Chapter 41. She is the person I like.
After saying goodbye to Gu Sui, Shang Shu and Ji Songning said "Let's go" and then quickened their pace to enter the venue.
"Senior, was the person who came to see you off just now... your girlfriend?" Ji Songning swiped his card at the gate and gestured for Shang Shu to go first.
Shang Shu quickly passed through the gate, and was slightly taken aback when she heard those three words, unsure of how to respond.
The two stood side by side in front of the elevator, waiting. Seeing that the other person didn't speak, Ji Songning realized something was wrong: "Excuse me, senior, was my question too presumptuous...?"
"No." Shang Shu smiled faintly, then answered seriously, "She's not my girlfriend yet, but... she's someone I like."
"I see..." A hint of disappointment flashed across Ji Songning's face.
The elevator doors opened, and Ji Songning went in first, pressed the floor button, and reminded her, "Senior, Hall B isn't as new as the other side, and there are more people setting up the exhibits, so be careful later."
"Okay," Shang Shu replied.
As Ji Songning said, everything in Hall B is not old, but it doesn't have the same high-tech feel as the main exhibition hall. Its only advantage is that the space is spacious, making it suitable as a secondary hall with high visitor traffic.
S&S has three exhibition areas here. Unlike the main hall's collection-level displays, these are an emerging design exhibition area showcasing the creative works of outstanding designers, a more accessible luxury exhibition area, and a colored gemstone exhibition area that allows visitors to see the craftsmanship. However, because other brands are also setting up exhibitions at the same time, and the exhibition is not yet complete, the two of them had to navigate through many fenced-off areas to reach it.
Track lights that can adjust the overall light source are suspended high in the ceiling. Glass display cases that have not yet been installed are scattered on the ground. Workers are coming and going. Some are busy moving glass, while others are adjusting the display cases and fixing the latches on the base.
"Sister Wang." Ji Songning led Shang Shu to the S&S exhibition area and called softly to a woman holding a tablet and wearing glasses.
"Move cabinet number five slightly to the right by twenty centimeters, yes, put it there." The woman looked up at the two of them upon hearing this, and paused her work. "Sonia, I've almost finished checking it. You can guide me through the rest."
"Okay," Ji Songning replied with a smile.
The woman then gave Shang Shu a slight nod before quickly moving on to another exhibition area to continue her work.
Ji Songning stepped forward to take a look: "When I came here, Sister Wang said that other brands use the same gemstones as the samples. Now they're using glass and transparent resin with similar colors. Senior, please take a look and see how the lighting is adjusted?"
Shang Shu leaned closer and examined it carefully, her brows furrowing slightly: "The lighting is fine, the direction is correct, and there are no issues with glare or shadows." She then stared at the model, "The only drawback is that this thing can't simulate real fire and refraction, but... for now, this is all we can do for the time being."
Seeing Ji Songning biting her lower lip and frowning, Shang Shu reflected on whether she had been too harsh, so she comforted her, "It's okay, Sonia, it's already very good. It's just a small problem. We can see it again when the jewelry arrives."
Unexpectedly, Ji Songning shook her head and said, "Wait for me, senior." Then she ran to the side and made a phone call.
Five minutes later, Ji Songning returned with a happy face and waved to Shang Shu: "Senior, come with me."
Although Shang Shu was puzzled, she still followed: "Where are we going?"
"I just applied to the technical department for a VR demo room. With this, we can see the real spatial proportions and lighting effects," Ji Songning said as he walked, reminding Shang Shu to watch out for the power lines under her feet.
"Is it inappropriate for me to go?" Shang Shu hesitated.
She recalled that, in order to protect the exhibition materials and digital models, the museum usually only allowed access to these demonstration rooms to management curators or specific technical personnel.
“It’s a special situation.” Ji Songning turned around and smiled at the person. “Don’t worry, senior. I’ve already asked around. We’re only looking after our own things. It’s okay.”
Upon hearing this, Shang Shu had no reason to refuse, but she didn't know whether the special situation Ji Songning mentioned was because of the sample gemstone or because of the curator's daughter's identity.
After swiping through layers of access control, the two finally arrived at the last door. Ji Songning not only swiped the card hanging around his neck, but also swiped a QR code on his phone.
"It's really too old." Ji Songning muttered under his breath after trying to swipe it twice without success.
"Is it troublesome?" Shang Shu stood behind the person somewhat embarrassed.
Ji Songning tried it again, then smiled and said, "It's done."
Shang Shu nodded and followed her inside. Although the outside of the demonstration room looked unremarkable, the inside could be described as a miniature virtual exhibition hall.
Shang Shu looked around the entire space. The walls and ceiling were designed with a matte dark gray coating to absorb ambient light, serving the lighting and visual precision, and maximizing the presentation of light and color. The floor was covered with a non-slip carpet, which was safe and noise-reducing. In the center of the room was a row of height-adjustable control consoles, with two VR headsets next to them. One side of the wall was a huge LED screen.
Ji Songning skillfully connected the console to the host computer.
"You can do this too?" Shang Shu looked at the large screen that was gradually lighting up and couldn't help but sigh. In her imagination, Ji Songning's professional frequency of using these devices was not as high as hers.
Ji Songning looked smug: "I learned it myself. I used it for an exhibition at school before, and it was even more difficult to do than this."
Shang Shu smiled and said, "Then you're really wasting your talents here."
Ji Songning chuckled twice: "Wait for me a moment." Then he focused intently on the main unit and continued working on it.
Seeing people entering passwords or similar things, Shang Shu consciously moved away to avoid them, and took out her phone to stand aside.
"The signal here seems... not very good." Shang Shu said softly, wanting to check if there were any messages from Gu Sui, but found that the message bar was just spinning at the top.
"Hmm...it seems so." Ji Songning glanced at his phone and then at the screen that was already fixed. "It's okay, let's finish this quickly."
As she spoke, she picked up a headset and handed it to Shang Shu: "Senior, would you like to try this?"
"Okay." Shang Shu nodded slightly, took the device, and put it on her head.
Adhering to the principle of "since we're already here," Ji Songning showed Shang Shu all the minor adjustments made to the three exhibition areas.
Shang Shu continued to examine the model carefully. The result was indeed quite different from the model she had just seen, but thankfully there were no major problems. She was genuinely embarrassed to bother others again.
"Thank you for your help, Sonia." Shang Shu took off her headset, thinking that she should thank her no matter what, since she had gotten this in a way that could be considered using connections. So she said to Ji Songning, "How about I treat you to lunch?"
Ji Songning's eyes lit up, and he glanced at the time: "Okay, shall we leave now?"
"Okay." Now that she had finished watching, Shang Shu didn't want to stay in this place with no signal any longer.
The two hit it off immediately, and Ji Songning prepared to swipe his card to leave.
Shang Shu waited and waited, but a sigh came from the front.
Ji Songning bit her lip and turned around: "Senior... this access control seems to be malfunctioning."
"Huh?" Shang Shu leaned forward, glanced at the automatic door, and then pointed to the card around Ji Songning's neck. "Is this what you swipe?"
"Okay." Ji Songning understood and took off the card, handing it to the person.
Shang Shu tried swiping the card a few times, from all angles and distances, and muttered in frustration, "Is this... a problem with the card or a problem with the door..."
Ji Songning shook his head, indicating that he did not know. He then looked for the emergency switch and, after groping around for a while, finally found a keyhole for manually opening the door.
However, she didn't have the key.
Shang Shu held up her phone: "No signal? What about Wi-Fi?"
She thought, such a high-tech place couldn't possibly lack Wi-Fi.
Ji Songning immediately took out his phone to check: "This one isn't the same as the public one outside, it requires a password..."
The plan is marked with an X.
Shang Shu blinked, trying to stay calm: "There must be cameras or surveillance cameras, right?"
Ji Songning was too ashamed to speak, and just kept searching.
“Here, here…” She pointed to the camera in the corner of the ceiling and started waving in that direction.
Shang Shu rubbed her forehead and waved along, but even as her arm ached, no sound came.
"At this time... shouldn't they be off to change shifts for lunch?" Ji Songning murmured, feeling wronged.
Shang Shu took a deep breath, finding it hard to believe that things could turn out so badly.
"Senior...I'm sorry...I was too careless. I should have realized it when I came in and saw that the access control wasn't working properly." Ji Songning's mind went blank for a moment, and she began to apologize.
"It's not your fault, don't be like this." Shang Shu didn't mean to blame anyone, but she was still thinking about how to get out of there, and she really didn't have the energy to listen to apologies.
Ji Songning sniffed: "Then let's try again later."
Shang Shu nodded and found a seat.
Ji Songning also moved closer to the person and sat down next to Shang Shu.
The air conditioning in the demonstration room was quite strong, and after sitting quietly for a while, Shang Shu actually felt a bit cold.
"Senior, are you cold?" Ji Songning asked with concern when she saw the other person shiver. Before anyone could answer, she took off her suit jacket. "Here, take this jacket."
“No need, Sonia, you’re not wearing much anyway,” Shang Shu declined.
“If my senior doesn’t accept it, then it’s my fault.” Ji Songning was unusually assertive.
Shang Shu had no choice but to let someone drape the coat over her shoulders. Seeing Ji Songning wearing only a thin shirt, she stood up again and waved, "I'll try again."
After waving it a few times, she remembered something, took out her phone, turned on the flashlight, and shone it on the camera. Although she didn't know if this would damage the surveillance camera, it seemed like she had no other choice at the moment.
"Hello, do you need any help?" A human voice finally came from the surveillance camera.
"Yes, the access control is malfunctioning, and the door can't be opened." Shang Shu wasn't sure if the person on the other end could hear her, so she nodded vigorously as she spoke, and pointed in the direction of the door.
The monitor immediately picked up a voice that said, "Sorry, please wait a moment. We will contact the relevant personnel to handle this immediately."
"Here." Upon hearing this, Shang Shu breathed a sigh of relief and draped the clothes back over Ji Songning's shoulders.
After waiting for another ten minutes or so, the two were finally able to leave the demonstration room.
"Senior, I'm so sorry." Ji Songning apologized again. Although it wasn't entirely her fault, she was the one who brought the person in.
"I told you, it's not your fault." Shang Shu smiled slightly, offering a reassuring gesture, before quickly taking out her phone.
With a signal, Shang Shu saw the missed calls and messages on her phone, including those from Gu Sui and Song Lanye. She sensed something was wrong and quickly dialed back.
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