The audition venue was over ten kilometers away from home, but when Cui Bai invited her to come right now, Jiang Quqi didn’t hesitate. She slung her bag over her shoulder and set off immediately.
As soon as she got out of the car, she received a call from Cui Bai. She looked around and told him her approximate location. Within a few minutes, Cui Bai ran over breathlessly.
“Miss Jiang! I’ve finally waited for you!” Cui Bai was so excited his face turned red. He rushed forward intending to give her a big hug, but Jiang Quqi subtly stepped aside to avoid it.
She politely called him “Teacher Cui”, and then he began his endless stream of chatter, making her look like the quiet type, just walking beside him smiling without saying much.
At the audition site, the director watched Cui Bai rushing out to pick someone up, so angry his mustache stood on end. He grabbed a staff member beside him and ranted nonstop about Cui Bai, vowing that if the person Cui Bai found didn’t satisfy him, he would make him pay!
Afterwards, his expression turned sentimental as he talked about their deep brotherhood, calling Jiang Quqi a femme fatale and accusing Cui Bai of valuing beauty over friendship.
When he got tired, he drank some water and sulked by himself.
The director had sharp ears. Hearing Cui Bai’s footsteps, he immediately sat up straight. The door opened from the outside, and he looked over with great anticipation. Seeing only Cui Bai’s face, his mouth instantly drooped, and his eyes were filled with speechless disbelief.
Cui Bai gave him a cold glance, pulled the door fully open, and stepped aside to reveal the woman standing behind him. For a moment, the entire room fell silent.
She wore no flashy makeup or expensive clothes. She had on a simple white shirt and cargo pants. Her frame was slender but exuded strength.
When she looked at you seriously, she appeared sweet, cute, and sincere. But when she smiled faintly, her natural charisma made every movement vivid and lively.
What was most surprising was that standing next to Cui Bai, she wasn’t much shorter than him—she must be around 170cm or slightly taller.
The director was stunned. He was quiet for a few seconds, then suddenly stood up, slammed his hand on the table, and shouted, “It’s you!”
“Huh?” Jiang Quqi looked at him blankly. Was it really that casual?
She had been worried all the way that having no acting experience would get her rejected immediately. But the director cast her without even asking for a tryout!?
Jiang Quqi began to doubt the reliability of this production team. “Decided just like that? Don’t you want me to act in a scene first?”
“No need, no need at all!” The director hopped over to her like he had found a rare treasure. The light in his eyes was almost blinding. “Yes! Yes! That’s exactly right! This is Wen Rujun! She is Wen Rujun!”
Just seeing her standing there, he knew it. Wen Rujun had arrived.
That girl with a gentle and beautiful face but a bold, straightforward personality and a chivalrous heart had finally stepped out of the pages and into reality.
No one could act Wen Rujun unless they *were* Wen Rujun in real life. That was why he had lost hope of finding the right person before.
Some were beautiful but lacked the aura; others had the aura but weren’t beautiful enough. But the moment he saw Jiang Quqi, he knew—only this girl could be Wen Rujun.
“Come on, sign the contract!” Cui Bai immediately pulled a contract out of his backpack.
Jiang Quqi: ?
Everyone else: ??
Director: ???!!!
“Big Head Cui! What is the meaning of this?” I’m the director, I haven’t even approved it yet and you already have the contract ready? Is this even reasonable?!
Cui Bai gave the director a look and patted his shoulder. “We’ve known each other for how many years? Of course I know what you’d think.”
“But you didn’t even discuss it with me!”
“The result would have been the same anyway.”
“But we still need to discuss it!”
“So troublesome.”
“This isn’t about trouble!”
……
Jiang Quqi stood there with a straight face, unsure whether to interrupt their childish and meaningless argument. Looking around at the staff, they seemed used to it, continuing their work as if the bickering was just background noise. Just as she was hesitating, the two suddenly slammed the table together and shouted, “SIGN!”
Even after signing, Jiang Quqi was still in a daze. It took Cui Bai calling her name several times to bring her back to her senses. She smiled apologetically, but Cui Bai waved it off. “It’s fine.” Then he couldn’t resist adding, “To be honest, looking at you now feels like looking at my own daughter.”
Jiang Quqi rolled her eyes. “Oh? Didn’t know you married young and had a kid already.”
“Hey, I don’t want to get married that early! I mean Wen Rujun—you are just so much like her.”
“Correction, it’s Wen Rujun who is like me.”
Cui Bai clapped his hands happily. “Alright, alright, same thing, same thing.”
“Got any plans tonight? If not, let’s go grab a meal.”
Jiang Quqi checked her phone and shook her head, declining. She was worried about leaving Qin Jiao alone at home, so it was better to go back early.
Cui Bai sighed regretfully and saw her into the car.
The door clicked shut, and the car sped away into the night. The director, holding a cigarette, moved closer to Cui Bai and said mysteriously, “What’s wrong? Sad to see her go?”
Cui Bai was startled and punched him hard in the chest. “Get lost! Stay away from me!”
The director didn’t get angry despite the pain, just grinned widely. “Touchy, aren’t we?”
Cui Bai couldn’t be bothered to waste words on this idiot and walked straight ahead. Left behind, the director called out, “Big Head Cui, are you mad?” When he looked genuinely worried, Cui Bai smiled and said, “Hungry. Let’s go eat.”
The weather was getting colder. Wrapped in the chilly wind, her coat flapped wildly in the darkness. Jiang Quqi shivered. Seeing a milk tea shop still open nearby, she touched her empty stomach and decided to reward herself with a cup of hot milk tea.
There weren’t many people on the street. She leaned against the counter, idly counting the stars in the sky until she started to feel sleepy.
*Ding—*
*Phase Mission 3: Rescue Qin Jiao who has been kidnapped by Jiang Peng.*
*Reward: 500 Yuan.*
*Punishment: Erasure.*
*Time Limit: One hour.*
*Countdown starts now.*
Jiang Peng? Who was that? Jiang Quqi’s mind went blank for a second. It had been so long since she received a mission that she almost didn’t react to the familiar electronic voice. But as soon as she processed the content, her heart tightened and she sprinted away immediately.
The shop assistant who had just finished making the order looked up to see the beautiful star-like lady running off like an arrow. She shouted, “Miss! Your—” But she was already gone. “—milk tea.”
The assistant looked down at the drink in her hand, feeling heartbroken. *I should have asked for her WeChat… when will I ever see her again?*
Under normal circumstances, Jiang Quqi might have stopped to chat, but right now she had no time to care about a girl’s broken heart.
She ran while making calls, but no one answered. It felt like a heavy weight was pressing on her chest, making it hard to breathe. She kept praying over and over that nothing bad had happened.
*Dear, don’t panic. Qin Jiao won’t die before the countdown ends.*
He won’t die, but he can still get hurt!!!
Suddenly remembering the first time she met Qin Jiao, Jiang Quqi cursed herself inwardly. She knew Jiang Peng was a walking time bomb but hadn’t dealt with him, hadn’t even warned Qin Jiao to be careful. Instead, she had let him find out about Qin Jiao.
She had promised to take good care of him…
Jiang Quqi rushed home breathlessly. The door was wide open, lights were on, things were smashed all over the floor, and there were even spots of blood.
She searched every room but found no one. Then her phone rang—it was Qin Jiao’s phone.
“Hello?” Her voice was trembling uncontrollably. She didn’t know why she was so scared. Was it fear of being erased, or just… fear that something might happen to Qin Jiao?
Probably both. She couldn’t tell anymore.
Jiang Peng’s slimy, disgusting voice came through. “Yanyan, long time no see.”
Jiang Quqi had no patience for him. “Where is Qin Jiao?”
“Oh, so his name is Qin Jiao, hahaha,” Jiang Peng laughed, then suddenly roared, “You have money to raise pretty boys but you won’t give it to your own father! Jiang Yan, you ungrateful bitch! Just like your mother! I should have strangled you when I had the chance…”
She didn’t care about the insults thrown at her, but hearing him talk about Qin Jiao and Jiang Yan’s mother like that made her skin crawl. Suppressing her intense disgust, she asked coldly again, “Where is Qin Jiao?”
Jiang Peng laughed arrogantly. A loud slap sounded from the other end. “Boy, say something.”
Another slap. “I said speak!”
“Stop it! Jiang Peng, if you dare touch him even one more time, you won’t get a single cent!”
Jiang Peng was here for the money. If he didn’t get paid, all this would be for nothing. Looking at Qin Jiao hanging his head, seemingly unconscious, he panicked for a moment—did he actually kill him?
Probably not, right? He just kicked him a few times and slapped him. People aren’t that fragile.
He tried to reassure himself, but still nervously checked for breath. Confirming he was alive, he let out a sigh of relief and said lazily, “Calm down. As long as you give me the money obediently, I’ll send him back safe and sound, I promise.”
“Hmph,” Jiang Quqi laughed out of anger. “How much do you want?”
“One hun… no! Ten million! Not a cent less! I know you have the money.”
How did he know she had money? Before, when the original Jiang Yan was with Jiang Huairui, Jiang Peng only asked for hundreds of thousands at a time. Asking for ten million right away was extremely suspicious.
“I don’t have that kind of money,” Jiang Quqi said.
“Don’t lie to me! You got thirty million from—” He immediately realized he had said too much and quickly changed the subject, “Don’t try any tricks! I’m telling you, no ten million and I’ll tear up the ticket!”
Jiang Quqi raised an eyebrow. She was starting to piece things together.
So he couldn’t stay quiet for long. But how could he hurt someone else?
—Song Qinglan.
Now that she knew where Qin Jiao was, Jiang Quqi calmed down considerably. Song Qinglan’s target was her, so she probably wouldn’t create extra trouble for herself. And Jiang Peng wasn’t truly evil to the core; as long as she used the promise of money to stabilize him, Qin Jiao should be safe for now.
Jiang Quqi sat down to catch her breath. While keeping Jiang Peng occupied with conversation, she gave the System orders.
“Not long ago Jiang Peng was saying people were trying to kill him, yet here he is jumping around causing trouble. Either he’s done something illegal, or Song Qinglan helped pay off his debts. Go check it out, see what’s going on.”
“Also, Jiang Peng has plenty of cases against him. Gather the evidence and hand it over to the police.”
Work costs money!!! But sensing Jiang Quqi was in a terrible mood, the System didn’t dare mention payment. It deducted the money automatically on its own authority, planning to tell her later when she was in a better mood, then immediately dove into the messy data to search for information.
Luckily, Jiang Peng was an idiot. The moment he heard about money, his brain turned to mush. With just a few words, Jiang Quqi tricked him into revealing the exact location.
Jiang Quqi smiled sinisterly and turned off her phone screen.
Jiang Peng, you are dead meat.