Chapter 336: My Greatest Risk, My Greatest Reward
"You're my greatest risk of all. And I am your greatest risk, am I not?"
"We are?"
Mo Qingchen nodded. "Asking you to marry me was a huge risk and not just in a monetary sense. I brought you into my house and family life. It could have gone very badly. Similarly, you married me and moved into a foreign house. A lot could have gone wrong."
Qian Meng contemplated that for a moment.
"I guess so." Qian Meng saw him turn with a glimmer in his eyes.
"You're also my greatest reward."
Blood rushed to her cheeks. "There you go again with your mushy words."
He blinked like he didn't know what his words did to her. "It's the truth, though. When we made the contract, I knew the way I hoped our marriage would pan out. I knew what I wanted this relationship to look like. The reality was different though. It far surpassed my most optimistic projections."
Qian Meng's heart fluttered. It was good that everyone seemed to be busy in their own little worlds in first-class. "Mine, too," she said softly.
"I was nervous about our agreement, too," he admitted. "But it is the single most significant decision I have ever made. The best decision."
She didn't have significant enough words to offer him. "I'm glad I said yes. I almost said no, you know? I'm just lucky."
He lifted his hand to stroke along her jaw with his thumb. "Luck isn't enough to be responsible for bringing you to me. Divine intervention is the route I would go. It's not luck."
Qian Meng sighed as she reached up to take his hand. "You really know the perfect things to say. Divine intervention, huh?"
"I'm speaking to you with blatant honesty."
She shook her head. "But the way you say things…"
"What do you mean?"
"You stun me with your words."
He hummed thoughtfully. "Before you, I was a man of very few words. I guess you have changed me." He stopped. "It's absurd how people can change you. We go through life interacting with so many faceless and insignificant people. And then one day, one of them stands out. Suddenly, the black and white world has a splash of color. And then the world slowly gets more and more colorful."
"Am I the color in your world?" she whispered softly because she wasn't entirely sure if he meant her.
He looked at her again, his face consumed with thought. "You weren't the first time I met you."
"And now?"
He inhaled sharply, his body visibly relaxed as he revealed his answer. "You are brighter than the sun, Qian Meng. If I die, my soul will be dragged to your side once again."
The way he looked at her at that moment, she knew exactly what he meant when he said people looked through the lens of love. He only saw the good in her. She knew the look in his eyes.
"Mo Qingchen…"
They moved to kiss each other but the passing attendant stopped them in their tracks.
Qian Meng wanted to scream at her younger and more na?ve sense. She didn't know affection, but she wanted to yell at herself for being so cynical. She wanted to tell her younger self what love was.
If she could speak to her younger self, she would tell the kid to chase Mo Qingchen until the end of the world. To live happier times than she had.
"You…" she whispered breathlessly. "You are my color and light, too."
Mo Qingchn inhaled sharply but didn't speak.
"You are my everything."
- - - - -
The subsequent days went by in a blur. Li Jun finally filed the plagiarism and unfair competition charges.
Li Jun did it in the most public manner possible. When the media reached out to him, he answered in the most direct form.
"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they say. But in the fashion industry, imitation is monetized. Brands exploit the complex and outdated copyright laws against smaller designers. But sometimes they also imitate from big brands, knowing that plagiarism is rarely an easy thing to prove in court."
Battles were fought online. Buyers of both Venus and Sophie's Secret battled. The designers of the plagiarised line also aired their frustrations on the web. But the designers of Venus were quiet. Li Jun asked them as much.
Even when they saw people ripping off their creations, they didn't say anything. They would fight in the court. With Li Jun, it was possible to win.
When the media asked Sophie's Secret about their take on the lawsuit, they had some interesting things to say. They denied any infringement, claiming that the design did not resemble The Shift in any way.
No customer would be confused about the brand the product was from.
Wasn't this admitting that they had plagiarized? But the law worked in different ways. Sophie's Secret wasn't a small company, so they had star-studded lawyers behind them too.
Then, it came down to the media speculating.
Influencers within China started to post their reviews and an overwhelming number of people wanted them to compare the products. More wanted to know why The Shift wasn't being launched in China.
Some said it was because of Sophie's Secret launching their products in a short span of time. But everyone acknowledged that Venus accessories looked much better and were efficient.
On one of these days, Li Jun called Xiong Fen, asking her to look into an interview opportunity.
"What is this about?" Qian Meng asked when Li Jun and Xiong Fen got on a call with her.
"I had a publication reach out to me for an exclusive. They wanted an interview with you about the plagiarism case."
"And you want me to talk to them?" she asked.
Li Jun shook his head. "I want you to talk about The Shift and put in information about when we started working on it. Make it an underlined message," Li Jun explained.
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