Chapter 35 A signed photo.

It was Monday again. Jiang Nuanyu arrived at her workstation early in the morning, checked the progress and schedule of her project, and after assigning tasks, helped Feng Shasha revise her draft. After lunch, she headed to Marie's event.

This event marks the Asian premiere of Marie's new haute couture collection. Because of the positive response to the in-depth report published last month, and because the brand highly values ​​Jiang Nuanyu herself, the magazine decided to have her represent them at the event.

The venue for the event was quite far from the magazine office; it took almost an hour just to get there.

When the taxi reached the perimeter of the venue, it got stuck in traffic and couldn't move for a long time. Jiang Nuanyu simply got out of the car and walked into the venue.

This past weekend, the weather in Beijing changed again, with a sharp drop in temperature. Today is another overcast day with a strong wind, making it feel even colder.

Even though it was broad daylight, Jiang Nuanyu was already shivering from the wind after walking several hundred meters outdoors. After entering the room, she kept rubbing her arms to warm them up.

In late autumn and early winter, she was wearing only a long-sleeved knitted top.

She never likes to add layers in advance and has no idea about the temperature in the weather forecast. She only adds an extra layer when she's really cold.

The day was the first day of the exhibition, and the exhibition hall was not yet open to the public. Only invited media and celebrities could enter with an invitation.

After signing in at the reception desk, Jiang Nuanyu followed the signs into the first exhibition hall. She was immediately struck by the stunning decor.

The exhibition hall's four walls are made of velvet-textured black, while the central installation is a giant golden tree. Countless golden branches and leaves intertwine to form a canopy, spreading outwards and upwards, reaching all the way to the ceiling.

Amidst the golden branches and leaves, two of the main attractions of this exhibition are displayed – two haute couture gowns with black and gold as the main colors.

Jiang Nuanyu leaned closer for a closer look, and even through the seatbelt, she could feel the luxurious quality emanating from the dress. It was made of silk and metallic threads, adorned with exquisite craftsmanship including gemstone beads, sequins, and intricate embroidery, making it a remarkably elaborate piece.

Jiang Nuanyu took photos of the scene with her phone while jotting down her impressions in her notes app. Although the exhibition hall was not large, it was so exquisite that every detail was almost perfect.

Although she was already familiar with the gowns on display before coming, and Marie's haute couture collection was no stranger to her, she still couldn't help but marvel at how the combination of excellent pieces and equally outstanding display settings could always evoke unexpected surprises.

After visiting all three exhibition halls, the number of people at the venue steadily increased. Jiang Nuanyu met several familiar colleagues in the rest area and exchanged a few words with them about the exhibition setup and the dresses, while also gathering some material for her later writing.

Since it was the opening day, the organizers arranged a banquet afterward. Jiang Nuanyu hadn't originally planned to go, and her clothes weren't formal enough.

However, one of the brand ambassadors participating in this event is Feng Shasha's current obsession with her idol. Before leaving the magazine office, Feng Shasha repeatedly asked her to get an autographed photo if she had the chance.

Jiang Nuanyu figured she had no other plans for the evening, so she figured she might as well try her luck.

The banquet was held in the banquet hall upstairs in the venue. The first half was a cocktail party, and the second half was the formal dinner.

Jiang Nuanyu went upstairs early, grabbed a glass of fruit wine, and scanned most of the area before spotting Ye Ji at the other end.

Ye Ji wore a black dress and carried a handbag. Although her hair was simply styled, the diamond accessories around her ears and collarbone made her look beautiful, delicate, and charming.

Almost at the same time, Ye Ji also saw her. Both of them were taken aback for a moment, then walked towards each other in surprise.

Jiang Nuanyu's eyes lit up: "Looks like the collaboration is progressing?"

Ye Ji said, "So far, things are going smoothly, regarding the project we discussed at dinner the other day."

"That's wonderful!" Jiang Nuanyu was genuinely happy for her, and then exclaimed with emotion, "I never thought that one day we would have such a working relationship."

Ye Ji raised an eyebrow: "Just follow in Editor Jiang's footsteps."

Ignoring her flattery, Jiang Nuanyu acted like a pragmatic manager and asked, "So, are we now entering the details stage?"

"Pretty much. Next, we need to refine the process, finalize the specific implementation plan, and then sign the contract." Ye Ji's tone changed. "But this time I was only responsible for content planning. The dissemination part..." She shook her head. "It didn't work out."

“Media promotion is indeed a heavy task and a high risk,” Jiang Nuanyu comforted her. “Take it slow. This is only your studio’s first project. You’ll get better with experience.”

She thought for a moment and then said, "Why don't you try to find a professional team to cooperate with for the dissemination part? It's less risky than doing it all by yourself."

Ye Ji squinted at her: "As expected of Editor Jiang, you hit the nail on the head."

"What do you mean? Do you have plans?"

“I’ve actually been in contact with a few teams recently,” Ye Ji said, somewhat troubled. “However, the professional ones who can understand human language not only charge shockingly high prices, but they also ignore small studios like mine that are just starting out.” She said self-deprecatingly, “But they’re so great that they’re going to work with brands directly. Why are they messing around with me?”

What Ye Ji said was indeed a very real problem, and it would be difficult to find a solution in the short term. Jiang Nuanyu couldn't help but worry for her: "It is indeed quite difficult."

Ye Ji shrugged and sighed.

Jiang Nuanyu suddenly said, "Actually, it's not necessary to find a big company. Many small and medium-sized teams nowadays have very flexible strategies and can tailor-make advertising plans according to the budget. In the end, the results may not be worse than those of big companies."

Ye Ji listened attentively and asked, "Do you have any recommendations?"

Jiang Nuanyu frowned: "I really can't think of anything right now. Do you have any specific requirements? I'll keep an eye out for you later."

“The teams you usually work with are definitely fine in terms of style and tone,” Ye Ji pondered for a moment. “I think communication is the most important thing, at least being able to speak properly.” She frowned. “No one who’s pretentious and stubborn!”

Jiang Nuanyu laughed: "What kind of pretentious and stubborn person did you run into?"

Ye Ji waved his hand, looking like he'd had enough: "Don't mention it."

Despite saying this, she couldn't help but start complaining seriously: "It's clearly a simple request, but they insisted on making it sound incredibly profound and mysterious. They went around in circles using industry jargon, and then finally threw me a question: 'We only do high-end communications, would you like to check your budget first?'"

Jiang Nuanyu could imagine that some of these teams were indeed particularly fond of putting on airs, and smiled with pursed lips; Ye Ji, however, sneered: "He looks down on my budget, why didn't he say so before he started bragging?"

She continued, "And another one, we made an appointment, and he was more than half an hour late. But when he arrived, guess what the first thing he said was?"

"What did you say?" Jiang Nuanyu asked cooperatively.

Ye Ji, with vivid tone and facial expressions, imitated, "Sorry I'm a little late, but our team has been very busy, so you have to seize this opportunity!"

After saying that, her face fell and she rolled her eyes.

Ye Ji, who is usually very adept at handling things, was so frustrated by the communication problem that Jiang Nuanyu's focus completely shifted away from these eccentric clients.

Her eyes crinkled into a smile as she laughed, "You're so funny..."

Ye Jifei glared at him coldly: "You're still laughing!"

Jiang Nuanyu quickly waved her hand, but still couldn't stop laughing.

Ye Ji was too lazy to argue with her, but noticed the wine glass in her hand and asked, "Is this wine glass you're holding good?"

"It's just okay." Jiang Nuanyu stopped smiling and gave an honest evaluation, "It's too sweet."

Ye Ji heeded the advice and immediately gave up the idea of ​​trying it: "Then forget it."

The two were still chatting when a commotion suddenly broke out at the entrance of the banquet hall.

A group of people rushed in through the door, and among them, a man with an extremely outstanding appearance was surrounded in the middle. He was the spokesperson that Feng Shasha wanted an autographed photo from.

"Hey—" Jiang Nuanyu shook Ye Ji's arm, just about to pull her forward, when she saw that the spokesperson had already entered the private room under the escort of the staff.

Jiang Nuanyu was still looking around, her face full of regret.

Ye Ji glanced at her and said, "Why are you so excited? When did you become a fan of Xing?"

“It wasn’t me,” Jiang Nuanyu explained. “It was a colleague at the magazine who likes him and asked me to get her an autographed photo.”

Ye Ji said, "This is a popular celebrity; it's not so easy to get in touch with them."

"Okay." Jiang Nuanyu was not happy. "Looks like there's no chance of an autographed photo."

As she spoke, she glanced again, unwilling to give up, in the direction of the private room the spokesperson had just entered, but unexpectedly saw Jing Yao halfway there.

It seems that Jingyao has some kind of collaboration with the brand, which she didn't expect.

What surprised her even more was that Jingyao gradually approached and walked towards them.

Jiang Nuanyu avoided eye contact, trying to pretend she hadn't seen him; but Jing Yao stopped and greeted her, saying, "What a coincidence, Editor Jiang."

Jiang Nuanyu glanced at him and saw that he still had that ambiguous, unsettling expression.

She just couldn't understand why Jing Yao would insist on greeting her when he clearly knew she didn't have a good impression of him. She forced a smile, trying not to make her expression too unpleasant, and politely said, "It is quite a coincidence."

She didn't say a single unnecessary word, wanting him to leave as soon as possible.

Jingyao looked at her with amusement for two seconds, then turned his gaze to Ye Ji, raised his chin, and said, "Come inside with me? Their boss is here today."

Jiang Nuanyu's mind went blank for a moment, and she turned to look at Ye Ji.

Ye Ji hadn't expected Jing Yao to appear. When she realized he was there to talk to Jiang Nuanyu, she still held onto a sliver of hope, but his last words shattered her illusion of maintaining a respectable image.

Meeting Jiang Nuanyu's surprised yet instinctively probing gaze, her eyes were cold, and her heart was icy.

Ye Ji's cold and guarded demeanor made Jiang Nuanyu inexplicably flustered. She moved her mouth several times before finally saying, "I...I'm fine. You can go ahead and do your work."

Ye Ji glanced at Jing Yao, said nothing, and went with him toward the private room.

As the two turned around, Jing Yao raised an eyebrow at Jiang Nuanyu as a farewell; Ye Ji, on the other hand, didn't look at her once more.

As Jiang Nuanyu watched the two figures walk away, she vaguely felt that her reaction just now might have caused Ye Ji to misunderstand something.

But she was truly shocked.

She hadn't expected that "President Jing" was actually Jing Yao. Moreover, judging from Jing Yao's tone, he and Ye Ji seemed quite familiar with each other. The way he looked at her, even...

How could that be?

Ye Ji had never mentioned Jing Yao to her. Neither in official nor private matters.

Jiang Nuanyu's emotions churned for a while, and she completely lost interest in the banquet. But no matter what, she had to wait for Ye Ji to come out.

She found a relatively quiet corner to sit down. The chandeliers in the banquet hall were dazzling, and people were coming and going, which made her feel even more restless and uneasy.

She started organizing materials for the afternoon exhibition on her phone, but after scrolling to the bottom of the memo, Ye Ji was still nowhere to be seen in the direction of the private room.

With nothing else to do, she habitually opened her email to check. An afternoon passed, and sure enough, several new unread messages appeared.

She opened the first email, which was a promotional poster for an upcoming art gallery opening. She glanced at it briefly and moved on to the next email.

After the page was refreshed, the familiar Chaleur header appeared at the top. However, unlike previous feature posts, this time there were only a few paragraphs of plain text under the title.

Upon closer inspection, she realized it was an invitation.

The email came from the editorial team of Chaleur. The sender began by expressing high recognition of her work in fashion reporting and specifically mentioned her professional insights and unique perspectives in several past features and articles.

The email clearly stated that the editorial team wanted to collaborate with her on content creation and proposed to further discuss the details via video call, while also asking her to provide a convenient time slot.

The letter was so sincere and earnest that Jiang Nuanyu could hardly believe it at first. She read it again carefully, and then a sense of satisfaction and excitement at being recognized gradually rose in her heart.

Without much hesitation, she immediately edited a reply email, expressing her gratitude for the invitation and attaching the available time for a video call.

Although the specific form of the collaboration is still unclear, the opportunity to participate in the production of Chaleur's content, even if it's just for a single collaborative feature, is enough to excite her.

She suppressed her inner turmoil, glanced at the time, and was hesitating whether to send Ye Ji a message to inquire about the situation when Ye Ji came out of the private room.

She looked in the direction where Jiang Nuanyu had been standing, but didn't see anyone. Jiang Nuanyu didn't call out to her, but walked around the crowd and went to meet her from the other side.

When Ye Ji saw her, his eyes darted away.

Jiang Nuanyu smiled, but her tone was inexplicably cautious: "Is it over?"

"Hmm," Ye Ji asked, "Have you been waiting long?"

"Since I had nothing to do anyway, I took the opportunity to organize my work from this afternoon." Jiang Nuanyu's tone was relaxed, but her mood was anything but.

Ye Ji didn't reply, seemingly hesitant to speak. Jiang Nuanyu waited for a moment before tentatively asking, "Do you... still want to stay for dinner?"

Ye Ji paused for a moment, looked away, and said, "Whatever, it's up to you."

"Then why don't we go back?"

"OK."

Ye Ji asked the waiter for her coat, and the two left the banquet hall before dinner officially began.

As they descended the spiral staircase, Ye Ji suddenly asked, "Do you know Jing Yao?"

Jiang Nuanyu's heart skipped a beat. She lowered her head and held onto the railing, saying, "I guess we know each other. We're not close at all."

Ye Ji didn't ask any more questions, and Jiang Nuanyu didn't say anything more either. An unusual silence fell between the two of them.

As Jiang Nuanyu walked out of the venue, she took out her phone to hail a taxi, but Ye Ji suddenly said, "It's exactly what you think."

She paused in her hand movements and looked up from the screen.

Ye Ji looked at her and said, "Marie got her resources through Jing Yao. I've known him for a long time."

Jiang Nuanyu paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Oh, that's normal. When collaborating with such top brands, you definitely need an intermediary to introduce you..."

“Jiang Nuanyu.” Ye Ji frowned and interrupted her. The wind blew a few strands of hair from her hair bun, spreading across her smooth forehead. Her voice was suppressed, “Do you know how hypocritical you really are?”

The accusation of "hypocrisy" struck Jiang Nuanyu, leaving her rooted to the spot and completely stunned.

Ye Ji looked at her coldly: "You and Liang Qi only slept together once, and you're already worried that he'll think you'll use your relationship to get even the slightest bit of resources or benefits from him, thus tarnishing your feelings for him. How come when it comes to me, I've already done such a thing, and you say it's 'normal'?"

"I..." Jiang Nuanyu instinctively wanted to defend herself, but under Ye Ji's unyielding gaze, she was speechless.

Ye Ji curled the corner of his mouth and said sarcastically, "Don't you find it ridiculous that you can so easily say such insincere words?"

"Or are you saying what you truly believe? Do you genuinely think you're superior to me, that you're more aloof than me?" Ye Ji's expression and tone showed no softening, becoming even sharper and more sarcastic. "Do you think that only your feelings must be pure, and that others don't matter?"

Jiang Nuanyu's eyes were filled with disbelief and astonishment. More than anger or grievance, she felt sad and helpless.

She never imagined that Ye Ji would use such language to criticize and attack her.

Seeing the way she looked after he had stabbed her, Ye Ji lowered his eyes, his expression softening slightly. She didn't say anything more and turned to leave.

Jiang Nuanyu didn't react at all, staring blankly at her back.

After walking a few steps, Ye Ji suddenly turned back, took an envelope from his bag and stuffed it into Jiang Nuanyu's hand, then turned and left.

Jiang Nuanyu opened the envelope and saw that it contained an autographed photo of the brand ambassador.

Ye Ji asked for it for her in the private room.

She closed her eyes briefly and quickly caught up: "Ye Ji!" She grabbed her arm. "That's not what I meant!"

Ye Ji stopped in his tracks, not looking at her, his beautiful eyes gleaming with a faint watery red under the lamplight.

“I admit I was too nonchalant, that I wasn’t honest. But I didn’t think it the way you said…” Jiang Nuanyu felt both guilty and aggrieved. “Don’t misunderstand me.”

Ye Ji lightly shook off her hand: "It has nothing to do with you. It's my own problem."

"It's related!" Jiang Nuanyu said urgently. "Let's go home and talk about it first, okay?"

Ye Ji shook his head resolutely: "I can't say anything more today."

"Ye Ji!" Jiang Nuanyu grabbed her again, her eyes reddening.

Ye Ji finally looked at her: "Take a taxi home yourself." She broke free from Jiang Nuanyu's hand again, walked around her, and left.

Jiang Nuanyu turned around after her, brushed aside her wind-blown hair, and hesitated for a moment whether she should follow her.

Ye Ji is her best friend. All these years, she always has been.

They were the same age, but Ye Ji always took better care of her.

She always senses her emotions immediately and proactively shares her troubles. Although she often teases her that she should be in a relationship, she will shield her from trouble in social situations that she doesn't like.

When she stayed up late working and forgot to eat, Ye Ji would bring her a steaming hot late-night snack, complaining that she was useless and didn't know how to take care of herself, while keeping her company and eating to her heart's content.

Even after she started working, Ye Ji always spent her birthday with her, no matter how busy she was.

In her eyes, Ye Ji was always the stronger and more reliable one among them. She was always so bright, enthusiastic, cheerful, and decisive.

Yet, it is precisely this Ye Ji who reveals such a vulnerable and defensive side.

The night was deep, and Ye Ji's figure was slender and upright. The wind lifted a corner of her coat, and from a distance, she looked dashing and unrestrained.

Jiang Nuanyu's eyes stung with tears.