"Like the Moon in the Sky" - Chapter 27
The next day was Valentine’s Day.
Zhu Jinyue had been spending most of her time at the hospital recently. Her focus was almost entirely on Zhu Yuanshan’s health, and her sense of time had shifted to counting the days since her grandfather was hospitalized. She barely noticed what day of the week it was, let alone the slightly special significance of February 14th.
But major holidays are always prime opportunities for game developers to make money.
Another Village, a pastoral, farming-themed management game, didn’t really have much connection to Valentine’s Day. Zhu Jinyue hadn’t seen any announcements in the game about new activities requiring server maintenance in the past few days. However, when she opened the game that morning, she found the login screen had been replaced with a limited-time Valentine’s Day animation, full of pink bubbles.
There were no new events, but the development team hadn’t completely slacked off either. Besides the new login animation, they had incorporated some small holiday-themed changes within the game. The most obvious one was that every little animal now had a small cartoon heart floating above its head.
When Zhu Jinyue went to the fields, the farming bunny would run up to her with its little heart, hop around her in a circle, and then go back to work.
When Zhu Jinyue went to the bamboo grove, the panda eating bamboo would offer her a small section of green bamboo, a heart bobbing above it.
The little cat working elsewhere would rub against her leg with its heart, then roll over to expose its belly for petting.
They were all utterly adorable.
But Zhu Jinyue didn’t get to slack off for long that morning. Just after finishing a small batch of tasks, she and the other assistants were summoned into Ming Chan’s office. Ming Chan said she had important news to announce.
Zhu Jinyue already knew what Ming Chan was going to announce.
She had helped Ming Chan formulate the plan. If not for Zhu Yuanshan’s illness, it would have been implemented last week and likely concluded by now.
Zhu Jinyue yawned, bored.
Across from Ming Chan’s office, the glass facade of the Weizhi Building still shimmered with a faint golden light.
Was that guy sitting on some floor over there yesterday when he sent me flowers? Zhu Jinyue wondered distractedly.
Ming Chan’s voice continued.
“Here’s the situation. Although we currently only handle haute couture, your boss—oh, I don’t mean myself, I mean my investor—” Ming Chan paused, resisting the urge to glance at Zhu Jinyue, “—your major shareholder, a very intelligent, beautiful, kind, and lovely lady, suggested that there’s no reason we can’t build our own fashion empire in the future.”
“Originally, she intended to recruit the necessary personnel later, when we were truly ready to expand our operations. But I told her that all of you were personally selected by me, you’ve been with me for years, and you all have talent in fashion design. Any one of you could potentially lead your own line someday. She said that, being the case, she happens to have an opportunity available. She can send one of you to work and study alongside Jossi for three months. It’s only three months, but Jossi’s skill level and her status in the fashion world speak for themselves. If I had the time, I’d fight for the spot myself.”
“Of course, there’s only one spot. Even though we have strong backing, they aren’t just taking anyone. Later, I’ll give you a theme. Based on that theme, you will each independently create one original work. The timeframe… let’s set it for seven days. That should be sufficient. Jossi prefers traditional hand-drawn sketches. The submission deadline is next Tuesday between 5 PM and 6 PM. No exceptions.”
“If selected, your major shareholder will also provide a bonus of 1 million to cover your living expenses in France. This isn’t an unconditional charitable act, of course. The selected individual will need to sign a new contract with us upon their return. Alright, that’s the gist of it. Does anyone have any questions?”
The office was quiet for a moment.
Then Jiang Rui pointed at Zhu Jinyue. “Is she included in this?”
Before Ming Chan could answer, Zhu Jinyue shot him a look.
“Why wouldn’t I be? That intelligent, beautiful, kind, and lovely major shareholder didn’t say newcomers were excluded. It can’t be helped—” She paused slightly, her tone meaningful, “Some people just have all the luck.”
Jiang Rui turned his face away, expression cold.
Ming Chan gave Zhu Jinyue a faint look. “She is certainly included. Alright, everyone can go back to your work for now. If you think of any questions later, you can always come ask me.”
Zhu Jinyue was the first one out of the office.
The others filed out after her, leaving only Jiang Xi inside.
Zhu Jinyue returned to her workstation, hugged her eggplant plushie, and continued playing her game.
About fifteen minutes later, Jiang Xi finally emerged. Shortly after, Zhu Jinyue’s phone buzzed softly with a message from Ming Chan.
Ming Chan: 【Darling, with acting skills like that, you could be in movies.】
Zhu Jinyue: 【No way.】
Zhu Jinyue: 【No company could afford my acting fee.】
Ming Chan: 【Haha, that’s true.】
Zhu Jinyue: 【What did she stay behind to talk to you about?】
Ming Chan: 【She asked about everything in detail, including the submission requirements, potential changes in the new contract, etc.】
After getting the general idea from Ming Chan, Zhu Jinyue went back to playing her game.
She spent the whole morning playing with little bunnies, foxes, tigers, and pandas, all sporting little hearts above their heads. Nearing lunchtime, she finally put her phone aside, pulled out some paper and a pen, and started sketching with her head down.
It wasn’t the busiest time yet, so the others were all returning to their desks to order lunch.
Fang Zhiwei was always the most enthusiastic. She came over, placed her lunch order, and seeing Zhu Jinyue sketching something, leaned in for a closer look.
“Oh, you’re starting already? Don’t you need to think it through carefully first? Are you planning to design a dress?”
Perhaps because she was a little surprised, her voice was slightly raised.
The others had also returned to their desks. Hearing this, Jiang Rui was the first to walk over. Chu Fankai, seeing him go, followed. Even Jiang Xi glanced over briefly before quickly looking away.
Jiang Rui stood behind her and looked for a few seconds before saying with a complex tone, “You actually know how to design?”
Zhu Jinyue turned her head and gave him an incredulous look. “What kind of question is that? Of course I know how to design.”
Then, as if remembering something, she suddenly flipped her drawing board over, hiding the half-finished sketch, and looked at Jiang Rui suspiciously.
“You’re not planning to plagiarize me, are you?”
Jiang Rui was so angry he laughed.
“Me? Plagiarize you?” He seemed to pause to collect himself, then pointed at Fang Zhiwei. “Fang Zhiwei was the first one to look. You don’t think she wants to plagiarize you too, do you?”
Zhu Jinyue: “Of course not. She didn’t know I was working on the draft when she came over to look.”
Jiang Rui, “…”
Chu Fankai spoke up apologetically, “Sorry, um, I looked too.”
Zhu Jinyue glanced at him, her expression softening slightly. “It’s fine. You’re a good person; you probably wouldn’t plagiarize me.”
Fang Zhiwei opened her mouth as if to try and mediate, but ultimately couldn’t find the words.
Jiang Rui left with a face like thunder.
Zhu Jinyue checked the time.
Zhu Yuanshan’s meals were strictly scheduled now. If she left now, she could just make it back to have lunch with him. She casually packed her things and made her escape.
The sketch she had turned over was left lying casually on the desk, untouched.
After having lunch with her grandfather at the hospital, Zhu Jinyue dozed off leaning against his bed. By the time she returned to the studio, it was already past three in the afternoon.
The sketch was still where she left it. Zhu Jinyue didn’t bother with it and went back to hugging her eggplant plushie and playing her game.
After playing for a while, the receptionist who had woken her up yesterday appeared by her desk again.
“Zhu Jinyue,” she said, looking at her, “Did you order afternoon tea? There are some people in hotel uniforms outside who brought stuff over, saying you ordered it. There are several big and small bags. If you did order it, I’ll have them bring it in. I can’t carry it all myself.”
Zhu Jinyue blinked in confusion. She was about to say she hadn’t ordered any afternoon tea when a certain possibility occurred to her.
She nodded. “Have them bring it in.”
Soon, the receptionist led several people in hotel uniforms inside.
She wasn’t exaggerating when she said they were carrying several large and small bags. There wasn’t even enough free space on their desk, so the pile of bags ended up on the floor nearby. A rough estimate suggested there was far more than enough afternoon tea for everyone in the entire studio.
Once the items were delivered, the hotel staff quickly left.
But the commotion was significant, drawing the attention of almost everyone in the studio.
Fang Zhiwei even temporarily set her work aside, came over, and exclaimed, “What’s going on? Why did they bring so much stuff?”
Zhu Jinyue, “I’m treating everyone to afternoon tea.”
“Wow, really?” Fang Zhiwei’s face lit up with delight. But when she took a closer look at the logo on the packaging bags, she was surprised again. “Minghe? I heard they’re usually super aloof and never do deliveries.”
Zhu Jinyue, “Do they? They deliver whenever I feel like having it.”
Fang Zhiwei pretended to cry, “I hate you rich people. It’s like we live in completely different worlds.”
Zhu Jinyue needed to chat with the person who sent the afternoon tea, so she pointed to the pile of bags on the floor and said, “Can you help me distribute it?”
Fang Zhiwei, who had long craved Minghe’s afternoon tea, readily agreed, “Sure, leave it to me. But should we distribute it all? Do you want me to save a few extra portions for you?”
Zhu Jinyue gestured with her chin towards her own desk.
The Minghe staff had specially placed a separate, distinct package on her desk earlier.
“No need, I have my own.”
Fang Zhiwei gave her a little OK hand signal.
After delegating the task, Zhu Jinyue stopped worrying about it. She settled back into her seat with her eggplant plushie, opened WeChat—
Actually, such a grand gesture today felt more like Fu Zhiwang’s style.
But it was Valentine’s Day. Although this young master might have belatedly realized he has some feelings for her, he’s used to doing things his own way. He probably wouldn’t have this kind of proportion. His “offensive” would be stronger, and his gifts would likely be more directly linked to the holiday itself.
Zhu Jinyue’s fingertip landed on another person’s avatar, tapped lightly, and the chat window opened.
Zhu Jinyue asked him: 【Did you send the afternoon tea?】
The reply came as quickly as ever.
From what she remembered, although he hadn’t messaged her frequently before, he rarely kept her waiting long for a reply.
There seemed to be only one time.
It was when she invited him to dinner and asked if he minded her bringing Fu Wangzhi along.
Shen Qinghuai: 【Mn】
A “typing…” indicator appeared above the chat. Zhu Jinyue leaned back in her chair and waited briefly.
She thought he would say something like, ‘yesterday you only said I couldn’t send flowers, you didn’t say anything about afternoon tea.’ But the next message was somewhat unexpected.
Shen Qinghuai: 【Helping you add some fuel】
Huh?
Zhu Jinyue was a bit confused: 【Add what fuel?】
Shen Qinghuai: 【Aren’t you helping your senior?】
Shen Qinghuai: 【How’s it going? Lit the fire yet?】
So that’s what he meant.
Zhu Jinyue’s fingers curled slightly.
She had only mentioned it in passing to him last Sunday, and he actually remembered.
No wonder he, usually so low-key, suddenly made such a grand gesture this time.
No wonder the hotel staff specifically said it was “her afternoon tea order,” not “someone ordered afternoon tea for her.”
But given his memory, it wasn’t surprising he remembered a minor thing mentioned within the past week.
Hmph, nothing to be surprised or touched about.
Zhu Jinyue deliberately picked a fight: 【What do you mean by ‘lit the fire’?】
Zhu Jinyue: 【That makes it sound like I’m about to break the law】
Zhu Jinyue: 【I’m a law-abiding good citizen, you know】
Shen Qinghuai: 【Okay】
Shen Qinghuai: 【Then I’ll rephrase】
Shen Qinghuai: 【Have you laid the fuse?】
The corner of Zhu Jinyue’s mouth lifted slightly.
Zhu Jinyue: 【Laid】
Shen Qinghuai: 【When do you plan to reel it in?】
Zhu Jinyue continued finding fault: 【Now you’re making me sound like some underground operative】
Shen Qinghuai: 【My mistake】
He smoothly changed his wording again: 【When do you plan to harvest the fruits of victory?】
Harvest the fruits of victory.
Why did he seem even more certain than her, more believing in her, as if her plan was guaranteed to proceed 100% smoothly without a single hitch?
But Zhu Jinyue had to admit, she was indeed pleased.
Moreover, it was his hint that day that helped her quickly come up with this idea.
This time, Zhu Jinyue answered properly: 【Next Tuesday afternoon. If all goes well, it should be completely resolved by Wednesday morning.】
Her phone was quiet for a few seconds before a new message popped up.
Shen Qinghuai: 【Then let me treat you to lunch next Wednesday to celebrate?】
Zhu Jinyue, “…”
So that’s where he was leading.
Zhu Jinyue looked down and typed: 【Who wants to have lunch with you?】
Her finger hovered over the send button for a few seconds. Perhaps because his use of the word “celebrate” was rather pleasing, she suddenly deleted that sentence.
Zhu Jinyue: 【We’ll see how I feel that day】