After nearly a week of sweltering heat, Wencheng finally received a welcome downpour last night.

After the rain, bright sunlight streamed through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows into the Arthur Design Department's office.

Under the warm morning sun, Joanne leaned against her desk, holding an iced Americano, leisurely sipping her coffee and watching the chaos before her with indifference.

The 20% stake promised by Jin Jin was transferred yesterday, making Qiao An the largest shareholder of Jinse Group. His secretary, Jin, and the others also benefited greatly and are now busy moving their things to the headquarters office.

The design department is usually a mess, with samples, drafts, and books piled up on the tables. Now that they're moving, Yu Pan and the others realize that they have way too much stuff.

Normally, these miscellaneous items are stuffed into various cabinets that are out of sight and out of mind. Now they have all been cleared out, and now these miscellaneous items almost fill half of the design department's space.

Otto looked at his newly treated hands with a pained expression, stomped his foot, and pleaded, "How about we get security to help us move these things to headquarters, and then find a big cabinet to stuff them in?"

Yu Pan adjusted his glasses, which always slipped down to his nose, and thought Otto's words were very insightful.

Joan took a sip of coffee, his mouth filled with the cool, bitter aroma. He glanced indifferently at the two con artists.

"Please sort and arrange your books, fabrics, accessories, and office supplies properly. As the old saying goes, 'If you can't sweep one room, how can you sweep the world?' If you fool your life today, life will fool you tomorrow."

Secretary Kim poked her head out from behind a huge pile of fabric. "Boss, forget it. If we keep washing their heads, there really won't be anything left inside."

Yu Pan and Otto rushed over to beat up Secretary Kim, but because of a bunch of fashion magazines, fabric sample books and other miscellaneous things in between, the two of them couldn't get close to Secretary Kim at all.

Joan thought Secretary Jin made sense, so she stopped his brainwashing attempts and also stopped their childish, childish antics.

"Stop hitting him. He'll be a key member of the group from now on. This is outrageous."

As soon as Qiao An spoke, the three of them immediately stopped their childish playful antics. To be honest, the past few days felt like a dream.

They had all prepared themselves to live an unknown life with their good-for-nothing playboy prince, but who would have thought that overnight they would go from being lowly office workers to founding heroes? Moreover, looking at the entire history of Jinse Group's rise to prominence, they are among the youngest in their respective positions.

This honor is so overwhelming it can make you lose your head.

Upon remembering their current identities, the three silly girls immediately stopped their playful antics and coughed lightly twice, feigning seriousness.

Otto slumped back in his swivel chair. "Mr. Yu, we don't need to do these chores ourselves, right? Let the staff handle it."

The moment Yu Pan heard the title "General Manager Yu," he was overjoyed, as proud as a rooster. "That's right, why should we, the general managers, have to handle these trivial matters ourselves? Hey you, call a few people in here."

Secretary Kim slowly smoothed his short hair back, making a cool gesture often seen on gangsters in Hong Kong movies, but he made it look a little greasy.

Three Idiots had already automatically gotten into character, the kind of young, handsome, high-ranking company executive, social elite, capable of turning the world upside down with a flick of his wrist, and always followed by a large group of men in black suits wherever he went.

There were several knocks on the glass door.

Qiao An turned around and saw a group of young people from the group's headquarters.

"Hello, Mr. Qiao, hello, leaders." Standing at the front was a young man dressed very formally. After greeting them, he asked very respectfully, "We heard that they are moving things here, so we came to see if we need any help."

Joanne glanced at the three idiots and threw the question back at them.

The three men who were just moments ago arrogant and conceited, eager to surpass Qiao An and sit on the president's throne themselves, were instantly brought back to their original state, becoming extremely polite, courteous, and considerate.

"Thank you, thank you. If you're not too busy, you can help carry some of the lighter items."

"It's okay, it's alright if the fabric is rolled up, I'll fix it later."

"Thank you all for your hard work. I'll treat you to dinner tonight."

Joanne tilted her head back and finished the last sip of coffee. She threw the coffee cup into the trash can at her feet and went over to help pick up the fabric that a young employee had knocked over.

Since its inception, Yaser has never had any idle employees.

When the brand was first established, it had no reputation and no portfolio. Qiao An, along with Secretary Jin and a few others, went door-to-door promoting the brand. Even with a car, they wore out three pairs of handcrafted haute couture shoes in a month. Ironically, the brand's slogan was, "One pair of shoes, a lifetime."

After Yase opened its first brand store, in order to make the fashion more suitable for users, they personally acted as store staff, serving each customer diligently and carefully recording every piece of valuable feedback. That feedback is still preserved in a large bookcase in Joan's office, filling the entire bookcase.

It is said that it takes ten years to hone a sword. Qiao An thought about it and realized that it had been exactly ten years since he first came into contact with the fashion industry.

After packing up, everyone carried their things toward headquarters.

As I walked down the corridor to the elevator, I passed several moving companies. They were there to move Qiao Qingchuan's belongings from the chairman's office.

Qiao An and the others stopped and waited for the moving company people to get on the elevator first.

Unexpectedly, after the moving company people left, Qiao Qingchuan actually came out from around the corner of the corridor.

A young employee asked in a low voice, "Isn't this President Qiao? Isn't he...?" He stopped abruptly.

"Secretary Kim, you can go ahead first," Qiao An said softly to Secretary Kim and the others without turning around.

Secretary Kim understood and led the others away first.

Only Qiao An and Qiao Qingchuan remained standing facing each other in the corridor. As far as he could remember, this was the third time they had met in this spot.

The first time, Lele lost her blanket. Qiao An led a group of people to the garbage dump to help find the blanket. When they returned, they met Qiao Qingchuan there and were mocked by him. Qiao An whispered Han Nianwei's name in his ear.

The second time, Han Nianwei's affair was exposed, and Qiao Qingchuan broke into the house with a knife and was beaten up by Du Xiaoruo. Qiao An encountered the disheveled Qiao Qingchuan in this place and told him that the next one would be Jinse.

Unexpectedly, after winning over Jinse, I encountered Qiao Qingchuan again in the same spot. It was as if it were arranged by God in advance, and every moment had to be ceremonial.

Qiao Qingchuan had long lost his previous arrogance and haughtiness; at this moment, he was like a stray dog, instinctively wanting to avoid Qiao An the moment he saw her.

Joanne wasn't going to let him off so easily. She called out in a calm tone,

"Big brother."

Qiao Qingchuan stamped his foot and squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth, "I'm not your brother, you bastard of unknown origin."

Joanne remained unfazed and continued her teasing.

"That's a real shame. From now on, the Jinse Group belongs to me, this bastard. You, as the legitimate young master of the Qiao family, can only hide at home like a stray dog. Oh, right, even a stray dog ​​lives with more dignity than you. At least a dog doesn't need a mental illness certificate or to go to the hospital for compulsory drug rehabilitation to live."

Not only was Qiao An not provoked, but every retort she made precisely hit Qiao Qingchuan's sore spots, causing Qiao Qingchuan to lose his composure immediately.

Because of his drug rehabilitation, Qiao Qingchuan was already somewhat confused, and after being provoked by Qiao An, he lost his temper and became determined to make Qiao An afraid of him, so he started speaking recklessly.

"Don't think you're so great. Do you think my mom has no one backing her up? I'll definitely give you a big gift on the day of your press conference."

Qiao An's heart skipped a beat, and she pressed for an answer, "What amazing gift?"

Qiao Qingchuan belatedly realized that he had said the wrong thing; Jin Xizhen had told him to keep this a secret.

Just then, the elevator arrived at this floor, and several employees came out. Qiao Qingchuan quickly slipped into the elevator car and fled in panic.

When Qiao An returned to her office, the new furniture had just been moved in, and Secretary Jin was directing the placement of it. The office was a mess.

"I have something to tell you." Qiao An tapped Secretary Jin on the shoulder and walked out first.

Secretary Jin followed Qiao An into the conference room.

Qiao An sat down in the chairman's seat and leaned back lazily in her chair. "How are the preparations for the press conference going?"

Secretary Kim replied immediately.

"The hotels have been confirmed. This is your first fashion show since you took over Jinse, so we selected the three highest-class hotels in the city and are asking them to submit their plans and prices."

Joan crossed her long legs and tapped her index finger rhythmically on the conference table a few times.

Secretary Kim knew this was his habitual action when he was thinking, so she didn't disturb him and pulled out a chair to sit down herself.

Jinse's entire group is in a mess, just like the office she was in earlier. The first thing to do now is to untangle this mess, not make it even more chaotic.

Qiao An didn't know who was behind Kim Hee-jin, as Qiao Qingchuan mentioned, but judging from the implication, Kim Hee-jin would definitely try to sabotage the press conference.

“Okay.” Joan gestured for Secretary Jin to take notes. “Cancel the hotel reservation. The press conference will be held at Beibei Restaurant. Everyone there is familiar with the place, so it’s more reliable.”

“Okay.” Secretary Kim agreed. “I will send someone to help the boss and the others set up the runway.”

The space at Beibei Restaurant isn't small; the entire island in the middle of the lake can be used, but there aren't enough staff there.

Joanne nodded. "Send a few more trustworthy people over to help, and notify Beibei Restaurant in advance so that we can be fully prepared."

"good."

Secretary Kim took notes.

Qiao An added, "You should tell Yu Pan and the others to stay calm and act as if nothing happened on the day of the press conference, no matter what happens."

"What's wrong?" Upon hearing this, Secretary Kim became alert.

Secretary Kim knew all too well what this press conference meant to them. It was Joan's first fashion show since taking office, and it would inevitably be compared to her previous ones. If it failed, she would become a laughing stock.

"It's alright," Joanne replied. "It's always better to be careful."

"Okay, I will remind them. Don't worry, although these people usually joke around, they are all very sensible in their actions."

Perhaps it's because of the hot weather lately, but the guests at Beibei Restaurant seem a bit lethargic. They're making the same dishes, cleaning the same things, and serving the same customers every day. This monotonous routine is making everyone a little tired of it.

After lunch, everyone gathered on a corner sofa in the corner of the restaurant for a short rest.

The adults were sprawled on the sofa, chatting idly. The children knelt on the carpet beside them, playing a card game called "Staring Contest," which Mu Hua had taught them, and the kids had become quite addicted to it these past few days.

The viewers in the live stream were also listless; many people were asleep in front of their screens while the live stream was running.

The ethereal sound of the wind chimes hanging at the restaurant entrance rang out, and everyone looked up to see Secretary Kim, dressed in a suit and tie, push open the door and walk in.

Everyone's gaze passed over Secretary Kim and went straight to what was behind him.

Secretary Kim was a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry everyone, I'm the only one here today. The boss didn't come."

Everyone then uniformly turned their gaze away.

When Secretary Kim arrived, everyone straightened up slightly, showing basic courtesy. Mu Hua even stood up and went to the bar to personally pour Secretary Kim a glass of lemonade.

"You're too kind, Teacher Mu."

After Secretary Kim sat down, she explained her purpose: Jinse's fashion show next week was to be held at Beibei Restaurant.

They exchanged glances; it was hot and people were lazy, so no one wanted to take on this troublesome task.

Secretary Kim adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses and cleared her throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the service fee for hosting a show of this scale at a hotel is usually between 200,000 and 800,000 yuan. The boss's idea is..."

Before Secretary Jin could finish speaking, she was startled by Mu Hua's sudden movement and stopped abruptly.

It was only then that Secretary Jin realized that not only Mu Hua, but everyone else was also staring at him like hungry wolves, completely losing their previous lazy demeanor. It really is true that money can make the devil turn the millstone.

Mu Hua directly grasped Secretary Jin's hand.

"Golden God of Wealth, oops, I should call you President Jin now, right? Since the service fee is between 200,000 and 800,000, it's not unreasonable for us to charge 1 million, is it?"

Secretary Kim, “…”

The viewers in the live stream who weren't asleep yet were laughing so hard they almost fainted.

[Hahaha, Mu Hua, how dare you say such a thing?]

[The price range of 200,000 to 800,000 yuan they mentioned is probably comparable to the price of a star-rated hotel, right? Does Muhua Restaurant even have a star rating? How can you be so shameless?]

[It really was you, Mu Hua! You always pick on your friends to screw over. Our CEO Ha is really unlucky to have a friend like you.]

Not only Mu Hua, but everyone else was also eyeing Secretary Jin like hungry wolves. Beibei Restaurant was determined to devour Jinse Group completely.

[This is nothing; a million is just a drop in the ocean for Jinse.]

Just as Mu Hua's plans were about to reach the other side of the ocean, the assistant director stopped his irrational behavior in time.

The assistant director crouched down and ran up, whispering a reminder, "Ladies and gentlemen, the prices in our restaurant are set to be comparable to those of other restaurants in the same category. We can't just arbitrarily raise prices."

The children no longer play cards; instead, they adorably prick up their little ears to listen to the adults talk. Whenever money is mentioned, everyone at Beibei Restaurant becomes interested.

Hearing this, Xiao Shu raised his chubby little hand to speak.

"It's none of anyone else's business that Xiaoruo's mother earns money from my father, Mr. Ha."

Du Xiaoruo blushed and reached out to secretly press down Xiaoshu's raised hand, pretending nothing had happened.

After some haggling between the assistant director and everyone else, it was finally decided that the press conference would be hosted for 250,000 yuan. The restaurant would be responsible for providing refreshments, the venue, and services, while Jinse would be responsible for sending people to set up the runway.

After discussing some details with everyone, Secretary Kim decided to leave.

Before leaving, Mu Hua called him back, "President Jin, let me find out quietly, how much is President Qiao actually planning to contribute to this press conference?"

Secretary Kim swallowed hard, and after a long pause, managed to reply with difficulty.

"Boss Qiao said, since we're all so familiar with each other, let's not make money from two families. Here's 88,888 yuan for you, good luck and prosperity."

Mu Hua grabbed a cushion and threw it at Secretary Kim's head. "The lowest price outside is 200,000, but you only give us 80,000. Are we cheap laborers?"

Live broadcast room

[Hahaha, Qiao An and Mu Hua are both incredibly shrewd in their calculations.]

Neither of them are good people, assessment complete!

I hope you two will remain best friends for life, constantly sabotaging each other, and please, don't go out and harm others.

Immediately following the acquisition of Jinse was the most important fashion show, and Qiao An was busy like a spinning top every day.

When he came back at night, Du Xiaoruo was already asleep. When he left in the morning, she hadn't gotten up yet. Although they lived in the same room, it felt like they hadn't seen each other for a long time.

On the morning of the press conference, Du Xiaoruo woke up unusually early.

She has this peculiar constitution; if she has work the next day, her biological clock will automatically adjust to wake up early, so she doesn't need an alarm clock at all.

All the desserts used at the press conference were made by Du Xiaoruo herself. Although Xia Qing and Ni An could help, they were both novices and could only do odd jobs at most, so the workload was still quite large. Du Xiaoruo woke up before dawn.

She opened her eyes and heard rustling sounds beside her. She turned over and saw the back of a half-naked man. Du Xiaoruo was so frightened that she quickly closed her eyes again.

When Qiao An first started living with Du Xiaoruo, she felt embarrassed and would change her clothes in the bathroom.

But as time went on, this lecherous man became a bit lawless. Since Du Xiaoruo wouldn't wake up in the morning anyway, he started changing his clothes right next to the bed.

Qiao An has just taken off her pajamas. Although she is facing away from Xiao Ruo, her smooth and firm skin, strong muscles, slender waist, and perky buttocks wrapped in her underwear are enough to make one's blood boil.

Du Xiaoruo had her eyes closed, and the rustling sound was so alluring that it felt like her heart was being teased by some feather, making her feel itchy.

Unable to resist the temptation, she secretly opened her eyes again and squinted to look over. Qiao An was putting on a formal suit.

Honestly, the way Joan put on his clothes was even sexier than when he was half-naked.

After putting on a crisp light linen shirt, he tucked the corner of the shirt into a strap tied around his thigh, and then put on his trousers. The shirt became very smooth and flat, subtly revealing the lines of his strong muscles.

Du Xiaoru blinked, completely absorbed in watching.

What is this? Judging from its outline, isn't this the thing she once thought was a "stent"?

In an instant, countless strange scenes flashed through Du Xiaoruo's mind, such as bondage, which made her face flush and her heart race just by thinking about it.

Du Xiaoruo is a fan of formal wear and has always been particularly fascinated by tall, leggy, and aloof male gods in suits. Although Qiao An is a bit of a lunatic, it doesn't diminish his incredibly charming aura at all.

Because Du Xiaoruo was lying on her back, Qiao An's back looked exceptionally long and straight from below. A line of poetry she had read before inexplicably popped into Du Xiaoruo's mind.

A gentleman as beautiful as jade, unparalleled in the world.

No wonder the ancients wrote poetry; when modern language could not describe the scene, poetry could easily recreate the scene in their minds.

While Du Xiaoruo was still lost in thought, Qiao An, who had finished dressing, suddenly turned around, leaned down, and wrapped her in his arms, teasingly saying...

Have you seen enough?

"I just... just woke up." Du Xiaoruo shrank back a little into the bed, trying to distance herself from this damn oppressive feeling.

Qiao An was a natural flirt, and knew that teasing girls should be done in moderation, so she didn't expose Qiao An's clumsy lie.

He was very open-minded. He figured he would have to show it to her sooner or later anyway, so it didn't matter if he got a little benefit in advance. Besides, once she saw a man like him, she would definitely not be interested in any other ugly men.

"I need to get up, get out of my way." Du Xiaoruo looked around guiltily.

Qiao An knew that time was tight today, so she didn't tease her much.

The two of them woke Lele up when they came down from the attic. The little guy thought it was time to get up, so he got up in a daze.

When I got to the first floor, I realized that it wasn't fully light outside yet.

Seeing Lele yawning repeatedly, Du Xiaoruo advised, "Lele, go back to sleep for a while. You'll come over with Xiaoshu and the others later. I need to go prepare the cake first."

"No," Lele rubbed her eyes. "I want to eat the scraps of cake."

Du Xiaoruo was amused by him. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she really wouldn't have known that children from wealthy families also like to eat scraps. She always thought they would eat tens of thousands of dollars worth of food in one meal, just like in novels.

Joanne drove them to the restaurant, and seeing the magnificent Swan Lake in the morning sun, she felt a little reluctant to leave.

He raised his wrist to check the time; staying here for another half hour shouldn't be a problem.

There was coffee that Mu Hua had left at the bar. Qiao An picked through it with a look of disgust, found a bag of hand-drip coffee that looked pretty high-end, made herself a cup, and made a cup for Xiao Ruo.

Xiaoruo was busy preparing small mousses for the guests today, as well as a three-tiered main cake. She was very busy in the dessert room.

Joan came in with a cup of coffee and placed it on the counter for her.

Seeing that she was too busy to drink, I went over, picked up the coffee, and brought it to her lips.

Du Xiaoruo took a sip of coffee from his hand, then lowered her head to mix the cake batter.

"Dad, can I have a sip of coffee?" Lele sat cross-legged in the chair and poked Qiao An's waist.

After considering it for a moment, Qiao An handed her cup to Lele so she could take a sip.

Lele swallowed the bitter coffee, stuck out her tongue, and said, "It doesn't taste good."

Joan originally planned to finish his coffee and leave, but after finishing his coffee, he smelled the tempting aroma of cake in the air.

He glanced at his watch again, thinking he'd eat a couple of bites of cake before leaving, saving time on breakfast.

As time went on, Joanne dawdled in the restaurant for almost an hour.

Finally, Du Xiaoruo cut out some scraps, and Lele quickly opened her mouth wide, waiting for her mother to feed her. The freshly baked cake was warm and soft, a hundred times tastier than a cold cake.

Joan was originally standing next to Lele. Seeing that Lele had already eaten a big bite of cake with satisfaction, he also bent his legs, slightly raised his buttocks, and opened his mouth.

Just then, Secretary Kim walked in holding a small video camera, introducing it to the live broadcast studio as she went.

"This is the Jinse Fashion Show venue. I'll be giving you a live broadcast to warm up the crowd. Tonight's show will be held in this restaurant. What we're seeing now is... uh... everyone, I might lose the job I'm so proud of."