The crowd emerged from the elevator, led by a man in a black suit with subtle patterns, followed by his assistant and several department heads.
Among the group, he always stood out the most. An Ning’s gaze swept over and instantly landed on him.
Tall with long legs, one hand tucked in his pocket, his noble and aloof aura seemed innate.
The sound of his thin-soled black leather shoes meeting the floor coincided perfectly with the rhythm of An Ning’s heartbeat.
Watching the man stride directly toward her, An Ning instinctively took two steps back to make way for them.
The man’s handsome face was stern, his eyes as indifferent as ever. As he brushed past her, An Ning caught the faint scent of sandalwood and cedar from him.
Arrogant and cold, his eyes never once glanced in her direction from start to finish.
As if she didn’t exist at all.
In contrast, Liang Xu, walking behind him, cast a glance her way. His eyes held a scrutinizing tone, his brows slightly furrowed before he averted his gaze.
An Ning followed them inside, quietly returning to her seat.
Sun Liangying, shedding her earlier seriousness, greeted Lu Xiyan and Liang Xu with excessive enthusiasm. She addressed them repeatedly as “President Lu” and “President Liang,” spouting all sorts of polished pleasantries before elaborating on how sincere Hao Wei was and how perfect the project was.
The man in the main seat had heard enough of such flattery. With a calm expression, he gestured for her to present a feasible project proposal.
His gaze swept across the room and settled on the figure in white.
Her head was bowed, revealing a slender, pale neck. A touch of crimson on her lips accentuated her fair, rosy complexion.
Did she not know that Oten was his company, or had she come here deliberately despite knowing?
Her expertise was clearly in foreign language translation—since when had she become a senior nutritionist?
One by one, the staff took the stage to present their project proposals. Lu Xiyan maintained a cold expression, neither expressing satisfaction nor dissatisfaction.
Sun Liangying, seated nearby, couldn’t decipher the thoughts of this formidable figure but noticed a trace of impatience in his eyes.
As for the other vice president, Liang Xu, he occasionally jotted down a few words with his pen but remained noncommittal.
With only two proposals left to present, Sun Liangying, who had been quite confident earlier, began to feel uneasy.
She had initially intended to let An Ning take the stage, having been impressed by her extensive resume.
Just then, Li Hui suddenly stood up. “I’ll go,” she volunteered to present her project proposal.
Sun Liangying didn’t object and let her take the stage.
Li Hui first handed her project proposal to the assistant behind Lu Xiyan, then inserted her USB drive into the computer. The project proposal PPT appeared on the screen.
Confidently, she stepped onto the stage and began explaining her plan.
Who went first or last made no difference to An Ning. She kept her head down, worrying that her proposal would be ruthlessly rejected by Lu Xiyan the moment it was presented.
When she heard Li Hui’s explanation, An Ning suddenly jerked her head up. Her eyes narrowed in shock as she stared at the flipping slides.
Li Hui’s project proposal was identical to hers!
Instinctively, she flipped open the project proposal beside her and froze, blood rushing to her head.
The project proposal in her hands wasn’t hers!
It had been swapped!
Her gaze shot toward the composed Li Hui on stage, her eyes filled with disbelief.
The other party’s gaze held not a trace of guilt but rather a hint of smugness, as she confidently continued presenting her proposal.
An Ning’s hands on the table clenched abruptly. She never expected this young woman, who had been so friendly all along, would steal her project proposal at this critical moment!
Lu Xiyan casually flipped through a few pages of the project proposal, his indifferent eyes sweeping over the woman seated below. He noticed her thin lips pressed tightly together and her delicate brows slightly furrowed.
She was clearly angry.
Lu Xiyan recognized the expression all too well.
He lowered his gaze to the project proposal in his hands, lost in thought.
After seeing the PowerPoint prepared by Li Hui, Sun Liangying’s anxious expression relaxed slightly. She immediately glanced at the two key figures from Oten—one remained impassive, while the other seemed to nod in approval.
Sun Liangying’s tense heart eased. There was hope for this collaboration.
As Li Hui concluded her presentation, Sun Liangying’s eyes filled with approval.
With Li Hui’s final “Thank you,” the room erupted into satisfied applause.
Just then, a voice chimed in, “This project is quite impressive—the most satisfactory one so far.”
Liang Xu turned to Sun Liangying, “Sun Zhuguan, your judgment in hiring is indeed commendable.”
He then shifted his gaze to Lu Xiyan, “What do you think, President Lu?”
Lu Xiyan gave a slight nod, “To save time for both parties, there’s no need to review the remaining proposals. Let’s tentatively go with this one.”
With that, he stood up, ready to adjourn the meeting early.
“Wait!”
A clear voice interrupted their conversation.
An Ning abruptly rose from her seat. Ignoring Lu Xiyan, she fixed her gaze on Sun Liangying and stated firmly, “Sun Zhuguan, the project proposal and PowerPoint that Li Hui just presented were mine.”
Her words caused an uproar in the room. Everyone looked at her in disbelief.
Seeing the nearly finalized collaboration disrupted, Sun Liangying’s expression turned impatient, “Are you suggesting Li Hui stole your proposal?”
“Yes,” An Ning pushed her own proposal forward. “The one in my hands isn’t mine—it was swapped.”
“An Ning, don’t make baseless accusations!” Li Hui’s youthful face was full of innocence. “I stayed up all night working on this proposal. How could it be yours?”
She then turned to Sun Liangying, defending herself passionately, “Besides, the proposal was only finalized by Sun Zhuguan last night. We’ve all kept our proposals with us the entire time. How could I have swapped them? And if I had used your proposal, how could I have explained the details so thoroughly?”
An Ning’s hands at her sides slowly clenched.
Li Hui was right—everyone had kept their proposals with them.
Except she hadn’t!
She had stepped away to the restroom.
And Li Hui had been sitting right beside her.
She was certain the proposal had been swapped at that moment.
Reflecting on it now, Li Hui’s unusually warm and friendly demeanor that morning had all been a ploy to get her hands on the project proposal.
That was how Li Hui had managed to grasp the details of the proposal so thoroughly in such a short time.