Falling into the Capital's Radiance - Chapter 7

When Shen Jingni came out carrying a box of plum blossom pastries, she saw Chu You standing at the door with her phone.

Yu Xin, that man, had his leg broken and was thrown at the gate, looking utterly miserable.

What a scene-it’d be a pity not to take a photo.

Chu You was timid and didn’t dare to take a picture openly, so she only pretended to be looking at her phone.

Shen Jingni asked Chang An, “Isn’t he a relative of your Zhao Family? How could he…”

He was beaten so badly, it was hard to look at.

Chang An answered truthfully, kindly explaining, “Miss Shen, you must be joking. The Zhao Family has no such relative.”

“A small punishment-this is the price for speaking recklessly.”

Speaking recklessly?

Just for claiming kinship, he was beaten like this. Mr. Zhao really was cold-blooded and ruthless.

Shen Jingni suddenly felt a chill of fear.

Luckily, she hadn’t angered him. Otherwise, her fate would have been just as miserable.

Chu You put away her phone and leaned close to Shen Jingni’s ear, whispering, “I heard he even got his important part injured.”

“For twenty-four hours, the Yu Family isn’t allowed to send him to the hospital. Imagine how much that must hurt.”

Shen Jingni shivered.

She suddenly felt a little cold.

“Oh my, boss, why is your neck all red?”

Shen Jingni covered Chu You’s mouth and shoved the pastry box into her hands. “Eat up, keep your mouth busy.”

Compared to Yu Xin’s miserable state, she now felt that being bitten was nothing at all.

On the way back, Shen Jingni drove.

Chu You sat in the passenger seat, eating the plum blossom pastries.

“Boss, did Mr. Zhao give you these? They’re delicious.”

Shen Jingni kept her eyes on the road and replied coolly, “No, I asked him for them.”

Chu You said, “Oh, then Mr. Zhao must have forgiven you, right?”

Forgiven, my foot.

Capitalists aren’t so easy to appease.

“What about Song Jin?”

Shen Jingni didn’t answer immediately, only gave a light laugh. “Help me draft a plan when we get back.”

The plum blossom pastries weren’t for nothing.

Chu You asked, “What kind of plan?”

“An apology plan.”

As long as Zhao Zonglan was appeased, Song Jin and the rest would be no trouble at all.

–

When Chu You was studying in Singapore, she had witnessed the beautiful romance of a senior from the neighboring department pursuing her roommate.

He clocked in on time every day, brought different flowers and milk tea, wrote love poems, accompanied her everywhere, coaxed her with sweet words, humble yet inexplicably passionate.

Apologizing was probably similar to courting someone.

Both were about making someone happy to achieve a certain goal.

Oath of Love flagship store.

Shen Jingni sat in the office, frowning at the plan Chu You had drawn up. “Are you sure this will work?”

Chu You was typing an apology letter on her laptop, not even looking up. “I’m not entirely sure, but it should help a bit.”

Shen Jingni was deeply skeptical.

Why did this plan look like a husband-chasing manual?

It seemed so unreliable.

Just then, a staff member knocked on the door. “Boss, Miss Qin is here.”

Qin Muhuan? What is she doing here?

Shen Jingni had just stood up when she saw Qin Muhuan already walking toward the office.

She was dressed head to toe in haute couture, her chestnut-brown hair styled in waves, makeup flawless, carrying the latest Hermès bag, and strutting in on high heels as if she owned the place.

“Well, isn’t it broad daylight? Why is there no business?”

Her words were dripping with sarcasm.

“Shen Jingni, your shop is about to go under, isn’t it?”

Shen Jingni shot her a glare and snapped, “Don’t worry about me. Your lousy shop hasn’t gone under yet-how could my genuine one possibly fail? If it did, who would you copy from, Miss Qin?”

As for the feud between Qin Muhuan and Shen Jingni, it went all the way back to childhood.

Both the Qin Family and the Shen Family were from wealthy backgrounds, even doing business together, and their elders were on good terms.

But Qin Muhuan had always loved to compete with Shen Jingni, from dolls and clothes as children to wedding dress brands now.

As soon as Shen Jingni registered Oath of Love, Qin Muhuan immediately founded her own brand, Eternity, just to go against her.

Qin Muhuan had been spoiled and willful since childhood, spent her school years playing instead of studying, and rarely had any real talent or learning. Most of the time, she copied others, but used genuine, even more expensive materials, and set her custom prices lower than Oath of Love.

Miss Qin’s goal wasn’t to make money.

She just didn’t want Shen Jingni to have an easy life.

Their grudge started with childhood fights and arguments, and it wasn’t easily resolved now.

Of course, neither of them wanted to reconcile.

The elders saw it as childish squabbling and never interfered, just threw more money at the problem.

Hearing Shen Jingni’s words, Qin Muhuan didn’t get angry this time. Instead, she sat elegantly on the sofa, crossing her right leg over her left. “Stop being stubborn. You’ve offended Mr. Zhao. Forget about Oath of Love-your whole life is going to be ruined. It’s only a matter of time.”

Shen Jingni was stunned, her face turning unpleasant. “How did you know?”
When Qin Muhuan saw the look of shock on her face, she suddenly laughed gloatingly. “Hahaha, Shen Jingni, don’t tell me you still don’t know?”

“News has come out from Wangjing Tower-they’re shutting down for a month for internal review.”

“Use that brain of yours, which is even slower than mine, and think about it. Wangjing Tower brings in millions every day-when have they ever closed before? Something must have happened.”

“If you look into it, you’ll find out.”

Besides, her father knew a few of the higher-ups at Wangjing Tower.

A few drinks and a couple of questions would reveal everything.

At this point, Shen Jingni was in no mood to bicker with her.

This absolutely couldn’t reach her parents’ ears, or she’d really be finished.

She had worked so hard to build up her brand-she couldn’t let it end here.

Seeing Shen Jingni remain silent, Qin Muhuan stood up, walked over, and waved her hand in front of her eyes. “Don’t tell me you were scared silly?”

“Hmph, I always knew you were hopeless.”

She crossed her arms and said arrogantly, “But since you’re so miserable, don’t worry, I won’t kick you when you’re down. If the Shen Family really goes bankrupt, you can always come work for me.”

Just the thought made her happy.

Shen Jingni scoffed dismissively. “Qin Muhuan, you might as well eat shit.”

Qin Muhuan was in a good mood today and decided not to argue with this uncouth woman. She picked up her bag to leave, but suddenly turned back. “Oh right, since your life is hanging by a thread, you probably can’t make it to that auction in Hong Kong in a few days, can you?”

She spoke with pride. “Then that luminous pearl and Miss Feng’s order are mine.”

Shen Jingni didn’t answer, only signaled for someone to “see” Qin Muhuan out.

The Miss Feng she mentioned was one of Shen Jingni’s clients.

She had ordered custom clothing from her during her engagement and was very generous.

Miss Feng was planning to get married early next year. Her fiancé wanted to have a unique phoenix coronet made for her, and besides the craftsmanship, the gemstones used were especially important.

Unique meant rare and precious.

Not easily replicated.

The luminous pearl Qin Muhuan mentioned was a Qing Dynasty heirloom, valued at tens of millions, and truly worthy of the name.

That was exactly how Shen Jingni had designed it during negotiations.

She had shown the design sketches to the couple, and they were very satisfied, but the luminous pearl was extremely hard to acquire, so the deal had yet to be signed.

Qin Muhuan’s copying and snatching really infuriated her.

Chu You, who had quietly finished typing the apology letter beside her, asked in a small voice, “Boss, do you want to handwrite this apology letter? A handwritten one would seem more sincere.”

At the word “sincere,” Shen Jingni snapped back to attention.

She gritted her teeth. “I’ll write it.”

You have to appease the capitalists-and she wanted that luminous pearl too.

–

Jingyao Capital Group Headquarters.

Today, Zhao Zonglan came to the company for a meeting. The senior executives under him were on high alert, terrified of making any mistakes.

As a result, everyone was on edge and extremely nervous throughout the meeting.

Fortunately, it ended without incident.

After the meeting, someone saw Chairman Zhao’s assistant carrying a paper bag and a bouquet of flowers, hurrying toward the chairman’s office.

Zhao Zonglan was a bit annoyed by the noise from the company’s executives.

He loosened his tie and leaned back in his office chair with an indifferent expression. The cigarette in his hand was already more than half burned.

Chang An knocked and entered. “Sir, Miss Shen sent something over.”

During that visit to Sandalwood Court, with Zhao Zonglan’s tacit approval, Shen Jingni had left Chang An her contact information.

Zhao Zonglan held the cigarette between his lips, raised his chin slightly, and slowly exhaled a ring of bluish-gray smoke. His handsome, mature face showed little emotion, only a slight raise of his brow.

Chang An reported truthfully, “It’s coffee and flowers.”

“Miss Shen said the coffee was specially hand-ground by her this morning, and the flowers were arranged by her own hands. She asks that you please accept them.”

Zhao Zonglan glanced at the flowers in his hand-they were nothing more than ordinary roses and sunflowers.

Did she really think she could win him over with these?

Such childish tricks.

Chang An then produced a pink envelope and handed it to Zhao Zonglan. “And this.”

Zhao Zonglan only glanced at it indifferently and didn’t take it. The words “To Mr. Zhao Zonglan, personally” were written in bold on the envelope, the brushwork just right, showing some skill.

But he had no interest in reading the letter.

Chang An put the letter away and asked, “You never drink coffee. Should I… have someone take care of it?”

Zhao Zonglan’s brows furrowed slightly, clearly displeased.

He flicked the ash from his cigarette, a cold glint flashing in his dark eyes. “When did you become so stupid?”

Did he really need to be asked about something like this?

Chang An lowered his head. “Sorry, sir.”

He had thought the sir was special toward Miss Shen, which was why he had asked.

Now, he truly couldn’t figure it out.

The sir’s thoughts were indeed impossible to guess.