Actually, she wasn’t trying to put down Hai Fu. The truth is Zhang Yurong and Hai Fu have a great relationship at work and in their private lives, so she knows Hai Fu better than most. But Hai Fu’s reputation as ’Master Extinction’ is way too strong, and she is indeed quite serious at the company. Zhang Yurong, having known her for many years and being the president, doesn’t feel any pressure, but it’s different for Jiang Xueyin. When she sees Hai Fu, she feels quite pressured, just like everyone else, she can’t see Hai Fu’s other side.

Li Yan didn’t originally care about Hai Fu’s infamous image at the company either, as that’s just others’ perspectives. In contrast, he had the privilege of knowing the other side of Hai Fu, a delightful surprise unknown to others. Over time, his feelings grew, and he now considers Hai Fu his own woman. Jiang Xueyin didn’t directly call her Master Extinction, but saying something like having good taste wasn’t exactly a compliment either.

This made him snort and glance at her, "Of course good taste, unlike you, both together aren’t even as big as one of hers, and you still have the nerve to say that!"

"You—! You—! That’s too much!" Jiang Xueyin was flushed with anger at his words. She uttered ’you’ twice, but couldn’t come up with anything else to lash out with. It was indeed too much; what does "both together aren’t even as big as one of hers" even mean? It was too vulgar!

She picked up the document, stomped her feet in annoyance, and left. "I’m going to tell my cousin!"

Li Yan shrugged, not believing she’d actually tell Zhang Yurong, and even if she did, it wasn’t a big deal. It could be taken as a joke, and besides, it’s the truth! Hai Fu really does have something to brag about.

Speak of Cao Cao, and he will appear. Just after mentioning Hai Fu, not long after Jiang Xueyin left, Hai Fu called, asking about Li Yan’s plans for New Year’s: "There’s a seven-day holiday for New Year’s; where are you planning to go? Any plans?"

Upon hearing her words, Li Yan immediately understood that she wanted to spend some time with him, but was concerned about whether he had other plans. He wasn’t sure if something else would come up, so he couldn’t make a finalized plan yet. He laughed and replied, "Aren’t there travel plans? I heard we weren’t originally included in the company budget for the trip, but they just added us. Is that your doing?"

Hai Fu laughed: "Even though you guys are an independent subsidiary, you’re still based at headquarters. It’s fair to include you, and there aren’t that many people anyway."

This seemed like her admission that it was her doing. Li Yan pondered briefly; since she included them, she’d likely join the trip too, so he asked, "Are you going too? I’m not particularly interested, but it seems like I rarely participate in group activities. Joining could be fun."

"Sure. Let’s go on a trip together then..." Hai Fu felt a bit disappointed because such trips include everyone from headquarters, and with her usual company image and style, she doesn’t have many friends to chat with. Group activities aren’t very fun for her. And even if Li Yan goes, it’s surrounded by colleagues, so it’s not convenient for them to act together alone—it would look bad if seen by others. If they could go on a trip together alone, that would be a different kind of joy.

However, she also understood this wasn’t very realistic since Li Yan likely has another girlfriend. "So let’s leave it at that. If you have no plans during New Year’s, feel free to call me. I’ll be at home the rest of the time." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Li Yan immediately agreed. There was one thing he left unsaid: even if he has no time, he’d definitely find some time to be with her. After work, she doesn’t have more friends than anyone else.

...

The employees of Heavenly Film, being newly hired, hadn’t participated in the company’s group trips before. They were filled with anticipation for the upcoming seven-day vacation and three-day trip, and they discussed potential destinations.

Li Yan had previously seen the document Jiang Xueyin brought over, and he had a general understanding that it seemed like they’d leave on the morning of the fourth, return on the evening of the sixth, and spend three days and two nights enjoying themselves at a place called Carefree Island. Such arrangements took into account that many people might have things to do right when the vacation started, so the first three days were for personal plans. The following three days would be for the trip, with an additional day for rest afterward before returning to work.

This arrangement was, of course, good as it accommodated the personal activities of the employees, ensuring they wouldn’t miss out on the group trip. Li Yan usually doesn’t pay attention to traveling, so he wasn’t too aware of where exactly Carefree Island was or what fun activities there were.

The day dragged on uneventfully until clock-out time. The film crew hadn’t caused any issues, things were fine on Jie Rui’s side, and there was nothing at the company that required Li Yan’s attention, except for the fact that Jiang Xueyin would put on a stern face whenever she saw him. It really was a typical day. Li Yan also spent some time with Sun Hui and the security department to pass the time.

The term ’dragged on’ wasn’t because he was eager to be busy, but rather because he was concerned about Yu Xiaodi, who hadn’t sent any news. Li Jie hadn’t called him, nor sent any messages, making him want to proactively reach out several times.

After work, Li Yan went home, first turning on his computer and accessing the web drive ’Qi’ had left him, entering the extraction code to download the files he had secured.

The files were compressed multiple times, with each compression requiring a password. Of course, this was just a measure against brute force attacks that might exhaustively decrypt them; perhaps hackers could easily crack such passwords.