Lovers

They were all stepping stones for Xing Yue.

Early the next morning.

Bu Yao got up while few people were around and prepared to leave.

The fewer people who saw her, the better. Otherwise, Xing Yue would have to explain why everyone else could bring only one person in, while she had brought two.

Bu Yao dressed and, afraid Xing Yue was a light sleeper, washed up as quietly as she could. She skipped makeup, rinsed her face with water, and headed for Luo Zhi's office.

"Miss Bu, what brings you here?" Luo Zhi exclaimed in surprise.

A couple of years ago, word had spread that Bu Yao would take over the company and start by learning the ropes at the bottom. The entire company had stayed on high alert, waiting for her to arrive.

But Bu Yao had no interest in taking over and had not visited the company once in years. If Luo Zhi had not been fortunate enough to attend a senior management dinner at the annual gala thanks to Madam Bu, she would never have met her. Bu Yao was so strikingly beautiful that the brief encounter had stayed with Luo Zhi for two years.

Seeing her at the company so suddenly was a genuine shock.

Bu Yao did not explain why she had shown up out of nowhere. "Push today's eight o'clock training back until after ten," she ordered.

Luo Zhi glanced instinctively at the clock on the wall. It was already past seven. The staff and several artists had probably gotten up to prepare. Delaying everything by two hours without a reason would be difficult.

She looked troubled. "That might not be a good idea. It'll set back our work."

Even Madam Bu would not disrupt the schedule for no reason. As a manager at the company, Luo Zhi was responsible for keeping things on track, and she did not dare agree so easily.

Bu Yao's face turned cold, frost settling in her eyes. "Really?" she scoffed. "Then you don't need to come to work anymore. Nothing to set back that way."

Luo Zhi's expression froze. She had heard that Bu Yao had an odd temper: elegant and composed at grand banquets, but unbearably arrogant in private. Luo Zhi had thought the rumors far-fetched. Now she realized they were true.

While she was torn over what to do, Madam Bu arrived with her husband.

Nearly fifty, Bu Changqin stood tall and sturdy in a Tang-style suit, looking refined and distinguished.

He rarely came to the company and had only stopped by with his wife today. Standing in the office, he caught what his daughter had said and frowned faintly.

As if she had found a lifeline, Luo Zhi hurried to explain. "Chairwoman, Miss Bu wants to delay training by two hours, but... everyone's ready. Should we really...?"

Ji Wenyan never came to the company this early. She was here today for one reason: to see her daughter.

She smoothed Bu Yao's hair with her fingers. A crease from the pillow still marked her daughter's face, just as it had when she was little. Ji Wenyan's heart melted, and she smiled warmly. "Then delay it."

Luo Zhi was startled. "But the daily training schedule is already set, and all the staff responsible for this show have been strictly following—"

Ji Wenyan cut her off. "If the training plan's already set, change it. Can't you handle something this small?"

It was a small matter, but making every staff member scramble was more than a simple two-hour delay. Luo Zhi had plenty of objections, but she did not dare voice them. If Madam Bu had said so, what could a subordinate like her do but comply?

After Luo Zhi left, only the three members of the family remained in the office.

Bu Yao greeted her parents, said she had to get to work, and hurried out too. She found Luo Zhi and stopped her.

"Hold it." Bu Yao stepped in front of Luo Zhi, her beautiful eyes flashing with displeasure. "You're not very high up, but you've got nerve. Who told you to complain about me to my mother?"

Luo Zhi broke into a strained smile. "Miss Bu, I'd never dare complain about you to the chairwoman. I was asking for her opinion. I didn't want a mistake to affect the company. I'm devoted to my role and to New Shadow Entertainment. I only want the company to—"

"Enough. I don't want to hear it." Bu Yao had neither the interest nor the patience for such empty words. She got to the point. "From now on, I'll come by after midnight every night. Don't schedule any work then."

Having learned her lesson, Luo Zhi no longer dared object. Whatever Bu Yao said went. "All right."

Back in the office, Bu Changqin watched his wife look through a contract. Several times he started to speak, then stopped. At last, he could not hold back. "Wenyan, Yao Yao's never managed a company, so a little thoughtlessness from her is understandable. Why did you go along with it?"

Ji Wenyan brushed it off. "It's only a delay in training. What's the big deal?"

In her eyes, something so minor did not even count as acting up.

Seeing that she still did not grasp the problem, Bu Changqin spoke with weary gravity. "Today she delayed training and sent the whole staff scrambling. What if tomorrow Yao Yao decides she doesn't like the show and tells the company to cancel it? Once it airs, will we pull it off the schedule just because she doesn't want to watch it? This isn't how you love a child. When Yao Yao was little, you wouldn't let me interfere. Now she's twenty-eight, and you still indulge her as if she were eight. You've spoiled her."

He had never agreed with Ji Wenyan's approach to raising their daughter, but she was strong-willed and had never let him take part.

In Bu Yao's life, his role had been to give her sweets when she wanted sweets and a trip to the amusement park when she wanted one. He had not been allowed anywhere near her grades or career plans. Ji Wenyan handled it all.

Just listen to what his daughter had said. A senior manager had asked one question about an absurd demand and been threatened with the loss of her job. No major company could casually dismiss an important employee like that.

Ji Wenyan remained unmoved.

That left Bu Changqin no choice but to bring up their daughter's love life. "You said Yao Yao didn't need to inherit the family business. We could hire someone to run it, and she could just collect the money. But you're afraid an outsider can't be trusted and might take advantage of her, so you want her to marry into a family of similar standing. That way, if something happens to the company after we're gone, she'll have her husband's family to rely on. You worry about this and that, and you find fault with everything A Yue does. Why not help Yao Yao grow up and become independent? If she's strong enough to stand on her own, why would she need to rely on anyone?"

Why couldn't Ji Wenyan understand? Relatives, friends, in-laws—none of them were a sure thing. The only real security was for Bu Yao to take charge of the company herself.

The Bu Family was a tempting prize. He and Ji Wenyan could not live forever. Sooner or later, they would be gone, and they could not protect Bu Yao all her life. Who knew what upheaval might follow their deaths?

Just because Bu Yao did not want to manage the business, Ji Wenyan had let her avoid it. What other family failed to groom its heir from childhood? Yet at twenty-eight, Bu Yao did not even know what businesses her family owned, much less how to run a company.

Bu Changqin did not want to shirk his own responsibility for how their daughter had turned out. He only hoped his wife would see sense.

"All right. Why get so angry first thing in the morning?" Ji Wenyan put down the document, looking a little hurt. "I just want our daughter to be happy. Life's only a few short decades. I don't want to force her to do something she hates."

Bu Changqin softened his tone and rested a hand on his wife's shoulder. "Wenyan, I'm not angry with you."

They had discussed this before, but every conversation had gone nowhere. Year after year passed, leaving him anxious and helpless.

"I'll think about it. I'll find time to talk to Yao Yao." Ji Wenyan took his hand and finally gave a little ground.

It was only a promise to consider it, but that was better than her insistence on finding someone to look after their daughter for the rest of her life.

Whenever one of them softened, their disagreements never lasted long. Bu Changqin gave in to his wife on nearly everything.

They loved each other deeply. He might even have loved Ji Wenyan more than he loved their daughter. But Ji Wenyan put being a mother first; only after that came herself, then Madam Bu...

Training, originally scheduled for eight, was moved to ten that morning.

Xing Yue was exhausted. When she received the notice, she went back to sleep without giving it much thought and got up when it was nearly time.

They were going over the script the production team had given them today, so she skipped makeup. She changed into a halter-neck V-neck top and a white fitted mermaid skirt, an everyday outfit that made her look poised and mature.

The first page of the script made her heart sink. In her very first segment, the company wanted her to provoke Lan Qianqian. The host would ask what she thought of her teammates, and they had written her lines full of pointed digs at Lan Qianqian.

Lan Qianqian had once been a wildly popular actress and still had plenty of nostalgic and devoted fans. When the show aired, viewers would turn their attention to Xing Yue, an insolent little online celebrity who did not know her place, and she would draw a wave of hate.

Once the online abuse reached a fever pitch, Lan Qianqian would drag her teammates down in the competition. Opinion would shift: "So she really was slacking off." "Told you she acted like a diva. She didn't even come to rehearsals."

Xing Yue and Mi Ning would be eliminated because of that little incident, prompting viewers to lament that their abilities deserved better. Then they would return for a solo second-chance round.

The script certainly had twists and turns. It would grab attention and stir up outrage, with Xing Yue gaining the most. Viewers would curse her, discover they had blamed the wrong person, then watch the person they had attacked suffer a regrettable elimination because the teammate they had defended dragged her down. They would rush to apologize. It was a perfect way to rake in traffic and win over casual viewers.

Using fans as pawns and making fools of them was a standard tactic for those with money and power. From beginning to end, the only people whose feelings were genuine were the viewers.

"Doing this to Lan..." Jiang Yue played the good person, glancing at the silent Lan Qianqian. "Is it really okay?"

Lan Qianqian did not seem particularly upset. "It doesn't matter, as long as it gets attention."

She had been out of the spotlight for so long. At least the company had not given up on her and had put her on the show. Any screen time was better than none.

Jiang Yue sneered inwardly. The company claimed it wanted to promote Mi Ning, but this script was clearly designed to promote Xing Yue. They were all being used as Xing Yue's stepping stones.

They had even deliberately leaked that Jiang Yue had gotten in through a recommendation letter, making Mi Ning roll her eyes at her and shut her out. Yet no one had said a word about Xing Yue being Miss Bu's lover.