95: Chapter 95 Emergency Adjustment

Wednesday, May 7, 2025, Cloudy, 17 ~ 26℃.

The seven o’clock alarm rang right on time.

Liu Yanran didn't wake up; she rolled over and continued sleeping, breathing evenly. It looked like she was truly exhausted.

Qiao Yichen reached out and turned off the alarm. He didn't wake her and got up first to wash up.

By the time he finished blow-drying his hair, it was already 7:20.

He walked to the bedside and gently nudged her: “Yanran? Yanran?”

Liu Yanran groggily opened her eyes, her voice thick with sleep: “Mmm... What’s wrong?”

“It’s eight o’clock. If you don’t get up now, you’ll be late for work.”

Liu Yanran jolted awake, her eyes instantly widening. She grabbed her phone to check—7:20.

She let out a long breath, her whole body going limp again. She raised a hand and swatted at him:

“You scared me to death!”

After teasing her for a while, Qiao Yichen composed himself: “Alright, alright, get up quickly.”

Liu Yanran threw on her coat and got out of bed to take a shower.

After she finished washing, blow-drying her hair, and applying makeup, the whole routine was done, and it was already 8:20 when they left.

Driving to the company building, it was 8:45.

Time was a bit tight; there wasn't enough time to slowly eat breakfast at a shop.

Qiao Yichen parked the car in the lot, turned to her, and said: “You go up first. I’ll grab some breakfast to bring up to you.”

Liu Yanran nodded, got out of the car, and headed for the elevator.

Qiao Yichen jogged to a nearby breakfast shop, packed up some steamed dumplings, pan-fried dumplings, and two cups of milk, then jogged back.

He went upstairs and headed straight for Liu Yanran’s office.

He knocked.

A weak voice from inside said, “Come in.”

Pushing the door open, Liu Yanran was completely slumped in her chair. Seeing that it was him, she didn't even bother moving, just remained slumped there.

Qiao Yichen walked over, leaned against her desk, and looked down at her:

“What’s wrong with you?”

Liu Yanran first gave him a huge glare, then retorted: “What do you think?”

Qiao Yichen suppressed a laugh, took out a steamed dumpling from the bag, and held it to her mouth.

She opened her mouth and took a bite, chewing it.

He then inserted the straw and handed over the milk. She took it and drank a sip.

Only after she swallowed did Qiao Yichen say seriously: “It’s mainly because you’re too charming, I couldn’t control myself.”

Liu Yanran didn't speak, just stared at him with a fierce look.

Then her hand reached out and accurately pinched the flesh on the inside of his thigh, twisting hard.

Qiao Yichen was in so much pain he almost jumped up, forcefully swallowing back a cry of agony, his face contorted.

“I was wrong, wife!” he begged in a low voice.

Hearing him call her 'wife,' Liu Yanran’s ears grew hot, and her cheeks flushed red.

She nodded her chin toward the breakfast bag and said crossly: “Aren’t you going to hurry up?”

Qiao Yichen understood immediately and quickly took out the pan-fried dumplings from the bag, holding them to her mouth.

Liu Yanran ate two right from his hand and drank a few sips of milk before finally recovering.

When she was almost done eating, she waved her hand: “Okay, okay, you can go now.”

Qiao Yichen put the remaining breakfast back into the bag, smiled at her, and turned to leave.

As he walked toward the Planning Department, he took a pan-fried dumpling from the bag and stuffed it into his mouth.

There were still a few steamed dumplings left, which he ate as he walked, unhurriedly.

Just as he reached the workstation area, Li Yong came over, wearing that meaningful smile:

“Oh, Boss, I thought you were taking the day off today.”

Qiao Yichen glanced at his phone—9:10 AM.

He didn't engage with that comment and asked directly: “Did you look at yesterday’s data?”

Li Yong immediately switched to a look of seeking praise: “I saw it, I saw it. I was just monitoring it. The data is normal, not a single issue.”

Qiao Yichen nodded, sat down at his workstation, turned on his computer, and continued eating his breakfast from the bag.

There wasn't much work in the morning. After replying to a few emails, the time had just passed 9:30.

Qiao Yichen stood up and pushed open the door leading to the fire escape.

The stairwell was very quiet. He leaned against the wall, took his cigarette case out of his pocket, pulled one out, lit it, took a deep drag, and then pulled out his phone to make a call.

After a few rings, the other end picked up.

“Baozhen Pavilion” Old Zhou’s voice came through the receiver, mixed with a bit of surprise: “Young Qiao? Calling so early, is something up?”

Qiao Yichen took another drag of the cigarette, slowly exhaled, and then spoke:

“Old Zhou, I still want to sell that cabinet as soon as possible. Please put in some extra effort—if you can find a buyer within a week, I’ll add another three points to your commission.”

There was a two-second silence on the other end. Old Zhou’s voice was noticeably more serious: “What happened? Did something come up?”

Qiao Yichen smiled lightly, his tone relaxed: “No, no, I just want to settle things quickly. Keeping the item with me is just keeping it there. It’s better to let it go to where it belongs sooner.”

Old Zhou hummed, pondered for a moment: “Got it. I, an old man, will make a few more calls and try to contact some people for you.”

Qiao Yichen nodded: “I appreciate your trouble.”

“Alright, I’ll call you if I have any news.”

After hanging up, Qiao Yichen tucked his phone back into his pocket and stood by the window, finishing the rest of his cigarette.

The window was open a crack, and the morning breeze blew in, carrying a bit of coolness.

He looked at the hazy sky outside and took out another one, lighting it.

After finishing the second cigarette, he stubbed out the butt and pushed the door open to head back.

Upon returning to his workstation, Meng Zhi and Shen Bowen gradually came over to ask about project execution issues.

It wasn't until 10:30 that the messages in the large work group started pinging.

Qiao Yichen clicked it open. It was an urgent notification from Liu Yanran, tagging everyone: All senior planners, senior consultants, and team leaders currently employed by the company, please proceed immediately to Conference Room A3 for a meeting.

He stood up. Several figures from the Planning Department also stood up and walked toward the conference room together.

The people in front were chatting as they walked, muttering in low voices, “What’s going on, does anyone know?”

The person next to them shook their head, looking completely clueless.

Pushing open the conference room door, quite a few people were already seated inside.

Basically all the senior planners were present. General Manager Zhao Qiming, the head of the Strategy Department, was also there, sitting on the opposite side of the long table.

Liu Yanran was the last one to enter.

She pushed the door open, her expression blank, ice-cold. Her gaze swept across the room, and she walked directly toward the main seat.

Qiao Yichen watched her from a corner. No matter how he looked at it—his own woman looking stern was still quite adorable.

Liu Yanran stopped at the main seat and got straight to the point:

“On April 28th, the company received an invitation for the ‘Liquan’ Project. Everyone knows a little or a lot about it.”

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the people present.

“The original draft deadline was May 19th. However, this morning, we temporarily received notice from the Liquan Group—due to a high-level strategic adjustment within the group, the deadline for the initial draft has been moved up to May 12th.”

As soon as the words fell, the room erupted with a buzz.

“May 12th? Isn’t that next Monday?”

“It’s already the 7th today…”

“How is that possible to finish in time?”

Whispered conversations rose and fell. Some frowned, some shook their heads, and some muttered quietly to the person next to them.

Liu Yanran didn't speak; she just stood there, waiting a few seconds, then placed the file in her hand onto the table—

“Smack.”

The sound wasn't loud, but the conference room instantly quieted down, becoming deathly silent.

Senior Planner Liu Li raised her hand, signaling she wished to speak.

Liu Yanran nodded.

Liu Li stood up and spoke quickly: “Director Liu, today is May 7th. Counting inclusively until May 12th, there are only 6 days left.

Excluding the day of the pitch competition, the actual time we have to work on the proposal, even counting the weekend, is only 5 days left. This timeline is too tight.”

Liu Yanran nodded, about to speak, when General Manager Zhao Qiming took over the conversation:

“Therefore, the company leadership has decided to pull together all elites who do not have ongoing projects or whose projects have already entered the execution phase to form an ad-hoc team.

For five days, we will focus entirely on conquering the ‘Liquan’ proposal.”

He paused, his tone intensifying slightly: “After all, everyone present knows how rare this project opportunity is.”

Liu Yanran took the floor again: “After the meeting adjourns, you will all synchronize the progress of all your current projects with me.

Anything that can be handed over to team members must be handed over.

For the next five days, everyone will only do one thing—‘Liquan’.”

The people present looked at each other, then nodded one after another.

Liu Yanran scanned the room and said decisively: “Meeting adjourned. Starting this afternoon, we officially enter the ‘Liquan’ Project phase.”

The sound of chairs scraping filled the air as people gradually rose and walked out.

Qiao Yichen also stood up, his gaze inadvertently sweeping past the main seat—Liu Yanran was still looking down at the documents, her brow slightly furrowed.