Miss Ying has been my trusted adviser

Her bright eyes were glimmering mischievously, reflecting the light from the overhead fluorescent lamps. It was the only thing that betrayed the prim and proper façade she was projecting at the moment.

Fei Huangjin didn't know if he should laugh or be upset with her. Even if she was obviously teasing him, he only found her even more enticing. He licked his lips and angled his head towards her. "Miss Ying has been my trusted adviser since she started in the company. I'd like to ask what she thinks… So Miss Ying, what's your opinion on the matter at hand?"

The council of managers began whispering to themselves. Some of them flashed expressions of either confusion or disdain at Ying Yue, who maintained a poised look on her face. After all, how could a non-university-graduate, who was currently working simply as a secretary, know what to do in critical business problems like this one?

Ying Yue didn't mind them. She just simply fixed her eyes on Fei Huangjin, who looked at her encouragingly, like she shouldn't have anything to fear, like she was too good to even answer the pending question.

"Was a market study done for the kind of consumers who mostly do purchases in the branch?" She asked, turning to the manager up front.

He replied with a nod of the head. "Yes, 78% of the consumers are actually in the upper class, and more than half of them are the elites of society."

Fei Huangjin focused on her, and as she listened to the manager speak, he could practically almost see the gears turning in her head. One corner of his mouth flipped up. The other people in the room would surely be surprised of the Secretary Ying they'll encounter today.

She thought about it carefully for a moment, pursing her lips in concentration, before frowning at the manager she was speaking to. "I don't think we should do renovations. I've been to that branch. It doesn't need any alterations or improvements. You'll just be adding unnecessary cost to the company without providing a definite solution to the problem."

It was true. All the managers thought that way. However… "What do you propose we do, then?"

Another manager piped up, attempting to squash her ideas right away. "We've already tried aggressive marketing so that the upper class would keep purchasing, and we've also issued elite membership cards to gain their loyalty with us. None of that has worked."

Ying Yue smirked. Of course that wasn't the solution. How would they freaking solve the problem if they don't even know what was really wrong in the first place. "Then why all the effort for the upper class?"

The other managers eyed her with an expression that clearly showed they thought she was stupid. Some of them felt they were wasting their time talking to her.

"Like I said, 78% of the consumers--"

"78% of the consumers are in the upper class -- yes I heard you, Manager Kang. However, you fail to take into account that the population in that area does not comprise of mostly the upper class. If I'm not mistaken, that area is comprised of 19% upper class citizens, 68% middle-class workers, and 13% are in the lower-class. Which means that you should work on attracting more middle-class consumers rather than exclusively targeting the upper-class. The fact that the branch has mostly attracted only the upper-class was already a problem that you all didn't realize."

Ying Yue settled her gaze on Fei Huangjin, who was now staring pointedly at her with a small smile. She raised a brow at him and flipped her hair.

He didn't know how to describe what he felt in that moment. Perhaps it was something in between pride and possessiveness. His woman was showing how brilliant she really was to the bunch of stupid fools in the meeting room and that made her even more alluring to his eyes. But at the same time, he didn't want others getting attracted to her even more because of that.

Ladies and gentlemen, he thought, this brilliant woman is my future wife.

The council looked at each other. She made a very practical point, and half of them hung their heads in shame with the suggestion they'd come up with while the others directed curious glances at her.

Since when did a secretary become so knowledgeable on these things?

Fei Huangjin turned to the council with a mocking smile. "That settles it then. You heard what Secretary Ying said. Do it. I want the proposal on my desk tomorrow. You're all dismissed."

He stood up hurriedly and took several long steps to an unprepared Ying Yue, before pulling her hand and half-dragging her out of the meeting room. He couldn't wait for her to say those words. And he couldn't wait to kiss her either.