Xplendi's office had returned to its ordinary rhythm, but Yang Ruoqian no longer trusted ordinary rhythm. The new update proved his caution correct. It said taste could not be booked as cash, but the system seemed willing to count it anyway. He read the line twice and felt the familiar pressure of a loss preparing to dress itself as achievement.
Yang Ruoqian's private calculation was still very professional. The plan around the Taste Is A Dangerous Asset matter had receipts, workflow, and enough normal business logic to pass the system's eyes. Better yet, the costs were concrete: archiving, editing time, staff aftercare, rejected publicity, and rival noise that should have diluted attention. A normal boss would ask how to convert those costs into growth. Yang only cared whether the post-release cooling could keep swallowing money without producing a number large enough to punish him.
