Chapter 249

Mu Xin waited at the door for his sister, with Song Ze yi and Song Ze'er in suits standing shoulder to shoulder beside him.

Seeing Mu Youyu's group approach, the two immediately nodded and said, "Miss."

Mu Youyu smiled and nodded, not waiting for Mu Xin to speak, she grabbed his wrist and shook it, her little face full of eagerness, "Brother, brother, am I the champion?"

Mu Xin reached out, gently pulling her and Jiang Liangjin beside her inward to avoid being bumped, then softly replied, "Yes, our Youbao is certainly the champion."

Mu Youyu lifted her chin proudly, the corners of her eyes brimming with triumphant smiles, "How come I'm so awesome?"

Mu Xin went along with her words and praised, "Hmm, very good."

Yu Ci stood aside, bewildered; the name was too strange to call, yet not calling seemed impolite…

He was still pondering how to address without overstepping, when Gu Xingnan calmly said, "Hello, Manager Mu."

Mu Xin gave a faint response.

Yu Ci silently thought his childhood friend was too clever, quickly echoed, "Hello, Manager Mu!"

Mu Xin replied with a sound.

He was already used to subordinates addressing him that way, but hearing it from his sister's two friends felt somewhat novel.

The more Yu Ci spoke, the more he felt like a genius; proud for just two seconds, he then leaned close to Gu Xingnan and whispered, "A Nan, he calls him Manager Mu, what should I call Elder Nian?"

Gu Xingnan glanced at him, tone calm: "Elder Nian is just called Elder Nian."

"……"

Mu Xin asked after his sister a few sentences, then his gaze turned to Jiang Liangjin.

His eyes flickered slightly, and he slowly uttered three words: "Not bad."

That comment was high praise indeed, since few peers could catch Mu Xin's eye.

This caused Song Ze'er and Song Ze'er to not help but look at him.

Jiang Liangjin, praised by Mu Youyu's older brother, couldn't help but lift the corner of his mouth, yet feigned modesty, raising his chin: "Just average, mainly because Youbao is outstanding."

Mu Youyu turned her head, continuing to shake Mu Xin's hand, "Brother, why do we still need to defend? With a thousand teams, won't the results only come out days later?"

That's too slow.

Mu Xin gave a rough explanation.

Mu Youyu instantly understood.

This time, in the two-school Business Competition, there is one champion, two runners-up, three second runners-up, and fourteen excellence awards each.

In other words, at most forty people from the two schools advance to the final defense round.

Jiang Liangjin had guessed that, but didn't expect there to be fourteen excellence awards.

Beside him, Song Ze'er recalled the statistics sheet he'd checked these past two days, couldn't help but chuckle, tone tinged with helplessness: "Miss, your class really hides a lot of talent; your friend's Zhixing team actually donated all the startup funds and revenue!"

Song Ze'er responded: "Exactly, exactly, I specially made allowances, bending the rules under special circumstances; next time we ought to caution her."

Mu Youyu: "Got it, I'll tell her later."

Mu Xin glanced at the time, his gaze sweeping over the four, seemingly casually asking: "You and A Jin, do you want to come to XY to hang out?"

Mu Youyu understood that this "play" meant directly entering his company as an executive or higher.

She felt she was suited to just lie flat, refusing: "No, no, brother, you keep working hard."

Jiang Liangjin naturally sided with her: "I still have to handle affairs between the Jiang and Shen families."

Mu Xin's eyes showed he understood.

Since Yu Cheng was expelled from the Yu family, Yu Ci has become the sole heir of the Yu family.

And Gu Xingnan has a CEO sister who always dotes on him, so he naturally never lacks work.

He organized this competition to both relieve his sister's boredom and to scout a few usable talents.

Setting more awards is also to ensure no promising prospects are missed.

He thought that if the awards were too few, everyone would be like these four—only caring about rank, not the award, which would be boring.

Most of Mu Xin's company executives are people who were previously in Y Guo, either cultivated by his grandfather or himself, or his own subordinates.

He thought: if he could recruit someone, he would; if not, he'd forget it.

"Youbao! Quick, quick, quick—I've saved you a seat!" Leng Anzhi's voice came from the crowd.

She ran over and lightly put an arm around Mu Youyu's shoulders.

Jiang Liangjin always worries a bit that his childhood sweetheart might be squeezed and stumble; he puts up with these people, yet can't do anything about her friend.

Mu Youyu smiled: "Coming."

Yu Ci waved at Leng Anzhi: "Anzhi, thanks, you even saved us seats."

Leng Anzhi gave a slight nod to the few boys, said nothing more, just focused on watching the girls.

Mu Youyu turned to her brother: "Brother, I'm heading off first—I'll find you after the defense."

Mu Xin reminded: "Don't discuss who goes on stage; everyone must go on stage, max six minutes, but it's up to you four."

Song Ze'er: "Exactly, exactly, Miss, I'll let you slide!"

Leng Anzhi heard this, her heart startled, she pulled Mu Youyu and hurried inside, whispering: "Goodness, you're being so blatant—aren't you afraid other teams will hear and complain?"

She even fears for them that other students might hear.

Mu Youyu shrugged indifferently: "Complaining is useless; my brother is the organizer, he sets the rules, I decide."

Jiang Liangjin stood beside her, hearing this she chuckled: "Exactly, if they're capable they should also find a brother who's the organizer."

The auditorium was already buzzing with voices; students from Lan Lin and Nan Feng filled the seats.

Students from the two schools sat mixed together, the atmosphere lively, occasionally hearing them challenge each other.

Yet no one really caused a scene, after all they're all scions of wealthy families, still observing decorum.

Seats weren't strictly divided; everyone just sat wherever.

Leng Anzhi took the good spot in the center of the second row, with an excellent view, just right facing the stage.

After Mu Youyu sat down, she and Jiang Liangjin took seats to her left and right.

Less than ten minutes later, the auditorium lights suddenly dimmed, leaving only a shaft of white light shining on the stage.

Song Ze yi walked onto the stage in a crisp suit, his posture straight, his aura fully unleashed.

Gasps rose from the crowd.

"This is Mr. Song Ze yi, the XY Group CEO, right?"

"Rumor has it he's the young master's right‑hand man, and he's just four years older than the young master—eh!"

"Exactly, he's also an outstanding graduate of Y Guo International College."

"Mu Family doesn't keep freeloaders, eh……

"Whoever mentioned Mu Youyu just now, someone immediately chimed in with a tone of admiration: 'Who are you calling a freeloader? Don't drag our Artist Name Yue Shu into this! Who in the art world doesn't know Artist Name Yue Shu's divine paintings? They're hard to come by!'"

"Exactly, I'm such a little fan—it's heartbreaking; if she weren't lazy and put out a few more comics, that'd be great."

"……

Mu Youyu leaned against the chair back, having long grown immune to these discussions, her face showing no ripple.

Only upon hearing the last sentence did the corner of her mouth unconsciously curl into a faint smile.

Being not lazy is impossible.

Actually, her not giving up halfway, and Ning Ning being able to persevere, is already far better than she had imagined.

Leng Anzhi thought of something and asked: "By the way, how's it going with Brother Xi compared to you guys?"

She didn't participate in the Business Competition; she was just here to join the fun and, by the way, cheer on her sisters.

As for the competition results, she didn't care that much.