Su Qingluan and Mu Xingzhi talked about many random ideas, fully exerting the subjective initiative of a black-hearted party A and showing a picky nature.

However, Mu Xingzhi acted as if those requests were not made to him. He wrote down all the requests word for word with a calm expression, and only said that he could come and see the design sample in three days - after all, there were only a dozen days in total, which was very urgent.

Su Qingluan raised her head suspiciously: "...You are not just passing these requirements on, are you, and someone else is doing the work?"

Mu Xingzhi was rarely stunned, obviously not expecting Su Qingluan's thinking to jump so much.

Su Qingluan continued to talk to herself: "That makes sense. My requests would make even the most reasonable person angry and demand more money. You are so calm and collected. You must be just giving orders without doing anything..."

Mu Xingzhi hadn't anticipated her focus here—of course, as someone from the ancient times, he couldn't understand the resentment modern office workers harbor towards unscrupulous clients—so he smiled and said, "I've already said that your so-called 'remuneration' has already been paid."

"So there really is some hidden message on the packaging that needs to be conveyed." Su Qingluan curled her lips.

Seeing Mu Xingzhi remained noncommittal, she stopped asking further questions and instead brought up her new requirements: "I'm planning to add some flowers and fruits to this series." The flowers would be real, but the fruits would be fruit peels. "So I hope the design patterns will follow this direction. The packaging for the other three fruit jams should be independent yet unified."

"What does 'independent yet unified' mean?"

"For these three new jams, the packaging design needs to be such that each one can stand out as a separate painting, but together they can form a new image. Furthermore, the patterns should have some explicit or implicit connections. For example, the previous series 'Four Seasons' used spring, summer, autumn and winter as connections."

However, that time, in order to cater to the target customers - specifically Mrs. Xie - the outer packaging and container were very plain. Not only was the pattern design simple, but only a pure white background color was used, which looked very plain.

Even the patterns are black and white pictures outlined with ink, only the name of each jam is written in red in the shape of a seal and placed in the corner, like the signature of an ink painting.

Mu Xingzhi's eyes lit up: "This is a novel idea."

Su Qingluan thought to herself, you think it's novel because I have the advantage of time. Those limited edition blind boxes nowadays are all pretty much the same. As long as the word "limited" is mentioned, people who pursue "uniqueness" will definitely take the bait.

What those rich and idle people lack is the opportunity to show their "specialness". In this case, she will satisfy them and make every fruit jam "special" and "limited".

After finalizing a few more details, Su Qingluan looked at the sky and said, "It's noon. I have to go back." She was about to walk out the door.

At this time, Su Qingluan heard Mu Xingzhi's voice behind her: "In that story...did anyone survive in the end?"

Su Qingluan paused and turned to look at Mu Xingzhi.

She stood at the door, looking towards Mu Xingzhi against the light. As time passed, the sunlight began to tilt westward, making the light in the room increasingly dim.

Su Qingluan couldn't see the expression on the face of the person opposite her, she just felt that his eyes were staring at her with an expression that she couldn't understand.

After a pause, Su Qingluan nodded gently: "Although most people died in pain, there are still a few who survived."

"Who are the ones who survived?"

"Servants who aren't favored and don't receive careful attention, relatives and friends who aren't eager to interact, and those who never knew about this miraculous night-shining pearl powder from the beginning—in short, the farther away and the less contact, the easier it is to survive, and the less likely they are to contract those strange and terrifying diseases."

For a moment, the air seemed to freeze. After an unknown amount of time, Mu Xingzhi's deep voice rang out from the inner room: "So... if the distance is the same, who would be more vulnerable?"

"...Why are you asking this?" Su Qingluan was a little alert.

She didn't think Mu Xingzhi was some innocent little white flower, but whether she was an ostrich or self-deceiving, she didn't want to get involved in other people's struggles, no matter how tragic they were.

So others can plot and murder each other however they want, but they cannot use the methods we have learned here.

Although Su Qingluan didn't say anything, Mu Xingzhi saw how nervous she was and had obviously guessed her concerns, so he said, "Qingluan, don't worry. Even if I want to plan something, I won't use such an uncontrollable method."

Su Qingluan was shocked: He actually said it so openly!

Should we say that he is open-minded or that he has a plan in mind?

It's probably a combination of both - but Su Qingluan believes that the biggest reason is that in Mu Xingzhi's eyes, she and the entire Su family have become part of his sphere of influence, but do not pose a threat, so "this level" of information is not something he would lie about.

Since his little thoughts have been exposed, there is no point in holding on any longer. It would also be better to deepen the popularization of the harmfulness of the so-called "night pearl" to make them more wary of this little thing.

So Su Qingluan turned around and walked back: "In fact, before Li Niang showed those terrible symptoms, there was someone who showed symptoms earlier - but it was not a human, but a cat slave she kept by her side."

Mu Xingzhi nodded when he heard this: "Even if it's poison, it's much easier to kill a mouse than a person."

Su Qingluan tried to hold back after hearing this, but couldn't help herself: "Please don't say scary words in such a calm tone."

Mu Xingzhi smiled slightly when he heard this: "Could it be that even after all this, Qingluan still thinks I'm a modest gentleman, as bright as the moon?"

The corner of Su Qingluan's mouth twitched: Ever since it was revealed that "Mu Xingzhi" was a pseudonym, this guy really didn't even bother to pretend - the only part he wasn't pretending was his increasingly evil personality, and no other information was revealed.

"...No matter how bad your personality is, please respect your own setting outside, okay?" Oh my God, she really missed Mu Xingzhi when she first met him... Forget it, he was too socially dull when they first met, so it's better not to miss him, Su Qingluan thought expressionlessly.

Mu Xingzhi smiled slightly and brought the topic back from its gradual swerve: "So, this 'night-shining pearl' can actually be considered a kind of potent poison that kills anyone on contact?"

Su Qingluan couldn't help but sneer when she heard this: "Poison? That's something much milder than the Night Pearl."