Original subtitles

SAY NO TO PIRACY, SUPPORT ORIGINALS

ORGANIZATIONAL EFFICIENCY PUSH PROCESS EFFICIENCY DIAGRAM

Mr. Bu,

Tianna's strategic analysis skills are outstanding.

If she hadn't left Maxmise,

she'd have been the first among us to make partner.

With any other entrepreneur, having a successor this good

would make them ecstatic.

So why haven't you ever

put her in a key position?

Go on.

Tianna blames it all on you favoring boys over girls.

I actually think

you're afraid.

Buffett worked until 90 and never handed over power.

You're not even 60.

I think there's only one reason.

You don't want to name a successor too early.

The more outstanding Tianna becomes,

and the more determined she is to do well at Siwei,

the more worried you get.

Because she's basically telling you

you're getting older.

And in a few years,

the next generation might replace you.

That's why you've always spoiled Tianjie on purpose.

You quietly hint to the higher-ups that Tianjie is your successor.

Because you know perfectly well

that for the next 20 years, until Tianjie is the same age Tianna is now,

you need to keep

Siwei's power firmly in your own hands.

Mr. Bu,

if you want the business to last,

you have to focus on building a management pipeline.

Tianna has zero sense of security.

All her arrogance and anger

really come down to one thing.

She's scared that one day you'll stop loving her.

Or she's scared of being replaced by her brother.

You love Tianna more than I ever could.

But no matter what, I still need to remind you,

the heart is flesh, not steel.

You can forge and temper steel,

but once a heart breaks,

it never heals.

-That hurts. -Are you okay,

Jie?

I'm fine.

If he doesn't like it, don't force him.

Who's forcing him?

He insists on practicing.

The more it hurts, the more he goes at it.

Jie, do you really like it that much?

When I grow up, I want to compete,

make the Olympics, and win glory for the country.

Jie, don't talk nonsense.

You need to study hard.

That way, when you're older, you can be Dad's right-hand man.

I don't want to be busy like Tianna.

Studying's exhausting. I just want to play.

-I want to practice! -Watch out!

Move, you two.

Didn't you say their school did a potential model test on him?

Let me see.

He's still little. It doesn't count.

Just let me see.

Not really…

POTENTIAL SELF-ASSESSMENT OF BU TIANJIE

LINGUISTIC APTITUDE, LOGICAL APTITUDE MANAGEMENT SKILLS

What's this?

Linguistic aptitude, logical aptitude, and management skills are all average.

But spatial ability and athletic ability are outstanding.

Do you really think

Tianjie is more suited to take over Siwei Group than Tianna?

If those two ever turn on each other,

can you really

live out your later years happily?

OVERSEAS STRATEGY & AI EFFICIENCY A TWO-PRONGED APPROACH

There's a full team meeting tomorrow morning.

We'll go over the project proposal. Is 10:30 okay for you?

Chi?

Chi?

I zoned out. What were you saying?

What's wrong?

-Are you just too tired? -No.

Tianna and Zhao Heng are going through a breakup.

Zhao Heng's about to go on a long business trip to South America.

I'm a little worried about them.

From my experience,

even with your best friends, when it comes to stuff like this,

it's best to just listen.

Whatever you do, don't give a strong opinion.

Otherwise, whether they get back together or break up later,

you'll be stuck in the middle and get on both their bad sides.

But I don't want to do that.

That safe, cautious approach feels outdated to me.

Look, clients pick a consulting firm

because they want a clear stance and a definitive opinion.

So as a friend, if I'm all wishy-washy right now,

I feel like a bad friend.

Even if I get on both their bad sides,

that's a problem for later, right?

But now it's killing me to just sit here and do nothing.

I'm gonna make a call.

Give me ten minutes, and I'll be back to work.

XU CHI

-Hello? -Are you at the airport?

You know that too?

You want me to bring you back souvenirs from South America?

Be honest with me.

When you picked up my call, were you really disappointed?

You were hoping it was Tianna calling, right?

She won't. With that temper of hers…

Zhao Heng, listen to me.

We all want equality in love.

We all want to be evenly matched.

But let me ask you.

Are you actually on equal footing with Tianna?

You know her weak spot

is that she never felt secure in her own family.

And yet you went and did the one thing she hates most

and then expected her to treat you rationally.

Tianna was with me before she came to find you.

She thought her dad was riding you hard again,

and she panicked.

She almost twisted her ankle running to the parking lot.

Did you know that?

You said you lost the bet.

Zhao Heng, is it really all or nothing for you when it comes to love?

I know it's totally biased of me to come at you

for taking Tianna's side right now.

But as a friend, I really don't want you to regret this.

In two months,

love can snap like a thread.

Even if you want to tie it back together,

at 10,000 kilometers apart,

can you even reach it?

Oh, man.

I pushed too hard on the toilet.

Feeling a little dizzy.

Doesn't your watch check blood pressure? Let me borrow it.

Where's your watch? You lost it?

Hold on. Let me track it on my phone.

Parking lot P1?

That's not right.

We took a ride straight to the departures level.

How's your watch in here?

Maybe you left the watch in the car,

and the driver went to P1 to wait for passengers?

You're dead set on mooching off me.

You're in no position to talk about equality.

Bu Tianna!

Where are you going? We're about to board!

Tianna.

When I said I wanted to break up,

I was just acting out.

I was gaslighting you.

I wanted to make sure you couldn't leave me.

But deep down, I know

no one could ever replace you in my heart.

So…

will you forgive me?

I'm not here for you.

Right.

You're just passing by. I'm the one who came for you.

You scumbag.

Why do you always tell me what sounds good?

Yeah. I'm a scumbag.

I'm awful. I'm trash.

I had an ulterior motive this whole time.

So…

do you still love me?

And then? What happened next?

And then his colleague called and told Zhao Heng to board.

Then he and Tianna agreed to video chat for at least half an hour every day.

After that, Zhao Heng flew off.

That's it?

That's so not romantic.

I figured Zhao Heng would've at least changed his ticket

and stayed one more night.

Or Bu Tianna would've bought a ticket and gone to Venezuela with him.

Mr. Shen, you think this is some idol drama?

Feelings matter, of course. But that's just between two people.

Work involves the whole team. You've gotta make trade-offs.

So, to you, consulting people, work always comes before love, huh?

First, I partly agree with you.

Second, I think I hear a little bitterness in there.

Third, my boss is blowing up my phone.

So I'm gonna head out. I'll leave you two to your date.

Something's off.

That girl's definitely got something going on.

But she really is thoughtful.

Oh, try this.

Foie gras.

It's a bit rich, but it's loaded with iron.

Good for your blood. Try it.

Good?

Have some more.

I wish you could take a vacation sometime.

Then we'll go somewhere for a couple of days.

We can find a nice lake or ocean and just relax.

Lately, I've even dreamed about you kayaking with me.

I was so happy.

Then let's do this Saturday.

No, if you don't…

What, you don't want to?

I'd love to.

Really?

Alright.

I'll go find a romantic hotel tonight.

Let's have ourselves a nice romantic time.

-Have some meat. -I haven't finished this piece yet.

You go ahead.

What's wrong? Didn't sleep well last night?

It was okay.

By the way, tomorrow morning's meeting…

I already coordinated with everyone else.

10:30, meeting room A2.

So how's the All Buy timeline coming along?

I coordinated with Lele and got All Buy's side set up.

Starting next Monday,

it'll be Warehousing first, followed by Quality Assurance,

and then R&D and Procurement middle office.

The whole process should take about half a month.

Then we can start updating and iterating the model.

Nice.

That's fast progress.

Looks like things are fine on Bu Tianna's end?

You guessed right.

Good thing I didn't listen to you that day.

Sorry.

I guess I'm a bit old-school.

Wait, why are you apologizing?

I didn't mean it that way.

I know you were just giving me a mature suggestion from where you stand.

You mean it?

Yes.

What… What's wrong?

I'm handing you my whole heart. Hear that?

Is it real?

So real.

I'm so moved.

You're putting it on.

TESTING

QUALITY CONTROL

-Mr. Liu, thank you. -No worries.

Mr. Ye,

after you guys optimize this process, will there be any side effects?

Don't worry. It'll only boost efficiency.

-Won't cause any trouble. -Alright.

Based on the AI model we developed at C&C,

when All Buy goes overseas, they should focus

on packaged foods, mainly snack foods and instant grains and oils.

For where to land,

I'd suggest major cities with dense Chinese

and international student populations

because these products keep well and are easy to ship.

Plus, we can use AI for both quality inspection and quality assurance.

That can massively boost efficiency

and cut the labor costs of setting up overseas quality control centers.

09:28

Put together the overseas e-commerce proposal for All Buy.

Okay, got it.

And take a look at this.

-Let's double check this. -Which one?

I was gonna bring it up too.

-Just help me adjust these. Thank you. -Here is the report.

-Okay? -Everyone's tired, right?

I bought coffee and milk tea for everyone.

Take a break.

-Thanks, Mr. Kai. -Thanks, Mr. Kai.

Made this especially for you.

Your favorite.

Triple espresso with whiskey.

Hand-poured Irish. Did I remember right?

-Thanks. -Sit.

So, how much longer till we see the light at the end of the tunnel?

Soon.

All Buy's feedback has been pretty good.

They got inspired by us

and plan to use the AI vendor we recommended

to overhaul their domestic backend, both warehousing and outlets.

I figure two weeks at most, and we can do the official delivery.

We do their overseas consulting, and they just port it over domestically.

They're getting a steal. One consulting fee. Double the usage.

No choice.

Just treat it as free advertising.

All Buy is practically a stepping stone

for C&C to break into the tech giant ecosystem.

Anyway, as long as this delivery succeeds, we won't have to worry about future deals.

Okay, I'm waiting for your victory news.

By the way, Mr. Kai…

After this project wraps, I want to take a month-long vacation.

No problem.

A month? Seriously?

Yeah. I already gave Mr. Kai a heads-up.

Just so HR can easily sign off on your time off.

That's great!

When I said I had no time to hang out,

you looked so down, like a sad golden retriever.

It actually made me feel kinda bad.

Great. Finally, we get some time just for us.

By the way,

where do you wanna go?

Let me think.

Southeast Asia's too close.

South America's far.

But Tianna and Zhao Heng said they couldn't get used to the food there.

How about Saudi Arabia?

When I was little, I loved this comic my mom left me.

There was a tower that reached for the heavens.

My mom said date palms grew in a row at the bottom.

The dates were sweet as honey.

She loved eating them.

-The yellow spiral tower? -Yes, that one.

That's in Iraq, not Saudi.

Isn't the visa hard to get?

Chi, if you wanna go, any visa is easy enough to get.

Never mind.

Even if we could get one, it doesn't feel very safe.

Where do you wanna go?

I love the ocean.

I wanna go to the Blue Hole in Dahab.

They also call it the Eye of the Ocean.

It's the easiest deep blue sea cave for tourists to get to.

Then let's go there.

We've got a whole month.

We can hit the Tower of Babel first, then the Blue Hole.

They say that the Tower of Babel is where humans

get closest to the heavens.

We could go from the highest point on Earth

straight to the deepest.

How do you make everything sound so poetic?

Must be that mature man charm you talked about.

You're so petty, and you hold grudges.

Yeah. I hold grudges.

And right now, I'm getting revenge.

Here I come!

What are you doing? We have to get up early tomorrow.

Go from the highest point on Earth…

We could go from

the highest point on Earth…

It's that supervisor surnamed Liu from All Buy's Quality Inspection Department.

Before it happened, he posted a farewell video

on a video app.

Said All Buy and C&C teamed up to force him out.

That consultant Ye

swore up and down that after optimizing the process,

it wouldn't cause us any trouble.

What a liar.

We're exactly the trouble All Buy wants to cut loose!

Word is, Mr. Liu has over three million in mortgage debt.

His kid's still in the hospital.

That AI quality inspection system All Buy brought in

uses robotic electronic eyes and probes to replace human inspectors.

One machine can replace 50 quality inspectors.

So listen up, folks,

AI doesn't just revolutionize industries.

It can cost lives.

-Mr. Su. -Mr. Su!

Is what Mr. Liu said in his video true, Mr. Su?

Did your company spend a fortune hiring consultants to lay people off,

instead of giving old employees fair compensation?

-Please answer directly. -Mr. Su.

-Mr. Su! Please comment on the situation! -Please answer the question.

Mr. Su, did someone die at your company?

Did someone jump?

Are you sure HR never pressured him to resign?

-Yes. We will… -That's not what you told us back then.

-This all happened so suddenly. -Fine. I'll talk to Mr. Ye.

I understand.

There you are.

The hospital said Mr. Liu is out of the ICU.

He hit a light sign on the 29th floor, then landed on a platform on the 7th.

He's not in any danger.

Thank God. I'm going to see him right now.

I'll come with you.

Xu Chi! All Buy's on the line for you.

You go ahead. I'll catch up.

Richard!

Are you going to the hospital?

The crisis PR team is already there. You don't need to go.

Mr. Kai,

I want to apologize to Mr. Liu in person.

We've always handled overseas projects.

Domestic projects have always been yours.

We can't take this one.

We are not responsible for…

-No, I… -What on earth are you coordinating?

You're back already?

Mr. Kai said I'm not ready to go yet.

I get how that video affected you.

But you need to control your guilt.

Mr. Liu didn't mention your name.

If you go apologize now, you're taking all the blame on yourself.

He just got stuck in his own head for a moment.

He's fine now.

Mr. Kai,

that's a human life.

I get how you feel.

It's like, I didn't kill him, but he died because of me.

But how we handle this case now isn't just about Mr. Liu.

It's about billions in business

and new jobs for hundreds of employees.

Don't lose sight of the big picture.

Mr. Kai.

I'm a partner.

This is my project.

I get first say over this!

There are a lot of reporters outside the hospital.

If you go now, you could cause irreversible second-hand harm

to Mr. Liu and his family.

Have you thought about that?

Setting aside that I'm your boss,

as a friend, I'm suggesting you go home and rest.

Wait till you're in a better place and PR has things under control.

It won't be too late then.

-But Mr. Kai-- -Enough!

Richard, I've got a lot of fires to put out right now.

Can you just give it a rest?

Chi.

Actually, back when we were on the Yuanzhou project,

I started thinking about something.

We in consulting shouldn't just be responsible to the companies we serve.

We should be responsible to the actual people.

So I have to go apologize to Mr. Liu.

Whether Mr. Kai agrees or not, I'm going.

I'll go with you then.

Are you okay?

You seem a little off today.

You just mentioned Yuanzhou.

Were you thinking about Wen Ruosen?

My kid's only eight.

I really don't want to jump off a building.

But if you don't save me, I really will jump.

Before, you didn't want to be too hard on him

after hearing that he wanted to jump.

You…

It's on me.

Alright then.

I'll explain it all to you sometime.

PR says someone from Xinrui Finance is coming to interview soon.

Are you up for it?

Why don't you go home and rest? I'll handle things here.

Thanks.

C&C's bid was only for All Buy's overseas projects.

As for personnel changes in the client's domestic business department,

we don't have more detailed information.

So, does C&C bear any responsibility for All Buy's jumping incident?

I'm not at liberty to answer that. This is an internal matter for All Buy.

C&C only offered suggestions for their overseas projects.

YOUNG YE XINZHI

Mr. Kai, that's a human life.

C&C is a top consulting firm.

And I'm the project lead.

I think we have an obligation to apologize to the victim

and admit our mistakes to the public.

This is what we have to do!

We didn't make a mistake.

Consulting firms are only advisors, never the party involved.

Your team provided a business

process integration plan for overseas expansion

that hasn't even been implemented yet.

Mr. Liu's issue happened

because All Buy messed things up while using AI to overhaul their workflow.

It has nothing to do with C&C.

Xu Chi. Xu Chi?

Got a minute? Let's talk.

I want to know how you assess

the impact of this All Buy incident on the company.

Richard and I both think--

I just want to hear your personal opinion.

Objective, calm, concise, and neutral.

My personal stance…

It's hard for me to be completely neutral

because this whole thing has affected me a lot too.

I can only try my best to calmly share some of my observations with you.

Public opinion isn't a big deal right now because to everyday people,

C&C and industry consultants are still pretty unfamiliar concepts.

But long-term,

the industry will have negative views of C&C

for at least half a year, maybe more.

That's a very precise analysis.

But still too conservative.

C&C ranked number one

in sales among domestic consulting firms last year,

but with the European and American markets shrinking,

our business volume has dropped sharply.

You can scroll down.

To say the least, C&C is facing its winter right now.

The only ones with consulting budgets now are the big internet firms.

So I'm really counting

on Richard's All Buy project to deliver smoothly,

become the company's new breakthrough,

and lead other business lines upward.

If Richard apologizes and takes responsibility

out of personal impulse,

it could very well affect the whole project moving forward.

If All Buy ends our cooperation because of this,

our internet projects will take a major hit.

What we lose then isn't just your team's effort

and money,

but C&C's future.

I understand.

Give me a little time.

I'll talk to him.

Make sure he keeps his emotions in check.

What I need is for you to fully take over the All Buy project,

completely shut down this incident,

and keep fulfilling the consulting contract.

And Richard absolutely cannot know.

I can't do that. Absolutely not.

Xu Chi, you know him better than I do.

But I've known him for over ten years.

I've never seen him lose it like this on any project.

I guess Mr. Liu's jump triggered severe PTSD in him.

Just now, I asked him to follow PR's arrangements.

His reaction was intense. Public opinion is on fire.

For the company's sake, I have to sideline him for now.

You're the number two on the team.

I want you to step up in this crisis, handle the client, manage the fallout,

and deliver the final results.

Mr. Kai, I really can't.

-This project-- -Xu Chi, I hope you understand this.

If you don't take over,

I'll assign someone else.

Another lead won't care what happens to him

or look out for him.

If they need him to take the fall, I'll just nod along.

And he'll face the biggest failure of his career.

You're the closest person to him.

Are you just gonna stand by and watch him get replaced,

only for him to wake up and regret it for the rest of his life?

Business is war.

When the general is out of form, the second-in-command should take over.

Because he knows all the general wants is victory.

We in consulting shouldn't just be responsible to the companies we serve.

We should be responsible to the actual people.

I have to go apologize to Mr. Liu.

Whether Mr. Kai agrees or not, I'm going.

I'm not caving because of your threat.

I want to make Ye Xinzhi's vision a reality.

If I step up now,

what support will the company give me?

I'll give you two promises.

First, you can mobilize all of C&C's resources.

I'll personally coordinate for you.

Second, if the project delivers smoothly,

you'll be promoted to project manager.

Xinzhi.

How come you're back so early?

I was worried about you.

So I came back to check on you.

I have to head back to the office soon.

I'll go with you.

You should rest. I've got this.

I got you some chicken soup. You want some?

Thanks.

It's good.

Have more, then.

Chi.

Once I've apologized to Mr. Liu,

I'm giving up my cut of the profits from this project.

We can use it to compensate Mr. Liu or set up a charity fund for All Buy.

Either way, I want to minimize

the fallout of this shake-up for the ground-level staff.

Do you think that works?

Of course.

I'll donate mine too.

I don't need to buy that apartment anyway.

Xinzhi,

let me take over everything on this project going forward, okay?

We'll go see Mr. Liu in a day or two.

Don't go online today.

And stay off the work group chats. Wait for me to come back.

I'll wait for you.

Xinzhi, trust me.

I'll do everything I can to help you,

to help us.

I don't even know if I can pull this off.

If I do something you don't like,

don't be mad at me.

Everything I do is for our future.

Of course I trust you.

When my ears were messed up, you healed me.

This time, I'll be your support.

Thanks.

ALL BUY PROJECT WORK GROUP CHAT

GROUP CHAT MEMBERS

YE XINZHI

REMOVE GROUP MEMBER YE XINZHI? ONLY THE REMOVED MEMBER WILL BE NOTIFIED.

REMOVE

REMOVING THE MEMBER

This approach is too risky.

Admitting to the media

that we're responsible for an employee's suicide?

Isn't that basically brand suicide for All Buy?

C&C's many cases prove

that honesty is the best way to handle public scrutiny.

And morally and logically, don't we owe the public an explanation?

That was then, and this is now!

Your plan is nothing but a gamble!

Can you honestly prove there's no risk if we go your way?

And Mr. Kai would never stand for both sides taking the blame!

Mr. Kai gave me full authority to handle this.

My decision is his decision.

And I can't guarantee a thing.

Because in business, every second carries risk.

But have you thought

about what would happen if C&C didn't stick

to the principle of consultants standing with their clients?

Why are we sitting here right now?

Because Richard and I both believe

we should take on the responsibility we ought to.

Mr. Su,

we are no longer just a service provider.

We are a partner standing shoulder to shoulder with you.

If All Buy is taking a gamble,

then by standing with you tomorrow,

C&C is putting its reputation in the industry on the line as well.

It's almost midnight. I think we're all tired.

I don't see any point in dragging out this pointless argument.

Alright then.

We need your official response by 2 a.m.

Sorry. We need to head out.

Mr. Su.

In the business world, no company is irreplaceable.

If All Buy can get through this, the sky's the limit.

But if it can't,

I'm sure All Buy's competitors will gladly step up.

And when that happens,

C&C will serve them with the same professionalism.

Are we really just leaving like this?

Miss Xu.

Wait a second.

Please get us a printer.

By 10 a.m. tomorrow, we'll have a game plan ready to go.

The GM's Office, PR, and I are pulling an all-nighter to back you up.

Everyone, time to grind.

Let's go!

-Let's do this! -Let's do this!

Xu Chi.

-Mr. Kai. -You're something else.

I only agreed to sideline Richard.

I didn't agree to let C&C and All Buy share the blame!

A public apology?

I'd rather have him apologize to Mr. Liu in private!

A general in the field can ignore the king's orders.

The plan is already in motion. There's no turning back.

Why? Why not…?

Please take a closer look at my plan.

I'm not apologizing. I'm taking responsibility.

I firmly believe this plan is the best way to resolve this crisis.

It keeps C&C and All Buy working together,

and it actually helps people like Mr. Liu, who got hurt in this whole thing.

What if something goes wrong?

I'll resign.

My college classmate does new media promotion and outreach.

He just called to tell me

two of All Buy's biggest competitors, Goushijie and TTBUY,

are pushing negative publicity around 4 p.m. tomorrow.

I got it.

I already have a plan in place. We'll push ours out before noon tomorrow.

Good.

Lin.

Thank you, really.

Go do your thing. I'm hanging up.

Xu Chi, there's no room for hesitation anymore.