Chapter 138: President Wen must go personally to show sincerity.

"We arrived early," Li Yueting said with a smile, then took a seat on Wen Zhixia's side, while the man naturally sat across from them.

Wen Zhixia was stirring her coffee when she inadvertently raised her gaze and glanced at the man opposite her. She paused for a moment and gave a slight nod.

Upon seeing her, the man was first startled, and then filled with delight. "Little Director Wen!"

"You know each other?" Li Yueting looked between the man and Wen Zhixia.

"Little Director Wen, it's me, Liu Lei! Have you forgotten?" Liu Lei was deeply emotional, completely treating Li Yueting like background scenery.

Although Li Yueting had no particular feelings for him—and likely wouldn't have any further contact after today—she couldn't help but feel a certain way seeing that, apart from a brief glance at her initially, his attention remained entirely focused on Wen Zhixia for the rest of the time.

Wen Zhixia looked at the emotionally stirred man and let out a low acknowledgment, her expression somewhat complex.

Liu Lei seemed a bit surprised by her lukewarm attitude. Back in the day at the company, Wen Zhixia had always treated their cohort of older employees who grew alongside the Guxia Group exceptionally well, and their bond was deep.

However, he quickly understood; after all, so many years had passed.

"When you resigned from the company back then to focus on your family, Zhang Yuan and I were transferred to a subsidiary soon after. In the blink of an eye, so many years have gone by. Thinking about it now, it really feels like a dream. If we hadn't met Little Director Wen back then, we might still be stuck in idle jobs, worrying about our livelihoods."

Speaking of opportunity and fate, Liu Lei was filled with a myriad of emotions. Just as he was about to bring up Gu Pingsheng, he heard Li Yueting speak from across the table, "You're an employee of the Guxia Group?"

Liu Lei smiled and nodded. "Yes, speaking of which, I'm actually your senior."

Li Yueting never expected that her very first blind date would somehow turn out to be with an acquaintance. "Put that way, we really do have a connection."

Liu Lei had a fairly good impression of her. The matchmaker had mentioned her experience working at the Guxia Group; although she had changed jobs now, with that filter in place, Liu Lei always felt that anyone valued by Gu Pingsheng couldn't be too bad.

Seeing Wen Zhixia with her now, he assumed their relationship must be good, and his favorable impression instantly multiplied.

Knowing that he was one of the veteran employees who had been marginalized because of her resignation, Wen Zhixia felt somewhat uncomfortable. Seeing that he and Li Yueting were chatting amiably, she stood up, preparing to leave.

Seeing her stand, Liu Lei quickly stood up as well. "Little Director Wen, are you leaving already?"

Wen Zhixia bit her lip and smiled faintly. "I have some matters to attend to. You two go ahead, don't mind me." Then, turning her head toward Li Yueting, she said with a meaningful look, "Liu Lei is a good harbor for you. You should hold onto him tightly so you won't regret it later."

Li Yueting's smile was somewhat strained, but she didn't say anything, merely nodding.

Liu Lei watched Wen Zhixia leave and continued chatting with Li Yueting. After a while, as if remembering something, he chased after her, but Wen Zhixia's figure was already out of sight.

Li Yueting followed him out. "What's wrong?"

Liu Lei scanned the area once more, and confirming that Wen Zhixia had truly gone, he let out a low sigh before saying, "It's nothing."

He had just suddenly remembered that some time last year or whenever it was, he had run into Chen Antai, who had mentioned with a hint of sorrow that Wen Zhixia knew about him and Liu Lei being transferred to the subsidiary.

As one of Little Director Wen's most loyal supporters back at the Guxia Group, Liu Lei wanted to tell her the truth that even Chen Antai didn't know.

Their departure back then had neither been a case of being ostracized nor an exile.

It was just that having finally run into each other, the excitement of years of separation had made him forget about it.

However, since they had met, he would be staying in Sifang City for a few more days, and he believed there would still be opportunities to see her.

With only a week left until the deadline to deliver the commercial to Wu Wenjing, Wen Zhixia's schedule grew increasingly tight.

Wu Wenjing had also called once in between to inquire about the progress.

Wen Zhixia's reply, naturally, was that it would be delivered on time.

Yet while her side was progressing smoothly, Assistant Chen, who had gone to the Guxia Group to deliver the reshot final footage, sat desolately at her workstation, feeling like she could burst into tears.

The colleagues at Yihe Zhixia all got along quite harmoniously. Seeing her return looking on the verge of tears, they hurriedly gathered around to ask with concern, "What's wrong? Did you fight with your boyfriend?"

Assistant Chen bit her lip. "It would be fine if I fought with my boyfriend—our commercial failed the Guxia Group's review! They said they weren't satisfied, but they didn't specify what was wrong, just sent it straight back. We went through so much hardship, and Director Wen even almost got hurt to shoot this finished product—how can they not be satisfied? Wasn't President Gu himself present at the time? How could his attitude flip so..."

Just as the complaint was about to escape her lips, remembering that her life had been saved by that very man, and that Gu Pingsheng had even been injured, Assistant Chen forcefully swallowed the words back down.

"Do you guys think... could it be because President Gu got hurt in the mountains this time, so he harbors resentment toward us and acted like this?" Assistant Chen asked.

Her colleagues shook their heads one after another. "Who can say? But didn't we not mention anything when we went to visit him last time?"

"Besides, isn't President Gu interested in our Director Wen? How could he suddenly flip his face like that?"

Because of the adventure in the mountains, everyone had poured their all into the post-production of this commercial. They had gone through the review process no less than five or six times, ensuring meticulous detail to guarantee zero mistakes. Everyone had been full of confidence, so when this sudden turn of events occurred, none of them could make sense of it.

"Say, Sister Wang, don't you have the phone number of President Gu's secretary? Why don't we ask around discreetly to see what's going on? Even if there genuinely is a problem somewhere, at least we'll have a direction, right?" one person suggested.

After a brief discussion, the group agreed that this method was worth a try, and they dialed Zhou Anbei's number.

In the president's office, Zhou Anbei glanced at the phone, then cast a sideways glance at Gu Pingsheng, and said in a low voice, "It's someone from Yihe Zhixia."

Gu Pingsheng finished signing the document at hand, placed it to one side, and tapped his pen lightly on the desktop twice without saying anything.

Seeing this, Zhou Anbei answered the call.

"Secretary Zhou, I am the director at Yihe Zhixia. I'm very sorry to disturb you..." After some polite pleasantries, she got straight to the point. "I was wondering... is there some problem with the commercial we delivered this time? We hope Secretary Zhou can offer a little guidance so we can correct it promptly and better serve our group, don't we?"

As the saying goes, one does not strike a smiling person. After a brief pause, Zhou Anbei replied, "Everyone has worked hard on the shooting of this commercial, and you overcame quite a few difficulties along the way. President Gu has seen all of that."

Sister Wang hurriedly said that this was only as it should be, but it was obvious these were merely polite phrases that missed the main point.

Until Zhou Anbei obscurely hinted, "Let's put the matter of the commercial aside for a moment. It's just... since this is the finished product sent a second time by Yihe Zhixia to make up for their mistake, why was merely a junior assistant sent to deliver it?"

Sister Wang was slightly startled. "Secretary Zhou means..."

Zhou Anbei curved the corner of his lips. This certainly wasn't his idea. "In certain matters, doesn't the status of the person who comes forward to resolve it represent a company's sincerity?"

Sister Wang was a seasoned veteran in the workplace. Hearing this, she already had a guess in her mind. To verify her thought, she asked, "Suppose our Director Wen were to go in person, would you say that shows enough sincerity?"

Zhou Anbei smiled faintly without a word.

After hanging up the phone, Sister Wang looked at Assistant Chen, then glanced toward the office.

Assistant Chen asked, "So, they think Director Wen needs to go in person to show sincerity?"

Hearing this, Sister Wang thought the girl was still too young. While she had quick wits, she lacked a bit of worldly sophistication. This wasn't a matter of sincerity at all; it was blatantly obvious that President Gu had taken a fancy to their Director Wen and was using the situation to his advantage.

"Knock, knock, knock—"

Sister Wang went and knocked on the office door.

Sitting at her desk reviewing a project, Wen Zhixia heard the commotion and said, "Come in."

"Director Wen, the commercial sent to the Guxia Group has been sent back," Sister Wang said in a low voice.

Wen Zhixia lifted her gaze. "The reason?"

Sister Wang repeated everything that had just happened, including Secretary Zhou's suggestive hints, word for word, and then carefully observed Wen Zhixia's reaction.

Wen Zhixia's gaze paused for a second, and she pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose. This was indeed something Gu Pingsheng would do.

"What do you think..."

Wen Zhixia said, "You can head out first. I'll handle this matter."

Around three or four in the afternoon, Wen Zhixia appeared in the lobby of the Guxia Group.

Zhou Anbei was in the middle of arranging work. Upon seeing her, he showed not a shred of surprise, greeting her with a smile, "Little Director Wen, you're here. It's cold in the lobby, let me take you up."

Zhou Anbei's status within the Guxia Group was significantly higher than Li Yueting's had been when she served as a secretary. There was no other reason: he had earned Gu Pingsheng's complete trust, excelled at interpersonal relations and execution, and possessed outstanding capability, effectively functioning as Gu Pingsheng's second-in-command and spokesperson.

Seeing him treat a woman wearing dark glasses with such courtesy and respect now, quite a few people were more than a little surprised, as even the CEO of a corporate branch might not receive such treatment.

Given Wen Zhixia's temperament, she wouldn't say anything in full view of the public. She followed him into the elevator—the private executive elevator.

"Why didn't you notify us in advance before coming? President Gu was just in a meeting. Please wait a moment in the office while I go give a heads-up in the conference room," Zhou Anbei said, opening the door to the president's office.

Wen Zhixia nodded and sat on the sofa to the side, beside a cup of coffee that Zhou Anbei had brought in.

She didn't have to wait long before Gu Pingsheng arrived. Seeing her sitting quietly there, a sudden and inexplicable sense of grounded peace filled his heart.