The original owner had many friends and no proper job, only holding a nominal position in the company. She often went out partying with these socialite girls of similar status, and Shi Wei Yue couldn’t even remember what promises the original owner had made to whom.
Previously, Shi Wei Yue had briefly gone through her contact list and deleted some strange friends. However, she kept anyone who had business ties with her family or was even remotely connected to the upper-middle-class business circle, so as not to damage her social network.
Today, the one calling her was An Shuang Fan, the third daughter of the An family in V City.
The An family was in real estate. An Shuang Fan was an Alpha but hadn’t been groomed as the heir, living a carefree and indulgent life with a bit of a spoiled young lady’s temper. She had a girlfriend she’d been dating for two or three years, and their relationship seemed quite stable.
After quickly running through the other party’s basic information in her mind, Shi Wei Yue still couldn’t recall what she had promised An Shuang Fan. She only remembered that before the original owner married Wen Ruxing, she had gone on a vacation to some island with a few close friends, drinking and joking around. It was probably then that the original owner had agreed to something with An Shuang Fan.
The An family was quite influential in high society, and offending them over a trivial matter wouldn’t be wise. Shi Wei Yue had no choice but to laugh it off:
“Alright, I’ll go if I have time. What kind of game is it anyway?”
Satisfied with the answer, An Shuang Fan dropped her tantrum and giggled sweetly on the other end of the line, her tone cheerful and teasing:
“Just what we talked about before, what else could it be? You’ll find out when you come.”
**
Coming to the office on time every day had made time pass much faster without her noticing. Shi Wei Yue gradually grew accustomed to this two-point routine and had been slowly familiarizing herself with the company’s structure, preparing for a major reshuffle.
Director Wang only returned to work on the third day after the incident. He first came to Shi Wei Yue’s office to apologize. Whether or not he was secretly seething at having to bow to this young girl, at least on the surface, he appeared sincere.
“President Shi, I’ve been busy lately with the handover to the marketing department, and Xiao Liao has been reassigned. Why don’t you personally oversee the IP adaptation project?”
The IP adaptation project was a major undertaking, especially with several new IPs recently put up for bidding. Each one had companies vying for them, and while these IPs had good reputations, they weren’t top-tier so the biggest companies hadn’t stepped in, leaving the slightly smaller ones scrambling to claim the prize. Adaptation projects were lucrative, and the year-end dividends were nothing to scoff at.
Director Wang seemed to be voluntarily relinquishing power, looking at her with an expression full of flattery and guilt.
But Shi Wei Yue, though young, wasn’t the kind of spoiled socialite who knew nothing about the ways of the world. She understood perfectly well, Wang Jie wanted to see her fail.
From bidding strategies to execution, IP acquisitions required expertise, and Wang Jie was an old hand at this. If she made a grand return to the company only to lose her first battle, it wouldn’t just be a matter of losing face.
However, Shi Wei Yue had no intention of backing down. Under Wang Jie’s veiled challenge, she accepted the task. Liao Xiao Ting had already been transferred to another department days ago, and the assistant assigned to Wang Jie was a male Beta with average looks and build, effectively cutting off any chance of him preying on young girls again.
Shi Wei Yue had recently gone through all the promising IPs in the email list, disregarding Wang Jie’s suggestions. Before finalizing her decision, she felt a bit uneasy and suddenly thought of Wen Ru Xing, a screenwriter known for her sharp eye in evaluating scripts. But just as she typed the message, she deleted it word by word.
Her relationship with Wen Ruxing wasn’t at the point where she could casually ask for help.
Besides…
She didn’t want to face the villain’s sarcastic remarks.
Wen Ruxing had been preparing to join a film crew a couple of days ago and was likely already on her way today. After some hesitation, Shi Wei Yue still didn’t send the question. But as she was about to exit the page, her finger accidentally brushed against the sticker button, sending out a cute dog-head emoji.
Shi Wei Yue only then noticed her nails had grown a bit too long. Sighing, she turned off her screen, pulled out a nail clipper from the drawer, and started trimming.
Why wasn’t there an unsend button in this world? Terrible design.
Not that Wen Ruxing replied anyway.
In the afternoon, her sister Shi Xiang Ling called again, inviting Shi Wei Yue to dinner and repeatedly explaining that she had genuinely been busy last time, today, she’d make it up to her.
Shi Wei Yue wasn’t the original owner of this body and didn’t have the temper of a spoiled heiress, but she had been swamped at the time and had brushed off Shi Xiang Ling somewhat dismissively. Mid-conversation, there was a knock at the door someone had come in to deliver documents. Without headphones, her voice carried clearly through the phone.
Shi Xiang Ling was both surprised and delighted.
During dinner, under her sister’s persistent questioning, Shi Wei Yue briefly shared her thoughts, her words tinged with the air of someone who had been provoked into taking decisive action.
She naturally mentioned Wang Jie, since she planned to deal with him eventually. There was no way to hide it, nor did she intend to. Shi Xiang Ling had helped manage the company before but had gradually stepped back due to her own busy schedule.
“It’s good that you’re motivated, but he’s a company veteran. If you punish him over something like this, the other old-timers will lose heart,” Shi Xiang Ling weighed her words carefully, as if afraid of upsetting her sister. “Don’t rush things. It won’t do you any good. And besides, I’m here, if there’s anything you can’t handle, I’ll help you.”
Shi Xiang Ling’s words came from a place of concern, and though Shi Wei Yue didn’t entirely agree, she still thanked her sister sincerely.
Truthfully, Shi Xiang Ling wasn’t entirely wrong but her approach wasn’t suitable for Yue Xing in its current state.
Shi Wei Yue had considered taking things slow, but Yue Xing was already on the verge of collapse and couldn’t afford such delays. Wang Jie’s misdeeds weren’t just limited to the surface-level scandals his chaotic personal life was merely a symptom of deeper mismanagement within the company.
If every artist resorted to currying favor with their superiors, or if executives pressured artists in such ways, it would undermine fair competition. Bad practices would drive out the good, and eventually, the company would be left behind by the market.
Moreover, artist scandals were already a common topic in the industry. When the ugliest sides of glamorous celebrities were exposed, it led to mass fan backlash, leaving those artists unable to recover. All the resources invested in them would go to waste, and the company would have to expend even more effort to mitigate the damage, impacting the entire organization.
Although she had never been a fan of celebrities, she could still deduce and understand this point such chaotic management was definitely not a sustainable strategy for a company’s development.
Shi Wei Yue had a personality where she either wouldn’t do something at all or would take it seriously once she started. Since she was going to manage the company, she intended to uproot those problematic elements entirely to prevent increasing losses in the future.
Compared to speaking, the elegant and composed Shi Xiang Ling was clearly more adept at listening. As Shi Wei Yue elaborated on her thoughts, Shi Xiang Ling occasionally responded with soft “mm-hmm” sounds, her slender eyes curving like a clear crescent moon, her gaze filled with tolerant amusement as she looked at her.