Age of Legends

Chapter 256 Casually Dressed
Zhang Chen knew about Wang Bowen's new creative coffee shop; he bought it after seeing a courtyard on Baoxiang Street for sale while passing by.

It turned out to be an old design institute, covering an area of ​​several hundred square meters, with a two-story building. When Wang Bowen asked Zhang Chen what he thought of the place, Zhang Chen said it was fine. The two discussed their ideas and decided to use it as a creative base or something. They could sell membership cards, deliver coffee every day, and also install a few beverage machines with unlimited refills, making it a self-service environment, with an overall relaxed and casual atmosphere.

I don't expect this to make money; I just want it to keep the business running.

The value of this land will increase over time, and as land becomes increasingly valuable, the value of money will also rise. Of course, money may not matter anymore; what matters is the emotional value of having such a place in the bustling city, offering a tranquil retreat amidst the noise and a sense of seclusion in the heart of the city.

Zhang Chen is quite supportive of her godfather's occasional impulsive ideas. Wang Bowen used to be quite witty; after quitting his hosting job, he started his own company, always making it very creative. However, his creativity often went too far, with too many idealistic ideas, leading to its frequent failures.

Now, Zhang Chen first filters through them, and he warns those that are unrealistic. Wang Bowen usually doesn't insist: "Oh, if you think it won't work, then forget it..." Listening to advice is a very good quality of his godfather.

It wasn't that Wang Bowen listened to advice, but rather that Zhang Chen's ideas and predictions had too many successful examples, so he subconsciously made his opinion the primary consideration.

Jiang Rong said she was exhausted from working at this creative café, which made Zhang Chen feel embarrassed. He didn't want to tell her that all the things she complained about were actually his ideas.

That's it, it gives you a strange feeling that a behind-the-scenes boss is controlling everything.

Of course, Zhang Chen could only make up for it by cooking hot pot for her.

"Order whatever you want to eat, eat more meat, don't stay up late and ruin your health, take good care of yourself."

Jiang Rong felt a warmth in her heart when Zhang Chen said that. Soon the hot pot was ready, and the dishes they ordered were served. Zhang Chen started cooking the vegetables.

"You smelled like instant noodles when you first arrived. I guess you've been eating instant noodles all the time lately!" Zhang Chen picked up a piece of freshly cooked beef for her, then got up to go to the refrigerator to find some fresh ingredients to cook and eat.

Zhang Chen's words just now left Jiang Rong somewhat bewildered: "It smells like instant noodles..."

She has indeed been eating instant noodles these past few days, mainly because it's convenient, and she got used to it during college. If it weren't for the fact that her job is physically demanding, she would probably consider not eating at all to lose weight.

As Zhang Chen got up and went to the refrigerator, she picked up the corner of her clothes with her fingers, sniffed around, secretly breathed on her palm, smelled it, and looked a little embarrassed.

She then quickly buried her head in eating the beef in her bowl, and Zhang Chen returned with the vegetables.

However, Zhang Chen didn't seem to bring up that topic again afterward, and instead chatted with her about the program. She mentioned a mediation theme she had previously decided on for the program—the re-employment process of laid-off female workers documented on the show—and that they had received a letter from CCTV's "Oriental Horizon" requesting to use their material. Zhang Chen nodded sincerely, "You've done a great job!"

Jiang Rong seems to be getting more and more adept at this now. She can handle the selection of broadcast topics, the handling of situations, and even the negotiation of advertising business on her own. Zhang Chen is delighted to see that her abilities have improved.

Sincere praise is palpable. Jiang Rong couldn't help but feel happy and accomplished. This was mainly due to Zhang Chen's commendation. It felt like following a highly capable mentor who effortlessly handles various projects, while you struggle and learn step by step. Then one day, that mentor suddenly looks at you seriously and says you did a good job on this project. That feeling… pride, satisfaction, and fulfillment.

After finishing his meal, Zhang Chen said, "Boss, the bill!"

Jiang Rong quickly said, "I'll do it! How could I let you buy it? You're still a high school student!" Then she hurriedly grabbed her bag and got up to pay.

She ordered a lot of meat, but she seemed to be a vegetarian and didn't eat much. Zhang Chen ate it all. It's true, he told her to get some nutrition and ordered all sorts of dishes, but he ate the most and ended up paying the bill.

After leaving the hot pot restaurant with Jiang Rong, Zhang Chen noticed that her cascading black hair was slightly dry and had some split ends. He asked, "When did you wash your hair?"

Jiang Rong stiffened for a moment, then glanced at him sideways. "Hmm... three days ago... it was very dirty, wasn't it? I didn't have time to wash it. I was going to wash it today... I've been losing a lot of hair lately, so I've reduced the frequency of washing it... I used to wash it every day. It wouldn't be this dirty."

The final words should be forceful and resolute.

Zhang Chen had only asked casually, but he didn't expect Jiang Rong to react so strongly, so he had to explain, "I noticed your hair is a bit split, so I'm reminding you to apply more conditioner. Don't go to sleep with wet hair; I used to do that too, and it caused me a lot of migraines."

After speaking, Zhang Chen realized he had been too talkative. However, he also thought Jiang Rong was quite pitiful. She lost her mother a long time ago and had to learn most of her skills on her own. Now that she was busy with work, she probably didn't take care of herself much. For some reason, he thought of himself when he was out in the world on his own, so he decided to offer a few more words of advice.

"You're so young, and you already have migraines. It must be because you're in your final year of high school and not getting enough sleep," Jiang Rong interjected, seemingly in a good mood. "But I know—!"

"You don't rent a place nearby, do you?" "Yeah, I rented a place near the provincial TV station...why?"

"Oh. It's nothing."

"What's going on? Should I rent a place here?" Jiang Rong asked nervously.

"No, with your outfit today, I thought you lived nearby."

Jiang Rong was stunned for a moment before stammering, "I...I understand."

I don't know what she found out, but the taxi I just hailed has stopped. Zhang Chen has to rush back to evening self-study. He also wants to meet with Jiang Rong regularly about work issues, so he's in a pretty good mood.

Watching Zhang Chen's car drive away, Jiang Rong looked down at her outfit, then removed her bow and let her hair fall down before gently smoothing out the knots. She realized she had looked too casual today, which was why Zhang Chen had given her a heads-up.

Jiang Rong was also annoyed. She used to pay a lot of attention to her image when she was at school, but recently she must have been too busy with too many things, which made her too busy to take care of herself. Today, after meeting with Zhang Chen, she rushed over to pick up a batch of new decoration materials for a coffee shop nearby, without having time to dress up or put on makeup.

As Jiang Rong tidied her appearance in front of the reflective glass of a roadside shop, a chill ran down her spine once again.

Zhang Chen... actually started paying attention to her appearance and clothing details...

She stared at her reflection, then released the hand that had been covering her hair. Her cascading hair fell in a waterfall of color, and beneath her casual loungewear, her face possessed a captivating allure.

A few days later, Zhang Chen and Jiang Rong had lunch together in the afternoon because they needed his advice on a tricky topic for the program.

Zhang Chen was taken aback when he entered the newly opened upscale steakhouse in Fuzhou.

On the table in front of her stood a stunningly beautiful woman in a light green cheongsam, wearing black-rimmed glasses. Her long, crossed legs were visible beneath the cheongsam's side slit, and she wore white cloth shoes. This woman had been breathtakingly beautiful since she appeared there, to the point that occasionally a wealthy businessman would muster the courage to approach her and ask for her contact information, only to be politely refused.

The people dining at the restaurant afterwards held their breath and kept glancing in her direction, feeling as if they had seen her somewhere before, but couldn't quite place her. They guessed she was probably a minor celebrity.

Zhang Chen looked around twice after entering the room before he was surprised to recognize that the woman with her hair up, wearing a light green cheongsam and black-rimmed glasses, who had been staring at him with a half-smile, was Jiang Rong.

Zhang Chen forced himself to sit down and saw many people around him staring at the pair of girls in Yude school uniforms and cheongsams with strange looks.

"You're dressed like that... You're going to be interviewed later? CCTV needs your footage, do they expect you to appear on camera?"

Jiang Rong, who was looking down at the menu, didn't look up and simply said, "No... it's just a casual meal for you... you can wear whatever you want."

"Are you out of your mind? You don't need to dress like this. You look like a rich second-generation sister with a high school brother. How am I supposed to feel?"

"You!" Jiang Rong was about to snap, her temper back in college would have already ignited her anger at this shameless guy, but remembering his past misdeeds, she lowered her voice, "I saw something I liked at the mall, so can't I buy it and wear it..."

Zhang Chen gave a peculiar "heh," and said, "Clothes really do make the man. Dressed like this, even my voice sounds eight octaves softer." He still vividly remembered how Jiang Rong would use her hands and feet to complain to him every time.

Jiang Rong waved to the waiter, "Bring him a fruitwood-smoked tomahawk steak!"

Zhang Chen looked somewhat innocent: "I haven't said I wanted to order this yet!"

"This is the largest portion they have; it's big enough to gag you!" Jiang Rong said resentfully.

I thought to myself how stupid I was, and I'll never dress up like that in front of him again!

(End of this chapter)