Married The Crybaby Childhood Crush First, Then Fell in Love - Chapter 23

The entire exchange meeting was bustling with people coming and going, creating a noisy scene that caused Yan Qiu a momentary dizziness.

Yan Qiu’s voice was hoarse: “What did you say?”

Lin Wanqing: “The perfume, I blended it.”

Su Po was a brand Yan Qiu had loved for three years. She had stumbled upon it accidentally on social media back when hardly anyone knew the brand existed.

After receiving the product, the perfume greatly suited Yan Qiu’s taste, and she bought every new release thereafter.

Given her status, getting to know the person behind the brand would have been simple, but the creator politely declined her requests for private communication several times, and Yan Qiu didn’t press the issue.

Three years ago, Yan Qiu had just been in a car accident, transforming from a fully mobile, normal person to being confined to a wheelchair with her legs unable to function normally.

It was that particular scent that brought color back into her life.

Yan Qiu praised her: “So that’s it. Our Tian Tian is very accomplished.”

Lin Wanqing turned her head away, embarrassed, and placed a finger vertically over her lips.

“Shush…”

Their movements had been quite noticeable, and several colleagues nearby looked over curiously.

Lin Wanqing quickly pushed Yan Qiu’s wheelchair to an inconspicuous corner.

Yue Fei, not far away, naturally overheard the conversation. She gasped and nearly fainted—

She had just been internally complaining that Lin Wanqing showed no interest in the boss’s favorite perfume brand, rambling on to her about all sorts of rumors concerning its founder…

How utterly embarrassing.

Yue Fei looked dazed, then glanced at the assessment of Su Po’s sales after just two days of release, becoming even more bewildered.

The clown was herself.

Lin Wanqing poured a cup of orange juice for Yan Qiu, “Please, sister, keep this a secret for me.”

Yan Qiu nodded deeply, letting out a faint sigh.

In that sigh, Lin Wanqing heard loving helplessness.

The cold orange juice slid down her dry throat.

Yan Qiu: “Seeing how pleasantly you chatted with people at the last event, I thought you might be interested in this industry and wanted to bring you to expand your network.”

After speaking, Yan Qiu took another sip of the cold orange juice, unsure how to continue.

She wanted the little rabbit to slowly grow by her side, to give her ample room to showcase her potential, and to teach her from scratch, encouraging her progress.

Now, she suddenly learned that the little white flower she was carefully cherishing in her palm had actually been shielding herself from the elements outside, a beautiful, wild, and flamboyant queen of the night.

Yan Qiu felt a fatherly worry, a mixture of pride and complexity.

Su Po was currently a major sensation, and nearly every perfumer attending the discussion was talking about it in hushed tones.

Lin Wanqing whispered, “I didn’t intend to make it big. I was just playing around during my freshman year, and I didn’t expect people to buy it.”

Yue Fei: “…That’s incredible.”

She felt the halo of a top student.

Yan Qiu quietly listened to Lin Wanqing recount her entrepreneurial journey.

Her little rabbit had grown very well in the corner she hadn’t been watching.

If she could go back in time, Yan Qiu would wish to have helped her.

Leaving the event venue, there was a large shopping mall nearby. They decided to browse since they hadn’t eaten dinner yet.

The cool breeze on her face cleared Yan Qiu’s mind considerably. Her palm enveloped Lin Wanqing’s fingers.

Lin Wanqing blushed and quickly pulled her hand away first.

“Sister, you’re gripping me too tightly.”

Yan Qiu: “Why didn’t you accept investment? It could make your brand grow faster and bigger.”

Lin Wanqing: “While making more money is good, if a brand hasn’t established a firm foundation and is merely filled up and rapidly matured by capital, it will only be a flash in the pan. Isn’t that what’s happening with many domestic beauty and perfume brands right now?”

They are hyped up to the heavens by major bloggers, followed quickly by the enjoyable revelation of various quality issues, accusations of being undeserving of the praise, and founders becoming arrogant and deaf to the consumers’ real needs.

Yan Qiu was silent for a moment.

Lin Wanqing: “A brand’s growth is also the founder’s growth. When I first started university, my mindset wasn’t mature, and I would have made many poor decisions.”

Yan Qiu: “Tian Tian is a very rational and grounded person.”

Lin Wanqing smiled, still unable to escape Yan Qiu’s grip on her hand.

After they finished their meal, they discovered a bass store on the third floor of the mall.

Yan Qiu was taking a call in the nearby atrium, and Lin Wanqing strolled over to the entrance of the bass store.

The young girl, wearing a thin ivory white coat, stood at the entrance of the rock instrument specialist shop, which was decorated with large patches of red and black trendy elements, looking out of place.

Her fair fingertips touched a bass displayed on the stand.

It was spray-painted with aggressive, eye-searing designs in red, white, and yellow.

Yan Qiu: “Do you like it?”

Lin Wanqing: “My roommate is learning this in a club and took me to a performance. I found it a bit interesting.”

Just then, a girl with long yellow hair, wearing dreadlocks and a micro-pleated skirt, stood in front of a microphone with a bass guitar.

Her exposed skin was covered in tattoos, many featuring profanity and skulls.

Yan Qiu frowned slightly but didn’t utter a word of prohibition.

The girl adjusted the microphone. She seemed quite famous in the scene, as many people standing at the storefront were her fans.

She plucked the strings, and a harsh, grating noise rang out.

It was a noise Yan Qiu couldn’t understand.

Lin Wanqing went into the store and looked around for a while before leaving. She explained to Yan Qiu, “That’s a different style; I don’t really like it either.”

Yan Qiu’s ears, accustomed to classical opera, couldn’t comprehend it.

It didn’t quite match the usually quiet Lin Wanqing.

Yan Qiu quietly noted down the name of the store.

She then instructed her secretary to clear out a space at the headquarters to set up a perfume studio, equipped with the best equipment and materials.

It was late when they left the mall. The wind outside was cold, and it was a long way from there to Lin Wanqing’s university.

Yan Qiu: “Want to sleep at my place tonight?”

Lin Wanqing: “Sure, I’ll let my roommates know.”

The car parked in Yan Qiu’s estate. She had gained a lot that day and was humming a slow tune in her throat.

She even managed to ignore the pain in her legs that came with the snowy weather.

The butler stood at the door to welcome the boss back. Yan Qiu went to the study to deal with work first and told the butler not to bring her sleeping medication.

Brand new clothes, custom-made to Lin Wanqing’s size, were placed outside the washroom door.

It was as if she had known Lin Wanqing would eventually stay in the mansion; everything from the slippers to the pajamas was in her size.

After bathing and washing away the day’s fatigue, Lin Wanqing took out her class notes from her bag, intending to look for the guest room to rest.

The butler: “Ms. Yan has already gone to the master bedroom to rest. Miss Lin, please also have an early night.”

Lin Wanqing was confused. She looked around but couldn’t find a guest room, not even a secondary bedroom.

“Where… will I sleep?”

The butler kindly replied: “There is only one bedroom in this house.”

Lin Wanqing: “?”

The butler: “I wish you a good rest.”

With that, the butler disappeared, as if their sole purpose was to remind her that there was only one bedroom in the house.

The mansion was very quiet at night. She could hear the rustling of the wind passing through the dead branches outside, and the hooting of an owl was eerie.

It made her afraid to just sleep on the sofa for the night.

Lin Wanqing, in her slippers, stood outside the closed master bedroom door, clutching a soft pillow and blanket.

She smelled of white jasmine mixed with gardenia, the scent of the body wash. There was only one type of body wash in the entire bathroom, the same one Yan Qiu used.

Lin Wanqing hugged the pillow tighter, her heart pounding as she looked at the closed master bedroom door.

What was she doing?

Showing up at the superior’s bedroom door late at night with a pillow, she looked exactly like a despicable person intending to climb into bed.

Lin Wanqing was nervous and innocent, tears welling up. All she wanted to do was take a taxi back to school and burrow into her familiar dorm room.

She knocked on the bedroom door. It wasn’t locked and pushed open immediately. Yan Qiu was sitting up in bed, her pajamas slightly loose.

The young girl peeped her head in hesitantly, her pajamas slipping precariously off her shoulder,

“Sister Qiuqiu, can I sleep with you?”

“It snowed during the day. Your hands and feet will be cold tonight. I can warm them up for you.”