I was criticized on a dating reality show, but I retaliated and became an internet sensation.

After sending the message, she put her phone aside, got up, walked to the window, and stretched out her arms.

Only then did I realize that my shoulders and wrists were slightly sore and stiff from maintaining the same posture for so long.

Yet, deep down, I felt a strange, overwhelming sense of peace and tranquility, mixed with a touch of pride in having completed the work.

She turned around and took one last look at the painting on the easel.

Shu Zi let out a soft breath, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl up, forming a bright, slightly proud arc.

As expected of her!

Such keen observation, such expressive power, such emotional intensity!

You can tell how good Shu Zi is just by looking at her!

Alright, that concludes today's art appreciation lesson!

knock off!

Meanwhile, in the conference room on the top floor of the Gu Group building, the atmosphere was solemn.

Complex financial charts scrolled across a huge electronic screen, and several executives sat upright, taking turns to report.

Gu Yan sat in the main seat, with a lit tablet next to him. The screen displayed the quarterly revenue analysis that was currently being discussed, which he was sharing with everyone via screen mirroring.

His fingers tapped unconsciously on the edge of the tablet, his gaze fixed on the screen as he listened to the analysis of fluctuating data.

Just then, a WeChat preview silently slid down from the top of the tablet screen.

This message comes from a WeChat account with the contact name "Nuonuo".

It's a picture.

Gu Yan's gaze paused almost imperceptibly.

Almost simultaneously, the finance director, who was giving a report, paused slightly, his eyes instinctively glancing at the large screen.

Then, everyone's eyes were focused on that spot.

The financial report analysis page, which was originally full of bar charts and line graphs, was suddenly covered by an image.

It was a charcoal sketch.

In the picture, a man with his head slightly lowered, his profile clear and sharp, is focused on unbuttoning the cuff on his left wrist. The light casts a light shadow next to his high nose bridge, and his eyelashes are lowered.

Above the screen, at the intersection of light and shadow on the stairs, a girl stands there, her hand on the stair railing, tilting her head to look at him with a sly smile on her lips.

The art style is distinctive and bears a strong personal imprint.

Anyone who isn't blind can recognize who the man in the painting is—their young CEO, Gu Yan.

That's not the worst part.

Most critically, in the lower right corner of the image, there is a line of extremely small, but clearly legible, handwritten text:

"SZ→GY"

An arrow, simple, direct, blunt, and blatantly pointing to the man in the center of the image who is unbuttoning his cufflinks.

"..."

A deathly silence fell over the conference room for five seconds.

The CFO stood frozen in place, his head buzzing, almost crushing the laser pointer in his hand, completely unsure of what to say next.

All that's left in my mind are lines of bold, red text frantically scrolling through my screen:

Nuonuo?! SZ drew President Gu?! An arrow?! GY?!

What did I just see?! Should I have seen that?! Is it too late for me to close my eyes now?! Can this meeting even continue?!

Is this the end of my career?!

Meanwhile, the other executives kept their eyes down, their minds ablaze with a mixture of gossip and countless firecrackers.

The marketing director leaned back tactically, inwardly screaming with rage:

Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap! Gu Zong's private painting?! And it even has an arrow annotation?! Who is Nuonuo?! This nickname is too...! And who is SZ?! What does this arrow mean?! Does it mean what I'm thinking?!

Did President Gu know he was drawn on?! Oh, he must have known since his tablet was projecting the image! So he saw it just now too?!

Wait, this isn't a scene that would happen in the workplace?! Help! Is it too late for me to fake sudden blindness?!

The head of the strategic investment department bowed his head desperately.

Wow! This floor pattern is so pretty! Wow! This carpet has such a fine texture! My shoelaces seem a little loose…

I didn't see anything! Who am I? Where am I? I'm in a very serious and formal finance meeting!

Standing to the side, Wu Qiwei coughed tactically:

Cough cough! Cough cough cough!

Is the air conditioning set too high today? It's so dry, yeah, it must be too dry. My eyes are blurry. How did Miss Shu end up on the screen...?

Gu Yan, sitting in the main seat, remained expressionless. He didn't even immediately close the picture; instead, his gaze lingered on the painting for a couple more seconds, as if he were carefully appreciating it.

Just a second before everyone was about to suffocate, he slowly reached out and lightly tapped the tablet with his fingertip.

The image shrinks and disappears.

Financial analysis pages filled with numbers and charts once again took over the entire screen.

The businesslike blue, gray, and red colors instantly washed away the ambiguity and secrecy that had just been enough to ignite the entire company's gossip group.

"continue."

Gu Yan spoke, his voice calm and normal, without any hint of anything amiss, as if the incident that had just occurred—an incident that could have caused everyone present to experience a mental breakdown—had never happened.

"Huh? Oh! Uh... Continue!"

The CFO snapped back to reality, swallowed hard, and, using all his professional skills, struggled to force a voice out of his throat:

"We...we were talking about...where were we? Right! Month-on-month growth! Mainly due to...due to..."

He got stuck, thanks to what? Damn it, I've completely forgotten!

His mind was now filled with images of Nuonuo, SZ, Arrow, and President Gu's incredibly handsome profile, all playing on a loop!

The meeting continued with great difficulty in an extremely bizarre atmosphere, where everyone was desperately trying to appear calm, but their eyes were darting around wildly, and they seemed to want to dig out a magical castle from the ground.

In the latter half of the presentation, the voices of the senior executives trembled almost imperceptibly, and their eyes kept glancing furtively at their boss's left wrist.

Yes, the cufflinks are fastened properly, but for some reason, I feel that the cufflinks are radiating a mysterious glow that says, "I am expensive and I have a story."

And I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I feel like the boss's usual cold aura has softened a little bit.

Or are they seeing things?

After finally getting through the meeting, as soon as Gu Yan said "Meeting adjourned," the executives immediately stood up as if their butts were on fire and rushed out at almost race pace.

They dared not make eye contact with each other, for fear that a single glance would lead to an unforgettable exchange of gossip.

As soon as the door closed, faint whispers of suppressed excitement and gasps for breath could be heard in the corridor.

Gu Yan was the last to get up, slowly packed up his tablet and documents, and returned to his office.

He closed the door, shutting out the outside world, picked up his tablet again, unlocked the screen, and opened the only pinned chat window in WeChat.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

He looked at her figure in the painting, and the small line "SZ→GY".

I watched for quite a while.

Then, he put down the tablet and didn't reply.

He simply picked up the car keys, and the corners of his mouth curved upwards almost imperceptibly.

It's time to go home, or that little kitten will get impatient waiting.