Chapter 175 Between Intersections
The next morning, Jiang Ranxing got up very early, put on makeup and dressed up before going downstairs. When she came downstairs, she saw Wen Qingrang making breakfast in the kitchen.
Jiang Ranxing went around to the kitchen and stood behind Wen Qingrang, peeking out from behind him to look at the golden, tender fried eggs in the frying pan in front of Wen Qingrang, which looked incredibly tempting.
"Wow, the breakfast you made must be delicious." Jiang Ranxing smiled at Wen Qingrang and said without reservation, "Whoever becomes your wife in the future will be very happy."
Jiang Ranxing regretted her words a little; she shouldn't have said that last sentence. But she hadn't thought that much about it. She simply felt that Wen Qingrang, wearing an apron and busy in the kitchen so early in the morning, really looked like a gentle husband, so she said it.
However, she overlooked one point: although she and Wen Qingrang had never explicitly said it, there was still some special affection between them.
Saying such things sounds like an impatient implication, doesn't it? Jiang Ranxing felt a little regretful.
Wen Qingrang simply turned his head to look at Jiang Ranxing's face and saw the struggle in her beautiful eyes. Knowing that Jiang Ranxing might feel awkward, Wen Qingrang said nothing.
"Sit at the table and wait a bit, it'll be ready soon," Wen Qingrang said with a smile.
Jiang Ranxing then laughed heartily, turned and left the somewhat awkward kitchen, and sat down at the dining table to watch Wen Qingrang continue working.
In less than ten minutes, all the breakfasts were ready, and Wen Qingrang placed the last plate of salad in front of Jiang Ranxing.
"Try it and see how it tastes." Wen Qingrang handed the cutlery to Jiang Ranxing and watched her enjoy her breakfast.
Jiang Ranxing took two bites, and the taste was just right, exactly what she liked.
"It's delicious. Your cooking skills are still impeccable," Jiang Ranxing said with a smile, looking at Wen Qingrang with a satisfied expression.
Seeing her feel happy because of a breakfast filled Wen Qingrang's heart with a sense of fulfillment.
He looked down at the food on his plate and thought that if he could be happy over such a small thing, he was truly beyond saving.
The more time he spent with Jiang Ranxing, the clearer his own feelings became.
He had truly given her his heart, a heart that had already crossed oceans to be given to her, and there was truly no turning back.
Wen Qingrang looked up at the person in front of him who was eating with great satisfaction, and chuckled softly.
Then he asked, "I'll take you there later; we should have enough time."
Jiang Ranxing shook his head and said, "It's okay, I'll drive there myself. Don't you have work to do today? It won't take up your time. You go ahead and do your work."
Wen Qingrang replied, "If it's your business, then it won't be a waste of time. Let me be your driver, great designer."
Wen Qingrang's teasing made her feel embarrassed to refuse, so she nodded and said, "Okay, with you here, I shouldn't get lost here."
Wen Qingrang returned her a faint and gentle smile.
After the two had breakfast, Wen Qingrang picked out a stable SUV from the garage and drove it out, taking Jiang Ranxing to their destination.
On the way, Wen Qingrang asked Jiang Ranxing about the company he was going to discuss the project with. Jiang Ranxing then told Wen Qingrang about the information that Manager Shen had given him.
As Wen Qingrang listened, he felt that something was amiss.
"Logically speaking, a purely foreign-owned local company in this country shouldn't do this. Although you have a great reputation, the corresponding investment will also be very high, and they may not be able to afford the subsequent cooperation costs."
Wen Qingrang analyzed the situation rationally and explained what she felt was wrong to Jiang Ranxing.
Jiang Ranxing nodded and said, "I've also considered these things, but I'll just go and take a look first. There are other potential partner companies there. If this one doesn't work out, I'll move on to the next one. I don't mind."
Wen Qingrang echoed, "If that's what you think, then it's fine. There are plenty of opportunities, especially since you're Ember. You'll have even more opportunities coming your way. If you're really not satisfied, we can go back to China."
Jiang Ranxing agreed wholeheartedly, saying, "Yes, I can also talk to Ji Shiheng about Ling Su, but I don't really want to cooperate with old acquaintances. This place is quite beautiful, and it might be nice to work and live here."
Since waking up, Jiang Ranxing has been recovering her body in this country. The pace of life here is significantly different from that in China. Perhaps it's because the local population is not so dense, but everyone's life is quite pleasant and relaxed. In addition, the scenery here is particularly beautiful, with a lot of trees and vegetation throughout the city, making it a very suitable place for her to recuperate.
When Wen Qingrang heard her say that she wanted to live here, he suddenly wanted to ask her if she would like to stay here, and that he would stay here with her forever.
However, seeing how enthusiastic Jiang Ranxing was about his work, he chose not to say anything for the time being.
Jiang Ranxing's body has not fully recovered yet, and he was worried that if she had many things to consider at the same time, it would put pressure on her.
Moreover, he is not confident that Jiang Ranxing will accept him, after all, he was rejected by Jiang Ranxing before.
This time, he wasn't very confident either.
Let's not talk about it for now.
After dropping Jiang Ranxing off at the parking lot, Wen Qingrang said he wanted to go upstairs with her: "How about I act as your assistant?"
Jiang Ranxing smiled and said, "It's okay, don't worry, I can manage on my own."
She knew Wen Qingrang was worried that she wouldn't be able to manage on her own, but she was fine with work.
So, after Jiang Ranxing assured him that he wouldn't cause any problems, Wen Qingrang said that she should call him after she finished, and he would come pick her up. Then he drove away.
Jiang Ranxing took a long, deep breath before stepping into the office building in front of him.
Jiang Ranxing arrived at the 20th floor according to the address given to him. As soon as the elevator doors opened, he saw the receptionist, who was a very pretty foreign girl who looked like a recent college graduate.
Jiang Ranxing communicated with the other party in English and explained her purpose. The receptionist invited her to the meeting room, where Jiang Ranxing sat down and waited for the other party's public relations manager to arrive.
When the door opened, Jiang Ranxing was slightly surprised, because before coming, he was told that this was a wholly foreign-owned company, but he did not expect that the person in charge was Chinese.
Jiang Ranxing naturally switched back to his native language and said, "Hello, nice to meet you."
Jiang Ranxing greeted the man opposite him politely.
"Hello, beautiful designer." The man opposite her had his eyes light up when he saw Jiang Ranxing, and his words became frivolous.
Jiang Ranxing felt slightly uncomfortable after hearing this, as he didn't have a good impression of the person opposite him.
Judging from his appearance alone, this man was probably close to forty. Although he had the air of a wealthy man with a somewhat wicked and handsome face, there was always an uncomfortable greasy feeling in his eyes. The way he looked at her always revealed a certain undisguised greed, which made Jiang Ranxing feel a little uncomfortable.
However, given that this was a work setting, Jiang Ranxing didn't want to be prejudiced against people based on their appearance, as that would be unprofessional. So she didn't say anything and just smiled.
The man opposite introduced himself: "I am the temporary head of this fashion company. My name is Zhan Shuo. Today I met the legendary Ember. I didn't expect her to be such a beautiful woman."
Jiang Ranxing just laughed awkwardly twice: "It's alright, Manager Zhan. We designers should let our work speak for itself. Appearance isn't that important."
However, Zhan Shuo was clearly fixated on whether a woman was beautiful or not, and kept harping on about it.
"Hey, that's not right. Beauty is so important for a woman. Look at all the women who are presentable in public, aren't they all beautiful? If you're not good-looking, you won't be liked. Beautiful designer, don't you agree?"
As Zhan Shuo spoke, his eyes kept scanning back and forth between Jiang Ranxing.
Jiang Ranxing noticed his glances back and forth, and her impression of him immediately plummeted. She hadn't come here for a beauty pageant, much less to be subjected to such an offensive visit.
Jiang Ranxing coughed lightly, his expression turning somewhat serious, and said, "Manager Zhan, I think we should get straight to the point and discuss the collaboration. I have some ideas for the design work; could you take a look?"
Before Jiang Ranxing could speak, Zhan Shuo interrupted her: "Beautiful designer, you're in such a hurry? Collaboration is easy to discuss. As long as you're willing, we can sign a contract with you right away. You can have whatever you want, as long as you're happy."
Jiang Ranxing was somewhat dissatisfied with Zhan Shuo's obviously unprofessional attitude, and she had no mood to waste time arguing with this man.
Jiang Ranxing said, "I don't think Manager Zhan is that available. How about we talk to someone else, the head of the design department? I probably won't be able to get along with Manager Zhan."
Jiang Ranxing didn't make any absolute statements because she had also noticed what Zhan Shuo had just said: he was only the temporary person in charge of this company. As the name suggests, he was only here temporarily and would definitely be replaced later. Therefore, she didn't need to waste any more time with Zhan Shuo. It would be better if she could talk to a professional designer. If not, she was ready to leave.
Zhan Shuo could tell that Jiang Ranxing was unhappy, but he was very interested in Jiang Ranxing and didn't want to scare her away too soon, so he sent someone to the design department to call her back.
About ten minutes later, a middle-aged woman in a business suit walked in, greeted Zhan Shuo, and then extended her hand to Jiang Ranxing: "Hello, I am the manager of the fashion design department. You can call me Sylvie."
Seeing that the person opposite him was still very polite, Jiang Ranxing smiled and shook hands with her, saying, "Ember."
Sylvie smiled and said, "I've heard of her; she's a very talented fashion designer. Please have a seat."
Sylvie and Jiang Ranxing sat down facing each other and started chatting, while Zhan Shuo sat to the side staring at Jiang Ranxing's face.
Although Jiang Ranxing was a little awkward, Sylvie was very professional and had a lot of knowledge about fashion design. The two chatted about various topics in fashion design.
The two women chatted for a long time, and later Zhan Shuo felt too tired and left, but the conversation in the reception room continued.
Two hours later, Sylvie kept praising Jiang Ranxing: "You are indeed a very creative designer. I look forward to the opportunity to work with you."
The feeling of mutual appreciation between women welled up instantly, and Jiang Ranxing had a good impression of the highly professional female manager in front of her.
After the two finished talking, Jiang Ranxing hesitated for two seconds and then asked in a low voice, "Will your manager, Zhan Shuo, stay here all the time?"
Sylvie immediately knew what Jiang Ranxing was asking. After all, Zhan Shuo was notorious for being a womanizer, and since they worked in the same company, she couldn't possibly be unaware of what kind of person he was.
However, Sylvie couldn't say it outright, but only vaguely said, "Manager James probably won't stay for too long. If you're willing to join us, it will probably only be for a short period of time."
After listening, Jiang Ranxing slowly nodded and then said, "I'll think about it. Let's exchange contact information."
After exchanging contact information, Jiang Ranxing stood up to say goodbye and prepared to leave. Sylvie politely saw Jiang Ranxing out, but they ran into Zhan Shuo on the way. Jiang Ranxing pretended not to see him and left.
After Jiang Ranxing made a phone call to Wen Qingrang, she sat down under a parasol in a coffee shop on the first floor of the office building. She was waiting for Wen Qingrang to come over, but she didn't expect that someone would sit down opposite her first.
Jiang Ranxing looked at Zhan Shuo, who had come uninvited, and she was clearly not happy.
"Is there anything else, Manager Zhan? I'm waiting for my friend to arrive, so I don't have time to talk to you about work."
Jiang Ranxing wasn't very polite when she spoke to him. She had just considered it and knew that if she really wanted to consider Sylvie's company, she would have to put up with Zhan Shuo for a while until the new company leader arrived.
If you don't consider this company, then you don't need to worry about whether you can tolerate it or not.
In the end, Jiang Ranxing thought, whatever, we'll see how it goes. If she feels uncomfortable, we can just not cooperate, it's no big deal.
Perhaps Zhan Shuo saw through her thoughts, and his actions were a deliberate attempt to push Jiang Ranxing away.
Zhan Shuo sat opposite Jiang Ranxing, his eyes still greedily fixed on her: "Beautiful designer, do you have time later? Let's have a drink, or I'll treat you to a meal. You can go wherever you want; I'm happy to accompany you."
After leaving the company, Jiang Ranxing no longer needed to be careful about what he said, just like he was watching Zhan Shuo's expression.
Jiang Ranxing replied rather bluntly, "I don't have time, and I'm not interested in spending time with you."
Zhan Shuo was visibly embarrassed by Jiang Ranxing's rejection, so he said in a somewhat threatening tone, "Don't be so cold. Aren't you afraid of danger all by yourself? Wouldn't it be better to have a grown man like me by your side? Besides, I'm quite charming, aren't I?"
Zhan Shuo's narcissistic attitude made Jiang Ranxing feel deeply uncomfortable. She had no mood to look at this disgusting person anymore, so she stood up and prepared to turn around and leave.
However, Zhan Shuo clearly didn't want to let Jiang Ranxing leave so easily. He stood up and blocked her way, speaking in an even more clingy tone: "Hey, don't go, beautiful designer! Let's have dinner together. We can discuss the collaboration further. You can ask me for whatever terms you want—"
Before Zhan Shuo could finish speaking, he felt a pressure on the back of his shoulder. He was grabbed by the clothes and thrown far away with such force that he almost fell into the viewing fish pond.
Zhan Shuo nearly tripped and fell. He stood up, turned around, his face flushed, and yelled, "Who the hell is it?!"
When Zhan Shuo looked up, he saw a face filled with extreme anger.
Wen Qingrang stood in front of Jiang Ranxing, completely covering her body, so Zhan Shuo's sticky and wet gaze could no longer fall on Jiang Ranxing.
Wen Qingrang looked at Zhan Shuo with disdain and said coldly, "Get out of here, stay away from her."
Zhan Shuo was intimidated by the coldness emanating from the man who was two heads taller than him, and dared not stand up to bother Jiang Ranxing any further.
Wen Qingrang glanced at him one last time, her eyes filled with indifference, then turned away, her gaze softening as she looked at Jiang Ranxing.
He asked with concern, "How are you? Are you alright? I'm sorry I'm late."
“I’m fine, he didn’t do anything to me,” Jiang Ranxing smiled at Wen Qingrang, giving him a nonchalant smile. “Don’t worry.”
Wen Qingrang was still worried. If he had arrived a little later, or if there had been traffic, judging from Zhan Shuo's behavior, would he really have to face Jiang Ranxing as his opponent?
Wen Qingrang simply could not accept the possibility that Jiang Ranxing might be harmed; he wished that Zhan Shuo's eyes, which had just looked at Jiang Ranxing, would disappear from the world.
Jiang Ranxing noticed that Wen Qingrang was worried about her. She grabbed Wen Qingrang's sleeve to show that she was really alright, and then walked behind Wen Qingrang.
As Zhan Shuo watched Jiang Ranxing approach him with a cup of coffee, he assumed she was interested in him: "The beautiful designer is interested in having dinner with me—ahhhhh!!!!"
Before Zhan Shuo could finish his teasing remarks to Jiang Ranxing, Jiang Ranxing splashed a cup of scalding hot coffee onto his face.
After spilling the coffee, Jiang Ranxing neatly threw the coffee cup into the trash can, then walked back and looked at Zhan Shuo as if he were trash.
"This is the price you pay for offending me. I won't compensate you." Jiang Ranxing scoffed coldly, then said indifferently, "Oh, by the way, remember to pay the coffee shop for cleaning fees. After all, it's full of filth, and you've made a mess of their shop."
Jiang Ranxing implied that Zhan Shuo was also trash. Zhan Shuo understood what she meant and wanted to fight back, but when he saw Wen Qingrang standing up as well, and since he was also in the wrong, he had no way to refute her. He could only slink up and run back to the office building.
Jiang Ranxing watched his fleeing figure, her heart filled with disdain.
"It seems I don't need to consider this company anymore. With such a person in charge, I think their boss is blind."
Hearing Jiang Ranxing say this, Wen Qingrang nodded and said, "Yes, let's go home. There's no point in wasting time with this kind of company."
"Okay, let's go home." Jiang Ranxing smiled and walked towards the parking lot with Wen Qingrang.
Jiang Ranxing and Wen Qingrang drove away together.
On her way back, Wen Qingrang kept thinking about Jiang Ranxing's job, and a good idea slowly formed in her mind.
He will protect Jiang Ranxing and will not let her get hurt again.
When Zhan Shuo returned to the company in a sorry state, the female employees he had bullied laughed at him. When Sylvie saw him like this, she knew that Jiang Ranxing had taught him a lesson, and she felt very relieved.
Seeing everyone laughing at him, Zhan Shuo was even more furious. He stormed back to his office and thought for a long time before coming up with a way to vent his anger.
Zhan Shuo made a phone call to his contact person in China.
The other person took it and asked him what he needed.
Zhan Shuo recounted his meeting with Ember that day, then added, "That Ember is so arrogant and conceited! She doesn't respect us at all! And she calls herself a top designer? She has no manners whatsoever! I refuse to work with her, that rude and awful woman!"
The person on the other end remained silent for a while after listening, then casually replied with a couple of perfunctory words before hanging up.
The person on the other end of the phone had just hung up when they turned around and saw their boss walking over.
"President," he greeted Fu Hongkai.
Fu Hongkai noticed his secretary's gloomy expression and asked what had happened. The secretary then briefly summarized what Zhan Shuo had just said and told Fu Hongkai what had happened.
Fu Hongkai said impatiently, "This bastard only knows how to cause trouble over there, and he still has the nerve to come and talk to you. He has no shame at all."
The secretary dared not agree, after all, this person was related to the president's wife, which was why he was assigned to a sinecure position, and he could do nothing but cause trouble.
Fu Hongkai usually doesn't care much about the little things at overseas companies, but now it's something he should care about.
"It's good that he's making such a fuss. He's offended that big designer, and now the company will have an even harder time operating overseas. Once our former president leaves, the mess will be even harder to clean up." This suits him perfectly.
Fu Hongkai chuckled, his eyes full of contempt, and muttered to himself, "Fu Shenyuan, it's time for you to take up your post."
Fu Hongkai gave his secretary a look, and the secretary immediately understood, turning around and going out to do it.
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