Wen Shaonian looked at her, remaining silent for roughly three seconds.
She withdrew her pheromones, much like a gust of wind blowing away that fog of cold plum scent, leaving only a faint lingering aftertaste in the air. Wen Shaonian transformed back into that calm and self-possessed iceberg president, as if nothing at all had happened.
“Mhm.” She spoke indifferently, her tone even carrying a hint of satisfaction. “It seems she really is useless.”
“What?” Jiang You had not yet recovered from her previous state, her brain lagging a beat behind.
“Your pheromones showed no fluctuation whatsoever,” Wen Shaonian said, turning to walk toward the lounge door. “It appears the inferior Alpha rating was not fake; you truly possess no threatening capability.”
Standing at the doorway, she turned back to look at Jiang You, her expression as calm as if she were giving a work summary.
“Very good, quite safe.”
Jiang You stood frozen in place, taking a full three seconds to process what she had just said.
Wen Shaonian releasing her pheromones just now had not been to flirt with her; it was merely to inspect the merchandise.
She was verifying whether Jiang You was truly a useless Alpha and whether being together with her was entirely safe.
Jiang You was utterly dumbfounded. Her mouth opened several times, but not a single word came out. She looked down at herself. Her shirt was half on, one sleeve still unthreaded, her chest exposed with the edge of her undergarment faintly visible.
Just moments ago, she had been scorched all over, overheated, and nearly lost control due to Wen Shaonian’s pheromones.
And Wen Shaonian? She had remained as calm throughout as if she were conducting a scientific experiment, ultimately concluding with the verdict: safe.
Jiang You was practically furious, fighting hard to swallow the profanities rising to her throat.
A useless Alpha has dignity, too, you know!
Could you please not be so blunt about it? Even if you had to say it, couldn’t you phrase it a bit more tactfully? Something like “your pheromones are very gentle” or “being with you feels very reassuring”? Did you really have to use phrasing like “truly useless”? Do you have any idea how heartbreaking that is?
Yet Jiang You dared to be angry without daring to speak out, forced to swallow all her grievance and resentment back down into her stomach, silently putting her shirt back on and buttoning it up one by one. By the time she reached the topmost button, her fingers were still trembling.
She could not tell whether it was from anger or from the lingering effects of the pheromones.
Leaning against the lounge doorway, Wen Shaonian watched Jiang You get dressed, sizing her up in a leisurely manner as if quite pleased with her own taste in clothing. She turned and walked out of the lounge. “Let us go, we have an appointment at the Civil Affairs Bureau at nine-thirty.”
Like a timid little wife, no matter how much Jiang You gnashed her teeth internally, she still obediently followed along.
In front of the Civil Affairs Bureau.
Wen Shaonian parked the car, and the two of them walked inside one after the other.
The entire marriage registration process was blindingly fast. Filling out forms, taking pictures, and stamping seals took less than twenty minutes in total. During the photo session, the photographer instructed them to lean in closer. Wen Shaonian did not change expression as she shifted half an inch toward Jiang You, while Jiang You did not even dare to breathe, forcing a stiff smile onto her lips.
“Alright, smile, perfect!”
When the photo came out, Jiang You glanced at it and decided it was passable, at least making her look like she was not being coerced at gunpoint.
Wen Shaonian looked at the marriage certificates for two seconds before expressionlessly tucking them into her bag.
“We are done,” she said, then turned and walked straight out of the Civil Affairs Bureau.
Jiang You followed right behind her, a wave of relief washing over her as she thought she could finally catch a break. She had requested time off, a full half-day! With two hours still left, she could just grab a meal with a good friend. The thought alone sounded blissful.
Instead, Wen Shaonian pulled open the driver-side door and tossed out a single sentence without looking back: “Get in the car.”
Instinctively executing orders, Jiang You pulled open the front passenger door, sat down, fastened her seatbelt, and cautiously asked, “President Wen, um, regarding that half-day leave I requested, can I perhaps…”
“Back to the company.” Wen Shaonian cut her off and started the ignition.
Jiang You froze for a second, opening her mouth to say, “President Wen, I took time off,” but the words died on her lips. Seeing Wen Shaonian’s expressionless profile, all her courage evaporated into cowardly silence. She did not dare say it.
She wailed frantically in her heart: My time off! The half-day leave I worked so hard to get! Just like that, gone?! You cannot do this, President Wen. My time is not up yet; could you not let me steal a moment of laziness? My soul was scared half out of my body this morning, and now I have to go back this afternoon to face all those data sheets. My life matters, too!
Yet she remained cowardly, not daring to utter a single syllable.
Meanwhile, Wen Shaonian drove with her eyes fixed intently ahead, not sparing her even a sidelong glance.
Jiang You cursed her boss back and forth eight hundred times in her heart, while outwardly sitting as quiet as a mouse, her hands placed neatly and properly on her knees, behaving as obediently as an elementary schooler.
Five minutes into the drive, Wen Shaonian suddenly spoke up.
“I looked over the data model for the Lingxi patch.”
Jiang You’s heart gave a sudden thump, instinctively sitting up straight.
“The precision barely reached 82 percent, but it is still a long way from the 95 percent commercial standard.” Wen Shaonian’s tone was flat, but every word felt like a knife driving straight in. “I have reviewed your proposal. The core algorithm is fine, but the threshold set for sensor sensitivity is far too conservative. Why did you not dare to push it higher?”
Jiang You opened her mouth, completely at a loss for how to explain.
Without giving her a chance to speak, Wen Shaonian continued: “And the user experience section. You ran blind tests, and I read the reports, too. The data looks pretty, but you completely ignored several items in the user feedback. Some people reported a foreign-body sensation after putting the patch on. Did you solve this issue in the iterative plan? No. You poured all your energy into boosting precision, while completely overlooking the most fundamental wearing comfort.”
“President Wen, about that foreign-body sensation issue, we…”
“I know what you want to say, cost issues.” Wen Shaonian interrupted her once again. “Changing materials increases costs, and increased costs mean raising the price point, which you are afraid will impact the market. But you need to understand that if a product fails to nail its basic experience, nobody will care to wear it no matter how high the precision is. If it is uncomfortable to wear, who cares how accurate it is?”
Jiang You was left completely speechless, her head drooping so low it was practically touching her knees.
She wanted to die.
She genuinely wanted to die.
She could already vividly picture next week’s meeting, where Wen Shaonian would tear her proposal to shreds right in front of the entire department. By then, the president’s classic quotes would need an update: “Team Leader Jiang, you spent three months producing this piece of garbage. Are you serious?”
Just thinking about it made Jiang You feel like her career had already reached its end.
“And that concept of partner adaptation,” Wen Shaonian pressed on. “Your team’s entry point was correct, but the execution was far too conservative. Similar products on the market are all competing fiercely on precision. Do you think hitting 95 percent means you win? No. If you reach 95 percent, everyone else can reach 95 percent, too. What you need to do is create something others cannot achieve, instead of rolling in the exact same lane.”
Jiang You could not help lifting her head, asking timidly, “Then, how does President Wen think it should be done?”
Taking advantage of a red light, Wen Shaonian turned her head to look at her. That gaze held three parts indifference, three parts scrutiny, three parts of “I cannot believe you had to ask such a question,” and one final part of an emotion Jiang You could not decipher.
“Figure it out yourself,” Wen Shaonian said, retracting her gaze. “If I have to determine every single direction, what do I need you for?”
Jiang You stared blankly for a moment.
She knew that was going to be the answer.
The car continued moving forward, and Jiang You slumped back against the seat, her mind churning into a complete mess. The issues with the Lingxi patch certainly existed, and she knew it; by letting herself be led by the nose with precision metrics, she had indeed overlooked more fundamental qualities.
Yet why did hearing those words come out of Wen Shaonian’s mouth sting so deeply?
Could she not say it nicely? Did she have to make her feel so utterly incompetent to be satisfied?
Jiang You sneaked a glance at Wen Shaonian’s profile. That face was as exquisite as a work of art, her expression as cold as if she were listening to a boring financial report. She suddenly recalled what had happened in the lounge earlier today: when Wen Shaonian pressed up behind her, sliding her fingers inch by inch upward from her waist, she had thought she was dreaming.
Now she was awake.
It was not a dream; it was a nightmare.
This person was simply this cold, whether in the office or the lounge, whether signing an agreement or changing clothes. Her coldness was not an act; it was carved straight into her bones.
You thought she was flirting with you just now? Think again, she was running an experiment.
Jiang You’s vision went black for a moment as she ruthlessly stamped out every last trace of romantic fantasy in her heart.
Before long, the car came to a steady halt in the underground parking garage of Shaohua Group. Wen Shaonian unbuckled her seatbelt and pushed open the door to step out.
Jiang You followed closely behind, trailing step by step toward the elevator. Only the two of them were inside the elevator, quiet enough to hear each other’s breathing. Jiang You stared at the flashing floor numbers on the display, her brain still digesting everything Wen Shaonian had just said.
“Oh, right,” Wen Shaonian suddenly spoke up.
Jiang You immediately snapped her head up like a student called upon by a teacher.
“The keys and address will be sent to you tonight,” Wen Shaonian said. “I have had the housekeeper prepare a room, so you can head right over after work. I have to work overtime today, so do not wait up for me.”
“Oh, okay,” Jiang You obediently nodded.
The elevator stopped at the thirty-sixth floor. Wen Shaonian stepped out and walked away without looking back.
Jiang You rode down further, returning to the design department’s floor.
When the elevator doors opened, she checked her phone: it was only eleven in the morning.
She had clearly requested a morning off, only to have it mercilessly rejected by her sugar mommy without so much as a ripple.
Walking into the design department, the people at their workstations looked utterly shocked to see her back.
“Team Leader? Did you not take time off?” Xiao Lin widened her eyes.
Jiang You sat back down at her workstation, opened her computer, and said expressionlessly, “I canceled my leave.”
“Canceled your leave?!” Xiao Lin’s voice pitched up an octave. “Are you out of your mind? You took time off and you came back anyway? Wait, weren’t you summoned by President Wen this morning? What did she say?”
Remembering that lecture in the car, Jiang You felt her chest start to ache faintly.
“She said my proposal is garbage and made me redo it.”
Xiao Lin’s expression shifted from shock to sympathy as she patted her shoulder. “My condolences.”
Ignoring her, Jiang You simply opened her computer and stared at the dense rows of data on the screen. The more she thought about it, the more miserable she felt. Today was her wedding day, after all! Even though it was a contract marriage, that certificate was real. Even if they had a peaceful breakup later on, she would technically be a divorcee now! What kind of experiences had she even gone through today?
Thinking about how she had to tremble in fear facing her boss every day at work, only to face an iceberg sugar mommy at home.
Jiang You felt even more despairing.