Chapter 1187: Chapter 1187 Elbows Turn Outward

Song Zishan then turned her somewhat stiff neck, “So, the reason I didn’t get a bouquet of flowers when we came over yesterday, and Fashion Passion’s receptionist didn’t send me one, wasn’t because the staff forgot, but because all the flowers were piled up at the entrance of Su Wen’s new store?”

Lu Jianan gave a bitter smile and did not answer.

She found it difficult to answer, but the implication was clear.

“Heh!” Song Zishan sneered, “It seems I misunderstood those people I fired yesterday.”

Lu Jianan widened her eyes, “You fired people yesterday just because they didn’t prepare flowers?”

“Was I wrong? As the new boss, shouldn’t my first official appearance be greeted with flowers and applause?” Song Zishan’s sense of entitlement was evident as she said sarcastically, “Since we’re in the fashion magazine business, we need to have some style. Otherwise, I might as well think I was going to the countryside to transplant rice seedlings!”

Lu Jianan pursed her lips, wanting to say something but was quickly interrupted by Song Zishan.

“Alright, stop lecturing me. I’m just asking for a little more to make the work go smoother later on! I’m not wrong either, it was indeed their lack of preparation. I notified them well in advance of my arrival, why didn’t they prepare? If they don’t have that much work capacity, they deserve to be fired.”

“Okay! But try not to be so impulsive in the future.”

“Fine, I get it,” Song Zishan said impatiently. She was losing patience with Lu Jianan more and more, but she knew Lu Jianan meant well and so she barely listened.

“Hmm!”

Lu Jianan was at a loss for words. Saying too much would annoy Zishan, but keeping silent made her feel that Zishan’s actions were wrong. She couldn’t agree but always felt the need to remind Zishan, knowing that it wasn’t right not to point out a friend’s mistakes.

If she couldn’t help her friend grow and progress, but instead blandly watched her make mistakes, wouldn’t she become a bad influence?

But saying something, Zishan wouldn’t want to listen.

Lately, Lu Jianan had also been in a bad mood, even feeling disgusted.

“When did you say Su Wen was going to open her store?” After asking nonchalantly, Song Zishan glanced down at the trash bin, her eyes stung by the prominent Su family brand logo on the newspaper. “No, that’s not just opening a store, that’s establishing her own brand.”

She couldn’t swallow her pride; Song Zishan had never suffered such a big loss before, yet it kept happening to her at the hands of Su Wen. She had used so much of her connections and favors to publish her own book, but due to her cousin’s meddling, the sales were terrible, and so much stock was unsold, causing her to lose money.

Losing money was one thing; she didn’t lack for money. But losing face was intolerable.

Now she had bought Ai Shang magazine and hadn’t even had the chance to show off before being upstaged again, making her lose face.

Lu Jianan did not speak.

“What’s wrong?” Seeing Lu Jianan’s silence, Song Zishan immediately became suspicious, “Did you know about this beforehand? I remember now, Su Wen was at your film studio last month for casting. You knew about this, right? Did you deliberately hide it from me?”

“I… I knew she was going to open a store, but I didn’t know it was like this.” Lu Jianan thought she had already given Su Wen enough credit, but she hadn’t expected that Su Wen’s idea of opening a store was to establish her own brand company, and moreover, one that sold luxury goods unaffordable to ordinary people.

What surprised her even more was the business’s instant success, with demand outstripping supply. She had learned of the opening sooner than Zishan. She knew that Xu Junfeng and Dong Na were attending the opening. She didn’t have time to go yesterday, but she made a special trip this morning, hoping to buy a bag, only to find none in stock. She could do nothing but leave her address and pay a deposit to reserve one.