Chapter 7: Of Ten CEOs, Nine Have Stomachaches

The conference room on the 26th floor was ready. Lu Qiuyi stood outside, taking a deep breath, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her blazer. This was not the kind of perfunctory report she had given earlier that morning; this was a true high-level executive meeting. Through the frosted glass, she could see the heads of various departments already seated.

"Don't be nervous," Su Nuo appeared behind her, handing her an iced Americano. "Just think of it as watching a show."

As the bitterness of the coffee exploded on her tongue, the conference room door was pushed open. He Jingyue walked in wearing an iron-gray suit, and all conversation ceased instantly. He strode toward the head of the table, his black leather shoes tapping out a cold, hard rhythm on the marble floor.

Lu Qiuyi followed Su Nuo inside, intending to slip into a corner, but she heard He Jingyue say without looking up, "Assistant Lu, sit here." He tapped the seat to his right.

The gazes of the executives swept over like searchlights. Lu Qiuyi bit the bullet and sat down, her knee accidentally knocking against the table leg, making her wince in pain. Catching a glimpse of Fu Yao trying to stifle a laugh while looking at his phone, she immediately straightened her back and pretended to professionally open her notebook.

The executives took their seats, and the meeting officially began, with each manager presenting their work report for the previous quarter. The manager of Tengyun Games spent twenty minutes on his presentation, while Lu Qiuyi diligently scribbled his tactics into her small notebook—she might find a use for them later.

However, He Jingyue remained silent. In the vast conference room, the only sound was the scratching of Lu Qiuyi’s pen. Suddenly, her pen was held down by fingers with prominent knuckles.

"Cao Zhennan," He Jingyue’s voice was cold and merciless. "Ten years with the company, currently serving as the manager of Tengyun Games."

Lu Qiuyi looked up blankly, meeting He Jingyue’s bottomless eyes. Su Nuo handed over a stack of documents at the right moment, and He Jingyue flipped through them casually. "Actual user volume dropped by 23.7% last quarter, and revenue fell by 18.2%..."

With every figure he cited, a new layer of oily sweat appeared on Manager Cao’s forehead. "Data can be embellished, but incompetence cannot. I suggest you seek employment at the Lu Group."

He Jingyue’s tone was pointed; the faces of the executives present paled several shades. Lu Qiuyi keenly caught the keyword "Lu Group," and realized belatedly that He Jingyue seemed to be killing the chicken to scare the monkey. The original owner’s identity as a member of the Lu family was well-concealed, and Lu Qiuyi, possessing the god's-eye view of a book reader, firmly believed that He Jingyue could not know who she really was.

"Next," He Jingyue’s voice pulled her back to reality.

Over the next hour, Lu Qiuyi witnessed what a corporate slaughterhouse looked like. Three project teams were restructured on the spot, two managers were reassigned, and one unlucky soul was kicked out to redo his PowerPoint simply because he had used the Comic Sans font.

When He Jingyue prepared to sign the personnel documents, she finally found her chance to shine.

"Pen," He Jingyue reached out.

Su Nuo shrugged and gestured to her. Lu Qiuyi hurriedly handed over her own ballpoint pen, feeling secretly pleased—this was something she had learned from cramming "The Self-Cultivation of an Assistant" overnight: anticipating the boss's needs.

He Jingyue’s hand paused mid-signature.

The paper was pristine, without even a scratch.

Oh no! Lu Qiuyi remembered—the black pens she bought online, 100 for 9.9 yuan, had very little ink; she must have used it all up just now. If only she hadn't been so greedy!

He Jingyue’s thin lips pressed into a straight line, his deep, narrow eyes filled with mockery. Lu Qiuyi offered a dry laugh as she snatched a Montblanc from the technical director’s pocket, cursing the online seller a hundred times in her heart.

After the meeting, the executives let out long sighs of relief as they left. Su Nuo followed suit, leaving only Lu Qiuyi and He Jingyue behind. Lu Qiuyi kept her head low, her hands resting honestly on the table.

He Jingyue sat in a relaxed posture and asked calmly, "How long have you been working at the He Corporation?"

Lu Qiuyi thought to herself: *Two days.* She flipped through the original owner’s memories and replied, "Two years."

He Jingyue continued, "The head of the R&D department strongly recommended you as my assistant. I entrusted 'Zhiyu' to you in hopes of seeing your competence, not your comedy, understood?"

Lu Qiuyi had been sitting stiffly for two hours and was exhausted and dizzy. She squeezed out a sincere smile. "Mr. He, I will continue to work hard."

He Jingyue nodded noncommittally, pulled a stack of documents from his bag, and handed them over. "The core algorithm for 'Zhiyu.' I don't want to see you clueless like you were this morning again."

He was calculating that this algorithm contained a critical error that the Lu family wouldn't discover for some time. While Lu Qiuyi wasn't a threat, he could use her to find other spies from the Lu family.

Lu Qiuyi clutched the documents as if they were a treasure; she had been worrying about what to report back. This was perfect—a single algorithm would keep them busy for over half a year.

He Jingyue said no more and rose to leave. Lu Qiuyi followed immediately—time to clock out!

In the private elevator, Lu Qiuyi stood behind He Jingyue, looking down at her phone. Her father had sent a message: "What are you doing? Cao Zhennan is one of our people. He says you didn't protect him?"

Lu Qiuyi didn't care at all about her father's demand for an explanation, choosing to shift the blame: "Cao Zhennan made such a stupid mistake. I had no idea he was someone you sent."

There was no reply from the other side; Lu Qiuyi guessed her father had gone to vent his anger on Cao Zhennan. Trying to gaslight her? No way! Lu Qiuyi praised her own wit and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Looking up, she heard He Jingyue’s voice ring out eerily: "Off the clock, and so happy?"

Lu Qiuyi laughed sheepishly, "Ha, hahaha."

The elevator dinged at the ground floor. Lu Qiuyi was about to say goodbye to He Jingyue and hail a taxi when she suddenly heard a painful groan.

He Jingyue was deathly pale, his brows furrowed. His right hand was pressed tightly against his stomach, his left hand braced against the elevator wall, beads of cold sweat forming on his temples.

"Mr. He?!"

Nine out of ten CEOs have stomach problems, and the last one is on the way to get an endoscopy. As this thought crossed her mind, He Jingyue had already collapsed in pain. She instinctively supported him, her palm sinking into the suit fabric soaked through with cold sweat.

"Medicine..." He Jingyue squeezed the word through his teeth.

Lu Qiuyi fumbled through all his pockets in a panic, eventually finding an exquisite medicine case in his inner jacket pocket—it was empty.

Fortunately, the third basement level was He Jingyue’s reserved parking spot. Lu Qiuyi frantically helped him into the car; the scent of cold, alpine pine on him drifted into her nose.

She asked tentatively, "Mr. He, are you alright?"

He Jingyue, dripping with cold sweat, nodded and then shook his head. "Assistant Lu, you can drive, right?"

Lu Qiuyi replied, "Yes, I can."

The car was dimly lit. Lu Qiuyi snuck a glance at He Jingyue’s profile, only to notice that the driver's seat was empty. *Don't big-shot CEOs have drivers?!*

Lu Qiuyi suddenly realized this and wanted to retract her words, but it was too late. He Jingyue, sitting in the back, commanded, "Navigate to Champs-Élysées."

Before transmigrating into the book, Lu Qiuyi had bought a Tesla and was very familiar with electric cars. Seeing the large screen nearby, she assumed it was the same model and went through the motions of starting it.

*Huh, why no movement?*

Wait a second, why would a big-shot CEO drive a Tesla? Lu Qiuyi looked up and saw the starry sky headliner for the first time—a Rolls-Royce. How do you start this?

He Jingyue said weakly, "Press the brake, then press the start button."

Lu Qiuyi said awkwardly, "Oh, oh, okay, Mr. He."