When she returned to the reception room, the designers had already been waiting for quite some time.
Seeing Cecilia Gu arrive, they all stood up to greet her.
Cecilia Gu smiled and said, "Sorry to keep you waiting. Have you eaten yet? Would you like something to eat first?"
"No, no, we've already eaten," the designers quickly replied. "Can we get started now?"
Cecilia Gu nodded.
Someone immediately came over to take Cecilia Gu's measurements. Based on the hospital's report, they estimated changes in her figure for the wedding photos and the ceremony, and made some adjustments.
The designer brought out several design proposals and discussed with Cecilia Gu the main wedding dress and other outfits for the photoshoot.
Cecilia Gu sat next to Charles Yin, carefully examining the series of design sketches.
All the designers were top-tier, exclusively working for the leading brands under Yin Enterprises. So, Cecilia Gu's wedding dresses and gowns would become the flagship pieces for Yin Enterprises' brands.
That's why it wasn't just Cecilia Gu and Charles Yin who cared about this—the entire corporation did.
Our own CEO and his wife will be the face of the brand!
That's why the branch managers personally came to serve her. Wherever Cecilia Gu pointed, they would immediately give a detailed explanation.
They didn't just explain the ideas and concepts behind each design, but also how each design complemented the others.
Cecilia Gu felt that choosing a design was like attending a class.
Finally, Cecilia Gu settled on the main wedding dress and the other gowns.
After getting Cecilia Gu's feedback, the designers said the finished pieces would be ready for fitting in three days!
With the dresses and gowns decided, Charles Yin started arranging for the photographer to prepare for the wedding photoshoot.
This time, the photographer was Charles Yin's good friend—a handsome German guy, a top photographer who had won countless awards.
Normally, only the bride and groom would participate in the wedding photoshoot.
But when Ethan Yin heard his parents were having wedding photos taken, he cried and insisted on joining them.
Then, feeling sorry for her son, Cecilia Gu actually agreed.
Ethan Yin was so excited to be allowed in the photos, he couldn't resist showing off to Miles Gu.
When Miles Gu heard, he immediately protested, insisting on returning to China early so he could join the wedding photoshoot too.
And so, a simple wedding photoshoot turned into a full family portrait.
As the groom, Charles Yin was secretly heartbroken.
What happened to the promised world for just the two of us?
What happened to the perfect wedding photos?
He couldn't toss out the baby in Cecilia's belly, but could he toss out those two troublemakers?
With all the chaos, the whole afternoon passed by.
Cecilia Gu was just about to have some afternoon tea and take a break when Rona Muir burst in, full of excitement: "Cecilia, haha! Just as I expected, the battle started on the very first day!"
Cecilia Gu looked confused. "Huh? What battle?"
Rona Muir sat down in front of Cecilia Gu, grinning. "Remember that Russian girl who wanted to show off her cooking to Jingtian at lunch?"
Cecilia Gu nodded.
After lunch, the two of them went to the small kitchen. The Russian girl really wanted to prepare a fancy afternoon tea for Jingtian. But then, someone intercepted Jingtian halfway and invited her to a nearby pavilion to ask for help with a report. You know, Jingtian is a mid-level manager at the company, so she's familiar with all kinds of reports. Jingtian didn't mind and gave the girl some pointers right there.
That little bit of advice ended up taking over half an hour. When the Russian girl heard Jingtian had been intercepted, she was so mad she was grinding her teeth. She personally brought the food out to find Jingtian, smiling sweetly as she asked Jingtian to eat and teach her at the same time.
The one who intercepted her was a beautiful Chinese-Korean girl. You know how it is with food—Chinese cuisine is king. The Chinese-Korean girl scoffed and said, "You call this food? I could whip up a feast in no time."
Cecilia Gu was intrigued. "And then?"
Of course, the Russian beauty wasn't going to take that lying down! So she challenged the Chinese-Korean girl to a cooking competition.
Cecilia Gu nodded.
She definitely wouldn't forget. Not in this lifetime.
Rona Muir continued, "They immediately found Xiao B and demanded a fair competition. Whoever loses will give up on Jingtian."
Cecilia Gu was utterly shocked.
"I bet Xiao B will come ask you for instructions soon," Rona Muir said mysteriously. "I'm really looking forward to their battle! It's only day one and things are already so intense. The next six days are going to be exciting! I knew joining the fun was the right choice!"
Sure enough, right after Rona Muir finished speaking, Xiao B hurried over.
Just as Xiao B was about to speak, she saw Rona Muir and smiled. "Young Madam, you already know what's happened, right? Do you approve?"
Cecilia Gu looked at Rona Muir. "What do you think?"
Rona Muir grinned, "It's boring with just two people competing. Why not get everyone involved and make it an event? After all, an event won't interfere with their contest. Aren't they all claiming to be virtuous? Let's call all eight girls out and have a cooking competition. As for the judges, it could be any of us!"
Cecilia Gu nodded and smiled, "That's a great idea. It'll liven up the atmosphere for everyone. Let's do that! But tonight might be too soon for the contest—let's set it for tomorrow at noon. Go tell them to make a list of ingredients for the head chef. The kitchen will fully cooperate."
They'd seen top chefs compete, but never a beauty contest for cooking!
Treat it like a game, it'll be fun to watch.
Xiao B immediately agreed and went off to carry out the instructions.
Rona Muir said happily, "I can already imagine how exciting tomorrow will be! I won't chat with you any longer—I'm going to keep watching! Apparently those girls have started showing off their talents! Wow, it's really eye-opening."
With that, Rona Muir turned and ran off.
Cecilia Gu shook her head and went to rest.
That evening, when Charles Yin returned, he brought Hirayama Jiro with him.
"Cecilia!" Hirayama Jiro called out as soon as he saw her. "You and Rona are hiding here to relax!"
Cecilia Gu yawned and replied, "No, we're supervising the contest."
Hirayama Jiro chuckled, "Then I want to supervise too."
Cecilia Gu was about to raise her eyebrow when Charles Yin leaned in and whispered in her ear, "He probably misses his wife."
Cecilia Gu instantly smiled and said, "I think so too."
Cecilia Gu cleared her throat and said, "If you're here supervising, who's running the company?"
"Remote control is fine! Look at Charles Yin, he's running things remotely," Hirayama Jiro protested. "I want to run things remotely too!"
Just then, Rona Muir and Mo Zixuan walked in together.
"Huh? Why are you here?" Rona Muir asked Hirayama Jiro. "Didn't you say I wouldn't have time to go to the company these days?"
"That's why I came," Hirayama Jiro replied, looking aggrieved and dissatisfied.
Mo Zixuan burst out laughing, "Good thing your room is far from mine, otherwise I'd get dragged into this too."
Pfft... Do you have to be so subtle?
Cecilia Gu couldn't help but laugh, "Fine, since Hirayama can't relax about Rona, let's supervise together. Anyway, all the company's R&D tasks are Hirayama's, so we're not in a rush."
Rona Muir's face, for once, turned bright red. She glared fiercely at Hirayama Jiro but said nothing.
At dinner, Cecilia Gu didn't eat with the other ladies. Instead, she dined with Charles Yin, Rona Muir, Hirayama Jiro, and Mo Zixuan in the main building's restaurant.
As for bonding, let them handle it themselves.
During dinner, everyone chatted and laughed—the atmosphere was very harmonious.
Charles Yin brought several sample wedding photos for Cecilia Gu to choose the style.
After seeing them, Rona Muir and Mo Zixuan immediately said they wanted the same photographer for their own wedding photos.
They were just too beautiful!
Rona Muir said to Charles Yin, "We're family, right? Why don't we all take photos together?"
Rona Muir turned to Mo Zixuan, "Xuanxuan, you and Jingrong are basically set. As soon as we get results here, we're getting married! Why don't you call Jingrong over and have all three couples take photos together? That photographer is a superstar, we can't keep making him work around our schedules! Okay, it's settled! Call Jingrong and tell him to get handsome, or Charles Yin will outshine him. Hirayama's already been outshone, I won't even mention it."
Rona Muir kept chattering away, making everyone else stifle their laughter.
"Besides, Cecilia already picked her wedding dress. We'll just pick the other styles as we go. We're so perfect, we'd look good in anything—even a sack! Right, Hirayama?" Rona Muir made sure to drag her husband into it.
Hirayama Jiro gave a mysterious smile and nodded.
"If you don't like those styles, just have them redesign! SE, under Yin Enterprises, is a top brand with great style. Using their designs won't lower your status," Rona Muir continued to persuade Mo Zixuan. "Otherwise, we'll have to go back separately for wedding photos—so much trouble! Let's just do it together!"
Mo Zixuan thought it made a lot of sense!
Yeah, they'll have to take the photos sooner or later!
Since it's bound to happen, might as well do it together!
So, what was supposed to be just two people in the wedding photos ended up including two more couples.
Charles Yin sat in silence.
Could he protest?
But his darling wife looked totally on board.
Charles Yin struggled with it for a long time.
Forget it, I'll just go with whatever my wife wants!
Since his darling wife liked lively scenes, they'd just take the wedding photos together!