Time without Chu Yu always passed by so quickly.
In the blink of an eye, the day of the Vista exchange meeting had arrived.
Ci Wenjun sat inside the car. Shenzhen had experienced another snowfall two days prior.
She wore a meticulously tailored suit, its dark red cuffs embroidered with delicate golden thread.
Outside, the weather was freezing and damp. Beneath the lingering twilight, the world outside was a vast, blinding white.
She silently lowered the car window, letting the biting cold air wash over her. Parting her vividly painted red lips slightly, she exhaled a puff of white mist.
Her gaze drifted blankly out the window.
Low-profile, luxurious luxury cars lined up in an orderly fashion. Business tycoons and industry newcomers stepped out one after another, all wearing radiant, beaming smiles, making it impossible to tell whether their facades were hypocritical pleasantries or genuine warmth.
“What is wrong? Are you nervous?”
Chai Xinyu, sitting on the opposite side, turned her head slightly. Her refined eyes lifted in silence, her pitch-black pupils resembling sharp, cold stars in the dim interior of the car.
Ci Wenjun startled at the question. The woman who had been silent the entire journey suddenly spoke, pulling her galloping train of thought forcibly back to reality.
She shook her head, a faint smile instinctively tugging at the corners of her lips.
Most of what she felt inside was not something she could voice to outsiders.
Rather than offering a deliberate explanation, she pivoted to a new topic.
“Why are we sitting out here?”
As the host of this banquet, Chai Xinyu could easily have entered directly from the backstage. For some reason, however, she had chosen to linger anonymously among the rows of vehicles.
Chai Xinyu chuckled, turning her head to look out the window just like Ci Wenjun. The non-prescription decorative glasses she wore refracted the dazzling lights outside.
“Do you not find them interesting?”
At every single exchange meeting, Chai Xinyu genuinely felt that the people attending were endlessly fascinating.
Hypocrisy, greed, soaring ambition, sanctimonious righteousness, countless masks took turns performing on stage.
What fun was there in watching from a high platform?
She thoroughly enjoyed mingling within the crowd, blending into the mass performance.
Interesting?
A massive question mark popped up in Ci Wenjun’s mind.
After a long moment, she brushed the confusion aside. The thought processes of top-tier prodigies like this were simply beyond her comprehension.
Just like Chu Yu.
The mere thought of Chu Yu caused the aura surrounding Ci Wenjun to inevitably wither.
Neither she nor Chai Xinyu were particularly talkative. As sudden silence settled over them, neither of them felt awkward; instead, the atmosphere remained remarkably harmonious.
Suddenly, Chai Xinyu chuckled aloud, softly humming a deeply familiar tune.
It was a melody she knew well, though she couldn’t quite recall the title.
Thinking that while she herself preferred peace and quiet, she couldn’t just leave the host hanging.
“President Chai seems to be in a good mood?”
As the brief humming faded, Chai Xinyu’s eyes held a trace of a smile, though it failed to reach the depths of her pupils.
“So-so.”
The conversation was brought to an utterly unremarkable end.
“I am a bit curious.”
“About what?”
Chai Xinyu assumed she would ask why she had changed her female companion this year.
“Why did you give our company a chance back then?”
Without a second thought, Chai Xinyu replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Why shouldn’t I give you a chance?”
Back then, although Start had only been established for a short while, its momentum was ferocious. Even though Ci Wenjun always modestly called herself an ordinary person, her business acumen was anything but ordinary.
In a mere two years, she had managed to stand out among a sea of small workshops.
Cosmetics were unlike any other industry.
It required massive inputs of energy and capital in the early stages, followed by a long, grueling cycle just to see the seeds sprout and bear fruit.
That was assuming, of course, that one genuinely wanted to make quality cosmetics.
In this era plagued by information clutter, merchants chased fame and fortune. Plenty of companies rushed half-finished products onto the market in a panic, and worse yet, bribed officials, pulled strings, and launched aggressive promotional campaigns before their products even met regulatory standards.
Unsuspecting masses, swept along by the rumors, became lambs led to the slaughter.
Everyone was looking for ways to cash in on the hype, harvest a wave of leeks, and make a quick buck.
Even if they were caught, they would simply shed their skin amidst the chaos, reinvent themselves under a brand-new name, and harvest another round of leeks in an endless cycle.
Amidst that trend, Start was a freak.
Weak, battered by wind and rain, yet harboring a pure, burning aspiration.
A pure aspiration?
In truth, who among those entering this industry hadn’t once harbored a pure aspiration?
Everyone had once vowed to create genuinely high-value products to give back to the public.
And yet, what was the result?
Those with ideals were swallowed by the masses; those with talent betrayed their conscience.
The market would change them; money would erode them.
That shining aspiration would eventually shed its brilliance, becoming nothing more than an insignificant speck of dust in the long river of time.
“Because someone told me that sincere people are precious, and pure-hearted people are the easiest to make money from.”
At that, a hint of playful amusement crept into Chai Xinyu’s eyes.
She looked at Ci Wenjun with undisguised teasing.
“I am a capitalist, looking only toward money. And I have been lucky enough that Miss Ci has never disappointed me.”
In a mere five years, Start’s market value had multiplied tenfold.
It had transformed into a scorching, highly sought-after industry newcomer in Shenzhen and across the entire nation.
Outside, rumors flew thick and fast, but nothing could alter the fact that Start had already grown into a towering, thriving tree of life. It was no longer the easily manipulated little workshop of five years ago.
“President Chai, thank you.”
Looking directly into Chai Xinyu’s eyes, Ci Wenjun offered a solemn and sincere expression of gratitude.
She knew better than anyone what that contract with Chai Xinyu five years ago had meant to her and to Start as a whole. To put it bluntly, it had been a life-and-death struggle for survival between her and Start.
Because of her, and because of her former employer’s deliberate sabotage, that path had been far from easy, in fact, it had been agonizingly difficult. Surrounded by wolves and tigers, she had stood alone with zero support.
The outside world was filled entirely with skepticism. Avalanche-like streams of tabloid marketing had targeted her, drowning her out, tearing her apart word by word until she was left completely flayed.
Far too many people wanted to drag her down into the mud, waiting for her to fall so they could step heavily on her, watch her make a fool of herself, and tear her apart piece by piece.
Chai Xinyu looked at the elegant woman before her.
Her eyes were filled with undisguised admiration.
Even without Chu Yu, she thought, she would still hold a deep appreciation for this woman.
Assuming she could still see, that is.
“To be honest, I am a bit curious. What on earth did you do to make Deyas treat you like a rabid dog refusing to let go?”
In truth, not just Chai Xinyu, anyone who understood the grudge between Ci Wenjun and Deyas was intensely curious.
After all, the moment Ci Wenjun resigned, Deyas had issued an industry-wide kill order against her.
Many people had first learned of this woman through that very kill order.
Logically speaking, Ci Wenjun had only been a department manager when she resigned.
That position wasn’t small by any means, but it certainly hadn’t given her access to the company’s core inner circle.
Yet for a twenty-six-year-old Ci Wenjun at the time, it could unquestionably be called young and accomplished.
Especially since she had achieved it all without any backing, relying purely on extraordinary capability.
Therefore, facing a talent like that, how could Deyas be foolish enough to stand in direct opposition to her?
Even Deyas’s top executives had unanimously agreed on the move.
Did they genuinely believe a tiny ant like Ci Wenjun couldn’t stir up any waves?
If that were the case, why bother issuing an industry-wide kill order against her?
A public grievance? A private vendetta?
Or had she gotten hold of some unspeakable secret?
Yet, just as Chai Xinyu had deduced earlier, what kind of secrets could a position like hers hold that would cause Deyas to hunt her relentlessly for eight whole years, even now acting like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, ready to strike at any moment?
Ci Wenjun showed no surprise; she had anticipated the question long ago.
Yet she merely smiled, remained silent, and shook her head, refusing to answer.
Everyone had their own secrets. Chai Xinyu was curious about her secrets, but not to the point of a desperate excavation.
She wasn’t a paparazzi reporter who lost her mind the moment she caught a scent.
She was simply asking out of routine, substituting on behalf of a concerned friend.
“Alright, it is almost time for us to make our entrance.”
Chu Yu’s suit jacket was draped over her forearm, leaving her dressed in just a black shirt and a gray striped vest.
Her straight suit trousers fell smoothly against her legs, crafted from some fabric of unknown origin that caught the golden, luxurious lighting, emitting a fluid, lustrous sheen.
Amidst the biting gusts of wind, she seemed entirely immune to the cold.
Her back was held straight.
Elsewhere:
“Why are you standing outside, Miss Chu?”
Behind her, the heavy glass door was pushed open by a beautiful woman clad in a red dress.
Chu Yu didn’t even turn her head.
“Boring. They are too noisy.”
Who “they” referred to went without saying.
The woman glanced sideways past her. The gorgeous glass door sliced the indoor and outdoor spaces into two distinct worlds.
Inside was a place of biting wind and pale, watery moonlight where outside traffic surged and the moon hung suspended in mid-air.
Outside was a space warm as a greenhouse, where luxurious lighting cast an air of decadent debauchery. Glasses clinked, and greedy faces were magnified endlessly in her vision.
The moment Chu Yu stepped back inside, she was swarmed from all directions. Every gaze directed at her carried naked, calculating motives.
Their schemes were completely transparent in Chu Yu’s eyes.
Each of them looked like a self-satisfied clown.
In recent years, she rarely operated domestically, devoting her heart and soul to expanding the North American market while striving to fulfill her grandmother’s dying wish.
Routine social interactions were delegated entirely to her assistants and secretaries.
“You really lack seasoning. You are a grown adult, yet this won’t do. Since you are back in the country, you should attend a few more banquets and get used to it.”
Get used to it?
Chu Yu arched a brow playfully, a flicker of disdain crossing her deep gaze as she let out a cold hum.
“Who do they think they are that I need to get used to it?”
“Tch.”
Chu Yu was as arrogant as ever.
Anyone who knew her understood the malice hidden beneath her seemingly gentle facade, she looked down on everyone equally.
“Show-off.”
The woman retorted unceremoniously.
“Hmph, that is called having backing.”
Undisguised complacency.
Tang Di let out a cold, disgruntled snort.
“Damn it, she successfully flexed again.”
Tang Di felt unsatisfied, yet utterly unable to refute her.
If anyone ever asked Tang Di:
Do the rich hate the rich?
She would undoubtedly answer without a single hesitation: Of course.
Chu Yu was the most vivid example.
Chu Yu, who even is she?
She was none other than the eldest miss of the prestigious Chu family in the capital, the sole direct heir of the Chu family, and the sole controlling shareholder of Bai Fen Bai Technology.
At the same time, she commanded one of the four major auction houses in North America.
To say her financial power and influence reached the heavens was no exaggeration.
If this woman didn’t usually vanish like a dragon seeing only its tail and maintain an extreme low profile, her background and identity could completely hijack financial television channels and sweep across every major news headline.
Someone who had stepped onto the world stage standing right on top of a giant’s shoulders from the moment of birth, what aspect of her life wasn’t top-tier?
How could anyone not envy her?
Such massive wealth, and not a single person to fight her for it.
With that thought, and then thinking of the chaotic mess back in her own family, Tang Di instantly felt her head swell to twice its size.
She wanted to assassinate Chu Yu every single day.
And that sentiment was never just a joke.
“I thought you were standing out here to cosplay a waiting wife.”
Chu Yu shot her a cold glance and remained silent.
“Still, Chai Xinyu and the others are almost here. You…”
The next second, Chu Yu moved.
“I am heading to the tea room.”
“Hey! Why are you like this! By the way, where is Xiao Chen? I haven’t seen her in ages.”
An entirely expected reaction.
Pushing open the door, the long-shut-out clamor rushed over her like a tidal wave, as if eager to amplify the accumulated noise several times over and throw it back at her. Chu Yu frowned, a layer of irritation spreading across the depths of her eyes.
She left behind a cold, curt sentence:
“The tea room.”
In the distance, the grand entrance captured everyone’s attention. People swarmed forward, blocking the two newly arrived figures into an impenetrable wall.
“President Chai, long time no see!”
“Long time no see.”
“This must be President Ci, long admired, long admired.”
“President Ci, a pleasure to meet you.”
“A pleasure.”
In the distance, subtle snatches of conversation cunningly burrowed into Chu Yu’s ears.
A woman’s voice; a graceful figure.
Uncontrollably, Chu Yu looked over.
Ci Wenjun and Chai Xinyu.
One dressed in gray, the other in white, standing close together with identical masks pinned to their faces.
From a distance, it looked rather blinding.