Giving You Dawn And Dusk - Chapter 26.2

Every marketing plan determined whether a piece of jewelry could catch the public’s eye at first glance and win consumers’ affection. The era of “good wine needs no bush” had already passed. In today’s era, marketing was an indispensable link.

The department most closely matched to Xu Qingzhu’s major should have been human resources management, but she still decided to go to a place closer to the soul of the company.

If she wanted to completely reverse Minghui’s current situation, she had to directly pull out the rotten roots. Choosing new people to bring in would be meaningless. It would only be grafting new shoots onto rotten roots, and sooner or later, they would rot too.

Her maternal cousin-uncle quickly replied, telling her she could come over anytime. It just so happened that there was a management-level vacancy in the design department, and she could directly take that position when she came.

Being parachuted in seemed to be the fastest method right now.

Xu Qingzhu replied: [Okay. Thank you, Cousin-Uncle.]

A few seconds later, she replied again: [I’ll report for work tomorrow.]

//

The next morning, Liang Shi was woken up by her alarm.

She had slept fairly comfortably. When she woke up, she immediately turned off the alarm, afraid it would wake Xu Qingzhu. But after she turned it off and rolled over, she discovered that Xu Qingzhu was no longer there.

She reached to the side and touched the sheets. They were cold.

Had Xu Qingzhu not returned to the room last night?

As Liang Shi thought this, she tied up her hair and first went to the bathroom to wash up.

Today was her first day reporting to Dongheng Group, so naturally, she could not go with a bare face. But she also did not put on heavy makeup. She simply applied base makeup, lipstick, and everyday eyeshadow, then brushed on a layer of mascara, making her lashes curled and lifted.

While brushing her lashes, she thought of Xu Qingzhu.

Xu Qingzhu’s lashes seemed long and curled enough even without mascara.

As she thought this, her hand became slightly unsteady, and the mascara brushed under her eye, smudging a patch of black.

She immediately found a tissue to wipe it, but the mascara was waterproof and fast-drying.

After wiping back and forth, she only made the area under her eye even darker, as if she had developed dark circles.

Liang Shi: “……”

Even someone experienced at makeup could still have moments where everything went wrong.

This was ridiculous.

She searched the makeup shelf for makeup remover, but could not find any.

Then she returned to the bedroom and went to look on Xu Qingzhu’s vanity table. At a glance, she did not see it.

With no other choice, she could only pick up the bottles one by one and read their labels. But many of the instructions on those products did not have Chinese characters. Some were strings of Korean, others were full bottles of Japanese. The easiest one to recognize was actually a bottle entirely in English, but Liang Shi glanced at it and found that it was a bottle of lotion.

“……”

Liang Shi was helpless. Just as she was trying her best to translate the label on the last bottle on the table that looked rather like makeup remover, the bedroom door was pushed open.

Xu Qingzhu walked in.

Liang Shi: “……”

Was it not a little bad to touch someone else’s things without asking?

Under Xu Qingzhu’s gaze, Liang Shi finally developed a tiny bit of belated self-awareness.

She pinched the bottle in her hand and said, slightly troubled, “I’m looking for makeup remover.”

Xu Qingzhu glanced at her. It was difficult to ignore the large black stain under her eye.

She calmly asked, “Did your eyeshadow smudge?”

“No.” Liang Shi said, “I accidentally smeared my mascara while brushing it on.”

Xu Qingzhu walked in. “All right.”

She walked to the table and took a round box from the drawer. Liang Shi had never seen it before.

When the box was opened, it contained neatly stacked makeup-removing cotton pads, giving off a faint smell of alcohol.

Xu Qingzhu handed it to her. “The things on the table are all daily skincare products.”

“All right.” Liang Shi thanked her. “Thank you.”

Liang Shi took the box of makeup-removing cotton pads into the bathroom. She carefully wiped in front of the mirror, but Xu Qingzhu’s face could be reflected in the mirror.

Xu Qingzhu was standing right at the door, staring straight at her.

Liang Shi: “……”

She could not help asking, “Did I kick you last night?”

“No,” Xu Qingzhu said. “You sleep very properly.”

“Then…” Liang Shi could not help asking, “Do you need me for something?”

Xu Qingzhu paused slightly. “Not exactly.”

Having something was having something. Not having something was not having something. What on earth did “not exactly” mean?

Besides, Liang Shi had already failed at doing her makeup because her hand shook. Now she was being stared at too. It was quite unsettling, okay?

Liang Shi let out a light breath. “Then you…”

“All right, there is something.” Xu Qingzhu interrupted her. “I’m going to work today.”

Liang Shi’s heart eased. “Oh, so that’s it. Then go. Are you going to your own family’s company?”

Xu Qingzhu nodded. “I get off work at six in the evening. I might also work overtime. If I come back very late, you don’t need to wait for me for dinner.”

“Okay, got it.” Liang Shi followed her words and said, “I’m going to work too. I didn’t like the human resources department Second Brother arranged for me before, so this time I’m going to try the newly established department. I should also get off work at six, but I guess a new department will have overtime, so my off-work time won’t be fixed either. If I’m not back by dinner, you don’t need to wait for me.”

Xu Qingzhu nodded. “Okay.”

This exchange could be considered pleasant, and after the exchange ended, Liang Shi continued struggling in front of the mirror.

She did not want to remove all the makeup on her face just for this small mark, so she could only use one corner of the makeup-removing cotton pad to wipe it off. After wiping it clean, she would just touch up her foundation. It would not be too much trouble.

But Xu Qingzhu continued standing at the door. Even after they finished exchanging all the information, she still did not leave.

Liang Shi: “……”

Even when more than ten cameras had been pointed at her in the past for close-up shots, she had never been this nervous.

Liang Shi could not help asking, “Is there anything else?”

Xu Qingzhu shook her head. “No.”

She answered openly, but simply would not leave.

Liang Shi’s hand lowered. She asked again, “Do you need the bathroom?”

Xu Qingzhu still shook her head. “If I need it, I can go downstairs.”

Liang Shi: “……”

Then why are you standing here?

She endured and endured, and only then did she keep herself from saying that aloud.

So as not to make Xu Qingzhu unhappy and let the system increase her bad luck value.

The main problem was that when Xu Qingzhu stood there, Liang Shi became nervous.

Once she became nervous, her hand would shake.

That smudged mark had happened because she had subconsciously thought of Xu Qingzhu’s lashes and accidentally smeared it.

Yet Xu Qingzhu still insisted on standing there and watching.

Liang Shi felt helpless and decided to forget it. At worst, she would remove everything and wash her face again.

Just as she turned on the faucet, Xu Qingzhu suddenly spoke. “Do you not know how to put on makeup?”

Liang Shi: “……?”

“How could that be?” Liang Shi immediately denied it. “My makeup skills are pretty good.”

In fact, she had even been a beauty blogger for a period of time before.

Because makeup took too long when filming, she would always observe the cosmetics on the table.

Later, when she had nothing to do, she would livestream and chat with fans about what cosmetics were good recently. When she was even more bored, she had even done makeup cosplay.

However, those were all cosplays of two-dimensional characters.

She had simply capsized in a ditch by accident, and the exact moment of capsizing happened to be seen by Xu Qingzhu.

Xu Qingzhu walked in. She turned off the faucet and neither said she believed her nor said she did not. Instead, she took out a new makeup-removing cotton pad from the box.

She folded it twice over her finger.

Then she raised her head and said to Liang Shi, “Lower your head.”

Liang Shi: “……”

“Huh?” Liang Shi was surprised, but still did as told. She bent down slightly, yet still kept some distance from Xu Qingzhu. Xu Qingzhu went slightly on tiptoe, raised her hand, and pressed the folded makeup-removing cotton pad against Liang Shi’s lower eyelid.

Not too much, and not too little.

It covered the area completely while not blocking Liang Shi’s sight.

Today was Xu Qingzhu’s first day at work, and her clothes leaned toward workplace style too.

She wore a pair of high-waisted black long pants that made her legs look very long. Her upper body was in a short, tight, long-sleeved striped top in blue and white. If worn alone, it would be a crop top, but paired with the pants, it was just right, revealing only a tiny sliver. One could faintly see her cool, fair skin. It would suit either a suit jacket or a casual-cut jacket over it.

When it came to clothes, in the end, it still depended on the face.

No matter what she wore, Xu Qingzhu probably would not look bad.

The main thing was that an Omega who had just passed her heat would experience a slight second development in the chest, and she was wearing a tight top.

The two of them were close, and that softness would brush over unintentionally.

Liang Shi’s gaze wandered randomly and would always accidentally catch sight of that softness. But if she lowered her lashes, she would just happen to see Xu Qingzhu’s face.

Xu Qingzhu had probably gotten up very early. She had already put on delicate makeup, a rather typical no-makeup makeup look.

There was not much visible makeup, making her look very pure.

Xu Qingzhu stood on tiptoe, but Liang Shi’s head kept rising higher and higher, always unconsciously lifting.

Seeing that she was about to become unreachable, Xu Qingzhu directly grabbed Liang Shi’s collar and pulled downward. Their faces drew close again.

Xu Qingzhu’s fingers, separated by a makeup-removing cotton pad, lightly wiped over the skin at the corner of Liang Shi’s eye.

Her expression was serious and open, without the slightest hint of ambiguity. Her pupils were brown, just enough to reflect Liang Shi’s face.

She frowned as she spoke. “What are you dodging for?”

Liang Shi: “……”

“I’m not.” Liang Shi’s voice sounded much less confident. “I… you…”

She stumbled over her words twice.

It actually made Xu Qingzhu laugh. Her lipstick was a muted rose color, very moist, making the visual effect striking.

Xu Qingzhu blinked and teased with a smile, “I’m not trying to kill you.”

Liang Shi: “……”

Liang Shi suddenly thought of a song. Before she transmigrated here, this song had been popular everywhere.

One lyric in it was often changed around.

But she really liked the original version. That lyric was—The evening star is like your eyes, killing and setting fires.

“I’m not.” Liang Shi swallowed. “Have you… wiped it clean?”

Xu Qingzhu moved her hand away and glanced at it, then covered the spot again. “Not yet. This mascara of yours is pretty good quality.”

The warm air from her words spilled across Liang Shi’s face, causing Liang Shi’s face to turn slightly red.

Morning was already the time when desire awakened, just like spring.

If she were alone, morning would naturally pass calmly and without distraction. But now there was another person beside her, especially one with a face like that.

Whether physiologically or psychologically, she probably had no way to resist.

Just as Liang Shi held her breath until she was about to suffocate, Xu Qingzhu finally withdrew. She also let go of the hand gripping Liang Shi’s collar and even smoothed out the collar with her hand.

She threw the used makeup-removing cotton pad into the trash can. Her cool, clear voice was as indifferent as ever. “It’s done. Touch up your foundation and brush your lashes again.”

“Okay, thank you.” When Liang Shi said this, she felt quite as if she had survived a calamity.

Xu Qingzhu stood at the side again and asked, “Do you need me to help you apply mascara?”

Liang Shi: “…No need.”

Absolutely unnecessary.

“Then I’ll go out first.” Xu Qingzhu said, “Come downstairs for breakfast once you’re done.”

Liang Shi: “……”

She was somewhat surprised. Why was Xu Qingzhu’s attitude toward her so good?

Before she could figure it out, Xu Qingzhu walked to the bedroom door, then circled back again. After pondering for a moment, she said, “Liang Shi.”

Liang Shi had just pulled out the mascara wand and was glad she had not started brushing yet. She turned back and answered, “Mm?”

“Thank you,” Xu Qingzhu said.

Liang Shi: “?”

//

Only when she went downstairs for breakfast did Liang Shi learn the reason.

Xu Qingya had vividly told Xu Qingzhu what had happened that day, though she skipped over what happened in the room. She only said that Liang Shi had rushed in without regard for anything and saved her. After that, Xu Qingzhu had acted drunk and crazy in the car, and Liang Shi had patiently coaxed her.

Afterward, Liang Shi had called the family doctor for her and stayed awake all night taking care of her.

Liang Shi admired Xu Qingya’s storytelling ability.

She also admired how Xu Qingya added details and embellished the story to make Liang Shi look good.

Liang Shi and Xu Qingzhu both had to go to work. Xu Qingya had not started school yet and was still staying at their house.

Liang Shi and Xu Qingzhu returned to the bedroom to get their things.

Liang Shi felt that she understood this more than Xu Qingzhu did, so after checking through all her things, she reminded her, “Remember to bring your documents. You’ll need them when you report for work.”

Xu Qingzhu nodded. “Okay.”

Before they left, Xu Qingzhu hesitated and asked, “When you brought me out that day, did you see Weiwei?”

Liang Shi froze. “No. Zhao Xuning went to save her. She should be fine, right?”

When she went in, she had glanced at her watch. It had been 10:10 then.

Even if Bai Weiwei had been injected with an aphrodisiac, that amount of time would only be enough to take off clothes and kiss, right? There would not have been enough time for anything more intimate, would there?

So she leaned more toward thinking that nothing had happened.

“What’s wrong?” Liang Shi asked.

Xu Qingzhu shook her head. “I can’t reach Weiwei.”

“What about Zhao Xuning?”

“I can’t reach her either.”

“I’ll try.” Liang Shi said, “I’ll ask Zhao Xuning what’s going on and then tell you.”

“Okay.” Xu Qingzhu paused. “Thank you.”

Liang Shi said, “It’s nothing.”

She kept feeling that Xu Qingzhu said thank you far too often.

But none of that counted as anything.

It was Liang Shi’s first day at work, and she was going to a relatively unfamiliar field, so she held some anticipation toward it.

She did not drive the Porsche worth millions. She let Xu Qingzhu drive it, but Xu Qingzhu also refused.

She chose a silver-white car from the garage. It was probably worth over two hundred thousand, making it one of the most low-key cars in the garage.

Xu Qingzhu also drove a car worth over two hundred thousand.

Neither of them wanted to be too high-profile.

They drove out at the same time and parted ways from Tinglin Road.

//

Dongheng Group’s headquarters was not particularly conspicuous among the CBD buildings.

Liang Shi took her documents and went to report to the human resources department. The colleagues here had all seen her before.

To be precise, they had seen the original owner before.

Their impression of her was not very good. She was simply an arrogant, spoiled wealthy young lady, dressed strangely and with a bad temper.

But Liang Shi did not come to work to reverse their impression of her. She obediently entered her information, then the department head called the head of the design department and asked the other party to come over and pick her up.

As a result, just as the words fell, an irritable roar came through the phone. “What kind of parachuted soldier is it this time? Does she not know the road, or does she not know how to read? Someone who can’t even find her own department should be fired early. Our design department can’t afford her.”

Click.

The phone was hung up.

The head of human resources looked at Liang Shi with embarrassment and fear, afraid that her eldest-miss temper would flare up and that she would directly smash the office. Trembling for a long time, she did not know what to say.

Liang Shi did not make things difficult for her and smiled at her. “I’ll go over myself.”

The department head: “Ah?”

She paused. “How about I take you there instead?”

“No need.” Liang Shi said, “You’re busy. I can read, so I’ll find it myself.”

The department head: “……”

She had a feeling that Eldest Miss Liang was holding back from tearing apart the human resources office, waiting to go tear apart the design department’s home later.

She could not help lighting a candle in her heart for that hot-tempered design department head.

Liang Shi went out and took the elevator to the twelfth floor.

The twelfth floor was in utter chaos. The newly established department had few people and too much work. Each department’s responsibilities had not been fully clarified yet. Although the department head they had hired was an editor-in-chief with many years of magazine experience, she had originally worked in print media and was almost completely disconnected from new media.

Meanwhile, the company’s upper management was paying extra attention to this department. They wanted to rely on it to get a share of the new media magazine market, and from then on, they would also have their own promotional channel.

In the afternoon, they had to hold a topic-selection meeting with the general manager, but right now, they were still completely confused.

All the directions submitted by the planning team had been rejected by the department head.

As soon as Liang Shi walked in, she heard that irritable voice from the phone roaring, “Are every single one of you pigs? Graduated from famous universities, three years of electronic magazine work experience, and the topics you hand in are all this kind of garbage? How are these usable? Things that have already been written to death—who would read them? And this one, chasing traffic through sensationalism. Do you still have even a shred of a media professional’s original intention? The topic-selection meeting is this afternoon, and you still can’t even finalize the most basic things. What meeting are we supposed to have?”

Everyone was gathered together for a meeting, and the office desks were empty.

Only a little girl sat at the edge, reading a fairy tale book.

The little girl looked about the same age as Lingdang. The outside world was already noisy beyond measure, but she was still immersed in the world of the book.

Liang Shi stood there for ten minutes, and no one noticed her.

Only when the department head said, “I’ll give you half an hour. Submit new topics. We need to move to the next step as soon as possible. All right, dismissed.”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and scattered like birds and beasts.

When they turned around and saw a bright, beautiful woman, they were all stunned.

A round-faced girl turned back and said, “Department Head, there’s a newcomer.”

The department head’s hair was combed meticulously behind her head. She had used too much hair gel, so it looked very oily. She pushed up her glasses, her gaze sweeping over Liang Shi. “You’re new?”

Liang Shi nodded. “Yes.”

The department head stared at her for a while. “Here to be a model?”

“No. I’m here for copywriting, or interviews,” Liang Shi said.

“What major did you graduate from?”

“Chinese Language and Literature.”

“Which school?”

Liang Shi really did not want to say the original owner’s third-rate diploma-mill university out loud, but she could only bite the bullet and say, “Guangliu University.”

Everyone in the office was shocked.

With such a trash academic background, how did she get into Dongheng?

One had to know that everyone present had graduated from top domestic universities.

So their gazes toward her carried a bit of contempt.

Liang Shi did not mind. The department head paused. “Then go to the copywriting team.”

Liang Shi’s desk was also at the edge, just close to the little girl. She had nothing to do all morning.

After sitting in boredom until noon, she caused quite a commotion when she went to the cafeteria for lunch. She hurriedly finished eating and returned to her workstation.

As the workday was about to resume, she went to the bathroom again.

Not long after, a group of people walked in.

The bathroom in every company was a place where people gossiped, and Dongheng was no exception.

Judging by their voices, they were people from the magazine department.

It was Liang Shi’s first day here, and she had not fully matched everyone’s faces to their names yet.

At first, they were discussing her, saying that with such a diploma-mill education, how had she gotten into Dongheng?

“When I was eating lunch today, I heard someone say that her background seems pretty big. Even our General Manager Liang has to give her some face.”

“No way. Then what is she doing in our magazine department?”

“Do you remember that office in the human resources department before? The one that’s now used as a meeting room? That used to be her office.”

“Damn, a background hire.”

“This kind is the most annoying. They don’t know anything, and you still can’t criticize them.”

“…”

They discussed for a while, and Liang Shi had heard enough. She was about to go out when someone suddenly exclaimed.

“What’s wrong?” someone asked.

“Chen Liuying’s manager jumped off a building,” that person said. “She’s been sent to the hospital now.”

“Who? Chen Liuying, the one who became popular overnight? Chen Liuying, known as the number one dominant Alpha?”

“Yeah. I saw the exposés. Apparently, her manager went to Huayue International to drink with people to get resources for her and was assaulted, so she couldn’t take it and jumped.”

“Isn’t the entertainment industry just like that? But looking at it this way, Chen Liuying isn’t anything good either.”

Liang Shi’s ears perked up as she listened to their discussion.

Chen Liuying, who would later dig out the original owner’s gland, had appeared.

She was a celebrity.

Liang Shi took out her phone and searched. The results that popped up were all today’s trending news.

They were all discussing the incident of Chen Liuying’s manager jumping off a building. And when Liang Shi swiped down, her brows immediately furrowed tightly.

Chen Liuying’s manager was—

Bai Weiwei.