Chapter 122 The Boss Lady
Ruan Yu returned to the station as soon as she got off the plane.
Her colleagues had all heard about the incident at the arts festival. When they ran into her, they didn’t dare strike up a conversation, afraid of touching a sore spot. This cautious atmosphere only made Ruan Yu feel worse.
After some thought, she decided to seek out Shan Anxin first to test the waters. But when she arrived at Shan Anxin’s office, she learned that Shan Anxin had gone straight home to rest after returning from Haicheng.
Hah. The one who just tagged along ended up more exhausted than the one who actually went on the business trip.
Ruan Yu sent Shan Anxin a message.
The gist of it was that she had learned the truth about the wrong phone number and wanted Shan Anxin to come back to the station to talk.
Perhaps guilt made her jumpy, because Shan Anxin immediately called back.
Ruan Yu didn’t answer. Shan Anxin called three times in a row, but Ruan Yu ignored them all. Before long, Shan Anxin rushed back to the station in a hurry.
This kind of reaction almost said it all—no confrontation needed.
Ruan Yu sat calmly in her office, watching as Shan Anxin barged in with a bare face, no makeup.
“You got here pretty fast, Anxin. Seems like you’re really concerned about me reading the wrong number,” Ruan Yu said, rising from her desk and gesturing for Shan Anxin to take a seat on the sofa.
Shan Anxin forced a smile. “Sis Ruan, what’s with the tone? We’re colleagues—of course I’d be concerned about you.”
“Want something to drink?”
“No, thanks.” Shan Anxin suppressed her agitation. “Sis Ruan, you said you found out the truth about the phone number. What truth?”
“You don’t know?”
“How would I know?”
“But someone saw you switch it.” Ruan Yu deliberately kept her words vague.
Shan Anxin’s eyes flickered, but she wasn’t easily fooled.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The script.” Ruan Yu reminded her.
“What script?”
Ruan Yu pulled out the script and waved it in front of Shan Anxin.
Shan Anxin reached out to grab it, but Ruan Yu swiftly moved it out of reach.
“What’s there to be curious about? Didn’t you look at it when you swapped it?” Ruan Yu’s tone grew increasingly sharp.
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
“Should we check the surveillance?”
“There are no cameras in the makeup room.”
“I never said you switched the script in the makeup room.”
“...”
Shan Anxin was momentarily speechless. The fox’s tail had peeked out just a little, and she was already losing her composure.
“Sis Ruan, don’t think you can trick me with just a piece of paper. Who knows where you even got that thing?”
“The cleaning lady gave it to me, of course.”
“Impossible. She clearly said she tore it up.” The words slipped out before Shan Anxin could stop herself.
Ruan Yu smiled. “Good. You admit it.”
Before Shan Anxin could defend herself further, a deep, authoritative male voice came from the direction of the desk: “Shan Anxin, get to my office right now!”
It was the station director’s voice.
Shan Anxin’s face paled instantly.
“D-Director?”
Ruan Yu walked over to the desk, picked up her phone, and showed Shan Anxin the screen—the director’s call was still connected, on speakerphone.
“You—Ruan Yu, you set me up!”
“Who set up who?” Ruan Yu hung up, uninterested in arguing. “If you have anything to say, explain it to the director yourself.”
“You actually went straight to the director to tattle on me?”
Ruan Yu said nothing.Actually, she didn’t want to bypass the chain of command and make a scene, but she truly didn’t know what else to do. If she took the evidence to the deputy director, he would surely cover things up and side with Shan Anxin, leaving her with nothing in the end.
Helpless, she had no choice but to go straight to the director.
“You—what did you tell the director? What did you say?” Shan Anxin was on the verge of tears.
“What else could I say? Of course, I told him all about your little schemes.” Ruan Yu waved her phone. “But thanks to your cooperation, I boasted to the director that I’d make you confess within five minutes. I didn’t expect you’d admit it even faster than I thought.”
Shan Anxin was terrified and burst into tears. She rushed out the door, calling Deputy Director Huang Ge for help as she ran.
--?--
Watching Shan Anxin stumble away, Ruan Yu finally felt the weight in her chest ease.
She thought the matter was settled and that justice would soon be served. But reality proved far more complicated. About an hour later, the director called her into his office.
The moment Ruan Yu stepped inside, she noticed two untouched cups of tea on the coffee table—Deputy Director Huang Ge and Shan Anxin must have just left.
“Xiao Ruan, come sit.” The director beckoned her over.
Ruan Yu obeyed, taking a seat across from his desk.
“Would you like some tea?”
“No need, thank you.”
“Alright, then let’s get straight to the point.” The director rubbed his temples. “I’ve just gotten the full picture of the Jia Yue Arts Festival live broadcast incident. How would you like this handled?”
“What does the director think should be done?”
“You really want me to say it?” He smiled warmly, his expression kind.
“I believe the director will ensure justice is served.”
His smile remained, but his eyes darkened with something unreadable.
Ruan Yu suddenly realized things might not be so simple.
“Xiao Ruan, I know you’ve been wronged. You did nothing wrong, yet you’ve carried this blame all along. How about this—I’ll make sure those at fault are punished, but let’s keep this matter internal. No need to air our dirty laundry in public, hm?”
A chill ran through Ruan Yu’s limbs. What did that mean?
Was she supposed to just keep shouldering the blame?
“Director, this solution isn’t fair to me.”
“I understand, I do.” He raised a placating hand. “Xiao Ruan, I know you’ve suffered. But this situation involves more than just Anxin—Ying Wen is also implicated. You know our station only has a few standout female hosts. If we take them all down in one go, what then?”
“Sister Ying Wen?” Ruan Yu frowned. “What does she have to do with this?”
“Oh, what does she have to do with it? Plenty.”
“Director, are you saying Sister Ying Wen was involved in this?”
“It was her pulling the strings behind the scenes. Anxin confessed everything just now—Ying Wen was the one who put her up to framing you.”
A bone-deep coldness seeped into Ruan Yu. How could that be? How could Ying Wen, whom she respected so much, have schemed against her?
“Could there… could there be some misunderstanding?”"There's no misunderstanding. If you think about it carefully, you'll understand. Although Shan Anxin is usually domineering, all her emotions are written on her face. To put it nicely, she's guileless; to put it bluntly, she's not that smart."
Ruan Yu remained silent.
The station director had a point. On the day of the arts festival, the incident happened suddenly, and Shan Anxin came up with a solution so quickly—this was completely inconsistent with her usual level of intelligence. If she were truly that calculating, Ruan Yu wouldn't have been able to extract the truth from her in just five minutes.
This proved that Shan Anxin had a strategist behind her.
But who would have thought that person would be Ying Wen?
"Xiao Ruan, if we stick to the original resolution for this matter, no matter how public opinion escalates, it will just be seen as a simple mistake by a host. But if we reveal that Shan Anxin and Ying Wen plotted against you, it becomes a matter of character and ethics. If the hosts within our station are secretly fighting like this, not only will Shan Anxin and Ying Wen's reputations suffer, but the station's image will also take a hit. Once public opinion flares up, the programs they host will definitely be affected. The station's losses would be immeasurable."
Ruan Yu lowered her head with a bitter smile. "What about my image? Isn't my image important too?"
"Of course it is, but the nature is different. Hosts misreading scripts—what station hasn't had that happen? Even more experienced hosts make similar mistakes. It's normal, nothing worth dwelling on. Just wait—in a few days, everyone will have forgotten about it. You'll still be the renowned host you always were, and the station will continue to assign you work as usual. Who would question your professional ability over this? But Shan Anxin and Ying Wen—their mistakes could ruin their careers, even their lives. And as for Jiayue, we've barely managed to calm their anger. If we drag them back into this, they won't be happy."
Ruan Yu understood the reasoning. She could weigh the pros and cons, but it was still hard to swallow.
"Xiao Ruan, over these past few years, your achievements have been evident to all. Your character is widely praised within the station. Out of all our hosts, I value you the most. The station has invested a lot in nurturing you. You're a smart and kind girl. I believe you can understand my difficulties and consider the bigger picture."
Suppressing her heartache and sorrow, Ruan Yu forced a smile for the station director.
"Director, you've said all the right things—both the kind and the harsh. If I keep pressing the issue, I’ll seem ungrateful and unreasonable. You handle this matter as you see fit. I won’t object."
"Good, good girl. I’ll make sure they apologize to you afterward."
It was already late when Ruan Yu left the station. Burdened with pent-up grievances, she broke into tears as soon as she got into her car.
The station director’s gentle persuasion was like a soft knife—she couldn’t deflect it, so she had no choice but to endure the cuts one by one. Society and the workplace were like this. Not every issue, once judged right or wrong, could be settled accordingly. Often, what mattered more than right or wrong were relationships, interests, face, and invisible vanities.
Sacrificing the pawn to save the king—so this was what it truly meant.
Ruan Yu wiped away her tears and drove to "Nameless" Bar. She felt she needed a drink tonight; otherwise, she’d surely lie awake all night.
When she arrived, she realized the bar was about to close.The staff were cleaning up when they saw Ruan Yu walk in, and they all froze in surprise.
The young man who had asked Ruan Yu for an autograph the other day was the first to recognize her.
"Sister Ruan, are you here for a drink? We're about to close," he said.
Before Ruan Yu could respond, footsteps sounded from the second floor.
It was Teng Yi coming downstairs.
Spotting Teng Yi, the young man hurried over to explain the situation.
"Boss," he said in a hushed tone, "we're closing on time, but just as we were about to shut the door, a guest arrived—and not just any guest, she's a celebrity. Should we make an exception and let her have a few drinks? I can stay overtime to serve her."
Teng Yi glanced at the young man.
His expression was earnest.
"Remember this for the future: celebrities get the same treatment as everyone else," Teng Yi said.
"Huh? So you mean we don’t have to give celebrities special treatment?"
"Celebrities don’t get special treatment, but the boss’s wife does. You can clock out—I’ll serve her personally."
The young man was completely stunned.
What?
Boss’s… wife?
Ruan Yu was their boss’s wife?
Oh no, oh no. That meant his earlier act of selling out the boss’s whereabouts for an autograph was about to be exposed.
After all the employees had left, Teng Yi locked the door.
Ruan Yu sat at the bar, looking utterly drained. Just by her demeanor, it was clear things hadn’t gone smoothly after she returned to work.
"Anchor Ruan, you tell me to quit drinking, yet here you are drinking?" Teng Yi teased, but his hands were already opening the liquor cabinet for her.
"I only drink occasionally."
"Did things not go well?"
"It’s not that they didn’t go well."
"Then what?"
Ruan Yu pursed her lips, propped her chin on her hand, and fell into silent contemplation.
"Teng Yi, have you heard of that cruel dilemma about the train and the six children?"
The gist of the question was this: Six children were playing on train tracks—five on the new tracks and one who warned the others that the new tracks were dangerous. When no one listened, he stayed behind to play alone on the old, disused tracks. Then a train came speeding toward them. By the time the engineer spotted the children, it was too late to stop. Should the engineer stay on course and kill the five children, or switch tracks to minimize casualties, killing the one child instead?
"I’ve heard of it."
"What do you think is the right choice?"
Teng Yi shook his head.
No matter how you choose, it’s both right and wrong. Every answer can be justified, yet none can fully justify the outcome. It’s too difficult.
"Did you become that one child?" he asked.
"Yes. I became that one child. I was playing obediently on the old tracks. I didn’t do anything wrong, but the train chose to hit me. And that’s not even the worst part. The worst part is that the train didn’t kill me—I have to endure the pain and face the injustice of being chosen while fully conscious."
As she spoke, Ruan Yu began drinking glass after glass, slowly recounting the whole story to Teng Yi.
He listened intently, though he couldn’t quite place who Shan Anxin or Ying Wen were.
"You really don’t know Shan Anxin or Ying Wen? They’re both famous anchors, you know."
"Among female anchors in the country these years, I only know you."
The dark clouds in Ruan Yu’s heart lightened slightly.
She smiled. "Consider that your way of comforting me."
"Did it work?""Mm, just having you by my side, listening to me talk about these trivial things, is already a comfort."
Hearing her say this, Teng Yi felt a pang of guilt in his heart.
"I'm sorry. These past six years, when you needed me, I wasn't there for you."
"Let's call it even. These six years, when you needed me, I wasn't there for you either."
He reached out and ruffled her hair. "Don't drink too much."
"Is the boss being stingy?"
"Not stingy, but you don't look good when you're drunk?"
"How do I not look good?" Ruan Yu protested indignantly. "When have we ever gotten drunk in front of you?"
Teng Yi chuckled. "Forget it. If you don't remember, then let it be."
"No way, tell me. What did I say to you when I was drunk?"
"You said, 'You don't have to love me.'"
"..." Ruan Yu scratched her head. "Then I must have been really drunk. Don't take it to heart. Drunken thoughts don't count. If you were drunk, you'd probably talk nonsense too."
"I don't talk nonsense when I'm drunk."
"I don't believe it. What do you say when you're drunk?"
Teng Yi pointed to the aqua-blue hanging cloth on the wall.
"See the little fish pattern on it?"
"Mm."
"Rui Shu said that when I'm drunk, I grab people and shout at them, 'Swim against the current, never give up.'"
These past six years, whenever he felt he couldn't go on, alcohol and tobacco could numb his nerves temporarily, but these words gave him strength.
"Do you remember what you said to me back at Sanmenxia? Now, say those words to yourself again, and maybe it won't feel so hard."
"Say it with me."
"..."
"Come on!" Ruan Yu tugged at him, acting coquettishly.
Teng Yi had no choice but to nod indulgently.
Their voices slowly rose together, one deep and firm, the other soft and gentle, overlapping.
"No matter who you are, even if fate has pushed you into a corner, even if life has you by the throat, as long as you still have a shred of strength left to struggle, don't give up. Don't go with the flow, don't drift aimlessly. Be a fish swimming against the current—never give up."
Swim against the current, never give up.
Never give up.
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