Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 624: Lin Xue

Under Chang Hao's gaze, the Mercedes-Benz picked up Gu Yaoyao and slowly drove away from the hotel.The person who came to pick up Gu Yaoyao was none other than the center of everyone's gossip, the man who had already become a legendary figure, Zhou Yuwen.

Looking at the figure standing at the hotel entrance, Zhou Yuwen asked, "That's Chang Hao, right?"

"Yes." Even though she had already established a relationship with Zhou Yuwen, Gu Yaoyao was still somewhat cautious and timid in front of him. After all, their relationship was no longer as simple as just being former classmates.

Zhou Yuwen chuckled softly and said it was good to see.

"He looks a lot more mature than before."

During her university days, Gu Yaoyao had always been a very low-key girl. Even though she was the most beautiful girl in Zhou Yuwen's class, one rarely heard any news about her.

After graduating from university, she successfully got accepted as a postgraduate student at a college in Jinling.

To be honest, with Gu Yaoyao's academic background, she had a chance to enter a major tech company, but securing better career development would still be quite difficult.

Fortunately, her interviewer that day was Zhou Yuwen.

Upon entering the room and seeing Zhou Yuwen sitting in the center seat, Gu Yaoyao was genuinely stunned for a moment.

Tesla was a foreign enterprise with excellent benefits and compensation. Gu Yaoyao had put a massive amount of effort into securing this job, which included endlessly revising her self-introduction and practicing it countless times before the interview.

However, after seeing Zhou Yuwen, she completely forgot all the nervousness in her heart.

It truly felt like a twist of fate.

A few years ago, the two of them were students on the same starting line. During their freshman year, Zhou Yuwen was the male class monitor and Gu Yaoyao was the female class monitor, and they had even spent a period chatting and laughing together.

Yet upon meeting again, Zhou Yuwen was dressed in a sharp suit, sitting high and mighty above her.

As for Gu Yaoyao, even though she was "well-equipped" having bought a black skirt suit and high heels, in this grand and imposing office building, she looked exactly like a complete workplace rookie.

Throughout the interview process, Zhou Yuwen maintained a strictly professional demeanor, acting as if he did not know Gu Yaoyao at all. It even gave her the illusion that he had entirely forgotten her.

During the interview, the various interviewers deferred to Zhou Yuwen's attitude as the primary consensus. They spoke to him with extreme caution, even using the most respectful honorifics.

They asked Gu Yaoyao a few questions.

Gu Yaoyao answered them one by one, but she could not help focusing her attention on Zhou Yuwen, causing her to stutter slightly while responding.

This inevitably made several of the interviewers frown.

After the questions concluded, a balding, middle-aged man in his forties asked Zhou Yuwen if he had any other questions.

Then, Zhou Yuwen, who had been scribbling in his notebook the entire time, did not even glance at Gu Yaoyao as he declared, "I have no objections. Bring in the next candidate."

His emotionless words felt like a death sentence for Gu Yaoyao.

For a moment, her heart turned to ashes.

It was not until Gu Yaoyao was later hired that she heard about what had actually happened from her director.

He told her that, logically speaking, she did not have an advantage over the previous candidates.

However, it was because President Zhou had personally made the final decision.

He explicitly said he wanted this lass.

"Although Tesla is a foreign enterprise, President Zhou is the second-largest shareholder, so no one dares to disobey his word."

Only then did Gu Yaoyao realize just how formidable Zhou Yuwen had become. Previously, she had prepared all sorts of strategies to apply for Tesla, only to look back and discover that the company practically belonged to her old classmate's family.

What happened next was largely similar to the plots of some romance novels.

Although Gu Yaoyao had entered the company and worked extremely hard.

The competitiveness within a foreign enterprise was simply too immense. The other dark-eyed, dark-haired employees sharing the office building opened their mouths to speak with perfect New York accents, and were alumni of either Stanford or the Ivy League.

In front of these people, Gu Yaoyao finally realized how laughable it was to think she could have entered Tesla through her own efforts alone.

Yet, it was this very group of global elites who, every time they heard President Zhou had arrived, would instantly turn into devoted fanboys and fangirls. All jokes aside, that was President Zhou, the legend among legends.

And this legend, whenever he was in the office, always maintained a cold face toward everyone.

There was that one time when Zhou Yuwen coincidentally stepped into the elevator.

The interns in the elevator did not even dare to breathe heavily around him.

At that moment, Zhou Yuwen spoke up, asking Gu Yaoyao who was standing beside him, "Are you getting used to working here?"

"..."

In the past, Gu Yaoyao had never thought there was anything overly extraordinary about Zhou Yuwen.

She always felt that his wealth was his own business and had nothing to do with her.

Until this time.

When countless people cast surprised and envious glances their way.

Gu Yaoyao finally spoke, "It's alright."

Zhou Yuwen nodded and said, "If you run into any problems, you can send me a message on WeChat. You still have my WeChat, right?"

"I do."

Gu Yaoyao nodded.

Zhou Yuwen said nothing more as the elevator doors opened.

He turned and left.

Immediately after, those interns who had previously looked down on Gu Yaoyao practically exploded with excitement, swarming around her. "Oh my god, Xue, you know President Zhou?"

"Why didn't you say so earlier? You even have President Zhou's WeChat?" "What is the relationship between you two?"

Gu Yaoyao was not a vain girl. On the contrary, she was quite similar to Shen Yu; she was the type of girl who wanted to grow independently and rely on herself.

But in that specific moment, Zhou Yuwen had thoroughly satisfied her sense of pride.

However, this satisfaction was merely temporary.

To firmly establish a foothold in the company, one ultimately had to rely on their own capabilities.

Yet her undergraduate degree was merely from an ordinary second-tier university. Even though she had been admitted as a postgraduate student, surviving in such a massive enterprise still brought immense pressure.

After everyone found out that Gu Yaoyao had connections to Zhou Yuwen, even though they looked at her differently, the office politics and deception shifted toward utilizing her.

Take the department's presentation, for instance, which Zhou Yuwen had previously criticized countless times.

This time, the manager had an ulterior motive and assigned Gu Yaoyao to present.

Gu Yaoyao naturally knew the manager was using her, but her desire to prove herself in the workplace compelled her to take the stage anyway.

And so, she stepped up to the podium brimming with confidence.

Only to be ruthlessly chewed out by Zhou Yuwen.

The reason was simple: the core concept was completely wrong.

And it had wasted twenty damn minutes of everyone's time.

Did everyone sit here just to listen to your nonsense?

You want to apply for a budget of twenty million for a garbage little app?

Do you think your family owns this company?

Zhou Yuwen was not actually scolding Gu Yaoyao, but rather the whimsical fantasies of her department leader.

Zhou Yuwen directly threw the proposal booklet right in the department leader's face.

He barked, "If you can do the job, do it! If you can't, pack up and get out!"

Zhou Yuwen's actions were not wrong, but the one who lost face was Gu Yaoyao.

Back at school, she was incredibly sharp and handled interpersonal relationships with ease.

But just after joining the workforce, she suffered her first major Waterloo.

In truth, this matter had nothing to do with her, but she was forced to be the department's scapegoat.

Even though no one brought the incident up again afterward.

Gu Yaoyao still felt incredibly awkward and uncomfortable in her heart.

That day, just like any typical workplace rookie.

She stayed in the office for a long time with red, teary eyes.

Until a cup of hot milk tea was handed over to her.

By then, Zhou Yuwen, who had become a true CEO, exuded the aura of an authoritative leader in his every gesture. He asked mildly, "What, are you still mad at me?"

Actually, Gu Yaoyao had already stopped crying by this point.

But upon hearing these words, she still felt deeply wronged.

She did not understand. Previously in the elevator, Zhou Yuwen had clearly been so nice to her.

So why did he refuse to give her even a shred of face this time?

Zhou Yuwen straightforwardly remarked, "This isn't a matter of face."

"If you're still harboring that kind of mindset, you can submit your resignation right now."

With just one sentence, Zhou Yuwen instantly subdued Gu Yaoyao, who had been on the verge of throwing a girl's temper tantrum.

Zhou Yuwen said with a cold face, "Those people clearly wanted to use you as a meat shield."

"You were obviously a very smart girl in university. Why are you being so foolish this time? Or is it that you originally planned to cash in some face with me? Did you really think I would give you face in a professional setting?"

These words ruthlessly tore off Gu Yaoyao's protective veil.

Gu Yaoyao's face flushed bright red in an instant. "No, I didn't."

"You better not have. The workplace isn't school. If I give you face, I stand to lose twenty million. So tell me, do you think your reputation is worth twenty million?" Zhou Yuwen's sharp remark completely silenced Gu Yaoyao.

Seeing that Gu Yaoyao remained silent, Zhou Yuwen continued, "Actually, you don't need to take this matter to heart. It was never directed at you in the first place. Furthermore, as I said about that presentation, your department's core concept was fundamentally flawed. If you truly want to accomplish something practical, you would be better off brainstorming from a different angle."

"A different angle?"

Zhou Yuwen nodded and provided Gu Yaoyao with a central concept. In reality, this was his own idea, but it was not appropriate for him to pitch it personally. Having it proposed through Gu Yaoyao's perspective was just right.

And so, under Zhou Yuwen's guidance, Gu Yaoyao quickly drafted a brand new presentation.

The two of them burned the midnight oil for roughly three or four hours.

As a workplace rookie, it was Gu Yaoyao's very first time receiving encouragement and mentorship directly from the boss.

Late at night, when everything was still.

In the massive office building, only the single desk lamp at their workstation remained illuminated.

Zhou Yuwen was still burning the midnight oil, meticulously reviewing the newly made presentation slides over there.

As for Gu Yaoyao, she could not help but steal a secret glance at him.

It was only at this moment that she realized,

'Why is there such a handsome man in this world...'