125: Chapter 126 Old Ma Calls

A new notification popped up on Jiang Jing's wechat interface: Yan Shuyao has accepted your friend request.

He curled his lips in satisfaction and tucked the blue velvet box into Yan Shuyao's bag: "Use it once every morning and evening. In a week, you will thank me."

"I certainly won't..." Yan Shuyao muttered softly, but she pulled her bag closer to her chest.

"Won't what? Won't thank me?" Jiang Jing deliberately leaned in close to her ear, "Then next time we meet, Host Yan will have to tell me the results personally."

His warm breath brushed against her earlobe, and the tips of Yan Shuyao's ears instantly turned blood-red.

She took a half-step back and cleared her throat, feigning composure: "CEO Jiang, we should pack up the equipment."

"Of course, I won't delay Host Yan's work. I look forward to our next meeting."

As Jiang Jing turned to walk toward the elevator, he heard a burst of hushed whispers behind him.

"Oh my god, Sister Yan actually gave out her private WeChat!" A young female assistant tugged excitedly at her colleague's sleeve, "The last time that listed company CEO asked her out to dinner, she rejected him outright!"

"Shh! Keep it down!" Another male assistant wearing glasses pushed them up, "But it is indeed strange. Look, Teacher Yan's face is even red..."

"That CEO Jiang is just too handsome! Young and rich—if it were me, I'd give it too!"

"You few!" Yan Shuyao suddenly raised her voice, startling the young assistants, "If you keep gossiping, you'll be working overtime tonight to edit footage!"

The last image Jiang Jing saw before the elevator doors closed was Yan Shuyao's cheeks, flushed despite her attempt to look serious, and her subconscious action of rubbing the beauty serum inside her bag.

[Yan Shuyao Favorability + 10] (Currently 35)

As the elevator descended, Jiang Jing savored the moment. This host, who was always elegant and composed in front of the camera, actually had such a cute side in private. He opened WeChat; Yan Shuyao's profile picture was a photo of her back, taken at the peak of a snowy mountain, looking proud and mysterious.

"Yan Shuyao..." Jiang Jing whispered the name, his finger sliding across the snowy mountain photo on the screen, "We will meet again very soon."

Meanwhile, in the interview room on the 38th floor, Yan Shuyao was surrounded by the meaningful gazes of her colleagues.

"Shuyao," the veteran cameraman Old Li teased, "I've known you for ten years, and this is the first time I've seen you reluctant to leave after an interview."

"What nonsense!" Yan Shuyao slammed her makeup case shut, though her voice lacked any real intimidation, "I was checking the equipment!"

"Yes, yes, yes," the makeup artist Xiao Lin handed over a mirror while suppressing a laugh, "Then Sister Yan, take a look first. Do you need to touch up your makeup? Your complexion is a bit... hmm, overly flushed."

In the mirror, Yan Shuyao's cheeks were crimson, and her eyes shimmered with a touch of girlish shyness.

She snapped the mirror shut and grabbed her bag, heading for the door: "Back to the station! There are still three pieces of footage to review!"

In the hallway, she reached into her bag and pulled out the blue velvet box as if possessed.

The moment she opened it, a faint blue light shone on her face—inside were five bottles of beauty serum, more crystal clear than the retail version, neatly arranged. The gold-stamped words "Xingchen Technology VIP Exclusive" on the bottles shimmered under the lights.

"This jerk..." Yan Shuyao cursed softly, but the corners of her mouth curled up uncontrollably, "He actually gave me five bottles..."

She didn't notice that around the corner of the hallway, a few young interns were holding up their phones, secretly capturing the rare smile of this "Ice Beauty."

...

After the exclusive interview on Longguo Satellite TV aired during prime time, it was like a depth charge that detonated across the entire internet.

Jiang Jing stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows at the Xingchen Technology headquarters, his fingertips sliding across the screen of his tablet.

Six of the top ten trending topics on Weibo were related to him:

# Jiang Jing: The National Husband Everyone Wants to Marry #

# Xingchen Technology beauty serum Founder's Looks Are Off the Charts #

# Tencent Group Shareholder Jiang Jing #

# Begging CEO Jiang to Open a Weibo Account #

# Jiang Jing Longguo Satellite TV Exclusive Interview #

"Jiang Yan, what is our official website traffic now?" Jiang Jing asked without turning his head.

Behind him, Jiang Yan, wearing a professional suit, pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses: "After the interview aired, we had 23 million new visits, and the server has already been expanded three times." She paused, "Also, our customer service email has received over 50,000 job applications, 87% of which are from women."

Jiang Jing chuckled and clicked on the Weibo topic page. The top post was a nine-grid image collage posted by a verified influencer called "Entertainment Octopus":

[Sisters, look! Screenshots from the Longguo Satellite TV interview! What kind of god-tier looks does this Xingchen Technology founder, Jiang Jing, have?! (Images 1-3: Close-up of Jiang Jing's profile) (Images 4-6: Jiang Jing chatting and laughing) (Images 7-9: Jiang Jing interacting with host Yan Shuyao)]

The comment section had already exploded:

[Holy crap, is this level of handsomeness real? I thought it was some newly debuted idol!]

[Sisters, look closely at the seventh image! Yan Shuyao's eyes! The Ice Beauty actually blushed!]

[I want all the information on this man in three minutes!]

[Don't bother, upstairs. It was just dug up that he is a Tencent Group shareholder, a big shot with a 1% stake, worth at least 10 billion.]

[Handsome, young and promising, elegant in speech... Mom, I'm in love!]

[CEO Jiang, look at me! 985 Master's degree graduate, can cook, and can warm the bed!]

Jiang Jing scrolled down. Under another trending topic, # Jiang Jing Tencent Group Shareholder #, a finance blogger named "Data Maniac" posted a long analytical article:

[Deep dive into the background of the Xingchen Technology founder: Public information shows that Jiang Jing holds a 1% stake in Tencent Group, worth approximately 37 billion based on current market value. It is worth noting that... (Read full article)]

Netizens are really idle, but my god-level hacking skills are not just for show.

Everything they can dig up is only what Jiang Jing wants them to see.

He took a sip of wine and suddenly remembered something: "By the way, is there any news from Yan Shuyao?"

"Host Yan posted a Moments update this morning." Jiang Yan calmly pulled out her phone, "She showed off the VIP beauty serum you gave her, with the caption 'Trying out a new product.' It has already received 832 likes."

The corners of Jiang Jing's mouth turned up slightly. It seems that Ice Beauty is very satisfied with his gift.

As they were speaking, Jiang Jing's phone suddenly rang.

Jiang Yan glanced at the caller ID, her expression becoming subtle. Jiang Jing raised an eyebrow and pressed the answer button: "CEO Ma, what wind blew you here?"

"Hahaha, Brother Jiang!" A signature hearty laugh came from the other end of the line, "You are famous all over the internet now! My company's public relations department just reported that because of you, our stock rose by 3 points today!"

Jiang Jing swirled his wine glass, his tone relaxed: "Then shouldn't CEO Ma send me a red packet?"

"Send! I must send it!" CEO Ma laughed even louder, "But brother, you are too low-key. You hold shares but don't attend the shareholders' meeting. After a while, I reckon I would have forgotten that I had such a mysterious shareholder like you."

Jiang Jing chuckled: "CEO Ma is busy with a thousand things, how would a small shareholder like me dare to disturb you."

"Cut it out!" CEO Ma changed the subject, his tone suddenly becoming serious, "Seriously, besides thanking you, there is a presumptuous request for this call."

Jiang Jing and Jiang Yan exchanged a look: "Oh?"

The sound of paper rustling came from the other end of the line: "It's like this... I have a friend in the entertainment industry who is very interested in your beauty serum after seeing your interview. But she pulled strings and couldn't get her hands on it; even the black market doesn't have it..."

A flash of understanding crossed Jiang Jing's eyes. Sure enough, after all this buildup, this was the real purpose.