Don't Compare Yourself to Li Ruobing

Welcome to Trapped in the Same Day for a Thousand Years, exclusively produced by Feilu Novel Network, written by Sang Ze and narrated by Wang Xiaomo and Lao He. "Boss, it's Tao Manying. She says she has an appointment with you."

The receptionist repeated herself in a hushed, muffled voice. She was probably turned away from the visitor, covering the phone as she spoke.

"Are you sure?"

Li Ruobing didn't know why she still found it hard to believe.

"I'm sure, boss."

The receptionist waited.

"I'll be right down. Ask her to wait a moment."

Li Ruobing hung up, took a deep breath, and suppressed her excitement. Then she glanced around the conference room. "Meeting adjourned."

The executives froze in their seats, staring at her.

Why had she suddenly ended the meeting?

Li Ruobing said nothing more and headed out. Her secretary and assistants naturally followed. She had only one female secretary, but many assistants. Wu Chen was officially one of them, though his position was purely nominal and he generally didn't need to come in.

He found her?

How did he find her?

How could he possibly have brought her here?

One day. He really got her here in one day!

How did he do it?

What did he do?

Wasn't he playing games yesterday morning?

And didn't he go with A Tai to transfer the house yesterday afternoon?

As she left the conference room and headed for the stairs with her people, the questions kept running through Li Ruobing's mind.

She also knew Li Ruotai had transferred the East Sea Splendor house to Wu Chen yesterday. Li Ruotai had told her himself.

He had called her right after the transfer went through.

Tao Manying, whom Li Ruobing was about to meet, was genuinely important to Illusion Fashion. Yet Wu Chen was all she could think about. She wanted to call him directly and ask, but Tao Manying was waiting downstairs.

Her company needed a spokesperson.

As a businesswoman, Li Ruobing knew what had to come first.

She went down to the thirty-first floor with her entourage and spotted Tao Manying from a distance.

Tao Manying had taken off her sunglasses and mask.

A crowd of young employees surrounded her. They had only arrived at work that morning and were already asking for autographs.

"The boss is here! Back to work, quick! Go, go!"

No one knew who shouted first. The young men and women abruptly gave up on their autographs and hurried away with their heads down, like mice fleeing a cat.

Within seconds, the reception area was empty.

Tao Manying turned toward Li Ruobing. As Li Ruobing approached, they both raised a hand almost simultaneously.

"Miss Tao, hello. Sorry for the poor welcome. I've been so busy these past few days that I forgot to tell reception you were coming."

Li Ruobing shook her hand with a professional smile. She didn't know why Wu Chen hadn't told her, but she was certain he had arranged Tao Manying's visit. She couldn't show uncertainty in front of an outsider, so she needed to recover the situation.

"President Li, you're too polite! Wow, you're beautiful, and your skin is amazing. I never imagined the president of a big company could work day and night and still have skin this good. I'm jealous! How do you take care of it?"

Tao Manying began praising Li Ruobing at once, not just because Lei Cheng had instructed her to. Li Ruobing had genuinely stunned her.

Both women were beautiful, but Tao Manying thought Li Ruobing's skin was much better than hers. Every tiny difference stood out to her.

Tao Manying looked breathtaking on film, but in person she was very thin. Cameras made people look heavier, so to appear normally slim on screen, she had to be even thinner in real life.

Years of filming had taken their toll, too. Costume dramas called for frequent, heavy makeup, and even the best cosmetics could be overused. Add in the late nights on set, and her skin really was just a little worse than Li Ruobing's.

Her skin was still excellent. Li Ruobing's was simply better.

Their temperaments were too different to compare easily.

What truly struck Tao Manying at first sight was Li Ruobing's presence. It was intimidating, more so than that of some older officials' wives. She was composed and natural, yet sharp. The moment she appeared, she seemed to become the only person who mattered. That was where the gulf between them was widest.

"Miss Tao, you're too kind. You're the beautiful one. How could a businesswoman like me compare with a superstar like you?"

"If your fans heard that, they'd never forgive me."

Li Ruobing spoke with a smile, half joking, while puzzlement rose again inside her. Praising Tao Manying was what a businesswoman should do here. But why had Tao Manying started by flattering her?

After years of middling success, the actress had suddenly become a superstar. Yet she hadn't grown arrogant at all. If anything, she was more courteous.

"Miss Tao, please come upstairs."

After a few more pleasantries, Li Ruobing invited Tao Manying up to her office.

On the thirty-third floor, Tao Manying saw bodyguards stationed throughout the corridor, and a sudden pressure settled over her.

Bodyguards alone wouldn't have bothered her. She had plenty herself, though she hadn't brought them today. She wasn't attending an event and wanted to keep a low profile. But combined with Lei Cheng's earlier instructions, the sight made her feel the difference between them.

Women liked to compare themselves with one another, and beautiful women all the more so.

She had heard of Li Jia, though she didn't know much about her. She knew she couldn't compare with her.

As for looks, Tao Manying had said it herself: she fell a little short of Li Ruobing. It wasn't her features. Her skin simply wasn't as good as it had been when she was eighteen or nineteen.

In presence, Li Ruobing overwhelmed her.

Tao Manying didn't know why she suddenly felt inadequate. She might be a star, but it seemed as though all she had was a pretty face, and that was mostly what people cared about.

With Li Ruobing, beauty seemed more like an embellishment, one part of her brilliance rather than all of it.

Her bearing, her presence—the mere sight of her standing there made people feel how formidable she was.

Had Wu Chen been there and known what Tao Manying was thinking, he would probably have told her not to compare herself with Li Ruobing. Beauty was far from all that woman had, and her presence was the last thing anyone should try to match. Li Ruobing's strength came from her bones. No woman her age could rival her. Comparing yourself to Li Ruobing was asking for pain, no matter how beautiful you were.

At the President's Office, Li Ruobing expected Tao Manying to bring an assistant inside. Instead, Tao Manying came in alone.

Negotiating an endorsement involved money, and handling it alone could cause problems, especially for a celebrity.

That was the main reason stars needed agents. There were things they couldn't say themselves without offending people. Yet Tao Manying had come in alone. She hadn't even brought an agent on this trip, and Li Ruobing didn't know why.

"Please, sit down, Miss Tao." Li Ruobing had her secretary bring in coffee.

After the secretary left, only Li Ruobing and Tao Manying remained.

Li Ruobing sat behind her desk and smiled for Tao Manying to wait a moment. Then she took out her phone and called Wu Chen. He answered almost immediately.

"Darling, Miss Tao is here. I thought I'd let you know."

Li Ruobing sounded like a woman deeply in love. But Wu Chen knew her well enough to hear more than an act put on for a guest. There was an accusation beneath it.

"Oh," Wu Chen replied mildly.

Li Ruobing wanted to ask why he hadn't warned her. Because he'd said nothing, Tao Manying had been stopped at reception. Li Ruobing had almost missed her altogether.

With an outsider present, she couldn't question him outright. She knew he understood why she had called, yet all he gave her was an "oh."

Used alone, the word might have sounded perfectly normal a dozen years ago. Now it was infuriating.

Li Ruobing's brow twitched. As though Wu Chen had said something else, she continued, "Mm. All right, darling. I need to get back to work."

She hung up naturally, looking as if the call had left her in a wonderful mood.

"You and your husband really are devoted to each other, President Li. How enviable," Tao Manying said at just the right moment.

She had no idea whether Li Ruobing was married. She didn't even know the identity of Li Ruobing's man, the person her godfather Lei Cheng called his good brother.

Yesterday, Lei Cheng had only told her that the company belonged to his good brother's woman. He hadn't explained much beyond what she needed to do. He hadn't even asked her to stay the night, rushing off as though something urgent needed his attention.

After meeting Li Ruobing, Tao Manying could tell she wasn't a woman a man could easily win over. She also came from the Li Family, with a powerful background. There was no way she was someone's mistress.

So Tao Manying had assumed the man who had asked her godfather for help was Li Ruobing's husband.

She hadn't thought "boyfriend" because her godfather's brother couldn't be that young. Surely he was in his thirties? Li Ruobing would be thirty in a few years herself. They couldn't still be merely dating, could they? Marriage seemed more likely.

They moved in different circles, so Tao Manying knew little about Li Jia or Li Ruobing beyond what she had heard. Li Ruobing looked startled at "husband," her expression turning odd. After a moment, she said, "You misunderstand, Miss Tao. We aren't married yet. We're dating. He's my boyfriend." "Oh! Sorry, I'm so sorry," Tao Manying said.

"It's fine. We're close and things are stable. Marriage is only a matter of time," Li Ruobing said. Then she asked, "Speaking of which, Miss Tao, how did you meet my boyfriend?"

Wu Chen had said yesterday that he didn't know Tao Manying. Now Li Ruobing thought he had lied. If he didn't know her, how had he brought her here in a single day, all the way from Thailand? Was he a miracle worker?

She suspected not only that Wu Chen had lied, but that he had set a trap to get her to make that bet. Fine, she could accept losing. Twenty million was worth paying for the company's sake, and giving it to Wu Chen wouldn't be a loss. Jealous? She certainly didn't think she was jealous. They weren't really dating. But they had raised the stakes once: if she lost, she had to kneel and admit she was wrong.

So Li Ruobing wanted to draw the truth out of Tao Manying. If she could prove Wu Chen had lied, she could invalidate the bet. She would still pay him; she just didn't want to kneel.

Li Ruobing wasn't the sort to renege on a debt. She simply felt certain Wu Chen had deceived her.

"We?"

"We don't know each other," Tao Manying said.

"You don't know him? Didn't he ask you to come?"

Li Ruobing's expression changed. "Well, in a way," Tao Manying said. "My godfather asked me to come."

"Your godfather and my boyfriend are brothers?"

"He approached my godfather, and my godfather sent me," Tao Manying explained. Lei Cheng had supported her career in exchange for keeping her as his lover, but with their age gap—and the gossip such a relationship would invite in show business—she only called him her godfather in public. "Your godfather? Boss Lei?" Li Ruobing knew at once. She knew Lei Cheng existed and knew he was Tao Manying's patron.

To people with enough power, such arrangements weren't secrets at all. They weren't even much of a secret in the entertainment industry. Few stars were entirely untouched by such things, and Lei Cheng could hardly have promoted someone without anyone noticing.

"Yes, him."

Tao Manying nodded. Li Ruobing frowned slightly. Wu Chen knew Lei Cheng? And they were brothers? Since when?

Li Ruobing had never dealt with Lei Cheng, but she knew of him. He was the youngest son of Lei Zhenhui, the red-haired second son of the Lei Family. After losing an internal struggle, Lei Cheng had left the family and come to East Sea.

As Li Ruobing understood it, Lei Cheng was an extremely private wealthy man. He rarely socialized and was difficult to approach. Anyone who tried to make contact with him tended to arouse his suspicion.

She had heard his older brother had once plotted against him and nearly gotten him killed. He had lived cautiously ever since.

"President Li, your boyfriend's surname is Wu, isn't it?" Tao Manying asked when she noticed Li Ruobing's expression.

She didn't know Wu Chen's full name, but she knew his surname: Lei Cheng had referred to him as "Brother Wu." Li Ruobing nodded. Then there was no mistake.

Tao Manying smiled. "It seems you don't quite know how your boyfriend found me. Maybe Mr. Wu wanted to surprise you."

"Ha. I suppose so. How thoughtful of him."

Li Ruobing smiled too.

She said the words, but inside, she was reeling. It was a surprise, certainly, though a frightening one as well.

Right now she wanted nothing more than to find Wu Chen, grab him by the collar, and demand to know what was going on.

For the next hour or so, Li Ruobing stopped fishing for answers. She could question Wu Chen later. The business at hand came first.

She told Tao Manying about the company and its new product launch, then asked about her schedule. If subsequent promotions conflicted with Tao Manying's commitments, Illusion Fashion could adjust.

To Li Ruobing's surprise, Tao Manying agreed to everything. Illusion Fashion didn't need to change its schedule; she would cooperate fully.

Even when Li Ruobing brought up the endorsement fee, Tao Manying named no figure. Instead, she asked Li Ruobing to make an offer, saying they were all friends and a token fee would do. She couldn't accept too much, or her godfather would have something to say.

Li Ruobing was stunned. Just what kind of brothers were Wu Chen and Lei Cheng?

Sworn brothers? The negotiations went extraordinarily smoothly. Before ten that morning, Tao Manying formally signed an endorsement contract with Illusion Fashion.

Li Ruobing had wanted to pay her the full fee rather than rely on a favor. Even if Wu Chen had called it in, using it would leave Li Ruobing indebted to him. But Tao Manying refused to take that much. In the end, her fee was comparable to what a leading actress would charge, far below the price her current fame warranted.

Tao Manying had a flight to catch back to Thailand for filming, so she left after signing.

Li Ruobing personally escorted her downstairs. They agreed Tao Manying would return in a week to shoot promotional materials and a video before the launch. She would also attend the launch to support Illusion Fashion.

After seeing Tao Manying off, Li Ruobing hurried back to the President's Office. As soon as she sat down, she called Wu Chen. He took more than ten seconds to answer.

"Where are you? Come to the office," Li Ruobing said without preamble.

"I'm busy. No time." Wu Chen's breathing sounded oddly uneven.

"Hm? Where are you?" Li Ruobing asked again.

Then she faintly heard a woman's voice in the background on Wu Chen's end.

"Sir, does this feel good?"

Li Ruobing shot to her feet. "Where exactly are you?"

That concludes this episode. Please keep listening!