Marketing accounts looking to feed off the popularity and traffic of others all received lawyer's letters from the famously formidable Deep Sea law firm at the same time.
Deep Sea law firm, nicknamed the Sure Win in Beijing. Founded by Xu Qishen and Wen Xihai, silver-tongued and eloquent, with a reputation for never losing a case - the kind of fierce characters who could get the opposing lawyers locked up.
Though celebrities often received warning letters from lawyers, marketing accounts were used to it, but letters from Deep Sea were no joke. Ignore them and they really would send you to jail.
Strange, Zhong Ruanxing that talentless hack had never cared about these baseless rumors before, so why did she suddenly start suing for libel? Going straight to Deep Sea at that, how intimidating.
Oh well, better not provoke them.
Marketing accounts deleted what they should, apologized where appropriate, clarified when necessary. As Deep Sea demanded, they pinned apology statements to the top for a month, they could only comply. Within a morning, all the slander about Zhong Ruanxing online had vanished without a trace. But because she was so obscure, no one cared, so it didn't attract any attention from netizens.
With the removal of these posts, there was even less about Zhong Ruanxing online. After all, the no-work, no-endorsement, no-fans failure of an artist had no traffic whatsoever. No matter the search, nothing could be dredged up.
Ran Ting was quite satisfied with this result nevertheless. They may as well start from scratch, she believed that she and Ruanxing both had bright futures ahead!
After taking the call from Song Enterprises, Ran Ting headed to the mall next door, wages for the month in hand, looking solemn as she bought the most expensive clothes she'd ever purchased in her life. The chubby-cheeked girl in the mirror wore an office lady suit ill-suited to her image, gaze firmer than ever.
Ran Ting's Rise to the Top, starting with an office wardrobe!
...
Returning to Zhong's neighborhood, Song Jinxing spotted a middle-aged woman standing at the residential entrance pulling a suitcase as soon as he got out of the car.
Though twenty years had passed, he recognized her immediately. As memories from long ago surfaced in his heart, Song Jinxing steadied his emotions and walked up to the middle-aged woman, calling out gently, "Auntie Dai, hello, I'm Zhong Ruanxing."
She looked over in surprise. "You, you're Miss Zhong? You know me?"
Song Jinxing smiled. "I've seen photos of you when you were younger. You haven't changed much."
Dai Zhuhe was a little embarrassed. "Jinxing must have shown them to you, right? How could I not have changed much in over twenty years, I'm old now." As she spoke of Song Jinxing, her tone grew mournful. "I was so surprised when Jinxing contacted me. I didn't expect that after twenty some years he still remembered me."
Song Jinxing took her suitcase. "He's always remembered you. You took care of him from birth until he went abroad. He's very grateful. This time it was also him who recommended you to me. Thank you for coming to help."
Dai Zhuhe hurried to catch up. "I was free anyway. I have experience looking after children. Since Jinxing asked, how could I not come? I'll be honest, I've always seen him as my own child. Watching him grow, from a tiny thing, to running all over the place..." She gestured with her hands, eyes growing red. "It's a shame the child had such bad luck. What a good family they were, yet in the end..." She sighed. "The old master was ruthless too, sending him abroad so young. If I hadn't found out I was pregnant, I really would have gone with him to care for him."
Song Jinxing said quietly, "You meant well."
Dai Zhuhe sighed. "When he left, I'd just gotten pregnant. He returns, and my child is in university. How quickly time passes." Turning to Song Jinxing, "Miss Zhong, you and Jinxing are good friends, right? When you have time, bring some of his favorite dishes I make over to him. I hear he's taken over the old master's company now, must be quite busy. I won't disturb him."
Song Jinxing nodded. "Alright."
Dai Zhuhe was the caretaker who had looked after his family. She had already been working for them before he was born. His mother once told him that Auntie Dai was a girl from an impoverished mountain village who came to the big city alone seeking a livelihood, with no education.
One winter, his mother lost her wallet downtown, in the morning, only discovering its absence in the evening. She had already given up hope, but astonishingly, when she returned to search, she saw a shabbily dressed young girl hugging a wallet squatting in the same spot, frozen and shivering, complexion pale. Yet she still looked around, waiting for the owner of the wallet to return.
A country girl newly arrived to the metropolis, picking up a wallet stuffed with a "fortune", did not think to keep it for herself, also unaware to report it to the police. She simply waited foolishly in the same spot, from morning til night, hungry and cold but unwilling to leave, possessing a simple stubborn persistence.
When his mother recovered her wallet and learned the girl was job hunting, she invited her to work as a live-in maid at her home, the offered wages beyond Dai Zhuhe's wildest dreams.
From then on, it was Dai Zhuhe looking after their family.
She saw the Songs as benefactors, serving them wholeheartedly with excellent character and capability. Song Jinxing's audition would end soon and he'd be leaving with the crew. At home there was only the sloppy Liu Cai, he was worried.
Thus he contacted Dai Zhuhe and asked her to come care for Zhong You and his mother.
Dai Zhuhe was now settled in Beijing, with her child grown independent, so she happened to have time to help. Though Song Jinxing had offered her high wages, Dai Zhuhe didn't want so much. She was not lacking money now, only wishing to still do something for the Song family.
Returning home, Zhong You whirled over like a tiny tornado, clinging to his leg. "Sis! You're back! You did all your homework well!"
Song Jinxing bent down lifting her into his arms, introducing her to Dai Zhuhe. "Auntie Dai, this is my sister."
"Zhong You, right?" Dai Zhuhe smiled, taking out a handmade colored pinwheel from her pocket. "Hello to you."
Zhong You was won over by the pinwheel instantly. In less than five minutes she was trotting after Dai Zhuhe, chirping "Auntie Dai, Auntie Dai."
She'd definitely grow up to be a social terrorist.
Before coming, Song Jinxing had already explained the household circumstances to Dai Zhuhe. Experienced, she picked things up swiftly. For now she would share a room with Zhong You, after Song Jinxing left, she would move into his room.
Liu Cai washed fruit in the kitchen, taking advantage of Dai Zhuhe unpacking to sourly ask Song Jinxing, "Miss Zhong, you've hired a live-in maid?"
Song Jinxing checked Zhong You's homework. "Mm, follow Auntie Dai from now on. Ask her if there's anything you don't understand."
"Why would I need to ask her!" Liu Cai immediately screeched. "What wouldn't I know how to do? She probably knows less than me! If you ask me, you didn't need to spend the extra money at all. I'm enough on my own!"
Still perusing the homework, Song Jinxing said lightly, "Since you've brought up wages, with two maids in the house now, I don't need to pay you triple wages either. Starting next month, your salary will be adjusted to market rate."
Liu Cai's eyes bulged. "How can that be, Miss Zhong‽ We agreed that with me doing the work of three people you'd pay me three times the wage!"
Song Jinxing glanced at her. "If you can't accept it, you can resign."
Swept by that deep gaze, Liu Cai instantly quieted, mumbling after a lengthy pause, "Oh, alright then, market rate it is."
With so little to do in the Zhong household she definitely didn't want to switch employers!
