【This is a core secret the Female Lead herself is protecting.】
【The Host must find the reason on her own.】The System wasn’t a God. It didn’t know everything with perfect clarity. Probing the direction of a world’s fate required energy, so it generally only extracted information about important events and people.
And this was something buried deep within the Female Lead’s protected memories. Scanning it might well cost a hefty amount of Points and energy.
The System’s answer didn’t disappoint Jiang Ning much. She nodded and went back to reading the materials in her hands.
The childhood photos of Lin Yiren gave Jiang Ning a new direction to think in. She suspected that Lin Yiren had met the Original Host as a child and never forgot her, but with so many memories tangled together, Jiang Ning couldn’t recall when they might have crossed paths, and eventually gave up.
When she looked up, several hours had already passed. Jiang Ning washed up briefly and prepared for bed. Before switching her phone to airplane mode, she noticed Lin Yiren had sent a message.
Lin Yiren: Miss Jiang, goodnight.
Jiang Ning was a little surprised the Female Lead had dared to message her first, but she didn’t ignore it and replied with a goodnight of her own. What she didn’t know was that on the other end, Lin Yiren was so thrilled by the reply that she couldn’t sleep. She immediately saved the message to her favorites, then felt a twinge of disappointment that Jiang Ning hadn’t added her own name before the word “goodnight.” Her mood recovered quickly enough, though, and she drifted off to sleep thinking about Jiang Ning.
The next day, when Jiang Ning arrived at the company, the employees kept sneaking glances at her the whole way in. She paid them no mind and immediately called a shareholders’ meeting. In the end, she overrode everyone’s objections to terminate contracts with several artists, pulled investment out of a drama that looked poised to do well, and redirected the funds to a few relatively unknown writers instead.
Most people thought Jiang Ning had lost her mind. Even Wang Chenyu couldn’t understand why she was doing this, yet the moment he saw the documents she handed over, he let out a breath of relief. As he marveled at how much his Eldest Young Miss had truly grown, he couldn’t help wondering where she had gotten all this dirt.
“I got these at the Lin Family’s place yesterday.” What the System had given her there was indeed no lie.
Wang Chenyu froze for a moment, baffled as to how Jiang Ning had gotten involved with the Lin Family at all. Fortunately, the Lin Family’s public reputation was decent, so he wasn’t too worried. He reminded Jiang Ning to be careful, then went off to handle other matters.
Today, the viciousness and gloom between Jiang Ning’s brows had vanished entirely, replaced by composure and calm. Seeing her pull herself together eased the weight that had been pressing on Wang Chenyu’s heart. As long as she didn’t give up, neither would Jiangtian Entertainment.
Jiangtian Entertainment had been tripped up at every turn for a while now. Several of its star performers had been poached, and what remained didn’t carry much influence. The few actors who had stayed out of loyalty kept getting hit with one scandal after another, and the heavy loss of fans served as a warning that kept many from daring to sign with the company.
But with the System around, she had a powerhouse PR machine. All the fabricated dirt could be thoroughly debunked, and if any scandal turned out to be true, she would terminate the contract, minimizing the damage as much as possible.
Using the world’s trajectory, Jiang Ning poached several outstanding managers and signed actors who had been blacklisted for refusing to sell their bodies. Jiangtian Entertainment was already being eyed by wolves anyway, so stirring up a few small fish and shrimp made no difference. The roster was quickly filled out. The blacklisted actors and singers had all been fairly influential once, and now that their old scandals had been cleared up, a large portion of their fans were willing to keep supporting them.
Jiang Ning spent quite a lot of money in this area, but every cent landed where it counted, and soon people were paying attention to Jiangtian Entertainment again.
As President, Jiang Ning did everything personally, treating everyone in the company fairly and justly. There were no underhanded deals trading artists away for profit, and with a batch of fresh blood injected into the company, all of them desperate people determined to fight for a chance, everyone at Jiangtian Entertainment from top to bottom was working their hardest.
At the same time, Jiang Ning paid visits, one by one, to the elders who had been on good terms with Jiang Tianci. Companies with no ties to the Chen Corporation reached out privately as well, and the social engagements piled up naturally. Especially at a moment like this, when Jiangtian Entertainment was at a disadvantage, Jiang Ning was forced to drink toast after toast. Fortunately, having lived through so many worlds, she handled this sort of thing with ease, but no matter how strong her Mental Power was, too much alcohol still took its toll.
Lin Yiren had already decided to develop her career domestically, and there was plenty to be done, but no matter how busy she was, she never stopped watching Jiang Ning. It wasn’t that she was despairing the way she had last time, but after several gala events, even though Jiang Ning had secured plenty of resources, there were still a few vermin pestering her. It made Lin Yiren wish she could stand at Jiang Ning’s side and help her, keep her from drinking so much. It had been so long since she’d seen her that Lin Yiren begged her Older Brother to bring her along to the banquet.
Today Jiang Ning wasn’t wearing her usual tailored suit. Instead she had on a pure white gown, as untouchable as a snow lotus on a mountain peak. Her long hair, normally worn loose, had been pinned up in a crisp, capable style. Her crimson lips were pressed together, and only when a deal was closed did she allow herself a smile, one that seemed almost like an act of charity.
Although Jiangtian Entertainment’s strength was unremarkable at the banquet, Jiang Ning’s striking looks drew plenty of people over to strike up conversation.
Half of them lingered for her beauty, and the other half came out of curiosity and stayed for her talent. Over several business banquets, Jiang Ning had thoroughly scrubbed away the Original Host’s gloomy, incompetent image. Everyone assumed she had simply matured overnight after suffering such a heavy blow.
Even though Jiangtian Entertainment was still being suppressed, some people had begun drifting toward neutrality. Better one more friend than one more enemy.
Every high-society banquet was a commercial battleground dressed up in glitter and wine. The Chen Family had come today as well, with the goal of signing Lin Yiren.
Lin Yiren was the Lin Family’s daughter, with a powerful background that kept most people from foolishly trying to smear her, and her own ability was solid enough. Signed and groomed properly, she could become an ace card. This was a rare banquet appearance for her, and plenty of managers had their eyes on her, hoping to win her over. But after even Chengxing Entertainment’s ace managers hit a wall, many of them gave up on the idea.
【Host, the Female Lead is looking at you.】The System watched Lin Yiren’s gaze trailing after Jiang Ning and offered a well-meaning reminder.
“I know.”
【Then why aren’t you going over?】The System watched the two of them, unable to figure out what game they were playing.
Jiang Ning ignored the System. Tilting slightly, she raised her glass toward Lin Yiren from across the room and nodded with a smile in greeting, then went back to working the crowd, drinking without the slightest hesitation. Finally Lin Yiren couldn’t take it anymore. Carrying a glass of plain water, she walked over.
“Miss Jiang.” Before, she had pretended not to know how to address Jiang Ning and called her Sister. But on this occasion, with Jiang Ning hardly familiar to her, Lin Yiren behaved very properly, terrified of leaving a bad impression, of being mistaken for someone who was cozying up to her with an agenda just like everyone else.
Lin Yiren held out her stemmed glass, having swapped the red wine from the passing waiter for her own glass of water, and handed it to Jiang Ning. She didn’t feel the least bit strange about carrying a glass of water around at an event like this.
Jiang Ning didn’t refuse. Instead, she teased, “Is Younger Sister Lin trying for an indirect kiss?” Her red lips curled upward, and the cold air around her softened considerably, tinged with a strange, ambiguous warmth.
Lin Yiren naturally couldn’t withstand it. She shook her head hurriedly, explaining that she hadn’t taken a single sip, then grabbed a wine glass from nearby and took a small, flustered sip to cover herself. The moment she met Jiang Ning’s half-smiling eyes, she realized she had picked up the very glass Jiang Ning had just set down. Her face flushed crimson in an instant, her lips moving soundlessly as she fumbled for an explanation.
How embarrassing!
Having enjoyed Lin Yiren’s flustered state long enough, Jiang Ning stopped teasing her. She drained the water in one go, but as she turned to leave, her steps wobbled. Pressing a hand to her forehead as if in pain, her face flushed red, every trace of drunkenness on display.
Lin Yiren had watched exactly how much Jiang Ning drank, and seeing her like this now, she rushed forward to steady her, then guided her out of the hall. Outside, with no air conditioning, a wave of heat hit them. Lin Yiren called for the driver and tucked Jiang Ning into the car.
Luckily, drunk Jiang Ning made no fuss at all, just leaned quietly against Lin Yiren’s arms. Cradled against that soft warmth, Lin Yiren’s heart pounded like a drum, and even her breathing grew careful and quiet. Then, as if possessed, she told the driver to head home.
She was just worried Jiang Ning might have an accident if left alone. Yes, that’s all it is. Lin Yiren kept convincing herself of this, yet like someone who had just done something terrible, she didn’t dare look at Jiang Ning, and so she missed the smile curving at the corner of Jiang Ning’s lips.
The System watched the Female Lead invite a wolf straight into her home and let out a helpless sigh. The Old Fox was as formidable as ever. The Female Lead, a Little White Flower through and through, was never going to outplay her.
After they got home, Lin Yiren gave the Lin Parents a brief explanation and sent a message to Lin Zhiyuan, then brought Jiang Ning back to the guest room where she had stayed last time. Watching the drunken figure drift in and out of consciousness, she felt a pang of tenderness mixed with helplessness, not knowing what to do. In the end, she went to the bathroom to soak a towel and gently wiped Jiang Ning down. All that fuss took nearly half an hour.
Her movements were so slow that Jiang Ning nearly fell asleep for real.
Then, judging that it was just about over, Jiang Ning opened her eyes, and at that exact moment saw Lin Yiren agonizing over whether or not to lift her skirt a little further. Looking up and meeting Jiang Ning’s gaze, Lin Yiren was so startled that the towel in her hands trembled.
It felt like something that should be very easy to explain, yet Jiang Ning’s look made Lin Yiren feel that nothing about it could be explained at all.
The rabbit-caught-in-headlights panic in Lin Yiren’s eyes pleased Jiang Ning. Giving up on the idea of teasing her further, she murmured a soft thank-you and quite naturally took the towel from her hands, heading into the bathroom without even asking how she had ended up at the Lin house.
Lin Yiren sat on the bed, only snapping out of it when the sound of running water came from the bathroom. Since Jiang Ning seemed to have sobered up, she took a set of pajamas from the closet and returned to her own room.
Jiang Ning had been leaning against her the whole ride, so Lin Yiren’s clothes carried the scent of wine. After showering in her room, she was towel-drying her hair when she heard a knock at the door. Dropping the towel, she hurried over.
The Lin Parents never came looking for her without reason, and at this hour, the only person who would come knocking had to be Jiang Ning. At that thought, Lin Yiren’s heart leapt instinctively.
She opened the door to find Jiang Ning standing there, hair still damp, water droplets soaking into her nightgown so that it clung to her body, lending her an unintentional allure. That flawless silhouette made Lin Yiren’s face flush red before she could stop it.
Noticing Jiang Ning wasn’t wearing any shoes, she realized she had put away the slippers from that room and hurriedly ushered her inside. Before she could even ask what was wrong, a single sentence from Jiang Ning nearly shattered her entire worldview.
“Younger sister, care for a sugar relationship?” Jiang Ning’s smile didn’t waver as she watched Lin Yiren freeze in place.
Lin Yiren wondered if she’d inhaled too much wine and was hallucinating. She glanced at the shadow on the floor and, after confirming the figure wasn’t a Ghost, found the whole thing somehow even more terrifying instead.
