Chapter 85: Don’t Think You’re So Special.
With the silent film as a backdrop, Chu Wantang’s still-hoarse voice fell clearly into Huai Xing’s ears.
Huai Xing barely had to think before refusing, “No.” She smiled. “I don’t have a habit of sleeping on the sofa.”
“The room is very clean.”
“My luggage is still at the hotel, and I have a flight to catch tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll drive you there tomorrow morning.”
“It’s a hassle.”
“I don’t think it’s a hassle.”
She slowly withdrew her arms, and her body also slowly straightened. She looked at the person in front of her in the still-not-bright light, her voice slightly light as she said, “I mean, it’s a hassle for me, not for you.”
She paused and then asked, “I think my response has been very tactful. Do I have to make it so obvious that I don’t want to?”
“…” Chu Wantang tilted her head up slightly. Hearing this, her long lashes trembled twice.
“I know,” she said. Her answer was exactly the same as Huai Xing’s back then.
Huai Xing picked up the phone in the corner, unlocked it nonchalantly, and looked at the timer that had not yet started, but she said, “It’s almost time.”
She gave Chu Wantang a smile. “Sister Wantang, you should rest well at home. I’ll be going back to the hotel.”
“Thank you for your concern.”
“You’re welcome.”
“This month, my team and I will be coming to Haicheng again to sign a contract with your company.”
“Okay.”
Tonight’s meeting ended in such a business-like conversation. Huai Xing didn’t let Chu Wantang see her off, and before long, she was outside the complex, hailing a taxi.
She left very decisively and resolutely, without any hesitation.
Chu Wantang thought of this and looked at the empty living room, and then at the fruit basket on the dining table. After hesitating for a while, she had already washed up early. Now, she still stood up and went to wash a peach for herself.
She peeled it, cut it into pieces, and put it in her mouth. It was indeed very sweet, and there was a rich peach fragrance, but it couldn’t cover the bitterness in her mouth.
If it weren’t for this fruit basket and the sensation of the hug, she would have suspected that Huai Xing had never come back, and that everything was her illusion.
Suddenly, she looked up again and saw the surveillance camera in the corner of the living room that had not been moved. The surveillance camera had been very expensive when she had bought it, and it had not broken in these five years.
She calmly returned to the sofa and sat down, pulled up the app on her phone, opened it, and replayed the moment Huai Xing had come home.
She saw Huai Xing enter the door, saw Huai Xing put down the fruit basket.
She saw Huai Xing sitting on the sofa drinking water, and she also saw Huai Xing bend down to hug her, playing with their hair with her fingertips.
The time progress bar at the bottom showed—
Their hug had started at ten twenty-six and had only ended at ten thirty-nine.
Not seven minutes, more than seven minutes.
Chu Wantang forgot to blink, and she also forgot to breathe.
After a long while, her phone screen lit up. It was a message from Huai Xing saying that she had safely arrived at the hotel. She looked at the line of words, and a bright smile appeared in her eyes.
She replied: [The peaches are delicious.]
The plum rain season in Haicheng had not ended. The sky was still gray, and the clouds were pressed very low. People who went out always had an umbrella in their bags, in case it suddenly rained in the city.
On Friday morning, the rain was about to fall, and the humidity in the air was suffocating.
In the meeting room of “Silk Season,” Huai Xing sat at the head of the table, listening to her subordinates report on the progress of the “Four Seasons Have Silk Season” show. She looked at the design displays of the ready-to-wear in the PPT, and her and Lu Xianyue’s brows were furrowed a little deeply.
At the end, she still stated the plan she had discussed with Lu Xianyue. “Quickly draw up a recruitment letter for fashion designers and release it next Monday. Successfully form an excellent fashion design team before the end of this month.” She said in a deep voice, “These clothes are still far from the ideal effect. Most of them do not stick to the theme, and they have not interpreted the artistic conception and beauty of our ‘Silk Season,’ and they do not emphasize the brand’s tone enough.”
“Also, the progress of signing with the model agency also needs to keep up. The casting requirements should be based on the characteristics of the four seasons: the agility of spring, the vitality of summer, the elegance of autumn, and the coldness of winter…”
…
After the meeting, Huai Xing returned to her office and pinched the bridge of her nose. In the past, at “Lan Ling,” she only needed to be a runway model and didn’t feel much pressure. Now, in this position, and with “Silk Season” not yet mature in ready-to-wear design, she could feel how much of a headache it was.
But this show had to be held. If it was successful, it could make the company’s name even more well-known.
At this moment, Lu Xianyue came in with a document. On it were the model cards from the model agency.
She came to the chair opposite Huai Xing and sat down, pushed the document in front of Huai Xing, and also felt a headache, saying, “These models also feel a little lacking to me.”
“Let me see.”
Huai Xing sat up straight and flipped through it. To be honest, everyone’s conditions were very good, but…
“They’re missing a stabilizing force,” she said, giving her own evaluation very directly.
“Do you want to increase the budget and find some well-known models?” Lu Xianyue propped her chin on her hand. “Actually, I personally quite like Wan Yi. Her business ability is good, and she’s a supermodel, but she’s been on a break for two years. Many companies have invited her in the past, but she has always disagreed. The recent third party scandal that she was framed for has now made her even more popular…”
She thought for a moment. “Why don’t I send her an email and ask? What if Wan Yi can really come… I just don’t know how much it would cost. A few million for one show? Then even if she came, it would probably be over our budget.”
“…” Huai Xing’s eyelids twitched uncontrollably.
“I know her.”
“Hmm?” Lu Xianyue’s eyes widened. “How do you know her?”
“She’s her good friend.”
Lu Xianyue knew that the “her” in the back referred to Chu Wantang, and she immediately wilted. “No hurry. We’ll look at the model agency again.”
Of course she didn’t want Huai Xing to be so involved with Chu Wantang. And if she really had to rely on this relationship with Chu Wantang, wouldn’t that mean she owed Chu Wantang a favor? No, refuse.
“Mm, there’s still time.”
After she finished speaking, the screen on the table lit up, indicating that Huai Xing had a new WeChat message.
She did not open it immediately and continued to chat with Lu Xianyue about the details of this show. Later, she also called the person in charge and made major revisions.
When the office was empty, Huai Xing finally unlocked her phone. An hour ago, Chu Wantang had sent today’s water photo. Her illness was probably much better, and the water photo was not so simple anymore.
Today’s Chu Wantang had also tied up her hair, wearing a casual V-neck top, revealing a section of her collarbone on both sides. She was wearing a necklace and earrings, holding a transparent water glass in one hand, and pointing at the glass with the other.
The caption was: [I’m also drinking warm water today.]
Huai Xing glanced at the message and then typed a “1” and sent it.
After she had returned to the hotel on Tuesday night, she had turned off the do not disturb. After all, Chu Wantang and her team would be coming to Haicheng to sign a contract later. If there was any important work message, it would be better for her to reply in time.
The next second, Chu Wantang sent another photo. It was of her eating washed cherries in her office. She had even specially picked a round cherry and held it by the stem to her earlobe, creating the visual effect of a cherry as an earring.
In the photo, she was slightly tilting her head to show off the cherry earring, a faint dimple on her lips.
She said: [Thank you, Xingxing, for the cherry earrings.]
Huai Xing looked at the photo and raised her hand to pinch the bridge of her nose.
Chu Wantang had never been the type to be beautiful and not know it. Since she was a child, she had had countless suitors because of this face. She had even run into many of them pursuing Chu Wantang in the past, and even she herself had once fallen into a beauty trap.
Fortunately, not anymore. Huai Xing felt that she was very calm, and her typing was also calm: [You’re welcome.]
She asked with a very concerned look: [Are you still coughing, Sister Wantang?]
As she had expected, she received a one-second voice message from Chu Wantang.
“I’m not coughing anymore,” Chu Wantang’s voice sounded as if it had returned to its usual gentle and pleasant tone.
Huai Xing did not chat any more and exited this interface, and the photo of the cherry earring was still imprinted in her eyes.
Mm, that cherry looked delicious.
Half an hour later, all the employees in the two-story small building of “Silk Season” lined up in the pantry to receive a box of purple-red special cherries. Ding Rong was at the side, checking the form, and said with a smile, “It’s a treat from Little President Huai. I wish everyone a happy weekend.”
“Thank you, Little President Huai!” everyone said with a grin.
There was also a box of cherries in front of Huai Xing. She sat in her chair, raised an eyebrow, opened her Moments, and selected the photos of the dozens and hundreds of boxes of cherries that Ding Rong had taken. She posted them on her Moments, with no caption, but you could tell that it was the company’s pantry.
This Moments post was visible to everyone. A moment later, she saw that Chu Wantang had liked it, and only then did she hum in satisfaction.
Don’t think you’re so special.
When she returned to her apartment at night, Huai Xing sat on the sofa to rest.
Before long, the doorbell rang.
She went to open the door and called out with a smile, “Sister Suisui.”
“I sent you a message but you haven’t replied yet. It’s time for dinner, Xiao Xing,” Lu Zhenyue said. She had a play tomorrow, and she had been reading and listening to music at home this afternoon. When it was about time, she had started to try to make a new dish she had learned.
Huai Xing: “Okay, I’ll be right there.”
As she spoke, she remembered to take out a box of cherries from the refrigerator and handed it to Lu Zhenyue, saying, “I treated the whole company to cherries today. I also brought a box back for you, Sister Suisui.”
“Is it very sweet?” Lu Zhenyue asked with a smile.
Huai Xing deliberately exaggerated. “Super sour.”
Lu Zhenyue raised an eyebrow. “Then I have to try it even more. I love sour things.”
As they chatted and laughed, the two of them entered Lu Xianyue’s room. It was just the three of them tonight.
Because Wen Shiwei had gone abroad on a business trip, otherwise, Lu Xianyue would not be staying in the apartment now, but with her girlfriend.
…
After Chu Wantang had finished a temporary meeting, she rubbed her sleepy eyelids.
Before going to bed, she opened Weibo. Coincidentally, Weibo probably discovered that she loved to look at Lu Zhenyue’s posts and had pushed Lu Zhenyue’s Weibo post from tonight to her face.
It was a photo of Lu Zhenyue holding a heart-shaped cherry.
[I’ve been fed.] The caption was like this.
Chu Wantang’s lips were pressed together tightly. She squinted her eyes at this cherry.
From her contact with Huai Xing in the past period of time, she could clearly conclude that Huai Xing was not actually with Lu Zhenyue. Otherwise, Huai Xing would not have said that she would return the seven-minute hug and then exceeded the time—
With her understanding of Huai Xing, Huai Xing would not see her old love alone when she had a new love.
She was not sure if it was an ambiguous period, but it was certain that this person, Lu Zhenyue, was “coveting” Huai Xing. Some of her Weibo content had simply become a “secret love diary,” with a lot of little thoughts.
Looking at Lu Zhenyue’s Haicheng IP again, Chu Wantang’s temples started to throb again. She could not just sit and wait. She understood the principle of being close to the water better than anyone else.
And she also remembered Lu Zhenyue hugging Huai Xing, feeding Huai Xing juice, and touching up Huai Xing’s lipstick…
These scenes came one after another, hitting her brain.
Her fingertips tapped lightly on the tablet, her expression solemn, her brows furrowed tightly.
She seemed to be hidden in the endless night, letting her heavy thoughts engulf her.
A new week arrived, and “Silk Season” released a recruitment letter for fashion designers on its various platform accounts.
Everything was written clearly, and the conditions offered were very considerable. For a time, the company’s official email received many applications. Everyone provided their past works, and some designers also showed the major awards they had won before.
The emails were still being screened. On Thursday, the “Lan Ling” team came to Haicheng again. In the past month or so, the two sides had drawn up the most detailed contract for the cooperation, and it was time to sign the contract.
“Lan Ling” was still led by Chu Wantang. In the meeting room, she looked at Huai Xing, whom she hadn’t seen for a while, and quietly curled her lips.
After the process was over, it was time for the photo session. The photos would be posted on the company’s official website and the brand apps of both companies.
Lu Xianyue was also present. She stood between Huai Xing and Chu Wantang, separating the two of them.
Huai Xing looked at her friend’s protective gesture, and the smile on her lips deepened.
Her gaze shifted, and she met Chu Wantang’s affectionate eyes. She then nonchalantly moved her gaze away and did not continue to look at her.
After the photo session was over, everyone became polite again.
Ding Rong invited everyone to the reception room to rest. The company had coffee, tea, and orange juice. The three people from “Lan Ling” all followed, but Chu Wantang did not move.
Chu Wantang smiled. “President Huai, Little President Lu, I have another matter to attend to this time.”
“Please speak, President Chu,” Lu Xianyue said, still protecting her friend.
Chu Wantang pulled out a chair. “Let’s sit and talk.”
Huai Xing sat next to Lu Xianyue, and Chu Wantang sat opposite them. She took out a document from her briefcase and pushed it forward.
“This is my personal resume.”
“I saw your company’s recruitment letter for a runway fashion designer. I’ve already asked our company’s CEO Mei for permission,” she said very boldly. “I wonder if I can apply for the position of temporary design director at your company?”
