Lin Ruizhe's scheming

Nanqi obediently hummed in agreement, took the cup, and sipped it slowly.

"Ugh—!" Duan Peng and Nan Yue exclaimed in unison, their faces showing disgust and disbelief.

Nanqi was amused and annoyed by their antics, glaring at them and saying, "What are you doing?!"

"The sugar content is way too high, it's sickeningly sweet!" Duan Peng exaggeratedly rubbed his chest, then sighed, his tone full of regret, "Sigh, I really hope Sister Jia can see such a sweet scene."

Nanqi misses Li Jia very much. With the news about her and Song Zhao making such a big fuss, Li Jia must have seen it too, but she hasn't contacted her.

Song Zhao thought for a moment and said, "While you were in the hospital, you received a lot of calls from unknown numbers, almost all of them classmates you haven't contacted in years. They had no other business, just wanted to gossip. I was worried they'd bother you, so I put it on airplane mode." Song Zhao rested his chin on his hand and added, "Maybe Li Jia called after I put it on airplane mode."

Nanqi took the phone and scrolled through the old chat history, but she couldn't tell which number belonged to Li Jia, so she handed it to Duan Peng, "Take a look, do you see any familiar numbers?"

Duan Peng also checked his call log and found that there was indeed a duplicate call. However, the call that had been made to him ended in ten seconds, and Duan Peng thought it was a wrong number, so he didn't answer.

Duan Peng tried calling back, turned on the speakerphone, and deliberately remained silent, waiting for the other end to respond.

"Duan Peng?"

The familiar voice made them all open their eyes wide in surprise, and Duan Peng exclaimed with delight, "Sister Jia, it really is you!"

"Jiajia, I'm with my little brother!"

"Daqi!! Are you feeling better?"

"I'm fine now. How are you?"

"I own a small cake shop. I've been so busy at the shop today that I don't even have time to breathe. I'll come over to visit you guys in a couple of days when it's not so busy."

"What are we waiting for? If you're too busy in a couple of days, I'll just come over to you."

"You still have time to come here?" Li Jia's voice was teasing. "Aren't you busy dating your class monitor?"

Upon hearing this, Duan Peng and Nan Yue couldn't help but chuckle softly, and Song Zhao also turned his head, his eyes brimming with undisguised laughter. Nan Qi shyly nudged Song Zhao gently and muttered, "You're still laughing..."

Nanqi retorted somewhat indignantly, "Just because I'm in a relationship doesn't mean I can't see my friends." Nanqi turned to Song Zhao, "Right?"

"Yes, that's right." Song Zhao nodded indulgently.

"Oh, your partner's here too?"

"Yes, I'm here."

"Send me your address, and I'll arrange a get-together with you two in a couple of days," Li Jia said with a smile.

Shortly after hanging up the phone, Li Jia sent a friend request with the note "Your best friend." Nan Qi accepted, and then had them take a group photo and send it over. In this way, they reconnected.

For the rest of the time, the four of them played poker. The stakes were low, only one yuan per round, but Nanqi loved the feeling of winning, so she played more seriously than anyone else. When playing 50K, no matter who she was teamed up with, she played her cards with all her might, wanting to reveal all her good cards to protect her teammates.

Song Zhao, on the other hand, was completely different. As long as she wasn't on Nan Qi's team, she would quietly hold back her good cards. In one game, she even hid a King of Spades, which caused Nan Qi and Nan Yue to win the game despite it starting badly, much to Duan Peng's anger.

The card game continued until the sun began to set, when the four of them reluctantly parted ways. Perhaps they were so engrossed in the game that Nanqi and Song Zhao didn't even take a nap and didn't feel sleepy at all.

After the party ended, the two drove back to the city. Song Zhao was going to start filming tomorrow, so she had to go back to the company tonight to finish up the remaining work. Nan Qi decided to go with her and work overtime together.

The new office space is a bit small, but it's not bad for a startup, considering its good location, right across from Canxing in an office building. It's just that one looks glamorous and the other looks rather dated.

When they arrived at the company, it was almost 8 p.m., and there were only a few people left to work overtime. Song Zhao's desk was piled high with documents, but she remained unusually calm, sitting down and carefully reviewing each one.

Nanqi was taken aback by her staggering workload and was speechless for a long time.

She sat in the chair opposite, thinking of helping out, when her gaze fell on the stack of resumes of artists waiting to be signed. Curious, she picked them up and looked through them. Some of the faces looked familiar, but when she turned to the resume of a girl with long red hair, she couldn't help but freeze.

"Is this the actress who was arm in arm with you at the hotel entrance?" Nanqi handed the resume to Song Zhao and asked softly.

Song Zhao glanced at it, shrugged, and said, "Canxing wanted to sign her, but I snatched her away."

"Oh," Nanqi responded, her tone unreadable.

"Are you unhappy?" Song Zhao blinked at her.

"without."

Song Zhao took her hand and explained earnestly, "There are a few artists who weren't very popular at Canxing, and they signed over as soon as their contracts expired. Cindy and I have divided the work; she's in charge of artist management, and I'll just mentor them a little."

Nanqi sighed softly, paused, and asked, "So you've officially started a feud with Canxing?"

“Lin Ruizhe ruined me, how can I not get revenge?” Song Zhao sneered. “Snatching people is only the first step. Once I’ve brought these artists out, I’ll have time to focus on film and television. I’ll do everything that Canxing can do in the future.”

As she spoke, she took out a pack of cigarettes from the drawer, skillfully shook out one, lit it, and began to puff out smoke.

Nanqi was taken aback at first, then reached out and snatched the cigarette away: "When did you learn to smoke?"

"I had to smoke for a role, and that's how I learned to smoke," Song Zhao said with a slight smile. "Don't worry, I'm not addicted to cigarettes. I only smoke one occasionally while working."

Nanqi stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray and said seriously, "If you're not addicted, quit. It's bad for your throat."

"Okay." Song Zhao didn't hesitate for a moment, casually throwing the whole pack of cigarettes into the trash can, her expression softening. "I'll listen to my darling."

Nanqi smiled with satisfaction, then continued, "How are you sure it was President Lin who tricked you?"

Song Zhao sneered and said, "He's no saint. He's a master at killing two birds with one stone. He was there at Zheng Shiqiu's party. He deliberately watched Zheng Shiqiu take me away and did nothing to help me, stirring up a conflict between us. Then he used me to drive Zheng Shiqiu away."

"In this way, there will be no one to share power with Canxing, and he will be in complete control. The only loss is that I will terminate my contract early, but he can see that I have no intention of renewing it, so it is not a loss for him."

"Also, the day I carried you to the hospital, someone filmed it and posted it online. At first, public opinion didn't affect me much, but then he quickly announced that he was terminating my contract, and then my dirty secrets were exposed. How could things be so coincidental?"

Song Zhao snorted coldly and said, "I'm afraid he had already investigated my past and deliberately waited for this day to release it to me. He even manipulated online trolls to guide public opinion and wanted to completely ruin me!"

Upon hearing this, Nanqi lowered her eyebrows and said in a deep voice, "Isn't he afraid that the work you've already completed will be affected?"

"Just a few supporting actresses. Cindy has already taken care of the lead actress's script. There are plenty of popular actresses in the company who can get endorsements. I can just find someone to replace me."

Looking back, Nanqi realized that the media storm had indeed been incredibly dangerous. No wonder Cindy was willing to risk offending Song Zhao to personally visit her in the hospital. It was truly a situation where one wrong step would lead to utter ruin. If they lost, not only would Song Zhao's reputation be completely destroyed, with no chance of ever making a comeback, but Cindy would also be branded as a traitor to her former company. Coupled with the influence of Canxing, her career would likely be over. Novels described the entertainment industry as glamorous on the surface but turbulent underneath, and now it seemed to be a true reflection of reality.

Nanqi instructed, "Canxing is too powerful; we can't rush into fighting it."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Lin Ruizhe seemed to be a natural adversary to Song Zhao. When the two were on the same side, their few meetings were all negotiations. They fought each other with sharp words to win more territory, force the other to compromise, and finally reach a consensus.

Song Zhao is a woman who never gives up. She suffered a great loss this time, and she will definitely get her revenge next time. Moreover, she has plenty of patience when facing such an opponent. Besides, she is still young, and who can say for sure who will be more powerful in the future?