◎CEO's Net Gain: A Whopping $0 ◎
11
Ning Ye had no idea that casually transferring twenty yuan to her future ex-boyfriend would cause such an uproar, even sparking a future technological revolution within the Wujiang Group.
But she vaguely sensed that Bian Xun's gaze towards her had grown dark and profound, as if he was... observing, assessing something?
What's the big deal? It's just that she didn't give him the crystal grape accessory.
Whether it's decorative grapes or real ones, he shouldn't even think about it.
Before learning the plot, she might have considered letting Ning Zhitao meet her father at an opportune moment, treating it as her gaining custody after their divorce, with him getting occasional visitation rights. But now, she had no intention of letting her daughter and herself become cannon fodder in someone else's life.
Ning Ye avoided Bian Xun. Given the disparity in their positions, running into each other at the company should have been difficult anyway.
Their most intimate connection was her secretly adding items to her shopping cart using his black card, but never actually buying anything.
Building up momentum, ready for her and her daughter's Singles' Day.
Leaning against the railing of the atrium corridor, Bian Xun watched Ning Ye hurry past, clutching some documents.
After his black card received that twenty-yuan deposit, the technical department, with the bank's cooperation, immediately launched a trace. His statement showed the precise time and amount, but the counterparty's account number, account name, and bank remained shrouded in obscurity, as if hidden behind an invisible wall.
The research institute even used Bian Xun's personal resources to contact the space-based magnetic network communication base station. After running various simulation algorithms, they presented a bewildering conclusion that very night—it seemed like an action from another dimension.
Of course, they all knew it was impossible, so no one dared to look up at the boss's expression during the report. Yet, within the same timeframe, even employing quantum algorithms failed to uncover the transferring account's information, as if it were folded into a dark side of the data ocean invisible to them.
But Bian Xun felt an increasingly clear intuition.
His dark eyes beneath his brow bone were calm and indifferent as he watched that slender, slight figure run out of the company's main entrance towards the subway station, likely off to visit a client again. The crystal grape charm on her bag still swung and bounced by her side, like a musical note she carried with her.
Last time, he saw Ning Ye passing by in a taxi in front of the building; five minutes later, thirty-six yuan was charged to his card.
This time, they bumped into each other in the pantry; a few minutes later, his card saw a transaction of twenty yuan.
It was hard not to be suspicious.
His subordinates had already checked the serial numbers with all distributors of children's smartwatches on the market. It was confirmed that no single purchase of exactly ten thousand units had occurred, meaning that one watch that appeared was bought individually.
So why pay ten thousand times the price?
A dark undercurrent stirred in Bian Xun's eyes. Could it be that whenever someone fraudulently uses his card, the amount automatically multiplies by ten thousand?
No. He instinctively dismissed that possibility.
Otherwise, why not transfer two hundred thousand?
...
Ning Ye felt an inexplicable chill down her spine, as if cursed by some heartless capitalist.
She went to Qiongxin Company to deliver Wujiang's latest quarterly data report. The contact, Brother Ma, felt a bit bad knowing she'd taken the subway all that way. He pulled her aside, had her put on headphones, and let her try out the game they were developing.
During the process, Brother Ma asked about the audio-visual effects and whether her current headphones could pick up the Easter eggs they'd hidden in the left and right channels. Ning Ye offered her own perspective, giving serious, objective feedback. When she left, Brother Ma gave her shoulder a pat.
By this time, Ning Ye didn't need to return to the office. Rush hour traffic would make taking a taxi slower, so she boarded the subway back towards the city center. Going against the commuter flow, she even found a seat. In a good mood, she arrived at Xialu Kindergarten just as the children finished dinner and were preparing to leave.
But Ning Zhitao seemed in low spirits today, her round eyes beneath curly lashes drooping like a wilted grape.
After collecting her little one, Ning Ye squeezed the child's chubby palm. Like a talking pen, the little girl automatically started telling her mom about her day.
"Gu Zixun says his dad is super amazing. After graduating from university, he went to America for further studies, and when he came back, he became the boss of a big company," Ning Zhitao said unhappily. "It's so weird. How come his dad is just like my dad?"
Ning Ye initially thought the kids were just comparing, but the ending made her suddenly alert.
She asked Ning Zhitao, "Is Gu Zixun your good friend?"
"Not really," Ning Zhitao pointed to her wrist, which was like a lotus root joint, where she wore another little girl's floral hair tie. "Zhang Sijie is my good friend. But Gu Zixun always wants to show us his gold stuff and insists on being my big brother."
"It's okay. You can refuse him. If he doesn't listen, call for Teacher Youzi and have Teacher Youzi ask his parents to come." Ning Ye stroked her child's fluffy head, but a faint premonition stirred within her.
First "a dad just like mine," then wanting to be a big brother, combined with the nanny car she'd seen since school started...
Gu Zixun. The surname was misleading. Could he be using his father's surname? But that was impossible. In the original story, Xu Lanyi never told her ex about the child, so her son's biological father didn't even know he had a child with the current movie queen. And Xu Lanyi had kept the child completely hidden for years, unlikely to risk letting the child use her surname.
This concerned Taotao. After returning home, Ning Ye started searching for information. Online, she found many news articles about Xu's father as an entrepreneur, but the listed relations didn't mention Xu's mother.
She spent some time going through the female lead's few family interviews and finally, in an early corporate annual meeting article about the Xu family, spotted a mention of "Xu's father and his wife, née Gu."
That was it. She gave the child her maternal grandmother's surname.
This Gu Zixun was indeed the female lead's son.
...
In a luxury mansion somewhere in the capital, toy cars were strewn all over the floor. Within five minutes of the nanny cleaning up, picture books and socks were scattered everywhere again.
"I don't want to go to kindergarten! None of them want to play with me!" A four-year-old boy lay on the floor, kicking and wailing. "You never let me go out before! Why do I have to go to school now!"
The impeccably made-up movie queen was now in casual homewear. She pulled her son up from the floor and patiently explained again, "Zixun, don't you want to have friends, have a little sister?"
The little boy was at his most rambunctious age. Having spent most of his life indoors since birth, rarely going out to play, his mother had always indulged him, giving him whatever he wanted. He was spoiled.
Now he threw himself into Xu Lanyi's arms, shrieking, "No, I won't! You said I could see Dad if I went! I'm not going anymore!"
The boy's sharp cries pierced Xu Lanyi's ears, puncturing the pent-up frustration of years. She suddenly gripped the boy's shoulders. "Do you know how much I've sacrificed for you?! Look at the scar on Mommy's stomach! Do you know I can never wear that kind of gown again? Can't you be a little more sensible?!"
Only then did Gu Zixun quiet down, looking up at his mother with a hint of fear.
Xu Lanyi suddenly snapped back to reality, apologetically hugged her son, and slowly stroked the small gold pendant hanging around his neck. The solid gold pendant was engraved with the character "Bian." This was given to her by the old Master Bian, signifying that she had completely gained the Bian family's formal acceptance.
Gold was a symbol of the Bian family's wealth. I wonder what Ning Ye's reaction would be if she knew? Actually, given her status, she didn't need to care about this woman at all.
This woman had schemed so hard, transferring from a small branch company into Bian Xun's group headquarters, moving from a remote area to near the group's main building, even getting her daughter into a nearby kindergarten. Wasn't it all just to wait for a chance encounter with Bian Xun? That way, she could avoid the awkwardness of bringing the child to his doorstep to ask for money.
And now, the news of her and Bian Xun's arranged marriage alliance had spread throughout the Wujiang Group. Soon, she would also be assisting Bian Xun in his career. What did Ning Ye have?
Seeing Bian Xun up close, the man was indeed as cold and stern as ice. But the thought that such a man could melt, could experience turbulent emotions, could dote on a child, stirred a long-lost flutter in her heart.
Xu Lanyi hugged her son. "We will have a wonderful family."
...
That night, Ning Ye took Ning Zhitao to eat the junk food her father never allowed—a child's recovery only required a fried chicken drumstick. The little one was still smacking her lips in her sleep.
Then, Ning Ye leaned by her daughter's bedside, mentally sorting through the plot, realizing the role she had gotten was that of the vicious supporting female character, the foil.
The female lead had never explicitly stated her attitude towards the birth mother of Bian Xun's daughter; her attitude was all hidden in her actions.
She deeply understood the issue of sequence between them. Once she and Bian Xun entered into marriage, Ning Ye's child could only become the illegitimate daughter.
She also deeply understood that in a traditional family like the Bian family, a child born outside, to someone with no family background or connections, and a girl at that—what threat could she possibly pose?
This was the deepest, unspoken strand of superiority complex in Xu Lanyi's bones.
Transferring her son to a new school, letting her know about the Bian family's gold—these were all actually meant to provoke her, to make her quickly appear with the child. Once the "illegitimate daughter" showed up at their door, she would finally have a reason to confess the existence of her own son to Bian Xun.
This sequence seemed unimportant, but in reality, it deeply probed the other party's psychology. Only with a greedy, status-obsessed supporting female character serving as a foil first, could her own years of silent endurance and the hardship and greatness of raising a child alone be highlighted.
As if to add more fuel to the fire, just before the online Double Eleven shopping festival, Xu Lanyi formally entered Wujiang with a grand, high-profile team, launching a promotional livestream primarily focused on the audio-visual product, Cloud Sound Pro.
Last time she came, it was to familiarize herself with the environment. This time, she came to work. This time, the stark contrast between the movie star's hourly rate and the common workers' wages was immediately apparent.
Sister Zhou quietly gossiped to Ning Ye, "I heard the endorsement fee alone is in the tens of millions."
Ning Ye also raised an eyebrow.
No wonder Xu Lanyi would think the supporting female character's mindset would become twisted.
She pondered seriously for a moment. Later, she could consider using Bian Xun's card to buy an apartment for the child, or maybe buy a car first for easier travel.
After this wave of Double Eleven shopping was over, she needed to properly look into it.
After all, it would also be quite hard for her to spend ten million of his money.
The livestream was scheduled for after regular work hours. The marketing department was cooperating with the movie queen's work. Even Sister Zhou couldn't resist working overtime this time, wanting to go to the scene to join the excitement.
"I wonder how many headphones they need to sell tonight to make back that endorsement fee?..."
Ning Ye wasn't very curious. She received another message from Brother Ma at Qiongxin, asking her to come by again if she had time. Honestly, Ning Ye didn't know the reason either, but she always remembered their cooperation back when she was still at the branch company. After a moment's thought, she still went out of respect for him.
That night, Xu Lanyi's promotional livestream was in full swing.
Sitting in the center of the camera frame, Xu Lanyi spotted Bian Xun standing aloof beyond the crowd, a faint smile touching her lips. Soon, her fans flooded into the platform like a tide.
True to her reputation as the actress with the most hardcore career-focused fans, despite not paying much attention to tech products themselves—and with Wujiang's R&D costs and leading technology making a single pair of headphones cost over a thousand yuan—her fans still spontaneously supported their idol's venture, starting to place orders for Cloud Sound Pro one after another during Xu Lanyi's introduction.
Out of the corner of her eye, Xu Lanyi couldn't see where that Ning Ye was.
Bathed in dazzling, brilliant lights, she was betting in her heart on when Bian Xun would find out about his illegitimate daughter.
This was almost a guaranteed win.
After who knows how long into the livestream, Xu Lanyi indeed caught sight of Ning Ye's figure entering with her head down.
Ning Ye went back to the business department first, looking for her team leader, only to find the team leader had also gone to watch the livestream excitement. So she made her way over and found the team leader standing next to the department head, and not far from the department head was the cold, aloof boss himself, arms crossed, eyes half-lidded.
During the intermission, Xu Lanyi indeed saw Ning Ye walking towards Bian Xun's direction.
She wasn't surprised at all, feeling a surge of smug anticipation.
Had that woman finally been driven desperate by her desire for money?
Was she going to confess about that daughter to Bian Xun?
As Ning Ye walked over, Bian Xun's deep, dark gaze fell upon her. Ning Ye handed the contract in her hand to her team leader, not intending to bypass the chain of command.
But unexpectedly, as soon as the team leader opened the letter of intent, he exclaimed in shock, "Ten thousand units?!"
"You're saying Qiongxin wants to order ten thousand Cloud Sound Pro units?!"
Instantly, all eyes gathered on them.
Chang Qi was right by the livestream area joining the excitement and blurted out upon hearing this, "How many has the movie queen sold so far?"
"E-eight hundred-something units..." someone whispered.
The corporate partnership Ning Ye secured could directly generate tens of millions in revenue!
Assistant Zhang was stunned for a second, then stood behind Bian Xun with a smile, starting to applaud. "Boss Bian, an auspicious start."
The recent sustained economic pressure could also ease up a bit.
Everyone congratulated Ning Ye, congratulated Boss Bian.
Bian Xun withdrew his gaze from the girl's smiling face in the crowd. A surge of palpitations, no different from many years earlier, rose in his chest. He looked down, feigning nonchalance, and glanced at the notification on his phone's illuminated screen.
His card had just been charged one ten million.
"?"
Surrounded by everyone, Ning Ye embarrassedly rubbed her head. On the way back, in her happiness, she had also bought a new pair of headphones for herself ^^
Charged to the boss's card.
"..." Bian Xun silently put away his phone.
That night, Wujiang's sales exploded.
The CEO, all things considered, netted zero yuan.
All costs were a loss.
