Water and Fire~Chapter 9.2: What's Most Terrifying

 

Chapter 9.2: What's Most Terrifying

Ren Yan left in the afternoon, leaving the scene to Qin Qianyu.

The other three people's spirits relaxed significantly after Ren Yan's departure. But Chu Qianmiao remained as tense as ever, diligently reading and writing documents. She felt that Ren Yan's words were right: if she didn't work hard now, her life would indeed be very difficult later.

After a while, Qin Qianyu and the others began their tea break, but Chu Qianmiao persisted in her work. Qin Qianyu looked at her and sighed, "Qianmiao, you're so capable. Do you want to make the jump to investment banking? If you do, I, Brother Qin, will have to save all my energy!"

Chu Qianmiao laughed heartily. "Then our lawyer Zhang will cry. He'll be so reluctant to leave me."

From that day on, Chu Qianmiao came home every night glued to her computer, either working overtime or studying, staying up late every night. She was incredibly ambitious.

She was so motivated because she had realized that she couldn't just rely on others to pressure her; she had to learn to push herself too.

Gu Miaoyu was deeply moved by her drive and said, "Shuishui, I think even your mental outlook has changed since you started working on this project!"

She asked what it meant.

Gu Miaoyu said to her seriously, "I think after this project is done, you'll become an immortal! Look at you, staying up late every day, cultivating immortality!"

She burst into laughter at Gu Miaoyu's amusement, and then continued to work hard.

Not only did she work hard at night, but during the day, she was equally busy working or studying hard at the due diligence site at Hanhai Home Textiles. She even stopped talking about playing poker at noon. Qin Qianyu and the other four had wanted to play poker for two days, and they could just get together for a round. But Chu Qianmiao kept asking them questions one by one, so much so that they had to take turns playing Landlord. Later, they found that answering Chu Qianmiao's questions was more fun than playing Landlord, because the girl was so talkative. After answering a question for her, she would give you a funny and unexpected joke. They then began to compete to answer questions for Chu Qianmiao.

A few days later, Ren Yan made a point of rushing to Hanhai Home Textiles at noon. He wanted to see whether his soldiers were working hard or playing poker while he was away. What he saw instead was a magical scene.

His four soldiers surrounded the young lawyer, vying to answer her questions about investment banking practices.

That girl truly possessed a certain allure, perhaps a kind of magic. Wherever she went, her wit and humor quickly connected her with everyone.

He paused lightly at the door. None of the five people in the room noticed his presence.

The young lawyer was speaking: "Hey? Do you think questions like the ones I'm asking you today are actually quite simple?"

The four nodded.

She continued: "If I were to ask your CEO Ren such a simple question—"

Before she finished, the four began to shake their heads.

"Don't ask! It's too simple. He'll easily criticize you!" said Qin Qianyu.

"He'll likely use rhetorical questions!" said Sun Yi.

"For example, he'll ask: 'Such a simple question, can't you just research it yourself?'" said Lu Zhonger.

"He hates freeloaders the most. He thinks they only care about getting what they want and lack the spirit to delve into the subject!" This was Wang Sian.

Standing at the door, he thought that the descriptions of himself he'd heard from others had actually come across as a bit harsh.

He heard the young lawyer speak again.

"Wow! Your President Ren is so strict, so scary! But then again, he's right. Freeloaders aren't good. I'll try to solve the problem myself from now on. If I can't, I'll ask you."

The four of them quickly said no, no.

Standing at the door, he thought, she's quite understanding. She agrees with his principles even more than his four soldiers do.

He sighed silently. So, no matter what, the boy is teachable.

In the room, he heard the young lawyer suddenly give everyone a brain teaser.

"It's break time now. Come on, I'll give you a brain teaser. Listen! What's the scariest thing in the world?"

Qin Qianyu immediately replied, "I suggest it's President Ren! Although he doesn't hit or curse, his rhetorical questions are even more embarrassing! Don't be fooled by his seemingly indifferent demeanor, but it's this indifference that can be the most tormenting!"

The other three said, "Brother Qin, you have to understand the question. Lawyer Chu Qianmiao is asking what the scariest 'thing' is. Is President Ren a thing?"

Hearing this, Chu Qianmiao burst out in laughter.

She laughed as a voice from behind her began to ask a rhetorical question: "Oh? So, your President Ren isn't a thing?"

She and the other four were stunned. The voice, though charming, now sounded like something from hell.

Chu Qianmiao and Qin Qianyu watched helplessly as the office door suddenly transformed into Ren Yan, who was walking in.

They all swallowed their saliva. Sun Yi quickly intervened, "Boss, that's not what we meant! You came in before we even finished talking. Actually, there was more to the story: How could our CEO Ren be a thing? He's definitely not a thing! He's a human!"

With every sentence he spoke, the other four men covered their heads, wishing they could vanish.

Chu Qianmiao finally saw the inability of the straight men in investment banks to speak.

She was suddenly called by Ren Yan.

"Lawyer Chu."

"Here!" she answered reflexively, looking up.

"So, what's the answer?"

"Huh?" Chu Qianmiao paused, realizing that Ren Yan was asking for the answer to the brain teaser.

"This... huh..." She hesitated.

"The answer is actually me, right? Because," Ren Yan said, his voice faintly, a half-smile on his face, "people's words (Ren Yan) are terrifying."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Qianmiao was completely stunned.

"Mr. Ren, Mr. Ren, you're truly filled with wisdom, right down to your stratum corneum!"

The other four were even more dumbfounded. Sun Yi was completely clueless, still refusing to shut up at this point: "Oh my God, Lawyer Chu, you really think our Mr. Ren is a nobody!"

Qin Qianyu couldn't stand it anymore and covered his mouth: "Just shut up!"

Ren Yan stood aside, looking at them, then at Chu Qianmiao.

Chu Qianmiao felt it was over. The great devil Ren was about to unleash his power, ready to slap her and the other four in the face with cold, retortive questions...

Then...

"Heh."

She heard a laugh. She looked up at Ren Yan.

"You're pretty impressive, you could make me laugh," Ren Yan said to her.

 ***

Later, Zhou Hanhai's secretary came to see Ren Yan, and Chu Qianmiao realized that Ren Yan had come to discuss how to resolve the patent issue.

When Ren Yan stood up, he called Qin Qianyu's name: "Xiao Qin, come with me to the meeting." Then he called Chu Qianmiao, "Lawyer Chu, come with me too."