Chapter 19

Weibo was in complete chaos. Yu Shan held an absolute advantage, and the longer the public opinion fermented, the worse it got for Leng Xiang.

Jiang Sisi’s business card had her phone number on it. As evening approached, Leng Xiang dialed it.

Jiang Sisi’s ringtone was the opening theme of Welcome to Star. Leng Xiang hadn’t watched the show in many years, but hearing that familiar melody suddenly brought back a wave of nostalgia.

Back then, she had followed Welcome to Star for a long time. If not for that incident, she could even be considered a veteran fan of the live variety program.

Thinking about it now gave her a sense of things remaining the same while people changed.

After two cycles of the ringtone, the call finally connected.

The other end sounded noisy, as if Jiang Sisi was busy.

Jiang Sisi’s voice came through faintly from the other side of the line, not entirely clear. She said, “Hello, this is Jiang Sisi.”

Leng Xiang replied, “It’s me, Leng Xiang.”

On the other end of the line, Jiang Sisi was playing bridge.

There were four people at the card table besides her—wait, no, four in total including her: Li Guchuan, president of Gu Chuan Entertainment and a top actor; one of the higher-ups from Excellence Media; and Yu Shan’s secret sugar daddy.

No one knew that Yu Shan had this ambiguous backer, a young master from B City’s upper circles who had been pursuing her. Yu Shan kept stringing him along while hinting that she wanted better resources.

As her wish, the sugar daddy gave her the female second lead role in an upcoming hot IP drama.

But after Jiang Sisi sabotaged it, the matter fizzled out.

Jiang Sisi had seen the Weibo drama that morning. After a brief investigation and some thought, she organized this card game in the afternoon.

Card tables and drinking tables were essentially the same.

The entertainment industry was small. Pull any two people from the circle, and they were friends of friends—connected within three degrees. The people at this table were no exception.

Jiang Sisi glanced at the cards in front of her. She had lost around three hundred thousand, not a huge amount, but enough.

As one round neared its end, her phone on the table rang. She glanced at it—an unknown number.

Jiang Sisi wasn’t in a hurry to answer. The phone kept ringing persistently. Once the round finished, she pushed her chips aside and finally picked up.

It was Leng Xiang calling.

She had just been wondering if Leng Xiang would call her, and sure enough, she did.

Jiang Sisi thought, If she wasn’t backed into a corner, who could force Leng Xiang to bow her head? Especially since Leng Xiang disliked her.

It seemed Leng Xiang’s ambition was even stronger than she had imagined.

The other three had been chatting idly but fell silent when Jiang Sisi answered the phone.

Leng Xiang asked, “Can we meet?”

The other three didn’t know who she was talking to, but they saw Jiang Sisi smile faintly. She said, “Sure. For what?”

There was a moment of silence; only faint breathing came through the line.

Leng Xiang said, “Does what you said the other day still count?”

Jiang Sisi glanced at the other three with her peripheral vision and replied, “I always keep my word. Monday, come find me at the TV station.”

There was a long pause on the line, then Leng Xiang hung up.

Jiang Sisi was usually the one hanging up on others—this was the first time someone hung up on her.

She felt a bit novel, even puzzled. Suddenly, she recalled what she had said to Leng Xiang in her office a few days ago.

What had she said back then?

I really like you. Sleep with me one more time, okay?

And now, she had invited Leng Xiang to meet at the TV station office.

…That sounded a bit dirty.

Jiang Sisi chuckled. She had been misunderstood again.

The other three saw her put down the phone and started the next round, getting back to business.

The Excellence Media executive said, “As for Leng Xiang, to be honest, it’s Director Liu who doesn’t like her. We have no issue with her. Since you’ve spoken up, of course we’re happy to go along. If you can keep Excellence Media in mind and slot one of our people into your new film, that would be perfect.”

With Excellence Media backing down, two-thirds of the matter was settled.

Yu Shan’s sugar daddy young master had seen her Weibo post that morning and was furious. He had pursued her and rushed to give her resources, only for her to flaunt her love with Qin Wen online.

What did Yu Shan take him for, a stepping stone?

He had wanted to deal with her properly anyway, and this was a chance to do Jiang Sisi a favor. He was happy to go along.

The young master snorted coldly and said, “That little bitch Yu Shan, biting the hand that feeds her. If I don’t destroy her, she’ll think she’s something special!”

Strictly speaking, Yu Shan’s sugar daddy should have been the most upset when Jiang Sisi killed her female second lead role. But he and Jiang Sisi were both from B City’s elite circles, familiar faces at various banquets—friends tied by mutual interests.

This young master sugar daddy didn’t care about that role anyway. Capitalists scorned such things; if given, fine—if Jiang Sisi didn’t like Yu Shan and nixed it, so be it.

He was only hung up on Yu Shan herself.

The more the young master thought, the angrier he got. He said, “Sisi-jie, however you want to deal with that little bitch, just say the word. I’ll have someone draft the press release tonight.”

Jiang Sisi replied, “I won’t interfere. Handle it yourself.”

Her goal was just to protect Leng Xiang. She didn’t care what happened to Yu Shan, but she needed Yu Shan to come forward and clarify her slander against Leng Xiang, clearing her name.

Since she had said Leng Xiang would be the female lead in her new film, she would be.

She needed to lay a good public opinion foundation for the film’s shoot in three months, and she couldn’t step forward herself.

Someone needed to give it a push.

This jilted sugar daddy young master was the perfect candidate.

After the card game, Jiang Sisi treated everyone to a casual dinner.

She drank like water—her thousand-cup tolerance was well-known in the industry. No one dared match her shot for shot.

The guests left satisfied. After seeing off the Excellence Media executive and Yu Shan’s sugar daddy young master, only Jiang Sisi and Li Guchuan remained, chatting as they walked to the parking lot.

Li Guchuan was Jiang Sisi’s childhood friend. They grew up together and were even betrothed as kids by their parents—thankfully, one was a lesbian and the other gay, and both out, averting that disaster.

Li Guchuan had watched the whole drama unfold and marveled. He asked, “I’ve heard about Leng Xiang too—she’s tough. Why are you protecting her like this?”

Jiang Sisi gave him a simple rundown of the situation.

She said, “I accidentally slept with her. I feel guilty about it.”

Li Guchuan was astonished. “You actually know how to feel ‘guilty’? Wait, what does Leng Xiang think?”

“She said she doesn’t blame me, but I bet she still dislikes me quite a bit.” Jiang Sisi shot him a cool glance. “Is that how you see me?”

Li Guchuan replied, “Of course. Our Miss Jiang is all about propriety and has no heart to speak of. You called it an accident, she didn’t ask you to take responsibility, and she dislikes you—for your personality, you’d have tossed it aside by now. But here you are, still hung up on helping her. What are you after?”

Jiang Sisi laughed and cursed, “Get lost.”

She gazed at the inky night sky.

B City’s sky hadn’t shown a star in eight hundred years, yet the city glittered with lights everywhere, stars on the ground.

Jiang Sisi said, “I was just thinking—what if someone like her, who’s been cast into the abyss before, becomes famous one day? Gets lifted high up. What would she turn into?”

Li Guchuan said, “I don’t know about her, but you—be careful you don’t fall for her yourself.”

Jiang Sisi smiled. “Impossible.”

How could that be?