If It’s Wrong, Then It’s Wrong - Chapter 38
Chapter 38: The Thirteenth Day
Having worked late the previous night and taken a dip in the pool, Cheng Liu woke up early and drove straight to the company.
As she passed by Villa Number Five, she glanced over. Ji Chaozhou probably wasn't awake yet; it was only a little past 6 am.
Cheng Liu had only slept for about three hours, but she was a good sleeper and still felt energetic.
Although she might not see him today, Cheng Liu felt they had made significant progress and was in a great mood.
This was probably what it felt like to be on the verge of both career and romantic success.
CEO Cheng felt like she was on cloud nine.
In reality, the resident of Villa Number Five had already been awake for a while.
When Cheng Liu drove out, Ji Chaozhou, sitting in his living room, heard the sound of her car. He waited until the sound faded away before slowly getting up and walking outside, his gaze fixed on the grapefruit saplings on the left side of his front yard.
…She wasn’t coming to water them this morning.
Ji Chaozhou stood in the front yard for a long time before finally heading out to the Ranshan lab.
…
Tang Fanglu arrived late today. Working hours at Ranshan were flexible; she only needed to ensure she had a new fragrance ready each quarter. However, ever since Ji Chaozhou had taken over, the rejection rate for new fragrances had skyrocketed.
Almost none of the perfumers could create a scent that satisfied him.
But none of them dared to complain. Not only was Ji Chaozhou the head of Ranshan, but his single perfume, Midu, had revitalized the brand, its sales increasing steadily over the years. Who could complain about that?
Still, the perfumers had to fulfill their duties.
As Tang Fanglu entered the lab, she heard several young perfumers chatting excitedly.
“What’s going on?” Tang Fanglu asked, putting on her lab coat.
“He’s here today,” a young perfumer said excitedly.
Tang Fanglu immediately understood: Ji Chaozhou, who hadn’t been to the lab in days, had finally appeared.
Many of the young perfumers at Ranshan liked to wander down to the second floor, then take the elevator back up, just for a glimpse of Ji Chaozhou.
His status, talent, and appearance were all sources of admiration. Apparently, it had been the same when Yun Ran was at Ranshan, though she had gradually stopped coming, eventually disappearing altogether.
“I haven't finished my new fragrance yet, otherwise I would have gone to the second-floor lab. Just a glimpse of him, and I feel my inspiration surge.”
“I want to go too. Did Master Ji suddenly come because he’s blended a new fragrance? The one Master Tang brought last time was so wonderful.”
Tang Fanglu put on her gloves and smiled wryly: “That was a fragrance he had discarded.”
“Even Master Ji's discarded fragrances are better than our carefully crafted ones,” a young perfumer said dejectedly. “I feel like such a failure.”
“Alright, enough chatting. We received a new batch of expensive fragrance materials the other day. I’ll take you to smell them,” Tang Fanglu said, leading the young perfumers to the lab.
Later, she carried a box of the new materials down to the second floor, intending to give them to Ji Chaozhou.
He was in the lab, as expected, surrounded by bottles of fragrance essences.
Tang Fanglu knocked before entering. As soon as she opened the door, a bitter scent assaulted her senses, making her wrinkle her nose.
It was the bitterness of freshly peeled bark, as if she could see the green sap oozing from the torn wood.
It wasn’t a pungent smell, but a bitter, astringent scent that filled her nostrils, a hazy, almost suffocating fragrance that made her want to recoil.
Too bitter, too astringent.
Tang Fanglu paused at the doorway for a moment before entering.
Perfumers, having smelled countless fragrances, knew that not all scents were pleasant. Some were strange, even unpleasant, but when used as supporting notes, blended with other fragrances, could create unexpected results.
Tang Fanglu looked at the new fragrance Ji Chaozhou had blended, placed the box she was carrying on the floor, and said, “This is a new batch of fragrance materials. I’ve selected the highest quality ones.”
Ji Chaozhou nodded in acknowledgement.
“Is this a new supporting fragrance you’ve blended?” Tang Fanglu asked, unable to contain her curiosity. She had never smelled this scent before; it didn't seem like a single fragrance material.
Ji Chaozhou looked up and suddenly asked, “What do you think of it?”
“Too bitter and astringent. If you added something like sweet orange essence, it could balance it out,” Tang Fanglu said, her mind already racing with a dozen essences that could neutralize the bitterness.
Ji Chaozhou capped the bottle and looked down: “I think it’s just right.”
Tang Fanglu was taken aback, then said, “Then I’ll await your final result, Master Ji.”
Having worked as a perfumer for so many years, she had no confidence in front of Ji Chaozhou.
Some people were simply born for fragrance, possessing an innate talent that others could only dream of.
But after leaving, Tang Fanglu thought about it for a long time, shaking her head. That scent was definitely too astringent, too bitter.
Was there something wrong with her nose?
“Master Tang, what’s that smell?”
As Tang Fanglu returned to her own lab, a young perfumer approached her, sniffing the air and wrinkling her nose. “It’s so bitter.”
“Master Ji is blending a new fragrance,” Tang Fanglu explained. She suspected there were nuances in the scent that they hadn’t detected.
This was probably the difference between a genius and an ordinary person.
…
“We can start contacting those automobile companies in S City,” Cheng Liu said to He Bai, who was sitting at his desk, as soon as she entered her office.
She had spent almost the entire day on the seventeenth floor, discussing, researching, and modifying the system code, finally returning to her office on the twenty-sixth floor at around 5 pm.
“Alright,” He Bai said, standing up. “Are you ready to resume collaboration with the automobile companies?”
Cheng Liu nodded: “We’re close to resolving the system issues. Prepare the necessary documents.”
Shenyin Technology currently lacked the capacity to produce several key components for automobiles, so they needed to find a partner.
The automobile company in G City, having seen no promising results, had already terminated their collaboration.
“CEO Cheng…” He Bai looked at Cheng Liu, hesitated for a moment, then asked, “Does the company have any new plans?”
He was usually the first to know about any new developments, but Cheng Liu hadn't mentioned anything recently.
“New plans?” Cheng Liu was taken aback, then, remembering something, she walked over to He Bai and said seriously, “Actually, there is something, but it still needs some time. I’ll be the first to tell you when it’s finalized.”
Her plan was to make Ji Chaozhou her boyfriend.
“Alright, I’ll be waiting,” He Bai said with a smile, certain that Cheng Liu was working on a new project.
Only he could understand her so well.
“I’ll be going now. You should leave work early,” Cheng Liu said, grabbing her bag and heading out.
She was no longer a workaholic. CEO Cheng had learned to clock out on time.
“I’ll organize the documents first,” He Bai said, standing at his desk.
Cheng Liu opened the glass door, waved goodbye, and said, “Then I’ll be going. See you.”
…
Cheng Liu didn’t go straight home. She stopped at a dessert shop, intending to buy two boxes of pastries.
Earlier that day, on the seventeenth floor, she had seen the employee who had printed his chat history bragging about the pastries his girlfriend had bought.
His girlfriend, no, his fiancée now – they were getting married on May 1st.
She had brought two pastries to the company at lunchtime, personally delivering them to him at the entrance.
He had brought them upstairs, bragging about how popular the dessert shop was, how difficult it was to buy their pastries, but Cheng Liu knew he was simply showing off.
CEO Cheng refused to admit that she was slightly jealous.
She didn’t want to eat them; she simply wanted to see how popular this dessert shop was.
Then Cheng Liu got out of her car, looked at the long line in front of the shop, and fell silent: It was indeed popular.
And everyone in line was a couple.
CEO Cheng: “…”
She was incredibly envious.
Cheng Liu walked straight to the front of the line and observed. The pastries the employee’s fiancée had bought were their two classic signature items, a must-have for couples!
CEO Cheng was now determined to buy them.
She also wanted to buy them for someone she liked, to share with him!
Just then, the couple at the front of the line received their order – the two classic pastries.
The server called out to the people in line: “We’re sold out of the classic pastries for today.”
Sold out?
Groans of disappointment rippled through the line. Some people left, others decided to buy something else.
Only the couple who had received the last two classic pastries looked delighted.
“Will you sell them for 999 yuan?” Cheng Liu asked the couple immediately.
She was determined to buy them today!
The couple, hearing the price, ten times what they had paid, were stunned.
They looked at each other, then, without hesitation, handed the pastries to Cheng Liu: “Deal!”
Cheng Liu triumphantly took the two boxes of pastries and drove home.
…
As soon as she parked, Cheng Liu hurried next door, pastries in hand, and rang the doorbell.
Ji Chaozhou had just returned. He saw Cheng Liu on the security monitor, her brow furrowing slightly. After a moment, he decided not to open the gate remotely, instead walking out to meet her.
Cheng Liu, seeing the gate open, immediately held up the pink box and asked cheerfully, “Want to share some dessert?”
Ji Chaozhou didn’t reply. He looked at Cheng Liu: “The doorbell is loud.”
He turned and walked back inside.
Cheng Liu was taken aback, then, noticing the fingerprint scanner on the gate, her eyes lit up. She placed her finger on the scanner, recorded her fingerprint, and hurried inside.
“I went to work today,” Cheng Liu said, proactively reporting her whereabouts.
Those middle-aged business partners had said their wives liked it when they did that.
Cheng Liu was determined to be a good girlfriend, even if she didn't have a boyfriend yet.
She followed Ji Chaozhou inside, sniffed the air, and complimented him, “Your perfume smells nice today too.”
Ji Chaozhou stopped. He wasn't wearing any perfume, only the lingering scent from the lab, the one Tang Fanglu had described as too bitter and astringent.
She found this scent pleasant?
Cheng Liu, looking down as she spoke, bumped into his back.
—Her nose stung.
Cheng Liu instinctively covered her nose, tears welling up in her eyes.
Ji Chaozhou was startled. He pursed his lips and turned around: “Sorry.”
“It was my fault for not watching where I was going,” Cheng Liu said, waving her hand dismissively.
As she waved her hand, Ji Chaozhou frowned: “You…”
Cheng Liu touched her nose and realized she was bleeding again. She covered her nose and mumbled, “I’m fine.”
Ji Chaozhou went to get some tissues and handed them to her.
Cheng Liu wiped her nose haphazardly, then, looking at Ji Chaozhou’s furrowed brow, reassured him, “It’ll stop in a minute.”
Ji Chaozhou, watching her careless movements, hesitated for a moment, then took the tissue from her, gently wiping the blood from her cheek.
Cheng Liu stood there, frozen, looking at Ji Chaozhou. His lips were pressed into a thin line, his face cold, his eyelashes lowered, but his touch was gentle, a faint fragrance lingering in the air.
Cheng Liu could smell the bitter, astringent scent, but beneath it, she detected the familiar, warm, moist fragrance.
CEO Cheng’s mind went blank. She felt like he wasn’t wiping her face, but her heart.
Ji Chaozhou finished wiping the blood from her face, then, as he withdrew his hand, he met her intense gaze and quickly looked away, throwing the tissue in the trash.
Cheng Liu was never one to hold back. She took his hand, pulled him over to the dining table, opened the two pastry boxes, and said, “Try some. I hear they’re delicious.”
They were meant for couples, so if they ate them together, they would surely become a couple.
Ji Chaozhou looked at the two pastries, then noticed that they could be combined to form a heart shape, with a character in the middle.
Cheng Liu also noticed the difference between these pastries and the ones the employee’s fiancée had bought. Had she bought the wrong ones?
Ji Chaozhou, his gaze fixed on the pastries, pushed one towards the other.
They fit together perfectly, forming a heart shape with the character “love” in the center.
He looked up at Cheng Liu, waiting for an explanation.
“This…” Cheng Liu averted her gaze, alarms blaring in her mind. “A colleague’s getting married, and this was a gift. It has nothing to do with me!”
Although CEO Cheng desperately wanted to declare that she had bought them for him, she couldn't risk scaring away her future boyfriend.
Reality forced her to back down.
“Try some?” Cheng Liu said nervously, handing him a spoon.
Ji Chaozhou didn't refuse. He looked down at the spoon, then suddenly asked, “You like the way I smell today?”
Cheng Liu, already digging into her pastry, blurted out, “I like the way you always smell.”
Silence filled the living room.
“…These pastries look delicious,” Cheng Liu said, trying to recover, pushing the other pastry towards Ji Chaozhou. “Try some.”
They tacitly agreed to ignore what she had just said.
Ji Chaozhou took a bite of the pastry and immediately frowned. Too sweet.
He only took one bite and didn’t eat any more.
Cheng Liu also took a bite, then quickly put down her spoon. They were disgustingly sweet: “What terrible pastries. And so many people are lining up for them.”
She discreetly messaged the employee, asking where he had bought the pastries, as the ones she had bought looked and tasted different.
The employee quickly sent her the location, then added, [There’s a knock-off shop that hires people to queue. Don’t go to the wrong place, CEO Cheng.]
Cheng Liu: “…”
She had already gone to the wrong place, and paid a premium for it!
Ji Chaozhou, sitting across from her, suddenly said, “You just said a colleague gave them to you.”
“I…meant that a colleague’s fiancée bought them,” Cheng Liu quickly corrected herself.
Ji Chaozhou, his expression neutral, said, “A married colleague with a fiancée?”
Cheng Liu: “…”
Perhaps because he had wiped the blood from her face earlier, her brain had short-circuited.
“I bought them on the way home,” Cheng Liu admitted, looking down. “I went to the wrong shop.”
Ji Chaozhou pursed his lips, his long eyelashes fluttering. He looked at her and said softly, “Don’t buy from that shop again.”
Cheng Liu, hearing that he was still willing to talk to her, was instantly revitalized, her eyes shining: “Then I’ll buy you something even more delicious next time.”
Ji Chaozhou looked away, not meeting her gaze: “As you wish.”
He sniffed the air…the scent was indeed too bitter and astringent.
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