003
"Card--"
Chen Mansheng called for a stop, a satisfied look on her face.
The other judges were also whispering among themselves, and several nodded in agreement.
The girl on stage hadn't completely detached herself from the play; she was wearing a simple long dress, and just standing there, she was captivating.
Chen Mansheng glanced furtively at Meng Zhiling beside her and asked, "Mr. Meng, what do you think of this?"
Meng Zhiling rubbed his wristwatch with his fingers. "I'm not as professional as Director Chen. I'm just here to take a look. There's no need to ask for my opinion."
Chen Mansheng smiled and said, "Mr. Meng is our largest investor, so it's only right."
Jiang Huali stood quietly on the stage, unhurried and composed.
021 is a good teacher, and the original owner was also a talented actress. Jiang Huali didn't think her performance would be bad.
Chen Mansheng had already made her choice, but still wore a smile: "Ms. Jiang, please go back and wait for our notification. We will let you know the results when they are available."
Jiang Huali nodded, bowed to the judges, and walked out of the audition room.
The next person to audition came in, and everything continued smoothly.
Everyone around continued watching the next audition. Meng Zhiling looked up and his gaze fell on Jiang Huali's back.
Suddenly, the girl's expression on the stage flashed into his mind—calm, yet with a hidden sharpness.
Recalling that moment when their eyes met, his fingers unconsciously touched his watch again.
There was a slight itch.
It was dark outside. Jiang Huali had just walked out of the audition venue and was about to hail a taxi home when a torrential downpour began.
She forgot to check the weather forecast when she went out and didn't bring an umbrella, so she had to wait under the eaves.
Perhaps because of the rain and the large number of people, no one on the ride-hailing platform accepted her order for a long time.
"Heh, who is this?" a mocking voice rang out.
Jiang Huali kept her head down, looking at her phone, and ignored everything.
"Hey, why aren't you saying anything?" Zhuang Qian looked at Jiang Huali with dissatisfaction and tried to push her shoulder, but the other party did not respond. Her provocation was like punching cotton.
Jiang Huali put down her phone and gave Zhuang Qian a standard smile. "I don't want to warn you a third time, watch your hands."
Zhuang Qian softened her tone and feigned concern, saying, "Xiao Li, for the sake of our past friendship, I still want to advise you: you have no power or influence in this industry, and it's best not to do anything you're not capable of."
Jiang Huali looked at her and laughed, "Really? I'm so pretty, and my acting isn't too bad either, at least a bit better than yours. How come you can become famous while I can't?"
"you!"
"Qianqian? What's wrong?" A feigned surprised female voice rang out. Su Yueke walked over from not far away, looked Jiang Huali up and down, but asked in a friendly manner.
"Sister Su, I saw some old friends and just wanted to say hello, but they didn't seem to like me much," Zhuang Qian said, feigning sadness.
Jiang Huali stood silently to the side, not saying a word or making a move, not even glancing at them, as if her five senses were shut off.
In her mind, she was actually asking the system: "Could your Time and Space Bureau give me some money?"
Since I don't have money to buy a car, I have to take a taxi. If I can't get a taxi, I can only watch this lousy performance here.
I don't know if this counts as a work-related injury.
The system, acting as customer service, says: "No, dear, our wages are based on points."
[And darling, you're a member of the Time-Space Bureau now too.]
Su Yueke pretended to be kind and said, "Qianqian, perhaps Miss Jiang is in a bad mood after just finishing her audition. Let's not bother her."
"My assistant is here in his car. It seems you don't have a ride? Would you like me to give you a lift?"
Su Yueke turned her head and gave Jiang Huali a kind smile.
Jiang Huali declined, "No need, thank you."
Su Yue stopped talking, gave her a half-smile, and got into the car with Zhuang Qian.
The car door closed, and the vehicle drove forward, splashing up a little rainwater.
Jiang Huali switched to a different ride-hailing app and continued to wait at the same spot.
It was raining and close to the evening rush hour, making it difficult to hail a taxi. Jiang Huali considered her account balance and tried the cheapest car models, but no one accepted her fare because of the low price.
While Jiang Huali and the system were discussing what to eat for dinner, a low-key black luxury car suddenly drove up in front of them.
Two men in suits walked out of the audition venue one after the other; the shorter one was carrying a black umbrella.
Jiang Huali glanced at it from the side and was slightly stunned.
The person walking in front is the one who sat next to Chen Mansheng during the audition, and the other man holding an umbrella looks like his assistant.
The man was tall and slender, and his powerful physique was encased in a perfectly wrinkle-free suit, clearly the result of regular exercise.
It was obvious that they had also seen Jiang Huali.
At least we met briefly during the audition. Even though they might not know her, it's only polite to say hello.
Jiang Huali smiled at the man in the suit and then looked away, since it wasn't very polite to stare at him.
Meng Zhiling cast a calm glance at Jiang Huali, while his assistant Liu nodded to her.
Assistant Liu opened his umbrella to escort his boss to the car. Just as he was about to head towards the passenger seat, he heard his usually cold and impersonal boss say to him:
"Liu Yuan, go ask Miss Jiang if she needs any help."
ah?
As a qualified president's assistant, Assistant Liu worked diligently and conscientiously. She knew her boss inside and out, and was quite adept at handling certain tasks.
He had never seen his boss take the initiative to care about a strange girl.
But Liu Yuan's working-class manners made him suppress his gossipy nature, and he nodded: "Okay."
Jiang Huali waited and waited, and finally someone accepted her order. She then saw the domineering CEO's assistant standing in front of her, asking her in a formulaic, polite tone:
"Um, Ms. Jiang, do you need any help?"
Liu Yuan wasn't particularly familiar with this kind of business, and the situation was rather comical, but he still forced himself to continue, "The rain might continue for quite a while. Uh, if Miss Jiang doesn't mind, you can come with us."
Jiang Huali paused for a moment, then tapped the system: 【What does this mean?】
The system, just about to drift off to sleep, woke up from its cybernetic bed upon hearing this: [?]
Jiang Huali canceled her taxi trip, turned off her phone, gave Assistant Liu a grateful smile, and said, "Is that alright? Thank you for your help."
System: [You're already seated?]
Jiang Huali: [Yes, because this place is more than 30 kilometers away from our neighborhood.]
The exorbitant taxi fare was heartbreaking for her.
Jiang Huali had originally planned to grit her teeth and hail a taxi in this heavy rain, but now that a free ride was available, she certainly wouldn't refuse.
After all, the other party didn't look like a lawbreaker.
Jiang Huali glanced at Assistant Liu's honest appearance and sincere eyes, and nodded to herself.
Jiang Huali and Assistant Liu walked to the car together and then got into the back seat.
She quietly rubbed the goosebumps on her arm. When she first got into the car, Assistant Liu had given her a strange look, which made her a little scared.
Jiang Huali glanced at the person sitting next to her, and politely greeted and thanked them.
The man was reading a financial newspaper. He had a pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on his high nose. He wasn't wearing glasses when I first saw him, so I guess he was only mildly nearsighted.
Upon hearing this, Meng Zhiling gave a soft "hmm," put down the newspaper in her hand, handed her a clean towel, and said gently, "Wipe yourself off, or you'll catch a cold."
Jiang Huali wasn't stupid. The person who offered to give her a ride certainly wasn't the assistant. Subordinates wouldn't use their boss's car to do favors in front of others.
But is this boss really that helpful?
Jiang Huali took the towel and thanked him. The rain was so heavy that her skirt and arms were already soaked from the rain after just a short drive.
The soft towel wiped away the water droplets from my arms and calves, dispelling some of the chill.
The vehicle moved slowly forward, and the interior was completely quiet.
Driver Wu said, "Miss Jiang, please give me your address and I'll take you home first."
Jiang Huali: "I live in Xianghe Community on Jiangnan Road, thank you."
They didn't speak again on the way there. The driver drove smoothly and dropped Jiang Huali off at the entrance of her residential compound.
After the car came to a stop, Jiang Huali looked at the rain outside and was about to get out when she heard the person next to her say, "Liu Yuan, give the umbrella to Miss Jiang."
Liu Yuan quickly handed her an umbrella, but Jiang Huali declined, saying, "No need, it's just a short walk, I can go straight in, thank you."
Liu Yuan glanced at his superior's expression and had a sudden inspiration.
"Ms. Jiang, please use the umbrella for now. You can contact me later to return it."
As he spoke, Liu Yuan was about to exchange WeChat contacts with Jiang Huali.
To his surprise, just as he took out his phone, his cold-faced boss took out his phone and said calmly, "Add me, I'll have the driver come and get it."
"drop--"
Assistant Liu slowly put his phone back in, sat up straight, and stared straight ahead.
Damn it, he almost forgot that his boss had invited this lady into the car himself, a wonderful first encounter... He'd be a hero saving a damsel in distress, and then find another reason to add her on WeChat.
That makes perfect sense.
Jiang Huali hesitated for a moment, but still added the other person on WeChat. During this process, she saw the other person's profile picture and was somewhat surprised to find that it was a Samoyed with an angelic smile.
After Jiang Huali made the notes as instructed, she put her phone away.
Goodbye, Mr. Meng.
Meng Zhiling's gaze followed the figure until it gradually disappeared into the rain.
The black car slowly drove back into the traffic. Meng Zhiling glanced at the new friends that had appeared on her phone, then turned off the screen and closed her eyes to pretend to sleep.
He fell into a familiar dream again. In the dream, he seemed to be injured, and the air was filled with the smell of blood. A black-haired girl walked ahead of him, dressed in clothes that would only appear in a martial arts drama. She would turn around from time to time to urge him on, seemingly disregarding his injuries: "Hey, can you walk faster?"
The voice was clear and loud, and it sounded very similar to Jiang Huali's voice when she got out of his car.
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