Chapter 51 I Just Can't Live Without You

Thirty days after the official launch of "Bai Yao Pu", Jian Zhen got an interview opportunity with an online media outlet. The other party was not very well-known and only had some recognition among animation enthusiasts. However, she still carefully checked the location and arrived at the interview location in advance.

"Ms. Jian, you are so beautiful in person!" The host showed obvious surprise when he saw her.

Jian Zhen let out a sound of surprise, tilted her head, and asked with a smile, "Is someone saying behind my back that I'm ugly?"

"No, no!" The other person waved their hands repeatedly, twirling their fingers in the air. They opened their mouths as if to bring up the black media storm from half a year ago, but then felt it was inappropriate and stopped themselves from speaking.

Jian Zhen smiled and lowered her head, picking up the interview outline in her hand and saying, "Let's get started!"

She was originally a presentable person, and with the help of prior preparation and post-production editing, her image in the video appeared even more outstanding in terms of temperament and eloquence. With the explosive popularity of Pingping's treasure storyline, Jian Zhen also made a beautiful comeback on the Internet, her reputation reversed, and people even started asking her for autographs in the real world.

Her initial fame not only satisfied her vanity but also brought her a lot of trouble. For example, Touxue's recent foray into online dramas has received unexpected and widespread attention, which has greatly increased the pressure on the entire studio.

You see, although the stage for the snow-covered performance was set up, the actors weren't ready to take the stage yet. Everyone was still practicing their moves. Suddenly, a group of enthusiastic fans arrived outside. It wasn't really possible to close the doors and send them back. But then again...

Jian Zhen closed the thirteenth job application email she had read that morning, stood up to get a glass of water, and said to her boss with her legs crossed, "I told you it would be hard to find an accountant!"

They don't even have someone to collect tickets!

Chien Chen's recruitment task this morning failed, but the drawing task must continue. Their original plan remains unchanged: TV series first, followed by movies. Before Chien Chen was interviewed, two episodes of their TV series had been released, receiving a warm response, with viewers eagerly awaiting the next episode!

But let alone adding more episodes, even updating weekly on time is now difficult. As soon as Youjia arrived, she established the animation style and artistic level of the entire TV series. In addition, Jianzhen's strict control over the picture quality has caused their progress to be quite slow. Even Lao Le said with no sincerity, "If this continues, we won't be able to survive until Qili goes bankrupt. We'll go bankrupt first."

The studio urgently needs to recruit high-level animators, which is more urgent than hiring an accountant. However, most of the truly experienced and capable candidates on the market are already successful and unwilling to move around easily, let alone to a backwater like Touxue.

Although animation production has become a systematic task, it cannot be simply broken down into one plus one equals two. For example, putting two people with half the skill level of an excellent person together will not equal an excellent person. Recruiting two ordinary but excellent people will only add burden to the exceptionally excellent one.

Moreover, Jian Zhen saw it all – He Youjia's burden was already heavy enough.

She's been working day and night lately, her eyes have sunken, and she caught a cold early in the fall; you can hear her coughing in the office from time to time.

Unable to persuade her otherwise, Jian Zhen had no choice but to ask her former employer, Xu Weisheng, to intervene.

Xu Weisheng went to Singapore on a business trip. He was very good at playing the role of the group's mascot - cutting ribbons everywhere. Compared with the former fake heir, the elders in the board of directors found him surprisingly pleasing to the eye. Some even inquired about his marital status in private. When the news reached Xu Weisheng's ears, he immediately bought a pair of rings, wore the men's version, and claimed that it was a token of love from his girlfriend.

Jian Zhen was unaware that she could afford Chanel high jewelry.

But she was well aware of President Xu's extravagant schedule, and called Xu Weisheng at the perfect moment. When the call connected, Xu Weisheng's plane had just landed.

"What makes you think I can convince her?" he asked, unbuckling his seatbelt.

“Aren’t you the most important person in her heart?” Jian Zhen said matter-of-factly.

Xu Weisheng was speechless for a moment, then paused and said, "You can actually say such things so easily. Aren't you afraid of making me angry?"

Jian Zhen retorted, "What's there to be angry about?"

Xu Weisheng laughed helplessly, wondering why he had to explain: "Don't you think this is pushing me away?"

“You can’t push her away,” Jian Zhen replied without hesitation.

This guy... he had set a trap of sweet talk here, just waiting for him to fall in. Xu Weisheng breathed a sigh of relief, lowered his eyes, and smiled in surrender: "Did you call me because of He Youjia?"

“Of course!” Jian Zhen declared proudly, “She accounts for more than half!”

Xu Weisheng's heart skipped a beat. He coughed lightly and asked hopefully, "What about the other half?"

"I miss you a little," Jian Zhen said quickly, and before Xu Weisheng could speak, she slammed the phone down, leaving Xu Weisheng, who had been teased, scratching his head in frustration. He thought to himself that he shouldn't have flown back to the airport, but should have flown directly to the rooftop where Touxue was and pulled her up to the rooftop to kiss her.

They grew and progressed together in their love of kissing, and even planned to regularly exchange their learning experiences. Unfortunately, they were both busy and rarely saw each other.

But the more things were like this, the more enthusiastic someone became upon their reunion. Yes, this "someone" specifically refers to Xu Weisheng. Jian Zhen once commented on him: "I don't go home for a month, and even my dog ​​isn't as excited as you."

Xu Weisheng was furious that he had been reduced to being compared to a dog, but when they were alone, he still couldn't shake his habit of asking for kisses anytime, anywhere.

That evening, he and Jian Zhen squeezed into one chair to watch a behind-the-scenes documentary about the production of "The Hundred Demon Records." When the camera panned to the colleagues in the office whom he was tired of seeing, he turned his head and nuzzled Jian Zhen's hair. Just as he was about to lean in and kiss her, Jian Zhen reached out and slowly but firmly pushed him away, saying something completely unrelated: "Look, even the patrol has formal rules and regulations to control the overtime limit, so why can't Touxue? Did you even talk to He Youjia about it?"

“Youjia?” Xu Weisheng lay on his side with one leg draped over her and said nonchalantly, “She’s a painting fanatic. Talking to her is useless. If you want to free her, the only way is to find someone who is just as good as her to share her workload.”

Jian Zhen stared at him for a few seconds, then turned her face away in frustration, pouting slightly—didn't she know she needed to find someone? The key was how to find that person, and where to look for them.

Xu Weisheng rubbed his leg against hers, enticingly asking, "Are you already looking for it?"

"Nonsense." Jian Zhen rolled her eyes at him.

"It's a pity we couldn't find it?" Xu Weisheng grabbed her hand, fiddling with her knuckles for a while before saying softly, "Why do you always prefer to trouble me with other people's affairs, but not with your own?"

“I…no.” Jian Zhen blinked, staring at the ceiling, and explained, “I just thought that persuading Youjia would be easy for you, but finding someone would be very difficult.”

"Is it difficult?" Xu Weisheng asked softly.

Jian Zhen instinctively felt that this question did not need an answer. She lay still and glanced at the other person out of the corner of her eye. Sure enough, Xu Weisheng quickly made up his mind: "I am willing to do anything for you, no matter how difficult it is. I love you very much."

His confession came suddenly, like a well cover that couldn't hold back the spring water, suddenly being pushed open by pressure, and a small, uncontrolled stream of water gushed out. Jian Zhen looked at him with some surprise, and they played the game of "if the enemy doesn't move, I won't move" for two minutes—Jian Zhen noticed that his eyes were red.

Hey? What's there to cry about? You didn't refuse.

Jian Zhen raised her hand in surprise to touch the corner of his eye, but Xu Weisheng was one step ahead, grabbing her hand and looking at her with teary eyes, saying, "I can't live without you, so please don't leave me, okay?"

Based on Xu Weisheng's understanding of Jian Zhen, she would most likely say "no" at this time, and he had already made a contingency plan for it—there was nothing else to do but continue to coax and plead.

Unexpectedly, Jian Zhen touched his chin, sighed heavily, and compromised, "Okay, but not today. I'm still on my period today."

Xu Weisheng realized that Jian Zhen seemed to have misunderstood what he meant by "cannot leave", but her answer was exactly what he had been hoping for. He hesitated for two seconds between correcting the mistake and going with the flow, and then decisively sided with going with the flow.