Chapter 13: The Stiletto Topples the CEO

He Jingyue finally put down the tablet. He lifted his coffee cup and took a slow sip, his deep gaze finally settling on Lu Qiuyi’s face, etched with profound regret.

“Don’t remember anything at all?” he asked softly, his voice low and melodious.

“Then do you recognize Jerry, Parker, Allen, Andrew?” With each name he mentioned, Lu Qiuyi’s complexion paled further.

She lowered her head, avoiding his eyes.

Just as Lu Qiuyi thought she would be dismissed the next moment, He Jingyue shifted his tone, returning to a businesslike calmness. “As for last night, I’ll let it go for now. Incidentally, at ten this morning, the ZhiYu V1.0 launch event will be held—you’re coming along.”

Lu Qiuyi suddenly looked up in surprise. A launch event too?

It seemed He Jingyue read her thoughts and added, “As the project coordination assistant, you need to be there the whole time for observation and learning. Besides, you still haven’t submitted yesterday’s report to me.”

She had been so preoccupied meeting Lu Mingxuan yesterday that she forgot to ask for the assignment.

“Mr. He, I’ll definitely submit it today,” Lu Qiuyi promised.

He Jingyue studied her forced composure, the strain barely concealed in her eyes, and a faint smile flickered across his own.

“I’m giving you twenty minutes to get ready. The driver is downstairs to take you to the company. The launch starts at ten—if you’re even a minute late,” he paused, watching her eyes widen in alarm, “the consequences will be yours to bear.”

Lu Qiuyi thought: …This life is unbearable.

At ten o’clock, the ZhiYu V1.0 launch event was underway.

The vast exhibition hall was decorated in a futuristic tech blue, with a holographic logo rotating slowly in midair.

Lu Qiuyi stifled her emotions and followed He Jingyue half a step behind, tablet in hand, whispering her final report: “Mr. He, all media personnel are in place. The Keynote and Demo environments have been checked. Also, spokesperson Lin Shen’s part has been verified; his speech has been synchronized with the teleprompter.”

The core team, led by project head Xie Mingxiao, awaited at the entrance, their expressions solemn yet tinged with restrained excitement.

Xie Mingxiao descended the steps briskly, efficient and composed. “Mr. He, everything is ready to go at any time.”

Entering the launch hall, the space was sleek and high-tech, with a massive circular screen encircling the room. A flowing data waterfall on the walls underscored the project’s core values: intelligence, evolution, connection.

Xie Mingxiao guided the way, answering key questions about project architecture, technical highlights, and launch strategy fluently, demonstrating unquestionable expertise.

Being in charge of the pivotal ZhiYu project, his skills were naturally top-tier, and he was notably considerate.

Though he knew little about Lu Qiuyi, the newcomer assistant, he remained courteous. “Mr. He, Assistant Lu, the launch schedule is tight. The tech team prepared a special iced coffee blend to keep us alert—it was the favorite during internal tests. Please try some.”

With that, he gestured toward a poised woman in a tailored deep blue suit, her demeanor professional yet subtly alluring, who brought two cups of coffee.

Yang Shan offered a confident and graceful smile as she stepped forward with the tray. “Mr. He, please enjoy.”

Lu Qiuyi couldn’t help but admire her polished professionalism.

So, even though she handed the coffee a bit too close to He Jingyue’s arm, nearly brushing it, Lu Qiuyi wisely kept her eyes lowered, focused and unobtrusive.

He Jingyue took the cup from Yang Shan with a mere “Hmm,” his gaze immediately returning to the main stage setup without lingering.

Yang Shan’s perfect smile faltered slightly, disappointment flickering in her eyes before she quickly regained composure, handing Lu Qiuyi the other cup and gracefully stepping back behind Xie Mingxiao.

Next came the core demo presentation. To showcase ZhiYu’s powerful capabilities, they moved to a dedicated demonstration hall.

The room was dimly lit for immersion, with sound-absorbing carpet laid down, and cables from connected devices carefully snaking across the floor—fortunately, Lu Qiuyi was already wearing flat shoes for ease of movement.

Yang Shan, however, wore pointed stiletto heels. Yet, she walked steadily and closely followed the group. Even after more than an hour, carefully avoiding cables, she showed no sign of faltering—her professionalism commendable.

As the demo neared its climax, the most thrilling interactive segment arrived: live human-machine dialogue.

The host enthusiastically invited He Jingyue onstage for the experience.

He Jingyue glanced toward Lu Qiuyi, signaling her to explain.

Lu Qiuyi quickly lowered her head, silently hoping to be invisible…

Yang Shan, as the product manager, stepped forward to assist with the demo terminal. “Mr. He, our voice recognition is extremely sensitive, with powerful semantic understanding. It can easily handle complex multi-turn conversations and is highly interactive. Let me demonstrate several preset fun dialogue scenarios.”

She took out a control tablet to play the audio of preset dialogues. For some reason, the tablet struggled to connect, taking nearly thirty seconds of adjustment before working.

As the audio played, the virtual ZhiYu avatar on the big screen responded smoothly, eliciting murmurs of amazement from the audience.

Standing close to the demo station, Yang Shan did not immediately step back after the preset dialogues, but smiled and turned to He Jingyue. “Mr. He, you can also try it yourself—ask it anything you like.”

She said this as she subtly stepped half a pace closer.

At that moment, a miniature laser emitter connected to the holographic projector on the side of the demo station suddenly crackled lightly, as if overheated or a cable was loose.

“Ah!” startled, Yang Shan gasped softly and instinctively stepped back.

The thin heel of her stiletto caught on a barely noticeable power cable on the floor, causing her to lose balance and fall straight toward He Jingyue standing behind her.

Lu Qiuyi’s brow twitched.

This classic “high heels knock down the CEO” scene was still alive and well?!

Though she wanted to pretend not to see it, her sixth sense warned that if she stood by now, she would regret it badly later.

So, before He Jingyue could react, Lu Qiuyi sprang forward and steadied Yang Shan by the arm from the side, pulling her firmly back onto her feet.

Feeling the supportive grip, Yang Shan’s heart lifted; mistaking Lu Qiuyi for He Jingyue, a shy blush spread across her face as she turned and softly said, “Thank you, He—”

“Ms. Yang, be careful,” Lu Qiuyi said with a professional smile. “There are a lot of cables down here; flat shoes are definitely more practical.” She cast a pointed glance at the elegant high heels.

Yang Shan’s smile froze instantly. Swallowing her displeasure, she offered an apologetic smile to He Jingyue. “Sorry, Mr. He. I wasn’t paying attention and almost disrupted you.”