Chapter 149: Chief Financial Officer, It’s a Small World After All

Ouyang Aili was a drama queen, while Ouyang Zhenli was sharp-tongued—each had their own charm. The two sisters gave Cheng Yao a kind of double joy that ordinary people could never experience.

After a week of fun, they were all tired and ready to return to Guangzhou to rest. Once Cheng Yao heard that their period was coming, he didn’t hesitate to book first-class tickets for Saturday.

“Remember to drink plenty of hot water when you get back, okay?” he reminded.

“Mm-hmm, got it,” Ouyang Aili nodded obediently, quite fond of Cheng Yao’s care.

After a feast of lobster, the evening was spent teaming up for gaming. In just one week, they had already climbed to Platinum rank. At lower levels, the sisters’ skills were decent, but at higher tiers, their slacking ways became obvious. When it came to gaming talent, girls still lagged far behind boys.

After the game, it was time for the four of them to enjoy their happy moments again. Cheng Yao glanced at the time—it had almost been a month. He then took out a precious capsule from his stash and swallowed it.

He called this capsule the “Joy Capsule.”

Such capsules couldn’t be mass-produced because their effects were too extraordinary. Developing them risked attracting unwanted attention, and without a formula, the ingredients were nearly impossible to analyze. So, he kept them for his own use.

Who wouldn’t want to keep something like this all to themselves?

Money wasn’t an issue for him; he didn’t need to mess around with this stuff. He could just focus on normal high-tech gadgets, like smart electric toothbrushes.

【Your intimacy with your nurtured girlfriend has reached ninety. You have obtained a matchmaker’s red string.】

Host: Cheng Yao
Appearance: 85
Skill: Folding
Wealth: 17e75600000
Items: Matchmaker’s Red String *3, Best Friend Card (Silver) *1

...
...

Most of the items were nearly used up, leaving only the red strings.

【Do you wish to use the ‘Matchmaker’s Red String’?】

【Congratulations, you have formed a subtle bond of fate with Wang Yuting. A wonderful encounter will occur soon.】

Wang Yuting?

Why was it this “brother-supporting” senior again?

Since rejecting her last time, he hadn’t seen her for a while. He wasn’t sure if she was still at school—she should have started her internship by now, right?

Cheng Yao didn’t think he had any connection with that senior.

【Congratulations, you have formed a subtle bond of fate with Qiu Wan. A wonderful encounter will occur soon.】

What kind of red strings were these? He didn’t want them!

【Congratulations, you have formed a subtle bond of fate with Zheng Yuechan. A wonderful encounter will occur soon.】

Cheng Yao’s eyes lit up—this was promising.

Speaking of which, he needed to talk to Zheng Yuechan about this matter. He wanted her to bring Xia Shiqi over for an endorsement. Since last time, although Xia Shiqi still faced some online criticism, her popularity had clearly spiked.

The more they attacked her,
the hotter she became,
and the more attention she drew.

With the media’s recent silence and the gossip becoming less believable, Xia Shiqi, having debuted not long ago, didn’t have many scandals. This caused her popularity to surge again, and more people were getting to know her.

Now, Xia Shiqi was a young star with millions of followers on Weibo and rising heat.

So, Cheng Yao preferred to keep things close to home, especially since they already knew each other.

He had already mentioned this to Xia Shiqi—they got along well and chatted easily—but he needed Zheng Yuechan’s approval.

That was just a matter of a word.

In a way, he was still Zheng Yuechan’s superior.

Late at night, Zheng Yuechan probably just finished her work.

Lu Mengyao and the others had gone to sleep. Cheng Yao stood on the balcony, enjoying the breeze while watching a movie on his laptop.

“Hello, Aunt Zheng, are you asleep?” he asked.

“Just got home. Shiqi mentioned the endorsement. We’ll have to wait a little...” she replied.

“No problem, no rush. After the endorsement, she’ll be filming an online drama. I’ll arrange something and treat you all to a meal.”

“Alright. Congratulations on securing the Jinling market. Are you thinking of switching to industry now?”

Cheng Yao smiled. “Yeah, the American company developed a new smart electric toothbrush. I’m bringing it over to try. The domestic market is huge; I’m confident we can take a share…”

“A smart electric toothbrush? Tell me the details—how good is it?”

“Definitely better than anything currently on the market. Once it’s developed, I’ll send one over for you to try.”

Though it wasn’t finished yet, Cheng Yao was confident—not in himself, but in his golden finger.

“Alright then.”

Zheng Yuechan’s voice was gentle, like a mature big sister, even more composed than Zhenli. Cheng Yao secretly wished to be squeezed between them.

“As for Shiqi’s endorsement fee, we’ll go by market rates. Also, I need to remind you that the domestic market is fiercely competitive…”

“I know,” Cheng Yao said. He was well aware that when competing with big companies for resources, it all depended on having a superior product. No matter how much effort you put in, if the product was bad, it was useless.

Zheng Yuechan chuckled. “By the way, the scripts you wanted last time—I’ve been keeping an eye out. Some of the revised online drama scripts are pretty good. Though a bit melodramatic, they attract a lot of traffic.”

“Melodrama or not, it doesn’t matter…”

“Alright, I’ll let you know when there’s news.”

They chatted about cooperation for nearly twenty minutes. After hanging up, Cheng Yao felt a bit empty.

Since that drinking session, he had been a little obsessed with Zheng Yuechan.

Luckily, he was in a saintly state now; otherwise, Lu Mengyao and the others would suffer.

...

The next morning, Cheng Yao made breakfast.

While eating bacon, he looked at Lu Mengyao. “After breakfast, can you take them to the airport?”

“Sure, I’m free anyway. You focus on your stuff,” Lu Mengyao said eagerly. Though driving was tiring, pretending to be cool made her happy. Plus, her relationship with Ouyang Aili and Zhenli was getting better and better.

They even made plans for her to go to Guangzhou with Cheng Yao next time.

“Cheng Yao, you have to miss me, okay? No need to miss my sister, since we look the same. Missing me is like missing her.”

Ouyang Aili snuggled up close to Cheng Yao, practically wanting to fall onto him.

Ouyang Zhenli closed her eyes and smiled—out of sight, out of mind.

Cheng Yao stuffed a fried dough stick into her mouth and smiled at Zhenli. “Don’t worry, I treat you both equally.”

“No need,” Ouyang Zhenli was unimpressed.

Cheng Yao understood that she only appeared serious on the surface; secretly, she was quite mischievous.

In fact, Ouyang Zhenli was even more proactive than her younger sister at times.

After breakfast, the phone rang.

It was Lv Youqin calling. After answering, she informed him that the machinery had arrived and asked him to come to the factory to have a look.

Lu Mengyao took the two sisters to the airport while Cheng Yao drove straight to Jiang Ning.

Since getting the LaFerrari, he had bought a lumbar support and loved driving it every day—much more enjoyable than the McLaren.

What McLaren? Compared to this car, even Lamborghini was weak. Unless someone brought poison, he wouldn’t hold back at all.

Forty minutes later, he arrived at the factory gate.

The cotton factory’s old sign had been replaced by “Midsummer Technology Co., Ltd.” It looked very pleasant.

There was a recruitment advertisement at the gate, and quite a few people were standing there.

Buzzing—

Among the crowd, Wang Yuting stared blankly at the arriving Ferrari LaFerrari.

Cheng Yao also noticed Wang Yuting at the front of the crowd, surprised. Was the matchmaker’s red string effect really that obvious?

He rolled down the window and called, “Senior.”

Wang Yuting looked at him, equally stunned. “Cheng Yao…”

“See you later.”

“Ah… yeah…”

Wang Yuting stood frozen, watching the taillights of the car entering the factory, a glimmer flashing in her eyes.

“Miss, what position are you applying for here?”

“Finance.”

“You know the boss?”

Wang Yuting smiled brightly and nodded. The company had just started operating, and she saw the job posting for CFO, the financial director.

As vice president of the student union with four years of experience, she believed she was qualified. Her major was in finance…

Who would have thought she’d run into Cheng Yao here?

So, he was the behind-the-scenes owner of this tech company?

Some women applying for the finance position looked at Wang Yuting with caution. They were also aiming for the financial director role, but compared to this young woman, they fell short in both age and looks.

In today’s society, years of experience often don’t count as much as connections.

Even at hospitals, having connections meant you could skip the queue and get priority treatment. Reality was cruel like that.

...

Inside the factory, Cheng Yao glanced at the machinery covered in packaging.

Lv Youqin came over with the operators handling the equipment. “General Manager Cheng.”

“Hello, just call me Xiao Song. Do you have technicians here?”

“Yes, call Fang Liang and Old Feng over.”

“Okay.”

Xiao Song smiled. “The operation is very simple…”

Fang Liang and Old Feng arrived, took a quick look, and understood immediately. They were already developers of such programs, so this was a piece of cake for them.

Cheng Yao then went to the office where the interviews were underway.

“General Manager Cheng.”

“Mm, continue…”

Cheng Yao’s seat bore a chairman’s nameplate. Senior management applicants were interviewed separately from the ordinary workshop workers, so there weren’t many candidates—only about twenty in total.

Cheng Yao just observed while the dedicated management staff conducted the interviews.

The HR manager Bai Shulan held a resume and asked, “You’re unmarried, right? I see you’re twenty-eight.”

“Yes, but I have three years of financial management experience.”

“Okay, we understand your situation. Please wait for our notification.”

“Thank you.”

After the candidate left, Bai Shulan looked at Cheng Yao and said, “General Manager, I don’t think we should consider this lady. At twenty-eight, she’s likely to marry soon. Marriage leave and maternity leave would affect the company’s financial operations…”

“Next,” Cheng Yao nodded.

They interviewed a few more candidates: some lacked degrees but had experience; others had neither education nor experience...

When Wang Yuting entered the office, she saw Cheng Yao and smiled.

“My name is Wang Yuting. I graduated from the University of Finance and Economics. During school, I served as vice president of the student union for four years…”

Wang Yuting spoke confidently and left to wait after finishing.

Bai Shulan shook her head. “Her qualifications are good. Four years as vice president must have given her plenty of experience, but she’s too young. I’m not sure if she can handle it.”

“I remember, General Manager Cheng, you’re also from the University of Finance and Economics?” Lv Youqin asked with a smile.

Cheng Yao nodded lightly. “What a coincidence. That one was my senior. We’ve socialized a few times. She’s a decent person. Opportunities should be given to young people.”

“General Manager Cheng makes a good point. Miss Wang Yuting has four years of student union experience, so she should be skilled socially. And student union work is tough…”

“Let’s see.”

“All right.”

Bai Shulan seemed to understand—they had probably already decided.

If Cheng Yao didn’t speak, that would be fine. Once he did, it meant the position was reserved for Wang Yuting.

...

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