Chapter 16 Seeing them shake hands and pull at each other
The call connected, and Gu Ziqian's laughter came through the phone.
"Is Young Master Zhou sober now?"
Zhou Yanci turned around and went back to the table, sitting down: "What happened last night? Shang Wu's attitude towards me today is a bit strange."
"ah?"
Gu Ziqian was taken aback: "I thought you remembered. Last night you were drunk and called Shang Wu, calling her Mianmian over and over."
Zhou Yanci was stunned, then frowned and questioned, "Aren't you going to stop me?"
"I'm innocent! I tried to stop you, but I couldn't. You kept holding onto the phone and said a lot of... well, you know, those cheesy things. So I took the phone away and hung up."
Gu Ziqian felt guilty thinking about how he had deliberately given his phone to Zhou Yanci yesterday.
Fortunately, Zhou Yanci doesn't remember anything.
He was looking forward to seeing Shang Wu make a fool of himself, but he didn't expect Zhou Yanci to be so crazy, talking nonsense when he was drunk.
Zhou Yanci pinched the bridge of her nose, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and said with some annoyance, "Hang up."
He slammed his phone down, feeling increasingly agitated.
His behavior while drunk was completely out of character; he even used his phone to confess his love to Chenmian in various ways.
No wonder Shang Wu had that attitude.
The most difficult part is that he simply doesn't know how to explain it.
Zhou Yanci stood up, took off his suit jacket and threw it on the sofa. He had an indescribable strange feeling, and his brows were tightly furrowed.
Until there was a knock on the door.
Xiao Dong came in and said with a smile, "President Zhou, the jewelry department is receiving Miss Shen. Director Shang is discussing her compensation and benefits with her."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yanci immediately turned around: "She met with Shang Wu."
"right."
Xiao Dong had been by Zhou Yanci's side for many years and knew that he harbored a secret crush in his heart.
At this moment, he couldn't help but laugh and joke, "President Zhou, this is Miss Shen's first time visiting Chengzhou Group. Aren't you going to greet her?"
Zhou Yanci didn't laugh; instead, she frowned and stared at him coldly with a warning look in her eyes.
The smile on Xiao Dong's face vanished instantly, and he lowered his head, unsure of what he had said wrong.
Meanwhile, in the office of the jewelry department director.
Shang Wu pushed a steaming cup of coffee towards her: "I don't know if Miss Shen likes fruit-roasted coffee beans, but personally, I think it tastes a bit like red wine."
Chenmian smiled and said, "Anything is fine. Actually, I'm not very good at tasting coffee. Ah Ci used to tease me a lot, saying I have no sense of taste..."
She paused abruptly, seemingly realizing that what she had said was inappropriate, and gave a bitter smile.
"I'm sorry, Miss Shang, I misspoke. As soon as I arrived here, I was reminded of things from the past."
Shang Wu watched her performance quietly, her gaze indifferent.
This winter limited edition design has set traps for both Ji Yu and Zhou Yanci.
Now, however, a dormant state has unexpectedly entered her plans.
Since all three wanted to jump in, she had no reason to be dissatisfied.
Let's just catch them all at once.
Shang Wu tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and said calmly, "Miss Chen, before we start work, I think I need to have a few words with you about personal matters."
Chenmian paused slightly, then said, "You tell me."
"Yan Ci and you had a romantic relationship, yet you still accepted this jewelry order from my department and came to Chengzhou to let people talk about the three of us. What are you up to?"
Shang Wu stared intently at her, pressing her for answers.
Shenmian immediately shook her head, saying innocently, "I thought Miss Shang sent someone to contact me because she didn't mind my relationship with Aci. So you don't want to cooperate with me?"
"Does not wanting to be useful?"
Shang Wu picked up her coffee, her tone sarcastic: "Yan Ci personally agreed to let you cooperate."
Chenmian's eyes lit up: "Really?"
Shang Wu glanced at her for two seconds and scoffed, "He got drunk at the bar last night and called me in the middle of the night, calling your name. Zhou Yanci clearly still likes you and can't forget you. Aren't you very proud of yourself, Chenmian?"
Chenmian was not just pleased with himself, he was almost bursting into laughter.
Even though she was secretly pleased, her expression was one of distress and fear. She shook her head: "No, I don't know anything about these things. A-Ci was clearly planning to marry you, how could this be..."
"No need to explain! I just want to warn you that in two weeks, when my father is feeling better, we will start talking about marriage. Regardless of whether he has feelings for you or not, I can only be the president's wife of Chengzhou Group."
Shang Wu coldly interrupted her, put down her unfinished coffee, and stood up: "I'm going to the restroom. Take a look at the cooperation agreement. We can talk about it if there are any problems."
She turned and left, closing the door behind her. She suppressed her jealous expression, took a mint from her pocket, and put it on her tongue.
A bitter, icy, and spicy sensation spread.
Aying quickly came over and, seeing the candy in Shang Wu's hand, exclaimed, "Director Shang, I really have to complain! This candy is really awful. How did you manage to eat it?"
"I'm just trying to stay awake." Shang Wu glanced at the office behind her and went straight to the restroom.
Soon, the office door opened.
Everyone in the office area was glancing at Chen Mian, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
After Chenmian left, they whispered among themselves.
"What? She's not as pretty as Director Shang."
"Mr. Zhou has always had this kind of taste."
Chenmian paused, gritted her teeth outside the door, and then smiled smugly.
Everyone thinks she's not as pretty as Shang Wu, so what?
Anyway, the person Zhou Yanci couldn't forget for three years was her.
She hummed softly in her sleep and quickened her pace upstairs.
In the office, Zhou Yanci was looking at documents with his back to her.
The door wasn't closed.
Subconsciously, she tiptoed over and placed her soft, boneless hand on his shoulder.
“A-Ci…”
She called out, her voice gentle and affectionate.
Zhou Yanci froze, closed the file, stood up, and frowned as she glanced behind her.
"Why are you here? Where's A-Wu?"
Chenmian smiled and said, "She went to the restroom. I came here specifically to see you, Aci. Miss Shang just got angry with me and said some nasty things."
Zhou Yanci paused slightly: "What did she say?"
She said that since you've reached the point of discussing marriage, she's your wife no matter what, and told me not to compete with her for her affections.
Chenmian raised her eyes and blinked slowly, her thick eyelashes fluttering, giving her a pure and innocent Japanese look.
Zhou Yanci stared at her, his dark eyes growing increasingly gloomy.
“A-Ci.” Chen Mian bit her lip and asked softly, “You’re not really that determined to marry her, are you? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have called my name when you were drunk at the bar.”
Zhou Yanci's expression changed, and he immediately grabbed her wrist: "Who told you that!"
Chenmian was startled and tried to break free: "It hurts! Let go of me, you're hurting me..."
"I'm telling you, my decision to marry Shang Wu will not change. You were just talking nonsense when you were drunk. I will never go back to marry you, understand?"
Zhou Yanci's eyes held a hint of indifference and rejection.
This attitude was something he had always put on a show for Chen Mian.
But for some reason, his words just now carried a bit of genuine emotion, and he even felt a slight sense of satisfaction after speaking them.
Chen Mian's eyes reddened, and she choked up, "A-Ci, when will you finally dare to admit your feelings for me? Even Miss Shang has noticed, do you think you can still hide it from anyone?"
Zhou Yanci felt a slight tremor in her heart, and was inexplicably annoyed. She pulled her over and was about to warn her when someone came to the door.
"So Miss Shen is here."
Shang Wu entered without any expression, her gaze falling on Zhou Yanci's hand holding Chenmian's.
Zhou Yanci immediately shook off Chenmian as if she had been burned and walked over quickly.
“A-Wu”.
"Since you're here, let's talk about it in front of President Zhou. Does Miss Shen have any questions about the cooperation?"
Shang Wu pushed away Zhou Yanci's outstretched hand and brushed past him.
She wanted to talk about business, but Zhou Yanci wouldn't allow it. He followed her, turned her body around, and grabbed her arm tightly.
"Awu, listen to me. There was nothing between us just now. Last night, I was just drunk and acting crazy. Believe me, you're the only one I love. Otherwise, why would I be planning to marry you?"
His gaze was earnest; he was determined to convince Shang Wu.
Feeling embarrassed, she bit her lip and was ignored to the side, her face turning pale.
Shang Wu's gaze swept across her face with a hint of mockery.
She wasn't having it: "Why don't you call me by my name and call me wife instead of being ridiculous? I understand you can't forget Chen Mian, and I've already given your permission for her to cooperate. What more do you want?"
Zhou Yanci pursed her lips, her face stiffening.
He suddenly realized that Shang Wu would never have treated him with such indifference unless she was very sad and aggrieved.
From the time he returned to China after his sleep until now, everything he has done has greatly disappointed Shang Wu.
This shouldn't be happening.
The winter limited-edition products haven't been released yet, and sales haven't reached ten times the amount of the 300 million investment.
He couldn't afford to upset Shang Wu.
Shang Wu pushed him away: "Alright, let's talk business. I don't want to argue about this."
Zhou Yanci clenched her fists and had no choice but to sit down next to her on the sofa. She glanced at Chenmian with a gloomy expression and said in a very heavy tone, "You sit down too."
The more he slept, the more unhappy he became.
She sat down and stared at Shang Wu: "I do have some complaints about the collaboration. First, the promotion fee I'm paid is too little. Second, I'm a large-scale blogger overseas, and I specialize in fashion-related videos. My audience has a high return on investment. It's not appropriate to give me such a small reward, is it?"
Shang Wu asked, "How many do you want?"
“It’ll have to be at least three million.” Chen Mian stared in surprise. “Miss Shang wouldn’t be reluctant to give it, would she? You’re so concerned about the sales of the jewelry department, it’s easy for you to give me such a tiny bit out of three hundred million.
Shang Wu adopted a serious, businesslike expression, her eyes cold and aloof, and sat far away from the two of them.
"I'm sorry, each of the three hundred million has a fixed budget for expenditure, and I really can't accept your price."
"Miss Shang, is it that you can't accept it, or are you deliberately unwilling to accept it? I think you're carrying personal feelings around these private matters and are unwilling to cooperate with me normally," Chen Mian pressed.
Zhou Yanci narrowed his eyes: "Awu has always been fair in her dealings with both public and private matters. You don't need to wrong her like this. This price is indeed unreasonable. You either lower the price or don't cooperate."
A stunned silence.
She had assumed that Zhou Yanci, though stubborn, was kind-hearted and would let her earn this money.
No matter what price she asks for, Zhou Yanci should agree to it.
Chenmian's eyes reddened, and she stood up abruptly.
"You're asking me to cooperate, but you're not sincere at all, making me come all this way for nothing? Fine, if you can't come up with a real price, don't blame me for complaining about your Chengzhou Jewelry department in the video."
Feeling extremely wronged, Chenmian turned to leave.
Shang Wu watched her resolute back as she walked away.
"Aren't you going to try and persuade them to stay, with words?"
The slumbering footsteps suddenly slowed down.
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