Chapter 74: Mate Selection Criteria

Monica sat in her seat, her gaze following everyone else's focus on the center of the stage where the beams converged.
Strictly speaking, this was the first time she had truly, calmly, and carefully observed Steven lately.
Although the two of them had recently shared an intimate kiss.
He wore a sleek and tailored suit, outlining a figure with broad shoulders and long legs. The collar of his shirt was meticulously fastened to the top, securely tied and bound by the tie, emitting a sense of restrained separation.
Above that was a handsome face with sharp contours, a high bridge of the nose, deep black eyes, and a gaze that swept the audience below without any emotional color before settling calmly in empty space.
His slender fingers held a microphone, his arm bent with the cuff dangling down, revealing a wrist with a glossy, cool gleam from the watch, adding a touch of nobility.
Facing the dense audience below the stage, he appeared confident, effortlessly holding a remote control pen and flipping through slides at a leisurely pace, expressing his insights into the venture capital industry.
Once entering his domain, his charisma was simply captivating, making it difficult for people to look away.
The speech did not last long and quickly transitioned to the Q&A session.
This had not been rehearsed in advance and relied solely on the active participation of the audience. In many previous lectures that Monica had attended, during the final Q&A session, everyone would remain silent, often relying on the professors in the front row who attended together to fill the void.
But today, the audience was clearly enthusiastic. The host looked at the raised hands, unable to acknowledge them all, sweating profusely.
Although Steven appeared cold, he patiently answered questions.
Even when a student directly asked, "I didn't have time to apply to Sterling Holdings during the spring recruitment, can I have another chance?" he replied earnestly, "Thank you all for your interest in Sterling Holdings. I also welcome all outstanding students to join. After the event, you can send your resumes to the HR email, and we will carefully screen them."
Perhaps his gentle demeanor gave people courage, as a girl stood up and boldly asked, "In your speech, you mentioned many standards, such as industry standards, market standards, and so on. I would like to ask, what are your criteria for choosing a partner?"
The unexpected turn of the question momentarily stunned the entire audience, but soon everyone smiled knowingly, and a wave of applause erupted, with some even whistling.
The audience was filled with young university students, clearly highly interested in gossip.
Professor Lee, sitting in the front row, couldn't stay seated, and stood up to glance in the direction of the questioner, his brows nearly twisted into knots.
Natalie exclaimed, "This question is too bold, but it seems like it's not from our department. Otherwise, they would definitely be pulled aside by Old Li for at least an hour of discussion when they go back."
Changing the topic, she continued, "But I'm also curious about this question. However, Steven is so clever, he will either evade it or speak ambiguously. He definitely won't tell the truth in front of everyone."
The expression on his face did not show any surprise or astonishment at this kind of question.
As the applause subsided and faced with countless inquisitive eyes from the audience, he slowly began to speak, "Firstly, thank you for your question."
His deep and cold voice was as calm as water, slowly spreading through the stagnant air with the help of the speakers.
"As for the criteria for choosing a partner," he paused for a moment, casually inserting his hand into his pocket, "I don't actually have specific standards. I also believe that a person should not be confined by so-called standards. Just be true to oneself, and I will be the one forever attracted to her true self."
Holding the microphone, his gaze accurately and unwaveringly fell on Monica, and their eyes silently met in mid-air.
Even though there were so many people in the audience, Monica inexplicably felt from his gaze that those were words meant only for her.
At this moment, everything around her seemed to freeze and fade away, becoming insignificant and blurry, like a slow-motion scene in a movie, with only their gazes fixed in this moment.
He was on stage, and she was in the audience.
In the sea of people, I can only see you.
Steven's gaze lingered on Monica for a moment, then shifted away, scanning the entire room once again.
He uttered a "thank you" and concluded his response.
There was no insincerity or humor in his answer, nor did he actually list any specific criteria. His tone was steady and calm, announcing his personal principles as if it were something unsurprising and normal.
No one expected him to answer this question so seriously; they were all taken aback, and then erupted into even more enthusiastic applause.
"Oh my god! I didn't expect this answer! Is he too good at this?!"
"...Perfect answer...compared to those who define women's behavior and intelligence, he is several levels above."
"Help! Help! Help! He just looked at our direction!"
The surroundings erupted into excitement, but Monica silently lowered her head, discreetly biting down on her straw.
Her heartbeat was racing.
After the event, the crowd of people congregated into several groups, heading towards various exits.
The auditorium was bustling with activity.
Steven exchanged a few words with some professors, bid farewell, and prepared to leave.
Caspar packed up the speech materials and stood behind him, holding a briefcase.
Steven asked him for the car keys: "You can go straight back, no need to send me tonight."
In an instant, Caspar thought of seeing Monica today and understood, so he nodded: "Alright, boss."
His tone was calm, but the gossip expression on his face clearly revealed his understanding.
Steven saw through it with just a glance, but didn't say anything, just reminded him: "As long as you know, don't speak recklessly in the company. Rumors can easily be distorted by malicious people, and I don't want her to be wrongly speculated about."
Caspar's expression also turned serious, "Understood."
The two of them walked out along the aisle. There was a table set up next to the stage, and the staff from the operations department who came with them were acting as HR officers, collecting resumes from the students.
Caspar went to greet them and give some instructions, while Steven stood nearby, with a few students whose backs were facing him, whispering in discussion.
"...Didn't you see just now? Mr. Louie specifically called her to the backstage, it must be to introduce her in person. She doesn't need to go through the exhausting process of submitting resumes and preparing for interviews like us. Just her last name 'Perez' is enough to secure any position."
"I'm so damn annoyed. Usually, she looks down on everyone."
"She probably didn't even have to take the entrance exam to get into our school. With her wealthy background and her father being a professor in the history department, it's simple for her to take a backdoor entrance."
"She definitely got in through connections. With just her looks, she has no other merits. Without her family background, she really can't compete with others."
"Oh well, you can't say that. It's rare to be this beautiful, and even without education, with that figure, as long as she's willing, who's afraid of not having money?"
A few male students gathered together, emitting a lewd laugh.
"That's enough."
As soon as the words were spoken, silence fell around. The students turned back, their expressions instantly becoming surprised, accompanied by a hint of panic.
Steven always appeared distant when he didn't smile, not to mention his current state of looking down from above, lowering his eyelids, tightening his lips, his expression icy and condensed.
Only Caspar knew that this was a sign of the boss being angry.
"Speaking ill of others behind their backs is not a good character trait." His voice was calm, but it involuntarily conveyed a suppressed anger.
"Besides, she is your classmate. To maliciously speculate about a girl who has no intersection with you, solely based on her family background, erases her personal efforts. This kind of behavior is very disgusting. I believe that you are not worthy to be Harvard University students."
"If there are any doubts about Monica's college entrance exam scores, feel free to check. Siena High School must have records of her performance during those three years. Professor Lee only called her today because her brother and I are friends, we have a close personal relationship. She will not be working at Sterling Holdings in the future, nor is there any behavior of using improper means to occupy resources."
"Please return the resumes of these students." He spoke to the person beside the table, then turned to look at those individuals, stating coldly without any emotional color.
"I'm sorry, but Sterling Holdings will never welcome applicants who don't even possess the most basic moral qualities."
Amidst the shocked and pained expressions of the group, he continued in a cold tone, "What I just said represents Sterling Holdings' standpoint. Now, disregarding my identity and position, personally speaking, unfortunately, I have some connections in this industry. If you continue to scheme and fantasize about Monica behind her back, it's just a phone call away for your names to appear permanently on the industry's recruitment blacklist."
His words were resolute, and the surroundings fell into complete silence.
Steven left the auditorium and walked to the location designated by Monica, a small grove by the lake, which appeared quite secluded.
Monica was originally sitting on a bench playing with her phone. When she saw him approaching, she put her phone in her pocket, stood up and rushed into his arms, like the wind.
"Why did you come so late?" Her tone carried a hint of complaint. "You didn't get lost, did you?"
He caressed her cheeks, "Waited a long time?"
Monica looked up at him, suddenly leaned in and kissed him. Steven was taken aback, but instinctively responded by holding her tightly and deepening the kiss. The two of them kissed for a while in the twilight of the small grove.
Monica leaned on his shoulder, panting a little, and said with a sense of satisfaction, "You did really well in the lecture today, so this is a reward."
Seeing Steven unusually silent, she raised her head again and carefully observed his expression.
"What's wrong with you?" she touched the corner of his lips, "Who owes you money? You look so resentful."
Steven looked down at her and suddenly asked, "Are you happy at school?"
Sometimes, people's malice is inexplicable. She hadn't done anything wrong and shouldn't have to endure these rumors.
"Why do you suddenly ask this?" she joked, "Did you hear someone talking bad about me?"
Seeing Steven not saying anything, she exclaimed, "No way...you actually heard it?"
Monica pinched his cheek and comforted him, "It's okay, I don't really care about those things."
She paused for a moment and continued, "When I first enrolled, no one knew that I was Miss Perez. There was a guy from the School of Foreign Languages. He came from a wealthy family and was arrogant and condescending. He pursued me for a long time, but I never accepted.
One day, my brother drove me to school and he saw us. Maybe out of jealousy or maybe feeling unbalanced, he made up lies and spread rumors in our grade, saying that I was being kept by someone, which was why I never agreed to him."
Steven frowned and held her tighter, "Why did I not know about this?"
"It's not a big deal, I didn't even tell my brother about it," she leaned on his shoulder, "Later, I deliberately drove that Rolls-Royce to his dormitory and threw tens of thousands of cash in front of everyone's faces, mocking him for not even having the qualifications to be kept by me. That's when things slowly settled. Later, someone discovered my background, and those voices disappeared."
Seeing that Steven was still not happy, she tugged at the corner of his mouth again, "Come on, don't think badly of everyone. It's just a very small part, and it's just a coincidence that you encountered them. There are also many good people in school, like the drama group, everyone gets along harmoniously and lovingly."
"Yeah," he replied, grabbing her finger and kissing it, "If you're ever unhappy or if someone talks bad about you behind your back, you must tell me."
Monica pursed her lips and smiled, proud and gently raising her eyebrows, "I don't need you to take care of such things, rest assured, I never suffer losses."
The two of them embraced each other as the setting sun gradually sank. Steven looked at his watch and said, "Shall we go eat?"
"No," Monica pushed him away, "My dad just called me. He's also coming to school today. He heard that my lecture is over and he wants to take me home."
Steven raised an eyebrow at her words, "So when will we meet next time?"
Monica suddenly felt a thrilling sense of an illicit romance and took his hand, "I'll go to Liang's family banquet this weekend. I should be able to escape early. Come with me then."
"Mom said to go out and meet her, and then I'll go secretly find you."
She blinked her eyes and asked, "What do you think?"
"On the weekend," Steven certainly remembered this special day, "it's the day our game ends."
"Hmm."
"The whole evening is mine?"
Monica glared at him, "You're thinking about those messy things again."
But Steven had already made plans and arrangements, he didn't explain, just looked into her eyes and smiled, "Alright, it's a deal."