The scent of coconut milk intertwined with tuberose, colliding in the air. Jiang Rou closed her eyes in contentment, feeling the faint fragrance of coconut milk in the air. Her expression subconsciously relaxed as she kept her eyes closed to experience it.
A gentle breeze swept through the air inside the room, setting the air in motion.
Shen Wanli looked at Jiang Rou with her eyes closed, sensing her relaxation. She felt herself relax entirely as well, and before she knew it, she drifted off to sleep.
A phone ringtone startled the two people deep in pleasant dreams. Shen Wanli took out her phone and saw that it was a call from her assistant.
“Um, President Shen, I really shouldn’t be disturbing you, but that artist we previously hired for our anniversary celebration has been poached by the Xu family. They backed out at the last minute right when we were about to sign the contract.”
The assistant’s anxious voice came through the phone.
Hearing this, Shen Wanli frowned slightly. This Xu Fang was her business rival; the two of them had been at odds for years, and this person was extremely slick and very difficult to deal with.
In this world, artists are worthy of respect. Shen Wanli’s company recently had a collaboration, so they hired an artist from abroad with a high salary to hold a touring art exhibition for him. The theme had already been agreed upon, only to be backed out of at the last minute.
It was unclear where Xu Fang had caught wind of this. Stealing business deals from under someone’s nose was commonplace in the corporate world, but this was the first time Shen Wanli had ever been backstabbed by someone.
With less than a month left before the art exhibition opened, poaching him at this time meant that Xu Fang must have done it intentionally.
“What is it, Sister?”
Hearing Shen Wanli talking on the phone, Jiang Rou opened her eyes hazily, wanting to see what had happened.
Shen Wanli paused, then explained the situation to Jiang Rou, saying somewhat awkwardly, “Xiao Rou, I don’t know if you happen to know any artists you can recommend to me. Money is completely negotiable.”
Mainly, this art exhibition was quite important, and Shen Wanli did not want to slip up at this time.
Hearing this, Jiang Rou chuckled and said, “Sister, there is an artist right here in front of you, yet you are thinking of others. You are making me so sad.”
Hearing Jiang Rou’s slightly flirtatious words, Shen Wanli found it somewhat difficult to speak her mind. “Xiao Rou, it is mainly because the theme this time does not really suit you.”
Shen Wanli’s hesitation only heightened Jiang Rou’s curiosity. “Sister, do you not trust me?”
“The theme this time is pheromones.”
Shen Wanli said with difficulty.
If it were before, Shen Wanli naturally would have felt that finding Jiang Rou posed no problem at all, since Jiang Rou’s talent was entirely sufficient for the job.
However, after seeing Jiang Rou’s medical report at Mother Jiang’s place yesterday, Shen Wanli realized that Jiang Rou still had a psychological barrier regarding her own pheromones. Therefore, Shen Wanli ultimately could not bear to reopen Jiang Rou’s scars.
After all, Shen Wanli’s original intention in finalizing this topic was to create various products related to pheromones, with the scent of pheromones taking top priority.
In today’s world, the scent of pheromones is innate. Furthermore, some betas without pheromones wish they had them, and some alphas or omegas are actually dissatisfied with their own pheromones. Therefore, this product was bound to be a hit.
However, would people today admit to feeling insecure about their own pheromones? Certainly not. Thus, this necessarily had to be connected with art, and paintings were something more direct, visually impactful, and filled with subjective color. That was why Shen Wanli had thought of using this method.
Jiang Rou paused, her eyes lowering. “It is fine, just leave this matter to me. How much time do we have?”
Since Jiang Rou had already put it that way, Shen Wanli had no choice but to say, “Next month. But during this period, if you feel any discomfort at all, you must tell me in advance.”
After all, if a business venture failed, it failed; but she could not let Jiang Rou have another relapse because of this matter.
“Then I can only trouble Sister to comfort me more with your pheromones.”
Jiang Rou said with a smile, her eyes showing no rebellious emotion toward the matter, which finally allowed Shen Wanli to breathe a sigh of relief.
Jiang Rou leaned back into Shen Wanli’s embrace. Before long, the phone rang again. Jiang Rou frowned and said, “How annoying.”
Shen Wanli helplessly took out her phone. Seeing the display screen, she frowned even more deeply, which prompted Jiang Rou to ask curiously, “Who is it?”
Shen Wanli helplessly let Jiang Rou look at the screen. “It is that Xu Fang the assistant mentioned just now.”
She had no idea what this person Xu Fang was calling for right now. Was she showing off? Or what?
“Why is she calling you?”
Jiang Rou asked.
After all, business rivals should not call each other’s personal phones, considering the two of them were basically in a state of never interacting with each other again for the rest of their lives.
“Ignore her.”
Shen Wanli finished speaking and hung up the phone; she really did not want to deal with someone like Xu Fang.
However, the other end of the line kept calling persistently, one ring after another.
“Well, since she is Sister’s business rival, why does Sister not just block her?”
Watching Shen Wanli’s reaction, Jiang Rou grew even more curious. After all, normal people encountering this kind of thing would have blocked them and said goodbye long ago.
Shen Wanli found this sort of thing genuinely difficult to talk about, but under Jiang Rou’s persistence, Shen Wanli still made the matter clear and explained it thoroughly to Jiang Rou.
As it turned out, the two of them had not been rivals at the beginning. Back then, they were both rare newcomers in the business world who appreciated each other’s work capabilities.
At that time, Xu Fang did not have the title of an old fox like she did now; back then, she was at most very good at beating around the bush.
When the two first cooperated, their impressions of each other were not bad. Later on, as the frequency of their interactions increased, they formed partnerships in many aspects. Shen Wanli had even felt back then that the person could be made into a friend.
Who would have known that on one occasion, the two of them went out for a business banquet, and Xu Fang got drunk and confessed her feelings to Shen Wanli. Shen Wanli was still dazed and told Xu Fang, “You are drunk, I am an alpha.”
Xu Fang just smiled. “An alpha with the scent of coconut milk like yours really seems like an omega. But I do not care, just liking you is enough.”
These words were already quite presumptuous. If such words were said to an omega, it would already be considered a form of harassment.
What Shen Wanli hated most was other people making casual remarks using her pheromones.
Shen Wanli’s face turned cold on the spot as she said, “I am sorry, I only like omegas. But even if I liked alphas, I would not like someone like you.”
Toward someone who crossed boundaries, Shen Wanli naturally would also put on a firm attitude.
Perhaps that night had infuriated Xu Fang. Clearly, the two had a long-term cooperative relationship, yet Xu Fang constantly put obstacles in Shen Wanli’s way at every turn.