Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Rose x Kiss

Ji Mingzhu stormed downstairs angrily, rushed into her room in one breath, and threw herself onto her bed without even taking off her slippers.

She lay face down, her cheeks nearly buried into the mattress, pressing the bedding deeply down.

At this moment, what looped endlessly in her mind—was Jiang Ji’s gaze from earlier.

That look was understated, yet suggestive.

It was hard not to overthink it.

And what did he mean by “not bad”?

At the very least, it should be “very satisfied” or “extremely satisfied.”

If nothing else, she was quite confident in her figure—slender and well-proportioned, fair-skinned with long legs, curves in all the right places.

Ji Mingzhu turned her face, her gaze naturally falling on the bedside.

Among the small items she had brought from the Ji residence were many fluffy dolls—some given by collaborators, some received on birthdays, and some bought as souvenirs during school trips.

Ji Mingzhu stared at a Sally chicken plush on the bedside, grabbed it, and punched it hard.

One punch—

“Feeling proud, huh?”

Two punches—

“Let’s see you act smug!”

Just as she was about to deliver a third blow to its face, the little yellow chicken’s head tilted, wrinkled up, looking rather aggrieved.

Ji Mingzhu smoothed the yellow fluff on the plush and reached out, pinching Sally chicken’s beak with her fingertips.

The orange-red mouth, squeezed with a bit of force, couldn’t open at all.

Ji Mingzhu felt like she had discovered a new continent.

Good. Shut up.

…

After the two separated in the study that morning, Ji Mingzhu stayed holed up in the attic.

The gathering was in the evening, so she wasn’t in a rush during the day. After wandering a bit, she started editing again.

This vlog she had recorded contained a large amount of content, covering a wide range.

Previously, when she studied in Australia, her videos mostly showed university life and daily routines. Occasionally during holidays, she recorded travel scenery.

This time, finishing her studies also meant bidding farewell to a stage of life, so Ji Mingzhu wanted to make a summarizing episode. What she filmed after returning home would mark a new stage, to be continued in the next episode.

After making many daily videos, similar content couldn’t be repeated too much. Over time, maintaining video quality became important.

But these so-called rules didn’t quite apply to Ji Mingzhu.

She always relied on her own interests. Many videos came spontaneously—after pressing record, she depended on instant inspiration and capture.

Moreover, her personal style was unique. Even her occasional voice appearances made fans call her a goddess. So even simple daily content still attracted viewers, and her followers had high loyalty.

Of course, she had also considered exploring new themes, but there was plenty of time, and plans were already underway.

After all, in this field, whatever you filmed could bring different colors to people’s lives.

Ji Mingzhu had no team; she relied on professional knowledge learned at school. To support filming, she even took related elective courses.

Her style had always been relaxed and warm, neither rigid nor limited to a single editing method, incorporating current trends and carrying a “you must watch till the end” vibe, never boring.

However, there was one point: the interval between her two vlog episodes was quite long. But because each one was high quality, fans, while urging, also maintained high expectations.

Ji Mingzhu spent the morning processing the remaining fragments, then posted a teaser on Weibo for the upcoming vlog.

After all that, she looked up at the time displayed on her computer screen.

It was already noon.

She stood up, stretched, and slowly walked downstairs. Before reaching the living room, she smelled the aroma drifting from the kitchen.

It should be Jiang Ji cooking.

When she had gotten up in the morning, there had been still-warm porridge on the counter, and the dining table beside it was filled with food and side dishes. Besides that, there were simple sandwiches and coffee, and the eggs Benedict were especially beautiful, half-fried to a golden color.

If Sister Li hadn’t been saying she wanted to come over these two days to cook for them, Ji Mingzhu would have thought she had secretly come by, quietly playing the role of a snail-maiden.

Lunch was similarly simple, with lighter flavors, like Jiang Ji’s taste.

Ji Mingzhu chewed a few bites, her expression unchanged, but inwardly she felt that this so-called “long-term meal ticket” was quite reliable.

“What kind of event are you attending?”

They sat diagonally across from each other. Jiang Ji probably wasn’t very hungry; after a few bites he set down his chopsticks.

Because of the morning incident, Ji Mingzhu had been ignoring him, but since Jiang Ji broke the silence first, she followed the opening.

“It’s not exactly an event, more like a gathering. The organizer I worked with before invited me.” Ji Mingzhu thought for a moment. “I’m not sure about the details.”

“Which organizer?”

Ji Mingzhu paused, glancing up at him.

Since they were indoors, Jiang Ji only wore a light gray shirt today. His clean shoulder line was outlined by his lean frame, like unpolished jade resting in a clear spring.

“It’s that company in the east of the city that just rose recently. They’ve signed a lot of bloggers—kind of a half agency contract, focused on online big-data KPIs.”

Jiang Ji nodded, but his next words shifted direction. “So you’re signing?”

Ji Mingzhu: ………

No—was that the point?

Where did he get the idea she was signing?

“Of course I’m not signing. Even if I wanted to, my dad wouldn’t agree.” Ji Mingzhu rested her cheek on one hand, tilting her neck and glancing at him lazily. “Besides, I don’t want to. I’m just going to take a look.”

She had majored in finance at the University of Melbourne. Ji Shaoyan had already arranged a position for her in the Ji Corporation, and once she returned she would have to take it.

It just hadn’t been finalized yet; once the start date was set, she would still have to join Ji Corporation.

Filming and recording vlogs were already the greatest freedom she had secured for herself during her years of study.

However, after her persistent coaxing—

The position Ji Shaoyan arranged for her should be somewhat related to the vlog field she was interested in.

“You’re eating so little.” Ji Mingzhu returned to the present and couldn’t help asking, “That fast?”

It felt like he had just started and already finished.

“Fast?” Jiang Ji glanced at her casually.

Then he spoke naturally, as if she inherently ate more. “Indeed, I can’t compare to you. No need to hold back—you can eat more.”

Ji Mingzhu’s chopsticks slipped in her bowl.

…

It had to be said, Jiang Ji as “horsepower” was quite effective.

As the event time approached, he calculated the timing and directly woke Ji Mingzhu, who was napping in her bedroom.

Probably woken from light sleep, she looked listless the whole way and didn’t speak much.

Only when the car steadily stopped in the parking garage did she come back to her senses.

“Thanks, I’m getting off.”

She opened the mirror in the car, saw her reflection—bright and pretty, nearly perfect—and felt satisfied before opening the door.

“Drink less alcohol,” Jiang Ji said lightly.

By then Ji Mingzhu had already gotten out of the car, looking at him through the half-closed gap of the door.

“Ah, what did you just say?”

The cold winter wind swept in through the garage entrance, cutting to the bone.

Jiang Ji’s voice blurred in the wind, hard to hear clearly.

“Nothing.”

That sentence, Ji Mingzhu heard clearly.

…

From the underground garage straight to the private room of Hua’an Tingcheng, it didn’t take much time.

In fact, she was quite familiar with Hua’an Tingcheng.

Her younger aunt Ji Keqing—Ji Shaoyan’s only sister—had married into the Shen family, the absolute controlling shareholders of Hua’an Tingcheng.

Walking along the way, she kept her eyes straight ahead, yet still became a scenery in others’ eyes.

Before reaching the private room, bloggers from the same circle approached her and directly greeted her.

Although Ji Mingzhu had never shown her full face in vlogs, her occasional side profile appearances were enough to amaze.

Fans had once screenshot them, briefly pushing her onto trending searches.

Therefore, within the circle she wasn’t exactly hidden; these bloggers recognized her just from her side profile.

Three or five surrounded her, their tone hiding surprise, but more so admiration upon seeing her in person.

—“Pearl-chan, this is fate, you’re really so beautiful in person!”

—“K-san said it was you earlier, we didn’t believe it.”

—“Yeah, we pulled up that side-profile photo and compared carefully—Elia and I only realized then.”

Ji Mingzhu curved her lips slightly and simply responded.

She wasn’t familiar with these bloggers. When she opened Weibo, she mostly read fan comments and rarely interacted with them.

She came today not for networking—though there was some obligation—but more out of curiosity.

After entering the private room, the bloggers dispersed. Having gathered many times, they already had their own circles.

The event coordinator warmly greeted her, then brought out the so-called company manager and went to attend to that person.

Ji Mingzhu looked around and felt this kind of gathering wasn’t what she imagined.

Inside the room was a banquet table; besides prepared dishes, there was mostly white liquor.

But everyone present today was female. Ji Mingzhu’s expression tightened slightly before she calmly sat down.

Rather than a gathering, it felt more like a drinking party.

After the meal began, the event coordinator started praising the company manager nonstop.

Then came the manager’s long-winded speech—worse than the homeroom teacher Jiang Ji once had in high school.

Ji Mingzhu barely touched her chopsticks and didn’t respond to those urging her to drink.

The manager smiled at her, raised his glass across several people, the flesh on his face reddened by alcohol. “Little Pearl sister won’t have a few drinks?”

“I have juice.” Ji Mingzhu pointed at the nearly untouched orange juice, then added, “I don’t have any elder brother in my immediate family. If possible, please call me Pearl.”

As soon as she said this, surrounding bloggers turned their attention toward her.

The manager’s smile faded slightly. “Little Pearl has personality—I admire that.”

“But since you want to sign, you should listen to the company. Better not be too strong.” His gaze roamed across her face, implying something.

Ji Mingzhu’s lips curved faintly. “Sorry, I have no intention of signing with any platform.”

The company manager’s face immediately darkened. “I’m just speaking the truth. We may not be a big company, but we still have some say in the circle. The traffic support before was because we thought highly of you. If we talk about restricting traffic afterward, that’s something we can do in minutes.”

The event coordinator also laughed awkwardly, trying to smooth things over at the side.

Ji Mingzhu remained in the same calm state as before, but inwardly she had already shoved this person into the mud—pushing him into the earth’s core would still be polite.

This kind of attitude and condescending tone almost made her laugh.

Ji Mingzhu still didn’t respond, her long curled eyelashes slightly lowered.

At first glance she was stunning; at second glance captivating; upon closer look, naturally alluring.

The atmosphere stiffened. The manager felt both itchy with interest and embarrassed. Just as he was about to flare up, someone knocked on the door. Before anyone inside could respond, the person pushed it open and walked in.

The newcomer whispered a few words in the manager’s ear, and then—Ji Mingzhu saw the manager look at her with an incredulous expression.

After the person left, the manager stood up holding his wine glass with both hands, smiling obsequiously, the flesh on his face piled with flattery. “Um… Pearl, allow me to toast you a few times.”

Ji Mingzhu responded casually, her attention entirely on the person who had just knocked and walked in.

For no reason, she felt that person looked somewhat familiar.