Chapter 135
"By the way."
Lucinda's mouth suddenly curved slightly. "When I grabbed her wrist earlier, I broke two of her fingers."
Gaia's eyes went wide. Her mouth hung open. She couldn't close it for a long moment. "Really?"
"Yeah. Her pinky and ring finger. The bones are dislocated. They won't heal for two or three months."
Gaia stared at Lucinda for several seconds, then couldn't hold it in any longer. She burst out laughing.
She clapped her hands in admiration and gave a thumbs-up. "Ms. Wipere, you're incredible."
Lucinda didn't respond. She pulled a lipstick from her bag and handed it over.
Gaia took the lipstick, touched up her makeup in the corridor mirror, and smoothed out her disheveled hair.
The person in the mirror looked much more put-together than before. Her eyes were still red, but the light in them had changed.
"Let's go."
The two of them walked side by side toward the conference center.
Just as they rounded the corner, a middle-aged man in a dark gray suit approached.
The man wore an organizer's name tag on his chest and had an enthusiastic smile on his face. "Ms. Fisher? Hello, hello. I'm the organizer of this networking event."
He handed over his business card with both hands, his posture humble. "We've been hearing buzz in the industry about Ridgeway Tech's new product. Congratulations, congratulations. It's truly a remarkable breakthrough."
Gaia froze for a moment and instinctively looked at Lucinda.
Lucinda gave a slight nod. Only then did Gaia accept the card, her voice still a little tight. "Thank you. You're too kind."
"Not at all, not at all. The data doesn't lie." The organizer shook his head with a smile. "We're all looking forward to the demonstration later."
As soon as he left, another person approached.
This time it was a woman in her forties, wearing a sapphire blue suit. Her badge displayed the logo of a well-known tech company.
"Ms. Fisher, I'm the technical director at Evergreen Tech."
She extended her hand and shook Gaia's. "Our company has been closely following Ridgeway Tech's technical trajectory. The First Light robot launch caused quite a stir in the industry. To be honest, we're already considering establishing a long-term partnership with Ridgeway Tech."
Gaia's fingers tightened slightly. A flicker of surprise crossed her face.
She steadied her voice and nodded. "Thank you for your recognition. After the demonstration, we can discuss this in more detail."
The woman smiled and nodded, exchanged a few more pleasantries, then turned and left.
Gaia stood in place, clutching the two business cards. Her heart pounded like a drum, but her back was straighter than before.
She glanced over at Lucinda. Lucinda was looking down at her phone, expression calm, as if she hadn't heard a thing.
But Gaia knew. The reason those people recognized her, the reason they approached her—it was all because of Ridgeway Tech. Because of First Light. Because of the person standing behind her.
She gripped the business cards tightly, took a deep breath, and her steps grew steadier.
The conference center lobby was packed.
On the main stage, a giant screen displayed the technical achievements of various companies.
One team after another took the stage, showcasing products, explaining technologies, and answering questions.
Gaia sat in her seat, fingers lightly clenched on her lap.
She watched the experts on stage speak with confidence. Her heartbeat quickened with every passing moment.
First company. Second company. Third company…
After each presentation, someone from the audience would ask questions.
The questions were sharp and pointed. Some presenters could answer them. Others stammered and couldn't come up with a coherent response.
Some broke into a sweat. Others turned pale.
Gaia's palms began to sweat.
"Ms. Wipere…"
She turned, her voice tinged with poorly concealed nervousness. "What if they ask me a question I can't answer? What if they find a bunch of flaws in our product?"
Lucinda glanced at her and said flatly, "Give me your materials."
Gaia froze for a moment, then quickly pulled out the stack of technical documents she'd prepared and handed them over with both hands.
Lucinda took them, flipped to the first page, and scanned through line by line.
Her brow furrowed slightly. She pulled a pen from her pocket and began writing and sketching in the margins.
Gaia leaned over to look. Her eyes widened a little.
The phrasing she'd agonized over for days, trying to make it perfect—Lucinda refined it with just a few strokes.
The data points she'd worried would be questioned—Lucinda annotated them with more detailed derivations.
A sense of calm settled over her.
On stage, another team finished their presentation.
The host announced the next team: Vyratek Tech Group Technical Support Division.
Allegra walked onto the stage from the side entrance. Her hair was pulled into an impeccable bun. A polished smile sat on her face.
She wasn't the presenter—just a team assistant standing off to the side, responsible for distributing materials after the presentation.
The screen lit up with Vyratek Tech Group's technical proposal.
The presenter was a young man in glasses. He spoke quickly, flipping through the slides at a rapid pace, but the audience's reaction was lukewarm.
During the Q&A session, the first person to stand up immediately pointed out a logical flaw in the proposal.
"Your core algorithm has an obvious deficiency in load balancing. Why isn't that reflected in the test data?"
The presenter's smile froze. He stammered through a few explanations, but the more he explained, the messier it got.
Allegra stood to the side, clutching the stack of materials. Her heart pounded faster.
What's going on?
Judging by the experts' comments, things aren't going well.
Could it be… this company isn't reliable either?
A pang of regret flashed through her.
If she'd known, she would've found a more credible company. Now she was just embarrassing herself.
Her gaze swept over the disappointed faces in the audience. Her chest felt tight, like something was lodged inside.
But she quickly adjusted her expression. Her eyes drifted over the crowd and suddenly landed on Lucinda.
Lucinda was looking down, her brow slightly furrowed. The pen in her hand was moving rapidly across the page, scribbling something. She wasn't even looking at the stage.
Seeing Lucinda, Allegra's back straightened instantly.
So what if there are problems? Could it possibly be worse than that useless Lucinda?
At that thought, Allegra's mouth slowly curved into a smile.
She doesn't understand, does she?
Pretending to scribble something there. Who knows what she's even drawing.
Probably sketching a design. Drawing designs at a place like this—how ridiculous.