Orlando Building:
Qin Rongze had his head down, carefully perusing documents when Liang Kaiwen suddenly approached him cautiously with a cell phone in his hand.
Qin Rongze glanced at Liang Kaiwen's cell phone. On the screen, there was a picture of a girl in her twenties. She was wearing a long light-colored quilted down jacket, and her fair skin appeared pale pink under the sunlight. Although she only exposed half of her face, she looked lovely, with mirth in her eyes when she smiled.
He smirked, then tapped his finger on the desk, and asked nonchalantly, "Why are you showing me this?"
"Did you see?" Liang Kaiwen's gloating smile could barely conceal his relish. "What do you think?"
Qin Rongze took a sip of coffee and asked, "What about it?"
Liang Kaiwen had a smug expression as he said, "I gave her the limited edition of the H brand through Jiang Mingshu. Don't you think it suits her well?"
It was easy to say but wasn't easy to achieve.
Jiang Mingshu was hard to win over. Liang Kaiwen invited her to dinners, but she stopped going. Then he invited her to watch a movie, but she refused. He tried to give her a bag, but she wouldn't take it no matter what...there was absolutely no way to win her over!
Liang Kaiwen had never encountered such a difficult woman in his entire life!
But if he didn't win over her, how would he be able to ask her about Lin Yao, and how would he be able to use her to approach Lin Yao?
In the end, he had to resort to working with Ren Jiaying to persuade Jiang Mingshu to purchase two pieces of "vintage clothing samples" at the price of fifty yuan per clothing.
How do those clothing samples look vintage at all? But for some reason, Jiang Mingshu fell for it, and, as expected, she turned around and gave one to Lin Yao.
For Liang Kaiwen, this was the first monumental step toward achieving his goal.
Next, he can gradually try to get Jiang Mingshu to let her guard down around him, and then...even thinking about it made him impatient.
Qin Rongze pursed his lips and glanced at the person in the photo again. "It's almost the end of the year, do you have nothing to do?"
How can this be called having nothing to do?
Liang Kaiwen couldn't help but murmur with displeasure, "Aren't you the one who told me to investigate her?" Qin Rongze had reimbursed him beforehand, so why wouldn't he rack his brains for a way to get it done?
Qin Rongze froze, then flung the pen in his hand onto the desk. Liang Kaiwen was cowed into shuddering.
"Ah, I'm at fault! I'm at fault, chairman!" Although he didn't know what exactly he did wrong, he knew that admitting fault was his best option.
Qin Rongze didn't speak at first. After an unending moment, he said, "Give me the phone."
Seeing that the situation wasn't in his favor, Liang Kaiwen quickly added, "Oh, no problem, I'll delete it immediately."
Qin Rongze glanced at him, and said, in a domineering tone, "Send me the picture."
Liang Kaiwen understood somewhat, but still couldn't completely wrap his head around the situation. He sent him the picture with a strange look on his face.
After receiving the photo, Qin Rongze promptly saved it, then said to Liang Kaiwen, "Focus on doing things with the right intentions in the future."
Liang Kaiwen seemed to understand a little, and said tentatively, "Then Lin Yao…"
He wondered, was it possible that the CEO discovered that Lin Yao wasn't suitable for him, and intended to give up?
But it was exceedingly rare for the CEO to express interest in a girl, so it didn't make sense for him to give up so fast. Wait, no, how could he give up if he hadn't even gotten her yet in the first place?
Qin Rongze's expression grew sulky, and he sneered. "Can you not understand me?"
"Huh?" Liang Kaiwen was dumbfounded. "Yes...ah...no!"
So, should he continue to investigate Lin Yao or concentrate on his work instead?
Also, did the CEO just curse?
After Liang Kaiwen left, Qin Rongze pulled out his phone. He clicked on the photo, and his thumb slid down her face.
The girl appeared very young. She had youthful and attractive features, but her beauty had an understated quality to it. She appeared feminine yet also individualistic at the same time.
She looked exactly like the 'she' in Qin Rongze's memory.
It's a pity that, despite being her doppelganger, she was still a different person!
******
Time flew by quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was the last week before Christmas.
As it was almost time to get off work, Lin Yao and Jian Wen were whispering about whether or not they should attend the training class, when Zheng Yuning suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my God!"
Upon discovering that both Lin Yao and Jian Wen were staring at her, Zheng Yuning had to explain in a whisper, "I just read online that my idol, Gu Jinxuan, is getting married to that plastic surgery freak Cheng Jiaoqian!"
Lin Yao simply said "Oh". She didn't have celebrity worship syndrome, but she did know that Gu Jinxuan was a popular idol in the entertainment industry. He looked handsome, had great manners, and was a gentleman with a charming personality.
He had also starred in several teen dramas as either the first or second male lead. His acting was mediocre, but his popularity was sky-high.
Cheng Jiaoqian was a veteran female celebrity in the entertainment industry, and she was a veteran not because of her age, but because she debuted early.
At first, Cheng Jiaoqian had a sweet and innocent public image, but later she drastically changed her style and had plastic surgery from head to toe.
There wasn't a shortage of celebrities that had gotten plastic surgery in the entertainment industry, but no one had ever done it on such an exaggerated scale, so many people secretly called her "Plastic Surgery Freak"!
Cheng Jiaoqian seemed to be very satisfied with her new, sexy, beautiful image nowadays. She was always posting street shots every day, appearing on variety shows and reality shows every few days... In short, as long as you turn on the TV or the computer, you'll see her everywhere.
There were netizens on the Hang City Forum that said she had influential sponsors, and other netizens reported that Gu Jinxuan was her kept man.
Lin Yao smiled when she saw these things, but she didn't expect Zheng Yuning to be a fan of Gu Jinxuan.
Zheng Yuning had a tortured expression on her face. "Really, even picturing the two of them together is unbearable."
Lin Yao smiled and comforted her by saying, "News about the entertainment industry are either facts or rumors, but who can tell the difference? Besides, there are many more male idols who were rumored to have dated Cheng Jiaoqian, so maybe it's all just hype, and a few days later, their agents will come out and refute the rumors while promoting the new dramas they're staring in." That was generally the modus operandi of the entertainment circle.
Zheng Yuning frowned and said, "I don't think this is just a rumor. Some paparazzi took a picture of Gu Jinxuan spending the night in a 'lady's chamber'. Hmph, what a joke to call that plastic surgery freak's place a 'lady's chamber'!"
"So what if she's a plastic surgery freak?" Lin Yao giggled. "Perhaps your idol likes women of her type."
Jian Wen raised her head and glanced at them indifferently, "Even if she had plastic surgery, what does it have to do with us?"
It actually didn't have anything to do with them...
Zheng Yuning fell silent for a while, expression despondent.
Lin Yao winked at her and teased, "Does your husband know how much you care about Gu Jinxuan?"
"My husband is my husband, my idol is my idol!" Zheng Yuning had a carefree personality, which made seeing her this crestfallen all the weirder. "Ah, there's no use in lusting over a man whose heart already belongs to someone else, especially if his heart belongs to a plastic surgery freak. In fact, I have contempt for such a man! I've decided that from now on I will cease to be Gu Jinxuan's fan!"
Lin Yao was amused by her and joked, "Yes, there are so many more young male idols in the entertainment industry, so you should find a new male idol quickly."
"Ah, you don't understand, Gu Jinxuan is my true love." Zheng Yuning stopped as she was saying this, and she stared at Lin Yao with a strange expression for a while, then asked, "Did anyone ever tell you that you and Cheng Jiao Qiang actually look quite similar."
Upon hearing this, Lin Yao was shocked, mortified, dumbfounded, and was even a little creeped out. "I look like her? Where is the resemblance? Are you kidding me?!"
Zheng Yuning was about to continue, but she heard Lin Yun open the door of her office.
In an instant, everything fell silent.
The seven people in the office lowered their heads with tacit understanding and started concentrating on their work.
Lin Yao didn't take Zheng Yuning's words to heart. She and Cheng Jiaoqian had nothing in common besides the fact that both of them were women!
Besides, what did people and scandals in the entertainment world have to do with real-life people like them?
Before getting off work, Lin Yun announced, "Considering that Christmas will fall on a weekend, everyone has their own plans. Let's gather for a party beforehand. It'll be scheduled on Wednesday after work, and bring your family members as well. So everyone, please arrange accordingly."
"Sounds good!"
"Great!"
A party was enough to stir up excitement no matter when it was held, so the office's atmosphere became lively again.
As for Lin Yao, the only problem was that, in Lingyun Industry, she was currently the only one who was still single. She could imagine how awkward it would be when everyone else appeared in pairs while she was all alone without anyone to talk to.
Lin Yao looked up at Lin Yun and asked with a hopeful expression, "Mrs. Lin, can I bring my girlfriend?"
Everyone in the office was busy packing their belongings, but upon hearing this the people who were ready to leave work suddenly burst into laughter.
Lin Yun rolled her eyes at her and left it up to her to figure out the answer herself.