Chapter 219: Who Doesn't Want to Be Boss Cao?

Inside a luxurious villa in the Mid-Levels of Hong Kong.

Pan Disheng finished washing up and came to the dining room; his father, Pan Jinxi, was already sitting there reading the newspaper.

Seeing his son approach, Pan Jinxi took the briar pipe from his mouth, tapped out the ash, and said, "Now that you've returned, you should finally go to the company to work, right?"

The Pan family business was in watches and clocks, and since Pan Jinxi was getting on in years, he naturally hoped his son would enter the company early to work and slowly take over the company's affairs.

Yet Pan Disheng was unappreciative; this young master had returned from his studies in the United States last year, only to run off and work as a salesperson in a family watch shop for half a year, then went to work as an apprentice at a famous brand watch and jewelry store.

Having been an apprentice for a full year and a half, Pan Disheng could now assemble watches himself, yet he had never once mentioned entering the family company to work.

Hearing Pan Jinxi's question, Pan Disheng finally voiced his own thoughts: "Dad, I want to borrow 6 million from you to open my own watch and jewelry store."

Upon hearing this, Pan Jinxi blew his beard and stared, displeased: "I am in the watch business; there are so many watch shops in the family for you to manage, yet you want to open your own store—has your brain gone bad? Do you think you have to start your own business to demonstrate your abilities?"

Pan Disheng gathered his thoughts and said, "Daddy, the store I want to open isn't an ordinary watch shop, but a luxury watch store."

Pan Jinxi laughed amusedly: "Here you go again with your 'luxury' talk. In Hong Kong right now, you'd be hard-pressed to find one person in ten thousand who loves buying luxury goods. Once that shop of yours opens, I guarantee it will close in a month; there simply won't be any customers."

What Pan Jinxi said was indeed the absolute truth.

In the early eighties in Hong Kong, very few people loved buying luxury goods.

Take the several brands under the Guojun Garment Factory, for example; aside from the trend stirred up by *A Better Tomorrow* last year, the period that followed could only barely break even.

The wealthy in Hong Kong with purchasing power were more willing to have their clothing custom-made.

Pan Disheng considered this and said, "Dad, let me try; if I fail, I'll return to the family company and work honestly."

"Really?" Pan Jinxi raised his head to ask.

Pan Disheng nodded and said, "Really."

"Fine then, I'll just wait for your watch shop to close."

Pan Jinxi said with a smile; although 6 million Hong Kong dollars was a large sum, if it could make Pan Disheng settle down and return to work specifically for the family company, it would be worth it.

After the father and son reached their deal, both were in high spirits.

Pan Disheng picked up a copy of the *Oriental Daily News* and opened it; he had been reading the *Oriental Daily News* every day for the past half-month, not to read the serialization of *A Step into the Past*, but to look at the supplement advertisements.

Yes, advertisements.

Starting a week ago, the *Oriental Daily News* had spent an entire page every day without posting any articles or ads, just four large characters in bright red—【Fashion Oriental】.

The *Oriental Daily News* had already been seeing its sales skyrocket during this period, and with so many people paying attention, such a bizarre occurrence naturally invited countless speculations.

On the first day, when people saw that a certain page of the *Oriental Daily News* had only four baffling characters, they thought it was a mistake by the typesetters or the layout staff.

On the second day, that page was still bright red, still the same four characters: Fashion Oriental. However, beneath those four large characters, an extra line of small text appeared: What is fashion?

At this point, no one thought it was a low-level error by the *Oriental Daily News* anymore, but rather an intentional act.

But the problem was, that page only had those few characters, with no advertising slogans, no contact numbers, and no explanations whatsoever.

Human psychology is just that strange; the less the *Oriental Daily News* explained, the more people wanted to know the truth.

Consequently, a phenomenon emerged that left people in the newspaper industry both laughing and crying: the first thing many people did after getting the *Oriental Daily News* was to run and look at that bright red "advertisement" to see how many more characters had appeared that day.

It wasn't until the twelfth day that the readers finally figured out that the *Oriental Weekly* was going to be rebranded as 【Fashion Oriental】 to create Hong Kong's first fashion magazine.

On the thirteenth day, a subscription phone number appeared on that page of the newspaper, but the price of 【Fashion Oriental】 was somewhat ridiculously expensive, costing 6 dollars per issue, nearly double the 5 dollars for the *Ming Pao*.

Since returning to Hong Kong, Pan Disheng had been conducting market research in the watch and jewelry industry, but he read the *Oriental Daily News* every day precisely because the four characters 【Fashion Oriental】 had attracted him.

What is fashion?

Different people have different understandings of fashion.

As someone who wanted to return to Hong Kong to deal in luxury goods, Pan Disheng's understanding of fashion was luxury brands—using fashion to stimulate people's desire to purchase luxury watches and jewelry.

Today's *Oriental Daily News* was no longer a full page of bright red, but instead featured a full-color print of a magazine cover; on the cover was a magnificent beauty wearing a black evening gown, with a few large, bold characters next to her reading: "Warmly congratulate the official launch of Hong Kong's first fashion magazine, 【Fashion Oriental】."

Pan Disheng looked at the newspaper and laughed in surprise, yet in his heart, he felt admiration for the person who planned this series of promotions; this advertising campaign was simply brilliant.

After piquing the curiosity of over a hundred thousand readers across Hong Kong, they finally revealed the true face of the magazine bit by bit, to the point where 【Fashion Oriental】 was already a household name in Hong Kong before it was even printed and distributed.

Just then, the Filipino maid carried a leather envelope, placed it in front of Pan Disheng, and said, "Young Master, the magazine you ordered has arrived."

Pan Disheng knew it was the 【Fashion Oriental】 he had ordered; he tore it open and was deeply stunned by the photograph of Zhao Yazhi on the cover.

He wasn't stunned by Zhao Yazhi's beauty, but rather shocked by the superb styling and photographic technique of this image.

Flipping through the magazine, the front contained a rebranding manifesto, the general meaning of which was: Hong Kong is a modern metropolis, but fashion has not kept up with world trends; the magazine 【Fashion Oriental】 aims to lead Hong Kong's trends and build an Oriental fashion capital.

Next was the table of contents, followed by the advertising pages...

Immediately following was a long article about Zhao Yazhi, titled 【Hong Kong Goddess, Fashionable Beauty, Popular TVB Star—Zhao Yazhi】.

The article heaped praise upon Zhao Yazhi to the fullest extent, yet it made it impossible for one to feel any aversion; even women who saw it would only feel envy, then think about how they could dress and style themselves to be more beautiful.

The following pages were a photo collection of Zhao Yazhi, with different styles of clothing, hairstyles, and jewelry paired together to create a perfect woman who transcended the aesthetics of this era.

In particular, the set of photos of Zhao Yazhi as a professional woman created a strong visual impact—it turned out that women could look this beautiful in professional attire.

Pan Disheng didn't finish the magazine before he started flipping to the copyright page to call and discuss booking advertising space, while simultaneously starting to look for Zhao Yazhi's contact information; he decided to invite Zhao Yazhi to be the spokesperson for his future luxury watch and jewelry store.

Due to the high price of 【Fashion Oriental】, although it became famous under the newspaper's daily promotion, the subscription sales for the first issue were only a little over 1,000 copies.

Another 8,000 copies of 【Fashion Oriental】 were released directly to the market; Ma Chengkun had originally thought it would take a week to sell these eight thousand copies. But just on the second day after the magazine hit the shelves, the distribution department received requests from markets and bus stops to print more.

Those 8,000 copies of 【Fashion Oriental】 were actually sold out in a day and a half.

There were several types of people who bought the magazine:

First were men, who bought the magazine to look at the photos of the beautiful woman;

Second were Zhao Yazhi's fans, who naturally wanted to collect the exquisite photos of their idol;

Third were women, who bought the magazine to learn how to dress themselves; fourth were tailors, who bought the magazine to study the clothing features shown in it.

Most ordinary citizens in Hong Kong had their clothes made by tailors; after some women saw the beautiful clothes in 【Fashion Oriental】, they flocked to the brands under the Guojun Garment Factory to make massive purchases.

The result was that the sales of the brands under the Guojun Garment Factory multiplied several times over.

Following that, a whirlwind seemed to sweep through the streets of Hong Kong, with women everywhere wearing new styles of clothing.

Those clothes were simple and crisp, carrying a strong style of independent women; they were androgynous yet did not lose a woman's charm.

Zhao Yazhi, who sparked this fashion trend, quietly saw her value multiply; from a popular TVB star, she leapt to become a female fashion icon, becoming synonymous with elegance, independence, and gentleness.

……

On the third day of the launch of 【Fashion Oriental】, Chen Jiajun carried a food container to the high-end apartment Zhao Yazhi rented in Xianggang Zai.

Chen Jiajun placed the food container on the dining table, then took out a magazine: "This is the first issue of 【Fashion Oriental】 magazine; I specifically had Oriental Ma save a copy for you as a memento."

"A Jun…… you are truly good to me."

Zhao Yazhi took the magazine, her eyes turning red.

"Hehe, you are my employee; whether the movie can be a big hit depends on your performance."

Saying this, Chen Jiajun had already sat down on the sofa and pulled a cigar case from his pocket: "Have a cigar, is that alright?"

"Next time, you don't need to ask."

Zhao Yazhi picked up the cleaned cigar ashtray, placed it in front of Chen Jiajun, and brought him the torch lighter he had left here last time.

"Thank you."

Chen Jiajun took the lighter, picked up the remote control, and turned on TVB.

Inside the apartment, it soon fell into a quiet stillness.

Zhao Yazhi focused on dealing with the delicious food, while Chen Jiajun sat on the sofa watching TV.

Today, she was wearing a black spaghetti-strap silk nightgown; her graceful figure was fully revealed beneath the nightgown, and the fragrant shoulders and snowy skin on her chest exposed to the air exuded a mature and alluring charm.

She let the sunlight shine through the thin curtains into the living room, spilling onto her proud figure; Chen Jiajun felt his mouth go dry for a moment.

"Ding-a-ling."

The phone rang, and Zhao Yazhi picked it up.

"Hello, A Zhi, it's me, Hanwei……"

The voice of Huang Hanwei actually came from the other end of the phone.

Zhao Yazhi's good mood vanished instantly: "How did you know the number here?"

Huang Hanwei said: "Your sister told me."

Zhao Yazhi had several sisters; during this time, a few sisters had also come to see her.

She was too lazy to ask who had leaked the information, gave a few perfunctory words, hung up the phone directly, and then unplugged the phone line.

Regarding her original family, Zhao Yazhi no longer had any attachment, but she was still worried about her son.

"Sigh."

Zhao Yazhi let out a sigh. Her greatest hope in her heart now was to successfully get the divorce.

If only Chen Jiajun were willing to marry me, but I am a divorced woman, while he is the Sir Chen known to everyone in Hong Kong; would he look down on me?

Zhao Yazhi began to let her imagination run wild.

"Sister Zhi, is the flight tomorrow going to Taiwan?"

Chen Jiajun stubbed out the cigar in the ashtray, not asking who had called.

"Mm."

Zhao Yazhi put down the magazine: "A Jun, aren't you going to ask who called me?"

"I guessed it was Huang Hanwei; when you return from Taiwan, I will find you a good Lawyer," Chen Jiajun took over the conversation.

"Thank you, A Jun, you are truly good to me." Zhao Yazhi's eyes turned red.

"I will miss you; go to work with peace of mind." Chen Jiajun closed the distance.

"You bad man, you only know how to say sweet things to coax people," Zhao Yazhi felt a sweetness in her heart and laughed and scolded him.

"Besides coaxing people, I can do other things too."

Chen Jiajun breathed into Zhao Yazhi's ear, his hands already placed on her waist and hips.

Zhao Yazhi's heart tightened; she had no power to resist and let him take liberties, panting: "A Jun, don't be like this; let's do something else."

Chen Jiajun touched Zhao Yazhi's swan-like snowy neck and asked: "Do what?"

"Do what you want to do."

Zhao Yazhi closed her eyes, realizing her answer was too base, and her face turned bright red.

"Ding-dong. Ding-dong……"

Just at this moment, the sound of a doorbell vaguely came from outside.

After the person outside pressed the doorbell for a while, they suddenly slapped the door with their hand and shouted: "A Zhi, I know you are inside. Will you open the door? Everything in the past was my fault; I apologize to you…… I love you, I only love you in this life; please, come home……"

Hearing the voice, Zhao Yazhi immediately opened her eyes and whispered: "Oh no, it's Huang Hanwei outside."

"Ah."

"Bang, bang, bang……"

Caught off guard, Zhao Yazhi let out a scream; her back hit the sofa from time to time, making a sound, while Huang Hanwei outside was still slapping the door, begging Zhao Yazhi to forgive him.

The morning sunlight shone in through the gaps in the curtains; the scattered light spots falling on one's face gave a warm, scorching sensation.

Zhao Yazhi moved her body, and the stinging pain from her lower body immediately woke her up.

Even after sleeping for several hours, Zhao Yazhi's body was still somewhat exhausted.

Seeing that the man holding her had not yet woken up, Zhao Yazhi did not move again, only smilingly gazing at the handsome face beside her, afraid of startling him awake.

Young and wealthy, rich and powerful, talented, witty and humorous, and his body so strong; Zhao Yazhi felt that the man on her pillow was so perfect.

By comparison, her former husband Huang Hanwei was not even worth Chen Jiajun's little finger.

No, compared to Huang Hanwei, that would be degrading Chen Jiajun's reputation.

Thinking of this, Zhao Yazhi could not help but feel a stir in her heart, pressing her delicate body even closer to the man's strong frame.

"What time is it?"

Chen Jiajun was eventually woken up by him, yawning as he opened his eyes.

Zhao Yazhi exclaimed, "Oh, it's already ten o'clock, and I have a one o'clock flight."

"It's fine, no need to rush." Chen Jiajun smiled broadly, then suddenly patted her bottom and said, "Lie down."

"Stop messing around, I still need to pack my luggage; after I return from Taiwan, I'll spend some quality time with you."

Zhao Yazhi's moist lips pressed against Chen Jiajun's face with a smack.

"There are still three hours left." Chen Jiajun wore a stern expression.

"You little troublemaker." Zhao Yazhi bit her lip tightly and obediently lay down on the bed.

(End of chapter)