Chapter 84
This decision felt somewhat impulsive to Shen Qianzhan.
Yet once she spoke the words, she felt an immense sense of relief. It was as if deep within her heart, this hidden thought had always been there, waiting quietly for the right moment to emerge.
Su Lanyi was stunned.
Her fingers gripping the beer can stiffened; in her shock, her grip loosened slightly, and for a moment, she couldn’t hold it steady, spilling beer all over the table.
But at that moment, she couldn’t be bothered to clean it up. Her gaze toward Shen Qianzhan was filled not only with shock and disappointment but also with utter disbelief. “What did you say?”
Shen Qianzhan replied, “I said we’re done.”
She took a quiet breath, her tone calm. “I can’t accept you repeatedly squeezing benefits out of me.”
Su Lanyi instinctively tried to defend herself. “I didn’t, when have I ever…”
“During Xiang Qianqian’s contract termination,” Shen Qianzhan lifted her eyes, her gaze cool and solemn. “That time when Star Sea Media tried to use me as a breakthrough to reach a peaceful termination agreement with Thousand Lights. You said you couldn’t swallow that insult, and you couldn’t set a precedent where an artist betrays the company and leaves with a favorable outcome. You firmly refused to negotiate or reconcile.”
“When Star Sea Media saw that a peaceful termination wasn’t possible, they shifted negative public opinion toward Thousand Lights to warm up for Xiang Qianqian’s lawsuit, creating the narrative that I mistreated Xiang Qianqian, making her unable to endure Thousand Lights’ unfair treatment, which led to her determined departure.”
She picked up the beer can Su Lanyi had knocked over and grabbed a few tissues to block the edge of the table, stopping the beer from trickling down to the floor.
“You told me to be cautious and resolve it as soon as possible.”
“From the company’s perspective and yours, I thought your considerations were objective, and I tacitly accepted this approach. But what did you do?”
“You took advantage of Mr. Ji’s reluctance to see me caught in the whirlwind of public opinion. Under his mediation, you demanded enough benefits to satisfy your ambitions and chose to reconcile.”
Su Lanyi pressed her lips together, silent.
Her gaze toward Shen Qianzhan was no longer as dismissive as before; it gradually grew heavy.
She had never seen Shen Qianzhan display an expression of amusement or mockery in front of her. Most of the time, Shen Qianzhan would wait indifferently for her to give orders.
Just as she didn’t interfere with Shen Qianzhan’s work, Shen Qianzhan rarely criticized her decisions. If Shen Qianzhan felt the company’s decisions were fine, she would tacitly accept them and carry them out. Only on rare occasions would she voice an opinion or suggest a correction.
Su Lanyi had long grown accustomed to this dynamic, accustomed to Shen Qianzhan being her loyal subject, charging into battle and fighting fiercely on her behalf.
Suddenly, the world turned upside down. The Shen Qianzhan before her, though still familiar in her memory, felt as strange as if she were meeting her for the first time in a crowd.
Su Lanyi’s heart tightened, and she instinctively wanted to say something to salvage the situation that was on the verge of falling apart. “Are you blaming me for not considering your situation, for disregarding your wishes and putting you in the spotlight?”
She raised her lips in a smile, her tone carrying a hint of humility in an attempt to reconcile. “I think you’ve misunderstood.”
“How much effort did you pour into Xiang Qianqian to bring her to her current height? My refusal to terminate the contract was, first, because I considered the resources the company had invested in her and didn’t want to let Star Sea Media benefit for free. Second, it was because I felt it wasn’t fair to you. Mr. Ji couldn’t bear to see you targeted—do you think I could? When there was a more comprehensive solution, I naturally chose to compromise. That way, all three parties benefited, didn’t they?”Shen Qianzhan smiled and said, "This is the first time I've realized how eloquent President Su can be." After a pause, she corrected herself: "What I saw wasn't a win-win-win situation."
"Endless Year had to both buy off Star Sea Media and balance Thousand Lights—it's practically like ceding territory and paying reparations. When you think about it, Endless Year and Thousand Lights are merely cooperative partners. As a mere producer, even if I were deeply embroiled in a scandal, replacing me would suffice; it would never affect the project's progress. Who he did this for is crystal clear. Even if he willingly played the fool, I was forced to owe him a favor."
"Moreover," Shen Qianzhan's tone shifted slightly, carrying a hint of sarcasm, "aside from currently managing Xiang Qianqian's work affairs, Star Sea Media has to split all profits from contracts three ways with Thousand Lights. In this matter, only Thousand Lights is the biggest winner."
All other related parties had compromised to some extent.
The smile on Su Lanyi's face vanished completely.
She didn't understand how things had come to this, but every word Shen Qianzhan spoke left her with no rebuttal.
Yes.
Thousand Lights only agreed to peacefully terminate the contract with Xiang Qianqian after receiving benefits. Not only did she exploit Star Sea Media, but she also made Ji Qinghe concede, providing fashion resources to elevate the status of artists under Thousand Lights.
But weren't these just standard practices?
In business, one speaks business. She runs a company; she's not a charity. If the terms are agreeable, then everything is negotiable. Without benefits, why should she do this?
Su Lanyi couldn't put herself in Shen Qianzhan's shoes to care about her feelings. She couldn't even understand the indecisiveness and emotion-driven attitude Shen Qianzhan displayed now.
They had fought their way through this industry for years—how could they still harbor naive expectations about exchanging interests?
But she couldn't bring herself to ask.
She didn't think she had done anything wrong or strayed off course. It was Shen Qianzhan who didn't understand her, who couldn't empathize with her situation or her difficulties. What right did she have to question her?
After a long while, Su Lanyi finally found her voice and asked softly, "If you're dissatisfied with me, why didn't you say so?"
"I'm not dissatisfied." This conversation with Su Lanyi made Shen Qianzhan feel even colder in the night, the last bit of gratitude and reluctance toward her slowly dying away, vanishing without a trace.
"What you want to do, I'll do my best to help you accomplish it."
"This is my way."
Shen Qianzhan looked at her and said slowly, "But if you don't cherish it, I'll always be disappointed."
She wasn't acting on emotion. When dealing with problems, Shen Qianzhan always remained clear-headed and rational. That was why she had silently allowed Su Lanyi to constantly take from her, to constantly reap benefits.
But everything has its limits—matters are like this, people are like this, and feelings are like this too.
Those who have walked too far cannot turn back. She was also exhausted, stopping at a brand-new fork in the road.
No more forcing things.
Let's go our separate ways.
——
The final conversation ended with Shen Qianzhan's words: "I will still be responsible for 'Time.' After filming wraps, I'll return to Beijing to submit my resignation. I'm willing to transfer my shares in Thousand Lights. You can also make any requests, and as long as they're within reasonable bounds, I'll agree."
Shen Qianzhan showed no reluctance to leave, and Su Lanyi made no effort to keep her.
It seemed that in this early morning conversation, everything had been settled.
——
On the way back, Shen Qianzhan kept her head down the entire time.
Over such a short distance, she took twice as long as usual to go from the hotel lobby to the floor where her room was located.
She wasn't watching the path.So lost in thought that she didn't notice the person standing by her door until she was right in front of it—someone who should still be in Hong Kong at this moment.
——
The moment Shen Qianzhan appeared, Ji Qinghe sensed something was off about her state.
She rarely had this kind of defeated, dejected aura, as if she were wrapped in a layer of isolation and protection from head to toe, with "strangers keep away" written all over her.
From the moment he got off the plane and saw the WeChat messages she had sent, to rushing back to the hotel only to find her gone, his accumulated dissatisfaction had gradually peaked with every passing second of waiting.
He had originally planned to have a serious talk with her once they met, no matter the circumstances.
If she didn’t admit her mistake, he wouldn’t let it go.
But when he actually saw her, all the negative emotions in his heart instantly vanished. Even the exhaustion from the day’s back-and-forth travel dissipated in an instant, as light and fleeting as mist.
——
Shen Qianzhan stopped a few steps away, staring intently at him.
She was a little surprised, and a little delighted.
Even, at the sight of him, an inexplicable sense of grievance welled up in her heart, making her nose sting with the urge to cry.
This feeling was both unfamiliar and sudden, unexpectedly leaving a faint mark on her heart.
Shen Qianzhan took a deep breath, adjusted her emotions, and walked up to him as if nothing had happened.
When she reached him, she tilted her head slightly to look up at Ji Qinghe.
Under the soft light, his gaze was deep, like a lake shimmering with moonlight, rippling gently.
Shen Qianzhan nearly lost herself in it.
She reached out, wrapped her arms around his waist, hugged him, and asked softly, "Why did you come back after all?"
As she drew near, a sweet fragrance filled the air.
Ji Qinghe wrapped one arm around her shoulder and, with the other hand, took the room card she was holding to open the door.
There were too many night owls in the crew; the hallway wasn’t a place to talk.
Once inside the room.
Ji Qinghe released her and first loosened his tie.
He was still wearing the dark suit from the meeting, its waistline slightly tapered, accentuating his tall and slender figure, as straight and upright as a pine tree.
His long fingers rested on the tie knot, like a slow-motion movie scene, full of restraint and temptation.
As Shen Qianzhan swallowed, she suddenly, under his slightly gloomy gaze, remembered something that had been temporarily pushed to the back of her mind after Su Lanyi interrupted her earlier...
Hadn’t she just been talking big in WeChat?
Immediately, she recalled how Ji Qinghe had been standing by the door as if he had been waiting for a while. Her muddled mind felt as if it had been struck by a sudden blow, instantly clearing up.
Watching him loosen his tie and then start unbuttoning his suit jacket, Shen Qianzhan panicked and quickly explained, "I just went to the barbecue restaurant downstairs with President Su."
Ji Qinghe curled the corner of his lips, signaling her to continue.
His eyes never left her, but his hands moved to his waist, leisurely beginning to unbuckle his belt.
Shen Qianzhan’s mouth went dry, her gaze drifting slightly before she managed to steady herself and say, "We just talked about some work matters, and then I came back."
He had already undone his belt and, with a flick of his wrist, pulled the entire belt out, holding it by the buckle.
Without the restraint of the belt, Ji Qinghe’s waistband slipped down an inch, hanging precariously on his hips, as if about to fall.
Shen Qianzhan was so stimulated by this sight that she nearly had a nosebleed. She quickly covered her nose, took two steps back, and looked at him warily.
She retreated one step, and Ji Qinghe advanced one step.
She retreated two steps, and Ji Qinghe advanced two more.Until Shen Qianzhan had nowhere left to retreat, he finally leaned in, seized her hands, bound her wrists with a belt, and lifted her to sit on the table.
Shen Qianzhan had long been flushed crimson from the tactical stalemate of their back-and-forth maneuvers. Now, forced onto the chopping block by Ji Qinghe, she instead felt a sense of relief.
Sitting, she met his gaze at eye level, gritting her teeth as she said, “If you want to interrogate me, just get it over with.”
Ji Qinghe smiled.
The smile was wicked and full of ill intent: “What do you think you should say?”
What should I say?
Shen Qianzhan trembled under his gaze, all her feelings of frustration and sorrow vanishing as she focused entirely on dealing with the great demon king teetering on the edge of eruption.
She bit her lip, raised her hands bound by the belt, slipped them over his head and around his neck, and took the initiative: “I slammed the table at her, said I quit, we’re done.”
Her eyes fixed unwaveringly on Ji Qinghe as she said, “I’m unemployed.”
Ji Qinghe’s gaze sharpened, and he raised an eyebrow slightly. “That’s good.”
“I happen to be in need of a wife. Care to consider a change of identity?”
OpenNovel