Chapter 42 "So soon you're going to sell me off?"...
Su Cheng tiptoed and took out a pair of small blue-and-white porcelain bowls from the cupboard. She filled them with steaming corn and pork rib soup, one for herself and the other next to Jiang Muzhou.
She picked up a piece of stewed pork rib that was so tender it fell off the bone with a gentle touch. She then sipped the soup, the sweet aroma of corn spreading across her tongue, followed by the rich flavor of the pork rib melting between her lips and teeth.
He had only been home for an hour, yet he managed to prepare such a delicious and visually appealing meal, especially the pork rib soup, which looked like it had taken a lot of effort.
Su Cheng recalled an elementary school math olympiad problem: Xiao Ming spends 5 minutes brushing his teeth and washing his face, 5 minutes boiling water, 3 minutes heating a sandwich, 3 minutes packing his schoolbag, 1 minute making milk, and 10 minutes eating breakfast. How can he arrange these tasks to minimize the time spent?
If the math olympiad problem were to become a reality, Jiang Muzhou would definitely time everything perfectly, brushing his teeth and washing his face while waiting for the water to boil, and then packing his schoolbag while heating up his sandwich.
Su Cheng's answer was simple and straightforward: she would cross out all the unnecessary options and happily stay in bed for another ten minutes.
"Oh, right, about Wei Manman, whom I mentioned to you before." After finishing half a bowl of soup, Su Cheng remembered the topic they hadn't finished discussing in the car. She gently stirred the soup with her spoon and lowered her voice, "She wants to talk to you about a collaboration."
Her beautiful peach blossom eyes curved into a smile, the corners of her eyes slightly raised, and her eyebrows lifted accordingly. "What? You're going to sell me off so soon?"
Su Cheng held up three fingers to her cheek, "May Heaven discern the loyal from the treacherous!"
"Their company makes domestic cosmetics and they're launching an intangible cultural heritage series next season. They want to collaborate with a popular blogger, so they asked me to ask you if you're available."
Jiang Muzhou put down his soup bowl and said succinctly, "This year's schedule is fully booked."
As a long-time fan of "Crossing," Su Cheng naturally knew Jiang Muzhou's dedication. Every piece of work was meticulously crafted, with great effort put into everything from the text to the editing.
Even the embedded advertisements fit the overall tone of the video, neither feeling abrupt to the audience nor being out of place. They blend naturally into the video content, appearing at just the right time and in the right way, without affecting the viewing experience at all.
So fans not only don't mind him taking on advertisements, but they are very supportive. Every time they see an advertisement, they will leave comments like "He should earn this money," which is a completely heartfelt endorsement.
Su Cheng had anticipated this outcome, but it was tough on Wei Manman. Although she held the title of product manager and was nominally part of the management team, she was actually responsible for everything from raw materials and packaging design to production and promotion.
She rested her chin on her hand, revealing an expression of mutual appreciation.
“However, our company has also signed other bloggers in the field of intangible cultural heritage.” Jiang Muzhou’s gaze fell on her lowered eyelashes, and he added, “We should be able to find some with suitable schedules.”
Su Cheng's eyes lit up, and the joy of helping others welled up within her.
Just as I was about to tell Wei Manman the good news, my fingers unconsciously tightened around my phone.
Should we simply hand over Jiang Muzhou's business card, or should she act as an intermediary to relay the message?
Su Cheng's brow furrowed slightly.
Even though I knew it was just a routine work-related exchange, a strange feeling inexplicably welled up inside me.
"Ahem." She lowered her eyes and coughed lightly as a tactic to cover up her distraction.
Just then, my phone screen lit up and a WeChat message popped up.
Jiang Muzhou pushed a contact's business card towards him.
The other person was using a gray anime male avatar that exuded a melancholic feel.
"Let her add Wang Yuemeng directly; they can handle the communication themselves," he said slowly and deliberately.
"Huh?" Su Cheng didn't react for a moment. "Aren't you in charge of business cooperation?"
Jiang Muzhou lifted his eyelids and replied with only two meaningful words:
"avoid arousing suspicion."
-
In September, the tail end of summer still lingers in Linhai City.
Although the calendar has turned to autumn, the sun is still as intense as it was in July or August.
A warm sea breeze swept through the streets, the asphalt road scorching hot, and an old man sat under the shade of a tree, fanning himself with a palm leaf fan.
Spring and autumn always pass by quickly here; winter and summer are the more frequent visitors.
Su Cheng leaned closer to the makeup mirror and lightly touched the corner of her right eye with a black eyeliner.
She held her breath, her wrist steadily drawing an upward line.
The outer corner of the eye is actually higher than the left.
She sighed and dipped a new cotton swab in makeup remover.
This is her fourth adjustment; either one side is too high or the other side is too long.
She carefully avoided the eyeshadow she had already applied, wiping away the excess lines little by little, trying hard to recall the pressure of her wrist when she applied the eyeliner to her left eye, before picking up the eyeliner pencil again to touch up the lines.
After adjusting herself repeatedly, she leaned back slightly and turned her face left and right in front of the mirror.
That's symmetrical now.
The Decepticon on the windowsill leaped lightly and landed steadily on the dressing table.
Its dark brown ears perked up alertly, and its amber eyes stared intently at the human before it, a mixture of curiosity and confusion in its gaze.
Following the Tyrant's gaze, Su Cheng discovered that it was staring at the top of her head, where she had spent half an hour painstakingly working on the cat ear hairstyle, following a video tutorial.
"See? I told you you're my biological daughter." She proudly poked her carefully styled cat-ear bun. "We even have the same color for our ears."
The moment my fingers touched the hair bun, they hooked a strand of rebellious hair.
Oops!
The small bun on the right side had come undone at some point, and the outermost strand of hair hung limply down behind the ear.
She removed the loose hair clip, quickly took out her phone, opened a tutorial video in her favorites, and followed the demonstration to re-wrap the unruly strand of hair.
It turns out that the previously fixed position was too low, and it would spread out with the slightest movement.
This time she learned her lesson and followed the video markings exactly, precisely inserting the hair clip into the hair's turning point, securing it firmly in all directions.
Su Cheng followed the same method to secure the other side of the bun, looked at herself in the mirror from left to right, and gently shook her head to test its stability.
“BINGO!”
She snapped her fingers, and her makeup and hairstyle were perfect.
A smile played on her lips, and she couldn't help but hum a song.
"Hakimi North and South Green, lots of Asiga Asi~ Asihaya Cool Dairy Farmer Hakimi Haji~"
She walked briskly to the bedroom, changed her clothes, and prepared to go out.
On the dressing table, the phone automatically started playing the next video.
It's a live stream preview that she co-created with "Muzhou".
The video opens with a university campus surrounded by greenery.
The screen was flooded with comments.
[Ahhh! It's a collaborative creation! How is this any different from an official announcement??]
[200, recorded in the Tyrant Tiger's account]
I've chosen this video as my antidote.
[The boat god finally remembered his account password.]
Even the donkeys in the production team dare not rest like this.
The start of the new school year has brought a lively atmosphere to Linhai University.
The freshmen looked around, finding everything new and exciting; the upperclassmen strolled leisurely among them.
It was lunchtime, and the cafeteria was so crowded that there was hardly any room to move. The long queue in front of the window stretched crookedly all the way to the stairwell.
Downstairs in the dormitory building, the takeout shelves were already piled high with all sorts of packaging bags.
A buzzing electrical noise sounded, and several snow-like stripes flashed on the screen.
When the image returned to normal, the takeout bag with Colonel Sanders' smiling face printed on it at the bottom had vanished!
"Who stole my takeout?!" A furious wail echoed through the sky.
[You ordered takeout but still want more takeout? You get all the good things!]
[It's true what they say, "Even big birds can be found in any forest," meaning there are people stealing takeout food now that they're in universities?]
[What's wrong with a college student stealing takeout? Stealing from you is doing you a favor /doge emoji for protection]
[You guys are all making jokes, but my takeout order really got stolen.]
[Does anyone know why? My roommate stole my takeout!]
[The food delivery thief will inevitably fail his final exams, have to retake them all, and repeat every single one!]
Inside the monitoring room, the security guard and the boy who lost his takeout looked at each other in bewilderment.
On the large screen in front of them, surveillance footage of the dormitory takeout shelves was playing on a loop.
As the camera zooms in, the surveillance footage gradually enlarges to a close-up.
The red takeout bag seemed to be pulled by an invisible hand, and it strangely started to move on its own, inching towards the edge of the screen, and finally disappeared completely from the surveillance range.
[It's getting so strong, it saw the delivery bag and started walking on its own!]
[Prosperity, Democracy, Civility, and Harmony]
[At first, people thought it was just a regular teaser video...]
[I was once a noblewoman from a wealthy family, but I was betrayed by a fake heiress and died as a wandering ghost. Add me on WeChat (V50) to hear my revenge plan.]
[McMeng: High-level business warfare often employs the most unpretentious and straightforward methods]
The scene transitions, and the video quality suddenly increases to 4K resolution.
The night was cool and still, and the pale moonlight shone through the window and fell on the mahogany desk.
The polished luminous conch shell in the center shimmered with tiny, colorful lights, like a fragment of aurora borealis, flowing and shifting silently in the night.
The familiar static returned, and several snow-like streaks flashed across the screen again.
When the image became clear again, the once intact glowing snail had been broken into several pieces.
[When in doubt, consult quantum mechanics]
I am a staunch materialist.
[Warning: High Alert!]
[Are you late, Mr. High Energy?]
After the screen was flooded with comments saying "xxx protect me," a hand appeared on the screen.
The fingers are slender and long, with distinct joints, and faint, youthful lines slightly raised on the back of the hand.
The only flaw is that there is a light pink scar across the back of her fair hand.
[A battle-damaged limited edition skin? It looks even more alluring!]
[Can you strangle me with these hands?]
[The thought that such beautiful hands would have to wipe poop makes me feel better.]
[Help! Are the ladies upstairs trying to make me laugh so hard I'll inherit my Alipay Huabei account?]
He gently reached out with his thumb and forefinger to the corner of the table and picked up a tiny, almost invisible object.
A single pure white cat hair!
The truth will be revealed at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
[Oh ho? Start playing "The Bad Cat Song"]
[Saturday, Saturday, who's even here on Saturday?!]
[I really don't have time to play around with you two! How about we go live right now and surprise everyone?]
[I've used up all the materials for Mu Yi Cheng Zhou, but Saturday still hasn't arrived!!]
A sweet female voice rang out: "Is it a distortion of human nature?"
After a two-second silence, a gentle male voice continued: "Or is it a decline in morality?"
"There's only one truth! The cunning frog kept touching the cat's belly!" The female voice paused, seemingly suppressing a laugh. "Turn to the live stream this Saturday at 3 PM, and Mu Yicheng will reveal the truth!"
Author's Note: Please imagine the song Su Cheng hummed as part of "Hajiji" [laughing][laughing]
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