Chapter Index

    “Boss, the boss’s wife was interviewed at school.”

    “?”

    In the evening in Shanghai, Jiang Qin had just returned to the hotel to freshen up. His hair was still wet when he received a link sent by Dong Wenhao through the internal system task submission column.

    At first, he didn’t read the remarks but was quite excited.

    After all, despite Dong Wenhao often appearing serious and stern with his black glasses, he isn’t shy about sending racy pics.

    However, he realized upon opening the link that it was about the boss’s wife being interviewed.

    “?”

    Jiang Qin was startled for a second, his eyes turned even more excited.

    Wrapped in his bathrobe, he sat down, copied the link into the browser, and clicked the play button to start watching the school-made interview video.

    The video lasted about thirty-four minutes featuring teachers, students, classmates, roommates, Professor Yan, and employees represented by Dong Wenhao.

    “Dean Zhang looks pretty young in the video, forget it, skip.”

    “Old Lu is quite something, got all serious in his dress style after becoming the director, hehe, skip.”

    “Wow, it’s the little rich girl. My little rich girl looks so pretty on camera?”

    “…”

    “Huh, strange. Young Master Cao didn’t take this chance to show off? Is he really that innocent?”

    Jiang Qin opened a pack of potato chips, chewed a couple of times, then dragged the progress bar back to the segment where Feng Nanshu was interviewed.

    Previously during his own interview, Feng Nanshu could watch all night without sleep and be too tired to attend classes the next day.

    He thought it was ridiculous and undeserved.

    But today, seeing the little rich girl on screen, he suddenly realized that news interviews indeed aren’t interesting unless someone special appears.

    You’d feel each frame with her in it is incredibly precious.

    However, he was not addicted like the little rich girl. A gentleman shouldn’t get addicted to his good friend, right?

    He dragged the progress bar back, noticing each time the little rich girl mentioned his name, her eyes sparkled, absolutely adorable.

    “Watch it one more time.”

    “Just one last time then I’ll rest.”

    Jiang Qin held the mouse, dragged the progress bar to Feng Nanshu’s interview, and watched it again. By the fifth round, he couldn’t help but fixate on the progress bar, lost in thought.

    Was that all there was? It doesn’t seem right, was it edited?

    Jiang Qin picked up the phone and called Dong Wenhao to inquire if there were any unedited clips from the General Education Center to watch.

    After a long while, Jiang Qin received a zip file, 3GB in size, which made him excited. That much data could only mean lots of clips of the little rich girl.

    But after scouring through, he found Cao Guangyu had annoyingly rambled for thirty minutes, infuriating Jiang enough to grab the keys of his villa and decide to scold him thoroughly once back in Shanghai.

    However, there were indeed deleted scenes of the little rich girl—for instance, in the final two seconds of the interview, Gao Wenhui suddenly popped out, shouting like a fat monkey.

    “Jiang Qin, your wife misses you!”

    “Really, really, she wants you to come back!”

    “…”

    At this point, the video abruptly ended leaving only the paused interface of the media player reflecting a handsome face resembling Daniel Wu.

    Jiang Qin stared silently at the black screen for a long while, then logged into QQ to find Feng Nanshu’s chat box.

    “Little rich girl, what are you doing?”

    After sending the message, Jiang Qin waited about three minutes without a response, so he opened Gao Wenhui’s QQ.

    Gao’s profile picture was of a big-eyed beauty pouting her lips, with the words “Be cruel or get lost” at the bottom, indicating a non-mainstream attitude.

    “Sister Gao, where’s the little rich girl? Why isn’t she replying to my QQ?”

    “She’s knitting a scarf for her husband.”

    “?”

    In the cozy dorm, outside was the deep winter night. Though it didn’t snow, the sound of the cold wind was faintly audible.

    At that moment, Gao Wenhui was lounging on her bed with her legs crossed, looking down at Feng Nanshu and Wang Haini next to the radiator.

    Wang Haini had recently found a boyfriend, a freshman from the Civil Engineering College, epitomizing the cliché of an older woman with a younger man.

    The naive freshman would blush even holding hands and was quite nice to Wang Haini, so she decided to knit him a scarf before New Year’s, aiming to completely win over the young heart.

    As she spoke about “completely winning over the young heart,” Feng Nanshu shamelessly began to copy her, learning quickly and well. The knitting needles moved incessantly in her earnest and adorable hands.

    “Don’t skip the first stitch, circle around on the second…”

    “Oh, got it.”

    Under the warm yellow light, Feng Nanshu in her Rilakkuma pajamas, her slender and fair hands bustling about, quickly finished three rows. She held it up to the light, imagining the finished look, her eyes bright and sparkling.

    Campus romance these days seemingly required knitting scarves—first, it’s less expensive; second, a handmade gift always felt more precious than something bought.

    Wang Haini, since entering university, had already knitted four. For Feng Nanshu, this was her first.

    She didn’t say who it was for, but it was obvious to anyone; it was for her dear friend Jiang Qin.

    Yet, seeing Feng Nanshu knitting felt somewhat incongruent.

    Although she might appear somewhat ditzy, visually she was a stunning ‘big sister.’ Her heavenly face aside, just those long, mesmerizing legs were enough to bewitch many.

    No one would imagine such a cold, rich beauty spending her days in a dorm knitting scarves for someone she liked, the contrast was truly intoxicating.

    “?”

    Perhaps sensing someone’s gaze, Feng Nanshu suddenly turned around. Her pert, pretty face peeked out from below the hood, looking perplexedly at Gao Wenhui.

    She then grabbed a bag of snacks and tossed it to Gao.

    “The Boss’s Wife’s Benefit”

    Watching those clear eyes of Feng Nanshu, Gao suddenly typed to Jiang Qin: “Can you come back for New Year’s?”

    “Can’t make it. New Year’s is the first major festival since Group-Buy set up in Shanghai; we need to handle the current market peak. It’s a test.”

    “Wasn’t it on the news that Group-Buy has already stabilized its position here?”

    “Yo, you’ve started following the news?”

    “It’s Feng Nanshu, the cafeteria was playing your news today. She watched it many times over. Lucky that your video wasn’t in it; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been peaceful tonight.”

    Jiang quickly replied, “The holiday sale might expose some issues, experiences that are not only valuable here in Shanghai but in other cities too. So I need to oversee it for a while, probably won’t be back until the weekend after New Year’s.”

    Gao clicked her tongue, “Feng Nanshu is turning into a friend rock.”

    “Gao, have you ever been to Shanghai?”

    “Nope.”

    “I heard the Xitian at Linchuan University has been doing exceptionally well recently, ranking in the top three among the four major colleges. How about this, I’ll personally sponsor you to come to Shanghai for three days over the New Year’s break.”

    “??????”

    “But a 150-pound girl traveling alone isn’t safe. Don’t you have a good friend named Feng Nanshu? She’s a nice person. You should bring her along.”

    Gao couldn’t help but chuckle, “Can I bring Wang Haini instead? Feng and I get confused easily, and might get lost.”

    Jiang sent a smiley: “Then don’t come. Four schools, four tea shops, and Linchuan has the most students yet you’re performing the worst. Wait for a salary deduction!”

    “Jiang Qin, don’t be such a hound!”

    Gao almost smashed her keypad then turned to Feng Nanshu, “Nanshu, your husband can’t come back for New Year’s.”

    Feng Nanshu looked up, her expression dimming, “Wenhui, I don’t have a husband.”

    “Really? Then your ‘husband’ asked me to bring you to Shanghai to see him. Could it be someone else?”

    “Wenhui, you’re a good person. I’ll give you a bonus for Chinese New Year!”

    Seeing Feng Nanshu’s eyes light up, even the lying Fan Shuling couldn’t help but sigh.

    She represented the new generation of women, independent with unique perspectives, the type that could throw a punch if things went wrong.

    Earlier, when Wang claimed Feng was “husband whipped,” she found it rude. After all, a person is a person, an independent and intelligent individual. How could one demean someone else like that?

    Yet seeing Feng’s current actions, even she couldn’t help it, “Nanshu, you really are husband whipped.”

    “I’m a friend whipped.”

    Feng puffed her cheeks, shook the fluffy ears on her pajama top, and continued to knit earnestly.

    Meanwhile, Jiang Qin was still in front of his computer, watching the little rich girl’s interview video.

    The last time, then he would go to bed. Tomorrow, there was an offline activity related to the New Year’s promotion to discuss.

    The next morning, dawn cast over the city. Jiang Qin stood from his chair, stretched lazily, then glanced out at the rising sun, his lips twitching.

    The addiction to friendship was indeed too much…

    After a quick wash, he opened his room door and walked out, bumping into Yang Xueyu from Lashou Network Shanghai in the hotel corridor.

    Since everyone was staying at the same hotel, and almost all in suites on this floor, meetings were frequent.

    “Morning, President Jiang.”

    “Good morning, President Yang.”

    “You… didn’t sleep well last night?”

    “Yeah, pulled an all-nighter.”

    As they spoke, the elevator reached the ground floor. Jiang Qin, yawning profoundly, stepped out leaving Yang Xueyu whose smile slowly faded.

    The New Year’s marketing event was about to start, even the boss of Group-Buy was preparing through the night. Yang took a deep breath, thinking maybe it’s time to find a factory. The situation seemed increasingly like a doomed one.

    Chapter Summary

    Jiang Qin watches an interview featuring his friends and feels a special attachment to Feng Nanshu’s part. Amid preparing for a New Year’s event and dealing with potential business challenges, he navigates personal connections and work commitments, feeling the pull of relationships even while busy with corporate responsibilities.

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