Embedded Files
Psst! We're moving!
Unbeknownst to them, it was almost March.
This Monday, Shi Min returned to the company and immersed herself back in work.
After the routine meeting, in the chairman’s office, Fiona hugged Shi Min’s arm, sobbing: “Sis, you’re finally here!”
She trembled as she pointed towards the CEO’s office, subtly ‘complaining’: “During your absence, the company has been in chaos, the entire court of officials longed for you day and night, hoping for your return. During Crown Prince Chu’s regency, orders changed morning and evening, the old ministers worked endless overtime, resentment filled the air, but they dared not speak out, Your Royal Highness! Second Young Master, we still need you to turn the tide, to stand at the forefront and grasp the momentum!”
Shi Min: “Speak properly.”
Fiona: “Oh, in short, Brother Chu’s management thinking jumps too fast, we can’t keep up.”
Shi Min looked at the office regulations signed by Shi Chu, an expression of exasperation on her face.
Fiona continued: “And he always hides with Ashley in the lounge, editing videos and posting them on Weibo!”
Shi Min, being family, knew her brother’s antics: “Yang He’s videos?”
Fiona nodded gravely: “Chu-He CP videos, using all sorts of outdated melodies to mock us. The actress’s agent has called to complain many times, but it’s no use at all. Brother Chu is all fired up, fully dedicated to content creation, vowing to be a competent fan leader!”
Shi Min frowned, resting her chin on her clasped hands, and asked Fiona deeply, “To want love and a clear goal, shouldn’t true love come from practice?”
She meant to mock Shi Chu for only daring to make petty little gestures around Yang He all these years, not daring to truly pursue her again.
Fiona, however, widened her eyes and said timidly, “Sis... what kind of practice are you referring to?”
Shi Min’s expression grew even more profound. She tugged at the corner of her mouth, giving Fiona a smile: “Fiona, I didn’t realize you had so many ‘cars’ in your head.”
Fiona was even more astonished: “Sis, you even understand the meaning of ‘driving’ now?! Oh! A veteran driver.” She chuckled: “Not just cars, I’ve built a ten-thousand-square-meter luxury parking lot in my mind, with all kinds of sports cars, bullet trains, extended trains, airplanes, fighter jets, luxury cruise ships...”
Shi Min sighed, uncapped her pen, shook her head, and said, “We need to strengthen our company culture.”
________________________________________
After Luo Mingjing returned from his trip, he met Ashley, the media publicist Shi Chu hired for the “Jingjie” account. Ashley now had proper work, busy every day with publicity plans for the twenty-four solar terms. However, Shi Chu kept using official business as an excuse to make Ashley edit videos.
Over time, the young woman felt she was neglecting her main job, and when Shi Min returned to the company, Ashley immediately ‘complained.’
“Miss, he... Ah, pfft...” Ashley, speaking habitually, blurted out Shi Chu’s informal nickname, then, realizing it, immediately reined herself in and rephrased: “CEO Shi is a bit fanatical. I need to promote Qingming and Guyu, and I really can’t spare the time. Could you subtly suggest to the CEO that I don’t have time to edit Sister Yang’s videos?”
Shi Min remained silent, wanting very much to roll Shi Chu up into a ball right then and there and sell him off—the kind where goods sold are non-refundable.
Shi Chu indeed needed a talking-to. At noon, Shi Min went to the lounge for a stroll. Using the excuse of telling their parents about the electric wheelchair Shi Chu hid in the basement, she ‘fired’ CEO Shi on the spot and confiscated his Weibo account.
Shi Chu, displeased, ran to the art studio to pet cats and, while he was at it, harass Luo Mingjing, implementing a roundabout revenge.
These past few days, Luo Mingjing had been insanely busy. He poured immense effort into Clear Sky Crane. This piece was like his lost-and-found child. Besides his inherent love for it, Luo Mingjing wanted to make up for the five-year gap, so almost all his time was dedicated to Clear Sky Crane.
When Shi Chu came, Luo Mingjing took time out from his busy schedule, listened to Shi Chu’s viewing impressions, then cast aside distractions and immersed himself in the revision work. When Shi Chu grumbled about Shi Min, Luo Mingjing just nodded perfunctorily, automatically filtering out Shi Chu.
Three finished garments of Clear Sky Crane had already been made. Luo Mingjing was wearing the newly made light blue long dress version of Clear Sky Crane, adjusting the hem. His hair was tied in a Taoist bun, with a tape measure wrapped around it.
Shi Chu rummaged through a pile of fabric scraps, pulled out a strip, and held it up to Luo Mingjing’s neck, intending ‘murder.’ Luo Mingjing didn’t feel a thing; he was on the phone, scheduling an appointment with a fitting model.
Shi Chu wrapped the fabric strip around Luo Mingjing’s forehead, almost writing “Strive” on the headband.
The live stream was on, and Shi Chu didn’t know. His meddling hands and mouth meant everything he said and did was caught red-handed by the fans in the live stream.
Luo Mingjing’s fans, upon learning that the administrator of the Chu-He CP fan page was none other than Shi Chu, flocked to the account’s comment section.
“Live stream check-in.”
“Beep, brother-in-law card.”
“Group sightseeing tour, hello Miss Shi... so cute!”
“Hahahahahaha, Yang He’s fanboy, I don’t understand the world of rich people, forming his own CP, being his own fan page administrator, editing his own videos!”
“A breath of fresh air in the CEO circle 23333”
“The actress once said, ‘The reason we broke up was just different ideals,’ hahahaha. So, Miss Shi’s ideal is to edit videos and create fan content after breaking up?”
Shi Chu was completely unaware of this. He endlessly complained to Luo Mingjing, but Luo Mingjing told him to be quiet because Shi Min had called.
“I want to eat pancakes,” Shi Min said. “Those round, thin pancakes, my grandma used to make them when I was little. Haven’t had them in ages.”
“Thousand-layered?”
“Just regular ones, very fragrant, with a golden-brown crust and a bit of chopped green onion. Thin flatbread.”
“Okay, I’ll start kneading the dough now. Are you coming back tonight?”
Shi Chu asked, “Is that Shi Min?”
Luo Mingjing nodded. Shi Min said she had a project summary meeting in the afternoon and might be back very late.
“Then I’ll deliver it to you.”
“When you’re done, call Xiao Pi, and he’ll pick you up,” Shi Min said, turning her chair and glancing out the window. “It’s snowing.”
“Got it.”
________________________________________
Luo Mingjing tossed his phone aside and washed his hands to start cooking.
Shi Chu, having nothing to do, loitered in the kitchen, helping him pour oil and so on.
Luo Mingjing suddenly straightened up and met Shi Chu’s gaze for two seconds. Amidst Shi Chu’s horrified expression, he said, “Turn off the live stream. Just click exit.”
Shi Chu: “You had the live stream on?! Where?”
“On the computer,” Luo Mingjing said. “Didn’t you see I moved my computer out?”
Before the New Year, they had knocked down the partition in the studio, expanding the living room space and moving the computer out to make it easier for live streaming while designing.
Shi Chu frantically ran out and found the live stream was indeed on.
He sat down and scrolled through the previous comments. After a slight pause, he immediately opened his Weibo account to check the messages.
Even now, Luo Mingjing’s fans were still commenting on his Weibo, tagging Yang He.
“Miss is so cute, I’ll contribute my effort. Let’s get them back together! @ActressYangHe”
It was unclear who first posted this comment, but the comment section was now filled with people copying and pasting it.
Shi Chu looked up, staring intently at the screen. After a long while, he said, “...I didn’t do any of this to get back together with her.”
The fans sensed gossip and began to shine a spotlight and offer a microphone to him.
“You can hardly find pure people like her who found their true calling and dedicated their lives to it. She loves her acting career, and I love her. I hope to get a response from her, after all, she’s alive, I have expectations of her. I made those videos not to make her change her mind, and there’s no such thing as changing her mind because she loves me, just not as passionately. Between me and her career, she chose her career, leaving me behind, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t love me.”
The number of bullet comments decreased significantly, but the online viewership slowly climbed.
“I did those things just to preserve good memories and to let her see them,” Shi Chu said. “She always misunderstood, thinking I was annoying. I created our couple’s website, made videos of our dating period, and confessed to her every day, just to let her know that I still love her, every single day. I want to show this love so she’ll move forward more confidently. Life will always have its challenges. As long as you’re human, there will be times when you feel utterly hopeless. I hope that when she experiences these difficulties, this love of mine, which I show her every day, will become a pillar supporting her so she doesn’t fall.”
“She’s stronger than any of you can imagine. She has conviction. Her strongest pillar isn’t me; it’s her belief in dedicating her life to her acting career. So, I say all this is overthinking, but I still have to do it,” Shi Chu said. “Because these are also the pillars that support me. From the moment I fell in love with her at nineteen, this pillar became a part of my life.”
The live stream room was very quiet; everyone was listening silently.
“Her career is acting; my career is loving her. So...” Shi Chu said, “Don’t go tagging her on Weibo and telling her to watch. She manages her Weibo herself, and she checks it daily. If you tag her like this, she’ll definitely see it! And she’ll roll her eyes at me!”
The comments in the live stream room started to burst into unrestrained laughter.
Shi Chu: “Also, don’t call me Miss! Or I’ll bully your idol!”
“Hahahahahaha hiccup, then the Second Young Master will deal with you.”
“The one above got it right, hahaha.”
________________________________________
Luo Mingjing’s pancakes were done and off the pan. Shi Chu grabbed half of them first, blowing on them as he ate. When Yang He called, Shi Chu’s hands were oily with nowhere to wipe them, so he rubbed them on his face, then answered the phone: “Did you see it?”
Yang He’s voice was tired: “...You’re scheming.”
“I am very scheming,” Shi Chu said. “And I can also create some buzz for my brother-in-law. Hezi, next time you’re back, let’s have a meal together.”
Yang He sighed and said, “This isn’t fair to you.”
“What’s not fair? It’s just that you won’t marry me,” Shi Chu said. “Honestly, marriage won’t delay you at all.”
“Things change,” Yang He said. “There will be sacrifices, definitely. I’ve realized you can’t hold onto everything; you have to make choices.”
Shi Chu stretched, sounding as casual as if greeting a friend: “I love you today too.”
“Mm,” Yang He finally played along with him. “I like you today too.”
“Eat early, get some good rest, don’t overwork.”
He hung up and saw Luo Mingjing had already packed the pancakes, ready to leave.
“Brother-in-law,” Shi Chu called out.
Luo Mingjing: “Don’t just stand around. Remember to feed the cats for me. Don’t touch my design drafts. There’s congee in the kitchen if you’re hungry, drink that first.”
“Did you not hear what I called you?”
“I heard,” Luo Mingjing said with a squinting smile. “Isn’t that how it should be, Shi Chu?”
________________________________________
The office was warm. Luo Mingjing took out the items one by one and arranged them, then clapped his hands to get Shi Min’s attention: “Hurry and eat, what did you have for lunch?”
“Coffee.” Shi Min’s complexion wasn’t very good. She smelled something and frowned slightly.
“What’s wrong? You don’t look well. Have some congee first. Are you uncomfortable?”
“A little,” Shi Min covered her mouth, deep in thought. “Is that the shredded radish you seasoned? Bring it over, I want to smell it.”
Luo Mingjing: “Smell what?”
Shi Min took the bowl and held it for a moment. She looked at Luo Mingjing: “My period didn’t come this month.”
Luo Mingjing gave her a bewildered look.
Shi Min smiled and said, “There’s a pharmacy next to the company. Can you buy something for me?”
“Mm, what should I buy?”
“A pregnancy test stick.”
Google Sites
Report abuse