Chapter 22

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Ruan Yingyu, who had just come out after changing her clothes, happened to see the moment Xia Wanyuan’s veil fell. That perfect moment of shyness, joy, and panic hurt her like a knife stabbing into her eyes.

Seeing the director praise her repeatedly and the other staff exclaim in admiration, Ruan Yingyu clenched her fists under her long sleeves, with jealousy flashing in her eyes. How could this be? How could Xia Wanyuan’s acting skills be so good?!

“Xiao Zhang, come here.” Ruan Yingyu called her manager over and whispered into his ear.

…

In Beijing.

Xia Yu, who was already used to sleeping late and waking up in the afternoon, was woken up at eight o’clock in the morning.

With panda eyes, he ate breakfast together with Xiao Bao and Jun Shiling. He was so sleepy that his eyelids twitched, but he didn’t dare to play any tricks in front of Jun Shiling.

After asking the chauffeur to send Xiao Bao to kindergarten, Jun Shiling gave Xia Yu a cold glance.

“Come with me.”

“Huh?! Oh.” Xia Yu followed Jun Shiling with a racing heart. He even had difficulty breathing.

‘I shouldn’t have been tricked by that woman’s sugar-coated words! Boohoo! Someone save me! That person is as scary as the King Of Hell!’ Although Xia Yu looked calm on the outside, he was actually bitter on the inside.

Like that, Xia Yu followed Jun Shiling all the way to the Jun Corporation. The efficiency of the company’s staff and atmosphere matched the high standards of the corporation.

Seeing how the company operated in an orderly manner and how the employees respected Jun Shiling from the bottom of their hearts, Xia Yu looked at Jun Shiling in admiration. This person didn’t look much older than him, yet he could control such a large corporation.

In front of an iron-fisted person like Jun Shiling, for the first time, Young Master Xia felt like he was still a child. He felt a little defeated.

“Young Master.”

Lin Jing was already waiting outside the CEO’s office on the 100th floor.

“Okay, let’s finish the proposal we didn’t finish last night.”

Jun Shiling stopped in his tracks and looked at Xia Yu. “Arrange a seat for him in the finance department.”

As the leader of the Jun Corporation and the one who had supreme power, he was extremely scrupulous in separating public from private interests and only appointed talents on their merit. This was also the reason that the Jun Corporation was getting stronger.

It was the first time he had planted connections in the corporation. Lin Jing looked at Xia Yu’s denim jacket and ripped pants, as well as his innocent eyes. He raised his eyebrows. This Xia Yu didn’t seem like a reliable person.

However, Special Assistant Lin was indeed a special assistant. He took only 0.01 seconds to react and brought Xia Yu to the finance department with his usual facial expression.

“My name is Lin Jing, I’m the special assistant here. What’s your name, sir?” Lin Jing revealed a standard but warm and friendly smile.

“Hello, hello. My name is Xia Yu.” Xia Yu was still processing the fact that he was going to enter the finance department of the Jun Corporation.

‘What happened? Why am I working here? This shouldn’t be. I don’t know anything about finance!’

A strange look flashed across Lin Jing’s eyes. ‘Xia Yu? As in Xia Wanyuan’s younger brother?’

“So it’s Miss Xia’s younger brother.” Lin Jing pushed his golden-framed spectacles. He immediately understood something.

It was rare for the brainless Xia Yu to have noticed what Lin Jing had addressed Xia Wanyuan. ‘He didn’t even address her as Madam, it seems like Xia Wanyuan’s status is really miserable.’

“Let me ask you something.” Xia Yu leaned towards Lin Jing and lowered his voice.

“What is it?”

“Does Xia Wanyuan owe Jun Shiling a lot of money? Does she want me to help pay him back by working for him?”

Lin Jing had expected a few situations, including how Xia Yu might inquire more about the Jun Corporation, how he might try to get close to him, the special assistant, and how he might try to find out more about Jun Shiling’s secrets. However, he had never expected this question.

“Ha, you must be joking, Mr Xia.” Lin Jing’s eyes were filled with genuine amusement. “Since Miss Xia entrusted you to Young Master, he must have his own considerations since he arranged for you to be assigned to the finance department.”

After leading Xia Yu to the entrance of the finance department, Lin Jing left. Soon after, he sent a message to the manager of the finance department and instructed him to arrange a simple job for Xia Yu. He also wanted him to keep Xia Yu’s background a secret.

When Lin Jing returned, he reported Xia Yu’s situation to Jun Shiling and received a nod of approval in return. Other than being able to handle Jun Shiling’s matters to the best of his ability, the reason Lin Jing was able to become the special assistant of the Jun Corporation was also because he could read between the lines.

The people in the finance department, who were engrossed in their work, were summoned by the leader to welcome an exquisitely handsome “connection” who was wearing fashionable clothing from head to toe.

As they did not know how “connected” this person was and no one knew what was going on, they treated Xia Yu politely and distanced themselves from him.

Although confused, Xia Yu worked as instructed for the entire day.

…

Meanwhile on Weibo, a marketing account with millions of fans received news from an anonymous sub-account.

Almost immediately, he quickly wrote a post and posted it on Weibo. Soon, the trending topic of “Xia Wanyuan’s lifeless gaze” gradually climbed to the top of the search rankings.

Netizens went through the trending search list as usual and quickly browsed through it. The name “Xia Wanyuan” attracted everyone’s interest. After all, wherever she was, there would be gossip involved.

As expected, the trending topic did not disappoint anyone. A marketing account named “The Husky In The Industry” posted a series of images.

In the picture, the film crew staff were adjusting the machine diligently while the other actors were reading the script. In contrast, Xia Wanyuan seemed to be staring at the camera in a daze. There were more than a dozen pictures and from all different angles. Her dull eyes made both the fans of the novel and passersby furious.

[As expected, what kind of acting skills are those? Just look at how she’s staring into space. What the heck is she even doing?]

[AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! Return me my beautiful Heavenly Spirit Princess!! The princess isn’t blind! I’m so pissed off!]

[How can such a person be in the entertainment industry? Capitalism really gives one the chance to do whatever they want.]

[Rubbish, seeing her sanpaku eyes that are so dull, I won’t watch this drama no matter how pretty her face is! I will be a dog if I contribute to the viewership ratings of such trash!]

The huge crowd of novel fans, the passersby who just wanted to watch the fun, and the fans of other celebrities who had their resources snatched away by Xia Wanyuan instantly gathered and shared the photos. This trending topic very quickly climbed to second place on the trending list.

Apart from the criticism directed at Xia Wanyuan on the hot searches, most people were feeling sorry for Ruan Yingyu and Qin Wu in the comments section below.

[The thought of a gentle person like Xiao Ruan acting with such a person makes my heart ache.]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

[When Mommy is rich, I must invest in Xiao Ruan to film a movie she likes and not bow down to capitalism!]

…

Paired with those comments were many exquisite and edited photos of Ruan Yuying. In the photos, she looked gentle, calm and amiable, which formed a direct contrast with Xia Wanyuan’s dull and lifeless expression.

In an instant, Xia Wanyuan gained a lot of anti-fans, while Ruan Yingyu gained a large number of fans.

“Look, this must have been leaked by the crew. Maybe Ruan Yingyu asked someone to leak it!”

Ever since he watched the scene Xia Wanyuan had filmed in the afternoon, Chen Yun had finally seen some hope for Xia Wanyuan. As long as her performance in the afternoon wasn’t temporary and if she could maintain this standard in the future, Chen Yun could foresee that this drama would become Xia Wanyuan’s comeback.

Xia Wanyuan was speechless as she looked at the pictures on Weibo. She was indeed looking at those equipment machines, but she was not subconsciously spacing out. Instead, she was really curious about how those cold, black machines recorded the images of the characters. Please forgive her, this old antique, for her intense curiosity.

“Sigh, it’s a pity that the company doesn’t give us any PR fees. We can only let them do as they wish.”

“It’s okay.” Public opinion had and always would be the easiest to topple. At this moment, there were crowds of people who wanted to expel her from the entertainment industry, but in the future, perhaps they would become her most fanatical fans.

“Don’t take it to heart. It’s getting late, so you should rest early and maintain your condition tomorrow.” Chen Yun comforted Xia Wanyuan, afraid that she would be angered by the comments online.

What he was most worried about now was that Xia Wanyuan’s acting performance in the afternoon was only a fluke. He even guessed that Xia Wanyuan could only act so well because she had a crush on Qin Wu. But looking at Xia Wanyuan’s performance, it did not seem like it.

‘God bless her, let Xia Wanyuan truly come to her senses.’

Chen Yun prayed silently in his heart.

After Chen Yun left, Xia Wanyuan returned to her room. Once she removed her makeup, she took a shower before settling down on the bed. Thinking that Xiao Bao should be on the bed by then, she found the black starry sky profile picture from her WeChat and pressed the video call button.

Jun Shiling had just finished his work for the day and returned to the manor. He massaged his temples tiredly, loosened his tie, and sat on the sofa.

“Young Master, I’ll bring you a cup of coffee.” The grizzled Uncle Wang looked at Jun Shiling, who he had watched grow up, with some heartache.

“No need. Where’s Jun Yin?”

“Little Master has already washed up and was just taken to the bedroom.”

“Okay, Uncle Wang, you should go and rest. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

Uncle Wang had just turned around to take a step when he heard Jun Shiling’s private phone ringing.

Within moments, Jun Shiling pressed the answer button and a woman’s clear voice sounded from the phone.

Uncle Wang turned around in shock. He had forgotten that Jun Shiling hated being spied on. When he met Jun Shiling’s displeased gaze, he hurriedly turned around and walked away, but the shock in his heart did not subside for a long time.

When the video call connected, Jun Shiling’s sculpture-like face appeared on the screen. His handsome features caught Xia Wanyuan off guard and stunned her for a moment.

“Good evening?” Xia Wanyuan smiled politely at Jun Shiling. Her beautiful dimples cast a little shadow under the light, and her freshly blown hair fell messily over her jade-white shoulders.

“Er, Jun Yin is in the bedroom. I’ll pass the phone to him.” Jun Shiling was expressionless.

“Okay, thank you. Xia Yu didn’t cause any trouble, did he?” Jun Shiling walked upstairs with his phone, but the camera was still facing him.

Feeling a little awkward, Xia Wanyuan asked about Xia Yu’s situation, even though she felt that Xia Yu wouldn’t be able to make any trouble under Jun Shiling’s suppression.

“Everything has worked out well.”

“Oh.” Xia Wanyuan did not know what to say. The video fell silent, except for the sound of Jun Shiling’s slippers going up the stairs.

“Daddy!” Xiao Bao was playing with the big white teddy bear he had just bought. When he saw Jun Shiling walk in, his eyes curved up. Compared to his previous fear, he was much closer to Jun Shiling now.

“Mm.” The coldness of Jun Shiling dissipated as he handed the phone to Xiao Bao and pursed his lips.

“It’s your mother.”