The Female CEO Falls in Love with Me

Looking at Li Yan's carefree demeanor, Wen Qianyi was a bit helpless, thinking about how he casually takes leave, goes out during work without anyone knowing what he's up to. "Li Yan, I think you're like a donkey, you won't move unless prodded. You haven't made any headway following me yet, and the little bit of ambition you showed has faded away again. Take care of that film investment when you have time, but in the meantime, you need to work with me on our tasks."

"Isn't that bad? I'm very ambitious! I'll get on it right now." Li Yan feared nothing more than working earnestly, as Wen Qianyi asked him to follow up on the film investment project. Chatting with those producers and screenwriters while eating, he could easily while away a whole day outside! Such a good job, and it's only been a few days, now he has to toil again.

Wen Qianyi frowned, "You're not getting any younger. It's understandable if there were no opportunities, but with opportunities now, why not make something of yourself? Let's not even talk about a career, don't you have to think about the future? Just drifting along like this? What about later?"

Li Yan touched his nose and chuckled wryly, "Being criticized so directly by a woman a few years younger than me, how do you think I feel?"

"Feel what? And you still remember you're older than me?" Wen Qianyi sighed, a bit frustrated, "Do you think living like this has any meaning? Just drifting along?"

Li Yan slightly frowned, becoming serious, "Let me share a theory I heard, perhaps you'll understand a different way of living."

"You have a theory?" Wen Qianyi found his serious demeanor amusing, unable to keep from smiling.

"How heavy is your life really? Imagine you're wearing a backpack, feel the pressure on your shoulders. Can you sense it?" As Li Yan recalled, he narrated, though his storytelling lacked the punch.

Seeing that she was somewhat cooperating, Li Yan continued, "Alright, now put everything from your life into it. Start from the little things, knick-knacks in drawers, small decorations, collections. Feel the pressure they bring you..."

Wen Qianyi closed her eyes.

"Then the big items: clothes, utensils, lamps, home textiles, and the TV. The backpack must be heavy now, right? Then the even bigger ones, sofa, bed, dining table. Put everything in, even the car, the house, whether it's a one-bedroom, a two-room apartment, or a luxurious villa, shove them all in the backpack."

Wen Qianyi frowned slightly.

"...Now take a step or two with it, it's difficult, isn't it? That's what we're doing every day. We're unable to move forward because we're overwhelmed. If I'm not mistaken, moving forward is the way to live. Now I'm going to burn this pack. What do you want to take out? Nothing is necessary! In fact, if they were all burned and you imagine waking up tomorrow with nothing, wouldn't it feel liberating? Very comfortable?"

"Nonsense..." Wen Qianyi snorted lightly.

"The theory behind the backpack suggests not just letting go of all material things, but also severing all interpersonal relationships, all friends and family, focusing solely on one's career and work prioritization. For me, that's a bit extreme. I won't share that further; what I want to continue discussing is an extended version suitable for my own life.

Similarly, concerning the pressures from all material possessions, further, I believe work, career, is a significant burden. Imagine further that in your backpack, in addition to all things, you must put yourself—who is not a 'thing'—inside as well!"

Wen Qianyi frowned again.

"Exactly, you need to put another you inside, you must carry yourself to work on time. Otherwise, they'd deduct bonuses, cut salaries, or even dismiss you. Even if you don't care about money deduction, you'll care about coworkers' and bosses' opinions. So you must come to work on time every day, leave on time, sometimes even voluntarily work overtime. For ten million in sales, how much of a commission can you get? Fifty thousand? Eighty thousand? To achieve those sales, you must concentrate all your mental energy, rack your brains to formulate perfect plans that can earn the company profits, and your clients a gain too—and that's just the first step. You must start communicating, inspecting, negotiating with clients repeatedly, going out repeatedly or even going on business trips, the investment is the same."

From Wen Qianyi's closed-eye expression, Li Yan believed she was moved.

"After finally completing a major deal, you might be physically and mentally exhausted. But you can't take a holiday because the substantial commission will lead you to buy a better car, a bigger house, more expensive branded items, become a member of more prestigious places... What do those need? More money! So, you must grit your teeth and start the next even larger order. And not only that, your colleagues, bosses around you, will also jump into your backpack, becoming your burdens!"

Li Yan pointed outside: "Take this place as an example. You have a private office, while many business elites are struggling for a private office of their own. It's an honor, but also a heavy burden you must maintain! If you don't seize the time and run with all your heart and soul, you will be caught up and surpassed by others, and then you might go outside, perhaps unable to accept it, resign, and change an environment. But so what? The competition with colleagues, pressure from superiors, and expectations from leaders are still the same cycle!"

Wen Qianyi, with her eyes closed, was already frowning. Li Yan's words deeply hit her heart, resonating with her experiences over the past few years. The industry reputation she has today, the house, sports car, and comfortable, high-quality life all came from such exhaustive struggles.

"At this point, is the backpack on your shoulder heavy? It's like you're carrying a mountain! That's why so many high-income white-collar and gold-collar workers deliberately run away to relax on weekends, because it's too heavy, and without relaxation, it suffocates. Drinking, partying, entertaining... these external ways are used to relieve the internal pressure. This isn't the worst part. The most serious issue is that once this backpack is shouldered, putting it down is not that easy! Because it's too heavy, too massive, you can only desperately bear it forward, and if you want to put it down, it will collapse you down directly!"

Hearing Li Yan say this, Wen Qianyi slowly opened her eyes, seemingly recognizing him for the first time, staring at him intently.

Li Yan smiled: "Look at my backpack in comparison. Although it's burdensome, it's much lighter compared to many others. I don't pursue luxury cars or high-end sports cars, so I don't have to strive for high commissions. As long as my salary is enough to sustain my life, I'm satisfied, and I don't have the heavy performance pressure like you do. You're now trying to make me dive into a backpack that's not heavy enough itself!"

Wen Qianyi thought for a while and retorted: "Your lack of desire is due to your good family background which has already provided you with a house and a car, food and drink. If you now have no money and are living on the streets, let's see if you can still leisurely talk about the backpack theory."

"Hehe... right, since I have a house and a car, food and drink, why should I busy myself to exhaustion? Isn't learning to be self-sufficient a good quality?" Li Yan spread his hands.

"No, you also have pressure! What if you lose your job? What if your car gets wrecked? If you have no savings, you'd be worse off!" In serious discussions, Wen Qianyi always thoroughly defeated Li Yan, but now his absurd logic had somewhat overwhelmed her, making her a bit unwilling to concede.

"Hasn't this not happened yet? Issues that haven't occurred are just hypotheses, not actual problems. If you stuff these unoccurred disasters into your backpack, it will become much heavier again."

"Humph, you're just passing the days as they come, doing the task of a monk!"

"Haha, drink and be merry, so I said, after hearing my words, perhaps you'd also respect another lifestyle." Li Yan didn't find 'passing the days as they come' derogatory at all.

"Still incorrect! You're almost thirty, right? At least twenty-seven or twenty-eight. It's time to get married, isn't it? How will you support a wife? How will you support both sets of parents? How will you support children?" Wen Qianyi, already twenty-five, had passed the age of innocent romance like Yu Xiaodi. Especially after struggling for a few years, she became acutely aware of societal realities. It was very clear that without money, there's basically nothing!

"Uh... there is indeed a problem. But it's also easy to solve, for instance, by not getting married. Or finding a wife who could in turn support me..."

"You're a freeloader!" Wen Qianyi widened her eyes, feeling both angry and amused, "I understand! It turns out with Director Hai Fu, you were approaching it with the intention of freeloading!"

"..." Li Yan was speechless, "Can you not have such leap thoughts? Okay, let me put it another way: a wedding requires buying a house, having children, supporting both sets of parents, and also supporting a wife and children. In this way, even if one could have started lightly, one inevitably has to bear a heavy backpack. Then what?

Not daring to put it down! Once you put it down, it crushes not only you but possibly seven people! And this worry becomes your new pressure added into the backpack. Thus, you carry an increasingly heavy backpack, bearing the burdens of several more people, year after year, from a handsome guy and pretty girl to a middle-aged man and woman, until the parents grow old, and the children mature, and then they start graduating, you worry about their job search, worry about their marriage, having children...

By this time, you're already a grandfather or grandmother, losing hair, growing a belly, and eventually dying! And until death, that heavy backpack always oppresses you. Perhaps it won't crush you directly, but you could possibly walk a hundred years, yet end up dying at seventy or eighty years instead...

This is the meaning of marriage, the meaning of work, whether idle, progressive, desperate, or leisurely... the ultimate result can only be death, and even faith in Chun Ge is useless. The god of time won't slow down or pause for you because of your ambition. Everyone is the same, and the ending is fair. Since there has never been any meaning, why impose so many burdens on yourself?"

"Is this considered... broad-minded optimism, or excessive pessimism?" looking at Li Yan, Wen Qianyi sighed and then gave a quirky smile: "Li Yan, I am even more intrigued by you. Those who can express such sentiments often have profound past experiences. Have you carried a heavy backpack before?"

(Wishing all book friends, whether in study or work, can maintain progress and simultaneously put down burdens. Achieve better results!)