Chapter Fifty
Being stubborn was one thing, but basic courtesy could not be neglected.
Shen Qianzhan switched the phone to her left hand while using her other hand to pick out essence, lotion, cream, and eye cream to stuff into her makeup bag. "It has been a long time since we last met. I truly miss Mr. Ji's handsome and elegant demeanor."
Ji Qinghe curled the corner of his lips, accepting her flattery. "Going on a business trip? How long will you be away?"
"To Wuxi," Shen Qianzhan replied helplessly. "The return date is uncertain. It all depends on when the 'Spring River' crew can recover."
Shen Qianzhan felt deeply guilty about this matter. She had promised Ji Qinghe to accompany him to Xi’an first, and even though she was reassigned due to work, failing to fulfill the promise was still a breach of trust. Moreover, she had failed to notify him properly. If Ming Jue hadn’t called to ask if she was free recently, she probably wouldn’t have remembered until she arrived in Wuxi.
When people feel guilty, they tend to seek validation. Since they weren’t face-to-face, Shen Qianzhan felt much more at ease. "The snow disaster in Wuxi has halted the crew’s work, costing a lot of funds. Producer Xiao has no experience handling such situations, and President Su is worried that further delays will cause significant losses for the company and investors. That’s why I was temporarily assigned to help."
Her tone was filled with the helplessness and frustration of "I don’t want to either, but I’m just a small, insignificant cog working for capital. When orders come, I dare not disobey."
Ji Qinghe wasn’t very familiar with the operational mechanisms of film crews. Upon hearing this, he generously told her not to worry about breaking the promise, as there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.
After hanging up, Shen Qianzhan stared at her phone in silence for a long time.
If before she had only suspected that Ji Qinghe was acting strangely, now, based on his behavior and attitude, she was absolutely certain that the dog man had changed.
According to Ji Qinghe’s usual reactions, the trip to Xi’an might have been postponed, but he would have mocked her a few times. Yet, strangely, he held the evidence of her broken promise but comforted her to prioritize urgent matters instead? He neither pursued the matter nor flew into a rage…
Was this the nitpicking Ji Qinghe she knew?
This was clearly a philanthropist running a charity, dedicated to doing good.
—
Shen Qianzhan felt uneasy inside. She kept it bottled up all night, and the next day, when she rode with Su Zan to Wuxi, her face practically bore the words "I’m full of worries."
Su Zan couldn’t stand it and tried to console her. "It’s just Xiao Sheng. Do you really need to treat it like a major crisis? I’m here too!" As the crown prince of Thousand Lights, his status carried weight with everyone except Shen Qianzhan, exuding authority even before he spoke.
Misunderstood, Shen Qianzhan didn’t even look up, muttering, "I have a handle on the Xiao Sheng situation."
Su Zan followed her gaze to the layers of snow on the highway and asked, "If it’s not Xiao Sheng, what else could be troubling you?" He threw out several guesses, from the script of "Time" to project progress, from mortgages to handbags, and finally landed on matters of the heart. "You don’t have a close girlfriend to confide in, so I’ll reluctantly offer you some advice."
Shen Qianzhan had always been open with Su Zan. After only a few seconds of consideration, she couldn’t help but voice her doubts. "Has something major and unknown happened within Endless Year?"Su Zan opened a bag of potato chips and crunched away as he asked, "There are some, but a lot has happened recently. What counts as major?" Without waiting for Shen Qianzhan to give a precise range or standard, he continued on his own, "The Endless Year Asia spokesperson deal should be pretty big, right? I heard that Endless Year actually had a top star lined up internally, and the plan was all set. But then Ming Jue went over with Mr. Ji's orders and swapped them out."
Shen Qianzhan had been busy with work lately and knew little about dinner parties or gossip. Interested, she leaned in and asked, "Who?"
Drama king Su Zan glanced around like a thief, saw that Mr. and Mrs. Shen were sound asleep, lowered his voice, and whispered in Shen Qianzhan's ear, "The one whose butt you pinched."
Shen Qianzhan: "..."
Her face turned from green to black, and without any courtesy, she snatched the potato chips from Su Zan's hand. "When you learn to respect your elders and cherish the young, I'll give them back to you."
Su Zan was beside himself with laughter. After he'd had his fill, he said, "I'm not kidding, it's a true story. If you have dinner with the executive in charge of this at Endless Year, you'll find out. They're still baffled, completely clueless about how this top star offended Mr. Ji. Only I, as soon as I heard, knew this wasn't simple."
Shen Qianzhan rolled her eyes, no longer in the mood for emotional counseling. She tossed the potato chips back to Su Zan, pulled down her eye mask, and went back to sleep.
—
From Beijing to Wuxi, the entire journey took fourteen hours. With heavy snowfall in the region, terrible weather, and poor road conditions, Shen Qianzhan and the others were forced to take a break at a service station along the way.
The service area was packed. Old Shen and the driver went to get hot water, while Shen's mother, feeling unwell after getting in the car, had taken motion sickness medicine and was still asleep.
Su Zan went out for a stroll and came back with two servings of spiced tofu, signaling for her to get out and get some air.
The snow had stopped long ago, and the air was filled with a sharp chill, as if everything dirty had been washed away by the ice and snow, leaving only a pungent, cold freshness that jolted their weary spirits awake.
Su Zan handed her two bamboo skewers. "The line at the window was long, but it smelled like it was stewed in meat broth, so I bought two servings. If it's good, we'll get some for them later to fill their stomachs."
Shen Qianzhan sniffed the sour and spicy aroma from the broth. "Did you add something extra for me?"
Su Zan was busy eating, grunting as he bit off half a piece of tofu, scalding his mouth and gasping. "Don't you like it with vinegar and chili?" He took another bite of the meat skewer and asked, "What were you trying to tell me earlier?"
Sharing one's troubles has always been about the right atmosphere and state of mind.
Shen Qianzhan had long lost the troubled mood she had at the beginning when she wanted to confide. She shook her head. "It's nothing."
Su Zan didn't believe her.
He knew Shen Qianzhan well—forcing her would never get her to open up. When they first met, their communication relied entirely on his wild guesses. If he got it right, this ancestor would grace him with a few glances and chat for a bit. Those days were truly tough.
After a moment's thought, Su Zan squatted down on the steps and said, "Alright, then let me talk to you for a bit."
He chewed and swallowed the last meat skewer, mumbling, "The day before we left, Old Shen invited me to go fishing and asked me about Mr. Ji's character."
Su Zan glanced at Shen Qianzhan, noticing only a slight pause in her bamboo skewer, and continued, "I teased him, asking if Auntie had urged him to ask. He said no, that he just wanted to know for himself, asking about Mr. Ji's age and family situation. I watched him ponder as he asked, so I asked him what he was worried about.""Old Shen didn't say anything. He mentioned that asking privately might be impolite, but since he and your mother are about to leave Beijing soon, not getting clarity just leaves them uneasy." Su Zan forced a laugh. "I really understand how your parents feel. This trip back to Wuxi together is a good opportunity. I think it's best you let them know your plans, so they don't worry needlessly without daring to ask."
Shen Qianzhan quietly ate her tofu, acting as if she hadn't heard a word.
Su Zan was long accustomed to her attitude. He glanced toward the bustling service area, stroking his chin. "Sis Qianzhan, I know you've had a tough journey to get here. Over the years, I've been by your side, witnessing everything you've gone through. I understand how hard it's been for you to reach this point, and I know you weren't always this unwilling to accept anyone's goodwill. Mr. Ji has been genuinely sincere toward you. I know some of the things I've done might have been annoying, but my intention was always to create opportunities for you. I'm not afraid of being misunderstood—I just worry that your resistance might make you miss out." His voice grew softer as he spoke, tinged with a hint of envy. "Even though I don't support measuring love with money, Mr. Ji's family is truly wealthy. Whether it's dating or marriage, you won't lose out. Trust me! You really won't lose out."
At first, Shen Qianzhan listened thoughtfully, finding some of Su Zan's points reasonable. But the more she listened, the more off-key it sounded. She shot a glare at the money-obsessed Su Zan and said expressionlessly, "Do I need you to tell me whether it's a loss or not?"
Of course it wasn'tt a loss!
One night would break even; two nights would be a windfall.
Did she really need him to explain that?
But jokes aside, Su Zan's words had stirred something in Shen Qianzhan's heart.
As they set off again, Shen Qianzhan closed her eyes, her mind filled with Su Zan's words echoing like a chant, unsettling her completely.
Whether it was due to Su Zan's rare sentimentality or her own wavering resolve, one side of the scale teetered precariously, on the verge of collapse.
——
They arrived in Wuxi late at night.
Following Shen Qianzhan's arrangements, Mr. and Mrs. Shen were first taken home, while the driver stayed overnight in town before heading to the "Spring River" film set the next day.
Once in town, she arranged for the driver and Su Zan to stay at a hotel.
The next morning, the group made their way to the film studio.
She had prepared contingency plans in advance. Upon arriving at the hotel where the crew was staying, she skipped the pleasantries and swiftly called an emergency meeting with Xiao Sheng and other key leaders.
The meeting lasted until evening, during which she efficiently outlined solutions and handed them over to Xiao Sheng for implementation.
The blizzard and resulting disaster were acts of nature, and no amount of planning could fully mitigate the losses for the crew.
Fortunately, although Xiao Sheng had personal grievances with her, he didn't choose this moment to act unreasonably. After the meeting, he even expressed genuine gratitude for her braving the heavy snow to assist the crew.
Shen Qianzhan curled her lips slightly, maintaining a flawless facade. "We're all colleagues. Helping each other is only natural."
Using exhaustion from the journey as an excuse, she skipped the dinner and networking, opting instead to return to her room to rest.
She slept until noon the next day. When she woke, the sky was gray and gloomy, making it impossible to tell whether it was morning or afternoon.
Southern hotels lacked heating, relying solely on air conditioning. The air felt icy, as if the last trace of warmth had melted away.Shen Qianzhan slept in a dazed stupor, not only failing to relieve her fatigue but instead feeling light-headed and heavy-footed, as if weighed down by lead.
She propped herself up and glanced at the air conditioner—the red silk ribbon tied to the air vent hung motionless, having been shut off for quite some time.
Leaning forward, she checked the wall lamp she hadn’t turned off the night before. The light was dim, and the room felt oppressively dark, as if shrouded by a crow’s feather.
The blanket was cold and damp, stiffened by the chill.
Shen Qianzhan vaguely realized there was a power outage and reached for her phone first.
In the signal bar, the phone signal had dropped to its last sliver, pitifully faint.
The power was out.
Having confirmed this, Shen Qianzhan fell back, lying down again with utter resignation.
—
After half an hour of finally accepting the reality of the power outage, Shen Qianzhan resignedly got up to wash up.
Su Zan knocked on the door with the life producer just as Shen Qianzhan had finished freshening up.
The life producer had come to deliver the lunch box. Seeing Shen Qianzhan awake, she finally breathed a sigh of relief: "I came to deliver breakfast this morning, but no one answered the door. I was afraid of disturbing your rest, so I didn’t try to wake you. When I came with lunch just now and still got no response, I came over with Mr. Su."
Shen Qianzhan smiled and told her to go attend to her own tasks.
Su Zan had gathered with Xiao Sheng for a few drinks the night before, woke up late, and had little appetite. He twisted open a bottle of mineral water from the tea table, drinking as he entered the room: "Why is it so cold in here?" As he spoke, he rubbed his hands together and urged her, "Hurry up and eat. After the blizzard and power outage this morning, the entire crew is like frostbitten plants, waiting for you to be their backbone."
Shen Qianzhan remained unhurried: "My presence won’t restore the power."
Su Zan was left speechless and simply fell silent.
At this moment, the power outage was undoubtedly adding insult to injury for the Spring River crew.
The crew had already been shut down for nearly half a month, with hundreds of people idling away their days in the hotel. Now, even this sanctuary had been paralyzed by the blizzard, and it was hard to say how many crew members would have their spirits crushed by this.
The thought alone made Shen Qianzhan’s head throb with pain.
Perhaps sensing her low spirits, Su Zan waited until she finished eating before saying, "Mr. Ji couldn’t reach you on your phone, so he called me."
Shen Qianzhan was somewhat surprised: "Did he say what it was about?"
Su Zan grinned mischievously: "It wasn’t about anything at first, but after I mentioned that the actors in this crew are all particularly to your taste, I suppose it might be about something now."
Author’s Note: My stories tend to be slow-burn. Sister Deng appears frivolous on the surface but is actually a very closed-off girl. This stage marks a shift in her mindset. Since this is a serialized work and my updates are small, you might feel like there’s no progress. Once it’s completed, you’ll realize this is only about halfway through the story.
Regarding the update issue, I’m truly very sorry. I really want you to believe that I intended to maintain stable updates when I started this story, and I struggled to persist for a while, but I genuinely haven’t managed it. Right now, I’m quite withdrawn and fearful of others’ words. I’ll do my best to write this book well and resolve my personal matters as soon as possible to resume updates. Work is busy, life is busy, and reading is meant to be a pastime—don’t let it bring you unhappiness. If you feel the pace is slow, you can save it up to read later, or even drop it if you prefer. Accompanying each other for a stretch of the journey is what matters most—everyone’s happiness is the priority!Thanks to the little angels who voted for me or gave me nutrient solutions between 2020-04-04 19:36:50 and 2020-04-06 18:21:15~
Thanks to the little angel who threw a rocket launcher: Ling Yan Luo Hua Ji, 1;
Thanks to the little angels who threw landmines: Yue Ban Ban, 7; Yan Shi Shu Zhong Zi You Huang Jin Wu, 6; 28025075, 3; Shi Wang Xiu Xiu 007, Er Jiu, 2; Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Ping, Mu Han Han Jia De Xiao Ying Zi Mio, 24159018, 30291491, Mo Xin, Wei Yi hhh, Yi Ke You Zi, Bei Jie Zhuo Jiu, change qian, 2b ge ge, Xiang Yu Jian Ni Ya ·, orezero, josie, Zui Ai Bei Qing De Jing Bai, crystal, 1;
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated with nutrient solutions: Xian Dan Mei Mei, 100 bottles; You Ban_, 36 bottles; Jiao Ba Ba, 33 bottles; sakura, Jun Mo Xiao, Duo Duo Duo, Yan He Chu Xing, Chun Jiang Su Er, 20 bottles; lvhuaner, 15 bottles; Mou Mo Wei Le Ming Xian Ba ID Gao Chang, 12 bottles; Xi Xi, Wan Lan Zhi Bu Qian Mo, 10 bottles; Mo Mo, 8 bottles; Tou Xing Jiu Yue, 6 bottles; A Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha, Jin Ruo, ly:-), Xie E De Ge Ge, Mu You, 24182114, Mi Ma Shi Ni Sheng Ri Ya, karen, Dao Dao Zai Ai He Niu Nai, Jing Yu Nai Guan Xi Lie., 5 bottles; Chu Jian, 4 bottles; Ge Bi Lu Ge?, 3 bottles; 38850765, Tang Dynasty Plum Milk Tea, Ha Ha Er, Shi Yu Jing Fan Fan Fan, 2 bottles; Young Friend, Rong Tu Tu, Xiao Kai Jiao Qi., q, Chu Wu Yan, Ri Guang Qing Cheng, 2333, Piao Zhi Min De Xiao Xian Nv, Nai Nai Ya!, Wen Zhuo, 1 bottle;
Thank you all very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!
OpenNovel