Around 5:30 p.m.
Just as Jiang Mian was having a run of terrible luck and, without realizing it, had ended up eating gossip that involved herself.
At the top floor of the Song Group building.
The moment the meeting in the conference room ended, the assistant immediately caught up with the suited man striding at the very front of the group, speaking at a rapid pace as he reported the upcoming work schedule.
“President Song, this is the latest round of investment proposals jointly prepared by Yanshi Culture and Light and Shadow Entertainment. Please take a look.”
“The project 《Heart-Pounding Idol》 has officially been fully launched. At present, the online response to our program concept of answering the national call, holding a nationwide vote to select high-quality idols, broadcasting the entire process live, and refusing to engage in any fakery has been extremely enthusiastic. The show has already become popular before it has even aired.”
“Director Li, together with Film Emperor Liang and Film Empress Jiang, has already departed for Country E to attend the Golden Man Awards. Judging from the hints coming from the organizing committee, Director Li has a very strong chance of winning Best Director this time. The people handling the publicity drafts below have already been arranged.”
“And also, President Huang has invited you to bring a female companion tomorrow to attend a tea-tasting gathering at Banshan Club…”
“Not going.”
The assistant had not even finished speaking when the man rejected him without the slightest hesitation.
“…The entire cost of the gathering will be covered solely by President Huang. It is said that when guests leave, there will also be generous gifts worth tens of thousands…”
The assistant had only just reached this point when the man, who had been striding along moments ago, immediately came to a halt.
Because the stop was so abrupt, the assistant walking close beside him nearly crashed straight into his back.
“Why didn’t you say that earlier?”
The man parted his thin lips.
His voice was like a clear spring flowing through a mountain ravine, or like jade pieces striking one another, crisp, pure, and resonant.
The man’s features were exceptionally refined. His jet-black hair was combed immaculately, his sword-like brows carried a heroic sharpness, his eyes were indifferent yet profound, the light in his gaze utterly still. His nose bridge was tall, and his jawline looked as though it had been carved with a blade, sharp-edged and coldly handsome.
No matter how many times he saw it, the assistant could not help but think, damn it, this face was simply far too deceptive.
Who, upon seeing such a face, would not sincerely conclude that this President Song, Song Qichen, was a cold, noble, and generous domineering CEO?
But cold and aloof, noble and reserved, that part was accurate. As for being generous, he suspected that in this lifetime, that beautiful word would forever have nothing to do with this man.
In all his years of life, the assistant had never seen anyone more stingy than his boss. It was practically a frugality brought straight from the womb.
After all, in such a highly developed modern society, this big shot would even cut his own hair just to save money. Who could possibly imagine that?
Not only did he cut his own hair, he also never ordered takeout. He always went to the wet market himself after work to buy groceries and cook his own meals, and he even prepared his own bento boxes.
Other companies’ CEOs all had offices with an attached lounge, with a large bed placed inside, and occasionally there would be some indescribable and risqué encounters with female secretaries.
This one, on the other hand, was impressive in his own way. His office was directly connected to a kitchen.
Sometimes, if he did not have time to prepare the next day’s bento, he would simply cook himself a meal at noon.
What terrified the assistant the most was that this big shot seemed to know how to do needlework too. Damn it. One day at noon, he forgot to knock before entering the office and saw the boss sewing his own socks. Socks.
Heaven only knew what kind of massive psychological impact that bizarre scene had inflicted on his still-fragile young heart.
From that day on, he could no longer bring himself to look straight at those so-called 《domineering CEO falls in love with me》 novels that his little niece read with obsessive fervor.
Because the domineering CEOs in real life were either old or ugly. And on the rare occasions when one appeared who was as handsome and striking as his boss, he turned out to be a Pixiu[1]Pixiu (貔貅) is a mythical Chinese creature often believed to attract wealth but never let it leave. In modern slang, calling someone a “Pixiu reincarnation” humorously implies that they are … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1657315_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1657315_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); reincarnation with an utterly bizarre vibe.
Just as the assistant was unable to hold back his inner stream of complaints, the man spoke again. “Make the arrangements. I’ll go to that tea-tasting thing tomorrow…”
He knew it. The moment it involved something free, no money spent, and gifts to take home, their thrifty, household-managing boss would definitely be tempted.
“But President Huang said you have to bring a female companion, and it must be a female companion. President Song, you don’t seem to have…”
The assistant hurried to remind him.
He had to remind him. It was not just that this man had no girlfriend. Under Song Group, there were so many entertainment companies, so many male and female artists who were either beautiful or handsome, yet he did not even have a single rumored scandal to his name.
Thinking about it, that was actually quite normal. After all, with a cheapskate as extreme as his boss, trying to get him to have a girlfriend and buy things for her every day would practically be asking for his life.
Spending money was impossible. Impossible in this lifetime.
“Who says I don’t?”
Song Qichen asked directly in return.
That single question made Assistant Xiao Yan’s pupils quake on the spot.
‘No way. Are girls these days really that obsessed with looks?’
‘For the sake of a face, they would even give up money?’
*
At this moment, the Jiang Mian whom Assistant Xiao Yan had just labeled as someone who valued looks over money was staring with a peculiar expression at the little red-haired guy kneeling on one knee in front of her, holding up a bunch of pink roses.
To be fair, the redhead did look pretty good. He had fair skin and peach blossom eyes, and not only that, there was a hint of wild roguishness at the corners of his brows and eyes. When he had stepped forward earlier, he looked to be around one point eight or one point nine meters tall, clearly the type who would be very popular at school.
And yet now, in full public view, he was confessing to her. Emphasis on the point. Confessing to her.
Jiang Mian remembered that the last man who had shown interest in her seemed to have been back when the apocalypse had just begun, an escaped convict she encountered at a gas station.
Back then, the man had grinned as he invited her to become his eighteenth concubine. She had also grinned as she twisted his head a full one hundred and eighty degrees and sent him down to the eighteenth level underground.
After that, she never again encountered anyone who coveted her looks. Tsk.
And now this one…
A suddenly gentle smile appeared on Jiang Mian’s face.
The smile was so unsettling that Zhai Feiyang, who was half-kneeling in front of her, could not help but shiver.
But Jiang Mian’s smile made him completely ignore that shiver. Just as he was about to ask again for Jiang Mian’s response, he heard the girl tilt her little head in a dazed, innocent manner.
“May I ask your surname, sir?”
Zhai Feiyang: “…”
After a moment of stunned silence, the young man’s gaze darkened. A flash of mockery passed through his eyes, so fast that if Jiang Mian’s eyesight had not been good, she would have missed it entirely.
“Jiang Mian, what’s wrong with you? You don’t even recognize me anymore? Don’t joke around with me, okay?”
Zhai Feiyang said, deliberately putting on an indulgent expression.
Hearing that overly familiar tone, Jiang Mian, who was not familiar with the original host’s memories, instinctively rummaged through them in her mind. A moment later, the strangeness in her eyes deepened.
‘Tsk. So it was you, kid.’
Zhai Feiyang, the male supporting character in the plot who was just as scummy as the male lead Xu Xingming.
In other stories, the male supporting lead lives for the female lead, dies for the female lead, and stays single for her his entire life. This one, on the other hand, lived for the female supporting character, died for the female supporting character, and even deliberately used underhanded means to seduce and provoke the female lead for the sake of the female supporting character.
As Lin Qian’s most loyal spare tire and bootlicker, nearly all of Jiang Mian’s suffering in the early stages was caused by this man alone. He even went so far as to drug the original Jiang Mian simply because of a few casual complaints from Lin Qian.
Even though this dog of a man later completely fell for Jiang Mian because of her kindness, hard work, and other admirable qualities, and even lost his miserable life for her, Jiang Mian still felt an intense itch in her hands. How could they itch this badly?
This confession. If she had not come, and the one standing here had been the original Jiang Mian instead.
Then she would have been verbally cornered by Zhai Feiyang and put on a pedestal. The timid and weak female lead, who did not even know how to refuse, would have been forced under Zhai Feiyang’s step-by-step pressure and the surrounding classmates’ jeers and instigation to agree to his confession and become Zhai Feiyang’s girlfriend.
The key point was that this dog of a man would start demanding hand-holding, hugging, and kissing the moment the relationship was confirmed. If the original Jiang Mian was unwilling, he would even blame her for it.
Not only that, on the very second day after confirming the relationship, he dragged the female lead along to drink with his so-called brothers. She drank until she broke down and cried hysterically at the table, only to be scolded by him for being immature and ruining the mood.
Afterward, the two of them were only together for seven days. Whether it was because the female lead suddenly learned to be brave, or for some other reason, she took the initiative to seek out Zhai Feiyang and break up with him.
That single breakup was enough for Zhai Feiyang to launch into his tragic, heartbroken act.
Public shouting in the rain, drowning his sorrows in alcohol, secretly having people post insinuating “exposés” on the campus forum Evergreen Tree accusing the girl of cheating. After a whole series of outrageous maneuvers, Jiang Mian’s reputation was successfully driven down to rock bottom, even affecting her later audition competition.
If not for help from others later on, the female lead might have graduated straight into unemployment while carrying the stigma of being labeled a gold-digging slut.
With her biological family, once she was unemployed, her dear uncle and aunt would do nothing more than sell her off for a good price. There would be no second path for her to survive.
Thinking of this, the itch in Jiang Mian’s hands grew even stronger, and at the same time, her smile became increasingly gentle and sweet.
Seeing that Jiang Mian only smiled and did not respond to his confession, the last shred of Zhai Feiyang’s patience was completely exhausted.
The young man was just about to stand up and use words to force Jiang Mian to accept his confession.
After all, anyone who had ever interacted with Jiang Mian knew that this girl was extremely tongue-tied. She did not know how to argue, and she was afraid of making others angry. Once he made their relationship a done deal, he had plenty of ways to torment her.
‘Who told her to make Qianqian unhappy? This was what she deserved.’
With those thoughts in mind, Zhai Feiyang had not yet stood up when the soft, gentle voice of the girl in front of him rang out.
“Sorry, it was a bit noisy earlier and I didn’t hear you very clearly. Could you say it again? Classmate Zhai.”
Jiang Mian smiled.
Hearing this, Zhai Feiyang’s movement of standing up paused. He abruptly lifted his head, the impatience in his eyes nearly spilling over.
But with so many people gathered around, he could not ruin his own image as the devoted admirer.
So Zhai Feiyang stopped getting up again. He looked at Jiang Mian with a helpless yet gentle gaze, wearing an expression that said he truly could not do anything about her, and said softly, “Of course I can. Listen carefully. I like you, Jiang Mian. I really, really, really like you. Will you be my girlfriend? I will make you happy.”
Hearing the confession once again, the surrounding classmates were so excited that they had not even had time to cheer when they heard—
“Sorry, Classmate Zhai, I already have someone I like.”
The moment those words were spoken, the cheers of the onlookers got stuck right in their throats, unable to go up or down, as they all stared at Jiang Mian in disbelief.
Only Zhai Feiyang, after a brief moment of shock, felt an inexplicable anger surge sharply in his chest.
Others might not know Jiang Mian well, but how could Zhai Feiyang not know her? If she had someone she liked, then wasn’t it Xu Xingming?
Liking someone else’s boyfriend. She really had the nerve to say it out loud.
In all his years, he had never felt this disgusted by a woman.
Just as Zhai Feiyang’s anger surged to the point where he was about to speak without restraint, Jiang Mian’s soft, gentle voice rang out once more.
“Why didn’t you even ask whether the person I like is you?”
The girl’s voice was as sweet as honey. Before Zhai Feiyang could react, the surrounding classmates were already melted by that sweetness.
“Oh!!!!”
The cheers erupted once again.
At this moment, Lin Qian, who had just arrived at the confession scene and happened to hear Jiang Mian say that line, had a strange glint flash through her eyes before she tugged lightly at the arm of the boy beside her and said in a coquettish voice, “See, what did I tell you? Mianmian really has learned to be bad. She did not even tell us about dating. But luckily, it’s Feiyang. From now on, the four of us can hang out together often. Are you happy? Xingming…”
Hearing this, Xu Xingming merely stared at the noisy scene in the distance, his lips pressed tightly together, not saying a single word.
Seeing her boyfriend react like this, Lin Qian’s gaze darkened slightly.
On the other side, after a brief moment of surprise, Zhai Feiyang’s anger slowly subsided. A flash of contemptuous amusement passed through his eyes. After the surrounding noise settled down a bit, he lifted his chin slightly and said with confident assurance, “Alright, alright then. So, Jiang Mian, is the person you like me?”
Hearing this, Jiang Mian smiled faintly.
“No.”
Zhai Feiyang: “…”
Xu Xingming, Lin Qian: “…”
The surrounding classmates: “…”
“Silly, why didn’t you even ask whether I was lying to you?”
Jiang Mian gave another shy smile.
Hearing this, the surrounding classmates all let out soft sighs of relief and showed smiles filled with good-natured teasing.
Even Lin Qian followed along, lowering the heart she had been holding high back to its place.
Zhai Feiyang looked at the soft and delicate Jiang Mian in front of him, swallowed, and asked tentatively, “Then you… are you… lying to me?”
“No.”
Jiang Mian smiled with complete sincerity.
Zhai Feiyang: “…”
Xu Xingming, Lin Qian: “…”
The surrounding classmates: “…”
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