"Wow! It's Li Zhouchun!"
Mi Zhuzhu whispered excitedly behind Liu Chen.
However, there were not many people in the barbershop at the moment. Despite the hushed voice, Li Zhouchun still heard her name. She slightly raised her eyes to look in the mirror and saw the top scorer in the college entrance examination, whom she had coincidentally met at the airport a few months ago, standing at the front.
After a moment of thought, Li Zhouchun remembered her name and smiled slightly at the five people looking at her in the mirror:
"Liu Chen, Merry Christmas."
Hearing this, Liu Chen's surprise was evident. They had only met once at the airport, and she still remembered her name?
Hearing Li Zhouchun say Liu Chen's name, Mi Zhuzhu was even more excited than Liu Chen herself. Her eyes widened, and she kept shaking Liu Chen's arm, her excitement palpable.
Initially thinking that Liu Chen and her group were fans who had followed Li Zhouchun, the receptionist's serious expression instantly turned into a bright smile upon seeing that the two knew each other.
"Distinguished guests, what service would you like today?"
Although delighted to see her idol, Liu Chen had met many important people in her life. Within a few breaths, she calmed her excitement.
"I want a hairstyle that looks good with a suit, something that makes me look handsome."
Given that this barbershop was considered top-tier in Beijing, Liu Chen did not have excessive demands, only stating the occasion and her attire, leaving the rest to the stylist's discretion.
After washing her hair, Liu Chen was led to a single sofa next to Li Zhouchun by the stylist. Even Liu Chen felt it was a coincidence... It made her feel like a creepy stalker fan?
Li Zhouchun, however, initiated the conversation. "I heard you say you're attending the Weibo Night? They've also invited me as an award presenter this time."
"We're flying out on the 29th. Spring, you're flying out on the 30th, right?"
Li Zhouchun nodded, "I see you on Weibo often. You actually have great potential in the entertainment industry. You have a knack for trending. If you debut, you wouldn't need to spend money on promotion; you'd naturally have traffic."
Liu Chen heard this and initially thought Li Zhouchun was teasing her, but seeing Li Zhouchun's sincere gaze, she seriously considered entering the entertainment industry.
Finally, she shook her head:
"I still prefer the food industry. I hope one day I can invite you, Spring, to be a spokesperson for my Meimei brand!"
Li Zhouchun nodded understandingly and then flipped open her phone. "Okay, when you feel the time is right, remember to contact me. Here's my number. By the way, your friend in the Weibo photo, can I invite him to be the male lead in my MV?"
"Huh?" Liu Chen was somewhat disbelieving, but her body reacted instinctively. She turned to Lai Jielun, who was sitting next to Zhuzhu and drinking lemon water for her. "Of course, I don't think he'll miss this opportunity."
"I'll send you the audition address and time later. It can be considered his Christmas gift, more or less."
Liu Chen smiled and nodded:
"More than that, it'll probably count as his New Year's and Spring Festival gifts too."
For the next hour, both of them sat on the chairs with perming equipment in their hair, chatting. Fortunately, the chairs in this shop were massage chairs, so they could relax when they got tired.
"I'm done. Goodbye. I hope to see your Meimei brand succeed soon."
After saying this, Chun Chun waved goodbye to Liu Chen and then strode out of her sight.
Perhaps because she had seen Chun Chun today, Liu Chen found herself with no interest in the masquerade party they were about to attend. Just as she was considering discussing it with Zhuzhu and the others, she heard Zhuzhu say she wanted to buy shoes for the Weibo Night.
Liu Chen already had suitable shoes, but for girls, who could resist the allure of another pair of shoes?
Because it was Christmas and a weekend, it was impossible to find a table to eat without a reservation. Liu Chen took everyone to the basement level, intending to buy some vegetables and semi-finished products.
As they stood on the escalator and reached the high-end fresh food supermarket in Beijing in 2009, Liu Chen almost instinctively began to view it with the eyes of a salesperson from her past life.
"This supermarket's display shelves are made of solid wood, which looks very high-end, but the lighting overhead doesn't have any reflections, so the colors of the products inside appear darker, giving a visually aged impression.
The shelves are parallel, not inclined, so the products on the lower shelves are not fully visible to standing customers."
Mi Zhuzhu listened to Liu Chen and also instinctively looked at the places she mentioned.
Places she would normally not notice, now that she was looking, she found that it was exactly as Liu Chen had said.
"Oh right, because the things at the back look dim, you subconsciously think they're not fresh, so you always take the first one. If the first one is empty, you don't buy it.
And you can't tell what the things on the lower shelves are unless you bend down to look."
Liu Chen pushed the shopping cart, bypassed the snack section, and headed to her destination, the deli section.
However, when she actually reached the deli section, Liu Chen realized she had made a mistake: she had mistaken her impression of imported supermarkets from over a decade later for what imported supermarkets had always been like.
The so-called deli section before her did not have any freshly prepared items. Instead, it mostly consisted of braised dishes and some steamed buns and bread wrapped in packaging.
And the thinly sliced beef and lamb rolls, which Liu Chen had intended to buy, were nowhere to be found.
Mi Zhuzhu saw Liu Chen standing in front of the sausages, deep in thought, thinking she was missing her hometown's sausages.
She reached out and patted Liu Chen's shoulder:
"You'll be going back for New Year's. Aunt Liu will probably have made sausages by then. Let's take more photos at the Weibo Night and go back together for New Year's! Then I can show off to my dad, hahahaha.
He always thought it was a miracle that I could get into college. He never dared to hope I could support myself. But look, I'm so picky about advertisements now, and I can earn over ten thousand yuan a month, hahahaha!!"
When talking about this, Mi Zhuzhu couldn't stop smiling. Lai Jielun, standing beside her, though somewhat dejected, sincerely nodded:
"Zhuzhu is really amazing."
Liu Chen nodded, pondering in her mind. Perhaps she could start by making some family-sized small meatballs and vegetable packs with dipping sauce. However, this would only capture the market in C City, and besides C City, the high-end supermarkets in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen would surely follow suit. Unless, her fresh vegetable packs and meatballs had something unique that other brands couldn't replicate.
If only the system could draw them out.
But Liu Chen also knew that the system wasn't her mother; she couldn't get whatever she wanted from it.
It would be great if she could develop a versatile sauce suitable for salads.
But what kind of sauce could be called versatile?
Lost in thought, Liu Chen remained absentminded until she paid and left the mall.
Fortunately, while driving, Liu Chen regained her focus. After all, driving required concentration, which was a tribute to life.
Upon arriving home, Ren Mo and Lai Jielun prepared to show off their skills, primarily Lai Jielun's, with Ren Mo assisting.
As Liu Chen washed her hands, she inadvertently looked up and saw her reflection in the mirror: her face was a melon seed shape, with a pair of calm eyes, and her hair was a large, black, wavy curl.
Trying to find a trace of her past life in the reflection, Liu Chen realized that in just a year, she had forgotten what she looked like in her past life.
Smiling, she shook her head:
"Indeed, people always wish for a better version of themselves."
As soon as she spoke, her phone vibrated. She wiped her hands and took out her phone. It was a message from Chun Chun with the audition time and location. Coincidentally, the time was December 29th, at 1 PM.
The ingredients had already been prepared in the kitchen, with only the stir-frying and soup-making steps remaining.
Liu Chen walked to the kitchen door with her phone, knocked, and Ren Mo's head popped out from inside.
"Sis, what's up?"
Liu Chen shook the text message in her hand. "Tell Lai Jielun to come out. I have good news for him."
As soon as Liu Chen finished speaking, the phone in the kitchen rang. Lai Jielun walked out from inside, holding the phone, his eyes filled with obvious longing.
"Hello? Yes, this is Lai Jielun. Okay, okay, thank you for your trouble. Thank you."
The call ended quickly. Lai Jielun took a breath and exhaled slowly.
Seeing his friends looking at him in the living room, he gave a wry smile and shook his head slightly:
"It was a call from the stage play. The audition failed."
Mi Zhuzhu, lying on the sofa, saw Lai Jielun enveloped in an aura of defeat. She pursed her lips, unsure what to say to comfort him.
Sang Ling and Ren Mo felt they had no standing to offer comfort before his girlfriend had spoken.
Liu Chen walked over to Mi Zhuzhu and handed her phone to Zhuzhu, smiling.
"Zhuzhu, show this to Lai Jielun and see what it is."
Mi Zhuzhu instinctively took her Chen Chen's phone with both hands, then glanced at the text message on the screen and read it aloud:
"The audition for the MV starring role in 'First Love' is located in Room 202, Beijing Hotel. The audition time is December 29, 2009, at 1:00 PM. Please arrive on time."
After Mi Zhuzhu finished reading, the usually clever Lai Jielun's eyes widened as he stared blankly at Liu Chen.
"Chen Jie, you, you're going to audition for the MV lead?"
Hearing this, Liu Chen couldn't help but roll her eyes:
"What do I have to do with this? This is from Chun Chun for you. She said she saw a photo of you and us on Weibo a few days ago and thought your temperament and appearance were suitable, so she wants to invite you to audition for her new song's MV."
"What! Really!!! It's Chun Chun's MV!!!"
Mi Zhuzhu, holding the phone, practically leaped towards Lai Jielun. The two hugged each other, unable to stop themselves from jumping up and down. Zhuzhu, still holding the phone high in her hand to prevent it from being bumped, exclaimed.
Seeing the two embracing joyfully, Liu Chen couldn't help but smile.