Actually, from the moment Shen Lan walked into the room and sat down, Sheng Mumu noticed something was off.
After chatting for a few sentences and observing Shen Lan's facial expressions, she felt more and more that the symptoms were similar to those of people with social anxiety.
Earlier, Mom Zhang had said that although Shen Lan had lived in the villa area for many years, she was not familiar with the neighbors around her.
This showed that she was very withdrawn and afraid of socializing, preferring the company of small animals over people.
(Social anxiety score +1)
Since coming into the room, her expression had remained unnatural. Even when conversing, she always felt awkward and rarely looked Sheng Mumu in the eyes.
(Social anxiety score +10)
In almost every conversation, Sheng Mumu was the one who spoke first. As long as Sheng Mumu didn't say anything, Shen Lan didn't know how to initiate a topic.
(Social anxiety score +100)
When she saw the coffee being brought to the table, she froze instantly. There was a high probability that she was imagining "Oh no, what if she wants me to stay for afternoon tea, so much pressure!"
(Social anxiety score +999)
Finally, when Sheng Mumu suddenly called her by her full name, she became alert, as if facing a formidable enemy.
(Social anxiety score +10086)
Based on all these characteristics,
Sheng Mumu could almost assert that Shen Lan undoubtedly suffered from severe social anxiety.
Shen Lan finally opened up to Sheng Mumu.
Shen Lan came from a family of scholars. Her parents were both diplomats and the family was well off.
As for her, she had been introverted since she was little and preferred solitude.
Her parents hoped she could become an outstanding diplomat like them.
Her parents' expectations were like asking for her life. When she still lived at home, they would fight and clash all the time.
Later, she simply moved out to live alone. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and in recent years, her parents had not nagged her as much. Their expectations of her had changed from "becoming a diplomat" to "being optimistic."
Speaking to this point, Shen Lan let out a soft sigh, revealing her helplessness:
"Actually, I'm not that withdrawn. I have a lot of gaming friends. I can chat with them all night, until my keyboard catches fire. But when facing real people, I don't know how to get along. It's hard to make friends."
Sheng Mumu's bright eyes blinked. She volunteered, "...If you don't mind, I can be your friend."
Shen Lan's eyes lit up. "You don't think I have a weird, gloomy, and scary personality?"
Sheng Mumu shook her head and smiled, "If you want to talk about weird, wouldn't you find my talkative personality that can chat with anyone overly outgoing, like a neurotic?"
Shen Lan was stunned for a moment. She didn't hide what she really thought and nodded, "Well... indeed."
After she spoke, the two of them laughed.
At this moment, the two people with vastly different personalities reached an understanding.
The other's personality was different from theirs, but that didn't prevent them from both being interesting people.
After finishing the coffee, Sheng Mumu saw Shen Lan to the door of the yard and said,
"If you don't want to be alone, you can come find me to hang out."
Shen Lan felt grateful. Her expression relaxed and she was no longer ill at ease.
"Mm, Mumu, I'm very happy to meet you. Turns out talking with a stranger isn't so scary after all."
"Is that so? Friends start from being unfamiliar to becoming familiar." Sheng Mumu smiled and seemed to think of something. "Oh right, our villa district has a housewives' group chat. Do you want to join?"
Maybe interacting and getting to know more neighbors could alleviate her social anxiety symptoms.
"Ah? Um... that... no thanks." Shen Lan shook her head reflexively and answered very quickly, "Next time for sure, I'll join next time."
After speaking, she waved goodbye and escaped as if for dear life.
Afraid that if she walked slowly, Sheng Mumu would catch her back and make her scan a QR code to join the group chat.
Sheng Mumu was left standing in place, staring blankly for a moment before laughing softly.
Ever since she came to this world, she had met many interesting girls.
Su Tingrang, Qin Jiamu, Shen Lan.
And there was also Jiao Li, whom she didn't interact with too much.
They each had different personalities, but were all extremely cute.
Sheng Mumu took a deep breath of the fresh air.
She marveled, life is so beautiful. All the girls are so cute. Everyone needs to work hard, she needs to work hard too!
On the other side,
Shen Lan stepped through the door of her villa. She kicked off her slippers and flopped onto the sofa.
She heaved a sigh of relief, as if a weight had been lifted.
She thought to herself, it's nice to make new friends.
But socializing is still so tiring. She hasn't had to talk this much in a long time.
She'll need to lie down like Ge You to rest for at least half an hour to unwind.
*
Qi Mo investigated and found the person who posted the smears.
When he handed the information folder to Sheng Mumu, Sheng Mumu couldn't hide her surprise.
She didn't expect him to have secretly investigated everything so clearly.
According to the information, the culprit was named Lu Zhiying.
She was the person in charge of the "Daily Flower Language" company.
Within less than half a month after Yueji Flower Shop opened, she quickly established the "Daily Flower Language" brand.
"Daily Flower Language" imitated Yueji in every way, but its market share in Jing City still couldn't match Yueji.
In order to occupy the Jing City market, Lu Zhiying chose to hire a large number of internet water armies to slander Yueji when its new brand was launching.
Sheng Mumu suddenly recalled that Cheng Zhuo had mentioned before that the person in charge of "Daily Flower Language" lived in Xiyu Yue Court.
Combining the information Qi Mo investigated,
they could confirm that Lu Zhiying was [L] in the housewives' group chat.
Sheng Mumu immediately shared what she knew with Qin Jiamu.
Qin Jiamu frowned slightly.
"Mumu, what do you plan to do? Sue 'Daily Flower Language' for damaging business reputation?"
Sheng Mumu gently tapped her chin with her fingers, pondering for a long time before her eyes flashed slightly. She slowly said,
"I could sue, but I'm conflicted about whether I should do that or not. Driving someone to desperation will surely backfire."
Qin Jiamu understood what she meant and supplemented,
"Once the other party is punished for damaging business reputation, they could face up to two years in prison in severe cases. Lawsuits like these usually drag on for a long time."
Sheng Mumu: "Currently, 'One Life, One Bouquet' orders are increasing day by day. This is a crucial period for the company's growth. Getting caught up in a lawsuit now wouldn't be ideal. Rather than stopping to tangle with the opponent, it'd be better to take bigger and faster strides to leave them unable to catch up even if they try."
Qin Jiamu looked approving. "It puts my mind at ease that you can think this way."
In the business world, one needs to have means and make decisions.
More often, flexibility and subtlety are also required.
Not everything is black or white, and must lead to a resolution.
Sometimes, leaving the opponent a way out is to allow one's own path to extend further.
Before hearing Sheng Mumu's thoughts, Qin Jiamu had thought that no matter what decision Sheng Mumu made, she would support it.
Now, this was undoubtedly the decision that put her most at ease, and also surprised her the most.
She didn't expect Sheng Mumu to understand these principles at such a young age.
Qin Jiamu suddenly narrowed her eyes and smiled, teasing her,
"Little Mumu, it seems you've learned a lot from being around that person at home. It really makes me look at you in a new light."
Hearing this, Sheng Mumu was slightly stunned.
She couldn't help but think of the small notebook she used to take notes on things she picked up.
It was true that just occasionally listening to him take work calls at home, she had learned a lot.
A smile crept up her fair face unconsciously, and her voice also revealed delight.
"Mm, it's really great having him around."
