Volume One, Chapter 18: She Wants to Compete with Shen Qingzhu in Design

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Shuya gently took out a bottle of perfume from behind her and placed it on the white table in front of them. The perfume’s color was murky and indistinct, looking no different from the one Zhu Ting had just mixed.

“Forgot to tell you,” she said. “That bottle just now—I added eight more ingredients to the original 48 in the perfume to neutralize the pungent smell, which is why it smells normal. Since you’re all perfumers, you should know how difficult that is.”

“And this bottle here,” she reached out and gently pushed the bottle forward by half an inch, “is the perfume I replicated.”

“Impossible!” Zhu Ting didn’t believe her. She hurriedly snatched the bottle, opened the cap, and an overpowering pungent scent instantly filled the corridor. Anyone with a nose could tell this smell was almost identical to Zhu Ting’s bottle.

In that instant, all eyes turned sharply to Shuya.

They looked as if struck by lightning, frozen stiff, with their eyes nearly popping out.

How could anyone achieve this?

That original perfume mixed 48 different ingredients. Even world-class master perfumers wouldn’t be able to distinguish them, yet Shuya had accurately named the number and replicated it flawlessly.

It was beyond all their comprehension.

Was this even humanly possible?

The stark truth lay before them, yet Zhu Ting refused to believe it.

Her excitement made her voice sharp. “You must have cheated!”

Shuya remained calm and unyielding. “The perfume contest was impromptu, the venue was chosen by you, and so many eyes were watching. Tell me, how could I have cheated?”

Though she said that, Zhu Ting still wouldn’t believe it.

She was from Kyoto University’s perfumery department; how could she lose to a housewife? It was an insult to her skills, her education, her entire being.

“I, you...” Zhu Ting opened her mouth to speak but found herself at a loss for words.

Shuya stepped in front of Zhu Ting. Standing 172 cm tall, she was half a head taller than Zhu Ting. Her eyes showed no emotion, her tone merely stated the facts.

“You lost.”

“According to the bet, you’ll obediently work under me.”

“See you at your station.”

She carried the unmistakable air of someone in power, commanding submission.

After speaking, she turned and walked away.

As she did, a faint smile curved on Shuya’s lips.

She had succeeded in staying.

Some people are born with extraordinary gifts—Shuya was one of them. Her sense of smell was incredibly sharp; she could distinguish countless ingredients mixed in a single bottle of perfume. She had previously managed to identify over seventy blended ingredients.

Her mother had often praised her as naturally gifted for this craft.

Yet, blinded by love, she had abandoned perfumery to marry. The marriage failed, and now she had to rely on perfumery to return to society—a cruel irony.

—

Zhu Ting found it hard to accept.

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Her whole body trembled uncontrollably.

She had lost.

She actually lost!

At that moment, her phone vibrated.

She took it out and saw a message from Shen Qingzhu: “It should be over by now, right? Did Shuya slink out of your company in defeat?”

Zhu Ting’s anger flared.

“Slink out”?

The one who looked defeated wasn’t Shuya—it was her!

She turned off her phone, refusing to respond to Shen Qingzhu.

Left waiting without a reply, Shen Qingzhu had a growing sense of foreboding, though it seemed too far-fetched to believe.

She sent her assistant to investigate news about Fuyu Company.

Half an hour later, the assistant brought bad news.

“Sis Qingzhu, I just found out—Shuya has already become the chief perfumer at Fuyu.”

Shen Qingzhu felt as if her heart had been struck by a drumbeat—heavy and dull.

She waved her hand. “You may leave.”

After the assistant left, she stood up and looked around her office and the bustling people outside.

She had fought hard to gain all this and would never give it up easily. No one knew Shuya better than she did, not even Fu Yichen.

If Shuya intended to survive in the workplace, some hidden past secrets would inevitably be exposed.

Then everything Shen Qingzhu had would turn to nothing.

How could she accept that?

“Shuya, since you want to return to the workplace, I won’t go easy on you,” Shen Qingzhu whispered in a chilling tone only she could hear.

Her cooperation with Zhu Ting was casual—if it worked, fine; if not, so be it.

She already had other plans to deal with Shuya, and they were nearly successful. Shuya would soon receive that “gift.”

—

“Yaya, how was your first day at work?”

The message came from Ye Lanlan.

Shuya replied with a faint smile, “Pretty good.”

“Were you bullied by your coworkers?”

“No.”

“How about the boss?”

“Also very nice.”

She was Fu Jinyan’s designated newcomer; the company’s leaders were very kind to her.

“As long as you’re not wronged, that’s good. To celebrate your new job, let’s have dinner tonight. I’ve been back for several days, and we haven’t met yet.”

“Okay, after I finish my work.”

Sigh.

It had been too busy lately.

One thing after another.

Once she finished today’s tasks, she would go have dinner with Lanlan and catch up properly.

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At six o’clock, Shuya clocked out on time.

Her phone buzzed with a new message.

The contact name was—Fu Jinyan.

This was the name she had assigned to him.

The message contained only four words—

“Underground garage.”

He wanted her to come to the underground garage.

Shuya stared at the message, standing still for a full minute. Thoughts raced through her mind, but finally, she took a step toward the garage.

She found the familiar car.

Gently, she tapped on the window.

The window rolled down, and she looked at Fu Jinyan, deliberately slowing her voice.

“Master Fu, I have plans with a friend. I want to have dinner with her. If your headache comes back, maybe tomorrow...” No, that wouldn’t work.

Before she finished, the car door was flung open. The man reached out, forcibly pulling her into his embrace. She sat on Fu Jinyan’s lap, his face buried in her neck, greedily inhaling her scent.

“Declined,” he said coldly and mercilessly.

Declined?

Two light words, yet they made Shuya laugh aloud.

She retorted, “Why should I refuse? My friend invited me first. By order of arrival, you came after her. Besides, I’m still mad at you for last time. You said we just lay together casually, but in the end...”

Thinking of what had happened back then, she felt too ashamed to speak.

Fu Jinyan remained silent for a long while before speaking.

“I’ll pay you. Declined.”

Money?

Shuya laughed angrily.

She grabbed Fu Jinyan’s tie. Though she was greatly displeased by his repeated behavior, she restrained her fury because he was her top-level boss. Her tone was dark and dripping with disdain as she questioned him.

“Do you think money can solve everything?”

“I admit I only got this job because of your help, but I also said I’ll make money for you. We’re mutually beneficial. For the favors you’ve done me, I’ve tolerated your repeated offenses.”

“First, when you labeled me as ‘Owner’ on my phone.”

“Second, at that small villa on the mountain.”

“Third, this time.”

“Master Fu, do you know how you make me feel? You don’t see me as a person. You treat me like a little cat—cute and fragrant, healing for you, but you don’t respect the cat’s privacy or care about its life.”

“But Master Fu, I am human.”

“A living, breathing person!”

Shuya’s anger swelled as she spoke. In the end, she glared fiercely at Fu Jinyan, climbed off his lap, opened the car door, and prepared to leave.

Fu Jinyan blocked her with his hand.

She was furious and bit him instinctively. Fu Jinyan pulled his hand back in pain.

She got out, closed the door, and strode away rapidly.