahead of him in the ride-hailing queue, Murong Cheng despaired.
What a disastrous start.
Wasn’t Guangyu the client? Why was being the client so difficult?
A message popped up from Pan Yueyi, asking if he had delivered the artwork.
His heart skipped a beat as he frantically replied.
[Cheng: Not yet.]
[Cheng: Delivering it now.]
She typed for a while but didn’t reply, perhaps wanting to ask why it was taking so long but holding back.
After half an hour, the rain intensified. Still no car.
A driver finally accepted his request but then canceled for unknown reasons. He had to wait again.
His right arm, carrying the briefcase, started aching. He switched hands and looked up, just as a black car stopped in front of him.
Had someone else’s ride arrived? He stepped back to make way.
But no one approached, and the car remained stationary.
The window rolled down halfway, revealing the familiar yet unfamiliar face of the “General Manager of Legal Affairs.”
The man looked at him, his dark eyes unreadable, his gaze sweeping over the briefcase in Murong Cheng’s hand.
“Get in.”
His voice was low. He closed the window before Murong Cheng could react.
Murong Cheng’s eyes lit up.
Acting before thinking, he opened the rear passenger door. Seeing the General Manager of Legal inside, he blushed, mumbled a “Thank you,” and hurried around to the other side of the car.
As before, the man wore a dark suit. The car’s air conditioning was blasting. Clutching the briefcase, Murong Cheng climbed in and sneezed.
The driver glanced at Murong Yan in the rearview mirror and adjusted the temperature slightly.
The car was soundproof, blocking out the noise of the downpour.
It was quiet, but awkward.
A faint, pleasant scent filled the air, likely from the man’s expensive suit.
Murong Cheng’s palms began to sweat. He sat up straight, staring ahead.
The executive didn’t speak, so neither did he.
But—
Shouldn’t he ask where he was going before driving off?
Murong Cheng was puzzled but quickly rationalized it. The executive was also in K City, so he must have important business. He wouldn’t be dropped off first. The driver would ask for his destination after dropping off the executive.
Although the concept art was urgent, it could wait. Even if Yueyi asked, being picked up by the General Manager of Legal was a perfectly valid excuse.
Condensation blurred the windows, obscuring the street outside. The silence in the car remained unbroken.
Feeling unobserved, Murong Cheng discreetly checked his location on his phone.
Surprisingly, they were heading towards the advertising agency.
What a coincidence.
Were they going to the same place?
It wasn’t impossible.
They were both working on the product launch, and Guangyu probably didn’t have many partners in K City.
Lost in thought, Murong Cheng didn’t realize they had arrived until the car stopped in front of the advertising agency.
The man beside him didn’t move, nor did the driver open the door.
He was meant to get out first.
Murong Cheng licked his lips.
Leaving without a word would be rude. He had to break the silence.
He took a deep breath and, just before opening the door, said loudly, “I’ll get off here, then. Thank you, Mr. Cheng!”
He then stepped out, clutching the briefcase.
Mr. Cheng?
The door clicked shut. Yu Qi, the driver, glanced at the rearview mirror, confused.
Murong Yan, sitting in the back, remained expressionless, his gaze fixed on the scene outside.
“CEO Murong, are we still going to the airport?”
Their original plan to head to the airport had been interrupted when they learned that someone from Brand Marketing was delivering the concept art. Worried about potential problems, Murong Yan had decided to check the roadshow venue. They had coincidentally encountered the young man at the mall entrance and offered him a ride.
“Not yet.” Murong Yan closed his eyes, rubbing his temples. “Find a place to park nearby.”
“Yes, CEO Murong,” Yu Qi acknowledged. He hesitated, then asked, “That colleague from Brand Marketing seemed to call you Mr. Cheng?”
Cheng.
Murong Yan’s eyes narrowed slightly.
The only general manager surnamed Cheng was Cheng Geng from the Legal Department.
For some reason, this young man had mistaken him for Cheng Geng.
It didn’t matter.
Murong Yan gave a noncommittal “Hmm” and raised the partition separating the front and back seats.
“Wait for Duan Shao’s update. Once we confirm everything is alright upstairs, we’ll head to the airport.”
