After lunch, Pei Er went to Shengming Company with Ji Xiaoming.
Shengming was a subsidiary of the Tingchao Group, a luxury fashion brand with a wide range of products, including clothing, bags, and jewelry.
“Let me first take you to the design department to get familiar with things.”
The two walked side by side into the elevator in the lobby. Ji Xiaoming pressed the floor button and explained, “Originally, Director Mo from the design department was supposed to be your point of contact, but she just went on maternity leave after having her baby, so I’m filling in.”
With a ding, the elevator doors opened.
Ji Xiaoming was holding the elevator door open, waiting for Pei Er to step out, when a woman rushed in hurriedly, head down, and bumped straight into Pei Er.
She was a woman wearing blue high heels and a Chanel suit, with slightly wavy shoulder-length hair, glossy lipstick, and particularly meticulous makeup.
Pei Er was knocked back a step, but the woman didn’t even glance at her. Instead, she looked at Ji Xiaoming and asked in a blunt tone, “Are you two getting off? Hurry up, I’m in a rush to meet a client.”
Ji Xiaoming’s expression immediately soured, and he frowned. “What client are you meeting? Didn’t I just message you saying I was bringing Director Pei over to get familiar with things?”
“Message?” The woman gave an “oh” and said dismissively, “I didn’t check my phone just now. Look, you go ahead and show her around. I’m in a hurry to discuss business.”
As she spoke, she hastily pressed the button for the first floor and urged, “If you’re getting off, get off now. I really can’t wait.”
Ji Xiaoming had no choice but to lead Pei Er off the elevator.
Watching the elevator’s descending indicator light up, Pei Er pieced together what was going on.
Someone here wasn’t too happy about her arrival.
Ji Xiaoming looked a bit embarrassed. “That’s Lin Lin, the deputy director of the design department. She’s straightforward and has always been like this—rushing around. Please don’t take it personally, Director Pei.”
Pei Er gave a faint smile. “I understand.”
Logically speaking, Pei Er was from the design side, so her point of contact should have been the design department, not the planning department.
Director Mo was on maternity leave, likely for about six months. As the deputy director, Lin Lin had a prime opportunity to seize control of the department and might even get a promotion out of it.
But with Pei Er coming in, she became Lin Lin’s competitor.
So Lin Lin didn’t welcome her.
As for why she didn’t come to receive her personally—that was obvious. She was already starting to target Pei Er.
“Don’t stoop to her level.” Ji Xiaoming coughed lightly and lowered his voice to warn, “She’s not someone to mess with.”
“Why’s that?”
“Her sister is Chairman Shang’s executive assistant. Even our President Wei has to show her sister some respect.”
A person with connections.
Pei Er understood and smiled at Ji Xiaoming. “Thanks for telling me.”
Perhaps because Lin Lin had made her stance clear, the rest of the design department was also cold toward Pei Er, seemingly banding together to shut out the outsider.
When Pei Er asked a question, they’d answer listlessly, barely acknowledging her.
Pei Er had no choice but to find an empty seat and sit down, flipping through their past design cases. Before long, General Manager Wei Lianpeng arrived.
“Director Pei, welcome, welcome.”
Wei Lianpeng was a man in his forties, a white shirt stretched over a potbelly, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, with a pleasant smile.
“Hello, President Wei.” Pei Er stood up.
“Director Pei is truly young and accomplished. Looking at you, I’d think you were still a college student.”
Wei Lianpeng exchanged a few pleasantries with Pei Er, looked around the design department, and called out to a few employees, “Clean up Director Mo’s office.”
After saying that, he turned back to Pei Er and said with a smile, “We’re a bit limited on space here. Since Director Mo hasn’t returned yet, make do with it for now. Once the other office is renovated, you can move over.”
Pei Er immediately sensed something was off. Though she wasn’t the most socially astute person, she could pick up on Wei Lianpeng’s meaning.
Saying she’d move later was just a pretext. When Director Mo came back from maternity leave, could the design department really keep three directors?
One would definitely have to go, and who that would be was plain to see.
But as a newcomer, Pei Er couldn’t easily refuse the general manager’s arrangement, so she had no choice but to accept.
Wei Lianpeng left after that brief meeting, and Pei Er followed Ji Xiaoming around the company to get a general sense of how Shengming operated internally. Knowing Ji Xiaoming still had work to do, Pei Er prepared to leave.
While waiting for the elevator, an employee came rushing over to report work matters to Ji Xiaoming.
Pei Er said at the right moment, “You’re busy—no need to see me off. I can head down on my own.”
“Alright, message me if anything comes up.” Ji Xiaoming shook his phone.
“See you next time.” Pei Er nodded.
She had a decent impression of Ji Xiaoming, though it was a shame they weren’t in the same department, so they probably wouldn’t have many chances to work together.
Stepping into the elevator, Pei Er took out her phone and composed a message to her mentor, Peilin, letting her know she’d returned to the country.
Peilin was hospitalized due to illness, so she didn’t know about Pei Er being transferred back.
Her assistant had messaged Pei Er, saying that after Peilin learned Pei Er had left New York, she’d called Claude and given him a thorough dressing-down.
Peilin was French, and she was cursing Claude in French, calling him a stiff old bastard as hard as a baguette. She said he had taken advantage of her illness to deliberately send her beloved protégé away, which had only made her condition worse.
Pei Er wanted to laugh after hearing this. She hadn’t wanted to disturb her teacher while she was recovering, so she could only soothe her gently, saying that she had originally wanted to return to her home country anyway.
The elevator reached the first floor and the doors opened. Pei Er walked out while typing on her phone.
In front of the elevator doors, a tall man stood. Seeing her walk out, he made no move to step aside, standing perfectly still.
Pei Er, not paying attention, nearly stumbled into his arms.
With her head lowered, what came into view first was a pair of gleaming leather shoes, and above them, long, straight legs wrapped in black tailored trousers.
She quickly stepped aside to create some distance.
“Sorry about that.”
A magnetic, low voice came from above her head, its tone unhurried, impossible to tell whether it carried reproach or not:
“Did you do that on purpose?”
Pei Er’s heart skipped a beat, and she abruptly looked up at the person before her.
The man was very tall, with narrow, elongated eyes that were deep and sharp, a high-bridged nose, and pale lips—the kind of person with both excellent bone structure and features, handsome in a strikingly aggressive way.
He wore a perfectly tailored black suit, refined and noble, exuding an unapproachable aura from within.
Still the same unchanging demeanor as always—distant, calm, and aloof.
“Chairman Shang—”
Wei Lianpeng had just received word from the front desk that senior executives from headquarters were coming for an inspection, and even Chairman Shang was among them, so he had hurried down to greet them.
As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, he ran into Shang Zhixing and Pei Er facing each other.
“What’s going on here?” Wei Lianpeng’s gaze shifted between the two of them, somewhat hesitant. “…Director Pei and Chairman Shang know each other?”
Seeing that more people were starting to look over, Pei Er pressed her lips together, quickly put on an apologetic smile, and sensibly repeated herself: “Chairman Shang, I really am terribly sorry. I wasn’t paying attention just now.”
Shang Zhixing did not respond to her apology. Instead, he keenly latched onto Wei Lianpeng’s words. “Director Pei?”
Wei Lianpeng quickly introduced her: “This is Director Pei, the design director of our partner company Lanna. She’s a top graduate from Jing University and was previously in New York. I heard that chief designer Pelin Hill is your teacher, isn’t that right?”
Pei Er didn’t know how to respond, so she simply nodded. “Yes.”
Shang Zhixing glanced down at her, his face expressionless, his gaze deep and obscure.
“Watch where you’re going next time.”
He left it at that, then strode toward the elevator that someone was holding open. Several executives and Wei Lianpeng followed him up.
Pei Er stood in place, momentarily dazed.