Chapter 15: Famous Designer

The few boys whose names were called realized they still had things to do and could only shake their heads in regret.

"I actually am free." Song Xingyu wore his baseball cap backward. "I'll go help."

Jiang Zhe remained noncommittal. Xia Enci and Xiao Meng hurriedly followed her, and Song Xingyu quickly caught up as well.

When the girls from Class One saw Xiao Meng approaching, they immediately lowered their heads to whisper and gossip.

"Does Xiao Meng have the nerve to come back?"

"She doesn't actually think she can return to Class One, does she?"

"It's good that she moved. She was always screaming from nightmares at night; it was practically affecting our studies!"

Xiao Meng's face turned slightly red, and she lowered her gaze.

In the next second, they saw that the famous "Kong Fu Barbie" and the school bully from an unnamed class were following Xiao Meng, and the whispering stopped instantly.

Jiang Zhe keenly overheard their last sentence.

Song Xingyu went to grab Xiao Meng's luggage, but when he lifted it, his arm nearly buckled. "Why is this so heavy?"

Xiao Meng felt embarrassed. "There are a lot of books."

"Move aside, move aside, let me do it." Xia Enci's loli voice was sweet and obedient as she walked over, casually picked up the luggage, and strode forward.

A small smile finally appeared on Xiao Meng's face, which had been devoid of joy for a long time.

After the things were packed, it was time for the afternoon dismissal, and the group went to the canteen to eat together.

As Jiang Fanyue was walking out of the classroom with her backpack, she saw Jiang Zhe being held in the center like a star surrounded by moons, with several people following around her.

Jiang Zhe didn't speak, and her expression was even cold and devoid of emotion, yet the people around her were chatting with one another, always maintaining a structure centered on her.

Seeing that Xia Enci was among those surrounding Jiang Zhe, a sense of dread rose in Jiang Fanyue's heart.

She had already learned that Xia Enci was her cousin. If Xia Enci were to call her "Cousin" on the spot, wouldn't that mean...

Thinking of this, she ran quickly toward the exit.

A classmate walking out with her was surprised. "Fanyue, why are you running so fast?"

Jiang Fanyue only stopped once she was out of Xia Enci's sight. "It's nothing, someone from my family is coming to pick me up."

"You really are lucky, getting picked up and dropped off by a car every day. The young lady of the Jiang family, noble status, pampered by her family, good grades, and beautiful too. It's like Heaven created you as its own daughter, isn't it?"

Hearing these words, Jiang Fanyue couldn't smile. She hurriedly said goodbye to her classmate and got into the car waiting for her.

In the back seat, Liang Jinlan was with Jiang Yunxuan.

Seeing her mother bringing her younger brother to pick her up personally, Jiang Fanyue's agitated mood calmed down.

"Why are you running so out of breath?" Liang Jinlan asked with a smile.

"I saw you, so I wanted to see you sooner."

Liang Jinlan was full of maternal affection. "Silly child. By the way, I thought I caught a glimpse of Jiang Zhe just now. What is she doing at your school? She isn't here to cause trouble for you, is she?"

As soon as she heard Jiang Zhe's name, Jiang Yunxuan immediately bounced up. "Is it Sister? Does that mean I can see Sister?"

"Your sister is sitting right here!" Liang Jinlan said crossly.

"Yunxuan, be good. Sister will buy you something delicious later," Jiang Fanyue said in a very gentle tone.

"Oh." Jiang Yunxuan lowered his head.

Liang Jinlan spoke earnestly, "Fanyue, your future is limitless. Even if Jiang Zhe wanted to influence you, she wouldn't be able to. You must be firm yourself. Make sure to practice the piano more and prepare for the upcoming competition. As long as you can successfully become a disciple under Master Yue, we won't have to worry about anything. The little difficulties the family is facing now won't be much of a problem."

"What difficulties is the family facing?" Jiang Fanyue's heart skipped a beat, and she gripped her fingers tightly.

Liang Jinlan hesitated. "It's nothing. Just focus on your own affairs."

Seeing her mother's troubled expression, Jiang Fanyue didn't dare to ask further.

The Jiang family was in the clothing business, and the family business had always been very good, especially in the last ten-plus years when it had been flourishing.

Jiang Fanyue couldn't imagine what kind of problem they could encounter.

However, Liang Jinlan was indeed worried. A while ago, a famous designer, J, who had always cooperated with the Jiang family, suddenly announced their withdrawal.

J was a renowned master of an overseas brand that Liang Jinlan had accidentally contacted over a decade ago, and the other party had expressed a willingness to cooperate with the Jiang family.

At the time, Liang Jinlan had been skeptical of their ability, especially since the other party refused to meet in person, so she didn't dare to trust them too easily.

Who would have thought that the other party would generously provide the Jiang family with some design drafts first, authorizing them to use them for free, and only proceed with cooperation if the results were good? With a trial mindset, Liang Jinlan had used the designs.

Then, the Jiang family's clothing business, which had previously been growing steadily but modestly, suddenly saw its performance skyrocket, hitting new highs repeatedly.

Liang Jinlan hurriedly re-established contact with J with great respect, pleading for cooperation with kind words.

Over these ten-plus years, although they had never met, J had continuously provided the Jiang family with various design works.

This was also a major reason why the Jiang family could firmly establish itself as a wealthy family in Jincheng.

Liang Jinlan thought these good days would last forever. Even without J, relying on the brand the company had built, why would there be problems? The world wouldn't stop turning just because one person left.

Who would have thought that in less than half a month, problems would begin to arise within the company.

The designs provided by J could barely maintain things for a while, but the other designers in the Jiang family, having lost the J who had tirelessly guided them, were like people who had lost their backbone. The things they produced were either unwatchable or riddled with various flaws.

There were even a few highly capable ones who, upon learning of J's withdrawal, also made a fuss about leaving or demanded promotions and raises.

Having grown accustomed to the good life, Liang Jinlan was naturally exhausted by having to deal with these irritating matters.

But fortunately, there was Jiang Fanyue. As long as she successfully became Master Yue's disciple, once the Jiang family knocked on the doors of the capital, none of this would matter.

After returning home, Liang Jinlan felt uneasy and instructed her assistant to look into why Jiang Zhe had appeared at No. 1 Middle School.

It wasn't much of a secret that Jiang Zhe attended No. 1 Middle School.

The assistant replied quickly, "That Jiang Yaowang emptied his entire family's savings to send the eldest... to send Jiang Zhe to No. 1 Middle School."

"A waste of resources." Liang Jinlan shook her head, but then she thought that if Jiang Zhe truly had some connection to the Gu family, then this money wouldn't have been wasted after all.

It was always those born of the common folk who were the best at calculating.

"I also heard that Jiang Yaowang sent food to the Second Young Lady at school. But the Second Young Lady did not accept it."

Liang Jinlan became irritable. "Protect Fanyue better next time. Do not allow anyone from their family to get close!"

The assistant nodded.

"And another thing, Fanyue is not a 'Second Young Lady.' In the Jiang family, she is the only young lady!"

...

When Jiang Zhe returned to her dormitory that evening, she had a new message on her phone.

"J, can we discuss the cooperation again? I know you never mentioned anything regarding compensation before, but from now on, you can make any request you want, and the Jiang family will satisfy you in any way."

(End of Chapter)