The other end of the line was silent for a while.
After a long moment, a deep, gentle male voice sounded:
“Is that so? Did your business partner bully you?”
Hearing this voice, Shi Sheng was briefly stunned, then lowered her phone to check the caller ID.
The name “Duan Yujing” was displayed in large characters.
“…”
She’d almost forgotten—the most recent call in her phone’s history was with Duan Yujing, so in her nervous state, it had been all too easy to accidentally press that number.
She had originally meant to call Tong Lian.
But… at this hour, shouldn’t Duan Yujing be at work in a meeting?
Why did he answer so quickly?
Hanging up now would seem rather strange, so Shi Sheng steeled herself and continued:
“Yeah, we had a conflict before, and today she made things difficult for me.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Shi Sheng heard the sound of a chair being pulled out on the other end of the line.
Duan Yujing showed no sign of impatience, nor did he ask any further questions. Instead, he steered the topic elsewhere and said:
“If I recall correctly, the company you work for is Shengjing?”
Shi Sheng blinked. “Mm, yes, it is.”
On his end, Duan Yujing flipped open a stack of documents and looked at the glamorously smiling actress in the file as he said:
“Among the actresses Shengjing has recently worked with, there’s one named Wen Ke. I remember she was the one exposed as having a romantic relationship with Qi Ye?”
Hearing this, Shi Sheng was at a loss for words for quite some time.
It wasn’t until Duan Yujing’s low voice urged from the other end of the line, “Why have you gone quiet?” that Shi Sheng finally snapped back to her senses.
She answered with a hint of guilt in her voice: “It’s her…”
“Don’t worry too much,” Duan Yujing said, a trace of amusement in his voice. “The Qi Corporation just acquired a stake in Shengjing not long ago, so we do carry some weight there.”
“If you’re worried about being fired, there’s absolutely no need.”
At that, Duan Yujing paused briefly, then added: “If you want Wen Ke to never work with Shengjing again, that wouldn’t be much of a problem either.”
“As long as you want it.”
When he said this, Duan Yujing’s voice was low and resolute.
Shi Sheng realized he wasn’t joking.
Duan Yujing was genuinely standing up for her.
So shocked was she that her speech came out a bit stammered:
“Th-there’s really no need for that.”
She said in a small voice: “As long as I’m not targeted at the company, that’s enough.”
Duan Yujing promised: “Alright. Any other requests?”
It seemed that no matter what Shi Sheng asked for, he would ultimately agree to it.
Shi Sheng replied stiffly: “…No, that’s all.”
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the call ended.
Duan Yujing’s gaze dropped to his phone, lingering for a moment before he raised his head, his voice returning to its serious, formal tone:
“The meeting continues.”
The Qi Corporation employees who had been watching in stunned silence for a while all lowered their heads, exchanging knowing, suggestive glances with one another.
As for Shi Sheng, even after the call ended, she remained lost in thought for a long time.
Just… like that, it was resolved?
Though she was reluctant to believe it, that was exactly what Duan Yujing had said before the call ended.
Just as Shi Sheng was standing there in a daze, a voice suddenly came from behind her—the team leader’s:
“Shi Sheng! You stop right there! Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused?!”
Shi Sheng jolted and turned around, pressing her lips together as she looked at the team leader.
The team leader was furious and about to continue his tirade when his phone suddenly vibrated.
He had no choice but to pull out his phone and answer it, but before pressing the answer button, he still made a point of pointing a finger at Shi Sheng.
As if to say this wasn’t over yet.
“Hey hey, boss, you’re saying… yes, yes, is it because of that Shi… what?”
Shi Sheng watched in real time as her team leader’s expression shifted from fawning to stunned to confused.
His gaze then slowly moved to Shi Sheng.
After hanging up the phone, the team leader’s expression was complicated.
He stared at Shi Sheng for a long while, as if puzzled that the pheasant he’d been raising had suddenly molted and grown tail feathers to become a shimmering golden phoenix.
After a long moment, the team leader waved his hand: “You can go. Nothing’s wrong.”
Hearing this, Shi Sheng let out a sigh of relief, said “okay,” and turned to make her escape.
As she was leaving, she heard the team leader kicking the wall hard behind her:
“Damn it, I’ve had it with that Wen Ke for ages. Serves him right—karma finally caught up!”
That was followed by a long string of maniacal laughter.
Shi Sheng slowed her steps and tiptoed away.
Shengjing Cafeteria.
“What?!”
“You actually dumped the lunchbox on that idiot’s head?!”
Tong Lian was so excited she shouted it out loud.
Shi Sheng quickly pressed her shoulder to make her sit down, signaling her to keep her voice down:
“Shh, shh! Don’t get so worked up!”
Tong Lian slapped her thigh: “How can I not get worked up?!”
That said, she still lowered her voice:
“I never would’ve guessed it, Sheng Sheng. You’ve got some spine after all?”
Shi Sheng coughed: “Keep it low-key, low-key… It’s just that Wen Ke went too far.”
With that, she recounted all the ways Wen Ke had been making things difficult for her. Tong Lian listened with a furrowed brow.
She remarked that this person was throwing his weight around, then, as if thinking of something, asked:
“So, you just ran off after throwing it? The boss didn’t blame you?”
At this, Shi Sheng blinked, lowered her head, and shoveled a couple bites of rice into her mouth without meeting Tong Lian’s eyes, saying with a slightly guilty tone:
“No… The team leader’s actually pretty nice.”
Tong Lian looked at her—at how she was practically burying her own head in her rice bowl—and narrowed her eyes shrewdly:
“Some-thing’s off.”
“You smashed their studio’s business partner like that and they didn’t come after you? Little Sheng Sheng, you’ve got some serious backing.”
Shi Sheng: “…No, I don’t.”
“Still saying no!” Tong Lian’s eyes lit up as her imagination ran wild. “Could it be that our great CEO of Shengjing finally grew eyes, and after seeing your stunning beauty, Sheng Sheng, he became utterly captivated? And when he saw his beloved being bullied by that little Wen brat, he flew into a rage for his beauty…”
Seeing Tong Lian getting more and more ridiculous, Shi Sheng quickly stopped her:
“Stop! Stop!”
Tong Lian giggled foolishly, lost in the beautiful romance she’d conjured up in her own head.
Looking at her friend like this, Shi Sheng sighed and decided not to continue this topic with her.
Shi Sheng ate while pulling out her phone.
She opened the messaging app, and her gaze involuntarily landed on Duan Yujing’s chat window further down.
…So he really did handle it just like that.
Shi Sheng marveled—Duan Yujing was a real man. He said it, and he did it.
A stark contrast to that bastard Qi Ye.
Honestly, they were born to the same parents—how could the difference be this big?
It couldn’t just be because of those few extra years Duan Yujing had on him, could it?
Just as Shi Sheng was lost in her thoughts, Tong Lian waved a hand in front of her face:
“Earth to the beauty.”
Shi Sheng looked at her, eyes asking: “Hm?”
Tong Lian looked serious: “Why do you keep spacing out? I’m trying to talk to you here. Can you pay attention?”
Shi Sheng nodded obediently: “Mm-hm, so what did you want to say?”
Tong Lian: “Actually, it’s pretty simple—I’m just saying, it looks like that dumb celebrity chick whose head you smashed with a lunchbox is running toward you from behind.”
Shi Sheng: “?”
She turned around and saw Wen Ke, looking disheveled, standing right in front of her, her voice hoarse:
“Shi Sheng, let’s talk.”