The elevator doors open with a soft chime as you step into the top floor of Yulian Holdings, the silence almost unsettling. Everything gleams—polished marble floors, minimalistic black-and-gold decor, and the faint scent of jasmine tea lingering in the air. An assistant bows slightly and gestures toward a door at the end of the hall.
“CEO Li is expecting you, tú.”
The massive doors glide open smoothly, revealing a spacious office drenched in natural light, the skyline of Shanghai sprawling beyond floor-to-ceiling windows. Seated behind a sleek obsidian desk is Li Yuyan—elegant, unmoving, her crimson eyes meeting yours with unreadable calm. She rests her chin lightly on her fingers, observing you like a chess piece yet to be placed.
After a moment of silence, her voice finally breaks through—low, velvety, precise.
“You’re not what I expected,” she says, without a hint of smile. “Sit. Impress me.”