You are not monster girls!

Chapter 119, "The Arrogant One," has been removed from the current version (4k).

The offline preparation work for the exhibition either involves going out to check the projects or sitting in the office dealing with various orders and incidents.

As one of the project leaders, Yun Yifei was constantly bombarded with red notification dots on WeChat.

Fortunately, she worked very hard these past few days, personally checking any uncertain parts. Her colleagues were even a little worried that she would exhaust herself and end up in the hospital.

As expected of a strong woman who became a team leader after only five months on the job, she works harder than anyone else.

After answering one question after another by constantly rubbing her fingertips against the glass, Yun Yifei was finally able to stretch out in her chair and relieve the fatigue brought on by days of hard work.

At the current pace, once we confirm the status of each guest and let them rehearse, we can move on to the next stage.

Then, after ten days or half a month, when the exhibition starts, my business trip will officially end, and I will have a lot of free time to carry out Yan Yifan's plan.

After the art exhibition that day, Yun Yifei and Yan Yifan had a lot of discussions in the store and, based on the situation at the time, readjusted their plan to win over Lin Muran.

Let's go back to the day she walked into the coffee shop.
Under Yan Yifan's obsequious hospitality, Yun Yifei didn't waste any more words with him and immediately began discussing future itineraries and plans.

First of all, Lin Muran's account is now quite successful, and the number of views is relatively stable, so supporting himself is not a problem. He is not the kind of person who will be morally blackmailed, so the previous suppression strategy has been completely rendered useless.

Yan Yifan then proposed that Yun Yifei should use a conciliatory approach and first visit Lin Muran to discuss the account matter.

Use her professional advantages to help the other party plan the future direction of the account, whether to sign an MCN and some business contacts, and then give countermeasures at varying speeds, shifting the problem of inefficiency to online chat. Then create an excuse for moving in later, and don't rush to stay permanently, just pretend to live there first.

This way, at least you can begin to get involved in the other person's life and work, creating fertile ground for developing feelings.

"Why not just stay for a few days first and then just stay permanently?" Yun Yifei couldn't understand Yan Yifan's roundabout approach after hearing his plan.

After all, it takes time to make the transfer, and she couldn't guarantee what might happen if her plan was interrupted halfway through.

For example, during this period, Lin Muran needed to find a girlfriend who was good at copywriting, either because she was making videos or because she was an art major or someone with terrible copywriting skills.
It's because now even junior students' families can afford to play Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game), and you're going over there to play mahjong?
"Well, your brother is a bit sentimental and too direct. I'm afraid he can't handle it."

Yan Yifan was sweating. He was just a guy who wanted to have some fun. He had only intended to help cover up the premature explosion of the bombs, but he hadn't expected to get caught up in it all. If he hadn't handled it properly, he could have triggered two bombs at once.

It's good that Yun Yifei exploded, but if Lin Muran exploded, where would he find his invincible bull and horse?
But no matter who Lin Muran chooses, she will have to cut ties with the other two, which will mean losing two key personnel who could be her backup. It might even trigger the ending of Bai Mengqing and Lin Muran turning evil, since the more innocent a person seems, the more terrifying they can be when they turn evil.

Therefore, only by letting Lin Muran walk that impossible path can one's own interests be maximized—by having Lin Muran chained together with three boats at the same time.

When it's his turn to make the choice, Yan Yifan will be a truly irresponsible bystander, and any bloodshed won't likely spill on him.

Although it's a bit difficult to execute, if we can brainwash Yun Yifei now and make her a more tolerant woman, there might actually be a glimmer of hope.

"It's just three boats, I, Yan Yifan, will definitely lend a hand today."

“You’ve been out of his life for too long now, so your relationship has naturally become distant. This is both a crisis and an opportunity.”

Yan Yifan quickly sketched out his lines in his mind and began to deceive.

"Vitality?" Yun Yifei asked, puzzled.

“During your absence, his bad impression of you will actually sway over time. The first step of this plan is to take advantage of this opportunity to reverse his impression. Offline actions will be much more effective than online ones.”

Seeing that Yun Yifei was listening very carefully, Yan Yifan knew that his words had worked, so he pressed his advantage:
"He actually wants to repair his relationship with you, but men are all about saving face, so I'm the one who has to break down the barrier."

No wonder he initially tried so hard to stop me from living in his own home.
It turns out my brother had planned this all along.
Honestly, you could have just told me directly!
"I see." Yun Yifei took a sip of coffee, her tone flat. "He's always been very concerned about his image since he was a child."

It's clearly you who's concerned about saving face.
The "tsundere" style has been outdated for almost 20 years. With your stats, if you were even slightly more direct, Lin Muran would have been yours long ago. Bai Mengqing and Xia Li wouldn't have had a chance.
"There are always exceptions. Let me give you a rather extreme example—and I mean an example."

Yan Yifan suppressed the urge to complain and tentatively asked, "What if you found out your younger brother has a girlfriend?"

boom!
The teacup fell onto the tea tray with a sharp, piercing sound.

"Hiss, this is just an example. As far as I know, your brother doesn't have a girlfriend yet," Yan Yifan quickly explained, seeing that his custom-made teacup was about to be destroyed.

After hearing this, Yun Yifei's expression brightened, and she said calmly, "Checking out his girlfriend was a task my parents gave me before they went on a business trip."

"I think it's more like breaking up a loving couple."

"Ok?"

"I mean, he's so lucky to have such a smart and beautiful older sister to keep him out of trouble and protect him from the harassment of gold diggers and other women who exploit others," Yan Yifan quickly corrected himself.

Yun Yifei's face darkened: "From what you're saying, he's been talking to girls lately?"

There's no smoke without fire, and she astutely picked up on the key information revealed in Yan Yifan's words.

Oh no, I forgot that her older sister isn't just an ordinary love-struck fool, she's a clever one!!

When asked this question, Yan Yifan gasped. He had prepared several sets of lines, but now it seemed like they were all unwitting traps for him.

Junior, you're amazing to have managed to outmaneuver such a clever, love-struck person for so long.

"Yes, but it was all during outsourcing."

Yan Yifan shrugged, his words a mix of truth and falsehood: "With your brother's update speed and quality, it would be impossible to finish without outsourcing."

"Is it an artist?"

"No, she only does the background animation and occasionally outsources line art. Most of the girls who do post-production are sloppy and don't have any charm." Yan Yifan followed Yun Yifei's lead and steered the discussion away from the main point.

Otherwise, if we keep asking, we'll really be exposed.

Yun Yifei knew that Yan Yifan was telling the truth, and her brows immediately relaxed, but she still maintained a cold expression: "That's good."

For female artists, even outsourcing is something to be wary of.

Just like the girl with bangs covering her eyes who brushed past her as she left, even Yun Yifei was a little smitten by her looks, figure, and cheerful personality. Let alone her younger brother who needed to find someone skilled in painting. If that girl hadn't painted traditional Chinese paintings that were completely unrelated to anime and manga, she would have definitely asked Yan Yifan about her background and checked her social status.

"It's obvious you're not ready yet." Yan Yifan saw that Yun Yifei was still behaving like a landmine, so he continued to put pressure on her.

"Why do you say that?"

Yun Yifei was well aware that they were currently customizing a plan, and only by laying all the problems out in the open could the plan be ensured to be effective. She hadn't noticed this point before, which was why her relationship with Lin Muran had soured.

"You're too sensitive about your brother's relationships with women. You need to maintain a low level of sensitivity under any circumstances. Only by remaining calm even when Mount Tai collapses in front of you can you always maintain the initiative."

"Initiative?"

"What you can't have always stirs your heart, and those who are favored are fearless. This perfectly describes your state from the past to the present." Yan Yi continued to brainwash: "Now you just need to reverse your state. Even if you see your younger brother having relatively close contact with someone of the opposite sex, don't panic. Then your younger brother will be the one who should be panicking."

He was well aware that the ideas he was instilling in Yun Yifei could not determine the overall direction of the situation. It was like an air mattress placed below a building when someone was jumping off a building; they would get injured and break bones, but it was better than being smashed into a pancake.

He needs to prepare Yun Yifei psychologically now, so that it doesn't explode later.

He's not a wolf warrior; he can't just step on him and perfectly defuse a bomb.

That seems to make a lot of sense.
"He truly deserves to be called a top-tier scumbag; he has a complete grasp on women's psychology."

Yun Yifei felt that Yan Yifan was finally somewhat useful, but she still didn't understand why her younger brother, who had followed Yan Yifan for so long, was still so passive.

If he comes to me first, I'll have a way to save face.

"Personal attacks are a bit too much. Anyway, Sister Lin Muran, you just have to wait a little longer."

"Row."

Seeing that the other party had agreed to his plan to postpone his visit, Yan Yifan was temporarily relieved.

That's enough time for brainwashing.

He breathed a sigh of relief and said to Yun Yifei, "Also, I have another suggestion for you."

"what?"

"Watch more abstract videos."

Back to the present, Yun Yifei's most important task is to ensure that the preparations for the exhibition go smoothly, and then visit Lin Muran in person as planned.

She opened WeChat, clicked on the Word document in her chat history with Red Milk Dragon, and began to review how a woman should be attractive to men. She also reflected on whether she had previously exhibited the traits of a "landmine girl" in her behavior and interactions.

Yun Yifei leaned back in her chair, looked up at the gray ceiling, and her thoughts began to wander uncontrollably.

I don't think so.
Reflecting on her performance over the past few days, she noted that she didn't get angry when her team members made mistakes in the reports, but instead helped them correct them herself. If she were a "landmine girl," she would have either exploded or sulked and caused the project to crash.

What should I wear when making a house call?
I felt the dress that girl who was drawing that day was pretty nice.

boom!
"Sister Yun, something terrible has happened!!"

Just as Yun Yifei was thinking about how to give Lin Muran a surprise, the office door was suddenly pushed open, and a staff member gasped for breath, his face full of panic.

"Did we go over budget?" Yun Yifei's heart skipped a beat, and she asked instinctively.

If the budget is exceeded, the project may be put on hold, and my on-site visit plan will have to be postponed indefinitely.

"No, it's not a funding issue." The staff member swallowed several times and took a long time to organize a complete sentence: "The lead singer of the backing band slipped and fell off the stage. It looks like he broke his arms and legs. He was just taken to the hospital."

"That's good."

"what?"

Yun Yifei took a breath, and seeing that the other person's expression was a little off, she coughed twice and said, "Um, I mean, is the person alright?"

"I won't be able to play the guitar for at least a while."

"Why don't you just ask them if they have any substitutes?"

The lead singer's injury is indeed a big deal, but fortunately it's just a small band. As long as a replacement can be found so that the performance can proceed as normal and the main stage program at the exhibition can run smoothly, it will be fine.

"Sister Keyun, the songs in the proposal are all very abstract and have a high concentration of anime elements. If we want to hire professional singers and guitarists, it will cost a lot of money."

After all, the budget approved by the company didn't include appearance fees for substitutes, and since the lead singer also plays guitar, finding a suitable substitute who is familiar with the songs and available at a low price in a short period of time would be quite difficult.
"Do other people know anyone like that?" Yun Yifei asked.

If it's someone you know, the process of connecting with them and signing contracts can be much faster, ensuring the project progresses smoothly.

"I've already asked around, and they don't have it." The staff member shook their head.

"Tsk, then go ask again, I'll figure something out."

"Good, good."

This exhibition can only be considered a medium-sized exhibition. Yun Yifei's funding was not actually sufficient. She always worked within the budget. Even the band had to exchange their fame to barely reach a cooperation agreement at a not-so-high price.

She wasn't a graduate of an art school, let alone a music student, she didn't even know many bands. Although some of the clients she had worked with before were band managers, they were either too expensive or had full schedules.

Perhaps my brother knows...
Yun Yifei suddenly thought that her younger brother might be able to find a replacement for her in the same way as Yan Yifan. She took out her collection of WeChat messages to send to the other party, but when she thought of the chat history on the screen, which still showed her being aggressive, she stopped and silently closed WeChat.

If I have to ask my younger brother for help with even this small problem, how can I maintain control of the situation?
But who else do I know?
We'll just have to let that guy ask my brother first.
Yun Yifei opened her phone and switched to the chat interface of the red milk dragon. Seeing the song "Mambo's Little Song" shared by the other party, she suddenly recalled the day Qingyi sang "Big Dog Bites Bites Bites" in the bar.

Oh right, I actually know a master, don't I?!
(End of this chapter)