Chapter Thirty-Three
Thousand Lights Entertainment's annual gala was held at Jichun Erwan.
Unlike last year, this year's event not only included the company's own employees but also saw Su Lanyi inviting numerous artists and partners from the industry to participate.
The improvement in Thousand Lights' overall capabilities was evident to all in the industry. Su Lanyi had always intended to use the annual gala as an opportunity to showcase the company's achievements in recent years. While elevating the company's status, it would also demonstrate her influence within the industry.
On such an important occasion, as one of the founding members of Thousand Lights, Shen Qianzhan naturally couldn't remain aloof.
A week earlier, she had finalized her outfit and makeup for the gala. Unlike her usual charming and feminine style, Shen Qianzhan opted for a Dior autumn haute couture suit this time—sharp, sophisticated, and exuding an elite aura from head to toe that declared, "I'm highly capable."
Shen Qianzhan often wore blazers, with colors so varied they almost formed a rainbow. However, a pure dark shade, tailored to her figure, accentuated her silhouette like earthfire tearing through the night—pure yet alluring, alluring yet sharp—a rare sight indeed.
For her makeup, an innovative retro style highlighted her features, making them appear three-dimensional and profound. Her eyes, like soul-hooking sickles, shimmered with starlight and fireflies as they moved, as if mountains and rivers lay within her commanding gaze.
From the moment she stepped into the venue, the admiring and envious glances from all directions made Shen Qianzhan realize that she had already won the night.
—
Ji Qinghe arrived early. As the year-end approached, the official matters requiring his attention were numerous and complex, frequently shuttling him between the headquarters of Endless Year and Beijing.
When the venue's lights suddenly dimmed, he was perfunctorily entertaining a magazine editor-in-chief whom Su Lanyi had invited from somewhere. Thus, he witnessed Shen Qianzhan's unabashedly flamboyant entrance in its entirety.
Ji Qinghe's admiration for Shen Qianzhan began with her appearance.
There were very few women who could captivate him visually, and Shen Qianzhan was the only one whose every form left him itching with fascination.
Watching Shen Qianzhan sway with each step as she effortlessly greeted the company's artists and investor representatives, his eyes darkened, and he let out a helpless, wry smile.
Ming Jue had already dismissed the tactless magazine editor-in-chief. Turning around and noticing Ji Qinghe's distraction, he followed his gaze—Shen Qianzhan, like a blooming social butterfly, was surrounded by layers of eager admirers.
He suddenly recalled something that had happened in the past couple of days.
That day, after Shen Qianzhan got out of the car at the intersection, Ji Qinghe lowered the partition and said his first words: "Is this top star on the endorsement candidate list?"
Before Ming Jue could verify, Ji Qinghe tossed the document aside and said expressionlessly, "Remove him. No collaboration."
From his own perspective, Ming Jue deeply sympathized with the young idol who had his butt pinched by Producer Shen and consequently lost his endorsement. But considering his own position and role, he could only go along with Ji Qinghe.
He glanced pityingly at the oblivious "admirers" surrounding Shen Qianzhan. The one before last, Meng Wangzhou, had been kicked out of the courtyard house and was still sleeping on the streets under the overpass...
—
Shen Qianzhan's seat was right next to the main stage, adjacent to Su Lanyi's.
The annual gala included speeches from department heads. As a producer with significant decision-making authority in the company, Shen Qianzhan was scheduled to speak right after Su Lanyi.The giant screen played a compilation of films, tracing the timeline of Thousand Lights from its founding.
Shen Qianzhan appeared in the second year after Thousand Lights was established. From then on, she was present in every TV series and film that Thousand Lights invested in and produced. She was like a guiding light in the history of Thousand Lights’ development, single-handedly pulling together a rising mountain range.
Her eyes reflected the shifting light and shadow of the film. Those memories, whether long buried or deeply hidden, gradually resurfaced as the film played frame by frame.
In the second year of Thousand Lights’ founding, she was at the lowest point in her life.
Dreams shattered, faith collapsed, no family wealth to rely on, no shelter from the rain—she was already at a dead end.
Back then, every step was taken with difficulty; one misstep could have led to eternal ruin.
Now, summarized into a film, it was just a few short minutes of life. Those moments of tossing and turning, of collapse and despair, seemed to have been gently erased by an eraser. Except for the person involved, who would always remember it, engraved in their bones, in the eyes of the world, it was just a blank space, of no concern to anyone.
Applause erupted.
There were veteran employees who had grown alongside Thousand Lights, filled with emotion, and new employees who were simply moved by the inspirational film. The applause seemed to come from all directions, as if from a parallel space.
At first, it didn’t feel quite real, but gradually, like the ebb and flow of the tide, it grew clearer and clearer.
Shen Qianzhan stood at the edge of this tide, dampened by the mist, and finally snapped back to reality.
Su Lanyi had already taken the stage to deliver a speech, generously praising Shen Qianzhan as the great contributor. On the giant screen, the camera fittingly focused on Shen Qianzhan’s delicate face.
As if waking from a deep dream, after a brief moment of daze, she looked directly at the camera and smiled gracefully.
That smile was radiant as light, her gaze sparkling with brilliance.
—
The lively and harmonious atmosphere of the annual party continued until the department heads finished their speeches and the prize draw began.
Shen Qianzhan’s luck was too strong, so she was always forbidden from participating in such activities. Bored out of her mind, she caught sight of Ji Qinghe getting up and leaving out of the corner of her eye. She stroked her chin and quietly followed.
Su Lanyi was thoughtful in her arrangements. While inviting important guests to the annual party, she also prepared several hotel rooms for these esteemed individuals to rest.
As soon as Shen Qianzhan stepped out, Ming Jue was already waiting on the only path to hand her a room key.
She glanced down at the key, her brows furrowed in distress… This scene looked all too much like a secret rendezvous in a steamy novel, sneaking out of the party for some intimate time.
Ming Jue suppressed a laugh and urged her seriously, “Mr. Ji just wants to have an undisturbed, private conversation with Producer Shen. You can rest assured.”
Rest assured, my foot.
Shen Qianzhan grumbled inwardly: You’ve never seen him in his wolf-like, tiger-like state.
Though she thought it, Shen Qianzhan resignedly took the key and went upstairs with Ming Jue.
As they climbed higher and higher, Shen Qianzhan finally sensed something was off. She frowned, “I remember the 36th floor is reserved for exclusive suites and isn’t open to the public.” It definitely couldn’t be one of the guest rooms Su Lanyi had arranged for the investors.
Ming Jue nodded, neither denying nor explaining.
Shen Qianzhan was already familiar with Ming Jue’s reserved personality—like a gourd that wouldn’t make a sound even if you hit it with a stick. Seeing that he wasn’t going to elaborate, she didn’t press further.
When the elevator arrived, Ming Jue held the door open and pointed the way. “Producer Shen, turn left and walk about twenty meters.”
To avoid deepening the ambiguous atmosphere, Ming Jue decided to swallow the second half of his sentence: “Mr. Ji is already waiting for you in the room.”Even so, when Ming Jue saw the look Shen Qianzhan gave him before leaving, he still felt like a brothel madam who had tricked an innocent young girl into a den of vice.
He rubbed his nose and silently recited the core socialist values.
——
When Shen Qianzhan swiped her card to enter the room, only the ceiling light in the entryway was on.
All the light in the entire space came from the boundless city nightscape beyond the floor-to-ceiling window.
Ji Qinghe leaned against the wine cabinet, half-sitting on the table, and glanced at her as she entered.
Silent yet deadly.
Shen Qianzhan’s footsteps lightened as she walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.
The lights below resembled a neatly arranged chessboard, perfectly dividing the streets and districts. She stood as if upon that chessboard, with half the city’s liveliness and bustle seemingly within her grasp.
This feeling was not unfamiliar to her. She loved high floors precisely for the view of everything laid out beneath her when she looked down.
She lived and struggled in Beijing, yet her sense of belonging was so faint that only by standing by the window late at night could she feel her own existence.
Crossing her arms, she took a deep breath to bolster her courage. “I’ve thought about it for two days and still feel it’s better to keep things as they are.”
Shen Qianzhan tilted her head slightly, watching for his reaction.
As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, his features gradually became clearer in her vision. She saw him frown, seemingly unsurprised. “And your reason?”
Shen Qianzhan’s original draft had been: Mr. Ji is outstanding, and she was both flattered and bewildered by his favor, unsure of its cause. But the gap between them was too wide, and she was no longer young—she didn’t want to add another romantic entanglement to her life. She also had little interest in maintaining a purely physical relationship. In this industry, one feared scandal, and she didn’t believe the value of sleeping with her could offset all the resources of Endless Year.
She was shortsighted and had no desire to build her fortune by relying on a man.
But as these words reached her lips, she hesitated and swallowed them back.
To Ji Qinghe, such reasons would only sound like excuses. And the consequences of making excuses… Shen Qianzhan glanced at the large bed in the distance and immediately straightened her spine.
“I once loved someone very much,” Shen Qianzhan looked up at him. “He was a director—the first director I worked with as an independent producer.”
“Mr. Ji probably doesn’t know much about our industry. I used to be a project planner, similar to Qiao Xin’s current situation. Before I met him, I was just grinding away, unsure when I’d ever be able to prepare my own project.”
“He supported me in becoming an independent producer and gave me some startup funds. I resigned and began preparing the project, relying on the experience I’d accumulated as a planner. An independent producer has no company backing them, no reliable connections, and no money. The project was forced to stall in its early stages.”
“When there was no money, he took me to dinners to meet investors. When there was no suitable creative team, he introduced me to people. Every problem seemed as light as a sheet of paper in front of him, resolved with a wave of his hand.” Shen Qianzhan lowered her gaze, her eyes settling on a distant billboard. “I’m a quick learner. Everything he taught me, I absorbed and mastered swiftly. Once the project was underway, we had a screenwriter, a script, investors, and a production crew. Everything went smoothly.”"I've always remembered the day filming began." She paused briefly, her voice steady when she spoke again, as if describing a story unrelated to herself: "It was no different from any ordinary day, the sunlight was especially bright. He was wearing a light blue shirt, patted my head to congratulate me, said he had a two-day business trip, and asked if I wanted any gifts. Then he left and never came back."
Shen Qianzhan parted her lips, her tone chillingly cold: "He took the money, trampled on my dignity, and just walked away. After that, it felt like I died once, sank into a low point, with nowhere to turn."
Without funds, without a director, the project fell through. She couldn’t bear the massive expenses the crew would incur next, so she had no choice but to disband the team.
She was left with enormous breach-of-contract compensation, pushed out to bear all the malice that no one understood.
Now that she’s achieved success and fame, no one tactlessly brings up that past anymore.
Only she remains soberly aware of the agony of that time, when her passion had died and her faith had shattered.
"Mr. Ji can interpret it as me having been hurt in love and unwilling to accept another relationship." Shen Qianzhan casually brushed her hair aside, indifferent: "Anyway, everyone thinks I’m that kind of heartless woman who changes men like clothes—sleeping is fine, but talking about feelings is out of the question."
Author's Note: Some readers previously asked why Sister Zhan drives a second-hand BMW, saying it doesn’t quite fit her character. I answered because Sister Zhan isn’t particularly wealthy.
The reason is probably here...
Recently, my mental state hasn’t been great, staying up sleepless until five or six every night. I’ll try my best to maintain daily updates. Thank you for your support.
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