Chapter 89: Lee Ji-eun's Little Scheme (322)
Upon arriving at the company, Liu Zhimin directly left Jiang Shu and went to the cafeteria by herself.
According to her, there were too many people and too many eyes at the company, so they needed to avoid suspicion.
This left Jiang Shu bewildered.
Before they started dating, Liu Zhimin had no qualms at all, but now that they were dating, she became cautious, as if she had a guilty conscience, right?
This abnormal situation was more likely to cause misunderstandings.
First-floor cafeteria.
Jiang Shu, holding the soy milk and fried dough sticks he had just received, saw Liu Zhimin sitting alone in a corner, munching on a bean bun from afar.
Shaking his head helplessly, he carried his tray and found an empty seat.
Jiang Shu is Chinese, so DM Entertainment's cafeteria naturally focuses on Chinese food. Although the snack company built the cafeteria for DM Entertainment, the chefs were hired by DM Entertainment themselves. Jiang Shu specifically had a headhunting company find several chefs skilled in authentic Chinese cuisine, as the localized Korean Chinese food didn't quite suit his taste.
Company employees cannot eat for free in the cafeteria, but the company provides meal subsidies.
Breakfast is two hundred korean won, and lunch and dinner are four hundred korean won each.
Staple foods are unlimited, but other items are limited to one serving; if you want another serving, you have to buy it at the original price.
This is to prevent people from buying many servings of subsidized cafeteria food, which is not uncommon. If purchases were unlimited, employees could buy all the food for their entire family.
After the expansion, DM Entertainment has over a hundred employees. Providing an affordable cafeteria for these hundred employees is a company benefit, but if it were unlimited, it would be like supporting a hundred families.
He came to open a company to make money, not to be a charitable friend.
Offering good treatment and generous benefits is fundamentally to enable employees to better serve the company.
Dipping the fried dough stick in soy milk, he ate his breakfast bite by bite.
At this moment, Jiang Shu's vision darkened, and he looked up to see Lee Ji-eun standing to one side, holding a tray.
"President nim, may I sit here?" Lee Ji-eun asked with a smile.
Although the person in front of him still differed somewhat from the superstar in Jiang Shu's memory, after more than two months of systematic training, a hint of IU's shadow was already beginning to appear on her.
And most importantly, what Lee Ji-eun currently lacked to match the IU in Jiang Shu's impression was only the aura of an artist; some inherent qualities had always been present.
For example…
Pure and seductive.
In Jiang Shu's view, Lee Ji-eun was not a divine beauty like Bae Joo-hyun, nor a strong-featured beauty like Sakura, nor was she part of the 'nice body, very smooth' series like Liu Zhimin and Kwon Eunbi; instead, she was pure and seductive.
Both pure and seductive.
This is a description of her temperament.
Mainly, IU's rise to fame doesn't seem to align with the 'pure' image of a white lotus.
Pure and seductive is a feeling, a feeling of temperament.
This temperament is different from common sensuality, purity, or youth; it's a feeling Jiang Shu finds hard to describe, in short... it's very alluring.
In plain language, it means…
He wanted to taste it.
"Sit down," Jiang Shu said, withdrawing his gaze and nodding at Lee Ji-eun.
"Thank you," Lee Ji-eun bowed slightly, placed her tray opposite Jiang Shu, and then sat down.
"You're debuting in another month, how are your preparations coming along?" Jiang Shu asked, putting the remaining fried dough stick into his mouth and looking at Lee Ji-eun.
Her breakfast consisted of a boiled egg, a cup of milk, and a small bowl of vegetables with sauce.
"I'm training diligently, and I'm not too nervous," Lee Ji-eun replied.
"Pay more attention when practicing the three-octave high note," Jiang Shu reminded her.
"Yes, the vocal teacher also mentioned it."
"After moving into the new building, do you have any suggestions? Or rather, do you think there are any areas in the company's hardware facilities that need improvement?" Jiang Shu inquired.
"Hmm…" Lee Ji-eun pondered for a moment, "I think everything is quite good. If I discover any problems later, I will report them to you, President nim!"
"Good," Jiang Shu casually agreed, and Lee Ji-eun immediately smiled.
She had a little scheme.
With Jiang Shu's words, she could now use this excuse to directly go to Jiang Shu's office if anything came up in the future, which meant she had the power to bypass the entertainment department and directly face the President nim.
Jiang Shu took a sip of soy milk and looked back in Liu Zhimin's direction, finding that the little girl was staring at him. Upon noticing Jiang Shu's gaze, she rolled her eyes and then looked away.
Jiang Shu shook his head helplessly, what was she doing?
Thinking this, Jiang Shu turned his head to look at the food on Lee Ji-eun's tray.
"Is this much enough to fill you up?"
"It's not enough to fill me up; eating too much makes it easy to gain weight," Lee Ji-eun replied, looking up.
Jiang Shu observed Lee Ji-eun's face; she seemed to have lost weight since he first met her.
"Being a little thinner looks better on camera," Jiang Shu nodded.
Lee Ji-eun was not Zhang Yuanying; Zhang Yuanying was too thin, which is why Jiang Shu had her gain weight.
An artist's body is exposed to the camera for a long time, and even a slight weight change will be noticed. Moreover, if you're eating this idol meal, don't expect to eat whatever you want like ordinary people.
Lee Ji-eun is pursuing a singing career, but even as a singer, anyone who cares about their image will pay attention to it. In Korea, singers with good looks are undoubtedly more popular than those who are simply talented.
Looking at Lee Ji-eun in front of him, Jiang Shu couldn't help but think of another person.
"Where would Kim Tae-yeon be?" Jiang Shu muttered.
The idol aggregation law has been proven time and again, but DM Entertainment currently has no Girls' Generation members, so there's no talk of attraction.
Does he really have to make time to go to Jeonju?
It's not impossible.
He could wander into Bae Joo-hyun's family restaurant while strolling in Daegu, so if he went straight to an optical shop in Jeonju, he might also meet Kim Tae-yeon.
At the very least, he could meet her family.
"Yes?" Lee Ji-eun looked at Jiang Shu in confusion, "Are you talking to me, President nim?"
"No," Jiang Shu shook his head slightly and stood up.
As he moved, some employees at neighboring tables who were eating breakfast also stood up in unison.
Seeing this, Lee Ji-eun quickly put down her fork and stood up as well.
Jiang Shu waved his hand.
"I'm done eating; you all take your time," Jiang Shu said to Lee Ji-eun and the surrounding employees who had stood up.
"Yes, President nim, take care," Lee Ji-eun bowed to Jiang Shu.
Jiang Shu nodded and left with his tray.
As soon as Jiang Shu left, the employees relaxed, sat back down, and continued eating.
Lee Ji-eun watched Jiang Shu's retreating figure, her eyes filled with an inexplicable sparkle, softly muttering something.
"Don't rush… take it slow…"
Only when Jiang Shu's figure disappeared from her sight did she withdraw her gaze, sit back down, and continue eating.
However, Lee Ji-eun didn't notice that a pair of curious eyes had been watching her the whole time.