Chapter 16, "Is it related to Miss Wen?"...
Everyone around breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that it was just because of a necklace.
Kiki found the velvet box, walked behind Wenjia, and put it on her head.
Wen Jia strictly adhered to the dress code for tonight's red carpet, avoiding overly elaborate styling. As a result, she wore no other jewelry. At that moment, the sapphire necklace dangled around her neck, standing out even more against the backdrop of her simple white dress.
At 4:30 p.m., the photo shoot officially came to an end, and the retouchers started working on the spot, trying to generate some buzz on Weibo before the red carpet event officially began.
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Meanwhile, inside the board office of Yunxi Technology.
A repairman's hand pressed the internal button on the landline.
Five minutes later, Lin Youzhe knocked on the door of the board's office.
"Come in."
A deep male voice came through the heavy wooden door.
Lin Youzhe pushed open the door and walked in, standing respectfully in front of the desk, ready to obey any orders.
Hearing his footsteps stop, Xu Shaoting casually shifted his gaze from the computer screen to him, glanced at him briefly, and then looked away. "The necklace has been delivered?"
Lin Youzhe nodded.
Xu Shaoting nodded. "Which restaurant did you book tonight?"
“Sky Pavilion,” Lin Youzhe added thoughtfully, “has already spoken with the restaurant manager and cleared the area as you requested.”
Seeing Xu Shaoting's satisfied expression, Lin Youzhe then reported on another matter. He placed the few sheets of paper he was holding on the desk and pushed them toward Xu Shaoting, "The person you asked me to investigate last time."
Xu Shaoting paused slightly, his attention shifting from his work. He completely looked away from the computer screen and picked up the document with two fingers.
Lin Youzhe observed his expression for a while, then boldly began to speculate on the emperor's intentions, "Is it related to Miss Wen?"
Xu Shaoting calmly looked at the contents of the paper, his gaze unwavering, and without even looking up. "Why do you ask that?"
Lin Youzhe smiled, "This is the first time you've asked me to investigate someone."
Xu Shaoting looked down at the document and ignored him.
"This is the first time she's asked me to deliver a necklace."
Xu Shaoting still ignored him.
Lin Youzhe wasn't stupid; he could naturally sense that his boss treated Wen Jia differently, and so he couldn't help but think of another matter that was troubling him.
"Actually, Chairman, he contacted me about two weeks ago." Lin Youzhe stammered as he spoke, his palms sweating.
"What did you say this time?"
Xu Shaoting smiled faintly, neatly folded the documents in his hand, and gently tossed them onto the table.
He seemed to have no interest in Lin Youzhe's words at all, but was completely focused on the document he had just been looking at. Asking Lin Youzhe a question was just a subconscious action, or perhaps a polite gesture.
"Chairman, the chairman said..."
Xu Shaoting was a little impatient. "Just say what you have to say."
Lin Youzhe steeled his heart, closed his eyes, and said, "The chairman mentioned your engagement to me."
In fact, Lin Youzhe hadn't finished speaking, but he didn't dare to say anything more.
When the topic of the engagement came up, one father became anxious and blushed, while the other remained silent. He had witnessed this firsthand.
Lin Youzhe didn't tell Xu Shaoting any of the details of how the chairman brought it up, how he pressured him, or how he hinted at it.
Heaven knows how torn Lin Youzhe was. On one side was his boss, and on the other was his boss's father. Logically, he should help Xu Shaoting; emotionally, he should help Xu Bozheng. Officially, as Xu Shaoting's secretary, he had no right to inquire about his boss's private life; personally, he couldn't ignore Xu Bozheng's words.
Lin Youzhe felt as if he were trapped between two cold, hard iron walls, completely blocked and unable to move forward or backward.
Only after getting to the bottom of it did he feel a great sense of relief.
Although Lin Youzhe didn't say everything, the two understood each other implicitly. Xu Shaoting said considerately, "I'm sorry to have troubled you by reminding me."
Lin Youzhe naturally knew that Xu Shaoting's "sympathetic words" were not easy to respond to. He nodded respectfully once again and left the office in silence.
At 5:30 pm, Wenjia Studio's official Weibo account released a set of photos of the red carpet departure.
The eighteen photos were taken by a well-known photographer who captured the atmosphere of light and shadow perfectly. In one of them, Wen Jia stands by the window, looking out. Sunlight shines on her permed black hair, making the slightly curled ends sparkle. She is turned to the side, and her amber eyes appear even more clear and deep because of the sunlight.
This is just one of the highlights of this picture.
Another highlight is the heated discussion in the comments section after the images were released.
The sapphire necklace around her neck.
In fact, people weren't shocked by the necklace's design, nor were they concerned about its price. The most discussed topic was the brand of the necklace.
[You read that right, this is a Helios limited edition!]
My fashion resources are still amazing.
My sister is quietly doing big things, haha. She secured a sponsorship from Helios but didn't promote it at all; she just quietly started wearing them.
I remember this brand. Many celebrities in the industry tried to get it as a spokesperson, but none of them succeeded, including my idol… Turns out it was taken by her. I envy her career. Please take over for my idol!
On the way to the red carpet venue in the van, Wen Jia and Yu Kaiqing huddled together, scrolling through the comments one by one.
"Actually, I don't quite understand why Chairman Xu gave you the necklace." Yu Kaiqing always spoke frankly; if she didn't understand, she didn't understand, and she didn't beat around the bush or try to get information out of you.
"I don't know either," Wen Jia said more directly than her.
"Why are you still wearing it?"
Wen Jia said something that Yu Kaiqing found hard to understand: "As long as Zhou Jingcheng can see it, that's fine."
Yu Kaiqing rolled her eyes, seemingly understanding but not quite, "What do you mean?"
Wen Jia hesitated for a moment, wondering whether she should explain to her, but in the end she dismissed her with just two words: "It's nothing."
Half an hour later, as the first Alphard minivan pulled up in front of the red carpet, the VERSO Star Charity Night kicked off on time.
Photographers, lighting panels, flashlights—the live streaming equipment was all ready, set up high on both sides of the red carpet, solely for the guests.
The car door opened, and a high heel landed on the red carpet.
Jiang Zhao slowly leaned out of the car. She didn't seem to be fully used to being surrounded by the spotlight, nor was she quite used to walking the red carpet. Her movements as she got out of the car were hesitant and timid. After taking off her shawl, she covered her chest and then lifted her skirt and tossed her hair. She stood by the car door for almost four or five minutes before a staff member quietly reminded her, and only then did she seem to wake up from a dream and step inside.
Jiang Zhao was delayed by a few minutes, and the order of the guests' appearances was calculated in seconds. The second car stopped in front of the red carpet as planned.
The staff on site knew the order of appearance. He pressed down on the Bluetooth headset in his ear and notified the others, "Teacher Wen is coming soon. Camera one, camera two, and the live broadcast camera, don't worry about those over there, bring all the cameras over here!"
In an instant, the second black car was illuminated by the flashing lights, the light spots falling on the car like raindrops on the ground, rising and falling in a staggered pattern, with a continuous series of clicks.
As the car door opened, Wen Jia glanced out with almost premonition, and as expected, she saw a familiar figure not far away.
really.
Jiang Zhao had only walked halfway down the red carpet.
Wen Jia sighed almost inaudibly.
She couldn't linger at the car door; she needed to give the other guests time and space.
She strode onto the red carpet with a composed gait. In fact, she had been forcing herself to walk slowly enough to avoid bumping into Jiang Zhao in front of her.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Zhao caught a glimpse of Wen Jia approaching out of the corner of his eye. Instead of speeding up, he deliberately slowed down, and finally stopped pretending altogether, turning around and walking directly towards Wen Jia.
The voices of staff members could be heard from both sides of the red carpet, but Jiang Zhaoquan pretended not to hear them.
Wen Jia watched her approaching figure, her heart caught off guard, but she didn't show it on her face.
She only stopped completely when Jiang Zhao got very close. Now the two of them were exposed to the spotlight, watched by countless viewers on both sides of the red carpet and even on the live broadcast channel.
Wen Jia forced a smile, her voice low and discreet, "What's wrong with you?"
Afraid of being photographed with an unnatural expression, Jiang Zhao kept a straight face and spoke, so her words were not very clear. "Sister, I'm a little nervous," she said, putting her hands on Wen Jia's arms.
Regardless of their acting skills, both of them were giving it their all at this moment, so to outsiders, this scene seemed to be a surprise gift from a pair of sisters in the industry who love and hate each other.
As a result, the chat on the live stream channel started to get agitated:
【kswl! kswl】
[What are you shipping? Weren't there rumors that they didn't get along on set?]
[Is this just hearsay? It's just marketing accounts making things up to grab attention. If they weren't on good terms, would they still be holding hands?]
I'll ship two men together, and I'll also ship two women together.
[Oh my god, is it just my imagination? Sister Wen looks so much like a senior in the entertainment industry next to Jiang Zhao. [starry-eyed]]
The two were unaware of these absurd revelries.
Sister Wen glanced at Jiang Zhao's arms wrapped in his own, let out a barely audible sigh of relief, and seeing the slightly troubled expression on the person beside her, she said in a very calm voice, "Follow me."
Jiang Zhao's heart, which had been in her throat, finally settled down. She clung tightly to Wen Jia, refusing to let go.
Perhaps their actions added a touch of surprise to the formal and solemn red carpet, as cheers gradually rose from the crowd.
Hearing the noise, the two walked to the backdrop and stood there, letting the photographer take pictures for five minutes. When Wen Jia noticed another van coming into her peripheral vision, she whispered a reminder before leading Jiang Zhao off the red carpet and backstage.
As the staff member passed by, Wen Jia stopped her and cautiously asked about the time. The staff member replied, "Exactly ten minutes, not overtime," and she instantly breathed a sigh of relief.
Just ten minutes earlier, the moment she stepped onto the red carpet, a Maybach with consecutive license plates was sliding out of the underground parking lot of Yunxi Technology.
Lin Youzhe always drove smoothly. After a moment of silence in the car, he heard a cryptic and concise question from the back seat:
Where can I usually watch red carpet live streams?
"What?" Lin Youzhe was so startled that he slammed on the brakes.
Xu Shaoting frowned. "What? Drive more carefully."
Lin Youzhe didn't dare to neglect him, "What red carpet?"
That was a very pertinent question. Wen Jia only told Xu Shaoting that she was going to walk the red carpet, but didn't say what kind of red carpet it was.
A rare look of confusion appeared on Xu Shaoting's usually calm face.
Lin Youzhe noticed his hesitation in the rearview mirror and quickly added, "Red carpet live streams are usually on Weibo."
Xu Shaoting hesitated for a moment, then said, "Lend me your phone."
Lin Youzhe held the steering wheel firmly with one hand and handed his phone to the back of his head with the other.
Xu Shaoting took his phone, opened Weibo, and, looking at the dazzling page, fumbled to find VERSO's live stream channel.
With a large audience, network lag, slightly noisy background noise, and a variety of comments on the screen, Xu Shaoting frowned, cleared the screen, and patiently glanced out the window from his car.
Turning back, the screen froze at the moment Wen Jia stepped out of the car. He first lowered his eyes and stared at her for two seconds, not paying much attention to the sapphire on her chest. But when he saw the semi-transparent dress Wen Jia was wearing, he immediately frowned.
What kind of clothes are these?!
A note from the author:
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Xu: I want to be jealous, but I have no title, no status, and no right to be.
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