Rui'an Group's mainland headquarters occupied the top floor of their own office building. Jiang Ruoqi told the receptionist about her appointment, and someone called the COO's special assistant to come fetch them.
The office environment was similar to her own company. Jiang Ruoqi glanced around, passed the spacious meeting room, and followed the assistant straight to the private office at the end.
"President Shen, President Jiang from Glint is here."
"Please, come in."
The warm, gentle voice reached her before she even saw the face. Jiang Ruoqi's heart sank.
No need to guess—it was the Cyrus she knew. What a small world.
Jiang Ruoqi silently cursed "damn it" and put on a composed expression as she followed the assistant inside.
The man behind the desktop computer stood up. He was the epitome of a business elite: a custom white shirt, a brown diagonal-striped tie, and a black suit vest.
Tie pin, cufflinks, tie clip—all impeccably arranged. A pair of rimless glasses sat on his nose, hiding the sharp light in his narrow eyes.
At first glance, he seemed like a refined gentleman wrapped in layers, with hypocrisy lurking beneath the polished exterior.
He rose to greet them, but first pinched the bridge of his glasses, took them off, and placed them upside down on the desk.
That habit hadn't changed at all.
Jiang Ruoqi maintained her business smile, extending her hand as she greeted, "President Shen, I've long heard of you. Sorry for the abrupt visit. I hope you don't mind."
Shen Xuyan took her hand, his expression meaningful. "Seven, do we really need to greet each other like this?"
Duan Jinchen, who had been zoning out, suddenly widened his eyes. His gaze bounced between the silent pair, then settled accusingly on Jiang Ruoqi.
Wait—she said she didn't know him, couldn't find info, no background?
Clearly, they were old acquaintances with a deep history!
"My visit today is for business, so of course, I should." Jiang Ruoqi didn't take the bait. She pulled her hand back, let it hang by her side, and signaled Duan Jinchen to greet him. "Let me introduce you, President Shen. This is my colleague, Owen."
Duan Jinchen felt like a kid being shoved forward by his mom to greet relatives during New Year's. He reluctantly extended his hand. "Hello, President Shen. I'm Owen from Glint. Nice to meet you."
"Hello." Shen Xuyan just smiled and nodded. "Please, have a seat. Zoe, bring two cups of coffee. Thank you."
What an attitude. He's judging people by their cover.
While Shen Xuyan instructed his assistant, Duan Jinchen moved closer to Jiang Ruoqi, half-blocking her, and mouthed something with exaggerated expressions.
Jiang Ruoqi nodded—a rare cooperation—and they sat side by side. She thought to herself that Shen Xuyan had always been like this.
No denying he was capable, but people with high self-esteem often had an inexplicable arrogance, manifesting in various ways. Shen Xuyan was the type with a mix of self-centeredness and pride.
Jiang Ruoqi didn't like criticizing exes—after all, she'd been blinded enough to date them, and trashing an ex was basically trashing her past self.
When young and naive, everyone makes mistakes in choosing partners. But Jiang Ruoqi valued face; as long as they parted amicably, she could at least avoid awkwardness when meeting again.
Shen Xuyan was different.
From the moment he suddenly showed up and indirectly caused friction between her and Sophia, those three words had been like a jinx to her.
So unlucky that she wanted to curse him privately.
"I met Sophia when I returned to Gangcheng. I asked about you—didn't expect you'd agreed to come work on the mainland."
Shen Xuyan sat down on the single sofa beside them, crossing his long legs and placing his hands on his knees. His gaze was fixed on Jiang Ruoqi. "I thought back then, when you refused to marry me and go to Europe, it was because you wanted to settle in Gangcheng."
Before Jiang Ruoqi could react, Duan Jinchen's head whipped around, his expression one of shock at the juicy gossip.
"You misunderstand, President Shen. I'm not from Gangcheng, so why would I want to settle there?"
Jiang Ruoqi hadn't expected Shen Xuyan to be so unprofessional, blurting out their past relationship in front of her colleague right at the start of pleasantries.
This guy only cares about his own goals, completely disregarding others' feelings. The polar opposite of Meng Shang.
She wondered how she'd ever thought, based on his polished exterior, that they were similar.
"Besides, I'm just an ordinary employee. I can work anywhere. Job changes are arranged by the company. If the boss appreciates me and transfers me, of course I'll cooperate."
Jiang Ruoqi avoided his topic, trying to steer the conversation back to business. "I didn't give a full introduction earlier. You probably don't know, but Owen is Oliver's younger brother. Bringing our group's second young master to discuss cooperation shows how sincere our company is, don't you think?"
Shen Xuyan ignored Duan Jinchen, who looked both innocent and foolish, and gave a soft laugh. "Then let's talk. If I don't accommodate President Jiang, that would be rather obtuse of me."
"But our company has standard procedures for tenant recruitment. If you're discussing counter placement, I suggest you contact our leasing department directly. Though, out of past friendship, I'd like to give you a heads-up."
"Aside from projects under construction, we have no plans to add new counters for light luxury jewelry brands like Glint. The existing counters are more stable, both in brand history and sales data. So I'm not sure if, after evaluation, we'd free up space for Glint."
"Then why did you agree to our meeting? Just to mess with us?" Duan Jinchen blurted out before Jiang Ruoqi could stop him.
Exhausted, President Jiang frowned and motioned for Duan Jinchen to sit quietly like a door god. She tried to salvage the situation. "President Shen, if long-term counters aren't possible, we could do pop-up events..."
"Because I wanted to see Seven." Shen Xuyan cut in, his voice cool as he looked at Duan Jinchen. Even with such an outrageous statement, he showed no guilt for mixing business with personal matters. "To be honest, if she hadn't come, I wouldn't have made time for Glint."
There it was again.
Jiang Ruoqi hated this kind of exaggerated affection, especially during business discussions.
Hearing this, Duan Jinchen grew even more agitated and started to rise.
But Jiang Ruoqi beat him to it. "Shen Xuyan, we're all working here. Be professional. Leave personal matters out of it."
"If you insist on talking personal, then I'm already married. I think a married person has no need to meet privately with an ex for a chat."