Chapter 63 Too Sharp-Tongued, No Wife, Brother, Congratulations on your wedding! ...
Zhu Qingzhi wasn't quite sure how she fell asleep; in any case, she woke up the next day at noon.
Wen Qi must have helped her wash up; she's already changed into a new nightgown. Her mind is foggy, and her back is really about to break.
What a scoundrel.
Zhu Qingzhi reached for her phone and noticed a light pink sticky note on the bedside lamp: [Lunch will be delivered downstairs at 11:30. Remember to eat when you wake up.]
Okay, that's quite thoughtful.
Zhu Qingzhi habitually folded the sticky notes into paper cranes and set them aside as a display, then picked up her phone. Several missed calls from Gu Qiao popped up on the screen. She called back, and the other end answered quickly, opening with a lewd "hehe."
Zhu Qingzhi: "..."
No, she can't.
"You're awake, Chaochao, my darling." Gu Qiao hadn't gotten out of bed yet, still wrapped in the blanket with a gossipy look on her face. "Now I really have to ask you, what did you do last night?"
Zhu Qingzhi turned on speakerphone, tossed the phone aside, and calmly and coldly replied with a "hehe".
"Hahahahahahahaha." Zhu Qingzhi truly lived up to her reputation as a born abstract saint, making Gu Qiao laugh so hard she pounded the bed. "When I called you yesterday, your phone was off, and I knew something was wrong, but out of muscle memory, I called three more times. Oh dear, I hope I didn't bother you? But it should be fine, I don't think you were affected."
She's such a hypocrite. Zhu Qingzhi was too lazy to move or speak, only letting out a few soft hums in response.
Gu Qiao was really into it, rattling off a whole bunch of questions that were definitely censored, and finally ending with, "Give me two invitations to Katrina's press conference."
Now it was Zhu Qingzhi's turn to get excited. She wasn't lazy anymore, her voice wasn't hoarse, and she even pressed her face against the phone: "Tell me about it."
Gu Qiao rolled her eyes: "It's nothing. My future sister-in-law likes Katrina's chief designer, so I'm just trying to make a good impression on my brother."
It seems that Gu Huaichuan is indeed going to get engaged to the eldest daughter of the Qi family, and it would be appropriate for them to cultivate their relationship before marriage.
"I'll send it to you via same-city express delivery right away." Zhu Qingzhi grabbed her phone and sent a WeChat message to Dani, then confirmed with Gu Qiao again, "Just two? Aren't you going?"
"No matter how tough life gets, we can't let our children suffer; no matter how poor we are, we can't neglect their education; and no matter how much we forget, we can't forget our best friends! Zhu Qingzhi, you're truly amazing! They say that once you have a wife, you forget your mother; I think you've forgotten me once you have a man!"
"No, I..." Zhu Qingzhi's voice was hoarse, and she couldn't finish her sentence.
"Don't you have any conscience? I don't care about that deadbeat brother of mine!" Gu Qiao seemed to have really lost her temper, and hurriedly said, "You pay for the errand!" before quickly hanging up the phone.
Zhu Qingzhi: "..."
Is it worth it for a few dozen yuan for a delivery fee? Besides, if you don't care, there are plenty of others who will, like her brother.
[Katrina's invitation, two copies.] Lu Yao's WeChat messages are concise and clear, but almost every word is filled with gossip.
Zhu Qingzhi replied instantly: 【Okay.】
Lu Yao: [Don't let yourself be led by the nose by small favors.]
Zhu Qingzhi knew exactly what he was talking about, and felt rather guilty. Then her phone chimed: 10 million yuan had been deposited into her bank account.
She beamed, and her smooth, sweet voice message popped out: 【Of course, thank you, brother~】
But she didn't expect Lu Yao's reply to be not the usual "Get lost," but rather, "Brother wishes you a happy marriage."
Lu Yao's sudden display of affection stunned Zhu Qingzhi, and a mix of indescribable joy and grievance welled up within her.
Although "extreme joy begets sorrow" isn't used like this, her eyes were genuinely stinging. Zhu Qingzhi suppressed the urge to cry and didn't continue down the sentimental route: 【Not giving a gift?】
After the siblings bickered for about a dozen rounds, Zhu Qingzhi finally got out of bed.
She wandered into the bathroom and glanced at herself in the mirror. Apart from a small mark on her chest, the rest of her body was riddled with hidden wounds, a pain etched deep into her bones. She didn't know whether to praise him for his "restraint" or his "cunning."
At that moment, she suddenly realized a problem: she didn't seem to have used protection the night before. This was a mistake she couldn't take lightly; one wrong step could ruin her life.
She was startled and immediately called Wen Qi.
Wen Qi answered quickly, his voice sounding a little hoarse: "Awake?"
Zhu Qingzhi didn't care about anything else now, and asked without any hesitation: "Did you wear it last night?"
The meeting was nearing its end, and everyone was waiting for Wen Qi to adjourn, so the meeting room was almost so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Zhu Qingzhi's powerful "question" was very clear, as if it came from a loudspeaker.
Xiao Ao, who was playing the PowerPoint presentation next to Wen Qi, heard it most clearly.
What to wear? What can I wear at night? A hat, of course. But is that something I can just say?
He dared not breathe too loudly, only daring to glance at Wen Qi's expression.
Wen Qi lowered his eyes, his expression unreadable. Leaning back against the chair, he appeared relaxed and showed no sign of discomfort, yet his hand holding the pen paused slightly.
He then raised his hand, signifying the end of the meeting.
The executives in the conference room were running faster than ever before; even the public relations manager, whose left leg was in a cast, was jumping like he was doing the Olympic long jump. Xiao Ao was no exception, but being the president's assistant, he considerately closed the door behind him.
This series of actions, performed smoothly, lasted only a few dozen seconds, but Zhu Qingzhi on the other side had already begun to experience a rapid-fire replay of her life.
"Are you even listening to me?!"
Wen Qi tapped his fingers lightly on the table twice, then took a breath: "I've put it on."
"Oh, that's good then." Zhu Qingzhi breathed a sigh of relief, but suddenly felt something was off. "What were you doing just now? Why weren't you saying anything?"
"Yes, I was in a meeting just now."
Zhu Qingzhi: "...?"
Wait a minute, something feels off, and his reaction just now was weird too. Could it be... that he heard us?
Her cheeks suddenly turned bright red in the mirror, making her look like the little fire person from Fire and Ice.
Wen Qi suddenly asked, his voice as soft as a cloud: "Don't you remember anything from yesterday?"
What could she remember? She felt that apart from the heat generated by friction, all her other senses were almost failing, but she didn't want to admit it.
"No, not exactly..."
"Remember what?" Wen Qi gently traced her eyebrows with her finger, then proceeded to elaborate, "Remember me bathing you? Remember me feeding you water? Remember you crying and saying you loved me?"
"...Don't talk nonsense!"
This is pure fabrication! She can't even hum a tune, how could she possibly speak?
"Then what do you remember?" Wen Qi closed the folder in front of him, stood up, and his vague smile stimulated Zhu Qingzhi's ears.
She was displeased: "Is the meeting over? So much talk!"
"Yeah, you scared them all away."
Zhu Qingzhi: "..."
Men really do change every day. Yesterday he was indulging her every whim, but today he's arguing with her every word.
She leaned closer to the microphone, her voice sweet and coquettish: "Mr. Wen, do you know that having a sharp tongue can make you single?"
*
At 2 PM, Zhu Qingzhi arrived at Chaoxing.
As they passed the photo studio, Lu Yizhao had just finished her solo photoshoot. Her bright red, ruffled, fitted long dress accentuated her alluring charm. Their eyes met, and for the first time, Lu Yizhao smiled and nodded in greeting. Zhu Qingzhi didn't embarrass her.
Recently, Wen's business has been very busy, and Yang Qing has been unable to handle many of Chaoxing's affairs personally. Most of them have been delegated to specific personnel. This time, the task of shooting the New Year posters was assigned to the publicity department.
The director of the publicity department is named Peng Ran. She is not old, but she has strong interpersonal skills. Dani has dealt with her a few times and has a high opinion of her.
The difficulty of this group poster shoot lies in the positioning. Zhu Qingzhi is undoubtedly the center, but other artists also need to be taken into consideration, especially the veteran artist Zhou Qifeng. Therefore, Yang Qing put a lot of thought into handing this hot potato to her.
Zhu Qingzhi had just finished applying her base makeup when Peng Ran came over: "Qingzhi, long time no see."
She wanted to turn around and greet her, but the makeup artist Xiaoling directly poked her eyelids with a brush to do her eye makeup. Helpless, Zhu Qingzhi could only greet Peng Ran with half-closed eyes.
Peng Ran didn't continue with pleasantries. She handed Dani a document and went straight to the point: "Regarding the New Year poster shoot, we've designed this positioning diagram. Do you have any complaints?"
Dani took it, glanced at it, and then handed it to Zhu Qingzhi.
"Has the positioning plan been changed again? What's the reason?" Dani wasn't one to nitpick. This plan was almost identical to the one from last night, but since there had been changes, she had to find out the details.
Zhu Qingzhi had no objections; the words "I'm fine with anything" were already on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them back as soon as she heard Dani speak.
"It's not a major change. We took into account the clothing coordination and moved Teacher Zhou's position to the center. Shuang Qing was moved from next to Qing Zhi to next to Teacher Zhou, and Qing Zhi's position was only slightly off-center." Peng Ran looked frankly. "If you are not satisfied, we can make further adjustments, but we need to do it as soon as possible."
Dani was a little unhappy with these words.
What do you mean by "adjustments can be made if there are any unsatisfactory aspects"? And "as soon as possible"? Zhu Qingzhi's position was indeed only slightly off-center, but the overall visual focus was completely different.
Peng Ran may not have had any ulterior motives, but using "clothing matching" as an excuse really makes her seem like a fool.
"Can't the outfits be changed? Why do you insist on moving them?" Dani couldn't get angry, so she pretended to be considerate. "Is there some other reason? Director Peng, please tell me."
“I didn’t mean anything by it, this is just business.” Peng Ran glanced at the time, gave an apologetic smile, and turned to leave. “I have other plans, so please contact me as soon as possible if you have any objections.”
After Peng Ran left, Dani held back for a while, and only launched her belated attack after all the other artists in the dressing room had left: "It's not that we have to fight, after all, we're all from the same company, but this kind of favoritism is really undignified. You're no good at being the boss's wife."
Chaoxing was a small, marginal company in the entertainment industry, but after signing Zhu Qingzhi, it transformed into a resource powerhouse, providing her with top-tier resources, including logistical support. It's not surprising that there were complaints within the company, and some executives and artists were dissatisfied with her.
Previously, with Yang Qing protecting them, no one dared to cause trouble, and they did an excellent job of putting on a good show. But now that they finally had the chance to "turn the tables and sing their own songs," they naturally wanted to unite and "fight the landlord."
Xiaoling is a long-time member of Zhu Qingzhi's studio. She arrived a little earlier today and listened to a bunch of nonsense. She had a lot of pent-up anger inside and nowhere to vent it, and now she really couldn't hold back anymore.
"Sister, I'm not trying to cause trouble, but these people are really unethical." She threw the brush down. "You know what? They all say you're a gold digger! And that you're doing sex work! If there weren't some things I can't say, I would have fought them long ago."
"No wonder you were all puffed up like a pufferfish when I came in." Zhu Qingzhi pinched her cheek, smiling as she soothed her, "It would break my heart if you got really upset~"
“Why don’t we just go public? The truth will eventually come out. The topic of ‘fireworks proposal’ is still trending on social media. It’ll be exposed sooner or later.” Dani sighed, seriously considering the issue of going public.
Dani grew angrier the more she thought about it. She crumpled the position chart on the table and threw it into the trash can. Turning her head, she saw Zhu Qingzhi looking down at her phone. Exasperated, she poked her head and said, "I'm talking to you, didn't you hear me?"
Zhu Qingzhi put down her phone and rubbed her sore neck: "Okay, let's wait and see."
-----------------------
Author's Note: Kiyoshi [Glasses]: Turning evil.
Wen Qi [melted]: [Scared][Scared][Scared]
Gu Qiao [cracked]: I'm very angry.
Lu Yao [helplessly]: What else could this be but a money-grubber?
Ah Mei [dog head holding a rose]: My dear Miss Zhu, I have high hopes for you!
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