Chapter 86 Chapter 86 She gave it to me.
Xin Tong returned home around nine in the evening. There were no new messages on WeChat.
The other party should have been home by now, but there was no message. The chat box between the two of them was still frozen in the cold record left over from the previous two weeks of the cold war.
She dropped her phone and went to take a bath. She had a comfortable sleep, drifting off into the next morning. She got up to drink some water, then leaned against the kitchen doorframe and opened her phone.
Her eyes couldn't adapt to the light for a while, and the light from the screen shone on her face. Xin Tong frowned and yawned, drinking water while moving her fingers downwards.
The next second, something suddenly flashed before my eyes.
She paused, then stood up straight.
She blinked, and the blurry text on the phone screen became clear before her eyes.
A familiar profile picture posted a new status in his empty circle of friends at 2:30 am last night.
Simple, just two words.
"Gift."
There are nine pictures below.
I clicked on it and saw that it was all about that necklace. Photos of it facing forward, sideways, left, right, inside out, in its box, out of its hand, facing the light, and wearing it around my neck in front of a mirror.
Exactly nine.
Yu Chengjin commented: Very beautiful.
Jiang Chongyan replied: So be it.
Cheng Qi: Who sent the gift?
Jiang Chongyan:.
Cheng Rui: I guess it’s Sister Xin Tong.
Jiang Chongyan: Yes.
Yang Zheng from the BEGIN dance team: It’s just so-so, not as good-looking as your previous one. Why did you take so many pictures?
Jiang Chongyan: Turn left when you go out and go to the ophthalmology department.
…
Xin Tong looked at her phone for a long time.
Finally, holding the cup of water, I laughed out loud in the kitchen alone.
*
After lunch, Xin Tong headed straight for her studio and locked herself in. All company matters had been arranged in a meeting yesterday; with Ji Ning around, it wasn't a big deal. Xin Tong sat at her computer, a mess of colorful design drafts spread out before her, her fingers tangled in her hair, her mind a turmoil.
The autumn and winter plan failed at the order meeting.
She wanted to find out the reason for the failure, make corrections, and hold another order meeting.
Before his own cold war, Jiang Chongyan said he felt this autumn/winter collection was too self-indulgent and lacked brand identity. If it strayed too far from the women's suit category, it would simply become lost in the crowd.
At that time, Xin Tong disagreed with Jiang Chongyan's point of view.
Because the core characteristic of a hit product is that it is not picky about gender, body shape, or age, this is the logic that makes it most likely to become a hit. Coupled with the fact that the economy has been tough in recent years, and people are generally wearing loose and conservative clothing, Xin Tong doesn't think there's anything wrong with her approach.
But now, Xin Tong seemed to suddenly understand what Jiang Chongyan meant.
What he meant was that if you try to please every category, you will end up being neither fish nor fowl.
A hit product does need to be popular, but since it is a women’s suit, it must be different.
But wasn’t Kelly’s Spring/Summer collection also successful after making innovations and changes?
Why were they successful in the spring and summer, but why did they fail this time when they continued on the same old path and even developed new things?
Xin Tong suddenly realized that although Chun Xia Ji was her completely successful comeback, she seemed not to fully understand the reason for Chun Xia Ji's success.
Xin Tong leaned back in her computer chair.
The studio was bright and spacious. The early summer sun streamed in through the windows, white gauze curtains fluttering in the wind. Several pots of pink roses were in full bloom by the window, their rich fragrance filling the quiet air.
It's quiet around.
While she was thinking, the only sounds around her were the wind and birdsong. The sunlight shone on half of her face, and the fine hairs were transparent. She was the only one left in the world.
She locked herself in her studio, staring blankly at a pile of design sketches. Her phone and tablet were all turned off and thrown aside. Spring and summer samples were piled on the sofa, and she lay there, burying herself in them, examining them one by one, pondering and comparing them bit by bit.
As night fell, she finally understood after a lot of analysis and comparison:
Spring and summer hit the pain point.
But autumn and winter went astray.
A key message flashed through her mind. The target audience couldn't be universal; it needed to be precisely targeted at working women between 20 and 40, with minimal clothing. Anyone who worked could be called a working woman, and everyone had the right to wear beautiful, well-dressed clothing.
Don’t think of a suit as a constraint, but as an expression of fashion spirit and attitude towards life.
This is exactly the spirit of the original British suit. It is also what Jiang Yuanbin, a decades-old tailor, said to her when she first walked into his studio eight months ago.
Thoughts emerged like a spring, and Xin Tong quickly recorded them on a piece of white paper.
After writing the last word, she threw the pen away and stared at her own messy and crazy handwriting that looked like a bear climbing a tree. She thought she had found Kelly's brand culture.
4:30 in the morning.
Xin Tong sorted out the brand culture, the sound of keyboard clacking rang out, and the new series "Flowers" came out.
Xin Tong regrouped and started from scratch with a new plan. She stayed up for two nights and brought her new plan to the company on the third morning.
The design department reprocessed and modified the clothes, and made samples. In just two weeks, they completed the design and modification of all the new autumn and winter styles. All the samples were delivered to the new order fair. The order volume dropped like snowflakes, and the autumn and winter order fair finally ended successfully at the end of May.
*
At the end of the ordering meeting, Xin Tong was so busy that she was exhausted, but she still had time to pay attention to Song Qingyun in her spare time.
Her birthday was coming soon, and Xin Tong ordered a little rabbit jade pendant for her. She was born in the Year of the Rabbit and was a few months older than Xin Tong.
The woman on the other side received the gift and said a few sweet words. She sounded very excited and immediately started shouting, "Xintong, Xintong, guess what I've been doing recently!"
I don’t know what happened to this stupid salty fish recently. After more than 20 years of idleness, I suddenly stood up and wanted to do a good graduation exhibition to give my four years of university a complete end.
Song Qingyun was so excited that he stopped watching TV series and going shopping. He buried himself in a pile of paint all day, running to the exhibition hall from time to time.
She chirped that she felt like she had finally found the meaning of life and a sense of belonging, and that doing something useful was much happier than lying around.
In the past, the two idiots hung out together all day long, but now both of them seem to be working hard for what they want to do. Song Qingyun feels that this feeling is really good.
Busy with exhibitions, Song Qingyun came home later and later, having long since broken the 10:00 curfew set by Song Tingfeng. Their relationship was frozen and cold, and he was possessive and controlling, not allowing Song Qingyun to do anything that went against his wishes.
Song Qingyun didn't know where he got the courage from, but he secretly picked up a bag in the middle of the night and ran away from home. He changed his cell phone and moved into a new house.
In the first few days after secretly moving out, Song Qingyun felt a mixture of fear and excitement. Only then did he realize that living a free life could be so happy.
He had not appeared in her life for several days. Song Qingyun gradually calmed down from the fear of being discovered. Perhaps she had really succeeded in her resistance.
The exhibition has reached its final stage and is basically completed.
A senior from the same department who had been following her graduation project came to visit and gently encouraged her on a job well done. Growing up, she had never heard much praise, so she was overjoyed and approached the senior to carefully ask for his advice.
The next second, the new phone in the bag suddenly rang.
It was an unknown number. She had been buying materials and things quite frequently recently, so she thought it was another courier. She answered and was told to just leave it at the door.
The other side laughed softly.
Song Qingyun froze in place, his fingertips numb.
She will never forget this laughter in her life.
"Xiaoyun."
The man's voice sounded simultaneously in the receiver and behind him.
Song Qingyun's face turned pale and she turned around tremblingly. She saw a black Bentley parked across the street. The man was tall and thin. He stood there, staring at her, holding the phone to his ear and smiling.
"She changed her phone number and phone number, ran away from home, thought she had gotten away, and even got together with a dubious man."
He spoke slowly and in a low voice, like a sharp blade on the horizon that was about to see the light as the sky began to brighten.
"Does Xiaoyun think that brother has a good temper?"
…
Song Qingyun didn't know why Song Tingfeng knew his new number and where he was at this moment.
She was taken back.
Song Tingfeng pressed the person down on the bed with a calm expression. He loosened his tie casually and kindly told her that all her electronic devices had been monitored and tracked.
Unfortunately, his patience was limited. He only admired her when she stood with other men, then he lost the fun of watching and came out to catch her back.
"So you think I have a good temper, don't you?"
Song Qingyun saw a sickly gloom in his eyes, like the black clouds on the sea before a storm.
"I used to think Xiaoyun was still young so I kept holding it in, but now it seems that there's no need to do so."
Song Qingyun opened her eyes wide in fear, her whole body trembling with resistance. She had never resisted so fiercely before, not in the first twenty years of her life, when she was constantly entangled and suppressed by the weak.
Rabbit bites. Song Tingfeng caressed her lips more excitedly. If she resisted Song Tingfeng under the bed, he would be angry, but he treated everything in bed as fun.
Song Qingyun despaired and realized that her anger and rejection were nothing in front of him. She suddenly felt that the person in front of her was so strange. This was not her brother, this was a man. Just a man.
When the last layer of clothes was stripped off his body, Song Qingyun suddenly stopped all resistance.
She lowered her eyelashes, returning to the weak and timid look she had in the previous twenty years. The hair on her forehead was wet with sweat, and her voice was trembling.
"elder brother."
"I'm having my period."
As expected, Song Tingfeng stopped.
The silk curtains blew in the evening breeze. Outside the window, a bright moon shone, its frost-like light scattering on her thin, damp, pale cheeks. She hid all her fear and despair, trembling as she spoke soothing words. "Brother, I'll be good," she said.
"Um."
Song Tingfeng responded calmly, got up from the bed, and let her go.
But before Song Qingyun could relax, he heard the man say casually:
"You know I don't like you going out."
"Do you think you'll become good if you do these things? You're a stupid kid, you've been since you were little. Just stay home and I'll give you everything."
His hands gently adjusted Song Qingyun's hair, and his tone was so natural as if he was discussing the weather.
"I've already contacted your college and school. You don't have to hold a graduation exhibition. Your diploma will be delivered to your home at the end of June."
Song Qingyun felt like he was falling into an icy cave.
"Me, my paintings..."
"Burned it."
"The man who spoke to you." Song Tingfeng smiled slowly, "He will never appear in your school again."
Song Qingyun seemed to be frozen.
The man left, and she was alone in the bedroom. The night was as dark as water, and the sky outside the window was full of stars.
There was a huge gash in Song Qingyun's heart, and cold wind rushed in, freezing her body stiff and making her feel disheartened.
She saw a photo of the two of them from their childhood placed on the table. The boy was handsome, with a pair of dark eyes. He had been tall since childhood. Holding her hand, he stood tall and straight, a clear and handsome man.
Wherever he went, he was the most handsome boy in class or school. He received piles of love letters, but in the end, they were all thrown away indifferently.
He looks exactly the same as he did when he was a child.
It just lost some of its youthfulness and became more mature and better looking.
Song Qingyun finally trembled at the sight of this beautiful face. She realized that the appearance, wealth, family affection, love, words of persuasion, and literary rhetoric were all malicious flattery, bewitching her, soothing her, injecting her with morphine-like tranquilizers. Only then did she realize Song Tingfeng's ugly face. For over a decade, she had been deceived into doing something immoral and filthy, and even implicated another innocent person.
Song Qingyun shed tears in confusion.
What should she do?
On TV, there are always shows of fallen girls crying while taking a bath after being assaulted, saying over and over again that they are dirty.
Song Qingyun felt the same way. She stiffly took off her clothes and tried to take a shower when she accidentally touched the little rabbit jade pendant hanging around her neck.
——That was given to her by Xin Tong.
It was cold at first, but became warm after wearing it for a long time.
"Look!"
"The Yangtze River, thousands of miles long, is all mine."
"My name is Xin Tong, Tong as in Wutong."
"This city is my city. This world is my world."
"Song Qingyun, how do you want to spend the next sixty years of your life?"
"Even fools have to live."
Song Qingyun stumbled out of bed, took out his cell phone and called Xin Tong.
The other side was filled with noise, and my bestie's laughter came through the receiver. "What's up? I'm having dinner here. The order meeting has successfully concluded, and Kelly Design Department is having a celebration party..."
"Xintong Xintong." Her voice was urgent.
"What's the matter?"
"Tell me, is my life not over yet?"
There was a commotion on the other side, with people laughing. Xin Tong's voice, tinged with electricity, became increasingly inaudible. Amidst the clinking of glasses, Song Qingyun heard someone on the other side say, "What are you talking about?"
"What do you mean your life isn't over yet?"
"Your life hasn't even begun yet."
Song Qingyun stood there in a daze, then slowly took the cool jade pendant around his neck into his palm.
She was only 22. Her life hadn't even begun.
That makes a lot of sense.
Song Qingyun hung up the phone and wiped away her tears. She didn't want to be sad anymore, she didn't want to cry anymore. She was preparing to do something big.
*
Xin Tong always felt that something was wrong with her recently and she was not feeling well.
I get inexplicable headaches, feel more and more sleepy every day, and my reactions become a little slow.
My heart would race, I'd feel sick all over, and my vision would suddenly go blurry. Sometimes, while walking down the street, I'd even get dizzy for a second or two.
These symptoms only occur when I'm outside. They never occur when I'm at home.
Recently in the summer, Xin Tong thought she was too tired and didn't take it seriously.
She'd been spending more and more time at home lately. Aunt Zhao's cooking skills had improved, and Xin Tong not only came home to stay from time to time, but also often went home for a few meals, and then enjoyed a small plate of lemon tart for dessert.
But the strange thing is that every time Xin Tong went back to eat, she would almost always run into He Tianqi.
What was even more annoying was that she once ran into He Tianqi asking Aunt Zhao when she would come back for dinner.
...the ghost lingers.
Xin Tong did her own thing, enjoying a table full of dishes by herself at the dinner table, ignoring the man, thinking that out of sight, out of mind.
When she met him in the kitchen, Xin Tong rolled her eyes and wanted to leave.
He Tianqi suddenly called her.
"Is it tasty?"
?
Xin Tong had been in a good mood recently because everything was going smoothly at the company. She didn't bother to argue with him and snorted coldly, "It's delicious. How could the food cooked by my own aunt not be delicious?"
Her words were full of ulterior motives and were full of sarcasm. She was ready to have a fight with this man.
But she didn't expect that He Tianqi was standing in front of her, staring at her face with his eyes downcast, as if thinking about something.
"It seems you really need it."
"You need me so much, sis."
Xin Tong looked at him as if he were a ghost.
"Who needs you?"
"You're crazy!" She cursed him and walked out.
*
All autumn and winter styles were handed over to the factory and production began.
Xin Tong emphasized that quality must be guaranteed, and the craftsmanship has also been greatly upgraded compared to the spring and summer models. After all, the autumn and winter models must be more prominent and lighter than the spring and summer models, and cannot be made bulky, which is very difficult.
The pattern was repeatedly revised, the craftsmanship was top-notch, and even the fabrics were expensive. The person in charge at the factory quietly pulled Xin Tong aside and said, "How dare you use such expensive materials? You're definitely losing money!"
The person in charge yelled, "I've been in this business for over ten years, and no one uses this! If you use it, you'll lose everything!"
Xin Tong shook his head and insisted:
“I’ll just use something this expensive.”
"You can make money by using something so expensive?" the other party was shocked.
Xin Tong had already read the cost report. Before she decided to use this material, many people repeatedly warned her that the cost was too high, and she hesitated and feared for a long time. But it wasn't until she saw the figures on the report that she realized they were well within her acceptable range.
It’s just that the atmosphere in the industry was too bad before, and people felt that not making a certain percentage of profit was equivalent to losing money.
In fact, even if such expensive materials are used, there is still profit to be made.
She nodded, her attitude firm.
"Just use this."
"Short-sighted pursuit of profit is the pursuit of one's own destruction."
At this time, the news that almost all the money for Kelly's autumn and winter order conference in May was refunded leaked out from somewhere.
Once anything is related to Xin Tong, it will quickly cause a stir in the circle.
Fu Zirui was the most excited.
His brand and Kelly's are direct competitors. He has long been dissatisfied with Kelly's comeback and has been spreading rumors and mocking it every few days.
"Thirty out of thirty-five models, and it's done like this, isn't this pure idiocy?"
"She really thinks she's a nobody!"
"Did you hear that Kelly's new fall/winter collection actually uses such expensive fabrics? Did Xin Tong finally go crazy ordering male models? She thinks she's some kind of artist after having a hit product, and now she needs to show gratitude and give back to the public?"
There were many different opinions from the outside world. Xin Tong ignored them all, running back and forth between the company and the factory every day, supervising the production process with Ai Ling.
In August, Kelly's new autumn and winter "Flower" series was finally completed and ready for pre-launch.
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