A day later, at the Haicheng Central Business District.
In front of the towering Mu Group headquarters, the sunlight was so harsh it was almost blinding.
At the main entrance was the familiar setup: a black Mercedes, and inside it, Song Shan and Du Youling staring at each other with wide eyes.
“You’re really going to interview for the president’s assistant position?”
Song Shan rested both hands on the steering wheel, a half-eaten lollipop still dangling from her mouth, craning her neck through the windshield to look up at the Mu Group tower that seemed to pierce straight into the clouds.
“Why not? Next week is the family dinner between our two houses, and three months from now is Du Ningyang’s wedding! Even if I have to force my way in, I’m taking down Mu Linjiang!”
Du Youling was dressed in a light professional suit today, and to look more polished, she’d even put on a pair of black-rimmed glasses.
Song Shan clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Are you saying the public humiliation the day before yesterday wasn’t enough for you? Though honestly, it’s a miracle Mu Linjiang didn’t just dump you in the river!”
Du Youling paused with her hand on the car door, then wagged her index finger at her. “Mu Linjiang might be a bit old, but his temper and everything else are pretty decent—he’s worthy of me!”
At least he hadn’t thrown her out; he’d even had someone escort her out in style.
“…Huh? Temper… decent?” Song Shan stared blankly at Du Youling’s retreating figure, the lollipop crumbling to bits in her mouth.
Du Youling entered the Mu Group building, presented her interview notice at the front desk in the lobby, and was quickly guided to the executive office’s private elevator.
Ding.
The elevator doors slid open slowly, revealing the spacious, bright waiting area of the president’s office.
“Next, Miss Du Youling, please come in.”
Five interviewers sat behind the conference table. The man in the middle, who had been looking down at the previous candidate’s resume, lifted his head slightly at the sound of the door opening.
Their eyes met. Secretary Chen’s gaze faltered for a moment. He instinctively adjusted his glasses and discreetly sent a message to Mu Linjiang.
“Ahem, Miss Du, please have a seat.”
After sitting down, Du Youling handed over her gold-embossed resume with both hands. “Good day, interviewers. I’m Du Youling.”
The directors nearby, unaware of the situation, flipped through her resume and nodded in approval one after another.
Core data analyst for a national key research project, two SCI-indexed papers in social psychology, and independent project evaluations in cross-border capital M&A cases.
In the eyes of the interviewers, this resume was undoubtedly a perfect score—pure hard power speaking for itself.
One of the directors asked sharply, “Miss Du, your resume is very impressive, but our President Mu’s executive assistant not only needs to handle heavy cross-border business, but also respond to various emergencies at any time, and manage part of President Mu’s personal schedule. May I ask, Miss Du, what do you think is your greatest strength?”
Du Youling had been waiting for exactly this question.
“My greatest strength is that I have an extremely strong physical and psychological defense mechanism. I handle pressure very well, and I also know President Mu very well.”
“Oh?” The director looked intrigued. “How well?”
“I know President Mu is thirty-four this year, his life is as bland as water, his style is feudal and conservative, and he’s especially lacking in passion for life. As a twenty-four-year-old, very fresh and capable addition, I can bring a brand-new change to President Mu’s dull, lifeless executive office!”
“Pfft—”
The assistant in charge of recording had just taken a sip of coffee and sprayed it directly across the conference table.
“Miss Du.” Secretary Chen took a deep breath. “Recruitment for the executive office is a very serious matter. We assess not only professional competence, but also place great emphasis on an employee’s professional ethics and sense of propriety. President Mu’s daily schedule is packed full—he doesn’t need any extra changes.”
“Secretary Chen, you’ve misunderstood.”
Du Youling curled her lips smugly. Oh, you little—trying to outplay her? Good thing she’d come prepared.
She pulled a data report she’d stayed up all night to compile from her bag and slid it in front of Secretary Chen.
“This is a model analysis I did on the return on investment for one of Mu Group’s supply chain sectors over the past three years. President Mu’s style is indeed sharp and steady, but from a social psychology perspective, an overly conservative defense mechanism can cause the team to develop an illusion of transparency when facing high-risk, high-reward projects, thereby missing the optimal window to strike.”
Du Youling adjusted her glasses with her middle finger, her gaze sharp. “Mu Group needs a game-changer who dares to raise objections at the core level. That’s what I mean by fresh blood. Surely the executive office of Mu Group isn’t lacking that kind of tolerance?”
The directors exchanged glances. Secretary Chen looked down at his watch.
Clap, clap, clap.
Just as the meeting room fell into a standoff, the sound of applause carrying an absolute sense of pressure suddenly came from the hidden door behind the interviewers.
The hidden door was pushed open slowly, and Mu Linjiang walked out.
Du Youling’s gaze traveled up from Mu Linjiang’s leather shoes, over those long legs, past his irresistibly lean waist and his sexy Adam’s apple, finally landing on that calm, unruffled face.
Those phoenix eyes were cold and deep, and his entire being radiated the sharp authority and refined nobility of one who commands without needing to raise his voice.
Du Youling calculated silently to herself: Mu Linjiang was thirty-four, which rounded up was forty, and a man at forty was in full bloom—his charm could only be praised.
“President Mu!”
Several directors stood up almost simultaneously, never expecting that the man who rarely showed his face would appear at the interview site.
Mu Linjiang walked to the conference table with an indifferent expression and casually picked up the model analysis report on the table.
The air was so still it felt suffocating, leaving only the sound of him flipping through the pages.
After finishing the report, he casually placed it back on the table. “The model is well constructed, and the data on cross-border mergers and acquisitions is accurately captured.”
Mu Linjiang looked down at her from his height. “However, the President’s Office of Mu Corporation needs an executor who can absolutely obey orders, not a disruptor with personal motives, ready to spout off at the decision-making level at any moment.”
Du Youling bit her lower lip, glaring at him fiercely.
The man withdrew his gaze and gave the coldest rejection in a purely businesslike manner: “Your professional competence is qualified, but Miss Du’s career plan is clearly more suited to academic research. The President’s Office of Mu Corporation is not for you.”
With that, Mu Linjiang gave a slight nod, turned, and walked toward the hidden door, leaving behind only a tall, aloof silhouette and a calm instruction to Secretary Chen.
“Next.”
Du Youling gritted her teeth and shouted at him, “Mu Linjiang!”
The shout startled the directors, who all widened their eyes in unison.
In all of Haicheng, no one had dared to call this man by his name to his face in many years.
The directors closed their eyes with sighs, mourning for this capable candidate—another woman about to be ruthlessly thrown out by the president.
Mu Linjiang’s steps paused slightly.
“How exactly do my professional integrity and academic achievements fail to qualify for this position? You won’t even give me a probation period and cut me off outright—is this the magnanimity and hiring standard of the head of a multinational conglomerate? That’s far too narrow-minded!”
“Or is it that you’re not rejecting me because of my career plan at all, but because you’re taking personal revenge for what happened the day before yesterday!”
Standing nearby, Secretary Chen had already begun silently calculating how to save face for the Du family while safely “escorting” this Second Miss Du out of the building.
“Miss Du.” Mu Linjiang spoke slowly.
“Provocation holds no value. If you think a set of model data can serve as leverage to challenge the company’s hiring standards, then it only proves that your judgment is indeed not yet sufficient to support you in this position.”
The man withdrew his gaze once more and turned around again: “Secretary Chen, escort Miss Du out.”
He pushed open the hidden door and walked inside, his voice drifting through the gap: “The floor is slippery—don’t let Miss Du break another heel.”
Secretary Chen gave a slight bow and gestured for her to leave: “Miss Du.”
The directors looked at each other: ??
They weren’t going to have someone throw her out?!