Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 626: Love Disappeared

During yesterday's PowerPoint presentation, the head of Gu Yaoyao's department had been mercilessly chewed out by Zhou Yuwen. The fact that Zhou Yuwen actually showed up in person again today left the entire department trembling with anxiety.Everyone thought to themselves, 'Only Gu Yaoyao would dare to go up there. After all, even if she gets scolded, she is President Zhou's former classmate. A few harsh words won't really hurt her.'

However, what they did not know was that Gu Yaoyao had already spent the entire previous night receiving personal guidance from Zhou Yuwen.

The entire presentation went incredibly smoothly. Only the department head was left listening in sheer bewilderment. 'Wait, are you sure this is right?'

'How dare you alter your superior's core ideas?!'

'When you get ripped apart for this, I am absolutely not taking the fall for you!'

Just as the department head was walking on eggshells, convinced they were all doomed...

Zhou Yuwen finished listening to Gu Yaoyao's presentation and simply declared, "Just do as she says."

"???"

This left all the meeting attendees completely dumbfounded. The ideas Gu Yaoyao had proposed were entirely different from their original plans. How did a lowly clerk like Gu Yaoyao dare to alter the proposal on her own, only to actually win the top boss's approval?

This felt like a plot straight out of a television drama.

As the saying goes, laymen watch the spectacle while experts see the technique. The ordinary clerks all assumed that the big boss obviously had something shady going on with Gu Yaoyao. Typical boss behavior—squandering fortunes just to win a beauty's smile, like a king lighting beacon fires to amuse his concubine. Implementing this proposal would cost at least twenty million yuan, yet to save Gu Yaoyao from losing face, he had simply waved his hand and approved it?

However, the slightly more senior managers caught on. The core philosophy of Gu Yaoyao's presentation aligned perfectly with the concepts Zhou Yuwen had previously outlined. It was obvious she had received pointers directly from him.

There was no squandering fortunes for a beauty's smile here.

Gu Yaoyao was nothing more than a pawn placed on the board by Zhou Yuwen.

Since Zhou Yuwen had hammered out the final decision, the plan was set into motion. Although Gu Yaoyao had proposed the scheme, her rank was far too low for her to take the lead. However, Zhou Yuwen arranged for her to join the project as a deputy so she could focus on studying the ropes, granting her the authority to begin reporting the project's progress directly to him.

With just a few brief instructions, the way everyone looked at Gu Yaoyao completely changed.

Gu Yaoyao's peers immediately felt that she had incredible good luck and had earned the deep trust of the big boss.

As soon as the meeting ended, they all crowded around her, eager to flatter and curry favor.

Some even claimed they knew Gu Yaoyao was destined for greatness from the very beginning.

"As expected of our boss's classmate! You truly have what it takes. Yaoyao, I bet you'll have your own private office in no time!"

"Oh, what are you talking about? I just had good luck."

Gu Yaoyao knew how to play humble.

However, ever since that incident, Gu Yaoyao's prestige in the office was absolutely unparalleled.

The noisy chorus of flattery visibly irritated the department head. Flinging the office door open, the supervisor snapped with a stern face, "Don't any of you have work to do? Does the company pay you just to stand around and gossip?"

That single scolding instantly scattered the crowd of coworkers who had been hoping to kiss up to Gu Yaoyao a bit more.

Of course, a few colleagues lingered just long enough to whisper encouragingly to her, telling her to keep up the good work.

"Yaoyao, when she made you speak up there, she clearly wanted you to take the fall. She just didn't realize that she couldn't afford to cross the person backing you. President Zhou has been tired of her for a while now. Keep it up, Yaoyao! I bet it won't be long before you take her position!"

Those words were at best ten percent truth and ninety percent fiction. Yet, despite being tossed out casually, they firmly took root in Gu Yaoyao's mind.

It couldn't be helped; such was the nature of corporate culture.

There wasn't a single person who didn't want to climb the corporate ladder.

The massive success of her presentation, coupled with the relentless flattery from her peers, briefly convinced Gu Yaoyao that she truly had what it takes.

But bringing a project to fruition was never that simple. Beyond the work itself, it involved navigating a web of incredibly complex interpersonal connections.

And Zhou Yuwen had only used her for that specific moment. There was no way he was going to revolve his daily schedule around her.

After all, Zhou Yuwen had no shortage of women surrounding him.

Tesla had just entered the domestic market. As a shareholder, Zhou Yuwen was helping them establish a foothold in the country, though he didn't directly participate in the company's daily management.

Usually, he just met with a few business partners in the building's largest office and offered guidance to the management team dispatched from headquarters.

As a result, Zhou Yuwen's life was incredibly comfortable.

He was now a shareholder in over half of the nation's internet companies, making him a bona fide titan of capital. Next to the Huangpu River, he had a massive office with a gross floor area of over a thousand square feet. An entire wall was designed exclusively with stunning French windows.

Right outside the window flowed the vast and mighty Huangpu River, offering a direct view across the water to the iconic Oriental Pearl Tower.

His routine consisted of holding meetings in the mornings, then throwing on a polo shirt, grabbing his bag, and heading out in the afternoons to play golf with some of Shanghai's old-money capital elites.

His wives would also occasionally drop by to visit him.

For instance, whenever Tao Tian came to Shanghai on official business.

Or when Jiang Xinyi flew in from abroad.

Zhou Yuwen would always bring them to the office to relax for a while. Right around this time, Gu Yaoyao was working herself to the bone, constantly dreaming of the day Zhou Yuwen would recognize her efforts and grant her a promotion and a raise.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yuwen had already tossed her completely beyond the highest heavens, forgetting about her entirely.

At first, Gu Yaoyao could still harbor the fantasy that Zhou Yuwen harbored some feelings for her.

That was, until that particular incident.

She had been stuck doing overtime work until late into the night.

She caught herself wondering, 'Will I bump into Zhou Yuwen?'

'Or maybe President Zhou is waiting for me to get off work?'

But to her dismay, eleven o'clock rolled around and there was still no sign of him.

This left Gu Yaoyao feeling deeply disappointed.

Dragging her exhausted body, she just wanted to head home and rest.

But the moment the elevator doors parted, she froze.

She actually saw Zhou Yuwen standing right there!

Gu Yaoyao was just about to speak when she realized that Zhou Yuwen wasn't just one person alone in the elevator.

Standing beside him was a "big thunder" girl with a stunningly full chest. She wore a black sports bra beneath a matching black suit jacket and tailored trousers, radiating a chic blend of athletic and business-casual energy.

The girl looked somewhat familiar to her. Her ample chest strained tightly against the sports bra, and her slender waist was boldly exposed.

She and Zhou Yuwen were continuing to talk and laugh playfully in the elevator.

She didn't know why, but seeing this scene sent a sudden, inexplicable pang of sorrow through Gu Yaoyao's chest.

It felt as if something that belonged to her had just been stolen away by someone else.

Zhou Yuwen, obviously, shared none of these sentiments.

Unbothered, Zhou Yuwen began casually introducing her to Tao Tian. "Do you remember her?"

Tao Tian had come to Shanghai today on official business. She planned to spend the night with Zhou Yuwen before catching the morning high-speed train back. Hearing Zhou Yuwen's prompt, she shot Gu Yaoyao a suspicious glance, thinking for a moment before saying, "She feels... familiar."

"You don't recognize her? She's my university classmate, Gu Yaoyao. Gu Yaoyao, you should recognize her, right?"

Gu Yaoyao hadn't looked too closely at first, but upon hearing Zhou Yuwen's words, it suddenly clicked. "Senior Sister Tao Tian?"

"Oh? You recognize me?"

Tao Tian hadn't expected the girl to actually know her.

She herself, however, drew a complete blank.

After all, it had been nearly five years since graduation.

"What's going on here? Your old classmate works at your company, yet you're making her do overtime work this late?" Tao Tian asked Zhou Yuwen, teasing him.

Zhou Yuwen rolled his eyes. "So by your logic, anyone who knows me gets a free pass to skip work, and I should just hand out free paychecks?"

"Pfft."

Tao Tian let out a giggle. She naturally leaned against Zhou Yuwen's chest, practically cooing as she said, "I never said that~"

Zhou Yuwen merely shot her an exasperated look.

The two of them practically acted like an old couple who had been married for years, and Zhou Yuwen's dominant position in the relationship had never once wavered.

Naturally, Tao Tian had only grown softer, sweeter, and far more clingy over time.

Even with someone else right there in the elevator, Tao Tian didn't restrain her affections in the slightest.

For Gu Yaoyao, watching this display was unbearable.

Just a few days ago, she had been nursing romantic fantasies about Zhou Yuwen. She had completely forgotten that back in university, he was an absolutely notorious playboy.

No wonder Zhou Yuwen didn't view her in that light.

She had almost forgotten that several different school beauties had practically been throwing themselves at him back then.

She had truly been flattering herself all along.

At that realization, a painful sting hit Gu Yaoyao's nose, and she couldn't stop a single tear from spilling over her lashes.

There were only three people in the cramped elevator. Being naturally observant, Tao Tian instantly sensed that something was off with Gu Yaoyao's demeanor. "What's wrong?" she asked softly. "Are you crying?"

Gu Yaoyao gave a tiny nod, sneaking a quick glance at Zhou Yuwen next to her. "It's nothing."