Chapter 80: A Meal of Consolation

“Mmm…”

Being fed by her archrival like this, Zhou Ruoyu’s embarrassment momentarily overwhelmed her heartbreak. She lifted her chopsticks, face flushed, and carefully selected from the fragrant dishes before her. The tender beef melted under her teeth, the savory broth sliding over her tongue. She closed her eyes in bliss, then nodded in satisfaction.

Mmm…

Having eaten a bit, she really did feel a lot better.

But after thoroughly rejecting him, the girl still couldn’t stay angry. She imagined the slice of meat in her mouth as a shrunken Ling Bo, then began chewing fiercely with gritted teeth. Such a terrible table manner that even Gu Jiachen across from her couldn’t hold back a smile. After a moment, the President picked up another piece of meat and brought it to her lips, chuckling:

“Come on, open wide. Ah~”

Hiss—

Zhou Ruoyu, who had just been envisioning herself as Hannibal, turned into a shy little bunny again as her nemesis fed her once more.

She hesitated, staring helplessly at the meat. Then, catching the increasingly amused look in Gu Jiachen’s eyes, she feared that if she didn’t eat it, he might come up with some even more perverse follow-up. So she finally opened her mouth wide and gobbled down the meat he personally fed her.

“Mmhm~ What a good little bunny.”

Hearing her archrival’s satisfied praise, Zhou Ruoyu felt like crying. She wanted to shout, ‘Fine, I’m a little bunny! So stop feeding me all this meat!’

Of course, she dared not make that request of Gu Jiachen. It wasn’t that she was picky—she was afraid he’d add two vegetable dishes. What she really worried about was that Gu Jiachen might just feed her ‘carrots’ instead.

So for the rest of the meal, Zhou Ruoyu adhered strictly to the principle of not talking while eating and not eating while talking. She plowed through half the meal until Gu Jiachen reminded her:

“Hey, little bunny, didn’t you say we’d talk while we eat? Tell me what really happened.”

“Um… okay.”

After calming down, Zhou Ruoyu didn’t really want to discuss her private life with Gu Jiachen. But since her benefactor kept pressing, she had no choice but to recount in detail everything that had happened to her over the past week.

Of course, she left out the part about Gu Xue stealing her clothes. No, wait—why did she keep running into such absurd thieves?

After listening to her story, Gu Jiachen finally understood what had happened and frowned. It was simple: he hadn’t expected Ling Bo to suddenly stab her in the back. After some thought, the President could only comfort the little bunny.

“Ah, this matter… Don’t be sad, little bunny. It’s definitely not your fault. You were just unlucky enough to run into a lunatic. Don’t worry, it’s just a small competition. You don’t have to participate. The total prize money is only twenty thousand, which isn’t even a fifth of the allowance I give you each month. After our date, I’ll make it up to you.”

“Mm… As expected of the President.”

Hearing Gu Jiachen’s words, Zhou Ruoyu felt moved for a moment. But she was still a bit down. After a while, she shook her head gently and sighed.

“Actually, it’s not the twenty thousand that bothers me. It’s just that… I never expected her to betray me. That’s what hurts the most.”

Gu Jiachen listened thoughtfully. After a moment, he reached out and ruffled her hair again, saying softly:

“Yeah, I understand how you feel, little bunny. Being betrayed really sucks. So… Hmph, cheer up! You’re right, we can’t just let this slide. We have to teach those cheaters a harsh lesson, right?”

“Huh? Oh…”

Zhou Ruoyu didn’t catch the hidden meaning in her archrival’s words. At this moment, she had somewhat forgotten her own stance. She hesitated for a while before quietly asking:

“But… how do we do that? I don’t have any evidence. Ling Bo has good connections and seniority at the company. If I confront her, I’ll definitely end up worse off.”

“No, no, little bunny. There’s more than one way to get revenge.”

Gu Jiachen smiled lightly. The problem the little bunny was worrying about wasn’t a problem at all in his eyes. But if she really wanted to get even, she needed to…

“I think you should still enter the competition! You can submit another piece by Monday, right? The company’s little competition should allow some flexibility. Over the weekend, design another top-tier outfit. When you win the prize, imagine the expression on Ling Bo’s face when she sees you take the award.”

“Hiss… Oh, oh?”

Gu Jiachen’s words excited Zhou Ruoyu. But a moment later, the excitement faded as she realized the problem.

“But… if I redraw the sketches, there will still be elements similar to what Ling Bo submitted. Even if I modify them, it might be seen as plagiarism since I’m submitting later.”

“No,” Gu Jiachen said with a helpless smile, rubbing her head. “Why do you always get stuck in a rut, little bunny? Can’t you just design a whole new outfit that’s even better than the previous one?”

“Huh? A new design? That’s way too much work. The first one took me ages to piece together… I mean, painstakingly design.”

Zhou Ruoyu sighed heavily, feeling that Gu Jiachen was talking without understanding the difficulty. He made it sound so easy, but she didn’t feel that way.

“Besides, that prize isn’t easy to win. There are so many talented artists at the company. It’s not like a novice like me can just whip something up and win. I was hoping for a consolation prize with my previous design. Now, doing a rush job… I probably won’t win anything.”

But the President wasn’t just throwing out ideas. In fact, he was ready to get personally involved.

“Actually, it’s not that hard. I can provide you with some off-field assistance. Not cheating or doing it for you, just guidance. I’ll help you broaden your thinking and perspective, and help you create a better—no, the best—outfit!”

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