Chapter Nineteen: Everyone Was Stunned!

Back in the office, Manager Zhao saw Chen Qi sitting quietly, seemingly deep in thought. It was impossible to tell what was on his mind.

“Manager.” Perhaps having heard footsteps, Chen Qi stood up from his seat.

Manager Zhao nodded slightly, returned to his office chair, and regarded him with a complicated expression.

Though he was shocked and found it hard to believe, deep down he felt secretly delighted.

After all, Chen Qi was a member of his creative department. Although he had a strong family background and had gotten in through connections, he didn’t display any of the entitlement one might expect. Instead, he always showed the proper respect and courtesy due to a superior.

More importantly, looking back, the demands that had seemed excessive and led to misunderstandings were, in fact, all necessary for the job.

And this advertisement of his had solved a pressing problem for both himself and the company.

From another perspective, he owed Chen Qi quite a favor.

In all honesty, Chen Qi had truly surprised him.

“To be frank, your advertisement... really surprised me.” Manager Zhao spoke with emotion, carefully choosing his words.

He had wanted to say it had “scared” him, but thought that would be a bit undignified.

“I won’t lie to you; at first, I had no confidence in you. I didn’t even expect you to come up with a passable ad.”

Chen Qi smiled without replying, but inwardly sighed.

It seemed that his entry into the company was indeed due to other reasons.

Not only had the general manager personally interviewed him, but despite being underestimated at first, he was still given both opportunities and resources. There was clearly something odd about all this.

“Do you have anything you’d like to say?” Manager Zhao asked.

“Well…” Chen Qi looked slightly embarrassed and asked, “When will the reward be given?”

Manager Zhao stared at him, lips pressed tightly together.

He never imagined the first thing out of this guy’s mouth would be about money!

Was he really so sure his ad would be selected? Didn’t he want the input of the professionals here?

Then again, Manager Zhao suddenly recalled that on his very first day, Chen Qi had guaranteed his ad would be chosen by CCTV.

“The general manager just sent your ad to CCTV. I didn’t hear much detail, but from what I gather, they were also quite surprised by it. Barring any surprises, we’ll get the result by tomorrow at the latest.”

Though he said that, he knew that with the general manager pulling strings, they’d likely hear back today.

Chen Qi wasn’t surprised, and tentatively asked, “Since I handled the ad from start to finish, could the reward possibly be increased a little?”

Manager Zhao’s lips, which had just relaxed, tightened once more.

He had yet another urge to curse.

Money, money, money—was that all this guy cared about?

Couldn’t they talk about anything else? Was it impossible to have a proper conversation, or build a better relationship between superior and subordinate? Why was it so hard just to exchange a few words?

“Are you really that short on money?” he asked.

Chen Qi was silent.

How was he supposed to answer that? Was there anyone in the world who thought they had too much money?

“Yes!” he answered honestly.

Manager Zhao felt another headache coming on.

This guy was truly shameless.

“I can’t make that decision, but I can put in a request with the general manager,” Manager Zhao said with a sudden sense of exhaustion.

“Thank you, Manager,” Chen Qi replied gratefully.

Manager Zhao waved him off irritably, losing all interest in asking further questions.

“All right, just go home early and get some rest. You’ve worked hard these past few days.”

“Okay.” Chen Qi didn’t stand on ceremony, turning and leaving at once.

He was indeed quite tired. Just the background music, those few seconds, had drained him of enormous energy.

Even though it wasn’t yet time to clock out, since the manager had spoken, he didn’t hesitate to leave, hailing a cab back to his rented apartment.

What he didn’t know was that, at this very moment, the company was abuzz with a different kind of rumor about the advertisement.

Someone had caught wind from post-production that the ad Chen Qi had made was of exceptionally high quality, and if all went well, there was a strong chance it would be selected by CCTV.

The news spread quickly throughout the company, but most people remained skeptical.

On one hand, a complete newcomer with no advertising experience pulling this off seemed a stretch. On the other, the tip had come from post-production, who had actually seen the ad.

Among those caught between doubt and belief, the five members of the creative department were the most tormented.

At first, when the entire company was gossiping about Chen Qi and waiting to watch him fail, they’d felt a certain schadenfreude.

See? It wasn’t that we were incompetent; creativity isn’t something you can force. Even a top university graduate couldn’t crack it.

But when contradictory rumors began to circulate from post-production, the five were stunned.

Heaven knew how conflicted they felt.

On one hand, they desperately hoped Chen Qi would succeed, that the ad would be chosen and finally lift the burden that had weighed on them for over a month. On the other, they dreaded the outcome.

Because if he did succeed, it would be a serious blow to their pride as veteran employees.

And to make matters worse, Chen Qi didn’t even seem like part of the creative team. Nearly a week had passed since he’d started, and they’d barely exchanged a word with him, let alone had a chance to ask him anything…

The next day.

As soon as Blueprint’s staff arrived at work, they were greeted by a bombshell.

The news came as a congratulatory email from the General Office to all employees.

The public service announcement “Washing Mother’s Feet,” produced solely by the new creative team member Chen Qi, had been selected by CCTV and would premiere today before the “Midday News” on CCTV Channel 1.

Upon reading the email, almost everyone gasped, jaws dropping in shock.

In that moment, their expressions were truly a sight to behold—especially those in the filming crew.

They were dumbfounded!

Who could have imagined it?

Who could have thought it would actually be chosen?

Just yesterday, they’d been gossiping and waiting to watch him make a fool of himself. Yet in the space of a day, they’d become the butt of the joke.

Many felt their faces burning with embarrassment.

How awkward!

Thankfully, the entire company was in the same boat, and at least they hadn’t mocked him to his face—otherwise, they’d really have had no way to recover.

This slap in the face—there was simply no way to deny it!

To deliver such a blow to the entire company on his very first assignment—no one else could have pulled it off!

Once the news had finally sunk in, people from various departments began subtly leaving their desks.

Soon, the area outside the creative department was crowded with people pretending to pass by, each sneaking a glance inside. The more thick-skinned even went in on the pretext of visiting. Some of the prettier women had already started asking around for information about Chen Qi, taking less conventional routes…