Sweet Gardenia - Chapter 1

June in Suzhou was lush with greenery.

Rippling water patterns traced delicate brushstrokes like a fine painting. It was early morning, and a silent drizzle fell steadily, soaking the soil and branches. Against the gray tiles and white walls, a few fully bloomed gardenias peeked out.

The rich fragrance of gardenias, accentuated by the rain, grew even more hazy. Through the car’s windshield, the scene unfolded like a scroll: pure white, elegant green, a vivid spring captured on paper.

Lu Zhi leaned against the passenger seat, admiring the view for barely two seconds when her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the urgent ring of her phone.

Uncle Zong, the driver, reminded her, “Ma’am, your phone.”

Few people called her at this hour. The combined sound and vibration made her heart skip several beats.

But today’s bag had been a hasty choice, a small Chanel gold-ball box, a true “beautiful but useless” accessory.

The beautiful but useless bag wasn’t cooperating; the zipper refused to budge for a long moment. By the time she finally managed to retrieve her phone, the relentless ringing suddenly stopped.

What was going on? Had they hung up?

The Panamera came to a precise stop beneath the CBD building. Seeing she hadn’t answered the call, Uncle Zong began, “By the way, Ma’am, first-”

The vibration started again, this time, a WeChat call.

“Let’s talk later,” she gestured to her phone. “Hold on, I need to take this.”

It was from Li Siyi, her close friend from university and also her business partner at the studio.

“I’m downstairs,” Lu Zhi said. “What’s going on? Missing me that much?”

Li Siyi fell silent for a moment. “I hope you can still smile like that when you get to the studio.”

Lu Zhi: “…”

Something this serious?

As soon as the call ended, she shut the car door. “Uncle Zong, there’s an emergency at the studio. I’ll head up first, we’ll talk later!”

The elevator ascended straight to the 33rd floor. With a soft ding, the doors opened. The high-ceilinged top floor was bathed in abundant light, casting a thin layer over the pale gray velvet carpet, forming a plump crescent shape.

The fresh scent of flowers drifted in the air. A winding strip of light along the wall outlined the studio’s logo, a cosmic planet encircled by flowering branches. Her studio was named “Half-Branch Universe.”

Dubbed the “Eye of the City,” the office building was enveloped by floor-to-ceiling windows on all sides. With its prime location and design language, it offered a panoramic view of the entire city at any moment, the bustling traffic, the neon lights.

Who would have thought that the top floor, developed by Rongsheng Group at great expense in the business center, housed a studio still nurturing a game in its infancy?

Lu Zhi quickened her pace. As soon as she pushed open the glass partition door, she heard a woman’s voice.

“I admit, it’s quite impressive that you’ve managed to set up a studio at your age. But we have too many differing views when it comes to the game, and you’re unwilling to listen to me. So, let’s part on good terms. Here’s my resignation letter, I’ll take my leave now.”

Xu Jing placed the form on the worktable. When she turned and saw Lu Zhi, she forced an insincere smile. “Wishing you all the best, dear.”

But her eyes, brimming with prejudice, were filled with nothing but condescension.

The click of high heels echoed on the floor. As Xu Jing passed by Lu Zhi, she paused instinctively, probably expecting her to try and stop her.

To her surprise, Lu Zhi turned directly, as if she had been prepared for this moment. She pulled out a party popper and yanked it, colorful streamers filled the air, though it was unclear whether it was meant as a celebration. “Oh my, congratulations on resigning, Sister Jing. What a shame.”

Amidst this cheerful scene, she feigned regret and sniffled, putting on an exceptionally dramatic performance. “Take care, and I won’t see you out.”

“…”

Xu Jing gritted her teeth and headed toward the elevator. Before the elevator doors had even fully closed, Li Siyi’s uncontrollable laughter erupted from the studio: “Boss Zhi! You’re amazing!”

…

“Standard procedure,” Lu Zhi lowered her head to examine the party popper. “I could tell she’s been wanting to quit for a while now.”

Xu Jing’s defiance was nothing new.

Back when the studio was hiring, they needed an experienced senior planner. Xu Jing, 32, had just resigned from the marketing department of an advertising agency and had no connection to the dating game they were developing. But she spoke so convincingly and visited the studio three times that Lu Zhi ultimately decided passion was precious and made an exception, allowing her to bring in an entire team.

Yet, less than a month after joining, Xu Jing began leveraging her seniority to boss around various departments, exuding a paternalistic vibe of “age over ability.” During meetings, her most frequent remark to Lu Zhi was, “Sweetie, I’m 12 years older than you. There are some things you really should listen to your elders about.”

Lu Zhi thought that made sense and promptly removed her from the meeting roster.

From then on, Xu Jing didn’t even bother pretending. Lu Zhi couldn’t be bothered to fire her, waiting instead for her to leave on her own.

Li Siyi flipped through the resignation letter, her bun swaying as she shook her head. “Did she resign because her copy kept getting rejected and her pride was hurt?”

“No,” Lu Zhi said earnestly. “She genuinely believes those cheesy pick-up lines she came up with were strokes of genius, and that the storylines I wrote are bland and unremarkable.”

“…”

They were working on Trajectory, a currently trending dating game where the female lead, a manga artist, travels back a thousand years to save human civilization. Along the way, she encounters five male leads with distinct personalities, unlocking different romantic storylines as the plot progresses.

The game hadn’t officially launched yet and was still in internal testing.

“Her age discrimination is way too severe. She thinks being younger means being less capable,” Li Siyi said. “This is an anime-style game, young people know what the audience likes-”

Li Siyi suddenly paused. “Wait! Isn’t there a gaming expo in a few days? Why didn’t she leave the registration forms? How are we supposed to get in?”

As the saying goes, when a boy says he needs to pee, he’s probably already wet his pants.

Lu Zhi quickly opened her laptop and discovered that in the expo’s real-time updated cloud document, their assigned slot had been replaced by another company.

“That’s probably the company Xu Jing jumped to,” she said.

“She gave our booth to someone else?” Li Siyi slammed the table. “Weren’t the materials supposed to be submitted last week? Had she already found a new job by then?”

“Looks like it,” Lu Zhi scrolled rapidly. “And all the slots are full now. We can’t buy one.”

Li Siyi was so angry she rolled her eyes. “No wonder she looked so smug when she left earlier. She set us up! She gets to enjoy the expo while we watch from the studio?”

“There must be another way. Don’t panic, let me keep looking.”

Lu Zhi set down the matcha milk tea she had been carrying, propping her cheek with her hand. Her index finger naturally rested against her lips.

The chilled drink was covered in condensation, and her fingertip inevitably picked up a bit of moisture. When it touched her lips, it felt cool and refreshing.

Li Siyi glanced over.

Unlike Xu Jing’s questionable work skills, Lu Zhi had a face so beautiful that no one could possibly find fault with it.

Li Siyi recalled the first time she saw her, the ordinary dormitory lights seemed to brighten by several degrees. She carried a small designer backpack, her skin so fair it seemed translucent, with delicate features: a small face, a pert nose, and pale lips. Her eyes were exceptionally vivid, like pools of clear, jade-green spring water, innocent doe eyes that, with a single blink, could make butterflies flutter.

Anyone who saw her would feel their heart soften.

But those close to her knew her personality was the complete opposite of her appearance.

Li Siyi watched her lean back in her chair and asked, “What’s wrong? Running out of steam?”

“No,” Lu Zhi said, “my fighting spirit is kicking in.”

She had known from the start just how unyielding Lu Zhi was.

They had started working on this game as early as their junior year, as a final project. Their advisor had assigned them a university-industry collaboration topic, saying that if they did well, not only would they get a high grade, but the project could also be implemented directly.

Lu Zhi had started school early and skipped grades. Though young, she poured immense effort into the game and was full of ideas.

Later, their collaborative project was selected by a company. They had pulled countless all-nighters and added numerous features for it. Just as they were about to sign the contract, the other party stood them up repeatedly. Lu Zhi was never one to be pushed around with just a few sharp words, she left the representative utterly frustrated. The person in charge slammed the table and snapped, “There’s no practical value in this, understand? We’re not doing it anymore!”

Upon further inquiry, Lu Zhi found out that the company had intended to steal their ideas and concepts without compensation, planning to develop a copy internally instead of signing with them, a shameless move to the extreme.

Lu Zhi immediately decided to develop the game herself. Keeping a low profile was a family principle, so few people knew that the chain of shopping malls dominating 20% of Suzhou’s market share was owned by her family.

She wasn’t short on money, she just couldn’t swallow the injustice.

Lu Zhi was deep in thought: “The opportunity is truly gone. We’ll have to find another way to salvage this indirectly.”

Li Siyi suggested, “How about asking your family for help?”

“Forget it. My mom would be thrilled to see me hit a wall so I’d go back and help my sister at the company,” Lu Zhi said. “Besides, they’re so busy they can barely manage their own affairs. They don’t have time to worry about me.”

Li Siyi clicked her mouse: “But I just looked up the company Xu Jing jumped to, it seems to be under Huaya Network. The games they make look a lot like ours. Could it be the same company that copied us back in our junior year, just under a new name? Huaya is huge, but there are rumors lately that it’s about to be acquired. Its future is uncertain, how dare she jump into that?”

“Still, whoever acquires Huaya must be some kind of powerhouse,” Li Siyi mused, a hint of gossip in her tone. “It’d have to be on the same level as your husband, right?”

“Husband? Oh,” Lu Zhi paused for a moment, “right, I’m married.”

“…”

“Are you for real?”

“Cut me some slack,” Lu Zhi propped her head up. “We’ve been married for six months. The first three months, I was away at a winter camp, and the last three months, he was traveling the world for acquisitions. Including when we got the marriage certificate, we’ve only met three times. We didn’t even have a wedding because both of us were too busy.”

The shaker cup was filled with a thick layer of milk, dusted with matcha powder like a snow-capped mountain covered in vegetation.

With a gentle shake, the “vegetation” melted, and the “mountain” took on color, the blending process resembled a beautiful ink wash painting. Unlike her and Fu Yanshang, no matter how much they were shaken together, they still seemed like people from two different worlds, merely squeezed into a relationship of convenience.

She hadn’t yet grown accustomed to this arrangement.

Satisfied, Lu Zhi took a sip and licked the corner of her lips. “So, don’t misunderstand our plastic marriage.”

Her and Li Siyi’s office space was right by the floor-to-ceiling windows, spacious and comfortable, with their computers facing each other for easy communication anytime.

She provided the studio with the environment and funding, while Li Siyi served as the project consultant. The studio had actually just been established in March or April, but she had been working on it throughout her senior year, using her financial resources and a great deal of time to hire people to build the game framework. She also enlisted several well-known illustrators to design the card art, so they could hit the ground running right after graduation, saving a lot of time.

In any case, she was absolutely determined not to let anyone walk all over her.

The entire day, except for lunch, she spent contacting various exhibition organizers online. There were backup options, of course, but they would mean waiting several months for nothing. Time was money, and she wasn’t willing to waste it.

Besides, she wanted to face Xu Jing head-on and see who was really in the right.

Suddenly, Li Siyi popped her head up from behind her computer screen. “Your husband is back in the country!”

Lu Zhi was taken aback. “Huh? Who said that?”

Li Siyi held up her phone. “The news! Just today, he just landed.”

Lu Zhi glanced at it but didn’t pay much attention, murmuring an absent-minded “Mm-hmm.” “He probably didn’t go home then. Uncle Zong and the others didn’t notify me. Maybe he went to the ancestral residence.”

A brief silence fell over the office, broken only by the soft clicking of Lu Zhi’s mouse, like crushed potato chips scattered calmly across the desk.

Li Siyi declared, “I have a plan.”

Lu Zhi paused, tilted her head, and gestured for her to continue.

“This exhibition is hosted by Rongsheng. Your husband is the big-shot CEO of Rongsheng, right? Figure out a way to get him to remove that giant logo they always put in the center and let us take the spot.”

“…”

“It’s simple!” Li Siyi tried to persuade her. “Even though you two aren’t close, just act a little cute. No man can resist a beautiful woman acting cute.”

Lu Zhi replied, “You’re asking too much of me. I don’t know how to act cute.”

“Isn’t that even easier? Just mix and match ‘brother,’ ‘wo,’ and ‘ma’ into a sentence,” Li Siyi said confidently. “Give it a try.”

Lu Zhi perked up, eager to test it out. “How about: ‘Get that Rongsheng logo out of here and let me take the spot, or else, brother, I’ll send you off to be a lama?'”

Li Siyi: “…”

Li Siyi: “………”

Forget it. What could you really expect from her? One year at school, there was an incident where the women’s restroom was secretly photographed. Rumor had it it was an ex-boyfriend of one of the girls maliciously spreading photos of her skirt area. You couldn’t see anything else, just the girl’s waist-length green hair. There were only a few girls in the whole school with green hair, and the female students were caught in a panic, forced to defend themselves while being passive, causing an uproar across the forums.

Then the next day, Lu Zhi showed up at school with a head of misty green hair, stunning and bold. That afternoon, a large portion of the female students either dyed their hair or bought wigs. Within five days, half the girls in any given classroom had green hair. It was both a form of resistance and mutual support. The victim was able to escape the humiliation and thanked Lu Zhi many times in private. Lu Zhi just waved it off, saying it was just an idea she got from an American TV show. She even managed to track down the whole group of guys responsible and got them expelled. The incident was later dubbed the “Lu Zhi Incident” in the school’s history, and she became an overnight sensation, a role model for all.

Later, when the dye faded, she went back to her beloved chestnut brown.

Li Siyi watched her movements. In just two minutes, Lu Zhi had already rubbed her sore shoulders and neck, moved over to the cabinet, and pulled out a halter-neck maxi dress.

She slipped off her loose blouse, raising her arms like a graceful white swan as the fabric rustled and slid down. The pearl-colored gown shimmered under the light, its draping material perfectly outlining her curvaceous figure. Paired with her face, she was the epitome of pure allure.

As long as she didn’t speak.

Li Siyi asked with interest, “Why the sudden outfit change?”

“I think your idea is a good one. I’m going to ask him if he can arrange a booth for me. He’s returning to the country today, so there must be an event. If I’m going with him, of course, I need to change.”

“Alright, go ahead and get ready then.” Li Siyi suddenly realized something. “But why do you have a formal dress here?”

Lu Zhi replied, “Oh, I was worried that one day our game might win an award and I’d have to attend a ceremony. I prepared one in advance so I’d have something to wear when the time comes.”

…

Lu Zhi was the type to act immediately on her impulses.

The upside was high efficiency and speed; the downside… sometimes she got carried away too quickly, without considering the consequences.

She left work early at four o’clock. As the boss, no one could really question her.

She just forgot to notify Uncle Zong to pick her up, so Lu Zhi called a ride herself. Hesitating for a moment while entering the destination, she decided to head home first.

Upon arriving home, she went straight to the third floor. The master bedroom was quiet, with no signs of anyone having returned.

She let out a sigh of relief, deftly unhooked her bra, and pulled it out, dangling it from her fingertip.

With her other hand, she tapped open a voice message on WeChat and said to Li Siyi, “I was planning to go straight to the ancestral house to find him, but then I thought, what if he’s not there? So, I came back first. I’ll touch up my makeup and message him later. After all, it’s been a while… well, six months, quite a long time.”

“I should make sure our reunion is a good one. It’ll help with what comes next-”

She had kicked off her shoes by the cabinet and was completely absorbed in her voice message, only paying attention to the floor as she pushed open the bathroom door barefoot, intending to wash her hands.

The voice message abruptly stopped.

Someone was in the bathroom, having just finished a shower and not yet dressed.

The billowing steam rushed out like a scene from a fairy tale. Hearing the noise, the figure in the mist turned around. A white towel was draped over his neck, his Adam’s apple flushed red from the hot water, and his dark hair gleamed wetly.

The showerhead, turned off just moments ago, still dripped water, trembling on his forehead before trickling down his firm chest and abs, tracing a faint path as the droplets wandered.

And she was still twirling her bra in her hand.

The soft, unrestrained shape of her chest was clearly outlined. For a moment, she didn’t know whether to cancel the voice message, cover her chest, or find a clean pane of glass to knock herself out against.

…

Just as she was about to turn and flee, his voice pinned her in place once again.

The mist had cleared entirely. Fu Yanshang, expressionless, pulled out a bath towel and wrapped it around his waist, following her gaze. He remained as composed as if he hadn’t been the one exposed, and spoke calmly under the unlit ceiling light:

“Left work early?”