Chapter 6. They really did take advantage of me and leave. ...
?
A question mark slowly appeared in Shang Shu's mind. Gu Qi had said that they would only talk about work and not the past, so why did he specifically send her to be a consultant?
Why would a perfectly good bar owner like her give up her job to cause trouble at her company?
Shang Shu immediately felt like she had been tricked. She knew this matter was not so simple, but since it had come to this point, the die was cast, and she couldn't just send them back now.
"Hello." She forced herself to give Gu Sui a light handshake, but he suddenly tightened his grip, preventing her from pulling away.
What's going on?
She suddenly looked up, only to meet Gu Sui's smiling eyes. Shang Shu felt uncomfortable under his gaze, so she quickly pulled her hand back and said, "Sit down, everyone sit down."
Throughout the meeting, Shang Shu was somewhat distracted. The more she thought about it, the more she felt something was wrong. The whole thing seemed like a trap that Gu Sui had set for her long ago, and all the hard work she had put into preparing the materials had been wasted.
After signing the contract and seeing Luo Wei off, Shang Shu and Gu Sui stood at the door, looking at each other in bewilderment.
"You, I..." Shang Shu didn't know how to start speaking for a long time. She was a dignified and eloquent CEO in public, but she was always forced to stutter in front of Gu Sui.
"Won't Mr. Shang show me around the company? After all, we'll be colleagues for a long time to come."
Gu Sui emphasized the words "colleague" and "affairs," then looked at Shang Shu with amusement.
"You did this on purpose." Shang Shu gritted her teeth, but there was nothing she could do about it.
Song Lan followed behind her with a tablet and began reporting on the project: "President Shang, Director Li has sent over the initial draft of the shooting plan and script, and would like to schedule a time to discuss the design of the jewelry to be featured on screen with the main creative team."
"Okay, first finalize the specific time with Li Xian, and let her take the lead in everything." Shang Shu instructed in a deep voice. She understood the value of Li Xian's project, and since she had finally managed to get it, she had to do it well.
"Okay, and regarding the Fall/Winter collection this season, the most popular items have garnered the most attention, with several core clients expressing interest in customization or collection. The pre-order rate is around 70%. In terms of client preferences, they still prefer intricate craftsmanship and limited editions, and there has been a significant increase in demand for personalized customization. Overall, the Fall/Winter collection has a solid position in the high-end market, and we can start preparing for other collections."
"Okay. Notify the design department to have a meeting this afternoon, and ask them to bring me the spring/summer sketches first."
After saying that, Shang Shu glanced at Gu Sui, who was following not far behind her: "Also, you can show the consultant around the company later."
Song Lan followed her gaze to Gu Sui and then responded.
Shang Shu returned to her office, while Gu Sui walked alongside Song Lan in the company, listening to her explain S&S's positioning and organizational structure.
"We just went to the jewelry showroom on the first floor, which is usually where they display core pieces, popular items, and the latest seasonal products. The second floor is the public relations department, and the third floor is the design department..."
"The top floor houses the president's office, secretary's office, and other administrative areas; your office is also on this floor."
Song Lan finished her introduction in one go, still maintaining a professional smile without changing her expression.
"Secretary Song, thank you for your hard work. I just ordered some coffee; could you please help distribute it to everyone later?" Gu Sui gave her a faint smile.
Song Lan smiled and replied, "President Gu, you're too kind."
Shang Shu devoted herself entirely to her work that morning, either reviewing documents or personally revising sketches.
When Song Lan brought the coffee Gu Sui had ordered to her, she finally looked up, though she rolled her eyes inwardly.
They say a new broom sweeps clean, and she certainly knows how to handle people.
Meanwhile, Gu Sui sneezed at the end of the corridor. She was strolling around leisurely, but the employees of S&S were in an uproar.
"Hey, that guy just now looks like the new consultant from the Light Mirror. I heard his surname is Gu."
"I heard that the chairman of Guangjing Group is surnamed Gu. Do you think she might actually be a member of the group's family?"
"It's possible, but putting everything else aside, she's just too beautiful!"
"Yeah, yeah, tall and thin, looks like he's 172cm, but he seems a bit aloof?"
"What do you know? She's a cool and aloof mature woman, guaranteed to be popular, okay?"
"What an amazing company we have! The CEO is handsome enough, and now we have another stunning beauty. We're in for a treat!"
The young girls chatted excitedly, one after another.
Gu Sui arrived at Shang Shu's office door, glanced at the closed door, checked the time, and then ran into Song Lan, who had just returned from a meeting called by the design department.
"Doesn't your CEO eat?" Gu Sui asked.
Song Lan nodded, "This is how President Shang is when he's busy; it's just a personal habit." After saying that, her gaze towards Gu Sui subtly changed, and she felt even more that she had arranged the office location for Gu Sui quite well.
Gu Sui nodded slightly and left the company directly. She drove to the waterfront villa, which was her previous residence before she moved in with Gu Qi and her daughter. Since she had mentioned moving back a couple of days ago, she started having people clean and prepare.
"Second Miss." The butler, who was tidying up, couldn't help but feel a little puzzled when he saw Gu Sui arrive at this time.
Gu Sui responded softly, changed her shoes, and went straight to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and looked inside: "Are all the ingredients fresh?"
The butler replied respectfully, "Yes, I heard you might be coming back to stay today. These were just delivered this morning. Would you like to cook for yourself, Miss?"
"Hmm." Gu Sui glanced around at the ingredients in the refrigerator and picked out a few items to place aside.
Seeing that she was going to do it herself, the housekeeper didn't interfere and went to the side to continue tidying up.
Although she had a housekeeper when she was abroad, Gu Sui still preferred to cook some home-style dishes herself, especially after living with Shang Shu, so her cooking skills were quite good.
Before long, Gu Sui had prepared two dishes and a soup. She looked at her work with satisfaction. Although it wasn't particularly luxurious, it was enough to satisfy the two of them.
"Knock knock knock".
"Come in." Shang Shu thought it was Song Lanye, and after saying "Come in," she didn't even look up. After waiting for a long time but not hearing the familiar opening remarks, she finally raised her eyes.
Gu Sui walked in leisurely, placing the various insulated bags she was carrying on the coffee table. She glanced at the coffee on Shang Shu's table that hadn't been touched, and then took out the lunchboxes and arranged them neatly.
"Mr. Gu, this is my office, not the cafeteria." Shang Shu said irritably, turning her head to look at the steam rising slowly from the lunchbox. Smelling the aroma of the food, she couldn't help but swallow. She hadn't eaten all day, but she kept telling herself that she had to have an iron will and absolutely couldn't be as pathetic as she was last night.
Even the toughest tongue can't stop the relentless slap in the face.
Shang Shu's stomach made a loud "gurgling" sound at an inopportune moment.
How embarrassing...
Shang Shu wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into immediately, no matter how big or small the crack was.
"Alright, come here quickly." Gu Sui looked at her with a smile, his eyes full of doting affection.
"It's not takeout, I just made it when I got home. Try it and see if it suits your taste."
Shang Shu certainly saw it, and the answer to that question was, of course, "yes," since Gu Sui had captured not only her heart but also her stomach back then.
Gu Sui just watched quietly as she ate herself into a little hamster.
Shang Shu's mouth was stuffed full before she realized that she was the only one wolfing down her food. Remembering Gu Sui's gastroenteritis, she swallowed and said awkwardly, "If you keep staring at me, I won't eat anymore."
"Alright, since you care about me so much, how can I not eat?" Gu Sui gently picked up another pair of chopsticks, picked up some vegetables and ate a few bites.
Shang Shu rolled her eyes at her, but for the sake of the delicious food, she couldn't be bothered to argue with her.
After a satisfying meal, Shang Shu quickly applied some lipstick and was about to get up for a meeting when Gu Sui followed her closely behind.
"I have to go to a meeting." She stopped at the door and turned to look at Gu Sui with suspicion.
"They really do take advantage of you and leave without a trace," Gu Sui said, raising an eyebrow with a calm expression.
Upon hearing this, Shang Shu's face flushed red. She thought Gu Sui was teasing her, and she retorted, "But isn't someone still eager to be devoured by me?"
Gu Sui slowly approached, and just as Shang Shu was about to reach the door, he reached out to protect her head and chuckled, "I was talking about eating, what are you talking about?"
Then, she leaned closer to Shang Shu's ear and breathed softly, "Even when President Shang is in her office..."
"Gu, Sui!" Shang Shu covered her mouth with her hand. Although the office door was soundproof, that was not a reason for her to be so unrestrained.
If Shang Shu's eating manners just now resembled those of a hamster, then at this moment she was clearly a bristling, self-perceived ferocious beast.
Gu Sui withdrew at the opportune moment, avoiding getting into trouble. After taking a few steps back, she said casually, "Let's go, let's go to the meeting."
Shang Shu straightened her clothes and said with a displeased look, "I'm in a meeting, what are you going to do there?"
"I understand the design scheme and promotional strategy; after all, I can't be a resident consultant for nothing." Gu Sui said calmly, as if he had been prepared all along.
Shang Shu, on the other hand, couldn't find any reason why this motive was unreasonable. She pushed open the door, muttered "Whatever," and then walked away gracefully in her high heels.
"We take 'floral blooms' as the core of our design, using the tension of lines, the layering of colors, and gemstone inlay..."
"Stop for a moment." Shang Shu frowned and interrupted the design team members' endless report. After listening for a long time, she realized that the designs they were working on for spring and summer were nothing more than flower and ocean elements, with no originality whatsoever.
"Have you seen Denali's Spring/Summer collection from two years ago?" Shang Shu asked in a deep voice.
"No...no..."
"What about Louisian's from last year?"
"I..." The designer's voice trailed off in fright.
“I know market research isn’t within your job scope, but as a professional, you should always pay attention to industry trends and have basic market sensitivity, instead of working in isolation. Next,” Shang Shu said in a serious, cold voice.
The criticized designer, Li Yun, bit her lip and sat back down in her seat. The people behind her also became nervous, and some even made changes on the spot.
"The core of spring/summer designs is lightness and fluidity, coupled with current trending keywords such as colored gemstones, light weight, and layering." Shang Shu stood up and evaluated and summarized the results of the presentation.
"The 'flowing light' theme you just mentioned is pretty good. We can promote a modular design, using yellow diamonds as the main stone, with an oval cut and pavé setting to create a light and shadow refraction effect... Everyone go back and polish the rest, and show me the latest version next week."
Gu Sui sat at the end of the round table, her gaze fixed on Shang Shu. She used to enjoy watching Shang Shu draw, admiring her immersion and seriousness.
As Gu Sui watched her speak eloquently and professionally to the design team, a sense of satisfaction welled up within him.
It turns out that she is no longer the girl who would sob in her own arms because she couldn't draw her sketches well. Now, she has transformed into a woman with independent insights who can freely shine for her dreams.
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