Nobody knew better than Liang Dan whether Mr. Liu had something wrong with his head!
Liang Dan, who joined the TV station after university and reached her current position in just twelve years, was genuinely praised by Mr. Liu for her competence, despite working in media while he was in dairy.
Having hit a wall with Mr. Liu, competent Liang Dan knew he wasn’t some gullible, nouveau-riche fool.
A fool might get rich by luck, but Mr. Liu was a battle-hardened group leader who rose from the grassroots.
A sharp man like Mr. Liu would never go soft when he could drive a hard bargain.
Forget just liking Li Mengjiao, even if Yuan Fenghui stooped to offering underage Li Mengjiao to Mr. Liu, he’d take it all and still stick to his price—such was the cold heart of a middle-aged man!
For Mr. Liu to agree to a 2.8 million endorsement fee, it wasn’t just liking Li Mengjiao, it was Yuan Fenghui’s skill!
Liang Dan, unaware of Wen Ying’s involvement, assumed Yuan Fenghui alone secured the 2.8 million annual fee, and even proud Liang Dan admired her ability.
Such a capable person should’ve been working for their company.
Letting Li Mengjiao slip was frustrating, but not a big deal, as “Li Mengjiao” was replicable for Liang Dan, even if she stood out in last year’s show, this year’s was coming, and Liang Dan planned a grander event, confident she’d find more “Li Mengjiaos.”
The real value was Yuan Fenghui!
Liang Dan skipped lunch, too exasperated to deal with her foolish husband, bypassing communication to order him, “Xu Mei didn’t get the endorsement, arrange more commercial gigs for her!”
“More gigs?” Mr. Guan asked.
Xu Mei’s schedule was already packed.
More gigs would exhaust even an iron woman.
Plus, too many gigs would tank Xu Mei’s fees, rare things hold value, if she’s too available, her worth would plummet—this was Liang Dan’s own lesson to Mr. Guan, and now she was contradicting it!
Liang Dan sneered, “If not now, when the new show ends, how many will still book Xu Mei?”
Clients aren’t fools.
They hire stars for popularity.
Xu Mei’s frequent gigs were due to company resources and her reigning champion title.
Once this year’s show crowned a new winner, would clients pick the new champ or old Xu Mei?
From now until the show ends was Xu Mei’s peak earning window.
Of course, Xu Mei had a shot at a comeback with her un-aired drama, if it got high ratings, her significant supporting role could spark a surge.
Liang Dan didn’t want to milk her dry so soon, but influenced by her husband, she too felt Xu Mei lacked luck.
The drama wouldn’t air until summer, too unpredictable, better to grab the money now and worry about the future later!
Mr. Guan nodded repeatedly, “Makes sense, I’ll follow your lead.”
He couldn’t defy his wife, and history showed Liang Dan was often right.
His only hesitation was Young Master Cao, still cozy with Xu Mei.
Packing her schedule with gigs might upset him.
Liang Dan recalled her talk with Mr. Liu, how Cao ignored Xu Mei to fawn over Li Mengjiao, and dismissed her husband’s concern, “Little Cao’s fickle, don’t you know men? Once they have something, it loses value.”
Young lovers are clingiest at the start.
Especially before truly “having” her, Xu Mei’s every move was charming to Cao.
Once he had her… a fart’s just a fart, not perfume.
Liang Dan wasn’t there, but she had her informant, Pan Li.
Pan Li, timid in person, was full of gossip to Liang Dan, all under the guise of kind warnings.
If Cao and Xu Mei split, it’d impact Xu Mei and Mr. Guan’s company.
Liang Dan coldly eyed Pan Li’s eagerness, shutting her down with a few words.
Professor Fang was blind to loyalty, but not Liang Dan.
She didn’t care about Pan Li’s schemes, let her work honestly at the company, for Director Duan’s sake, her pay was secure, even if she eyed Cao, go ahead and steal Xu Mei’s spot if she could.
But dare reach for Mr. Guan, and Liang Dan would chop off whichever hand tried!
Liang Dan might scorn her husband, but he was hers, she wasn’t generous enough to share.
Pan Li didn’t dare cross Liang Dan.
Unlike naive Chen Li or gullible Professor Fang, Liang Dan and Yuan Fenghui intimidated Pan Li.
Xu Mei fled the audition room, Pan Li chased after her first, even outpacing Cao.
Xu Mei didn’t let others see her breakdown, running to the station’s small garden, hidden by bamboo, where she cried silently.
Pan Li stood guard, handing Xu Mei tissues when she stopped.
She asked why Fu Jing wasn’t there, Xu Mei said Fu Jing was at school in Shanghai, and Pan Li hesitated, “Why’d you break up with your old boyfriend? Don’t get me wrong, Cao’s great, but he’s not like a school boyfriend.”
Indeed, he wasn’t.
Xu Mei had finished crying, yet Cao hadn’t come.
The station wasn’t big, if Cao wanted to find her, he’d have comforted her by now.
Losing the endorsement was bad enough, but her boyfriend fawning over Li Mengjiao, who took it, was a double blow.
Seeing Xu Mei about to cry again, Pan Li, impatient, still coaxed her.
Everyone has their survival skills, Pan Li included.
She had Professor Fang wrapped around her finger, and fragile Xu Mei was an easy mark.
Xu Mei knew to be wary of Pan Li, but with Fu Jing gone, she needed someone to hear her heart.
“I… really regret it,” Xu Mei murmured.
She didn’t know how she ended up here.
Entering the talent show was just to prove herself to Qin Yi’s parents, but once in, the lure of fame and fortune led her astray.
