Chen Cong froze for a moment, his brows drawing together slightly. He raised a hand to rub his temples and said with some hesitation, "Uh, Churan, this has come rather suddenly. Could you give me some time to think it over properly?"
Xue Churan smiled faintly, anticipation sparkling in her eyes. "Of course. Oh, right, the ideas Xiaojun brought up today about manufacturing and development at scale were quite novel to me. I can't fully grasp them in such a short time, and my understanding is still rather patchy."
"So I'd like to invite Xiaojun to serve as the economic consultant for our City Lord's Residence and help us draw up some concrete policies and plans."
"Xiaojun, I'm leaving this task to you. Don't even think about running away."
Chen Xiaojun looked troubled and hurriedly waved his hands. "Your Highness, drawing up plans is naturally my responsibility, but appointing me as economic consultant would be far too shocking."
"I'm young, my words carry little weight, and I have no qualifications whatsoever. I really am not up to the job."
"I'm afraid it would also affect Your Highness's prestige."
Xue Churan, however, brushed that aside and declared decisively, "If I say you can do it, then you can."
"After all, implementing these grand plans of yours will require me to invest considerable resources and connections. Even my future will be riding on them, so you absolutely cannot back down."
She paused, then added half-jokingly, "Besides, you'll also have to keep a close eye on the Chen Clan's interests involved in all this."
Her words were frank and candid. Clearly, she did not consider herself an outsider.
Chen Xiaojun could not help smiling bitterly at her words. He had tangled himself in his own net.
Xue Churan looked at him and chuckled.