Chapter 23
What puzzled Shen Qianzhan even more was, did she look like someone who needed to rely on blind dates to solve her marital problems?
Feeling offended, Shen Qianzhan lowered her head and stared at the screen for a while without a word.
Just as she was contemplating whether to banish Meng Wangzhou back to her blocklist for some self-reflection, Meng Wangzhou, as if sensing the danger, promptly added a sentence that instantly defused the crisis.
"Didn't you come to the association event last time? A few of our fellow collectors were very impressed with you. I told them you were taken, but they wouldn't give up and egged me on to invite you... both of you, to get together and liven things up."
A question mark slowly formed over Shen Qianzhan's head. "I'm taken?"
She wasn't stupid. While Meng Wangzhou couldn't be called vain, he was inherently a braggart, possessing the roguish air of a hustler and the fatal flaw of being obsessed with saving face.
These traits were usually harmless, but once they involved her, the customer experience was less than wonderful.
Meng Wangzhou was already feeling guilty, and now he could sense Shen Qianzhan's cold sarcasm even through the screen. He asked tentatively, "Even if not right now, it'll be more or less a done deal soon, right?"
Shen Qianzhan didn't have much interaction with Meng Wangzhou; the only link between them was Ji Qinghe.
She didn't play dumb. Before putting her phone away, she replied bluntly, "Mr. Ji and I only have a cooperative relationship. For the sake of our future collaboration, Boss Meng, you'd better not say things that could easily cause misunderstandings. It's quite awkward."
After hitting send, Shen Qianzhan stood there and reflected on her recent actions.
Among their group, only the clever little imp Su Zan knew about her relationship with Ji Qinghe. She usually considered herself to be open and forthright, but in the eyes of others, her words and actions were indeed not discreet enough.
The more friendly ones, like Meng Wangzhou, would at most think the two of them were flirting. If she encountered someone with malicious intent, who knew what kind of ridiculous rumors would start to spread.
It was truly difficult to be a romantic woman who simply coveted a handsome face these days.
——
After lounging on the sofa in Shen Qianzhan's office in a hundred and eight different ways, Su Zan finally saw her arrive.
He immediately shot up with a carp-like leap, stood respectfully with his hands behind his back, and awaited his leader's inspection.
Who would have thought that Shen Qianzhan wouldn't even spare Su Zan a glance, instead taking her thermos to make tea.
Amidst the gurgling sound of water, Su Zan suddenly felt the desolation of being cast into a cold palace.
He shuffled over to the desk in small steps and, under Shen Qianzhan's assessing peripheral gaze, gently placed the Christmas gift box right in the center of the desk.
This move was, as expected, effective.
Shen Qianzhan turned around leisurely and glanced at it. "The Christmas limited edition?"
Su Zan nodded like a garlic-pounding pestle.
Shen Qianzhan examined it for a couple of seconds and found it barely to her liking. "Took a lot of effort, didn't it?"
How could Su Zan dare to say yes? His eyes sparkled as he fawned, "How can doing something for you be called 'effort'? I just had to ask countless fair-weather friends and go through several department stores in Japan before I could snatch one from the counter." He deliberately lowered his voice, saying mysteriously, "My sister wanted it, but I didn't give it to her. This is exclusively for you."
Most women are, after all, creatures of sensation, and Shen Qianzhan was no exception.
Although she knew at least seventy percent of Su Zan's words were exaggerated, she was still very pleased.
She pointed to the visitor's chair in front of her desk, showing great mercy. "Alright, that mouth of yours is as if it's been smeared with honey every day. You don't do any real work, just go around coaxing little girls."
She pulled out the chair and sat down. While turning on her computer to wait for a file from the legal department, she asked, "You dare to come here and plead for forgiveness. Has there been any progress on the Xiang Qianqian matter?"
Su Zan grinned, his eyebrows dancing. "Zhan-jie, you'll never guess who her backer is."
Shen Qianzhan finished typing her password to unlock the computer and looked up at him. "You mean Jiang Yecheng?"
Su Zan, whose face had just been metaphorically slapped, was speechless. "..."
"You knew all along?" Su Zan let out a long sigh. The proper attitude he had just adopted instantly crumbled like a leaking plate of loose sand, scattering all over the floor. "Then why didn't you give me a hint? I could have saved myself some useless effort."
"Have I seen you at all these past few days?" Shen Qianzhan retorted sarcastically. "Forget seeing you, I haven't even seen a single bird feather. How was I supposed to give you a hint?"
Su Zan knew he was in the wrong. After sulking for a few seconds, he reported obediently, "I looked into Qianqian's resources from the past three months, both the ones she actively pursued and the ones that were handed to her. If I hadn't been paying close attention, I really wouldn't have seen Jiang Yecheng's hand behind it."
Shen Qianzhan crossed her arms, leaned back in her chair, and curled her lips into a cold smirk. "Get to the conclusion."
"Jiang Yecheng promised Qianqian that if she could borrow the Time's Key watch from Ji Qinghe, he would guarantee her the female lead role in the tribute drama." Su Zan was in a foul mood, and his tone became somber. "The tribute drama is a Thousand Lights production, and she's the company's top actress. How could she be left out of our own drama? What is she even after?"
"Su Zan," Shen Qianzhan said with rare seriousness, "you're really not suited to be an artist manager."
Su Zan was struck dumb and said nothing.
"Usually, when the artist sees further than the manager, you are no longer qualified to manage her." Shen Qianzhan unscrewed her thermos, blew on the steam, and carefully touched her upper lip to the liquid.
It was a little hot.
She put the cup down and said in a low voice, "Xiang Qianqian is highly ambitious, has clear goals, and is not lacking in ambition. When I first secured the Boxuan project, she took the initiative to have dinner with me and Boxuan's upper management. I estimate that she and Jiang Yecheng probably got together around that time."
Shen Qianzhan had originally thought that Xiang Qianqian's diva behavior and the resulting negative publicity were due to Su Zan's indulgence. But looking at the timeline now, it was more likely that Xiang Qianqian, feeling that she was on the verge of ascending after latching onto an industry magnate like Jiang Yecheng, had lost her sense of self and been ruthlessly set up by a rival.
Su Zan had spoken with Xiang Qianqian before coming, and he was speechless at Shen Qianzhan's ability to deduce the truth based on mere speculation. "Have you guessed who set her up this time?"
"Mrs. Jiang, I suppose." Shen Qianzhan glanced at Su Zan's ashen face and was basically certain. "I always tell you to listen to more gossip and secrets, but do you ever listen to me?"
Jiang Yecheng was the industry's standard gigolo. In his early years, he had ascended to heaven by relying on Mrs. Jiang, rising all the way to the number two position at Boxuan. After reaching middle age, his status in the family underwent a qualitative change. Not only did he secretly philander outside, but he was also bold enough to keep a mistress in a gilded cage right under his wife's nose.
Shen Qianzhan couldn't fathom what Mrs. Jiang was thinking. But later, Mrs. Jiang replaced Jiang Yecheng's secretary and began tracking his whereabouts at all times. Her surveillance was so strict that she was just short of personally accompanying him to all his engagements.
It was only a matter of time before Xiang Qianqian would face retaliation for getting involved with Jiang Yecheng.
She took a sip of the warm, light tea and offered Su Zan a perfunctory consolation. "Xiang Qianqian's current predicament is mostly of her own making, so you don't need to blame yourself too much for your incompetence. Mrs. Jiang probably had a hand in the negative publicity from her diva behavior. She knew Xiang Qianqian was proud and wouldn't be able to handle the blow of falling from grace. See? The moment she fell from her pedestal, she started clutching at straws, pinning all her hopes on her so-called backer. Go and try to persuade her. If she can handle this matter cleanly and satisfy Mrs. Jiang, Thousand Lights might still be able to save her. But if she continues to be so obstinate..."
Shen Qianzhan did a quick mental calculation and said calmly, "By the end of next year at the latest, she's guaranteed to be finished."
Su Zan was a little weary. "We'll see."
With that, his eyes darted around, and he asked, "Aren't you curious why Qianqian wouldn't ask our own company for help, but instead trusts that Mr. Jiang can get her a lead role?"
"Is that so difficult to understand?" Shen Qianzhan shot him a disdainful look. "That old fox Jiang Yecheng is scheming to replace me. He's extending an olive branch to Jian Xin on one hand, and luring an ignorant young girl to get close to Ji Qinghe on the other. Given his relationship with Xiang Qianqian, if he let slip some news about his collaboration with Thousand Lights falling through, how could that silly girl not believe him? She feels that Thousand Lights can no longer satisfy her ambitions and wants to climb a higher branch. Borrowing the watch is such nonsense. Jiang Yecheng was just packaging his vulgar method of gifting Xiang Qianqian to Ji Qinghe, to see if Mr. Ji would accept. In any case, if Ji Qinghe doesn't accept, it's no loss to him."
Shen Qianzhan saw people and things with such clarity that she sometimes felt a sense of loneliness, as if she had seen through the mortal world.
She could understand Xiang Qianqian's actions, but it was a pity about all the effort she had invested in the girl over the years.
Right now, Su Zan could still communicate peacefully with Xiang Qianqian because she didn't yet have the confidence to completely break ties with Thousand Lights. If she couldn't find her way back, what followed would either be Xiang Qianqian suffering the backlash of breaching her contract or Thousand Lights shelving and blacklisting her. No matter the outcome, it would be a lose-lose situation.
However, Shen Qianzhan wasn't curious about which turning point Xiang Qianqian's life would take next. A choice with such a predictable outcome was utterly boring. What she was curious about was, why was Jiang Yecheng so obsessed with collaborating with Ji Qinghe?
What trump card did her enigmatic Mr. Ji hold that could make Jiang Yecheng... flock to him like a fly to filth?
Hmm...
If that dog of a man found out about her description, he would probably make her properly acquaint herself with that phrase a hundred, a thousand times over.
At this thought, Shen Qianzhan shivered violently and quickly stopped her terrifying train of thought.
——
After Shen Qianzhan made it clear that she would not get involved in Xiang Qianqian's matter, Su Zan got the message and dejectedly left her office.
An hour later, the contract from the legal department arrived in her email as scheduled.
Shen Qianzhan reviewed it carefully before forwarding a new attachment to Ji Qinghe.
At the same time, she opened Ji Qinghe's WeChat and typed out a long-winded summary report of several hundred words about the trending paparazzi photo incident.
A few minutes later, Mr. Ji, who was several time zones away from her, replied with a single, aloof, and noble word: "Mm."
Shen Qianzhan raised an eyebrow.
That's it?
Unwilling to give up, she carefully phrased her words and asked tactfully, "Mr. Ji isn't asleep yet?"
Ji Qinghe was sitting in the first-class lounge at the airport, listening to Ming Jue report on his work schedule.
He multitasked, replying to her, "At the airport."
Shen Qianzhan glanced at the calendar. Only five days had passed since Ji Qinghe left on his business trip. She was surprised. "So fast?"
Ji Qinghe's brow twitched. He replied expressionlessly, "I'm fast?"
Shen Qianzhan, who instantly understood what Mr. Ji was getting at, was speechless. "..." That wasn't what she meant.
She rubbed the bridge of her nose and explained, "I didn't mean to question your ability."
Ji Qinghe: "I'd bet you wouldn't dare."
He added, "You're the last person who has the right to say that."
Shen Qianzhan rolled her eyes, wanting to throw her phone. But considering that Ji Qinghe was also telling the truth, she cleared her throat and threw herself back into an enthusiastic online chat with her patron. "Is Mr. Ji's flight back to Beijing tonight?"
Ji Qinghe didn't reply.
He lazily lifted his eyelids and glanced at Ming Jue, whose voice had trailed off. "Continue."
Special Assistant Ming, who thought he was being considerate of his boss's divided attention, snapped to attention and continued his report.
Ji Qinghe lowered his gaze to the chat window, which constantly showed that she was typing and sending. The light in his eyes, reflecting off the overhead lamps, swirled with a somewhat dazzling luster.
——"I just sent the contract to your email. Please take a look when you have time. If there are no issues, we can sign it after you get back."
——"As for the explanation you asked me for, I've already compiled and summarized it. If Mr. Ji feels it lacks a sense of ceremony, I can format it into an official document and send it to your email."
——"If you don't have time to review so much text, I can also recite it for you with great passion and emotion."
——"Mr. Ji?"
——"Acknowledge me?"
Ji Qinghe let out a low chuckle, and the fatigue from the past few days seemed to suddenly ease.
He raised a hand to gently pinch the bridge of his nose and replied, "This explanation isn't that important to me."
Shen Qianzhan sent a question mark.
Then why did you act so furious back then, righteously making this explanation one of the conditions for our collaboration?
Ji Qinghe said, "It's just that my innocence cannot be slandered."
"Thank you for your trouble."
Wait?
What does that mean?
She went through all that trouble to solve the case just for Ji Qinghe to say his innocence couldn't be slandered?
He himself knew that Xiang Qianqian had just come to borrow the watch from him, a watch that she herself had briefly worn on her wrist not long ago, which obviously meant he hadn't lent it out successfully.
So this dog of a man had made her go through this whole rigmarole just to make her find out the truth and understand that there was nothing between him and Xiang Qianqian?
Is he sick in the head?
She was so angry she could have started a rebellion. To prevent herself from losing control, she threw her phone far away, frantically telling herself: The contract isn't signed yet, the contract isn't signed yet. Stay calm! Stay calm! Keep being a sycophant!
Shen Qianzhan took a deep breath, replied with three smiling emojis, and ruthlessly ended the online chat service.
——
Due to the slight unpleasantness caused by their conversation on the day the contract was delivered, Shen Qianzhan picked up her pride as the lowly Party B again and ignored her Party A patron for a full day.
But as a humble Party B, her pride couldn't last more than twenty-four hours.
On the day the final version of the contract was to be signed, Shen Qianzhan went to Endless Year's Beijing branch office with Su Lanyi.
Both parties signed and affixed their official seals.
Once all the procedures were completed, each party held a copy of the agreement and shook hands amicably.
Seeing this major event finally settled, Shen Qianzhan stroked the contract, nearly bursting into tears of an old man.
When it was her turn to shake the patron's long, slender fingers, Ji Qinghe's lips curved slightly, revealing the faint, calculating smile he wore when plotting against someone. "Producer Shen, I'll be in your care from now on."
Shen Qianzhan's smile froze slightly. She had a vague feeling... that her "from now on" might not be so wonderful.
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