Soon, Ye Zhi's speech concluded, and thunderous applause erupted from the audience.
Ye Zhi returned to her seat. Qi Xuan leaned towards her side, "Ms. Ye, your performance was excellent."
"Thank you for your praise, Mr. Qi," Ye Zhi smiled faintly.
Qi Xuan curved his lips slightly, "This conference is highly regarded in all aspects, and major media outlets will be reporting on it. Ms. Ye, it seems you'll have to reveal your true appearance this time."
"If they reveal it, let them. I'm just low-key, not doing anything shameful," Ye Zhi said with a hint of worry. "I just hope they can photograph me nicely."
Qi Xuan's gaze flickered, "No matter how you're photographed, you'll still be beautiful."
"I understand what you mean," Ye Zhi chuckled. "No matter what I look like, even if I were plain, in the eyes of netizens I would still be as beautiful as a celestial being. You understand netizens."
Qi Xuan: ...
No, he didn't.
Never mind, an occasion like this conference wasn't suitable for whispering.
"Oh, right, are you attending the evening reception? The chairman of the conference just said he hoped to have a chat with you, Ms. Ye, at tonight's reception," Qi Xuan said softly.
The conference was held during the day, with a reception in the evening for attendees to network.
Ye Zhi nodded, "Of course, I'll be there. It's a good opportunity to meet others as well."
Zhan Ruoqing pouted speechlessly. She had thought they were sharing a private conversation, wasting her effort in perking up her ears.
The day's meetings concluded, and Ou Minghan immediately went to find Cen Ya. The conference lasted for three days. Ye Zhi had already spoken on the first day, so he could bring Cen Ya along for the following two days.
Of course, the most important thing was that he intended to bring Cen Ya to the evening reception to meet the conference chairman.
Cen Ya, after all, was the daughter of a Duke in Country K and possessed considerable financial backing. She could be considered foreign investment. By leveraging her status, he could establish more connections with the chairman, opening up more convenient avenues for him in the future.
Although it was a reception, Cen Ya was initially reluctant to attend, as she did not wish to encounter Ye Zhi again.
However, after repeated persuasion from Ou Minghan, she finally agreed.
The two arrived at the reception. Ou Minghan searched the crowd for a long time before finally spotting the chairman. He immediately led Cen Ya over.
"Chairman, hello! I am Ou Minghan, President of Feilong Live..." Ou Minghan stepped forward to greet him. Seeing the chairman's expressionless face, Ou Minghan quickly changed his approach, "This is Cen Ya, the founder of the website and the daughter of a Duke in Country K. Shan Jin Jewelry, which has recently come to develop in China, is precisely a property of the Cen family. Of course, the Cen family's main industries are still in Country K, but they have intentions to expand into China..."
Cen Ya appeared a bit shy, leaning closer to Ou Minghan.
The chairman, a man in his fifties, had eyes as sharp as lightning, seemingly capable of seeing through people's hearts.
He calmly appraised Cen Ya for a moment before turning his attention to Ou Minghan, "Your Feilong Live, I know of it. It has certainly gained a lot of traction recently."
Ou Minghan's chest puffed out with pride. Such words greatly boosted his image in front of Cen Ya!
He immediately said, "Chairman, do you happen to have some free time recently? I'd like to invite you to a meal..."
"No need for a meal," the chairman said indifferently. "However, I can offer you a piece of advice."
Ou Minghan hastily adopted an attitude of attentive listening.
"You cannot go far relying solely on vulgar content," the chairman stated sternly. "A live streaming website should focus more on positive and uplifting content. I must excuse myself."
Ou Minghan's smile faltered slightly. In the next moment, he saw the chairman break into a smile and walk towards another direction.
"Ms. Ye, Mr. Qi, you two are here..."
Seeing the chairman actually walk over to greet Ye Zhi proactively, Ou Minghan's smile froze. Never before had his pretense been so thoroughly stripped away!
Cen Ya said with some disappointment, "It seems Qi Xuan really likes Ye Zhi, following her everywhere..."
"Hmph, if Qi Xuan truly liked her, would their relationship still be undeclared at this point?" Ou Minghan scoffed. "They had dating rumors before, and the Qi family personally stepped out to clarify! I don't think even the Qi family, let alone Qi Xuan, thinks highly of Ye Zhi, and wouldn't let her into the family! If you ask me, Qi Xuan is just playing around, and he'll dump her once he gets tired of her!"
Cen Ya was somewhat distracted. She felt bad and uncomfortable that Ye Zhi was living a better life than her.
However, what made her feel even worse was her realization of how much Qi Xuan cared about Ye Zhi. It wasn't just care, but also respect.
And this respect and care were seemingly absent in her interactions with Ou Minghan. The thought of this unsettled her.
Seeing Cen Ya still agitated, Ou Minghan let out a cold snort, "Ya Ya, don't worry. I will prove to you that Qi Xuan is no different regarding Ye Zhi! Once Qi Xuan abandons Ye Zhi, she'll be nothing!"
With that, he took Cen Ya's hand and led her away.
At this moment, Ye Zhi had already exchanged pleasantries with the chairman for quite some time.
She had noticed Ou Minghan's chilling gaze earlier, but seeing him and Cen Ya leave, she paid them no further attention.
The chairman praised with a smile, "Ms. Ye, your speech today was excellent! The focus on corporate social responsibility is crucial, and you have indeed done exceptionally well in this regard!"
"You flatter me, Chairman. This is simply what I should be doing," Ye Zhi replied with a gentle smile.
"Ms. Ye, I won't beat around the bush," the chairman sighed. "Actually, I came to you today because there's something I'd like to discuss."
"Please, Chairman, go ahead," Ye Zhi responded politely.
"It's like this, the Ministry of Commerce has been continuously working on the 'Appliances to the Countryside' initiative, but it hasn't been going very smoothly," the chairman frowned. "I was thinking, since Taoxun is currently developing quite well in the online shopping industry, perhaps we could leverage Taoxun's strength to get this done?"
Ye Zhi was surprised. She truly hadn't expected the chairman to seek her out for this matter.
She quickly replied, "This is a good thing, Chairman. Please rest assured, Taoxun will fully cooperate."
"Just cooperating might not be enough," the chairman said with some difficulty. "Ms. Ye, as you know, we approached Qianbai for this 'Appliances to the Countryside' project two years ago. Unfortunately, Qianbai took the money but failed to deliver! As a result, the Ministry of Commerce is not very trusting of shopping websites..."
It was precisely because of this incident that the chairman had kept Ou Minghan in mind. He wasn't in charge of that project at the time, and Ou Minghan hadn't interacted with him. However, he had a very poor impression of Ou Minghan, which was why he hadn't shown him any pleasantries earlier.
"Is the Chairman hoping that Taoxun will be fully responsible for this project?" Ye Zhi asked tentatively.