Chapter 5

Liang Shi woke up in an unfamiliar bedroom. She wasn't drunk, so her mind wasn't blank, and she was fully aware of whose bedroom she was in.

She heard a noise outside, glanced at her Cartier watch, and realized it was getting late; she needed to go home and change.

Liang Shi took his bag from the sofa, just as Li Junqian came out of the kitchen carrying a plate.

"You're awake? Want to eat something together?"

Liang Shi hadn't removed her makeup last night, and now she hadn't brushed her teeth or combed her hair. She felt incredibly embarrassed by her appearance. She pointed to her phone with an air of confidence and said, "No, Marry just sent me the information about the studio shoot this afternoon. I need to hurry home, get myself ready, and work hard for the company. Karsten, I'm sorry, I was a bit out of control last night."

Li Junqian sat calmly at the dining table, eating his breakfast: "We don't need to be so polite between us. I'll be there on time this afternoon."

Liang Shi didn't stay there any longer and hurried home.

Liang Shi felt she couldn't be so willful anymore. "Stone women" wasn't just a slogan. She put on smoky eye makeup, wore a black boyfriend-style suit with high Chelsea boots, and even in the cold October of the South, she was determined to show off her legs in a cool way.

She arrived at the pre-arranged shooting studio in the afternoon, only to find that Li Junqian was already there, sitting on the sofa discussing the shooting ideas with the chief photographer.

When Li Junqian glanced at him, Liang Shi walked over unhurriedly to greet him.

"Mr. Li, you're so dedicated?"

Li Junqian's assistant, being sensible, brought her a cup of coffee, and she thanked him.

"Since headquarters lost five million, we naturally have to show some sincerity. As a first-time model, I still need to humbly learn. Suzie, have you had lunch?"

Li Junqian, a top student, is not only intelligent but also hardworking, earning the admiration of students from poor families.

And to make matters worse, he's rich, talented, and good-looking, but what's with the warm personality? How could God allow someone like him to exist?

"No need for the boss's trouble, I've already eaten. The makeup artist is ready, would you please move to the dressing room?"

Honestly, with Li Junqian's looks, she could appear without makeup. After all, her eyebrows and lip color don't need any external enhancement.

It's probably true that he's his 'own son'; for Li Junqian, interpreting the new fragrance 'plaquemine' is as simple as a single gesture or expression revealing the message the fragrance wants to convey.

Liang Shi had followed up on advertising shoots before, but this was the first time she had ever sat behind the monitor in a daze. Everyone says that women love bad men, but what woman would refuse a gentle and refined gentleman like Li Junqian?

Unfortunately, Li Junqian had a single standard for choosing a partner; he only liked naive and beautiful girls who were clueless.

As expected of a man who has been in the fashion industry for many years, even the photographer couldn't believe that the shoot could be finished so quickly.

"TJ, when is the earliest you can give us the finished film?"

Photographer TJ, wiping his expensive lens, suddenly raised his camera and snapped two photos of her: "Don't worry, it won't interfere with your business. Suzie, I actually saw you in Paris. You're very different from the models I've photographed. You dress casually and have your own style. Your outfit today is really cool. Anyway, we still have some time, and the studio time isn't up yet. Would you be interested in having me take a set of photos of you?"

TJ is the go-to photographer for major beauty advertisements, and Liang Shi naturally knew how skilled he was. Since there was still plenty of time, she confidently walked into the center of the lights.

There was only a high stool in the white backdrop. She sat down and casually struck a few poses. She had been a model before and knew that photographers liked free and unrestrained movements as well as a dreamy yet resolute gaze.

When Li Junqian came out of the dressing room, he saw Liang Shi with her head tilted back and her arms wrapped around him. At that moment, he suddenly felt as if he had seen the girl who had secretly hidden in the bushes and cried more than ten years ago.

No one is born strong, but there are always ways to pretend to be strong.

Cha Junjun's call came at just the right time, but he didn't answer. He leaned against the wall, watching the woman pretending to be strong under the brightest lights in the studio.

The Double Eleven sales were quite successful, with Plaquemine's sales alone exceeding 40 million. Seeing 'Princess of Perfume' top the Weibo trending list, Liang Shi felt that his risky move to replace Xia Chen was definitely the right one.

Actually, she only wanted to give Li Junqian a sharp retort, but who knew that this boss would actually agree to her outrageous idea. Tsk, it seems that Li Junqian really has the makings of a boss; vision determines opportunity.

The Fanning Group's Greater China region achieved outstanding sales results in November, and Li Junqian, a major contributor to this success, was invited by headquarters to attend an event in Paris. Gu Feng, finding himself without a lunch buddy, invited Liang Shi to join him for lunch.

Liang Shi didn't refuse, because Gu Feng said he would treat her to Japanese food, specifically omakase, which is hard to book. She would be a fool to refuse.

“I really didn’t expect plaquemine to achieve such results. It seems that Karsten will have to work harder in the future to improve the company’s performance.”

Liang Shi chuckled: "Next time, Mr. Gu, you should take the plunge. Maybe it'll have a miraculous effect? ​​By the way, there's something I'm curious about. All perfumes have a story behind them, but this Plaquemine is excessively simple and clean. The tagline is just 'Dreams will be'?"

What will the dream be? A question that sounds like an advertising slogan, utterly perplexing.

Gu Feng wiped his hands with a damp towel and asked her with a smile, "You should know what Plaquemine means. Persimmons represent everything going smoothly and all wishes coming true. So the meaning of this perfume is very simple: it tells consumers that as long as we have dreams in our hearts and work hard for them, our wishes will come true."

Liang Shi felt a sudden sense of enlightenment; it turned out to be a perfume about dreams and struggle.

"Is this your understanding or..."

Gu Feng really wanted to show off in front of the beautiful woman, but he wasn't one to take things for granted: "How could I? All these explanations and advertising slogans were Karsten's ideas. He said that an unresolved question doesn't mean everything will go as planned. Everything has countless outcomes, some good and some bad. If you put in the effort but don't get what you want, that's also a kind of satisfaction, because in the process you can gain the sweat of hard work and the experience of trial and error."

Liang Shi thought about his past, how he tried his best to catch up with the sun in his heart. Although he didn't catch up, he became the outstanding person he is today.

"So the meaning is so profound. But why a persimmon specifically? Why not a lion? Taro? Those would also represent good fortune, wouldn't they?"

At this point, Gu Feng adopted the air of a close buddy, "Li Junqian and I: 'Actually, I didn't understand at first either. Later, when I visited Karsten's house, his mother told me, and I learned that Junqian actually refers to a persimmon tree, and Junqianzi refers to persimmons. His mother loved to eat persimmons, and she ate two persimmons on the day he was born... So, sometimes I jokingly call him Li Persimmon. He probably meant himself, that only through hard work can one become like him.'"

So that's how it is. A birthday? She remembered the last day of October. She had worked overtime until the early hours of the morning, and only when she finished work and looked at the time on her phone did she realize that it was Li Junqian's birthday.

I remember every year, but this year...

Later, she saw a photo on the Weibo account of Cha Junjun, the second daughter of Haixing Entertainment. Although he was not in the photo, the exquisite setting of the Western restaurant and the cake said it all.

Thankfully, she wasn't foolish enough to wish him a happy birthday.

"When are Karsten and Miss Cha getting married?"

When Liang Shi suddenly asked this question, he felt that he had probably drunk too much sake.

Gu Feng felt as if he had heard a joke: "Suzie, you don't know this, although Karsten and that little princess seem to be getting along well on the surface, it's just an act."

Can casual flirting lead to such intense ambiguity in a quiet bar? Can we go to Iceland together for a month?

"What's the meaning?"

Gu Feng presented his dessert to Liang Shi: "Even if Karsten isn't the best, he wouldn't be interested in a girl ten years younger than him. His mother keeps pressuring him to get married, so he had to compromise. His mother gave him two choices: the heiress of Haixing Entertainment or Cha Junjun. Of course, the latter was easier to handle. A while ago, on Karsten's birthday, Cha Junjun even asked me for advice on how to win him over. Do you think I don't know my brother's personality? If he really liked her, he would have taken her to bed long ago. It's been a month or so, and that princess Cha Junjun hasn't even given him a kiss yet?"

Realizing that the latter part of his speech was too explicit, Gu Feng immediately fell silent. He looked at Liang Shi, but fortunately, this woman had seen a lot and did not react much to what he said.

"Um, Suzie, once I start talking, I can't stop. Please don't mind me. We're all good young people who uphold the Five Virtues and Four Good Principles."

Liang Shi felt she had gained a lot today and really should treat Gu Feng to a meal another day. After all, she genuinely didn't know that Li Junqian was only with Cha Junjun to avoid being pressured to get married. But he didn't reject ambiguity and making headlines publicly... tsk, what exactly did he mean by Cha Junjun?