Wen Ying’s broadsword rarely left the scabbard, but once unsheathed it absolutely had to taste blood. Seeing Li Mengjiao still standing there dumbly with no reaction, Wen Ying stabbed the idiot again.
“Even if you wait for the company to arrange paparazzi shots, have you at least looked up the brand’s history yourself? Studied the characteristics of each product line? So that when you meet the brand reps you can at least leave a decent impression!”
Li Mengjiao lowered her head in shame.
She really hadn’t thought of any of that.
It was just a big-name cosmetics endorsement, right?
Everything in her life was taken care of for her; the money she earned went straight to her parents. Li Mengjiao wasn’t obsessed with spending or with earning.
She had debuted through a talent show and been protected every step of the way. This silly girl had never suffered from lack of resources, nor had she ever been exploited or beaten down by a management company. She simply did what she loved and succeeded, without a single setback!
So a major cosmetics endorsement would be icing on the cake if she got it, and life would go on perfectly fine if she didn’t. She assumed Yuan Fenghui and Auntie Wang would handle everything; all she had to do was dress up prettily and show up where the company told her to.
Now that Wen Ying was questioning her face-to-face, Li Mengjiao was speechless.
Wen Ying waved a hand. “Enough, no more snivelling in front of me. Starting your crash course now is a bit late, but late is still better than never. I’ll send the materials to Xiao Mei in a minute. Study them properly!”
“Oh… right, right, right.”
Li Mengjiao wiped her eyes with her sleeve, itching to sprout wings and flee the office.
Laugh at Wang Shuang?
Pfft.
Li Mengjiao no longer had time for that!
Seeing her about to bolt, Wen Ying called her back. “When you leave, send Xiao Mei in.”
Li Mengjiao was loyal. “You’re not going to fire Xiao Mei, are you?”
Wen Ying neither confirmed nor denied. “That depends on your performance.”
“I’ll perform perfectly!”
Li Mengjiao panicked. Wen Ying watched the idiot panic, hardened her heart, and still called Xiao Mei in for a scolding.
Xiao Mei left the office teary-eyed, nearly collapsing into Li Mengjiao’s arms for a mutual sob.
Li Mengjiao muttered under her breath, “Today’s Wen Ying is seriously weird. It’s like Teacher Yuan possessed her, and also like—”
“Like what?”
Li Mengjiao glanced at the tightly shut office door and didn’t dare finish. “Nothing… Could another female celebrity be competing for the endorsement? Is Wen Ying scared I’ll lose, so she’s being extra strict?”
What else could it be like? Like Xie Qian, obviously!
Li Mengjiao used to have zero fear of Wen Ying; the only person she feared was Xie Qian.
Just now when Wen Ying sat stone-faced and silent, it reminded Li Mengjiao of the terror of being dominated by the top student.
This must be the legendary “couple resemblance”!
Today’s Wen Ying was too intimidating; even Li Mengjiao didn’t dare joke about it in front of Xiao Mei.
Once Li Mengjiao suggested the possibility, Xiao Mei panicked too. “That must be it. Quick, quick, let’s study the materials.”
News of Wen Ying “wielding the knife” against Li Mengjiao soon spread throughout Tianjiao. Naturally it didn’t escape Yuan Fenghui.
“You used her to establish authority. Aren’t you worried about hurting your friendship?”
Wen Ying herself laughed. “I’ve known Mengjiao for three years. Don’t I understand her personality? Classic ‘forgets the stick once the pain is gone’. She’ll be crying today and will have forgotten the whole thing in two days.”
Wen Ying was technically a Tianjiao shareholder, but everyone in the company knew her better as a writer.
She had never held any other position at Tianjiao before. Suddenly parachuting in to replace Auntie Wang felt strange to the whole team.
Wen Ying had no choice but to make an example of Li Mengjiao.
First, Li Mengjiao was Tianjiao’s most important artist. If even Li Mengjiao listened to Wen Ying, no one else would dare disobey.
Second, Li Mengjiao and Wen Ying were close; she wouldn’t hold a grudge. If Wen Ying had picked on Yun Chen or Zhang Yangning, both older than her, they would inevitably feel resentful about being inexplicably singled out.
Yuan Fenghui laughed on the other end of the line. “I don’t know where you picked up your management style, but I know you can do it~”
Yuan Fenghui’s chicken-soup-pouring skills were masterful. Wen Ying’s head spun, but she clung to her last shred of clarity. “Teacher Yuan, I’m only temporarily covering for Auntie Dong. Once term starts I won’t have time to manage the company anymore!”
“Yep, yep, exactly!”
Yuan Fenghui’s answer was blatantly perfunctory. Wen Ying suspected she had fallen into a trap.
No use crying over spilt milk. She was a Tianjiao shareholder; driving the artists to work hard and earn money for the company was directly tied to her own interests.
Wen Ying had no time to dwell on it. She hurriedly cleared some of Auntie Wang’s backlog.
Time flies when you’re buried in work. When Xie Qian finally rang, Wen Ying realised it was almost midnight.
“You came to Shanghai and didn’t tell me?”
Unprecedented.
When it came to Wen Ying’s whereabouts, Xie Qian was usually better informed than her own parents. This was the first time she had arrived in Shanghai and Xie Qian only found out from Wang Shuang!
Of course Xie Qian hadn’t left Shanghai. Saying he was returning to Beijing was simply an excuse to avoid playing tour guide for Ran Keqing.
While Ran Keqing was in Shanghai on business, Xie Qian had plenty of ways to dodge her. Apart from Jiaxin, he also owned a logistics company. If necessary he could just focus on that for a while.
All small stuff. The big deal was that Wen Ying had come to Shanghai without telling him!
Heaven knew how much he had overthought it.
Yet Wen Ying answered perfectly seriously, “I deliberately didn’t tell you. From the moment my plane landed, we became competitors. Until the winner is decided, why would I meet you?”
Competitors?
Xie Qian’s mind worked fast. He probed, “Is Tianjiao’s business clashing with Jiaxin?”
Wen Ying merely smiled without speaking.
Xie Qian didn’t press further. After hanging up he immediately asked Jiang Youjia.
Jiang Youjia loved drama. “There is indeed a conflict. I was just about to ask what you plan to do. When we compete with Tianjiao, should we throw the match?”
On one side was Xie Qian’s own company.
On the other was the company Wen Ying had invested in.
When the two companies went head-to-head, which would Xie Qian choose?
Honestly, even Jiang Youjia wouldn’t know how to pick.
It was just business rivalry, fine. But Tianjiao had actually sent Wen Ying to Shanghai to oversee it.
Jiang Youjia suspected Yuan Fenghui was using honey-trap tactics, trying to make Jiaxin surrender voluntarily!
Winning the deal might hurt the relationship. Even Jiang Youjia would struggle to choose. Of course his wife Linlin was more important! Married men in Rongcheng knew who wore the trousers.
Jiang Youjia was about to offer advice from his vast experience when Xie Qian mocked him instead. “Throw the match? May I remind you that even if you give 100%, you still might not beat Tianjiao this time. And you’re thinking of holding back… If Jiaxin loses, I’m docking your year-end bonus.”
Jiang Youjia: ???
“Are they that strong?”
Jiang Youjia refused to believe it.
The girl was talented, sure: writer, screenwriter, good at both.
But nobody was born knowing everything. Even a genius like Xie Qian had to learn the ropes. How could Wen Ying walk in and master everything instantly?
Xie Qian couldn’t care less whether Jiang Youjia believed it.
It wasn’t his bonus on the line!
Now that he knew Wen Ying was in Shanghai, Xie Qian thought of the “gift” locked in the office safe, but he wasn’t in a hurry to meet her.
The two little people in his head were still fighting; no victor yet.
Using “business rivalry” as an excuse was perfect. He could drag it out a couple of days.
…
Li Mengjiao and Xiao Mei had guessed correctly.
This time, for the major cosmetics endorsement, Li Mengjiao really did have a formidable rival: Xu Mei!
It wasn’t the first time they had competed for the same deal.
Last time it was a yoghurt endorsement.
The dairy brand’s Boss Liu had loved Li Mengjiao, and her personal image truly fit the product better, so Xu Mei lost.
This time, although Li Mengjiao had higher popularity, when it came to personal image matching the cosmetics brand, Xu Mei was clearly the better fit!
After all, Xu Mei was several years older.
Her previous elegant-lady persona hadn’t worked. After going dark, everything clicked; she now had an air of cool confidence.
She had stopped hyping romances and switched to the “serious actress” route. Fans noticed the change, and so did the cosmetics brand’s market research team.
Li Mengjiao, by contrast, always played teenage roles on screen.
She really was young—she had only just finished the gaokao and turned eighteen. All of that became a disadvantage for this endorsement.
Wen Ying took Li Mengjiao to meet the brand reps, analysing the situation the entire way. Li Mengjiao’s face turned green.
“From what you’re saying, I’ve already lost. Why are we even going to meet them…”
“Of course we’re going. Teacher Yuan says the whole industry knows you want this endorsement. Losing to Xu Mei is one thing. Not even showing your face is another. Do you want people calling you a coward who runs from Xu Mei forever?”
Wen Ying’s words made Li Mengjiao shake her head frantically.
“No, no, no! I’m not a coward!”
Only after cramming a mountain of brand history did Li Mengjiao finally feel the pressure.
She had always assumed whatever endorsement she wanted, she would get; Yuan Fenghui would take care of it.
In Li Mengjiao’s mind Yuan Fenghui was an omnipotent goddess who never showed weakness to her followers. Li Mengjiao never saw the effort Yuan Fenghui put in behind the scenes.
Wen Ying was different. Wen Ying laid the brutal competition bare right in front of her.
Until the contract was signed, anything could happen—especially when they were already at a disadvantage. Li Mengjiao’s heart raced. She wanted to slap herself. No wonder Wen Ying had blown up; she really hadn’t cared enough and had wasted time laughing at Wang Shuang!
Xiao Mei was frantic. “Can Mengjiao still get the endorsement?”
Wen Ying spread her hands. “If we fight hard we still might not win. If we don’t fight at all, we definitely won’t. Do everything we can and leave the rest to fate!”
Li Mengjiao clenched her fists. “I’ll fight! I’ll listen to you. Whatever you say, I’ll do.”
The whole journey she pumped herself up.
When they arrived and she saw Xu Mei walking behind Jiang Youjia, Li Mengjiao’s heart sank.
Wow, Xu Mei’s make-up today was gorgeous!
The eyeshadow was the brand’s flagship colour for the season—perfect on Xu Mei.
Then she remembered that when they left, Wen Ying had only let Kiki do a light, natural look for her. All Li Mengjiao’s fighting spirit evaporated.
They were definitely losing today!
Wen Ying patted her. “If you dare give up right now, I’ll never speak to you again.”
Li Mengjiao wanted to cry. “Then what am I supposed to do?”
“Just be yourself. When we talk to the reps later, join the conversation if you can, but don’t force it if you can’t. Above all, don’t pretend to be mature. You are you, Xu Mei is Xu Mei. You’re on completely different paths.”
Wen Ying had spent two days tearing her down. The first time she affirmed Li Mengjiao, the girl instantly lit up with energy.
“Really? You think I can do it?”
Wen Ying nodded vigorously.
Jiang Youjia looked Li Mengjiao up and down, then at Xu Mei behind him, and felt victory was assured.
“My year-end bonus is safe!”
Xu Mei was less confident. “Tianjiao wouldn’t throw the game this obviously. I suspect they’ve got something up their sleeve.”
