Chapter 51: CH 51

The cool breeze in the corridor blew on Zhang Ran’s face, and the phone screen was extremely cold against her face.

Zhang Ran couldn’t believe his ears and asked with a stagnant breath, “Shi Ran, why are you?”

The corners of Shi Ran’s raised lips did not fall for a long time, and she could even imagine Zhang Ran on the other end of the phone.

She was not a broad-minded person, and when she heard Zhang Ran’s reaction, her eyes were filled with joy: “It’s me. Why can’t I even hear the voice of my old classmate? Didn’t we meet a few days ago? What?”

Zhang Ran still couldn’t believe it, and confirmed again: “So you are SaRah, or your colleague is…”

Just before she could finish speaking, Shi Ran cut off her illusory hope and told him, “No, I’m SaRah.”

The more certain words were transmitted to Zhang Ran’s ears so clearly, and her hand holding the phone tightened a little.

In the years when Shi Ran and Song Yi were together, she was always arrogant toward Shi Ran. It was common for her to be harsh and neglectful, and she always looked down on him.

But now the person she was going to beg for was Shi Ran, and her position had changed, her straight waist looked ironic in the corridor’s shadow.

There was only the sound of breathing on the other side of the phone. Shi Ran listened to the silence and walked to the inaccessible emergency channel, and said in a calm tone, “So what are you looking for? I don’t have a lot of time. It’s two o’clock for lunch.”

As she spoke, she glanced at the watch on her wrist and said, “Just thirteen minutes for you.”

Hearing the time limit, Zhang Ran had no choice. No matter how straight his waist was, he had to bend down.

She clenched her teeth tightly and said to Shi Ran in a pleasant voice, “That’s it. I’m calling you today to ask for cooperation.”

Shi Ran raised her eyebrows: “Cooperation? What kind of cooperation? “

Zhang Ran listened to Shi Ran’s voice and seemed a little interested, and then continued: “As for this plagiarism incident, our studio wants to buy the copyrights of your paintings, priced at 5,000 each, and then additional compensation. Ten thousand yuan, can you think of it?”

Shi Ran listened and sneered: “Five thousand? Do you know how much it costs to buy out the copyright of my illustrations?”

When Zhang Ran was asked by Shi Ran, he immediately felt that his face was as hot as a slap.

There was nothing she could do. The money had just been settled, and she was a lobbyist with no decision-making power.

Even if Shi Ran mocks and refuses, Zhang Ran could only bite the bullet and lobby: “But Shi Ran, this is your past work after all.”

Shi Ran heard the words and said, “Um,” then, “You are right.”

When Zhang Ran heard Shi Ran say this, he thought she was going to agree, and his heart burst with joy.

It was just that she was happy for a second, and then she couldn’t laugh anymore.

Shi Ran: “Then I’ll keep it and smash it in my hand.”

Zhang Ran’s heart sank suddenly as if seeing his death sentence.

And not that kind of death.

“Zhang Ran.” Shi Ran called out the name that was very similar to herself and asked back, “You should know where I work now and which game I’m working on.”

“I will now pursue the legal responsibility of your studio and ask you, HNA Star, to apologize to the painters who copied my paintings.”

Zhang Ran was stunned for a moment, but soon thought of what could hold Shi Ran’s handle and said, “Shi Ran, do you know who the person who copied your paintings is? Song Yi.”

Shi Ran already knew who the plagiarism was from.

Although Zhang Ran’s words were within his expectations, when she heard that Song Yi was the one who plagiarized herself, Shi Ran was still a little uncomfortable.

She was not Song Yi’s pen; she couldn’t write for her all the time and be copied by her.

Even if she liked her again in the past, she couldn’t just let it go.

She had long been disappointed with herself now.

Seeing Shi Ran’s silence, Zhang Ran thought she was softened and continued: “It’s not like you don’t know how much Xiaoyi cares about her face. She’s just about to enter the original painting, and you ask her to apologize like this. No one will use a person who makes his debut as a plagiarist. You know, Shi Ran.”

Shi Ran wanted to laugh when she heard Zhang Ran’s long series of words.

She looked up at the round sun outside the window. Her eyes darkened.

It turned out that the disappointment was still deeper.

“Since you all know these truths, why do you still do it? I am the one who was plagiarized, and now I have to be considerate of those who plagiarized me. Is it possible that as long as I say it is difficult for me in the future, I can hurt others unscrupulously? ” Shi Ran retorted coldly.

Zhang Ran was a little dumb and said to the mud: “Isn’t this also no actual harm? It’s just a copy of your painting.”

“It’s a copy.” Shi Ran sternly corrected.

“Zhang Ran, I advise you to keep your job before helping Song Yi get rid of it. I want to hold you accountable for what happened to HNA Star, not Song Yi alone, so I don’t have to blame your studio. Raise your hand high. “

Shi Ran’s straightforward words overturned all of Zhang Ran’s previous plans.

Zhang Ran was in a hurry and couldn’t help but ask: “Shi Ran, you can’t tolerate us like this? Are you going to kill us?”

As soon as the voice fell, Zhang Ran heard a laugh from the other end of the phone.

Shi Ran never enjoyed being coerced to move forward, so she followed Zhang Ran’s words and threw back her so-called “relationship”: “I’m sorry, I’m a good person in everything, but I have a small mind and do everything. It’s going to be for that.”

Shi Ran’s tone was not heavy, but her aura came through thousands of miles away.

Zhang Ran knew Shi Ran’s way of life, and he feared her words.

Now she was the fish on the chopping board, while Shi Ran was the butcher with the knife, and her life and death were in her hands.

If she couldn’t reach a deal with Shi Ran, then what awaited her would be a dismissal notice from the producer, or another way of dealing with her life in the company was worse than death.

Zhang Ran didn’t want to lose his job, and he didn’t want to end up with such consequences, so his attitude became lower and lower, and he begged for mercy: “Shi Ran, it’s true that something went wrong in our studio. We were classmates and friends. In the past, I’ve helped you chase Song Yi a lot, so raise your hand this time, sell the copyright to us, and don’t let our hard work this year go to waste, okay? “

Shi Ran didn’t plan to stop listening to this man until he finally bowed his head along with him.

Listening to Zhang Ran’s words, she pointed it out bluntly: “It’s not me who made your efforts go to waste, it’s you, Song Yi, and the people who reviewed the manuscript in your art team. When you used my manuscript, your studio asked questions. Have you ever passed me? I did nothing, but I was pushed to the cusp by you. Can you raise your hand and give me a clean? “

“Also, I’m not raising my hand, I’m protecting my legal rights.”

Shi Ran’s phone vibrated when the voice fell.

The alarm clock she had set for lunch was beating in her palm with the assembled trumpet.

Shi Ran turned off the alarm clock and indifferently told the other end of the phone, “Ah, sorry, it’s been thirteen minutes. Our conversation is over.”

Zhang Ran hurriedly called out, “Shi Ran, you…”

It was just that she didn’t finish her words, and the phone hung up on the other end.

Thirteen minutes had passed, and Shi Ran refused to give her one more second.

Zhang Ran had never suffered such humiliation before, and his fingers clenched tightly around the phone and turned white.

She was now like a cornfield blown by a storm, chaotic, and her heart was numb. She wanted to stand up and return to the office as if nothing happened, but her face was full of melancholy that couldn’t be taken back.

In this way, Zhang Ran went straight back to the main planning office, where she had stayed for less than half a year under the watchful eyes of her colleagues, but saw a person she knew very well sitting inside.

Song Yi was not at ease and came here after hanging out with Zhang Ran.

There were many things Zhang Ran liked to eat on the table in the office, and Song Yi’s flattery towards Zhang Ran was beyond words.

“Zhang Ran, they said you went out to make a phone call, so I’ll come in and wait for you.” Song Yi explained, and then tentatively asked, “How is it? Did the conversation go smoothly?”

Zhang Ran shook his head and said a fact that she didn’t want to believe until now: “Xiao Yi, SaRah is Shi Ran’s business, do you know?”

Song Yi was stunned, and her expression was dull for a moment: “What? Why didn’t I know? I didn’t even know she had such an account. “

Zhang Ran leaned back on the chair dejectedly and sneered, “Sure enough, this woman is insidious. She turns her face and doesn’t recognize anyone.”

She said, her teeth itching with hatred.

But so what? Not only was she unable to take Shiran at all now, but she had to go to her a second time and continue to bow her head to her softness.

Seeing Zhang Ran’s reaction, Song Yi suddenly had an awful premonition and asked, “That Zhang Ran, how did she tell you…”

Zhang Ran: “She said she would pursue our legal responsibility and also asked HNA Star to publicly apologize to the plagiarism artist. And she knew you were the plagiarism artist.”

If Song Yi could still sit in Zhang Ran’s first sentence, then in the last sentence, she felt as if Shi Ran had been slapped on her face.

Shi Ran pinched Song Yi’s brain in labor pain that had no affection for herself, and she hurriedly climbed onto Zhang Ran’s arm and said, “Zhang Ran… you know… I can’t, I just wanted to. As a freelance illustrator, I can’t do that.”

Hearing the pain in her forehead, Zhang Ran pulled Song Yi’s hand away a little irritably: “Xiao Yi, I can’t do anything about you. You know Shi Ran better than I do, how much she is now. You know it’s not forgiving. “

Song Yi looked at the hand that Zhang Ran had taken away, and her eyes flashed incredulously.

She understood what Zhang Ran meant, and refused to be abandoned by her like this: “But, but you were the one who said…”

Zhang Ran knew what Song Yi was going to say, and she couldn’t help but interrupt Song Yi directly: “Then I didn’t let you plagiarize!”

Zhang Ran’s voice was loud. Song Yi was stunned at first, and then, as if ready, a whole circle of sparkling tears burst out of her eyes. Xingyuan’s eyes were full of bunny-like frailty, “I… I know I was wrong… yes, sorry… don’t be mad at me, okay.”

Zhang Ran’s heart softened and his tone softened: “Sorry, Xiaoyi, I was a little anxious just now because of Shi Ran.”

It was just that the matter had come to this point, her side was also a mess, and she couldn’t do anything about Song Yi’s affairs: “Xiao Yi, but I really can’t help you. I can’t take care of myself now. I have to deal with the studio. You really can only handle your affairs.”

When Song Yi heard Zhang Ran’s words, the teardrops hanging in her eyes fell out of control uncontrollably, soaking the knitted sweater that was piled up on her wrist.

She had made mistakes in the past, and her family handled her.

Relying on her face, Chen Yinbing, her uncle, would soften her heart every time she cried.

But this time it was different. She quietly left the shelter at home alone, thinking about wandering outside and then returning to her hometown like Chen Ruoyu.

However, the truth always backfires. She overestimated herself this time. She lost the protection of the Chen family. All her familiar behaviors and methods seemed extraordinarily naïve. Let her be at ease again.

She was like a dodder, just like her mother.

The vine would die without the tree to which it clings.

The clock rattled, and the office was so quiet that Song Yi finally gave up.

She looked at Zhang Ran, who was sitting beside her, stood up, and mumbled, “I see.”

Afterward, Song Yi came out of Zhang Ran’s studio in despair, her eyes full of unwillingness.

She didn’t know why Chen Ruoyu could do it, but she couldn’t.

She didn’t know why her heart hurt so much when she heard Zhang Ran say that Shi Ran hadn’t forgiven her.

The safe passage was dimly lit, and the green safe exit sign gleamed in the silence.

Shi Ran just hung up the phone when she noticed a thin and tall figure standing in the corridor not far away.

Chen Ruoyu didn’t shy away at all and walked toward her the same second that Shi Ran saw her.

“You eavesdropped.” Shi Ran asked while leaning on the heavy push door, staring at Chen Ruoyu, who was standing in front of her.

Maybe it was because she showed her she was even more unforgiving than just now, Shi Ran’s tone was only blaming with coquettish hatred, not angry, nor was she worried that Chen Ruoyu would see through her nature.

“Passing by.” Chen Ruoyu replied lightly.

Shi Ran thought it was interesting, raised her foot and kicked the green sign beside her, and looked at Chen Ruoyu with interest: “Safe passage?”

“Yeah.” Chen Ruoyu replied calmly, with the word “lie” written on her serious face.

Shi Ran was not annoyed and asked deliberately, “When have you heard that HNA Star wants to work with me?”

Chen Ruoyu nodded: “I hear.”

“Then don’t you want to keep SaRah in the final?” Shi Ran asked.

“I think,” Chen Ruoyu answered truthfully.

The two of them were questioning and answering in this way, and there was a lot of flirtation in this dark space.

Shi Ran raised her arm and hooked it around Chen Ruoyu’s neck, her fox-like eyes raised upwards, and she ordered, “Please me.”