Qu Yanshan was still fast asleep in her room.
Her manager couldn't get through to her phone, and there was no response when he knocked on the door. If he hadn't checked the surveillance footage and confirmed that she had gone into the room without coming back out, he would have called the police. After who knows how long knocking, Qu Yanshan finally opened the door lethargically.
Her eyes were puffy, and she looked like a ghost. With a yawn, she asked, "What are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here???" The manager laughed angrily. "You've made such a big mess, and the whole company has been running around trying to deal with it. But you, you hide at home, turn off your phone, and sleep! How do you still have the nerve to ask what I'm doing here?!"
Qu Yanshan's expression froze. This manager had always flattered and pampered her, knowing that she had a bad temper, and rarely spoke to her in this tone.
She was a little dissatisfied, but when she thought about what had happened during the livestream, she felt a little in the wrong. She didn't throw a tantrum, just grumbled, "It's not that big of a deal. They'll yell for a few days then forget about it. This circle is never lacking for new gossip."
For a moment, the manager was so angry he didn't know what to say.
He took a deep breath, handed her his phone, "Look, see for yourself."
Qu Yanshan thought, it was probably just more people online scolding her. She had heard plenty of that over the years. What was the big deal? She took the phone, but saw it was showing a WeChat conversation between the manager and the person in charge of that S-tier resource they had just booked.
The other party said the collaboration was cancelled, and they would not work with Qu Yanshan again in the future.
Qu Yanshan had been busy tearing down the ship precisely because she had secured this S-tier resource, and she looked down on Liu Zhuo. But how could some minor online drama possibly affect an S-tier collaboration? This was no small matter!
Qu Yanshan visibly panicked. She gripped the manager's hand tightly, "What is going on? Didn't we already finalize it?"
The manager was truly exhausted, "Contracts can be breached, let alone just a verbal agreement. I warned you before, if you want to break up the ship, do it quietly. Liu Zhuo's side wouldn't be able to make much of a fuss either. But you just had to drag Zhong Ruanxing into it. What grudge do you have against her anyway? She's hardly even your rival now! Just because of your own petty jealousy, the efforts of the whole team have gone to waste. Do you think this is the end of it?"
The more the manager spoke, the more indignant he became. He opened up other WeChat messages to show her, all happening within the last half hour: "Almost all of your current sponsors have said they won't be renewing their contracts. Those variety shows and movies we were in talks with, they were iffy before, but now they've rejected outright."
Qu Yanshan suddenly felt dizzy and unsteady. She staggered back two steps and collapsed onto the sofa behind her with an incredulous shriek, "How can they do this! It was just some harsh criticism online, I didn't do anything horrible or illegal. What right do they have to abandon me?!"
"You think it's because of online opinion?" The manager's face was dark. "It's because you offended someone you shouldn't have!"
Qu Yanshan's mind buzzed as her hands and feet went cold. Her face was pale. "Is it Zhong Ruanxing?" She suddenly glared furiously, almost screaming, "I knew she had a sugar daddy! She's deliberately trying to ruin me by siccing her sugar daddy on me, isn't she?!"
The manager looked at her as if looking at an idiot, "You knew she had a sponsor, why did you have to provoke her?"
Qu Yanshan's lips trembled, even her hands and feet started to shake.
All collaborations stopped completely, how was this any different from being blacklisted?
Just because she made a few veiled attacks against her, Zhong Ruanxing wanted to retaliate against her like this? She didn't even mention her name!
Qu Yanshan was filled with resentment, almost wishing she could take Zhong Ruanxing down with her. But she clearly understood that she was like an egg hitting a rock right now. She looked at her usually indulgent manager, and suddenly threw herself at him, grabbing his wrist, "Brother, save me! You have to save me! You brought me up, how can you just watch me be destroyed like this?"
The manager's face was stiff as he laboriously pulled his hand free, "Do you think I didn't try? Before coming here, I had already contacted Zhong Ruanxing's side. We agreed to come apologize in person or online, as long as she calms down. But guess what they said?"
Qu Yanshan stared with bloodshot eyes.
The manager gave a bitter laugh, "They said it had nothing to do with them, they don't have the kind of background to control capital. Their lawyers are handling this matter, they don't know anything else."
"She won't admit it? How dare she do it but not own up to it?" Qu Yanshan howled. She grabbed a pillow from the sofa and violently slammed it down. Her emotions had always been unstable. Whenever something went wrong, this was how she would freak out.
"She wants to blacklist me? She thinks she can blacklist me? I won't let her get her way! Even if I have to die, I'll drag her down to hell with me!"
The manager stopped her, "Calm down! Don't do anything rash! I'll find a way to contact Zhong Ruanxing herself. I know her backer is from the Song Corporation. If we can persuade them to show leniency, there's still a chance to turn things around!" He grabbed the frenzied Qu Yanshan and said sternly, "When the time comes, you must apologize to Zhong Ruanxing, got it? If you can't do that, there's no point in me doing all this for you!"
Qu Yanshan's chest heaved violently. She froze for a moment, then jerked her head in a nod.
...
Song JinXing slept for a while before being pounced awake by Zhong You, who Auntie Dai had brought home.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he was met with Zhong You's two big grape-like eyes. She had practically climbed on top of him. Seeing that he was awake, her eyes curved into crescent moons, "Sister!"
She leapt forward to smack two big kisses on his face. Then she hugged his neck, staying sprawled on top of him. She wiggled her little butt and nuzzled affectionately against his neck, "YouYou missed Sister so much!"
A corner of Song JinXing's heart softened.
He patted Zhong You's head and first lifted her aside before sitting up in bed to wake up fully. Auntie Dai also came to the door happily, "Ruanxing is back! I've already asked Liu Cai to go buy groceries. I'll make a few more dishes for dinner tonight."
Song JinXing apologized, "I have plans tonight, let's do it tomorrow."
Auntie Dai wasn't disappointed, "Alright."
Zhong You climbed over again to hang off his neck, "Where is Sister going? YouYou wants to go too!"
Song JinXing thought about it. There was no harm in bringing Zhong You along. Zhong Ruanxing had already told him that Zhong You knew about their body swap. The clever little girl probably knew who he was meeting, which was why she insisted on going together.
After getting ready quickly and checking the time, Song JinXing brought Zhong You out with him.
The restaurant Zhong Ruanxing mentioned was the same place she had her "date" with Bai Yinyue last time. When Song JinXing arrived, she was already there.
It had already been over a month since they last met. Seeing each other, they both paused and smiled.
Zhong You looked left and right before loudly slapping the table, "Sisters, YouYou is hungry!"
