Chapter 35: Stolen Perfume

Su Qiyi was curious. “Miss Lu, who are you looking for? I can help you look around.”

Lu Yunshang gulped down a can of beer and burped.

“Uh… no need. Saying things like ‘wait for me’ are all lies. If men’s words were trustworthy, pigs could fly. From now on, I’m going to work hard to make money.”

Su Qiyi took the beer can from her hand. “Don’t write off all men with one stroke.”

Liu Jingting patted Lu Yunshang on the back. “Working hard to make money is right, but don’t forget the important things. Do you still want to acquire your family’s company? You must win this Fu Group bidding; otherwise, the acquisition will be difficult.”

Su Qiyi was curious. “You’re going to acquire that cosmetics company? Hasn’t it been losing money for years? They don’t have any new products; they still sell the same things they did when the company was founded. They’re definitely going to be eliminated.”

“That’s the company my grandfather founded. Before my mother died, she told me to get the company back. Even if it’s bankrupt, I have to get it back; otherwise, I won’t have the face to see my mother…”

Lu Yunshang started crying.

Liu Jingting patted her back. “We’ll get it back. Shixiong (senior brother) will definitely help you.”

Su Qiyi called for a server and got a pack of tissues, handing two to Lu Yunshang.

“If you need my help, just ask. Don’t forget, the Shen family is also a large group.”

Lu Yunshang wiped her tears and snot. “Thank you.”

She took a deep breath. “Where are the chicken wings? Why haven’t they come yet?”

Liu Jingting patted her angrily. “You change your mood pretty quickly.”

Then he turned to the counter and shouted, “Boss, hurry up with the chicken wings! If they don’t come, we’ll leave.”

The boss apologized. “Coming right away! I’ll go check. Chicken wings take longer to grill; I don’t want them to be undercooked.”

Seeing the chicken wings arrive, Lu Yunshang immediately smiled, grabbed one, and bit into it, eating with relish. “No kidding, Mr. Su, this place is really good. We’ll come here for skewers from now on.”

Su Qiyi poured Lu Yunshang a cup of hot tea and smiled. “Miss Lu, anytime you want to eat, just contact me. If you don’t want to go out, I can also provide delivery service.”

Lu Yunshang looked at Su Qiyi. “Mr. Su is such a sweetheart. Whoever becomes your girlfriend will be very happy. Do you have a girlfriend? We have many single beauties in our office.”

Su Qiyi looked at Lu Yunshang with a smile. “Thank you, Miss Lu. I’m currently single, but I do have a girl I like.”

Lu Yunshang sighed. “What a pity, what a pity.”

Liu Jingting found something suspicious about Su Qiyi and took a sip of his hot tea.

“Mr. Liu doesn’t drink?” Su Qiyi asked.

“No, I have to drive Yunshang home later, and I might have to stay at her place tonight.”

“Mr. Liu, don’t worry. I’ll have our driver come. I can take Miss Lu home, and I’ll make sure she’s settled before I leave.”

Liu Jingting shook his head repeatedly. “No, no. I can’t always trouble Mr. Su. Come, come, eat the mutton. Why did you order so much mutton? It’ll be a waste if we don’t eat it.”

The three stayed at the barbecue restaurant until 11:30 PM.

Lu Yunshang had fallen asleep.

Liu Jingting carried her out of the barbecue restaurant and into his car, turning to Su Qiyi. “Mr. Su, we’ll go first. Yunshang can get her car tomorrow. Are you waiting for your driver?”

Su Qiyi nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Liu. If it’s convenient, please make Miss Lu a cup of honey water and put it by her bed. She can drink it to soothe her throat if she wakes up at night.”

Liu Jingting waved his hand. “Okay, we’re leaving.”

Lu Yunshang slept restlessly.

She had nightmares all night, first dreaming of foul-smelling sewage everywhere in the house, then being chased.

She woke up drenched in sweat.

She habitually reached for her phone on the nightstand but found nothing.

Then she remembered drinking and eating skewers at the barbecue restaurant last night; she must have been drunk.

Holding her aching head, she sat up and looked around, finding her bag on the other nightstand.

She had to crawl over to get it.

Fortunately, everything was there.

She checked her phone for the time: 7 AM.

Feeling awake, she got out of bed and went to the bathroom to shower.

After showering, Tang Tang returned, having bought soy milk, fried dough sticks, and soup dumplings.

While eating, Lu Yunshang told her what happened at the Fu family’s mansion last night.

Tang Tang comforted her, saying that what’s gone is gone, and that kind of man wasn’t worth it.

Lu Yunshang said she didn’t feel anything, probably because she didn’t love him.

After breakfast, Lu Yunshang took a taxi to the barbecue restaurant from last night, then drove to the company.

Entering the perfume studio, she habitually opened the safe to check the perfumes.

She noticed that the perfume intended for the bidding seemed to have been moved slightly.

“Did you touch the perfume in the safe?” she asked Tiantian and Xiao Ke.

Xiao Ke quickly raised her hand. “I did an inventory today.”

Lu Yunshang nodded but still felt uneasy.

“Yunshang, is the perfume for the bidding finalized? Do we need to adjust the formula?” Tiantian suddenly asked.

“It’s finalized,” Lu Yunshang said. “Let’s take it to the bidding next week.”

She closed the safe. “I’ll tell Mr. Liu.”

A week later.

Fu Group building.

Lu Yunshang and Liu Jingting, along with Tiantian and Xiao Ke, came to the bidding.

They registered at the front desk to get temporary passes.

Shen Yue, in high heels, clicked her way over, followed by Lina and a male employee.

Seeing the three, the receptionist handed them paper and pens. “Please register.”

Lina glared at the receptionist. “Do you know who this lady is? She’s Mr. Fu’s fiancée, the future madam of Fu Group. Does she need to register?”

Lu Yunshang paused, a slight smile on her lips, and continued filling out the form.

Shen Yue glanced at Lu Yunshang, took out her phone, and said, “I’ll call Changqing.”

She dialed, but only heard the dial tone.

A flash of displeasure crossed her face. “Forget it, Changqing must be busy. Lina, you fill it out.”

“Yes, Ms. Shen.”

Lina handed her things to the male employee and snatched the form from the receptionist to fill it out.

Lu Yunshang finished filling out the form, received four temporary passes, and distributed them. “Let’s go, we can go up.”

Shen Yue watched Lu Yunshang’s back.

She coldly snorted. “You’ll see.”

Lu Yunshang and the others arrived at the bidding venue and saw Fu Changqing’s group walking over.

Fu Hanzhou and Huang Siyuan were at the back.

Fu Changqing looked at Lu Yunshang, but she lowered her head to avoid him.

Liu Jingting gestured to let Fu Changqing pass, and Liu, the secretary, patted his shoulder. “Mr. Liu, thank you for your hard work.”

After Fu Changqing’s group went in, Lu Yunshang’s group followed.

They registered at the reception and listened to the introduction of the process. Their company was the second to present their product.

The first company was Shen Yue’s, with Lina as the presenter.

When they sat down, Lu Yunshang saw Master Bai Tao in the C position on the judges’ panel and pulled Liu Jingting to greet her.

Bai Tao nodded slightly.

The bidding began. After the host’s opening remarks, the first company went on stage.

Lina, in a tight, V-neck red dress, swayed onto the stage.

Her male colleague sprayed the perfume onto six scent strips and handed them to the six judges.

Fu Changqing suddenly walked to the judges’ panel and sat in the seventh chair.

Everyone was slightly surprised and whispered amongst themselves.

The host quickly introduced that Mr. Fu had decided to personally test the fragrance.

Lina’s male colleague quickly handed over another scent strip.

Lina, standing on stage, glanced at Lu Yunshang. “Hello everyone, I’m Lina, a perfumer from Elena Perfume and Fragrance Company. Our perfume, ‘Encounter,’ is specially designed for women in love…”

Tiantian and Xiao Ke were shocked. They grabbed Lu Yunshang’s sleeve. “Yunshang, how can Lina’s perfume have the same name as ours? Even the theme is exactly the same?”

Lu Yunshang remained motionless. She turned to look at Shen Yue, who was sitting on the other end of the same row.

Shen Yue turned to her, a challenging smile on her face.