Living in a county town, starting as a stock market maker...

The Gu Ming she remembered was a completely different person from the project director in front of her, who had spent over ten million yuan and was giving her a headache.

Is it just a coincidence that they share the same name?

She thought it was just an ordinary classmate, but in the years since graduation, she has undergone unexpected changes.

She needs to figure this out.

Just as Su Qingying was about to have Wang Min take her to find Gu Ming, the office door was pushed open.

A young man wearing a T-shirt and jeans walked in.

He was also carrying several bottles of mineral water that he had just bought from the supermarket downstairs.

The young man paused for a moment when he saw Su Qingying sitting in the office.

But he didn't seem surprised at all, and his eyes didn't show much emotion.

He calmly placed the water on the table, then turned to the woman in the bespoke suit.

Gu Ming smiled and extended his hand.

"Su Qingying, it's been a long time."

Su Qingying looked at him.

It's really him.

Her facial features haven't changed much, but her overall demeanor is completely different from when she was in college.

He was very relaxed, as if nothing could make him panic.

This attitude rendered all the questions and pressure she had prepared useless.

She didn't take his hand, but slowly stood up, her eyes fixed on him.

"Gu Ming, is that you?"

Her tone was interrogative.

"it's me."

Gu Ming naturally withdrew his hand, pulled out his office chair and sat down, handing her a bottle of water as he did so.

"You must be thirsty after coming all the way from the capital?"

Su Qingying did not take the water.

She walked around the desk, stood opposite him, crossed her arms, and looked down at him.

"I'm here on behalf of Ms. Shen An'an's personal trust fund to review this 18 million investment. I need you to explain what exactly the '100 Million Pixels to See the Earth' project is."

In the office, Wang Min and the other two technicians watched this scene with tension.

They felt like they didn't dare to breathe.

Gu Ming, however, seemed not to feel any pressure at all.

He unscrewed a bottle of water, took a sip, then leaned back in his chair and looked at Su Qingying.

First, let me correct a misconception of yours.

"This is not an investment. Therefore, you shouldn't examine it in terms of return on investment."

Su Qingying frowned.

"Not an investment? Then what is it? A charitable donation?"

"No."

Gu Ming shook his head, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"This is a work of art, from the very first second it was created. I am not the project manager."

He pointed to himself.

"I am the curator of this artwork. As for Shen An'an, she is not a client; she is the artist herself."

"artist?"

Su Qingying scoffed, "You mean, Shen An'an, who can't even speak clearly, is an artist?"

"Yes."

Gu Ming nodded, his tone very certain.

"A contemporary consumerist performance artist."

Contemporary...consumerism...performance artists?

This series of terms left Su Qingying a little confused.

She manages funds worth tens of billions and has met top figures from all walks of life, but she has never heard such an outrageous statement.

Gu Ming didn't give her time to think and continued speaking.

"You, including everyone in the Shen family, think that Shen An'an is a spendthrift who only knows how to spend money, right? You think her spending is empty, meaningless, and a waste of the family's money."

Su Qingying did not deny it; it was a fact.

"But have you ever considered that in a consumerist age, when a person's purchasing power reaches a certain level, can this consumption behavior itself also become a form of expression? A form of art?"

Gu Ming stood up, walked to the whiteboard, and picked up a pen.

"Shen An'an lacked nothing growing up, except attention and recognition. The bags and jewelry she bought weren't for use, but to prove her existence to the world. It was a purely emotional need."

"My job is to extract her impulse to spend money recklessly, give it a theme and structure, and turn it into an art form that everyone can see and discuss."

"We're not spending money. We're recording the shape of money. We used 18 million to mobilize top-notch equipment and outstanding talent to accomplish a seemingly impossible goal. Every choice, every difficulty, and every penny burned in this process is part of this work of art."

"This is Ms. Shen's personal epic dedicated to this consumerist age."

Wang Min and the two technicians were dumbfounded.

This was the first time they had realized that the project they were involved in had such a sophisticated and high-level explanation.

Su Qingying also fell silent.

Her brain was racing.

absurd.

That was her first reaction.

But she found herself unable to refute it.

Because Gu Ming's explanation was logically flawless.

He did not explain whether the money was well spent.

He directly changed the nature of the act of spending money.

In this logic, burning money becomes the result, and extravagance becomes artistic expression.

She had never encountered this way of thinking before, and her professional judgment was completely useless here.

She looked at Gu Ming in front of her.

This man, wearing a T-shirt that costs only a few dozen yuan, is talking about art worth millions.

Standing in this simple office, he seemed to be standing at the center of the world of art.

This contrast made her want to get to know this man for the first time.

It took Su Qingying a long time to regain her voice.

She doesn't admit that she was persuaded; she just changed her perspective.

"Your theory... is very interesting."

She sat down again, regaining her composure.

"But as the supervisor of the fund, I can't just listen to your side of the story. Words are not enough; I need to see the creation process of this artwork with my own eyes."

Gu Ming smiled.

He knew he had won his gamble.

"sure."

He shrugged. "Art welcomes anyone to witness it."

"very good."

Su Qingying nodded. "From now on, I will be overseeing this project from start to finish. Therefore, I need you to arrange my accommodation and transportation in Hegang. I think this shouldn't be difficult for the chief director of a multi-million dollar project, right?"

This was her counterattack, and also a test.

She wanted to see what level this man, who talked so much about epics, was actually at in reality.

"Location is easy to find; you can choose any of the best hotels here."

Gu Ming picked up the car keys on the table and tossed them in his hand.

"As for transportation... for now, you might have to make do and ride in my car."

Su Qingying's assistant had been waiting downstairs in the Maybach for almost an hour.

When she saw Su Qingying and the man in the T-shirt walk out together, she quickly got out of the car and opened the door.

"President Su."

"You go back to the hotel first."

Su Qingying waved her hand, "I'll ride in Director Gu's car."

The assistant followed her gaze.

Not far away, there was a second-hand Santana that looked older than her grandfather.

There were even several patches of different colors on the car body.

The assistant's expression froze instantly.

Su Qingying ignored her assistant and walked directly to the broken car.

Gu Ming pressed the remote control, and the car door unlocked with a "click".

Su Qingying opened the car door expressionlessly and got in.

The sight of her haute couture suit dress alongside the slightly worn fabric seats in the car was a bit odd.

Gu Ming also got into the driver's seat and started the car.

The old engine roared to life, and the car shook before it finally started.

"Where to? The best five-star hotel around here?" Gu Ming asked while turning the steering wheel.

Su Qingying looked at him. The car was small, and she could smell the faint scent of laundry detergent on him.

"Where are you going now?" she asked in return.

"Let's go home for dinner," Gu Ming replied.

Su Qingying remained silent for two seconds.

"Then let's have dinner at your place."

Gu Ming glanced at her in the rearview mirror but didn't say anything.

He stepped on the gas, and the old Santana wobbled into the traffic, leaving the brand-new Maybach far behind.