Shen Qiming’s eyelashes fluttered slightly: “Are you going?”

Jin Yaotiao turned her eyes away: “We don’t have any relationship anymore. Whether I go or not doesn’t seem to concern you, does it?”

Shen Qiming stood there, his entire presence dimming a little, evoking a sense of pity.

Jin Yaotiao caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye and suddenly felt like laughing.

It wasn’t until the elevator reached the parking lot that Shen Qiming snapped back to reality and glanced outside: “Aren’t you going to watch the show?”

Jin Yaotiao replied with a soft “mm,” feeling somewhat satisfied but not intending to deliberately avoid the truth to irritate him: “What’s there to watch? I still have work to do.”

Shen Qiming’s eyes brightened again.

Jin Yaotiao chuckled, tossing the work badge to him: “Shen Qiming, I have nothing to do with Ning Shun, but I also have nothing to do with you.”

Shen Qiming caught the work badge, looked at her, and the corner of his mouth curled up, a faint smile appearing in his deep, dark eyes.

But soon, his smile faded.

In the parking lot, after Jin Yaotiao finished a phone call, she saw someone get out of a car. “Jiang Bai, why are you here at the Broadcasting Corporation?”

Jiang Bai, holding a folder, had apparently been waiting in the car for a while.

Upon seeing her, he immediately approached, pointing to the data on the document: “Ms. Jin, the data report for the new factory production line has come out. There are a few issues that need your immediate confirmation and signature. Please take a look, and once you’ve signed, I’ll head back to the factory to finalize things today.”

Hearing that it was work-related, Jin Yaoqiao immediately walked over: “Where?”

The document was laid out on the back of the car.

Jiang Bai took out a pen from his coat pocket, twisted it open, and while pointing to the key sections on the document, he said, “This one, and this one, and the data here. I think the rest is fine, but you can double-check.”

Shen Qiming watched as the two of them huddled together: “…”

He slowly raised his hand and buttoned the coat that he had undone before jumping down the stairs.

Jiang Bai handed the pen to Jin Yaotiao and looked up, meeting the cold, imposing gaze of Shen Qiming, standing not far away.

Shen Qiming’s handsome features were shadowed by the parking lot lights, with his high nose bridge and brow bones darkened. Jiang Bai immediately felt the pressure and stood up straighter: “…Hello?”

Shen Qiming, like a solitary pine tree, lowered his gaze at him and slowly extended his long right hand: “Hello.”

After confirming the data was correct, Jin Yaoqiao signed her name, her eyes catching Shen Qiming’s gaze once more.

Jin Yaotiao capped the pen and handed it back to Jiang Bai, ignoring Shen Qiming’s pleading look: “I’m leaving now. You should hurry and get back to your meeting.”

Shen Qiming kept his eyes on Jiang Bai, who had just been so close to her.

Ning Shun was one thing, but who was this?

Jin Yaotiao, handling business as usual, introduced him: “Let me introduce you, Jiang Bai, just started working at Mingde. He’s my new assistant.”

Shen Qiming looked at the male assistant, who had a clean record and was standing next to Jin Yaoqiao: “…”

The car quickly drove off, carrying Yaotiao and her male assistant.

At that moment, Shen Qiming suddenly understood what it meant by “instant karma.”

---

After the team-building event, Mingde finally got down to real business.

With the problem of lacking chefs resolved, the company no longer had any concerns, and even the many new stores that had been in preparation could now open simultaneously instead of in phases.

This time, the scale was far beyond what Mingde’s first restaurant in Shenzhen had been.

Local media outlets were already on-site early, and Jin’s father woke up before dawn, getting dressed in his newly bought suit, applying shiny gel to his hair, and even had Jin’s mother apply some BB cream on his face.

Proudly, he attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The ribbon-cutting was held at Mingde’s only restaurant in Shenzhen, Xunxiangyan.

The entrance to Xunxiangyan was bustling with activity as Jin’s father happily thanked the peers from the Shenzhen Restaurant Association who came to support them.

At the last new store opening, these peers had kept their distance because of the Shang family, but now they all spoke warmly and congratulated him.

“Congratulations, Mr. Jin!”

“Wow, you opened so many stores in one go. Your family’s ambition is really impressive.”

After seeing off the first group of people, Jin’s father went out again and unexpectedly saw a middle-aged man who had attended the opening of the first store.

He felt a sense of familiarity: “Oh, it’s work hours! Why are you here?”

Mingde had been stationed in Shenzhen for some time, and the park had been quite supportive of the company.

Their relationship had grown much deeper since they first met.

The middle-aged man, leading a group of friends, laughed: “Mingde is one of the outstanding companies in our park. On such an important day, of course, we have to show our support. Don’t mind all the people coming for free food, Mr. Jin!”

He gestured, and someone brought over a flower basket, placing it on either side of the store entrance.

The middle-aged man glanced at the flower baskets, then nonchalantly looked around and asked Jin’s father: “Cough, with such a big event, don’t you have security from the company?”

Jin’s father replied: “They’re all elderly, their legs are slow. No need to rush, let them come slowly.”

The middle-aged man nodded: “Yes, yes! It should be like this.”

Then, after exchanging looks with his friends, he obediently followed Mingde’s staff into the store.

After arranging the staff in the back kitchen, Jin Yaoqiao came out and was immediately greeted by a wave of excited voices.

She looked in the direction of the cheers and saw a group of unfamiliar young people looking at her, some of them holding cameras.

She was stunned, not sure who they were, but sensing the kindness in their gazes and expressions, she nodded and smiled at them.

“Wow—” One cameraman from a news program, adjusting his camera, heard the excited and restrained praise behind him.

“Ms. Jin looks so beautiful today!”

“I’m going to cry, she looks a hundred times better in person than in the documentaries!”

“Ms. Jin’s legs are so thin!”

“Her skin is so white!”

“Her nose is so high!”

“Wow! Truly a beauty from every angle. Every photo is a masterpiece.”

“Oh my god, our Ms. Jin has such a strong presence! Did you see that? She was shaking hands with someone! She’s so at ease!”

“Of course! Do you know who our Ms. Jin is? I heard all the projects in Shenzhen are being spearheaded by her. I’m her fan in business.”

“Ugh, she’s perfect. But she really doesn’t appear much. It’s been so long since we saw her in public.”

“Don’t worry, Ms. Jin is super busy. She can’t be everywhere like a celebrity. So we should cherish every chance to see her!”

The news cameraman ahead: “…”

He turned his head and looked at the excited fans.

His eyes were filled with deep confusion.

How could someone in his line of work not know what they were doing? Isn’t this just idol worship?

But idol worship, he had only heard of people chasing after celebrities, actors, or singers.

Why on earth were they now chasing after an entrepreneur?!

The photographer, full of questions, looked at his colleague.

The reporter beside him glanced at him, speaking in a tone that was both harsh and calm: “You don’t need to understand; you don’t have Mr. Jin’s face.”

Photographer: “…”

He looked at Jin Yaotiao, who was speaking with the president of the Shenzhen Restaurant Association.

Okay, now he understood.

---

Jin Yaotiao smiled at President Lü and said, “Uncle Lü, welcome.”

President Lü, leading a few of his closest associates, motioned for someone to move the flower baskets aside. They were chatting and laughing when suddenly, his smile faded as his eyes caught something in his peripheral vision.

Jin Yaotiao realized his displeasure and glanced in the same direction. It was the general manager of the association, a Mr. Wu, and his friends had just arrived.

She wasn’t very familiar with Mr. Wu.

They had only met a few times at association events.

“Mr. Jin! Little Mr. Jin!” Mr. Wu approached them, greeting her and her father without showing any sign of unusual behavior. He then turned his attention to President Lu, “President Lü, it’s not easy to meet you!”

President Lu snorted coldly.

“Look at what the president’s up to,” Mr. Wu said in a dissatisfied tone to his few association friends. “I really don’t understand what Mingde has done for him, making us older members sit in the back.”

A few of the association friends sighed, “Mingde’s opening ceremony is quite lively.”

Mr. Wu sneered, “How could it not be lively, they really know how to play politics.”

One friend responded, “Don’t be like that, Mingde’s doing well. I think President Lu really values them. Maybe the spot was actually given to them on purpose.”

Mr. Wu clicked his tongue, “Do you think that’s possible? We’ve all been fighting for that spot, and now these guys, a company just coming from Linjiang, have more competitiveness than us?”

He felt quite dissatisfied.

He didn’t know how Mingde had earned the old president’s favor to secure this spot, but deep down, he didn’t think Mingde, with its scale and status, could ever be a real rival.

Mingde had indeed grown, but even with restaurants in both Linjiang and Shenzhen, they couldn’t match the number of branches Mr. Wu had in nearby provinces.

His restaurant chain, at this scale, could still have a position in the municipal market comparable to that of the past Shang family.

But the municipal government had never paid much attention to the Shang family, and they certainly wouldn’t go out of their way to help him or the old president.

What was it about Mingde…?

As he thought this, Mr. Wu saw a few of his friends standing by the entrance of Mingde’s restaurant, staring intently at the flower basket, focusing on the inscription.

Mr. Wu asked, “What are you looking at?”

One of them turned around with a puzzled expression, “Old Wu, do we usually send flower baskets when restaurants open?”

Mr. Wu looked at the inscription and froze.

At that moment, he heard a voice from the entrance: “Oh? How come you’re here?”

A car with a Linjiang license plate had parked at the restaurant entrance.

A few people got out, smiling and shaking hands with Mr. Jin. “Hi, we’re entrepreneurs from Linjiang. Since we’re in Shenzhen, we definitely had to come by and support.”

Then, these people followed Mr. Wu and were led into the restaurant by Mr. Jin. Their conversation floated back.

A leader from Linjiang said to Mr. Jin: “By the way, we came here today to tell you something. You know about the program that Beijing TV and Shenzhen have been working on, right? Linjiang has a spot, and after a meeting, the decision was made to give it to Mingde!”

Jin Yaotiao responded, “That program? President Lü from the Shenzhen Restaurant Association already introduced us.”

The Linjiang leader froze for a moment and exclaimed, “What?! This won’t do! Mingde is our Linjiang company! How can it represent Shenzhen?!”

President Lü immediately disagreed, “Mingde’s branch has developed in Shenzhen. Why can’t it represent Shenzhen?”

The Linjiang leader retorted, “Mingde’s headquarters is in Linjiang! It should represent Linjiang! This is our company!”

President Lu shot back, “Mingde has already agreed to represent Shenzhen. You’re too late. Find someone else.”

The Linjiang leader asked, “Who are you?”

President Lu sneered, “I am the president of the Shenzhen Restaurant Association.”

The leader from Linjiang didn’t care and immediately turned to Jin Yaotiao: “Little Jin, you can’t do this. You’re one of the companies that we unanimously approved after a meeting. We from Linjiang must stay united. You can’t let Shenzhen take you away with their sweet talk.”

A middle-aged man at the table, hearing this discordant remark, looked seriously at the group from Linjiang: “Mingde is now in Shenzhen, which means it’s a Shenzhen company. Why are you speaking like this?”

The Linjiang leader asked, “And who are you?”

The middle-aged man introduced his position.

The Linjiang leader grew uneasy. How had Mingde’s new store caused so many people to show up?

He had only been joking earlier, but now he seriously felt like Mingde was going to be poached by Shenzhen.

Mingde had brought so much honor to Linjiang recently. While a large company inevitably had to expand outward, it should only be branching out, not losing its roots.

So, he started persuading Jin Yaotiao more fervently: “Little Jin, Linjiang is Mingde’s home. No matter where we go, we must always represent Linjiang. You have to accept the spot.”

President Lü responded, “That’s nonsense! Mingde has already promised Shenzhen. Shouldn’t we respect the order of things?”

Though the middle-aged man didn’t fully understand their argument, he instinctively sided with President Lü: “Since you’ve already promised Shenzhen, you have to honor that. Linjiang should have come earlier. You can’t just show up and try to steal someone else’s spot.”

President Lü nodded. “Exactly.”

Jin Yaotiao: “…”

Mr. Jin: “…”

The members of the Shenzhen Restaurant Association, led by Mr. Wu: “…”

After a long pause, several friends sympathetically patted Mr. Wu on the shoulder.

Mr. Wu sat down in a chair, dazed, and he felt completely defeated.