8: Chapter 8 A New Round of Workdays

March 17, 2025, Sunday, Cloudy, 6 ~ 17°C.

It was 6:40 AM on Monday.

When Qiao Yichen woke up, the sky had only just begun to lighten.

The curtains from the night before hadn't been fully drawn, allowing a sliver of grayish-white light to leak through the gap and fall onto the floor.

He lay there blankly on the bed, staring at the ceiling, his mind wandering, but he didn't linger; he turned over and sat up, feeling a slight tightness in his shoulders and back.

This wasn't due to a lack of sleep, but rather his body reminding him: his overall condition had not yet fully recovered.

He changed into the sportswear he had bought at the mall the previous Saturday.

The tags had long been cut off the clothes, but he had never worn them before, and they felt a bit stiff when he put them on.

The moment he tightened his shoelaces, he glanced down at his wrists: the bones were distinct, without excess fat, but they couldn't exactly be described as powerful.

At least for now, this body wasn't the kind that could be easily overdrawn; it needed nurturing.

The complex was very quiet when he went downstairs.

The cleaning truck seemed to have just left; the road surface still bore water marks.

The air carried the scent of having just been washed.

He jogged slowly along the stone path in the complex toward the public green space at the back.

His pace was very slow, serving as a warm-up. Only when he reached the track did he formally begin.

The first hundred meters were fine, but by the second hundred meters, his breathing rhythm started to become erratic.

His chest rose and fell noticeably, and his heartbeat pounded against his eardrums, one beat after another.

He didn't stop, nor did he intentionally speed up; he just maintained a rhythm his body could tolerate, running slowly.

After completing four laps, his entire body had begun to sweat.

His forehead felt hot, the back of his shirt was soaked with perspiration, and the muscles in his legs felt slightly tight and a bit sore.

It wasn't painful, just the sensation of a body that hadn't exercised in a long time.

He glanced at his sports watch: heart rate 158, pace 7 minutes 30 seconds per kilometer, distance 1.2 kilometers.

Although the data wasn't impressive, the curve was stable, without sudden spikes or drops.

That was enough.

His body, just like a project, first needed to get through the process before he could slowly optimize the data.

He gritted his teeth and continued running along the track.

This wasn't about achieving some fitness goal, nor was it about proving himself capable.

It was simply because he knew clearly that if he stopped now, and this action didn't become a habit, he would endlessly procrastinate later.

Twenty minutes later, he stopped by a long bench near the green space.

His breathing hadn't fully stabilized yet; his throat felt a bit dry, indicating dehydration.

He bent over, supporting himself on the chair, and stretched for a while; his calves ached intensely, trembling involuntarily.

It wasn't as painful as he imagined, nor was there the post-exercise euphoria.

He slowly returned to his rented apartment, changed clothes, took a quick shower, and finished washing up.

Looking in the mirror, the person inside seemed no different from yesterday, but his spirits were much better than in the previous few days.

He checked the time; it was already 8:20.

Time to leave.

After going downstairs, he passed the breakfast stall at the entrance of the complex.

The oil in the wok sizzled with a 'zila' sound, and the owner looked up to greet him.

He waved his hand to acknowledge the owner but didn't stop walking.

He stopped at a coffee shop and bought a cup of coffee.

At this time previously, when he lived with Chen Xue, he would most likely still be crammed into a subway car, silently waiting for the train to arrive at the station.

But now, he only needed to walk past two intersections.

The office building was right before his eyes.

He swiped his card to enter; there weren't many people in the elevator lobby.

He stood in the corner, took a sip of coffee, the temperature was just right.

Just as the elevator doors were about to close, someone reached out to stop them.

"Wait a moment."

The voice wasn't loud, but it carried a somewhat cool tone.

Qiao Yichen turned his head and saw Liu Yanran.

Today, she was wearing a women's suit dress with sharp tailoring.

Her hair was also tied up high, making her look as if she were ready to sprint at any moment.

The two made eye contact for a moment.

It was very brief.

Then, Liu Yanran naturally entered the same elevator as him.

The elevator ascended, the numbers flickering layer by layer.

"So early?" she asked casually, looking ahead.

"I live relatively close to the company," Qiao Yichen replied.

Liu Yanran glanced sideways at him; since the elevator was crowded, she didn't continue the conversation, just nodding lightly.

When the elevator reached the twenty-third floor.

The doors opened.

She walked out first, and he followed suit.

Liu Yanran, walking ahead, suddenly stopped and turned to look at him, saying:

"Nine-thirty, A3 Conference Room."

She paused, then added another sentence:

"You're coming with me."

This was a work notification.

Qiao Yichen responded with an "Okay."

She then turned and left, her high heels clicking crisply and rhythmically on the tiles: click, click, click.

He stood in place watching her back, smiled faintly, and then continued to follow.

Both of them tacitly avoided mentioning what happened on Saturday night.

It was like an unspoken understanding.

When Qiao Yichen returned to his workstation, his colleagues behind him slowly started arriving one after another.

By nine o'clock, the entire office seemed to have come alive again.

Keyboard sounds rose and fell around him, the phone rang occasionally, and then quickly subsided.

The new week had begun, busy just like this.

He put down his bag, turned on his computer, and didn't rush to check emails; instead, he first opened the project proposal finalized last week.

He wasn't checking the details, but reviewing the overall framework to see if there were any structural issues.

His perspective now was different from before.

Previously, when looking at a proposal, he habitually stood in the 'decision-maker's' position, considering whether the proposal was viable.

Now, from the angle of a project 'executor,' he considered more about how to complete the project and how to avoid mistakes.

It was 9:25.

A message popped up in the department group chat.

["Core Project Team, 9:30 AM, A3 Conference Room."]

This time, no one was named in the group, but everyone who needed to be there knew it.

Qiao Yichen closed his laptop after reading it, picked up his notebook, and stood up.

The A3 Conference Room wasn't large; several people were already seated on both sides of the long table.

Besides the core members of the Planning Department, there was also the person in charge sent from the Strategy Department—General Manager Zhao Qiming.

General Manager Zhao Qiming was much older than him, his hair meticulously combed, and he always spoke with measured caution; he was a typical example of the 'experienced faction' in the company.

Liu Yanran was the last to enter.

Without exchanging pleasantries, she opened the screen immediately after sitting down.

"Party A temporarily adjusted the target demographic over the weekend," she stated directly.

"The proportion of young female users needs to increase, the budget remains unchanged, but the conversion requirements are higher."

The screen displayed the updated requirement brief.

The conference room fell silent briefly.

Adjustments like this now implied risk.

General Manager Zhao Qiming spoke first: "Then should the original proposal's dissemination path be completely overturned? Otherwise, if the data looks bad, it will be very difficult to define responsibility."

His words were very formal.

But many people nodded in agreement.

Liu Yanran didn't respond immediately; instead, she turned her gaze toward Qiao Yichen.

"You speak."

It wasn't "What do you think," but "You speak."

The tone was flat, yet it focused everyone's attention in the conference room on him.

Qiao Yichen didn't rush to answer.

He first scanned the data on the screen, then flipped open his notebook to confirm several key points before looking up.

"Actually, there's no need to overturn it," he said.

As he finished speaking, General Manager Zhao Qiming frowned slightly.

"Party A's target demographic proportion has changed, but the problem they want to solve hasn't changed," Qiao Yichen spoke at a measured pace.

"The issue with the previous proposal wasn't that the content was wrong, but that the process chain was too long and too slow."

He paused and continued: "If we overturn everything now and start over, the subsequent time costs and communication costs will increase significantly.

This will end up making it easier for Party A to repeatedly revise the proposal."

"Then what do you mean?" someone asked during the meeting.

"Compress the entry point," Qiao Yichen replied.

"Bring the 'usage scenario' from the middle and later stages forward, allowing the people in Party A who have real decision-making power to see the entire chain earlier."

He pointed to a page on the screen: "At the same time, for KOL selection, we should no longer look at follower counts but interaction rates.

Fewer people, but the influence will be more concentrated."

No one in the conference room immediately refuted him.

Because the direction he proposed avoided the point everyone least wanted to take responsibility for—overturning everything and starting anew.

General Manager Zhao Qiming was silent for a few seconds: "If we revise it this way, won't Party A feel it's not aggressive enough?"

"They won't," Qiao Yichen replied directly.

"This follows their requirements, not goes against them."

Liu Yanran closed her folder.

"Then let's proceed in this direction first," she concluded.

"Qiao Yichen, you are responsible for adjusting this part of the content. Give me a version this afternoon that can be presented directly to Party A."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the conference room understood one thing—

This was no longer just filling in temporarily; it meant they tacitly acknowledged he could handle major issues and that he was now responsible for this matter.

The meeting ended, and everyone gradually left.

General Manager Zhao Qiming paused at the doorway, looked at Qiao Yichen, said nothing, nodded, and then turned to leave.

It wasn't exactly a gesture of goodwill, but it was at least an acknowledgment of the plan he proposed.

Liu Yanran left last.

As she passed by him, she said softly:

"Your judgment just now was correct."

Her tone was very gentle.

Qiao Yichen responded, "Then I will provide you with the plan as soon as possible."

She looked at him deeply, wanting to say something more, but ultimately didn't; she just nodded and left the conference room.

Returning to his workstation, he reopened his computer and began adjusting the proposal.

The direction for revising the proposal was actually quite clear.

The issues that arose during the meeting were all within the scope of unexpected situations he had anticipated.

It was exactly twelve o'clock noon.

He had finished revising the framework for the first version of the proposal when his phone vibrated once.

It was a new WeChat notification.

An unfamiliar profile picture, the contact labeled as the contact person for the project outsourcing vendor.

The content was very simple:

["Teacher Qiao, I heard you are mainly in charge of this project on your side? Can we align on the overall direction this afternoon?"]

Qiao Yichen looked at those words, his fingertip pausing for a second.

Then he replied:

["Yes, after three o'clock."]

He closed the chat window, leaned back in his chair, and let out a soft breath.

The midday sun fell on the corner of the desk, warm and not glaring.