Chapter 383 - 148: Fatal Encounter
The guiding red ribbons, which had led the way before, suddenly retreated like a receding tide.
Does that mean... it’s time to return? Su Ziceng understood the message of the red ribbons. She hesitated whether to take the design sketches with her or leave them there. As the ribbons sped up in their retreat, it seemed to symbolize that she needed to hurry back.
In haste, Su Ziceng pulled out the portrait of Su Qingzhang, and placed the seven design sketches of "Mussen’s Blessing" back in the distance. Before leaving, she took another look at Ye Taina’s wax figure. Su Ziceng always felt that Ye Taina wasn’t as bad as Pello and Chang Chi had described. She bowed deeply, picked up her shoes, and ran out of the room with wooden flooring.
As she was running through the corridor, the red ribbons were wilting like ivy that had lost its vitality, hanging lifelessly on the walls and the ground, until Su Ziceng ran back to her room and the last ribbon had also vanished. She collapsed silently onto the woolen carpet, her legs giving way beneath her.
Footsteps could be heard from outside the corridor; Su Ziceng was still holding the portrait of Su Qingzhang in her hand. She did not dare to open the door to check, but she heard whispers.
All in fluent French, one voice belonged to Pello, and the other, to Denis the old butler whom she had met during the day. They seemed to be speaking a local Parisian French, using some terms that Su Ziceng could not understand.
When Pello reached the outside of the bedroom, he looked towards Su Ziceng’s room again. Seeing the door was still firmly closed and everything looked the same as when he had left, he wished the old butler a good night.
The sound of the door lock on the opposite side, followed by the disappearance of the butler’s footsteps in the corridor, left Su Ziceng in the dark. She did not turn on the light. A sliver of moonlight seeping through the slightly drawn curtains fell upon her face.
The sweat from her strenuous run had dampened her nightgown. She raised her hand to wipe it, but her movement paused when she glanced at the piece of paper.
It was now certain that it was Su Qingzhang who had taken Ye Taina away. From this portrait, it was clear that Ye Taina also loved Su Qingzhang; she and her father both betrayed their mother and their family.
It was her father who had caused Ye Taina’s death. This thought lingered in Su Ziceng’s mind, further complicating her feelings towards Pello. After a night of contemplation, her thoughts were still muddled when she woke up in the morning.
"Didn’t sleep well last night?" Pello noticed Su Ziceng was not eating much at breakfast.
"Had a dream in the middle of the night," Su Ziceng put down her cutlery and started tearing a doughnut into pieces.
"I apologize for my absence, dear guests," an arrogant voice interrupted their ongoing conversation.
Viscount Orleans, who had been brooding for the past few days, had finally made up his mind last night. He was determined to go to the ski resort and confess to Wen Maixue. He believed that Wen Maixue’s affectionate gazes during those nights in Venice were genuine, and that she was just bewildered by her father’s wealth and power. He could easily reveal to Wen Maixue that his own father’s fortune was ill-gotten, and unlike how he appeared to others, he was nothing but a sanctimonious hypocrite.
Viscount Orleans believed that, after hearing all this, Wen Maixue would surely change her mind. Besides, one day he would inherit all the Olsen family’s wealth anyway.
Orleans, with these thoughts, had now reverted to the character of the disdainful Lord Viscount. However, when he saw Su Ziceng and Pello, he was still somewhat surprised.
The lady seated on the left side of the guest seats was someone he had seen before. Wasn’t she the Tea Girl from the Lanshan Tea House in Japan who had caught his attention? Because of Su Ziceng’s attire that day, Orleans had always been under the impression she was a Tea Girl from the tea house, even though he had inquired about her from the tea house’s owner after the fact. He had forgotten about the somewhat haughty Tea Girl after meeting Wen Maixue later on.
As for the male guest seated on the right side of the guest seats, he didn’t believe he had seen him before. However, this man wearing scholarly glasses gave him a strange sense of familiarity. His features bore some resemblance to his own, or rather, he was more handsome than he was. Orleans snorted to himself; how could an ordinary male guest compare to the great young master of the Olsen family?
"This beautiful miss, it’s our second meeting now," said Orleans, displaying the demeanor of the young Viscount lord as he struck up a conversation with Su Ziceng.
Su Ziceng felt even less appetite. She didn’t want to flirt or argue with this sharp-tongued young man. Now, with her mind in turmoil, she urgently needed to finalize the exclusive rights negotiations and return to China as soon as possible.
At the dining table among the three, it was Orleans who had the stage to himself, declaring their upcoming itinerary and boasting non-stop about the Olsen family’s wealth.
Thanks to him, although the meal Su Ziceng and Pello shared was somewhat extravagant, it nonetheless yielded some gains. The majority of the Olsen family’s industries, as well as a rough outline of their business operations, were all inadvertently revealed through Orleans’s unrestrained bragging.
From his monologue, Pello deduced that most of the Olsen family’s skilled technicians were recruited from Denmark and Belgium, offering not only high salaries but also generous benefits and stock options.
Su Ziceng, on the other hand, discerned from the conversation that the Olsen family had shown a trend of diversifying their business in recent years. They planned to start with a medium-end clothing brand, then through the high-end jewelry market, break into the luxury clothing market in one go.
It seemed that the negotiations with the Olsen family would not be easy. Su Ziceng pondered how she might persuade the Olsen family. Perhaps convincing them to relinquish the ZARA exclusive rights might be difficult, but she could start small, by trying to get them to loosen up on the Asian Region exclusive rights. A step-by-step approach might yield better results.
After the meal, Su Ziceng and Pello discussed and decided to forego the exclusive rights for ZARA in other continents for the time being. Their trip to the Alpine ski resort this time would focus on securing exclusive rights for Asia.
As Su Ziceng and the others set off for the ski resort in the Alpine Shanyin area, the Alps region, after several days of clear weather, finally began to see snowfall.
As Olsen and Wen Maixue arrived a few days earlier, the clear weather did not allow for any proper snow for skiing, leaving Wen Maixue a bit disappointed for not being able to ski to her heart’s content. However, after Olsen took her geese-hunting a few times, her mood greatly improved.
"In two days, Orleans will bring two important guests to visit me at the ski resort, so I’m afraid you’ll have to play by yourself," Olsen sat in the holiday house and let Wen Maixue know in advance.
"You could have Viscount Orleans act as my tour guide. After all, I will be his mother soon, and we need to start building our relationship," said Wen Maixue with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Olsen’s heart swelled with joy. Did Wen Maixue’s words mean that she had thoughtfully agreed to his marriage proposal?
(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with a recommendation ticket or monthly ticket on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)