Shooting an endorsement commercial was naturally a job for a professional advertising agency. Although Xie Xi didn't charge an endorsement fee, the advertising agency still required a hefty service fee.
Therefore, when Professor Ye processed the payment from the company's account, she felt a little pang of heartache over the money.
When the day of the commercial shoot arrived, Ye Qiusuo remembered her good friend's words and decided to go over and take a look.
She was still at the university in the morning. By noon, she called to invite Rong Shiyun to go with her.
"At noon?" Rong Shiyun wished she could hug her poor self. "There's a welcome party on the professor's side, and I have to go."
"Xie Xi will be shooting until six in the afternoon at the latest before he leaves."
Rong Shiyun whimpered a few times, and finally could only say, "Then you go visit the set. If you see him, it's as good as me seeing him."
"...Mhm."
In the end, the person who originally wanted to go couldn't make it.
Ye Qiusuo went over alone to watch Xie Xi's shoot, arriving just in time for their break.
Xie Xi was sitting in a chair letting the makeup artist touch up his makeup, while the director was saying something next to him. As soon as he saw Ye Qiusuo, he tilted his head to dodge the makeup artist's hand, stood up, and walked toward the main entrance.
"You..." Noticing that the nearby staff members were observing them, Xie Xi changed his words, "Why is Professor here?"
Generally speaking, after the advertising agency finished the final cut, they would hand it over to the company to choose. The client wouldn't specially come over to check on the shoot.
"To come see you," Ye Qiusuo said straightforwardly.
Before today, if Xie Xi had heard this sentence, he would definitely have been very happy, and might even wonder if the other party cared about him a little.
But the shooting had already been going on for the whole morning, and right now, Xie Xi absolutely did not want Ye Qiusuo to come over and watch him shoot the commercial.
For no other reason than the fact that the advertised product was a pair of glasses. In order to make it easier for ordinary people to understand, the commercial's visual effects utilized a sci-fi-like scenario where the human eye, looking through the glasses, would see a light blue wireframe composition. However, as the spokesperson, Xie Xi had to act out interacting with thin air, which looked incredibly awkward to watch live on set.
The director over there obviously also recognized Ye Qiusuo. He walked over to greet her, assuming that Ye Qiusuo was here to supervise the work. He instantly perked up, wanting to explain the progress to her.
"Director, please go about your business. I'm just here to take a look." Ye Qiusuo's original intention was to bring Rong Shiyun along, but in the end, she came alone.
"Brother Xi, it's time for lunch." Zhang Dong came in carrying bags of food, followed by a few people carrying large insulated boxes.
Seeing Professor Ye, Zhang Dong subconsciously looked toward Xie Xi.
Had his brother's dream come true?
He had been dispirited for the past few days, wanting to see Professor Ye. Now that she had come to visit the set, he should be happy!
"Have you... eaten yet? Want to join me?" Xie Xi asked Ye Qiusuo.
"Professor Ye, join us. We definitely ordered extra food," Zhang Dong chimed in from the side.
Finally, under Zhang Dong's arrangement, a folding table was set up and filled with various dishes. The other large boxes were ordered for the staff present; each of them received a box of rice, a box of dishes, and a bowl of soup.
"You didn't send me your calligraphy practice yesterday," Ye Qiusuo picked up her chopsticks and suddenly said.
Xie Xi's hand paused, his heart feeling somewhat complicated. He would send her the results of his handwriting practice every week. Yesterday marked a week, and he had already taken the photo, but in the end, he gave up on sending it.
Every time Ye Qiusuo received his calligraphy photos, she basically only replied with two sentences.
Beginning: Received.
End: You've made progress, keep up the good work.
Xie Xi almost thought he was talking to a software bot.
So yesterday he deliberately didn't send it. By the end of this morning, having received no message from her, Xie Xi was feeling down. While shooting the commercial, others couldn't tell, but Zhang Dong became increasingly cautious, terrified of provoking this diva.
He never expected that at noon, Ye Qiusuo would come to the shooting set and ask him this question.
Could it be that Professor Ye specially came today just because he didn't send a message yesterday?
Xie Xi suddenly felt that playing hard to get was a great strategy!
"I wasn't feeling well yesterday, so I forgot to send it."
"I see..." Professor Ye thought for a moment and said, "You don't need to send it anymore. Just practice on your own at home."
Xie Xi: "???" That wasn't what he meant!
Shouldn't a normal person ask what was wrong with his health, or if he was feeling better now, or other such caring words?
"My handwriting still isn't good enough," Xie Xi could only say dryly.
"You've already made a lot of progress. You learn very quickly."
After Xie Xi put on his glasses and could see the characters clearly, he spent time matching them with the text in his memory, and learned very quickly after that.
The great superstar Xie profoundly experienced what it meant to shoot oneself in the foot.
Sitting next to him, Zhang Dong cast a sympathetic glance at Xie Xi before burying his head to eat.
"This is delicious." After a while, Xie Xi pointed at a plate of stir-fried lamb and said to Ye Qiusuo. He didn't pick up the food and put it directly into her bowl.
When facing someone you truly like, you always worry about gains and losses, act constrained, and dare not overstep your bounds even a single step.
Ye Qiusuo was just about to give it a try when her phone suddenly rang. She looked down at the screen; it was a call from the company. She turned slightly and answered the phone: "What is it?"
Opposite her, Xie Xi raised his eyes to look at Ye Qiusuo's profile. Her eyelashes were incredibly long and curled. She was clearly breathtakingly exquisite, yet it seemed no one had ever noticed, perhaps because her gaze was always so firm and calm.
"Breach of contract?" Ye Qiusuo lowered her eyelashes, her face turning frosty. "How many people?"
The person on the other end must have still been explaining. After listening, Ye Qiusuo said, "I'm heading over right now."
After hanging up the phone, Ye Qiusuo bid farewell to the two of them. She had only taken a few bites of the food on the table.
"Wait." Without thinking, Xie Xi grabbed Ye Qiusuo's hand. When she looked over, he immediately let go. "Take this with you."
He picked up a creamy green jujube from the table and stuffed it into Ye Qiusuo's hand.
"Thank you." Ye Qiusuo accepted it, turned around, and left.
After she left, Xie Xi sat back down, completely losing his appetite.
"She's run into some trouble."
This was the first time Xie Xi had seen Ye Qiusuo's mood change so drastically. He didn't know what the person on the other end had said, but her expression had changed almost instantly.
"Brother Xi, don't worry. I think someone as amazing as Professor Ye will definitely be able to solve it," Zhang Dong comforted him.
...
Ye Qiusuo drove to Tianqiu Technology, various thoughts swirling in her mind along the way.
Tianqiu Technology had been established for less than ten years. The first batch of researchers who joined had a very good relationship with Ye Qiusuo; they were the initial founding members of the company. The contracts Ye Qiusuo had drawn up back then were basically in favor of the researchers, granting them a great deal of freedom. Later, as the company grew, this contract template was continuously maintained.
Excluding the researchers recruited in the past two years, the middle batch of researchers had almost shouldered the entire development process of Tianqiu Technology. They enjoyed the same treatment as the first batch of researchers, except they didn't hold shares. They were the mainstays of the entire company.
Just now, the company called to say that two researchers who had initially signed one-year contracts and automatically renewed them year by year had submitted their termination agreements together today. There were two others who had signed ten-year contracts right off the bat; since they couldn't terminate them normally, they were directly offering to pay the penalty for breach of contract.
Four people wanting to leave on the exact same day—who would believe there wasn't a problem behind this?
Ye Qiusuo took large strides through the company's main entrance, took out her ID card to swipe through the turnstile, and walked briskly into the elevator. By the time she stepped out, she had already regained her composure.
"Professor Ye."
"Professor Ye."
As soon as Ye Qiusuo walked in, the two individuals looking to terminate their contracts greeted her. The other two researchers, who were there to pay their breach of contract penalties, stood silently to the side.
There were two other people in the room. One was the HR Director of Tianqiu Technology, whose face was filled with anxiety, and the other...
Was the top-tier lawyer of the Lu Group. He handled all sorts of thorny cases for the Lu Group year-round and had never lost a single one.
Ye Qiusuo walked straight past the group and went directly to the desk. She sat down in the chair and opened the four contracts laid out in front of her.
A few minutes later, Ye Qiusuo picked up a black gel pen nearby, signed her name on all four contracts, and then took the company seal to stamp each one.
"You may leave now."
Everyone in the room froze.
No one had expected her to let them go so straightforwardly the moment she arrived.
"President Ye!" the HR Director cried out anxiously.
These four people leaving wasn't just a simple departure. Aside from the completed projects, if they left, they were allowed to take their current, unfinished projects with them. This was a special perk granted in their original contracts.
It was important to note that the projects these four were currently handling were exactly the ones Tianqiu had been heavily developing over the past few years. Setting aside the massive funding already invested, what they held in their hands was the very future of Tianqiu.
If they were allowed to leave, Tianqiu would inevitably suffer a devastating blow. It might not be immediately apparent, but the plans for the next few years would essentially have to start from scratch.
"Sign here," Ye Qiusuo said, handing the pen to the HR Director. "Let them go."
The HR Director locked eyes with Ye Qiusuo, but ultimately could only lower his head and sign the papers.
Seeing her let them go so easily, the four researchers suddenly felt a twinge of indignance. After all, prior to today, they had been highly valued within the company; it went without saying that everyone who saw them would respectfully greet them.
"Does Professor Ye have anything to say to us?"
Ye Qiusuo looked up at them and said indifferently, "Pay the breach of contract penalty first, then you can take your contracts and leave."
"..."
Ye Qiusuo picked up the desk phone and dialed the internal line for the IT department. She listed off the names of the four individuals and instructed, "Deactivate these four ID cards."
Afterwards, she had Zhao Guiyin apply for four single-use exit passes.
"Director Ji, please wait until the penalty fees have been received before having Assistant Zhao issue their single-use exit passes," Ye Qiusuo said, before standing up to leave.
"Understood."
A single-use exit pass was different from a temporary ID card. Anyone holding this pass would be subjected to a strict security check. Personnel would be dispatched to conduct thorough inspections at every turnstile to ensure that departing employees did not take any company property with them.
Since these four were also taking their projects with them, their inspection procedures would be different from those of regular departing employees. Another department would also be mobilized; all of their materials had to be openly reviewed to ensure nothing extra was being smuggled out before they were permitted to leave.
"Professor Ye," called out another one of the men who had chosen not to renew his contract, stopping Ye Qiusuo in her tracks. "We just want to see our projects succeed. Now that Tianqiu is under your leadership... we researchers should just focus on what researchers do best."
He didn't believe Tianqiu Technology had a bright future. Although Ye Qiusuo excelled at her projects and was much smarter than most, managing a company was a task better suited for someone with actual business acumen. Furthermore, the compensation offered by the Lu Group was simply too high. Between a startup established less than a decade ago and a corporate behemoth of a family enterprise, he naturally chose the latter.
"Then I wish you all the best in getting what you want."
The news of the four researchers leaving Tianqiu Technology together quickly spread throughout the entire company. After all, the commotion was too big to ignore.
That evening, Song Jiren and several other shareholders rushed over, demanding to know why Ye Qiusuo had let them go.
"We've invested so much capital, and now they're leaving with more than half of the results. Is Tianqiu supposed to just feed on air for the next few years?"
"President Ye, you must already have a countermeasure. Could you enlighten us?" Song Jiren asked.
