"You're amazing, Teacher Shen!" the young girl said, blushing.
Shen Lian finished signing his name and replied with a smile, "Mm, I'll keep working hard."
"Teacher Shen, could you sign something for me too?" Several other girls got out of the car as well.
Shen Lian spread his hands. "You're Mr. Chang's fans, though. Is this really okay?"
Chang Qing smiled. "I don't mind."
Then naturally, Shen Lian didn't mind either.
"Oh, right." Shen Lian turned to Li Yi and gave him a meaningful look. "My assistant's little sister is a devoted fan of yours. If it's convenient, could you sign something for her too? Her birthday's coming up."
Li Yi was overwhelmed by the favor, but after patting himself down, he couldn't find anything suitable to sign.
In the end, a fan-site photographer gave him a publicity photo of Chang Qing for free. Chang Qing signed it and handed it to Li Yi.
Li Yi was deeply touched. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"
With nothing else to do, Chang Qing waited for Shen Lian so they could leave work together.
The two walked ahead, and one fan-site photographer couldn't resist sneaking a photo of them together.
No one expected the weather to turn and rain to start again just as they returned to the brand's building.
Wang Yueling was sitting in the lobby drinking coffee, still looking insufferably arrogant. When he saw Shen Lian and Chang Qing come in together, he seemed to give a quiet snort.
"Do you have a problem with him, Teacher Shen?" Chang Qing asked.
"To be honest, this is only the second time we've met," Shen Lian replied. "We've never exchanged a single word."
Chang Qing and Shen Lian exchanged a look and reached a consensus: the guy had issues.
Sucking up to the powerful and trampling the weak was commonplace in the entertainment industry, and hostility could spring up without any reason at all. Shen Lian could more or less guess what was going on. Wang Yueling probably just didn't like him. After all, he wasn't in a position to target Chang Qing.
"President Chu? The chamber of commerce event isn't until next month. Why are you calling me already?" A tall, straight-backed man walked at the head of a group of assistants and bodyguards, a teasing note in his voice.
Workers passed along one side carrying a mirror, which reflected the man's striking physique and handsome features.
Xu Jingge wore a smile that didn't reach his eyes. He and Chu Yilan were currently business partners, but they might become competitors in the future.
Whatever he heard made Xu Jingge stop abruptly. "You want me to... look after someone?"
"I didn't mishear you, did I, President Chu? Say that again."
Chu Yilan: "..."
If he weren't tied up right now... He really couldn't trust anyone else with this. Xu Jingge might be asking for a beating, but at least he was reliable for now.
Xu Jingge grew interested. "Where? I'll go take a look."
"At Aifur's shoot venue."
At last, genuine surprise showed on Xu Jingge's face. With his phone in one hand and his other hand in his pocket, he turned to look at the brand logo carved into marble at the entrance.
Here was the scary part: he was already exactly where Chu Yilan had said.
Xu Jingge had come to pick up his sweetheart.
Of course, just as importantly, Xu Jingge was in the rare mood for some gossip.
His word was law in Lin City. If anyone else had called him today, Xu Jingge would certainly have thought they'd lost their mind. Who did they think they were, asking him to look after someone? But this was Chu Yilan.
He remembered Feng Yueshan flooding his social feed a while ago, complaining that someone was choosing romance over friendship. He'd assumed it was Zhou Yuanlin, but Zhou Yuanlin had been like that for years. There was no need to single him out. Thinking about it now, could it have been Chu Yilan?
"President Chu." Xu Jingge was blunt about these things. "Are you dating someone?"
Chu Yilan: "..."
Xu Jingge rubbed his chin. "If they're at Aifur, they're either staff or an entertainer. Which is it?"
"Hey!" Xu Jingge didn't give Chu Yilan a chance to answer. Revenge was a dish best served cold. "When my Chang Qing and I made things official, do you remember what you said from your lofty perch, President Chu?"
Chu Yilan: "..."
Xu Jingge imitated Chu Yilan's deep, icy voice from back then. "You're asking for disappointment."
Chu Yilan was starting to want to hang up.
Meanwhile, Shen Lian finally found himself unable to avoid a confrontation with Wang Yueling.
More precisely, Wang Yueling had gone out of his way to pick a fight with him.
Wang Yueling hadn't even finished shooting his commercial. When he saw Shen Lian enter dressing room three, he insisted on having dressing room three too.
Shen Lian didn't want trouble, but he wasn't a pushover.
"Yueling needs it urgently, Shen Lian. Why don't you let him have it?" Wang Yueling's assistant said from the side.
Shen Lian was standing in the doorway of dressing room three. At those words, he planted himself firmly against the doorframe. "All the other dressing rooms are empty. It has to be this one?"
"Yes." Wang Yueling folded his arms and nodded. "Three is my lucky number."
"Well, what a coincidence." Shen Lian refused to budge. "Three is my lucky number too."
Wang Yueling's expression soured. "You won't give it up?"
"No," Shen Lian said.
Wang Yueling stared at Shen Lian for several seconds, then suddenly sneered. "Just as I thought. Now that you've gotten close to Chang Qing, you've got a lot more confidence."
He might have been better off keeping that to himself. The moment he said it, Shen Lian caught on to the root of the problem.
"You're acting crazy around me just because Chang Qing and I seem close?" Shen Lian showed no mercy. "Then go get close to him yourself. Why take it out on me?"
Wang Yueling's gaze abruptly darkened.
Shen Lian gave a meaningful "Oh," as though the answer were written all over Wang Yueling's face. "You tried, but Mr. Chang ignored you."
Wang Yueling's face turned thunderous.
"So that really is it," Shen Lian said.
Listening from the side, Li Yi could hardly breathe.
"I'm using room three." Shen Lian kept it brief. "If you have a problem, get the brand to kick me out."
With that, he motioned for Jiang You and Li Yi to follow him inside, then shut the door with a bang!
Wang Yueling's expression was practically twisted.
Less than ten minutes later, pounding on the dressing room door shook the room.
Shen Lian stood up and said calmly, "Slower than I expected. All right, we haven't left anything behind, have we? Let's go."
Wang Yueling really had brought someone to back him up. At any rate, a man who looked very much like a senior executive stood beside him, clearly there to lend him support.
Shen Lian remained unfazed. "I'm done with it. Go ahead and use it. Room three."
The corner of Wang Yueling's eye twitched violently. He said nothing, but the man beside him spoke. "Don't you understand the rules of this industry?"
Shen Lian looked over with interest. "I do, but you're not the one who makes them."
"Is that so?" The man stepped forward, his expression threatening. "Believe me when I say you've already lost this endorsement."
He looked intimidating enough. A newcomer or someone without enough standing would almost certainly have been frightened.
Wang Yueling, meanwhile, looked distinctly pleased.
"What is this, a playground? You couldn't win an argument, so you called your daddy?" Shen Lian wasn't about to put up with this treatment. He immediately opened fire with mockery, then turned to the man. "Come on, then. Show me right now whether I've lost my endorsement."
Watching from a short distance away, Xu Jingge thought, Since when did Chu Yilan have such wild taste?
[So you like the feisty type!]
[? Are you determined to make me come all the way from Qu City to smash your mouth in?]
Tsk, tsk. So vicious, Xu Jingge thought.
Before you continue