NOVEL NEXT Chapter 475-483
Chapter 475: Quit Dreaming About Ever Making it Some Day (5)
The actor from Hong Kong started his career earliest out of all of them. Although he wasn’t as famous as Qian Ge, he was considered her senior, so the host called his name first to give a self-introduction.
Next was Qian Ge, then the hot new artist who became really big last year, followed by Ji Yi last.
If the show wanted to attract attention, there needed to be interesting, explosive topics. With Ji Yi being the hottest news online, the female host smiled and tilted her head to ask Ji Yi a question after her self-introduction. “We all know that Ji Yi is the first female artist to be signed with YC. May I ask Ji Yi – how did you feel when YC decided to sign you?”
With that, the presenter brought the mic in front of Ji Yi.
Ji Yi wore the most befitting smile as she honestly described the feeling she had when He Jichen put the three contracts in front of her. “I was a little in disbelief like it was all a dream. I only realized the full implications of the signing several days later. It’s the same feeling I have now – I can’t believe I’m here on your show.”
The female host was the essence of the show; she always knew how to manage time and interact with people. The next second, she reached her hand out after hearing Ji Yi’s half-joking words and pretended to forcefully pinch Ji Yi’s arm. “Now do you know you’re not dreaming?”
The audience roared with laughter as they watched the two of them.
Even the two male actors and presenter on stage started to laugh. Everyone laughed except Qian Ge, whose smile was frozen in place.
Ji Yi was just a third-rate minor actress who hadn’t even had a leading role and only recently gained some fame, yet the presenter chose to interact with her… But since it was a live shoot, Qian Ge could only grit her teeth and fiercely suppress her inner rage, preventing herself from marching out right there and then.
Because they were pressed for time, they needed to start the next segment of the show, so the male presenter butted in at the right time. “Alright then! Let’s officially start off today’s show…”
To prevent appearing rigid as the male presenter spoke, Ji Yi glanced over at him and happened to catch a glimpse of Qian Ge standing next to him. Though Qian Ge was wearing her signature smile, she had an obvious chill in her eyes. Ji Yi’s fingers clenched her fingers, which further reminded her to be careful. This show was going to help promote her widely. She couldn’t let Qian Ge ruin this for her at such a crucial time.
After the self-introductions were over, the rest of the show was like a game show.
The first game was “Live KTV.”
They were split into two teams for the game: Ji Yi, the hot new artist, and the female presenter were on one team. Qian Ge, the actor from Hong Kong, and the male host were on the other team.
Everybody had a microphone in their hands as the music played. Whoever could name the song and be the first to sing all the lyrics got one point. The team with the least points received a punishment.
The hot new artist was famous all over China for a Xianxia drama and became an A-lister overnight.
Before his dramatic rise to fame, he entered showbiz as a singer who participated in many singing competitions and sang covers of popular songs, so everyone on set knew he was familiar with many songs.
In a few short moments after the game started, the hot new artist sang all three of the songs that were played. He earned Ji Yi’s group three points.
Chapter 476: Quit Dreaming About Ever Making it Some Day (6)
The fourth song was the song that made the male presenter famous. Just as the music started, he raised his hand.
Qian Ge’s team finally got a point.
The fifth song was a song Ji Yi always really liked. She beat them all to raise her hand first.
The sixth song wasn’t a famous song, so the six people on stage were a little bewildered. In the end, the female host cried “pass,” and they played the seventh song.
When Ji Yi had nothing to do, she liked to listen to music. Although the female presenter got her fame from being a presenter, she also dabbled in TV dramas and music too. On top of it all, the hot new artist entered showbiz as a singer, so if Ji Yi couldn’t remember the song, the hot new artist would get the song. If either of them was stuck, the female presenter took home the point. After a while, the team scores were ten to one.
Even though it was just a show and winning or losing didn’t really matter, the comparison of scores looked bad. Everyone was in the same industry, so everybody wanted to keep the peace. When the thirteenth song played, Ji Yi’s team knew well to pretend they couldn’t recognize the song and give Qian Ge’s team a chance.
The actor from Hong Kong wasn’t familiar with the music, but even he managed to sing the song when he heard it.
There were only two songs left. Nobody on Ji Yi’s team sang again, so the male presenter sang another. The final song turned out to be a song everyone knew – it was the birthday song. From the very beginning of the game until now, Qian Ge was the only one who hadn’t sung, so when nobody on Ji Yi’s team raised their hands, the male presenter and actor from Hong Kong mutually knew to give the song to Qian Ge.
In actuality, Qian Ge knew deep down that the most important thing about this game show was the reactions and not the score. However, because she was facing Ji Yi, her accumulated rage grew fiercer as she watched Ji Yi’s score increasing after the KTV section of the show began.
Now that everyone was giving her such a simple song, Qian Ge knew they had good intentions, but she saw this as mockery.
Yet she couldn’t refuse it, so she raised the mic. Before she sang, she incidentally swept a glance at Ji Yi from the corner of her eye. Ji Yi sensed Qian Ge’s gaze and didn’t look back at her. Instead, she curved the corners of her lips into a smile and swayed elegantly to the tempo of the music.
The sight of Ji Yi’s naturally relaxed-self fell into Qian Ge’s eyes, annoying her to the extreme. When it was time for her to sing, she actually forgot and when she snapped back to her senses with some difficulty, she actually sang off-key for such a simple song like the birthday song.
Because they were recording, the director let Qian Ge sing the song again.
The moment Qian Ge sang off-key, she realized she was embarrassing herself. She quickly fixed her pitch and followed the music from the beginning.
This time, she sang without any problems, but Qian Ge felt completely embarrassed as quite a few audience members saw what happened earlier.
It was lunchtime after the “Live KTV” recording was over. At two in the afternoon, they were going to record “The Big Classroom Contest.”
This time, one person played on behalf of the team and there were six half-meter tall desks on the stage with a seat for each person. Ji Yi was selected as the player, assigned to sit beside Qian Ge.
“The Big Classroom Contest” asked all sorts of questions. Luckily, Ji Yi was still in school and remembered many things. She got first place in this game without exerting any effort.
Chapter 477: Quit Dreaming About Ever Making it Some Day (7)
Ji Yi, who was nicknamed the “bookworm,” needed to get up to collect her prize. With the director’s signal, she got up. Then under the eyes of the other three celebrities, the presenters, and the live audience, Ji Yi turned around to walk over to the platform. When her right leg took a step, she felt something hard and round from under her heel.
The stage floor was already slippery, so since Ji Yi was wearing heels, she didn’t have time to guess what was underneath her feet. The object was round, so her body rolled forward. With a “dong!” Ji Yi fell hard on the platform and laid sprawled on the stage under everyone’s eyes.
The accident happened far too unexpectedly as nobody on set reacted.
Besides the celebratory music, there were no other sounds in the entire studio.
After about ten seconds, the female presenter was the first to snap back to reality. “Ji Yi, are you okay?”
The female celebrity didn’t turn off her microphone as her voice traveled around each corner of the studio. Following this, the people on set started to realize what happened one after the other.
The three actors on stage and the two presenters were closest to Ji Yi. Everyone jumped down onto the stage and surrounded Ji Yi.
“Ji Yi, are you alright?”
“Are you injured somewhere?”
“Can you still stand up?”
Amidst everyone’s caring words, Qian Ge’s gaze wasn’t focused on Ji Yi like everyone else, but she scanned the stage to see the scattered pearls around Ji Yi. She went over to her and pretended to care for her, but when no one was looking, she started to pick up the pearls.
Soon after, the director, Zhuang Yi, and other staff members rushed to the stage.
“What’s the situation?” The second after the director asked this, they saw Ji Yi’s right ankle was shockingly red and swollen. He suddenly cried, “Did you twist your ankle? Quickly take her to the hospital and check if she hurt any muscles or bones!”
Just as the director finished speaking, the actor from Hong Kong said, “I’ll go.”
As he said this, he bent over and hastily carried Ji Yi down the stage.
Zhuang Yi quickly rushed over.
Outside the studio, Zhuang Yi immediately reached for her car keys. After they found her car, she quickly rushed over to the front of the car and pulled the door open.
After the Hong Kong actor lifted Ji Yi into the car, Zhuang Yi shut the door and got in.
Ji Yi was in so much pain that she was pale white. She leaned back in the car seat, chattered her teeth, and couldn’t say a thing.
Zhuang Yi repeated, “Hold on! Hold on! We’ll reach the hospital real soon!” Then she stepped on the gas and left the studio.
They were in the suburbs, so even if Zhuang Yi drove fast, it would still take half an hour to reach the nearest hospital in the city.
The actor from Hong Kong stayed with her all the way. After the car stopped, he picked up Ji Yi again. With Zhuang Yi taking the lead, he signed Ji Yi into the emergency unit and brought her to a doctor.
The most painful the moment when Ji Yi tripped wasn’t when her knee first touched the ground but when her ankle got twisted.
Earlier in the year, she twisted her ankle when she was in Lijiang, so she was familiar with this pain. However, this time, the pain felt infinitely sharper. It hurt so much that she was sprawled on the ground and couldn’t breathe.
That kind of pain scared her. She was afraid that she had injured her bones or muscles.
Chapter 478: Quit Dreaming About Ever Making it Some Day (8)
She had recently got some fame in the show business with some difficulty, but this incident would now make her lose all the company-assigned job and all potential jobs would be given to other artists.
But sometimes, the more you’re afraid of something, the more likely it will happen.
The doctor first took an x-ray of Ji Yi. After about an hour, the doctor looked over the scans. With just one glance, the doctor told Ji Yi that she sprained her ankle and needed a cast.
While they were taking care of Ji Yi’s injury, Zhuang Yi first saw the Hong Kong actor out of the hospital. When she returned, Ji Yi still hadn’t come out from the doctor’s office, so Zhuang Yi leaned against the wall opposite the door.
When she lifted her head, she saw Ji Yi through the window and realized she still hadn’t told what happened to Ji Yi during the recording of the show to the company.
After Zhuang Yi pulled out her phone, she searched for He Jichen’s number.
When he arranged for her to be Ji Yi’s manager, he specifically stressed that she should report everything about Ji Yi directly to him.
After she made the call, it rang a few times before it got picked up.
Zhuang Yi instinctively straightened up and was just about to say “Mr. He” when she heard Chen Bai’s voice over the phone: “Zhuang Yi, is this something urgent? Mr. He is in a meeting right now…”
Zhuang Yi swallowed her words and after a couple of seconds, she said, “It’s Ji Yi. She was in an accident.”
“Miss Ji?” Chen Bai raised his voice by half a decibel. “What happened to Miss Ji?”
“During the filming for the variety show, she fell from the platform and twisted her leg…” Zhuang Yi explained what happened in full detail to Chen Bai over the phone.
–
Even though He Jichen picked up some work during the last week of his hospital stay, he still had a ton of work to do.
On the fourth day after he was discharged, he flew to America on a business trip.
He gave Chen Bai his phone for safekeeping during the trip.
He Jichen had a meeting all-night-long and it was half past five in the afternoon in America when Chen Bai got Zhuang Yi’s call.
The conference didn’t end until six forty-seven when it was completely bright outside.
He Jichen just closed his laptop when Chen Bai hurriedly rushed in.
Someone happened to walk up to He Jichen to talk to him, so he shared a few polite words with him. After their conversation, Chen Bai immediately whispered in He Jichen’s ear: “Mr. He, I just got a call from Miss Ji’s manager, Zhuang Yi…”
He Jichen abruptly stopped tidying his desk full of documents as a horrible feeling started to enter his heart. Yet he didn’t say a word.
“Over the phone, Zhuang Yi said Miss Ji accidentally fell from the stage during her recording and twisted her ankle.” With a pause, Chen Bai tried to remember what Zhuang Yi said before she hung up. “But today was strange. A Taiwanese actress was meant to be on set today, but for some reason, it turned out to be Qian Ge. The show explained that at the last minute, something urgent came up for the Taiwanese actress, so she couldn’t make it.” Then he added, “Also, Mr. He, the female celebrity Miss Ji recorded the show with today was Qian Ge.”
He Jichen’s brows were raised. He looked like he suddenly understood something. The next second, his voice sounded frigid: “Book a ticket. I want the earliest flight out.”
Chapter 479: Quit Dreaming About Ever Making it Some Day (9)
It was already half-past six in the evening when Zhuang Yi emerged from the hospital pushing Ji Yi in a wheelchair. It happened to be rush hour, so the main roads were jammed from the southern to the northern part of the city.
The car stopped and started for about forty minutes until the traffic became smoother. Zhuang Yi was just about to speed up when her phone rang.
The car had been silent until the phone suddenly rang, which caused Ji Yi to instinctively turn her head and look over at Zhuang Yi.
She noticed Zhuang Yi glancing over at the phone screen. Then she raised her head and she glanced at Ji Yi through the rearview mirror and found her Bluetooth earpiece. After she put it on, she swiped the screen and took the call. “Director Lin, hello.”
The director Lin that Zhuang Yi spoke of was someone she met a few days ago at YC; he was in charge of YC artists.
Because Zhuang Yi had her earpiece in, Ji Yi couldn’t hear what director Lin was saying, but she was afraid that director Lin called Zhuang Yi to discuss what happened during the recording.
Just as Ji Yi’s suspicions formed in her mind, she heard Zhuang Yi’s voice from the driver’s seat: “She wasn’t careful, so she tripped and sprained her ankle. Her condition is good and it’s not especially serious…”
After some time, Zhuang Yi spoke again but with a less confident tone in her voice. “…Perhaps, probably, maybe, about a month.”
Ji Yi figured that director Lin got mad over the phone – otherwise, Zhuang Yi wouldn’t be repeatedly apologizing. “Yes yes yes, Mr. Lin. We’re terribly sorry for what happened this time. It was also my fault…”
“Come to the office now?” Zhuang Yi spoke with a slightly higher voice then glanced at Ji Yi again through the rearview mirror. After a pause, she said, “Mr. Lin, today is probably inconvenient for us as the doctor said it would be best for Ji Yi not to move around because her leg is in a cast, so you see…”
She didn’t know what Mr. Lin said over the phone, but he probably hung up since Zhuang Yi took off the earpiece. She stared at the road ahead and drove about a dozen meters then said, “Ji Yi, you have to come with me to the office tomorrow morning.”
“Mhm,” softly replied Ji Yi. She stared out at the endlessly retreating streets without another word.
After a while, she withdrew her gaze and looked over at Zhuang Yi as she drove and asked, “This time, did I cause you and the company a lot of trouble?”
“Huh?” Zhuang Yi turned her head and glanced at Ji Yi for a moment but quickly drew her gaze back to the road. “Nah… I’ve had bigger problems than this. What’s more, nobody wanted something like this to happen…”
After a pause, Zhuang Yi added, “…But, Ji Yi, you have to be careful in the future.”
“Got it,” responded Ji Yi with her eyes lowered.
Even though Zhuang Yi sounded very polite, Ji Yi knew that no matter if it was director Lin or Zhuang Yi speaking, she was more or less unsatisfied with what happened today.
After Zhuang Yi took Ji Yi home, she left.
Ji Yi’s parents still hadn’t finished work yet, so Ji Yi maneuvered the wheelchair to her bedroom and climbed into bed with one foot on the floor.
After lying down for some time, her phone started to ring. She glanced at the screen to see that it was Zhuang Yi calling. After she picked up the call, Zhuang Yi reminded her, “I’ll pick you up at nine tomorrow morning.”
Seconds after they hung up, the phone rang again. Ji Yi assumed Zhuang Yi must’ve forgotten to mention something. This time without looking at the screen, Ji Yi asked, “Is there anything else?”
Chapter 480: Quit Dreaming About Ever Making it Some Day (10)
After Ji Yi said that, she didn’t get a reply for some time, so she felt like something wasn’t right. For some reason, her eyelids flickered and the next second, she raised her phone to eye-level and saw the two words on the display: Qian Ge.
Why’s she calling me?
Ji Yi still hadn’t recovered from the shock of Qian Ge’s sudden call when Qian Ge’s voice rang out from the phone: “I heard you had quite a serious fall?”
Ji Yi’s eyes instantly turned cold.
She didn’t believe Qian Ge called because she genuinely cared. No matter what her real aim was for her call, Ji Yi didn’t believe it was for anything good.
After what happened during the recording that afternoon, she was already in a terrible mood. She really wasn’t in the right mindset to take on Qian Ge.
Ji Yi pretended she hadn’t heard what Qian Ge said by staying silent. She prepared to hang up.
Before her fingers could touch the screen, it was like Qian Ge knew she was going to hang up on her as she spoke again: “Sprained your ankle and got a cast? They say you’ll need at least a month to recover?”
Qian Ge let out a soft sigh as she continued to speak in a pitying voice: “Ah, that’s a real shame… you missed out on such a good variety show, just like that. I heard the show found out you couldn’t continue recording, so they started looking for other actresses!”
Ji Yi couldn’t help but clutch her phone tightly.
It was like Qian Ge could sense Ji Yi’s annoyance through the phone as the words from her mouth sounded even more smug: “It looks like you didn’t just lose out on the variety show alone – I’m afraid you lost all those jobs YC tried so hard to get you, right?”
As she said this, Qian Ge let out a light chuckle and said with a mocking yet disdainful tone of voice, “I thought you’d be all high and mighty four years later, but you’re no better than you were four years ago. Such great opportunities in front of you, yet you missed out. After all He Jichen’s hard work, what a shame. Say, how could he have not figured it out; how could he support such a disappointing person? What did he say at the beginning? That wherever you were, you would be at the top? It’s funny now that you think about it… an opportunity was handed to someone who couldn’t even hold onto it. What future can there be for you?!”
“But then again, Ji Yi… don’t you accept your fate now? You were never a match for me, Qian Ge. I don’t really have a reason for calling you today. I just wanted to tell you…” Qian Ge paused for a moment then said with a sternness in her voice: “… As long I, Qian Ge, am still in the show business, you can quit dreaming about ever making it big someday!”
All of a sudden, the image of the round object beneath her foot when she went to collect her prize flashed across Ji Yi’s mind.
For Qian Ge to say something like that… what happened today really wasn’t an accident, but it was intentional!
Ji Yi’s lips pursed as she spoke for the first time since picking up the phone: “You had something to do with what happened today, didn’t you?”
Ji Yi didn’t wait for Qian Ge to speak as she thought about that Taiwanese singer who couldn’t make it at the last minute. “And that Taiwanese singer[1] – that was your idea, right?”
Over the phone, Qian Ge let out a light chuckle but didn’t reply to Ji Yi’s question. Instead, she changed the subject. “Since you missed out on this variety show, do you know who’s going to replace you?”
[1] Please note: the author previously said she was a Taiwanese actress
Chapter 481: Who Dares Have Something to Say About the Person I’m Protecting? (1)
Qian Ge didn’t give Ji Yi a chance to reply and spat out the words: “Xie Siyao.”
“Oh, that’s right! I recommended Xie Siyao to the show’s production crew. I did it on purpose because you hate her!”
Then without checking to see if Ji Yi heard her clearly, Qian Ge hung up the call.
Ji Yi lowered the phone from her ear when she heard the “Doot-doot-doot” sound of the busy tone.
Xie Siyao was the same as Qian Ge – she hated them both.
Xie Siyao was once both her and Qian Ge’s enemy in showbiz. At the time, Xie Siyao bullied the weak but was afraid of the strong. When they saw she was angry, neither of them dared to mess with her, and she would always take things out on Qian Ge. Back then, Ji Yi viewed Qian Ge as one of her most important friends, so she would stand in front of Qian Ge every time to protect her!
But in the end, the person she protected decided to work with their enemy and set up the car accident that put her in a three-year coma.
Ji Yi knew Qian Ge only said those last few words to crush her heart.
She also knew that if she really was crushed, that would be exactly what Qian Ge wanted.
However, Qian Ge was the despicable person behind the accident that happened this afternoon and the reason she lost that variety show job. How could she not be crushed?
Ji Yi was still bitter about the accident that happened this afternoon. She was really afraid it wasn’t an accident but all Qian Ge’s doing!
But Ji Yi had no evidence. This was just a guess she knew perfectly well to be true!
Ji Yi really didn’t want to be angry, but the more Ji Yi thought about it, the angrier she felt deep down. Eventually, her heart started to ache and her fingers started to tremble around her phone.
–
Ji Yi didn’t sleep well because of Qian Ge’s call. Early the next morning, she was woken up by the alarm.
With her mum’s help, Ji Yi was able to get changed after freshening up. Then she sat in the dining room to have breakfast while waiting for Zhuang Yi.
At eight on the dot, Ji Yi’s phone rang on-time. It was Zhuang Yi calling.
At five past eight, the doorbell rang. The assistant opened the door. Zhuang Yi had arrived.
Zhuang Yi first greeted Ji Yi’s mum then took Ji Yi’s wheelchair from Ji Yi’s mum’s hands and left the house.
Even though it was about time for the early morning rush hour, traffic was quite smooth. At around half past eight, they reached YC.
They took the elevator and reached director Lin’s floor. After they stepped out of the elevator, they waited in the lounge for about ten minutes. The elevator doors opened countless times before the black-suited director Lin stepped out theatrically along with several higher-ups.
Zhuang Yi got up first and waited for director Lin to come closer. She greeted her: “Director Lin.”
Director Lin glanced at Zhuang Yi then withdrew her gaze and happened to pass Ji Yi in her wheelchair. Without even looking at Ji Yi, she said, “Conference room two.” Then she turned on her heels and strode down the hall.
Zhuang Yi pushed Ji Yi first into conference room two. After them, the higher-ups who were in the elevator with director Lin also entered, one after the other.
A group of people sat around the conference table, and after about two minutes, the conference door was pushed open. Director Lin swiftly walked in.
She stood right at the front of the conference room. Without sitting down, she threw a document in front of Ji Yi. The “Pap!” sound was heard as director Lin’s crisp, cold voice was heard in every corner of the room: “Sign it.”
Chapter 482: Who Dares Have Something to Say About the Person I’m Protecting? (2)
After she said this, director Lin pulled out a chair and took a seat.
Ji Yi stared at the document that director Lin threw in front of her for a while. She reached her hand out, straightened the contract and flipped through it.
Her eyelashes trembled gently as she read the two words on the document: “Termination Contract.” Her whole body evidently stiffened up.
When Zhuang Yi drove her back home yesterday, she heard director Lin and Zhuang Yi on the phone. Back then, she already knew director Lin was angry. However, Ji Yi figured that they were calling her into the office to shout at her at the most; she never imagined that she would actually throw a termination contract in front of her face…
Zhuang Yi, who was sitting beside Ji Yi, noticed that something was wrong with her expression as Ji Yi stared at the document. Zhuang Yi reached her hand out and pulled the document in front of her. She took a single glance as her brows furrowed. “Director Lin, the situation isn’t that serious, right?”
Director Lin had always been quick-tempered. After hearing what Zhuang Yi said, she suddenly was agitated as she said, “Not that serious?”
“Then tell me… if the several millions the company lost isn’t considered serious, what would you call serious?”
“Do you know how much time and effort this company has spent on her recently? And do you know just how much work our public relations team put in to get her on that variety show? The celebrities on that show are either A-listers or near A-listers; it’s the first time a newbie like her has been on the show!”
The more director Lin spoke, the more agitated she became. In the end, she started to slap the table. “And in the end? How could she have fallen from such a short platform? Did you think she was an A-list celebrity, that she’d make it into the headlines and get everyone’s condolences after what happened? She’s just a newbie who we racked our brains over to win the tiniest bit of popularity! With one fall, she ruined all the arrangements we made for her! What an utter disappointment!”
“How do you expect us to work in showbiz?! Do you even know how many phone calls I received after yesterday’s accident, all to cancel contracts?! It’s enough that we have to deal with all these cancellations, but the company also has to pay compensation!”
“First, the contract clearly states that she can’t do anything that will make the company lose money. Now, the company has suffered serious lost profits, so sign it!”
Ji Yi couldn’t raise her head after hearing what director Lin said. Even if Qian Ge sabotaged her, she had no evidence, so if she mentioned it now, people would only think of that as an excuse. The only thing she could do was earnestly admit she was wrong. With that thought, Ji Yi said, “As for what happened yesterday, I’m truly sorry, but it really wasn’t intentional. I hope you can all give me another chance. Sorry. I’m really sorry.”
Zhuang Yi quickly followed: “Director Lin, it really was an accident, and Ji Yi knows she made a mistake. She felt guilty all day yesterday. Give her another chance. This time, I promise. I promise something like this will never happen again!”
“What use is there in feeling guilty? What use is your promise? Our company won’t tolerate such a useless person!” Director Lin didn’t seem willing to negotiate. She raised her fingers, knocked the table, then said impatiently with an urgent voice, “I have an important meeting in a minute, so hurry up and sign it!”
Chapter 483: Who Dares Have Something to Say About the Person I’m Protecting? (3)
Useless person… Even though she was at fault, director Lin’s unrestrained words made Ji Yi feel so utterly horrible that she could no longer apologize.
“Director Lin, though Ji Yi’s at fault, don’t you think what you said went a little overboard?” Zhuang Yi furrowed her brows, clearly disapproving director Lin’s choice of words.
“Overboard?” Director Lin let out a light chuckle. “If you want to earn respect, you have to respect the other person. What right does this person with no good qualities have to talk about other people going overboard?”
Zhuang Yi fell silent.
The entire conference room fell silent.
After about two minutes, director Lin noticed that Ji Yi didn’t pick up the pen to sign it. Impatient, she started to pressure her by saying, “I really don’t have time to spend with you here. Please sign it quickly.”
Ji Yi pursed her lips tightly as she looked down at the contract on the table for some time. Then she raised her eyes and looked over at director Lin. “Is this what He Jichen wants?”
He was the one who sought her out first to sign her. That night in the hotel room by the West Lake, he asked if she was willing to trust him.
Even though it was a long while back, she still remembered that night and her heart still raced endlessly over those words.
She knew director Lin, with her position in the company, could decide if she stayed or left. However, for some reason, she suddenly thought about He Jichen and she wanted to know if he was also responsible for asking to terminate her contract.
“Miss Ji, I also have a say in this matter. Even if I can’t call the shots or make decisions on my own, it was a decision the entire board of directors made last night. The people in charge of the company were all there, so you can ask each and every one of them!”
As director Lin’s voice dropped, all the representatives nodded one after the other as they sat in front of Ji Yi.
Director Lin waited until everyone stopped nodding before she swept Ji Yi a look. After a bout of silence, she spoke again, “Perhaps, Miss Ji, there’s a reason why you suddenly brought up Mr. He? Are you telling me that you and Mr. He’s relationship isn’t so simple and you’re using him to threaten me?”
“Miss Ji, I know you were signed specifically by Mr. He. I don’t care for whatever despicable methods you used to get Mr. He to sign you, but you breached the contract and I have the right to terminate that contract!”
“I’ve met many women like you who use their sex appeal to get what they want. Take this incident as a lesson to not use your youth and moderate looks to use men to get to the top. With no skills, you’re just trash!”
Despicable methods, sex appeal to get what I want, use men to get to the top… The words director Lin blurted out ignited an anger from the bottom of Ji Yi’s heart. “Director Lin, this incident was my fault, but I hope you don’t maliciously attack people and use your opinion to judge other people!”
“What Miss Ji means to say is that you didn’t use men to get to where you are today? If that’s the case, sign it. As long as you sign it, I’ll believe you’re innocent!” After director Lin said this, she raised her chin towards the contract in Zhuang Yi’s hand.
It was obvious that if she didn’t sign it, that would mean she joined YC under false pretenses… Ji Yi’s hand instinctively clenched into a fist.
Director Lin waited for a while. When she noticed that Ji Yi didn’t respond, she said, “What? Not signing? Are you secretly admitting that you used your body to join YC?”