As the opening date drew closer, Cheng Qicai's anxiety grew palpable as she watched the shop gradually being decorated.
She was both apprehensive and worried, yet also excited, about whether the business would be successful after opening.
The good news is that after being busy for so long, the new store has finally opened.
The worry is that in the end, you'll lose everything.
The day before the opening, Cheng Qicai came to the shop to see the facilities that had been set up. She was still very excited. She never thought that she would actually open the shop.
She felt she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight, her mind filled with thoughts of tomorrow's test to see if her achievements over the past few months could withstand scrutiny.
Standing next to Cheng Qicai, Gu Rongqi could sense her conflicted feelings.
Seeing her slightly furrowed brows, he comforted her, "You've prepared well enough. Just let time take its course. Don't worry too much."
"Sigh, I know, but I can't suppress this feeling, you know?" Cheng Qicai sighed deeply.
Gu Rong nodded slightly. "...Mm."
Upon hearing Gu Rongqi's hesitant "hmm," Cheng Qicai knew that there was no such thing as true empathy, especially since Gu Rongqi was a big shot.
He has handled countless projects worth hundreds of millions of yuan, so how could he possibly understand her spending so much money on her first store opening?
Gu Rongqi noticed Cheng Qicai's gaze and said, "When I worked on my first project independently, I was also very nervous..."
Cheng Qicai looked at him suspiciously. She felt that Gu Rongqi said this to comfort her, and was just making up an excuse.
Because in her heart, Gu Rongqi had always given her the impression of being a very strong person.
She found it hard to imagine him experiencing nervousness and anxiety.
Seeing the disbelief on her calm face, Gu Rongqi continued, "I might not be as heavy as you, but I was still nervous. The first morning I was supposed to formally sign a contract with a client, I woke up very early, around five o'clock. I couldn't sleep, so I went outside for a morning run. I was thinking about this, and without realizing it, I stepped in dog poop..."
"Dog shit?" Cheng Qicai was stunned for a moment when she heard the word "dog shit," then she realized what it meant and couldn't help but let out a soft laugh, her shoulders trembling slightly.
She clenched her fist and covered her mouth, trying to hide her schadenfreude, but when she glanced at Gu Rongqi's face, suppressed laughter began to spill from the corners of her mouth.
She couldn't help but burst into laughter as she imagined Gu Rongqi's expression when he realized he had stepped in dog poop. His shoulders shook violently with laughter, and his eyes crinkled into crescents.
It wasn't until she saw Gu Rongqi looking at her with those gentle, tender eyes that she coughed lightly and stopped laughing so gleefully.
She then asked, "And then what happened?"
"After discovering it, seeing that no one was around, I went to the grass by the lake to wipe it off." Gu Rongqi said calmly, his attitude as if he were talking about someone else's embarrassing incident rather than his own.
"Oh dear, it's not good for you to go and damage the flowers and plants!" Cheng Qicai accused her seriously.
Gu Rongqi responded to her joke, "I added fertilizer to them too, didn't I?"
"Hehe, that's true." Cheng Qicai nodded. "Did anyone see you step in dog poop?"
Cheng Qicai felt that if someone saw this, the comedic aspect of the situation would be amplified even further.
Looking at Cheng Qicai's curious and bright eyes, he gently shook his head, "No, it was too early then."
Cheng Qicai felt a little disappointed when she heard this. She wanted to hear what Gu Rongqi would look like after being seen!
Gu Rongqi could tell what she was thinking from her expression. He slowly said, "If someone had seen me at that time, it would have been a little embarrassing."
Cheng Qicai thought about it. She had seen him embarrassed before, and when she put his expression into her mind, she found it somewhat funny.
She chuckled a few more times, and after laughing, she felt her tension dissipate considerably.
The upward curve of her lips did not disappear, and her gaze towards Gu Rongqi was filled with dependence and relaxation.
This was a change she herself was unaware of.
Compared to the slightly wary look in Cheng Qicai's eyes before, Gu Rong now considers Cheng Qicai's expression to be a significant improvement.
But Gu Rongqi remained expressionless, quietly watching Cheng Qicai's transformation.
Cheng Qicai also understood that Gu Rongqi brought this up simply to ease his own tension.
"So you finally signed the contract, right?" Cheng Qicai felt she had asked a pointless question.
Gu Rongdian nodded, "Maybe it was just a stroke of luck that day."
Cheng Qicai burst into laughter again at his words.
After laughing for a while, she looked intently at Gu Rongqi and asked, "Would you like to be my shop's first customer? I, the owner, will give you a special favor."
Hearing the slight hint of arrogance in Cheng Qicai's tone, Gu Rongqi smiled and nodded, "I'm willing!"
“Since you’re the first customer, I’ll give you a bigger discount.” Cheng Qicai said as she walked to a machine and turned it on. “This is the most expensive machine in my shop. It costs 199 for ten draws. I’ll let you be the first lucky one.”
The screen of the lottery machine went from dark to bright, and a small animal that looked like a winged dragon appeared, but its body was not long and thin like a dragon; instead, it was a small animal the size of a tiger.
This was designed by Cheng Qicai based on the form of Pixiu, but with a cartoonish twist, making it chubby and endearing, thus making it look more cute and approachable.
After it scattered a pattern of bubbles into the air, two buttons appeared in the middle, one labeled "One Draw" and the other "Ten Draws".
Another design element of this Piqi is that it appears in the lower right corner of the game screen, occasionally appearing to perch on either of the two game options, or resting its face on its left hand while flicking coins into the air with its right, looking rather cheeky.
It's somewhat similar to the old desktop pets.
The background music from the game was playing, sounding festive and lively.
Cheng Qicai looked at it for a while, then took out a large gold coin from the counter and handed it to Gu Rongqi, saying, "Here, try it out."
These coins are specially prepared for this machine; after all, they're so expensive, they deserve some special treatment.
After receiving the gold coins, Gu Rongqi stood in front of the machine.
He glanced at Cheng Qicai, who was standing next to him with an expectant look on her face.
When Cheng Qicai saw him looking at her, she raised her right hand, crossed her middle and index fingers, and made a lucky gesture for him, saying, "Good luck, keep it up."
Under Cheng Qicai's watchful gaze, Gu Rongqi inexplicably began to feel a little nervous.
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