Part 2
Why can’t I be myself?
She was passionate, not at all calm.
She liked to smile, not at all quiet.
She liked excitement, liked bold and bright colors, and liked piloting mechs through the starry sky…
The person described by others as “quiet and reserved” or “elegant and dignified” had absolutely zero relationship with her.
Su Yu didn’t want to live such a self-suppressing life anymore.
She wanted to grow and bloom freely and intensely, just like this bouquet of roses!
Thus, Su Yu took a photo of herself laughing heartily while holding the rose.
Caption: We match well, don’t we?
In no time, people were leaving comments under the photo.
[Wow! Is this you? I almost didn’t recognize you.]
[The flower is beautiful, but the person is even more beautiful.]
[It’s the first time I’ve seen you laugh so ‘without an image.’ It’s good; I like it.]
[So beautiful!]
[Yuyu, have you changed your style? Red suits you quite well. Do you want to go buy red sister outfits together this weekend?]
…
In less than ten minutes, Su Yu received many comments, most of which were positive.
Su Yu breathed a sigh of relief.
It turned out that expressing what was in her heart and being her true self wasn’t as difficult as she had imagined.
“Thank you, Red Rose, for giving me courage and making me impulsively post that photo.”
“So, after this… why don’t I start by replacing the plain white clothes and bedding at home? I can go get a hair highlight first—how about a streak of rose red? I can also replace my makeup; I’m almost tired of the earth tones. I also want to get red cat-eye nails…”
“Later… later I’ll discuss changing my graduate major to Mech Design or something with my dad!”
Su Yu spoke of her future plans with a bright smile.
Having cast off her burdens, her entire person radiated a vibrant spirit, light and full of hope for the future.
A new day began with a brand-new self.
Lai Ze also received the mysterious gift he had won for answering correctly early in the morning.
Under his silver-rimmed glasses, Lai Ze’s gaze was focused. “He actually sent me a Red Rose. Truly a surprise.”
The well-grown red flowers rested quietly in Lai Ze’s hands, but when he touched the outer ring of the flowerpot, Lai Ze’s hand subconsciously jerked back.
“What overbearing mental power.”
“It feels different from the mental power net set up when the lavender was sent last time.”
Lai Ze took a moment to get used to the overbearing mental power before carefully examining the Red Rose.
Whether it was the stems, leaves, or petals, this plant appeared perfect to Lai Ze—perfect enough that Lai Ze, who had already worked in the research institute for five years, was dazed for a long time.
“Cultivated so well, it’s a bit enviable.”
Lai Ze habitually placed the rose into the detection tool. Before long, the detection report came out.
[Upon detection, this plant has the effect of stabilizing the spiritual sea.
Simultaneously, it can repair a trace amount of shallow-layer spiritual sea. The estimated repair value within one cycle (7 days) is 0.1%.]
Lai Ze was astonished.
He hadn’t expected the plant obtained from Zhu’s Lingering Fragrance to have a slight repair effect.
Even if it was only a trace amount of 0.1%, it was something the research institute couldn’t achieve.
The natural plant was cultivated better than those at the institute, each radiating vibrant life, and it even had the effect of repairing the spiritual sea.
This made Lai Ze, who was already interested in Zhu’s Lingering Fragrance, even more eager.
“Very impressive.”
He smiled, his eyes curving into half-moons.
“So, just how did you do it? I really want to know…”
Starbuy App Headquarters
Zhang Jun from the operations department was walking with a spring in his step today, his face glowing—clearly a sign that something good was on the horizon.
Old Zou, the “old fossil” from the marketing department, had been unwilling to sign an exclusive shop contract with Zhu’s Lingering Fragrance. He insisted on seeing a month’s worth of shop performance before making a final decision.
As a result, as soon as the promotion data came out this morning, the people in the marketing department couldn’t sit still. they clamored to sign an exclusive contract with Zhu’s Lingering Fragrance, insisting they absolutely couldn’t let this treasure shop get away.
Operator Xiao Zhang was reporting the data in the meeting room. “Externally, the advertisement CVR for Zhu’s Lingering Fragrance reached 13.2%, which is 5.2% higher than other shops. Additionally, its 7-day ROI…”
Xiao Zhang spoke eloquently in the meeting room, and the attendees whispered among themselves with looks of joy.
Xiao Zhang: “My report is concluded. Personally, I suggest signing the exclusive shop agreement with Zhu’s Lingering Fragrance as soon as possible. Now, please express your opinions.”
Old Zou, the marketing department head who had always held an opposing view, said with a cold face, “I reserve my opinion.”
“This data is more than enough to sign an exclusive agreement… I agree.”
“Since Starbuy went online, there hasn’t been any data that could beat Zhu’s Lingering Fragrance! Let’s bind them before other platforms have a chance to poach them!”
“Your marketing department’s actions are too slow! Last time Zhu’s Lingering Fragrance was in a crisis of public opinion, our PR department reacted timely and fought a beautiful turnaround battle within three hours!”
“Yet Zhu’s Lingering Fragrance has been in business for over half a month, and you’re still discussing whether to give them an exclusive contract?”
“Your marketing sense isn’t sharp at all. No wonder the market data declines every year.”
…
Under the murmurs, Marketing Department Head Old Zou’s face gradually turned ugly.
He was merely seeking stability, feeling that signing Zhu’s Lingering Fragrance carried significant risk, so he had suppressed the exclusive contract.
Who would have known that with just a small promotional activity, every performance metric for Zhu’s Lingering Fragrance far exceeded other shops?
Meanwhile, the [Designer R] he had pushed had been given an A-grade promotion, yet every metric only reached one-tenth of Zhu’s Lingering Fragrance’s.
It was a slap in the face, a proper slap in the face.
Within Starbuy, the proposal to sign the exclusive contract for Zhu’s Lingering Fragrance was passed with almost unanimous approval.
Subsequently, Xiao Zhang from the operations department, the primary initiator, would follow up on the signing process.
While the one-day promotion for Zhu’s Lingering Fragrance concluded successfully, the event regarding the real or fake natural plants also had a final result.
The experts who had previously voiced doubts on social media apologized publicly one after another.
[Expert Li XX: I received a payment from an artist’s assistant on the evening of January 4th, requesting that I make false comments about Zhu’s Lingering Fragrance [Chat Record]. I sincerely apologize for the trouble caused to Zhu’s Lingering Fragrance.]
[Expert Wang XX: I was contacted on the evening of January 4th…]
…
At the same time, the Wenderell Art Academy also issued warning punishments.
[Wenderell Art Academy: Upon investigation, Professor Lei, Associate Professor Wang, and Director Zhang of our school accepted bribes, causing an extremely negative impact. The aforementioned four individuals have now been stripped of their titles and dismissed. They have been handed over to the relevant departments for processing. Simultaneously, student Yan X from the fourth-year Art Aesthetics Department committed academic misconduct and has been given a demerit and expelled.]
Several public statements were issued in succession, and netizens were quickly “eating melons.”
“The collective apology from the experts is truly a once-in-a-lifetime sight.”
“Holy crap! So Yan Han was unhappy after losing to Yan You, so he secretly caused trouble for Zhu’s Lingering Fragrance? Ptooie.”
“Terrifying to think about! Fortunately, Zhu’s Lingering Fragrance helped Yan You regain his confidence, or this would have been a great loss to the painting world…”
“Zhu’s Lingering Fragrance is so pitiful, being affected for no reason.”
…
“It’s 3:00! The fixed restocking time for Zhu’s Lingering Fragrance is coming up. Do you guys want to go and try your luck?”
As soon as the news came out, the chat groups instantly went quiet.
During yesterday’s promotion, so many people already bought natural plants. Do we have a hope of picking up a stray plant today?
No, I have to go check.
What if… what if I can buy one?
Today is another day of daydreaming!
Recommended Reads
