Song Wenxi walked into the office building lobby. Before the new receptionist could even speak, the front-desk supervisor appeared out of nowhere and rushed over to her with a nervous expression.
“Madam, you’ve arrived! Let me show you the way.”
No wonder her right eyelid had been twitching all day—this esteemed lady had decided to launch a surprise inspection.
The supervisor wore a bright smile, bent slightly, and gestured respectfully for Song Wenxi to go ahead. At the same time, she discreetly observed the madam’s lively, youthful outfit and personally pressed the elevator button for her.
The moment the elevator doors closed, the supervisor let out a huge sigh of relief and immediately sent a message to the executive assistants’ group chat.
“Level-One Alert! Madam is in the elevator. Thirty-second countdown!”
“What? The meeting just started!”
“Today’s meeting will last at least an hour and a half. We’re doomed. That’s way beyond Madam’s patience limit.”
“It’s okay! Assistant Bai has already made arrangements…”
…
When the elevator reached the twenty-second floor, the doors opened.
The moment Song Wenxi stepped out, she saw Bai Shuo leading a group of employees standing in a neat line.
They bowed in unison.
“Good afternoon, Madam!”
The booming chorus nearly shook the hallway.
The display of ceremony was impressive.
Song Wenxi was thoroughly embarrassed.
“Haha… hello, everyone. No need to bother with me. Go back to work.”
Bai Shuo waved his hand.
Everyone immediately scattered back to their desks. Though they pretended to focus on their work, their eyes secretly followed her movements. The group chat, meanwhile, exploded with activity.
“Ahhh! Fairy Xi looks so youthful and gorgeous today. I’m copying this outfit immediately!”
“Is that a lunchbox she’s carrying? Has the CEO’s spring finally arrived?”
“Is this a new strategy? Did anyone notice how gentle Madam sounded today?”
…
Bai Shuo respectfully escorted her to the reception room and carefully explained the situation, terrified that this troublesome ancestor might suddenly charge into the conference room and cause chaos.
Their boss, Mo Hanche, might be cold and intimidating to everyone else, but when it came to this woman, he had no effective way of dealing with her.
There was simply no stopping her when she decided to be unreasonable.
Well… actually, money could usually calm things down.
Bai Shuo suspected that his boss’s private savings account was being drained dry.
Just yesterday, six million yuan had changed hands.
If Mo Hanche didn’t have other hidden sources of income, there was no way the branch office alone could support such spending under so many watchful eyes.
Standing respectfully beside her with a polite smile, Bai Shuo’s thoughts wandered all over the place. He glanced at Madam leisurely scrolling through her phone and couldn’t figure out what kind of new scheme she was planning.
Song Wenxi looked at the lunchbox and asked,
“Has Mo Hanche eaten breakfast?”
Concern for the boss?
That was a first.
Bai Shuo glanced at the lunchbox as well and answered honestly.
“Sir didn’t have time to eat this morning.”
Song Wenxi said nothing further. She simply told Bai Shuo to go about his work and stop worrying about her.
Bai Shuo hesitated.
His job was literally to keep an eye on her. Where else was he supposed to go?
Song Wenxi twitched her lips and returned to browsing celebrity gossip.
She had already been resting at home for half a month.
Film festivals around the country were still in full swing, with unedited red-carpet photos of celebrities flooding the internet.
As a pretty face herself, Song Wenxi’s airport photos and promotional posters had also been dug up and circulated by her fans.
Their blind confidence was embarrassing even to her.
Since entering the entertainment industry two years ago, the original Song Wenxi had relied almost entirely on her looks to gain attention at various red-carpet events.
The company had arranged for her to star in a self-produced drama, but she couldn’t handle the hardships of acting and merely went through the motions. The drama disappeared without making any impact.
When assigned to a hosting program, she spoke arrogantly, constantly tried to steal the spotlight, and was harshly criticized.
When sent to do livestream sales, she openly trashed the products she was supposed to promote and ended up being sued.
Because of her beauty, malicious rumors about her personal life spread everywhere.
In short, she had an awful reputation and somehow still loved staying in the public eye.
Thinking about it, the original Song Wenxi had caused trouble for two years and still managed to survive relatively unscathed.
Mo Hanche must have cleaned up countless messes behind the scenes.
If he hadn’t died so early, perhaps the original owner of this body wouldn’t have met such a tragic fate.
The thought made Song Wenxi suddenly stand up.
Mo Hanche absolutely could not die.
Bai Shuo nearly jumped out of his skin.
In a split second, he positioned himself in front of the reception room door.
“M-Madam, just another half—no, twenty minutes. Please wait a little longer?”
Ring… Ring…
A phone suddenly rang.
Song Wenxi glanced at the caller ID, sat back down casually, and answered.
Bai Shuo discreetly relaxed and resumed standing at attention like a wooden post.
“This is a huge opportunity for you. Jiang Nianyi had a scheduling conflict and turned down A House in the Forest Stream. The production team contacted you instead…”
Anna launched into her usual rapid-fire speech.
Song Wenxi simply switched the phone to speaker mode and placed it on the coffee table, letting Anna talk herself out.
This variety show had been mentioned in the novel.
It would become a huge hit.
It was a reality program where artists of different ages lived in the countryside, managed a farm, welcomed visitors, and experienced authentic rural life while expressing their love for everyday living.
“…It’s such a rare opportunity. This time, you’ll portray a gentle, elegant woman who’s been misunderstood because of her beauty and is secretly a pitiful victim…”
Bai Shuo raised an eyebrow and glanced toward the ceiling, his skepticism obvious.
After Anna finally finished, Song Wenxi picked up the phone and leaned back in her chair.
“Sorry, Anna. I don’t plan to participate.”
“To be more precise, I plan to terminate my contract with Le Ai Entertainment.”
Bai Shuo’s wandering attention snapped instantly into focus.
Anna was stunned.
After confirming several times that she’d heard correctly, her expression darkened.
“Impossible. The cooperation agreement is already finalized and the contract has been accepted. You should come to the company.”
The call ended.
Song Wenxi checked the time.
The meeting would still be going on for quite a while.
Fine.
She needed to deal with her management company eventually.
Borrowing a car from Bai Shuo and refusing his offer to drive her, she left on her own.
Bai Shuo waited until she entered the elevator before rushing back to the meeting room.
Twenty minutes later, Song Wenxi arrived at Le Ai Entertainment.
Back when the original owner first entered the industry, she knew nothing and was far too stubborn. She had personally chosen this second-rate agency.
Two years later, she still had no meaningful achievements to show for it—only the image of a pretty vase and a mountain of scandals.
Across from Le Ai Entertainment stood a magnificent skyscraper:
Huangqi Entertainment Tower.
It belonged to the Qi Group, the second-largest company in Nancheng’s entertainment, cultural, and sports industry.
The original Song Wenxi’s truly miserable experiences had begun after signing with Huangqi Entertainment.
After leaving Le Ai, Huangqi had extended an olive branch.
Believing that someone had finally recognized her talent, she eagerly signed.
Only afterward did she discover a contract riddled with traps.
Unable to afford the enormous penalties, she spent four years living in darkness until her eventual death.
“What a disaster.”
Song Wenxi muttered under her breath.
The moment she entered the company, her drastically different appearance attracted attention.
Anna almost didn’t recognize her.
“Who styled you? You should stick with this look. It might actually make you popular.”
“Now hurry up and sign the contract. Filming starts next Monday.”
“As for what you said on the phone, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it. Don’t let it happen again.”
After Anna finished talking, Song Wenxi casually dragged over a chair and sat down, crossing one leg over the other.
“I came today to discuss terminating my contract.”
Anna studied her carefully.
The appearance had changed.
The temperament had changed too.
She still carried an air of confidence, but now there was calm certainty beneath it.
Taking a deep breath, Anna sat down to negotiate.
Ten minutes later, seeing that Song Wenxi remained as stubborn as ever, Anna finally lost her patience.
“Fine.”
“Over the past two years, you’ve repeatedly violated company arrangements, skipped work without authorization, damaged the company’s partnerships with brands, and more.”
“You owe the company a termination penalty of three million yuan.”
Song Wenxi listened carefully.
To be fair, both sides had failed to fulfill certain contractual obligations.
Legally speaking, the company’s demand for three million yuan in compensation was reasonable.
The original owner really had been a nightmare.
Not only had she failed to make money, she’d actually ended up costing money.
As Song Wenxi considered her options, Anna added:
“For the sake of our relationship over the past two years, I’ll speak with management.”
“You won’t have to pay the three million.”
“On one condition.”
“You accept this variety show.”
“It will offset the penalty and give you a chance to repair your image—assuming you still want a career in this industry.”
In the end, Song Wenxi agreed.
Although Anna favored Jiang Ran—the more obedient artist she managed alongside Song Wenxi—she had never deliberately sabotaged Song Wenxi.
The show offered a six-million-yuan appearance fee.
Song Wenxi would receive fifty percent.
Exactly three million yuan.
Much better than paying the money herself.
“Anna, I have one more question.”
“Go ahead.”
“Why not give this opportunity to Jiang Ran?”
“The production team specifically requested you. Otherwise, do you really think a small company like ours could secure a resource like this?”
“Actually, that reminds me—do you have some powerful backer?”
Song Wenxi laughed.
“What do you think? You’ve seen how I’ve been doing these past two years.”
Anna worked quickly.
After going upstairs for a short while, she returned with a written company guarantee.
After reviewing it and finding no issues, Song Wenxi immediately signed both the variety-show contract and the company agreement.
Leaving the building, she thought for a moment and sent a message to Jiang Nianyi.
A reply came quickly.
“I really did have a scheduling conflict. The director asked me to recommend someone, so I mentioned you.”
As expected.
It had been Jiang Nianyi.
Song Wenxi typed back:
“Thank you.”
Standing by a floor-to-ceiling window on the third floor, Anna watched Song Wenxi climb into the driver’s seat of a Rolls-Royce Cullinan.
Moments later, the vehicle sped away.
Anna narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.
That car was worth at least six million yuan.
As expected—
In this industry, appearances could be very deceiving.