While Qiao Qiao was waiting for her luggage, the sky outside had already grown dim. Even through the massive glass windows, she could feel the biting cold outside.
Before getting off the plane, she had purposefully changed into a thick down jacket, wrapping herself up so tightly that she looked like a zongzi (a wrapped rice dumpling). Her palm-sized face was framed by a pair of sunglasses that covered her eyes completely. She wore no lipstick, though a tinted lip balm kept her pale pink lips moisturized. Qiao Qiao’s hair had been dyed a warm brown; it was slightly wavy and fluffy, making the small patch of skin exposed to the air look all the more crystal-white and smooth without a single flaw. One could tell at a glance that she took very good care of herself.
Retrieving her luggage, Qiao Qiao lowered her head and walked straight toward the exit just as her phone rang.
It was her manager, Zou Jingzhi.
“You’ve arrived, right? There aren’t any media or fans waiting, are they? Let me tell you, Ancestor, even the director and Yu Huai aren’t this eager; what on earth are you, a third-female-lead, rushing so hard for? Oh, right, go straight to Gate 3 of the airport. I’ve sent someone to pick you up there too.”
Qiao Qiao narrowed her eyes and smiled as she said, “Isn’t this great? Taking advantage of the fact that the media and the crew haven’t arrived yet, I can still relax for a few days.”
A movie she had filmed some time ago reportedly had a few shots with issues, and the director had mentioned a reshoot at the Beihu Ski Resort. Qiao Qiao had deliberately arrived a few days early to treat it as a vacation for herself.
However, Zou Jingzhi did not see it that way at all.
She truly felt a bit of exasperation toward Qiao Qiao for not living up to her potential.
Zou Jingzhi had been managing Qiao Qiao ever since she entered the entertainment industry. With her great looks and solid acting skills, she should have blown up and become wildly popular long ago. Yet, just as Qiao Qiao was starting to gain some traction, she ran off abroad for two years of further studies. In this day and age, how fast does the entertainment industry change its dynasties? Newcomers emerged endlessly. Consequently, by the time she returned to China, most of her popularity had dissipated. Over a year later, she was still lingering in obscurity playing supporting roles, and good resources never seemed to fall on Qiao Qiao.
Some time ago, Zou Jingzhi had taken Qiao Qiao’s contract to terminate it with their old agency and signed her under a new one, Guangyu Media.
Lowering her voice, Zou Jingzhi said, “Still relaxing? Relax any more and no one will even remember you! It’s a good thing President Ni is busy and didn’t come today; otherwise, I’d really want to haul you back to the company to properly toast President Ni with three full cups of alcohol.”
Guangyu Media was a subsidiary of the Ni family, and today was the day the legendary Ni family heiress, Ni Zijing, was returning to China to take office.
Qiao Qiao was almost at Gate 3. She gripped her phone tighter and laughed helplessly, “Alright, Sister Zou, I’m about to go outside. I’m hanging up now.”
She had no interest in this President Ni, knowing only that she was someone heavily protected by her family. Having spent several years abroad, not even a single photo of her had ever leaked domestically. She was thoroughly mysterious.
Sister Zou had originally wanted to use today’s opportunity to get Qiao Qiao to brush shoulders and make an impression in front of Ni Zijing, but Qiao Qiao couldn’t be bothered to deal with that kind of social setting, so she simply came to Beihu ahead of time.
An unpopular female star’s schedule couldn’t even be filled.
Zou Jingzhi sighed. “Fine, behave yourself and stay out of trouble these next few days. I’ll come over with the crew when the time comes.”
“Got it.”
Qiao Qiao was about to hang up when Zou Jingzhi called out from the other end, “Hey, wait!”
“What else is there?”
“If you run into anything at the ski resort, just say you’re an artist under President Ni.” Zou Jingzhi still felt a bit uneasy not being by Qiao Qiao’s side.
“What’s this? Is dropping her name actually going to be useful?” Qiao Qiao curled the corners of her lips dismissively.
Zou Jingzhi fell silent for half a moment before saying, “The Beihu Ski Resort belongs to her.”
Fine. The power of capital forced her to submit.
After hanging up, Qiao Qiao walked to the entrance and smiled at a middle-aged man who was craning his neck looking around. This must be the driver Sister Zou arranged. In a modest tone, she asked, “Master Zhang? I’m Qiao Qiao.”
Looking at the person before him who spoke in a gentle tone and smiled back, Master Zhang couldn’t help but sigh inwardly that a star really was a star. The moment she opened her mouth to speak, it just made people feel at ease inside. When Qiao Qiao first walked over, he hadn’t even dared to recognize her, but seeing her good attitude now, his favorable impression skyrocketed.
He reached out to take Qiao Qiao’s luggage and led her outward. “There are a few other passengers in the car heading to Beihu for skiing as well. Once we pick you up, we’ll head out. It should take about two hours to reach the Beihu Ski Resort. You look even prettier than you do on TV, it’s just that you’re a bit too skinny, young lady.”
“Really?” Qiao Qiao found this driver quite amusing. She hadn’t even taken off her sunglasses yet, and he could already tell she looked good.
The wind outside was truly piercing. Right now, she just wanted to get warm as quickly as possible.
Once inside the vehicle, Qiao Qiao finally felt like she had come back to life.
There were still five or six passengers scattered loosely inside the bus. Qiao Qiao chose a seat right up front and put on her headphones.
The bus lights were turned off as it slowly reversed direction to prepare to drive out of the ski resort area. Suddenly, someone stampeded up the steps, dressed entirely in black clothes and black pants with an indistinct face, though unkempt hair was vaguely visible.
“Sorry, sorry, Master! I’m late.” It was a man.
His voice was still trembling a bit, though it was unclear whether from the cold. After exchanging a greeting with the driver, he sat down in the seat right behind Qiao Qiao, causing the chair to emit a faint squeaking sound.
Qiao Qiao didn’t pay it any mind, closing her eyes to catch some sleep in the warm air conditioning.
The bus drove along the wide-open highway. Half-asleep, Qiao Qiao felt as though her hair had somehow gotten caught in the seam of the seat. When she shifted her neck slightly, she even felt a tugging sensation.
She snapped awake instantly and turned her head to look.
A strand of her hair was actually being pinched between the two fingers of the man sitting in the row behind her, who was playing with it. Through the gaps in the dim lighting, she could see a playful glint in that person’s eyes.
“Pervert!” Qiao Qiao straightened her posture, glared angrily at the person behind her, and cursed in a low voice. If not for her sunglasses, the fire in her eyes could have burned this guy completely bald.
A wave of nausea churned in Qiao Qiao’s stomach.
Most of the passengers on the bus were asleep at the moment, and Master Zhang was concentrating on driving. The commotion from Qiao Qiao’s side was minor, so no one noticed.
The man chuckled, betting on the fact that she was currently a weak woman. “Seeing how you wore sunglasses the whole way, I thought you were quite the cold beauty. When we get to the ski resort, how about big brother takes you out to play? Looking at this pretty little face of yours, I imagine you must look quite decent underneath.”
Qiao Qiao said in a cold voice, “I’m warning you, if you dare to try any funny business, I won’t be polite.”
One of her hands had already slipped into her pocket to grab the anti-wolf spray. Traveling alone, this level of preparation was a must.
The man laughed flippantly, “Oh! Even your voice when you’re angry sounds so delightful. Come on, say a few more words for big brother to hear. If big brother’s money hadn’t been completely gambled away, I’d definitely be stuffing cash right into your hands right now.”
Qiao Qiao reached her limit. Just as she prepared to stand up and change seats, her hand resting on the armrest, a black sports car sped past the side of the bus, emitting an accelerating exhaust note potent enough to ignite adrenaline. Not far past the bus, the sports car pulled off a controlled spin and executed a side-drift to block right in front of the bus.
Master Zhang was scared out of his wits and slammed hard on the brakes, leaning heavily on the horn with a sharp blare.
Not only did Qiao Qiao lurch forward from momentum, but the entire bus did as well. Everyone woke up instantly.
“Which little bastard is this?!” Master Zhang’s good-natured temperament was scared clean away, and he readied himself to roll down the window and unleash a torrent of abuse. Then, he saw two people step out of that sports car. What’s more, those two people were heading straight toward the bus.
Qiao Qiao’s sunglasses slipped down. At that moment, Master Zhang had already turned on the interior lights, so she quickly lowered her head and pushed her sunglasses back into place.
What kind of people were these? Could they be street racers or something? Her heart fluttered with panic; why did so many things happen just by stepping out once?
Thump, thump.
Someone was knocking on the bus door.
Master Zhang opened the door. Today, he was definitely going to give these two reckless fools a piece of his mind!
The passengers inside the bus began chattering in discussion, a sense of unease gradually spreading.
Qiao Qiao looked up and saw the two people who had walked up.
Unexpectedly, they were two women.
One had short hair, a half-smile playing on her face, and a cobalt-black ear stud glinting on her upper ear cartilage. The other was dressed in sharp, clean attire with straight black hair casually tied back and trailing behind her shoulders. She stepped in martens, and one hand dangling by her side was wrapped in athletic tape, her finger joints distinct and well-defined. Looking higher up, her lips were tightly pressed into a straight line, with a high bridge of nose and dark eyes that possessed a completely natural aura of arrogance.
Most importantly, Qiao Qiao realized that the owner of those eyes was staring directly toward her.
Her heart skipped a beat under that gaze, crushed into silence by the sheer presence of this person.
The man sitting behind her had tried to take advantage of her before the bus came to a complete stop, his hand already reaching for Qiao Qiao’s clothes. The moment he saw the two people who had arrived, his entire body instantly froze.
“How are you driving!” Master Zhang stood up. “I…”
“Master.” Ji Qinglin laughed, cutting him off. “We have some personal business to take care of. We guarantee it won’t delay everyone too long. Boss, are you going up, or should I?”
Qiao Qiao’s heart thumped wildly. Could these two be members of a criminal syndicate? That short-haired one even called the other Boss. This was simply underworld stuff.
Ni Zijing said nothing and slowly walked toward Ling Yang.
Ever since returning to China, Ji Qinglin hadn’t sparred with Ni Zijing in boxing yet, and now she’d finally found a human punching bag. Seeing Ni Zijing flex her fingers, she knew Ni Zijing was going to make a move. Following behind Ni Zijing, she smiled and said, “Ling Yang, where else are you going to hide?”
This Ling Yang had lost a massive sum of money abroad and tried to welsh on the debt, fleeing back to China.
Unfortunately, Ni Zijing happened to remember this matter today.
Ni Zijing stood in front of Qiao Qiao and lifted her eyelids slightly. Even though Qiao Qiao was wearing sunglasses, she had a lingering feeling that Ni Zijing’s gaze had already pierced right through the lenses to look at her. She noticed that this person’s eyelashes were long and dense, and there was a faint, pleasant fragrance lingering on her.
It was only belatedly that Qiao Qiao realized the Ling Yang they kept mentioning was the man sitting right behind her. It seemed there was bad blood between them.
Ni Zijing cast her gaze down at the seat. Ling Yang’s hand was still frozen in its previous posture, apparently meaning to touch Qiao Qiao. She suddenly let out a soft laugh, speaking calmly to the trembling Ling Yang: “Are you going to get off the bus yourself, or should I help you?”
Before Ling Yang could utter a word, Ni Zijing grabbed him by the collar with one hand, dragged him past Qiao Qiao’s side, and dumped him straight down onto the floor by the exit.
Ji Qinglin chimed in from the side, “Boss, take it easy now; don’t beat him to death.”
Ni Zijing grabbed Ling Yang’s shoulder with one hand, dragging him as she prepared to get off the bus. Qiao Qiao noticed that as this person descended, she actually glanced back over her shoulder. A trace of a faint smile seemed to linger in those dark eyes as they fell upon her.
Before getting off the bus, Ji Qinglin turned back with a smile to address the dumbfounded Master Zhang, “Drive on, Master. You don’t need to worry about this guy. Sorry for delaying everyone’s time.”
Qiao Qiao’s heart was in a panic. What did that last look mean?
She anxiously wondered why Master Zhang still wasn’t driving, but when she looked up, she saw that the sports car was still arrogantly blocking the middle of the road. Involuntarily, she gripped the spray in her pocket, only to see that the long-haired woman had gotten back onto the bus.
Seeing her walk toward her, Qiao Qiao’s heart leaped to her throat. She chanted silently in her heart: Don’t be afraid, Qiao Qiao. You have to resist the syndicate; you must never surrender.
Right as the person walked up beside her, Qiao Qiao pulled her hand out of her pocket.
“Don’t come closer!”
Looking at the person before her wrapped up like a little hedgehog cocooned in a giant down jacket, Ni Zijing couldn’t help but chuckle.
She said in a low voice, “Next time, use that thing on those scumbags a little earlier, understand?”