Chapter 76: World Two [46]

After the news broke that the Specially-Appointed Advisor held the same rank as a Deputy Director-General of the NRTA, the marketing accounts and paid trolls didn’t dare to play dead any longer. They quickly turned tail and began frantically deleting their previous posts.

A Deputy Director-General of the General Administration? What kind of rank was that? That was a Deputy Ministerial level! An important figure most ordinary people would never meet in their entire lives!

Fabricating rumors about a Deputy Ministerial-level active personnel? They were just trying to earn a little money. Not a single one of them wanted to end up behind bars! They didn’t want to ruin their own lives over this.

The official congratulatory message didn’t just stun the trolls and marketing accounts—it could be said that everyone in the entire industry was dumbfounded.

Director Zhang, who had been contacting old friends to inquire about Jing Ke’s background and preparing an opportunity to turn the tables, silently deleted the messages he had been about to send to his old friends upon seeing this. Pretending nothing had ever happened, he focused solely on being the nominal Chief Director.

It wasn’t just anyone else; even Shao Qing, lying right beside Jing Ke, stared at the news for a long time after seeing it, her eyes widening as she looked at Jing Ke.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Shao Qing’s face was filled with confusion. So last night, she had been pinning a Deputy Ministerial-level person beneath her and biting a ring of marks around her neck?

“I didn’t expect the procedure to be completed so quickly.” Jing Ke rubbed the tip of her nose.

She hadn’t meant to hide it on purpose. She just thought that the appointment of officials of this level would involve a very complicated procedure. By her estimation, it would have been considered good progress just to finalize everything within this year.

Actually, Jing Ke’s reasoning wasn’t wrong. If following standard procedures, background checks and political vetting alone would typically take over half a year.

However, the position of Specially-Appointed Advisor was rather special. While Jing Ke enjoyed the corresponding treatment, she didn’t actually have much real authority. The so-called right to express opinions and make suggestions depended primarily on the will of the higher-ups.

They could ensure all her opinions and suggestions received feedback and were implemented, or they could render all her opinions and suggestions worthless pieces of paper.

It was precisely because, in principle, this Specially-Appointed Advisor position was not granted formal administrative power that it could be handled as a special case, implemented at breakneck speed, and passed unanimously by the relevant leadership.

“Is there anything else you’ve been hiding from me that you haven’t told me?” Shao Qing asked.

Jing Ke emptied her mind for a moment, trying hard to recall. “It seems I also hold a concurrent post in a certain department, one that cannot be disclosed publicly. I count as a teacher of sorts to some people. I have to give them four classes a month.”

“Teaching? Teaching them your hacking skills?” Shao Qing couldn’t help but imagine something a bit strange and mysterious.

Come to think of it, those incredibly formidable hackers always seemed to end up being recruited by the state.

“More or less. It might also involve some rather advanced technological concepts.” Jing Ke explained briefly.

Although being transformed into a human had disabled many of her functions, the knowledge in her head remained.

Jing Ke wouldn’t excessively interfere with the world’s development, but on certain specific research topics where they had already made some headway and discoveries, a small hint or reminder was permissible.

—

The multi-sided turmoil subsided at an extremely rapid pace after the official announcement offering congratulations.

The fact that Jing Ke was auxiliary personnel of the General Administration sent the programs she had invested in into ecstasy. Countless artists who wanted to jump ship and join New Life Entertainment were simply too numerous to count.

What concept was the rank of Deputy Director? Deputy Ministerial level! An existence for which the General Administration’s official accounts would stand in support!

More so than the artists, the behind-the-scenes directors and screenwriters were also extremely eager to join New Life Entertainment and become employees under Jing Ke.

The reason was very simple. If such a major figure became their superior, the handcuffs and shackles previously clamped onto them might not disappear entirely, but the creative space available to them would surely multiply. At the very least, they wouldn’t be strangled by bizarre censorship rules.

The relevant public opinion fermented and spread throughout the evening. Not many people dared to directly call Jing Ke’s phone, but Shao Qing’s was a different story. Friends who were on good terms with her all sent messages.

Sister Ke, who was far from calm, directly made a phone call. She pretended to complain that Shao Qing had hidden such important news from her, then conveyed her company’s top management’s latest stance.

“Now the company wants an amicable parting with you and is willing to gift you five percent of Zongheng Entertainment’s shares free of charge when your contract expires. They hope that even after you leave Zongheng Entertainment, you’ll still remember the many years you once collaborated.”

Sister Ke’s tone was somewhat complex. She truly hadn’t expected Jing Ke could cause such a huge stir. Even more so, she hadn’t imagined that someone of such a high administrative rank would be so completely devoted to an artist under her care.

“An amicable parting is the best outcome, but Sister Ke, what have you decided? Will you join me and come to New Life Entertainment?” Shao Qing asked.

“Honestly, I’m a bit tempted. After all, having a big tree to lean on makes it easier to enjoy the shade.” Sister Ke didn’t beat around the bush.

Even though President Liu had changed his attitude because of Jing Ke’s identity, he likely wouldn’t forget what he’d said before. If she stayed at Zongheng, she’d be constrained by him and might even have to swallow a lot of bitterness.

“So, should I take it that you agree, Sister Ke?” Shao Qing asked, her tone noticeably lighter.

“Mm, switching companies and becoming a partner… a deal like that is quite worthwhile.” Sister Ke didn’t hesitate, reaffirming her stance once more.

“By the way, after Jing Ke’s identity as a Specially-Appointed Advisor was made public, did a lot of people try to get information out of you?” Sister Ke abruptly shifted the topic, instantly entering work mode.

“No matter who asks you for information, don’t give any direct answers. Even if it’s a friend you get along with well in private, insist that you only found out just now too.”

Sister Ke advised with concern, “I won’t say much else. Just focus on living a good life with Boss Jing. Don’t let the fact that so many people are throwing themselves at Boss Jing cause any unhappiness between the two of you.”

As a veteran who had navigated the entertainment industry for nearly twenty years, Sister Ke had witnessed countless artists and scions of wealthy families get together and break up. Though many were just pretense or fleeting whims, there were also those who had genuine feelings but ultimately parted ways due to strange misunderstandings.

Sister Ke didn’t want Shao Qing and Jing Ke to follow the same path as the latter.

“Sister Ke, don’t worry. I’m not the type to throw petty tantrums.” Shao Qing replied. “Besides, I don’t like getting jealous; I only like eating delicious food.”

Except for a certain ex-girlfriend who occasionally appeared in her mind, Shao Qing felt she was quite generous and free-spirited in other aspects.

As for the odd instances of jealousy before, it was only because her relationship with Jing Ke hadn’t been officially made public yet, leaving her with just a tiny, insignificant sense of insecurity.

After ending the call with Sister Ke, Shao Qing saw that many contacts she had added at some unknown time had also sent her messages.

Shao Qing skimmed a few of them and found that all these people were trying to use her to probe about Jing Ke’s situation. She simply turned off her phone, adopting the principle of “out of sight, out of mind.”

—

“Jing Ke, I have a question for you.” After washing up and lying in bed, with no phone to play with, Shao Qing suddenly came up with a question.

“Ask.” Jing Ke raised her guard a notch.

“If you were passing by a bar at night and saw a beautiful drunk girl being taken advantage of by some bad people, would you step in to help her?” Shao Qing, who had just assured Sister Ke that she wouldn’t be irrationally jealous, asked.

Jing Ke frowned slightly and seriously thought for three seconds. “Generally, I wouldn’t be passing by a bar at night. At most, I might drive past one.”

“But when I’m driving, I’m very focused. I probably wouldn’t notice that kind of situation. This hypothetical scenario is unlikely to happen to me.” Jing Ke answered truthfully.

“Hypothetically, I said hypothetically! Don’t overthink it, just imagine the scene and tell me what you would do.” Shao Qing added. “You’re alone, and I’m at home.”

“I’d call the police, or call the bar’s security. If a customer gets into trouble right outside the bar entrance, the bar might bear joint liability.” Jing Ke said very rigorously.

“And what if there isn’t enough time to call for help?” Shao Qing continued to press. “Would you choose to ignore it, or step in to help the girl?”

Jing Ke actually wanted to say she didn’t care either way, but recalling that Shao Qing was usually quite soft-hearted, she polished the answer on the tip of her tongue. “Since it happened right before my eyes, I suppose I would step in to help the girl. I’d tell them there are surveillance cameras nearby, so they wouldn’t dare do anything reckless.”

“And what if the girl was so drunk she could barely stand, and after the bad guys were chased away, she mistook you for a friend and begged you to send her home?” Shao Qing grew increasingly serious as she asked.

“Call the police. Let the police handle it. I’m just a stranger with no relation to her. Stepping in to help was already a good deed, but I have absolutely no obligation to send her home.” Jing Ke said matter-of-factly.

Having surfed the internet quite a bit before, Jing Ke understood by now: her girlfriend was testing her resolve by asking these questions.

“And what if that person looked a lot like me? Say, seventy percent resemblance?” Shao Qing continued to ask.

Although she had reassured herself many times, Shao Qing still hadn’t forgotten the things Jing Ke had said before.

The ex-girlfriend was, admittedly, a thing of the past. But at the very beginning, hadn’t Jing Ke perhaps chosen her as a partner precisely because she bore some slight resemblance to her ex?

“So what? That person isn’t you. I have no need to be responsible for her.” Jing Ke said.

Realizing her tone had been a bit too firm, Jing Ke quickly added a caveat. “If she were your die-hard fan, then I might consider it… perhaps wait with her until the police arrived before leaving.”

“Last question.” Shao Qing shifted forward as she spoke, pressing her lips to Jing Ke’s ear and asking in a voice barely above a whisper, “Between me and your ex-girlfriend, who do you like more?”

Hearing this question, the breath Jing Ke had been holding slowly released.

As expected, Shao Qing wanted to ask this question. Luckily, she had already thought about it beforehand.

“I only like you right now. Shao Qing, I only like you.” Jing Ke gave an extremely resolute answer.

“Not bad. Now, sleep!” Quite satisfied with this answer, Shao Qing directly kissed the side of Jing Ke’s face, then rested her chin on Jing Ke’s shoulder, choosing a comfortable position to begin fostering drowsiness.