Chapter 24: Only She Can See

Gu Yan took a second nap.

When she woke up, the sun had already climbed high, and golden sunlight carpeted half the room.

The space beside her was empty, the bedsheets smooth and cool, with only the faintest, crisp scent belonging to him lingering on the pillow.

She rubbed her eyes and reached out toward the nightstand.

Beside a cold glass of water lay a folded piece of stiff stationery.

Pure black, with no patterns.

She picked it up and unfolded it.

The silver-gray handwriting, forceful enough to pierce the paper, contained only one line:

"At the office. Call me if you need anything."

It was signed with a sharp, vigorous "Shen" character.

It was the exact same stroke style as the previous card that read, "Little Rose, you were very cute last night."

Gu Yan hugged the quilt and rolled twice on the bed, finally lying flat on her back, staring at the ornate crystal chandelier on the ceiling, the corners of her mouth curling high, unable to be suppressed no matter what.

Under the moonlight last night, his physique was explosive.

Long legs, well-proportioned muscles, pectorals, abdominals, and V-taper—he had it all.

I wonder what it felt like to touch?

Yesterday, I was too busy being shy and didn't even reach out to touch him.

What a pity.

But he is already mine, and there is plenty of time; there will be plenty of opportunities.

After lying there for a while, she suddenly remembered something and sat up abruptly.

The painting!

That painting was still in the studio!

She threw off the quilt, jumped out of bed, stepped barefoot onto the carpet, and rushed toward the third-floor studio.

The morning light had already turned into bright daylight, and everything in the studio remained as it was.

That finished nude sketch still stood on the easel, the charcoal lines startlingly clear in the light, every inch of light and shadow calmly recounting last night's "artistic creation."

Gu Yan walked over and stared at the painting for a few seconds.

Her cheeks began to heat up again.

She quickly took the painting off the easel, rolled it up carefully, and walked over to an embedded wall safe.

Fingerprint unlocked, the cabinet door slid open.

She placed the scroll inside, thought for a moment, and adjusted its position to ensure it wouldn't be crushed.

She closed the cabinet door and locked it again.

Only then did she let out a long sigh of relief.

Good.

It's hers.

She won't let anyone see it.

Only she can see it.

Coming out of the studio, Gu Yan changed into a comfortable knitted long dress and went downstairs, only to see Gu Lin and Lin Wei with their heads together, clicking their tongues in wonder at something.

"This luster, this carving... it's superb." Gu Lin held a magnifying glass, examining it closely.

"The design is what's truly superb," Lin Wei said, resting her chin in her hand. "Thorn Rose... beautiful yet thorny, it really suits someone."

Gu Yan walked over and snatched the object from Gu Lin's hand.

It felt slightly cool and heavy in her hand.

It was a jade pendant.

An imperial green cabochon, plump and translucent. The surrounding platinum was set in the shape of thorns entwining a rose, with the rose petals densely inlaid with tiny diamonds.

The design was intricate and exquisite, yet appeared completely natural; one knew without thinking that it was worth a fortune.

"What are you looking at?" Gu Yan gripped the pendant in her palm and glanced at them. "It's mine."

Gu Lin put down the magnifying glass, crossed his legs, and clicked his tongue twice. "I know it's yours. 'Brother-in-law' really went all out."

Gu Yan raised an eyebrow and looked at him. "'Brother-in-law'? Gu Lin, do you dare call him that to his face?"

The smugness on Gu Lin's face froze instantly; his eyes flickered, and he rubbed his nose.

Lin Wei let out a laugh and teased, "Alright, Gu Yan, don't make things difficult for your brother. With Mr. Shen's aura, who would dare take advantage of him to his face?"

She paused and blinked. "Oh, except for you."

Gu Yan couldn't be bothered with these two who loved watching the chaos. She looked down and examined the pendant in her hand again.

The more she looked, the more she liked it.

Thorns and roses.

Like some kind of secret echo.

She placed the pendant back into the open Black Velvet Jewelry Box beside her.

"By the way," Lin Wei remembered something, "there's a small private auction of Oriental art at Huanyu this weekend. There are some nice traditional Chinese dress fabrics and antique embroidery pieces. Want to go take a look?"

Gu Yan's eyes lit up.

She had been planning exactly that.

This pendant was beautiful, but it required an outfit that could hold its own and complement it perfectly.

"I'll go." She closed the jewelry box, her tone light. "Perfect, I'll talk to Tailor Li about making a new qipao."

Gu Lin listened from the side, shaking his head. "Tsk tsk, a grown daughter is hard to keep..."

Gu Yan grabbed a cushion and threw it over.

"Mind your own business!"

Gu Lin dodged, "Why are you getting angry from embarrassment?"

Gu Yan threw another cushion over.

Lin Wei couldn't bear to look; two childish people.

——

The top-floor conference room of the Shen Corporation headquarters.

The long table was filled with people on both sides, the atmosphere stagnant.

The argument had already lasted for nearly an hour regarding the development assessment of those deep-sea oil fields at Lekki Port in Nigeria, with both the supporting and opposing sides holding their own ground.

Shen Yanhui sat at the head of the table, expressionless.

A black fountain pen was in his fingertips, rotating slowly, emitting a rhythmic, faint clicking sound in the silence.

He rarely spoke, only raising his eyes to look at the reporter when key data was in doubt; his gaze was calm, which was enough to make the other person subconsciously stop and re-verify.

The people below had long been accustomed to this pattern.

Mr. Shen gave enough time for debate, but the final decision could only be his.

The silence at this moment meant he was listening and weighing things.

But today's argument was particularly deadlocked. One side emphasized the attractive reserves and significant strategic importance, while the other side fixated on the technical bottlenecks of extraction and political risks, their voices raised unconsciously.

Shen Yanhui listened to those gradually sharpening words, his brow furrowing slightly.

A bit noisy.

The speed of the pen's rotation accelerated slightly.

Just then, the personal mobile phone placed at the corner of the table lit up silently.

The vibration was very light, almost imperceptible amidst the gradually rising voices of the argument.

Shen Yanhui's pen-spinning motion paused.

His gaze dropped.

On the screen was a message sent by Gu Yan, without any prefix, direct and spoiled:

【The pendant is very pretty, I like it very much】

Followed by a cat-tilting-its-head sticker.

Shen Yanhui looked at that line of text, looking for two seconds.

Then, he reached out his hand and picked up the phone.

Unlocked.

His fingertips tapped on the screen to reply.

The corners of his lips curled into an extremely faint arc, almost imperceptibly.

Chang Su, who had been standing behind him to the side, caught a glimpse of this scene from the corner of his eye and silently looked away.

Sir had said before that using WeChat was the least efficient and most unprofessional way to communicate.

Now...

Never mind, he didn't see it.

On one side of the long table, an executive who was arguing at a critical point happened to look up, wanting to seek Shen Yanhui's visual support, but caught that fleeting softness off guard.

His voice stuttered, and he used a light cough to cover up his loss of composure.

The person next to him noticed his abnormality and followed his gaze... only to see Mr. Shen put down his phone, his expression already returned to his usual indifference.

The voices of the two sides arguing lowered unconsciously.

The conference room became strangely quiet.

Shen Yanhui placed his phone face down on the table.

He raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping calmly across both sides of the long table.

"Are you all finished?"

His voice was not loud, yet it made everyone subconsciously straighten their backs.

Those who had been arguing until their faces were red just a moment ago were now silent, waiting for the final verdict.

Shen Yanhui leaned back slightly, his fingertips tapping lightly on the tabletop.

"Regarding the technical bottleneck of deep-sea sub-salt drilling, the Norway North Sea project three years ago already provided an improved plan, and the cost is controllable." He looked at a technical lead from the opposition, "Your department's assessment report from last month missed this part."

That lead's face turned pale.

"As for political risks," Shen Yanhui turned his gaze to the other side, "the supplementary clauses of the exploration agreement signed by Shell in the adjacent block last year can be used as a reference. The key is not to avoid risk, but to price the risk."

His tone was flat, yet every word hit the vital point, dismantling and locating the core issue that had been argued over endlessly just now with a light touch.

"Considering the comprehensive extraction costs, the long-term oil price fluctuation model, and our existing logistics network in West Africa," he paused and gave his conclusion, "we can invest."

"But the initial investment amount will be executed at seventy percent of the original plan. After the first phase of exploration data meets the standards, the remaining funds will be activated."

"For the specific implementation details," he looked around at everyone, "put them on my desk by tomorrow noon."

After speaking, he stopped looking at anyone and stood up.

"Meeting adjourned."

He walked straight out of the conference room.

Chang Su followed quickly, falling half a step behind Shen Yanhui's side, watching as the Sir who had been in control of the situation a second ago picked up his phone and dialed Miss Gu's number.

His voice was like a different person compared to the one in the conference room just now.

"Eating together tonight?"