Lin Zhi glanced at the time and said there was still plenty of time: "Let's go check on their practice."
"Oh well."
In the practice room, several girls were sweating profusely, dancing to the rhythm of the music. After two months of training, they had made great progress in both their physique and dance skills. Their debut was a certainty; they just needed an opportunity.
The music stopped, and Lin Zhi pushed open the door and walked in, saying some encouraging words to lift everyone's spirits.
"I've secured a variety show for you, a talent show, where nine members will eventually form a group. It will be a year-long competition, with the best performing members being eliminated. The top few spots might be pre-selected, and you'll have to fight for the remaining few spots yourselves. Those who don't make the group will return to the company to continue practicing, and then return to the company to debut as a group after the group disbands a year later. But you don't need to feel too much pressure. The competition is very strong, so just do your best. This is your chance to shine."
A cute-looking girl raised her hand: "President Lin, then... then will we break up?"
The girl's name was An Yuxin. She was from the south and had a soft, sweet voice. She had just graduated from university and was brought here to practice. It was obvious that Kevin or his men had brought her here, as he had a particular fondness for young girls who had just graduated from university.
Lin Zhi said gently, "That's true, but it's only for a year, and even though you're not together, you both have WeChat, right? You won't lose contact."
An Yuxin looks like a little rabbit, especially now that her eyes are red.
Fang Wei patted An Yuxin's head and comforted her, "It's okay, what if we debut together!"
Fang Wei is the most unique member of this girl group. She has a refreshing short haircut and a cheerful and generous personality. Although the captain has not yet been decided, she has already been internally chosen as the captain. Moreover, her resume is also very good. She graduated from a prestigious university and studied abroad. She has participated in many talent shows, but was eliminated in the first round because she did not have a background.
Lin Zhi raised her wrist again. There was still an hour left. There might be traffic jams on the weekend, so it was a good time to leave now.
Lin Zhi: "Your current efforts will be directly proportional to your future achievements. Time will tell. I have to go now. Keep up the good work!"
Lin Zhi's smile is very beautiful, and it is indeed the most effective encouragement. The group immediately perked up and said they could dance it again!
At the elevator entrance, Lin Zhi was waiting for the elevator when someone suddenly called her from behind. She turned around and saw that it was Fang Wei.
"What's wrong?"
Fang Wei had just finished dancing and was soaked in sweat, with her short hair sticking to her face. Lin Zhi took out a tissue from her bag and handed it to her.
Wipe your sweat.
Fang Wei blushed even more, wiped his hands on his clothes, and took the tissue: "Thank you, President Lin."
Lin Zhi watched her put the tissue into her pocket and then wipe her sweat with her hand.
What a strange person. They offer you tissues but you don't use them. Do they expect you to frame them when you get back?
Fang Wei took out his phone, and suddenly started stammering, "Linlinlinlin..."
The assistant, listening nearby, clenched his fists anxiously: "President Lin."
Fang Wei: "Yes, Mr. Lin, I...I...I think...I just want to...add...uh...add yours..."
Lin Zhi frowned, looking at the constantly spinning hands on her wristwatch, feeling very anxious.
Does this child stutter? Wasn't he perfectly normal during the selection process?
After a long minute, Fang Wei finally finished speaking: "WeChat?"
Lin Zhi breathed a sigh of relief and generously took out her phone: "Scan my QR code, but I might not reply immediately. If you have any questions, just ask her." She pointed to her assistant beside her.
The assistant immediately made a face, thinking to herself: Will she stutter when she types?
With a ding, Fang Wei scanned Lin Zhi's WeChat QR code and immediately clicked to add her: "No, no, no...it's okay, I..."
The elevator arrived just then. Lin Zhi smiled and interrupted Fang Wei, stepping into the elevator: "I'm leaving now, goodbye."
"Goodbye, Mr. Lin!" Fang Wei bowed at a perfect right angle, ninety degrees.
After the elevator doors closed, Fang Wei said goodbye to his assistant and went back without stammering. He was beaming and skipped all the way home.
Assistant: I think I know something...
There was no traffic on the road, and we would be at the airport in twenty minutes. Jiang Lai would not be getting off the plane for another fifty minutes, so we had plenty of time.
Lin Zhi's phone suddenly rang, and she answered, "Kevin?"
"Little Zhizhi~ What are you doing? Are you busy?"
Lin Zhi gagged and snapped, "Are you alright? If you have something to say, say it."
"It's just... um... I..." Kevin stammered for a long time without saying anything.
Lin Zhi thought of Fang Wei and jokingly scolded, "You stutter too?"
When Kevin's partner saw that he was stammering and unwilling to speak, she took the phone and said, "Hello, Lin Zhi, this is Liu Yu."
The sound without any harshness is much more pleasant to listen to.
Lin Zhi asked politely, "Hello, is there anything I can help you with?"
"I'm sorry to say, it's the weekend and I was planning to take Kevin abroad for two days to give him a surprise. I didn't expect him to have a social engagement. But the plane tickets are already booked, which is a rare opportunity. I'd like to ask you for a favor and help Kevin with the engagement. We've been thinking for a long time and only you can help us. Miss Zhang isn't good at socializing, and this engagement seems quite important."
Kevin took the phone and added, "We've always wanted to expand our business, and I've been busy with this. We finally managed to get the shareholders, and we can sign the contract today. There's still half an hour until the agreed time."
The red light suddenly turned on, and Lin Zhi stopped.
Without a doubt, Lin Zhi would choose to attend the social event. However, she hadn't kept her promise to Jiang Lai, which made her feel like she had broken her word. Looking at the gift bag on the back seat, which contained the bag she had bought for Jiang Lai, she realized that it had been sitting there for half a month. She had finally managed to give it to Jiang Lai today, but it was going to be delayed again. If she wasn't worried that the delivery would be seen by others and have a bad influence, she would have already given the bag to Jiang Lai.
Lin Zhi sighed and said, "This is the last time."
"Yay! You're the best! I'll send you the address, don't be late!"
"Okay, hang up now."
Not long after the call ended, Kevin sent all the information to Lin Zhi. Lin Zhi had no choice but to turn the car around, find a random open-air parking lot nearby, and start looking through the investor information.
Zhengzhengsheng has been established for five years. For the first four years, it was lukewarm and unknown until Qi Chuan made a name for the company and it gradually got better. At the beginning of this year, the company planned to expand its business. After a long period of investigation and research, it finally decided to expand into music IP production and operation. Kevin is in charge of this matter, and today is the final decision.
After getting a general idea, Lin Zhi turned the car around, turned on the navigation, and drove to the location indicated.
Chapter 30
Anna had seen someone go from a lovesick face to a bitter face in just three hours, and that person was Jiang Lai. She was talking non-stop and seemed very excited on the plane, but as soon as she got off the plane, she turned off her phone and flew away. As a result, she soon had a bitter face.
The company car had arrived at the parking lot. The driver got out and helped them put their luggage in the trunk. When the driver lifted Jiang Lai's suitcase, he grunted, frowned, and gave an awkward laugh: "Haha, little girl, you've got quite a lot of luggage..."
Jiang Lai looked miserable and listless, like a bitter gourd ripened in summer or autumn: "Oh, sorry, brother, I put in two extra pieces of clothing."
The driver wiped his sweat and muttered to himself: What kind of clothes can be so heavy? Should I go lift weights?
It had nothing to do with the driver's strength; Jiang Lai had indeed packed a lot of things—all sorts of clothes, her cosmetics and skincare products, and a laptop—all crammed into her suitcase. Jiang Lai exercised regularly; although she looked thin, she could actually knock Lin Zhi flying with one punch.
Don't ask why Lin Zhi was hit; it's because this person is untrustworthy.
The last message in the chat was from Lin Zhi: [Sorry, I have an unexpected engagement and can't pick you up at the airport.]
The text was cold and impersonal, without even a comforting voice message or a single emoji. She had clearly sent Lin Zhi many cute emojis before, but Lin Zhi hadn't saved any of them, wasting all her time searching and saving them one by one.
Xiao Jiang was very angry, so angry he turned into a chipmunk.
Anna poked Jiang Lai's cheek and asked with a smile, "What's wrong, little chipmunk?"
Jiang Lai snorted and turned her head to say, "It's nothing."
Anna crossed her arms and looked her up and down: "You're not angry because Sister Lin didn't come to pick you up at the airport, are you?"
Jiang Lai snorted again, her cheeks puffing out even more.
Three months of getting to know Jiang Lai allowed Anna to completely understand her. Despite her unapproachable appearance, she was actually just a child with a temper, but she was very polite and generous to those she was close to. She was like a piece of pure white jade, easy to see through at a glance.
Just now, Anna received a WeChat message from Lin Zhi's assistant.
[President Lin has an unexpected business engagement and can't pick you up from the airport. She wants you to take Jiang Lai out for a nice meal as a reward, and President Lin will reimburse the expenses.]
This was immediately followed by another message: [President Lin said she would compensate her after she finished her work]
Anna opened the chat window with Lin Zhi's assistant, then held the phone up to Jiang Lai, making sure Jiang Lai could clearly see the words on it.
The proud Jiang Lai softened and pushed Anna's phone away: "Qianqian forgave me, but I won't eat anymore. If she eats me out of house and home..." I'll have to figure out a way.
Seeing that the person was happy, Anna then talked to her about work: "Sister Nan wants you to rest for two days. She's not in City A. She'll fly back tomorrow afternoon, and you can come to the company for a meeting the day after tomorrow."
What kind of meeting is it?
"Of course it's your debut plan. Sister Nan is very responsible. Before meeting with the marketing department, Sister Nan will always have a short meeting with the artist to respect your wishes."
"Oh...I believe Sister Nan."
"We still need to have a meeting, about the turtle's ass, the turtle's butt!"
Jiang Lai laughed heartily after hearing this: "Alright, alright, how could I not go? Just remember to remind me later, my memory isn't very good, and I'm aging prematurely."
Anna didn't believe it. How could someone in their early twenties have such a bad memory?
However, Jiang Lai was not lying. In college, the student union held a departmental meeting, and Jiang Lai forgot about it the night before. Fortunately, she had a good memory when memorizing lines, otherwise she might not have been able to make a living as an actress.
First, they dropped Jiang Lai off. When the car arrived at the apartment building, the driver got out and helped Jiang Lai carry her luggage down. Jiang Lai thanked him, turned around and said a few words to Anna before dragging her luggage into the apartment complex.
The driver was worried that Jiang Lai, a young girl, would have difficulty carrying her luggage, and was hesitating whether to help her. But when he looked up, he saw a tall, thin person easily lifting the luggage up five steps, then putting it down and continuing to drag it.
The driver broke out in a cold sweat and turned to Anna, asking, "You guys have way too high standards for your artists."
That's too high. Are you expecting this young girl to go to the gym and lift weights every day?
Jiang Lai tidied up a bit when she got home, filled the half-empty wardrobe, threw the clothes she had worn into the washing machine, pressed the button, closed the bathroom door, and curled up on the sofa to play on her phone.
The house was empty. She should have gone to the supermarket and bought all her favorite snacks to fill her snack cabinet. A woman's happiness is that simple. But without Lin Zhi, everything became dull and tasteless. She had originally wanted to go shopping with Lin Zhi, which was why she suggested eating Lin Zhi's cooking. But now all that was for nothing.
She took a selfie at home out of boredom, edited it a bit, and posted it on Weibo with the caption: "Home!"
She used to have only a few followers, and it would take her a long time to get comments after posting a Weibo, which she would then reply to one by one. Now, she receives comments shortly after posting, and although she would reply at first, she gradually gave up because there were just too many.
Turning off her phone, Jiang Lai suddenly realized she had nothing to do. She didn't know when her life had become just about acting and Lin Zhi. Once the filming was over, all that was left was Lin Zhi.
Being controlled by others is not in Jiang Lai's nature. She made up her mind to find something to do herself, so she unlocked her phone again and stared blankly at the screen.
"ah!"
Jiang Lai screamed and buried her face in the pillow, her mind filled with Lin Zhi. She couldn't figure out the reason. She hadn't been like this when she was in a long-distance relationship with Lin Xi. Maybe it was because Lin Xi's studies and life were too busy, and it didn't matter if they didn't talk for more than a few minutes a day. Or maybe... she was a jerk?
Jiang Lai was shocked by this idea. She sat cross-legged on the sofa, biting her nails in distress, and muttered to herself, "Am I really a scumbag woman?"
Just as she was struggling with this decision, someone knocked on the door. She was startled for a moment, and her first thought was that it was Lin Zhi. She jumped up and ran to open the door.
"Lin...Youyi?"
Jiang Lai's disappointment was written all over her face, and she turned and walked into the house.
You Yi laughed, cursing as she changed her shoes: "Why are you so disappointed? You're heartless. Have you forgotten who was there for you when you were heartbroken?"