Lady
Originally, Sheng Qijing came to discuss cooperation with Ju Hui.
After negotiations, the Tera scandal, which he personally commissioned the media to write, will not be published. Bai Lan will not have to pay LV a large sum of money in breach of contract fees. He has preserved Ju Hui's still respectable image as a client, and tonight he is planning to extend the olive branch she has been longing for.
"President Sheng."
When Sheng Qijing entered again, Ju Hui had already composed herself, brought him a glass of warm water, and invited him to sit down on the sofa in the living room.
She remained calm and grateful for Sheng Qijing's quick reaction. He used his large hand to block his subordinate from entering the room, preventing him from seeing Ju Hui's drunken and embarrassing state. Bian Jiaping had already been taken away by Kan Yu.
The television directly opposite Ju Hui beeped its alarm. The movie was playing the part where Li accidentally fell asleep, and smoke from the boiler filled the entire house. The mechanical female voice from the smoke alarm calmly announced: "Fire, fire..."
When there are only 240 minutes left in the Norwegian day, and outside the enclosed, seamless apartment, all that can be heard is the blues, Ju Hui often plays this movie. She likes the snow scenes that appear many times in the film, which highlight loneliness. As soon as the TV is turned on, the room gains a small, lively window.
But at this moment, the room was filled with an undercurrent of tension, a simmering heat, and an unattended half-full glass of alcohol. Ju Hui turned off the TV to prevent this pent-up energy from disrupting the existing balance.
As darkness fell, Ju Hui turned on her computer, the design draft she had just shown Bian Jiaping still glowing on it.
She turned to him with a smile, patted the sofa beside her legs, and took the initiative to show weakness: "You came at the right time, saving me the trouble of looking for you."
"Let's not talk about work after work." Sheng Qijing sat by the farthest wall, glanced at her arm, and saw that she didn't scratch it, as if there was no need to show weakness since Bian Jiaping wasn't there. "I'm here to get the key that Kan Yu gave me, Yawning Cat."
“Oh, it’s in there,” Ju Hui pointed to the studio door behind her, which was aligned with the loft’s layout. “Then take it, and remember to keep it indoors.”
Ju Hui generously let go and stopped arguing with him. She stood up, her mind drifting to the question of whether his jacket was dirty, but then she remembered that there were aprons available in the studio, so she felt relieved.
After a brief moment of absentmindedness, Ju Hui returned to her senses and found Sheng Qijing still sitting in the same spot. She politely asked, "Aren't you moving today?"
"I don't want to move anymore." Sheng Qijing loosened his teeth. "Ju Hui, do you think I threatened Bian Jiaping?"
I still heard it.
Ju Hui had no idea when Sheng Qijing entered the room or when he started eavesdropping. Her face was now flushed, sometimes hot and sometimes cold, with a large red patch that she couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment or an allergic reaction.
"This is a misunderstanding."
"And now? Knowing that Bian Jiaping doesn't want to help you, you're still willing to sign with Tera for him?"
"I was clearly trying to help you. What is Brother Jiaping compared to me?" Ju Hui forced a smile at the Tera boss. "Are you satisfied with that?"
Sheng Qijing lifted his eyelids, looked directly at Ju Hui's fleeting patience, and said softly, "I'm not satisfied. I'll only be satisfied when you stop calling him Brother Jiaping."
Ju Hui frowned, inexplicably recalling Yun Aonan's exclamation to Bian Jiaping at the entrance of the art training studio when he came to pick her up for her private lesson: "Are you her brother? You two look so alike!"
At 11:45 a.m. on summer vacation, Bian Jiaping got out of the car and stood in the blazing sun waiting for her to get out of school. Yun Aonan's voice boomed, reaching the ears of the students running downstairs to the cafeteria behind her. Ju Hui knew she was doing it on purpose, and there were already whispers questioning whether Ju Hui was out dating every afternoon instead of staying in the art studio.
That day, Ju Hui clearly felt the sun blazing down on the back of her neck. She quickly hid in Bian Jiaping's black car, avoiding the scorching gazes of the audience.
The doubts persisted, and Yun Aonan had no choice but to ask Ju Hui: "Your brother should have a driver, right? Isn't it tiring for him to pick you up every day?"
Ju Hui should be angry, as she is the porcelain vase through which Bian Jiaping entrusts Zeng Yue's lingering affections. All the genuine feelings Bian Jiaping shows her are feigned, and at least in Sheng Qijing's heart, Bian Jiaping has already been sentenced to death.
Sheng Qijing despised Bian Jiaping, was disgusted that he could escape unscathed after revealing his true colors, and also resented Ju Hui for condoning his ugliness after she knew about it.
Bian Jiaping's colossal mistake was forgiven by Ju Hui once again.
Sheng Qijing only asked her to leave Bian Jiaping, but that wasn't enough.
He glanced at his watch, a thought creeping onto his mind, and said with a hint of threat and resentment, "I'll come back when Bian Jiaping has disappeared—"
“What are we waiting for if we don’t have time?” Ju Hui stared straight at him with her dark eyes. “I’ve contacted Director Wang. He likes to say things like ‘it seems.’ The deadline seems to be the end of next year, and the sales requirement seems to be at least a million… Why don’t we make peace for now and work together to get through this difficult time?”
Sheng Qijing remained silent.
He finally lifted his foot, walked to the dining table, picked up Ju Hui's phone which was still recording, verified her face, ended the recording, and sent it to his contact, Sheng Qijing.
Ju Hui quickly leaned back on the sofa and watched him operate the camera so naturally, as if Ju Hui herself had recorded the face for him.
"I will hold Director Wang accountable for this matter."
Sheng Qijing tossed his phone to Ju Hui, who nearly missed it. Just as she was about to yell at him, he had already reached the front door.
"Aren't you going to take a nap?" Ju Hui called to him.
Sheng Qijing paused noticeably, a bulging vein on the back of his neck that no one noticed. The door handle was stuck halfway, as if a powerful force had been applied to it. The doorbell rang in the deep night.
"Ju Hui, if I have to choose between Bian Jiaping and me, who will you choose?"
Ju Hui's shoulders slumped: "Don't be rude..."
Bang--
Sheng Qijing strode away.
Ju Hui scratched her arm.
The next day, Ju Hui contacted Wang Kehui, intending to remind him, but to her surprise, he had already blocked her. Two days later, after everything seemed calm, she suddenly saw him post a WeChat Moments update with a Shanghai IP address and the caption "New Life." Only then did Ju Hui realize that Wang Kehui had been transferred to Mochen Shanghai.
The picture Wang Kehui posted was a selfie in the mirror during his private coaching session. His smile was exceptionally confident, and he seemed very satisfied with his life. But after looking at it for a while, he looked like a concubine who had been driven crazy in the cold palace.
Whether it's a lateral move or a promotion, Wang Kehui's transfer from Ruobei to Shanghai, while seemingly promising, inevitably resulted in a loss of real power.
The fact that he could complete the process and teleport to Shanghai in a week shows that Mochen is neither small nor large in scale. Sheng Qijing spent five years at Ruobei University, and another five years at Mochen in Shanghai—it wasn't a wasted effort. The team has a solid foundation, and those with connections have been given nominal positions by Sheng Qijing. In the long run, Wang Kehui should use Mochen as a stepping stone to find another job as soon as possible.
Wang Kehui must have anticipated this outcome.
Is this what he wanted?
Ju Hui still didn't understand why he asked her to sign with Tera, and this strange feeling reached its peak after receiving this new friend request.
The verification screen shows: The other party added the business card shared by “Wang”.
Ju Hui checked the verification message a second time:
【Hello Mr. Ju, I'm Qin Haoman, the curator recommended by Mr. Wang. I'd like to learn about your latest works. ^_^】
Curator?
Wang Kehui is quite magnanimous, still willing to cooperate with Ju Hui even in this situation—but he probably wants to ruin her.
Ju Hui neither accepted nor rejected the friend request, and pretended not to see it for the time being.
She put down her phone and then worked on Wei Xia's design drafts on her computer. She planned to send the first draft over that afternoon, which was just into mid-November.
Bian Jiaping, drunk, made a rambling statement that he wanted to part ways amicably with her, but recently he has been frequently inviting her to meet in order to sign a house sale contract with Ju Hui; Sheng Qijing called Ju Hui his girlfriend, but after that day he completely stopped contacting her, even though Ju Hui personally blocked him in Lao Run and kept calling, WeChat and texting him.
Ju Hui is neither seen nor noticed by others, and unexpectedly becomes well-off amidst this imbalance, leading to an increase in her work efficiency.
Soon, the email was successfully sent and Wei Xia's automatic reply was received. It was 4 p.m., and Ju Hui waited for Kan Yu to pick her up in his car. The two of them were going back to Zhongguancun to pick up Tianlu and take him back to the courtyard.
Two more car horns sounded outside the door. Ju Hui sped up. The late autumn sun shone brightly on the earth, and the shadows of the trees in the distance turned from green to yellow. The newly built bluestone slabs in the courtyard made a thumping sound as she stepped on them.
Ju Hui opened the passenger door and stopped the car.
On the seat lay ginkgo leaves that Kan Yu had picked up from some park. He leaned out and smiled at Ju Hui: "Congratulations on your recovery! My daily question: Have President Sheng and Sister Hui made up yet?"
The beautiful scene was ruined by his words. Ju Hui picked up the hard yellow potato chips, got into the car and stuffed them into the storage box, only to find that there were even more ginkgo leaves inside.
"Congratulations."
"ill."
Kan Yu smiled, picked up her phone and sent her the document she had prepared earlier, "If you don't have it, you don't have it. Why don't we stop fighting Tera and take a look at these instead?"
Ju Hui looked down and saw the wheels begin to roll slowly, gradually increasing in speed from east to west.
To my surprise, the document Kan Yu sent was a summary of the work she had received over the past month. Investors, curators, critics... not a lot, but not a small number either. It was compiled by her agent after a thorough discussion and screening, and their purpose was mostly the same as Qin Haoman's: to learn about Ju Hui's latest works.
But Qin Haoman is not in this.
When did she become so popular?
Ju Hui had never fought such a rich battle before.
"Sis, you really don't use social media at all during your seclusion." Kan Yu quickly drove up to the apartment building, lightly twirled the car key with her index finger, grabbed it, and pressed the elevator up button with the metal handle. "Don't you have two old photo emojis like these on your WeChat? They were all the rage online a while ago."
Kan Yu pursed her lips, her eyes drooped, and she looked utterly dejected and contemplative. Ju Hui immediately remembered that it was the one with the caption "Please do not disturb, thank you."
The photo was taken by Yun Aonan. The air under the iron shed was scorching hot. Ju Hui was wearing dark gray flame-retardant welder's overalls and a vest, and hot sweat was dripping down her head.
If the scene had been filmed live, the camera could have captured Ju Hui kissing Sheng Qijing on the cheek and receiving a towel from him, and Yun Aonan laughing heartily.
"What's so great about that?"
"Who knows? You made it look like a brown rat."
As soon as the door opened, a gentle, warm breeze blew in, carrying with it Jiang Yiying's loud shout from afar: "Sister Ju Hui!"
Kan Yu, wearing a thick sweatshirt, clutched the back of her neck in pain, while Ju Hui rubbed her palms, ignoring Jiang Yiying.
“That’s not right, I didn’t send it out in public…” Ju Hui paused, then looked at Jiang Yiying who was running over with a grin, and murmured, “But I sent it to Yiying.”
Jiang Yiying was inexplicably praised by Ju Hui and even had her head patted.
She was quite happy, but felt that Ju Hui's popularity was entirely due to her luck with social media; she had simply replied to a netizen with a screenshot of a chat.
Ju Hui and Kan Yu carefully placed Tianlu's head and body in the trunk, clapped their hands, said they would treat Jiang Yiying to dinner the next day, smiled and said goodbye to her. On the way back to the courtyard, they accepted Qin Haoman's friend request.
Qin Haoman seemed to be waiting for her: 【Hello, Teacher Ju.】
As darkness fell, the neon-red taillights of the cars behind became increasingly dense, and Kan Yu's return speed noticeably decreased until he came to a complete stop after encountering another three-minute traffic light.
"Oh, Qin Haoman." Kan Yu glanced at the contact notes on Ju Hui's phone while looking in the right rearview mirror and remembered this person. "She contacted you. I was just about to say something. I saw the email she sent to the studio. She was going to ask for your opinion before replying. She's a bit special."
“No wonder she said the studio had read her message but wasn’t replying; she found it strange and came here herself.” Ju Hui didn’t look up, typing a question about the relationship between Qin Haoman and Wang Kehui, “Who is she?”
Qin Haoman on the other end said that she was not familiar with him, and had only worked with Mo Chenruobei. Thinking that Director Wang might have Ju Hui's WeChat, she asked him.
Qin Haoman: [Teacher, you want to collaborate with Mo Chen? I can arrange the venue there.]
Ju Hui: [It's nothing, I was just asking.]
So she wasn't sent by Director Wang to harm her.
"It's not that urgent, I only received it at noon today!" Kan Yu pouted. "This Qin Haoman is the son of a high-ranking executive at Langchao Entertainment. He's only twenty years old, and before the end of the year, he's already been named by print media as the most promising independent curator of 2024."
"So powerful, you came to me?"
"Yeah, right!" Kan Yu exclaimed, pleased with herself. "I read the modern exhibition proposal she sent me. Apparently, she's been preparing it for almost two years. It's like dumplings made for you, a perfect match!"
Kan Yu lightly pressed the accelerator, and the car moved forward only half an inch, but in his mind, this was already a smooth road ahead. "Where else can you find such a cooperation opportunity? My career is booming as soon as I returned to the country. I want to follow you and enjoy the good life—"
-
Sheng Qijing maintained her smile as she listened to Qin Haoman, who had sneaked into the banquet, recount how brilliant her proposal, which had been rejected by Ju Hui, was.
Sheng Qijing nodded from time to time and even chimed in with a few words. Seeing this, President Qin, who was holding a wine glass next to him, chimed in, "President Sheng, Xiaoman has always regarded Miss Ju as her idol. She is serious and meticulous in her work."
“I can tell,” Sheng Qijing smiled and said, “but my approval doesn’t mean I can actually get Miss Ju to come.”
"Why can't you get him to come?" Qin Haoman raised his head and questioned, "Teacher Ju said that his new work was created to sign with President Sheng's Tera, and the exhibition rights will be in your hands in the future. Isn't it a piece of cake for you to sign Teacher Ju?"
Sheng Qijing maintained his smile and remained silent.
An awkward moment ensued.
Qin Haoman's ears twitched. This was the first time she, backed by Langchao Entertainment, had encountered a setback. But she didn't want things to fall apart now that they had come this far. She shrank back slightly and softened her tone: "But that's not the point. My goal is to work with President Sheng again. If Teacher Ju can add the finishing touch, I guarantee you'll become an overnight sensation—not by relying on the ex-girlfriend topic."
"You little rascal, is it you who guarantees it or me who guarantees it!" President Qin laughed heartily from the side, and the onlookers around him lowered their heads and swirled their wine, all the while recalling Sheng Qijing's interview.
Ju Hui really had a winning hand. Sheng Qijing nodded, neither confirming nor denying: "I will reconsider..."
“If possible,” Qin Haoman was an impatient person, “it would be best to finalize it this week. I heard that Teacher Ju has a trip to Norway next month.”
Qin Hao smiled and said, "I'm just worried that Teacher Ju won't be able to find a good job in China and will go back to Norway to develop his career. But President Sheng, you're in Norwegian... Teacher Ju shouldn't leave, right?"
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