Brave Contest (Bonus for Shanshan's Diamond)

"Why must we build a city of Paris? There were no signs beforehand, nor did you ever mention it. Isn't this far too rash?" Leng Tingyu asked.

Mo Zhicheng blew out a puff of smoke and said indifferently, "Every decision I make is backed by careful consideration of all aspects."

"Zhicheng, this project was not open for discussion. Since you made the decision alone, how do you plan to answer to the board of directors?" Leng Tingyu furrowed her brows deeply.

He lowered his head, stubbed out his cigarette, and after a moment, looked up at her. "I will handle this project personally. Is that explanation enough?! Whatever I, Mo Zhicheng, do, I always know what I am doing. Can't the board members even grant me this bit of trust? Don't forget who has made them immensely profitable over all these years?" A faint smile played at the corners of his mouth.

Tingyu gazed at his smile, lost in thought. She only knew that Mo Zhicheng was not one to act on impulse; she wanted to know what on earth had inspired such a persistent yearning in him!

However, soon after, Mo Zhicheng personally took charge of planning the "City of Paris." Using a French theme as the core concept, he planned to construct a replica of the Eiffel Tower on the corporation's land at a 1:2 scale.

Mo Zhicheng gazed at the blueprints of the "City of Paris" in his hands, looking at the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, brewing a rich French ambiance. Paris was a romantic and alluring place. As he looked at every landscape on the blueprints, that scene vivid in his memory came alive before his eyes.

Outside the office door, Leng Tingyu was about to push it open when she saw this scene: the man casually leaning back in his swivel chair, gazing in a trance at the stack of blueprints. She momentarily lost her focus, not expecting the man to raise his eyes and catch sight of the woman's figure outside the door.

Sensing his gaze, Leng Tingyu snapped back to reality and tapped on the door panel. Mo Zhicheng neatly gathered the blueprints and slipped them into a file folder. "Come in."

Leng Tingyu slowly stepped inside, glanced at the piles of documents, and said softly, "All the directors will be attending the project press conference at nine o'clock shortly."

Mo Zhicheng glanced at his wristwatch. "Alright," came his single-word reply, chillingly indifferent enough to keep people at a distance. Leng Tingyu was even more taken aback. Ever since her father proposed their political marriage half a year ago, his attitude toward her in private had grown increasingly lukewarm. Moreover, Mo Zhicheng had never given any definite response regarding their upcoming wedding, and her father had not accepted the shares of "Sky City" that he offered. It seemed as though they were all waiting for his final answer.

Leng Tingyu felt as though she had been drenched in cold water, shivering with chill. In her twenty-five years of life, she had never experienced defeat. She realized that life was a balance scale, and this man was the sole trial amidst her smooth-sailing, universally adored existence—she rejoiced for him, suffered for him, yet could never manage to fathom the deeply hidden heart within him!

Mo Zhicheng stood up, glanced over the proposal, smiled at Leng Tingyu, and asked, "Aren't you going?"

Leng Tingyu was startled. "You're presenting the report yourself today?"

"Why not?" he said concisely.

"Is it true, or is it just your personal desire to build it?" Leng Tingyu smiled self-deprecatingly, though she still did not know why he was so insistent, nor what meaning it held for him.

Mo Zhicheng looked pensive, a trace of melancholy hovering across his handsome features, and said no more. At the project presentation, he projected 3D visual renderings of the City of Paris onto the LED screen. He was going to build a city of dreams. As Mo Zhicheng looked on, voices echoed through his thoughts.

—Where is the place you want to go the most?
—France, Paris.

Yet he had brought that dreamy capital back to his own domain. Such a grand vision was no longer just a dream.