Chapter 48 Chapter 48
The central air conditioner was humming, but the scene of more than a hundred people was silent and hushed.
The fury that filled the room collapsed the moment An Jiuyue calmly said, "I will find new investors."
Some were dumbfounded, some were in disbelief, and some looked panicked.
If An Jiyue had just swallowed her bitterness and let the arrogant Director Zhong leave, perhaps the entire production team would have seen her as a role model of courage. Everyone would have gathered together to criticize her and then praise Director An's courage, and her popularity would have been established.
But she persisted to the end, and even irresponsibly cut off the entire program's financial resources with a light-hearted remark.
Even though she was fighting for the dignity of all people, she had already lost the support of the people.
"Xiao An! What are you talking about?" Director Zhang, anxious and fearful, stepped forward and pushed her back, standing between them. "Mr. Zhong, don't bother with her. Young people don't know how to handle things. I'll apologize to you on her behalf..."
Zhong Xinli's breathing was unstable, her face looked extremely bad, and her chest was heaving up and down, which made Director Zhang frightened.
He hesitated whether to go forward and support her. An Jiyue's two words were so devastating that the arrogant Mr. Zhong seemed to be in a really bad situation.
In the world of people like them, money can always solve everything. Perhaps she has never seen anyone treat money as dirt, let alone been contradicted like this.
He could never have guessed that Zhong Xinli reacted like this because of Lu Ye's disregard just now and because she witnessed him feeding An Jiuyue pastries with his own hands.
Director Zhang, like everyone else present, was so frightened by An Jiuyue's presumptuous announcement that he broke out in a cold sweat, and forgot about the suspicious scene that had just happened.
There were some who slipped through the net, for example, Tang Bian, who had come forward, tugged at the corner of Xu Mu's clothes with a sharp look of surprise, as if he wanted to confront him about the situation.
He was afraid that he was dazzled.
"Hey, hey, did you see Director An and Lu just now—"
"Shh!" Xu Mu asked him to be quiet without even turning his head.
He'd known about Director An and Lu Ye's affair the night before, and he'd seen even more explosive scenes. Xu Mu was more concerned about keeping his job; after all, this incident was caused by him, and An Jiyue was merely speaking up for him.
Zhong Xinli didn't answer for a long time, her face pale. Director Zhang was extremely anxious and shouted, "Yiyi! Song Yiyi! Come here and accompany Mr. Zhong to rest first--"
The woman in the corner, watching the show impassively, didn't move. Song Yiyi, with her delicate features and usually expressionless face, looked even more indifferent at this moment.
Actually, connecting with financial sponsors was Song Yiyi's job. She usually hated others interfering in her affairs, but today, An Jiyue bypassed her and directly broke the contract with the Lijiang Consortium, but Song Yiyi didn't say a word.
Everyone was curious about how Song Yi would retain this wealthy client and how she would reason things out with the young and impulsive An Jiuyue.
But Song Yiyi said nothing from beginning to end.
She walked indifferently to the distraught Zhong Xinli, loosely held one of the woman's hands, and walked out with her.
Song Yi had secretly admired Lu Ye for so many years, and had personally witnessed his breakup and reunion with An Jiuyue. Zhong Xinli was on the stage for only a few seconds before she saw through his thoughts.
The rising star in the financial world fell in love with the daughter of a wealthy family at first sight. In front of the camera, they were a perfectly matched couple.
But the more Song Yi looked at them, the more confused she became. She could accept that someone stood with Lu Ye by chance, such as Zhu Ling; she could also accept that someone had a deep bond with Lu Ye and could always be together, such as An Jiyue.
But she couldn't accept that someone would pay a lot of money to be able to stand on the same stage with him and chat and laugh.
It was almost a blasphemy to the freehand ink painting in her heart. It was clearly full of the fragrance of ink, but Zhong Xinli smeared it with the smell of money.
She couldn't be as spotless as An Jiyue. If she had personally secured this sponsorship, perhaps Song Yi would have just gritted her teeth and accepted the loss. But the Lijiang Consortium had come to them on their own. Before the news of Lu Ye's withdrawal spread, they had personally sent in a replacement guest and packaged a series of sponsorships.
It was not considered his achievement in the first place, and coupled with the arrogant and contemptuous attitude of the financier, Song Yi was too lazy to try to keep him.
There was a special car parked outside Huayi Building. Song Yiyi stuffed her into the car and turned away.
She swiped the access control again and pressed the elevator button. The place should have been clearing out by then, and given what had happened, there was probably going to be a last-minute meeting. So she went to the 24th floor first, then transferred back to the office.
The elevator door on the 24th floor slowly opened. Song Yi walked in quickly with her head down. When she stopped, she found two people standing on the other side.
An Jiyue. Lu Ye.
They were so close together, almost overlapping.
The air was strangely silent. Even though the elevator was rising, Song Yiyi felt as if her heart was sinking towards the center of the earth.
She stared at the floor display screen and felt that the numbers were jumping several times slower than before.
The clear female voice was soft and calm: "Lu Ye, this is Song Yiyi, my roommate in college. Yiyi, this is Lu Ye."
Song Yi stiffly shook hands with Lu Ye's outstretched hand, and the fleeting warmth seemed to have left a mark on her fingertips.
An Jiyue seemed to have completely forgotten what had just happened and was concentrating on introducing them.
"Although Yi Yi and I are from the same class, she is now the head of the investment promotion team. She negotiated a lot of resources."
"That year, Lu Ye, you invited my roommate to dinner, and Yi Yi happened to be busy that day..."
"...and I never had the chance to introduce you two to each other afterwards."
Song Yiyi didn't listen to much. She looked absentmindedly at the man opposite her in casual and comfortable red and white sportswear. She couldn't help but secretly wonder whether the person who had just embarrassed the sponsor in public was An Jiuyue.
How could she be so unrestrained and not back down, and how could she recover to her relaxed and composed state so quickly.
Ever since they'd shared the same dorm, she'd always remembered An Jiyue as someone who was always confident and at ease. This was unlike Song Yiyi's own expressionless demeanor, where she'd struggled internally, ultimately cutting herself off from the outside world to control her emotions. An Jiyue, however, was different. She always did her best to open herself up and embrace every possibility.
Even Song Yiyi, who was as stubborn as a rock, had been moved by her enthusiasm several times.
How much energy does she have? Song Yiyi speculated with envy, so much so that she ignored the light ink painting hidden in her heart.
"I should have met classmate Song before. I remember that you often go to the library, not far from where I usually sit."
A deep and charming voice took over An Jiuyue's words. Song Yi suddenly woke up, looked up, and finally met Lu Ye's eyes.
This was the first time she had looked directly at an ink painting. And at this moment, Lu Ye no longer had that aloof expression.
His misty eyes became soft, even a little sincere, and his thin lips were not as sharp as they looked during his report speech, but were instead adorned with a friendly and kind smile.
"I'm really sorry for not responding to your message last week. I usually get a lot of messages, so next time if you have anything, just give me a voice call."
Lu Ye couldn't remember many of his old classmates' names, but since An Jiuyue had mentioned them in a message she sent him, he kept them in mind.
Song Yi moved her lips and stammered, "Yeah."
It must be the return of the south wind. The air in this elevator is so humid.
It was as if years of thick snow suddenly melted, and joy and relief flowed through my heart.
Song Yi's expression remained normal. She turned her gaze to An Jiuyue, who was calm and composed beside Lu Ye. Her tone was so calm as if she had just met an ordinary stranger.
"How do you explain what just happened?"
An Jiyue's brown eyes suddenly sparkled. She raised her eyebrows and shrugged, "They suspended me again. How strange."
In fact, An Jiuyue understood the leader's decision. He scolded her in public and announced that she would be suspended from work for reflection. The main intention was to make an example of her.
The truth about the financial backers and the staff being submissive is a secret known to the entire industry, but no one will speak openly about it. After all, she was the one who "shaken the morale" first. If everyone was like her, would they still have jobs?
Not to mention Hua Yi, even if you look at the entire media and entertainment industry, there are only a few new directors like An Jiuyue who are so confident that they can embarrass the Lijiang Group.
"If the Lijiang Consortium withdraws its investment, you will have to work hard again."
An Jiyue felt a little sorry for Song Yiyi. She even decided to do it herself if the program really had difficulty attracting investment.
"I didn't recruit the Lijiang Consortium. I originally wanted to attract new investment." Song Yi said lightly.
Still with that strong sense of boundaries. An Jiyue lowered her eyes and smiled, saying no more.
The elevator stopped at the floor of the Interactive Entertainment Division.
Song Yi was the first to walk out. She heard the man behind her say in a deep and intimate voice, "Wait for you here." The girl smiled brightly and walked briskly towards her office.
She had heard this kind of conversation before. It was downstairs in the girls' dormitory, where the hot early summer breeze blew through the mango grove, imbued with the fragrance of fruit and refreshingly warm.
The sky was clear and the air was fresh. A girl was carrying a schoolbag, and the bright hem of her skirt flashed before Song Yiyi's eyes.
She stood there in a daze, and this time she did not look back at the old ink painting, but looked forward, as if she saw that joyful and calm figure again.
-
The lights in the basement of Huayi Building are flashing at a high frequency, and it is hard not to feel dizzy if you stay there for a long time.
I don't know whether it was due to negligence on the part of the logistics and property management, or whether the management did it on purpose to prevent employees from slacking off in the car.
Liang Sinan had been wandering around for countless times. Every time he circled, he would pass by the silver-gray Volvo parked in An Jiyue's usual parking spot.
Even though it was almost midnight, the owner of the car still hadn't shown up.
He glanced at the phone screen with the message "Live broadcast has ended". Various messages were still flashing with words like "Lu Ye, don't go" and "Give me back Luzhu CP".
Liang Sinan also went in to watch for a while. Compared to the other two groups' lively atmosphere, Zhu Ling and Lu Ye's pairing was clearly a different style. They were sometimes lighthearted and humorous, sometimes sharing from the heart. Add to that the fact that they were both talented and beautiful, and their mature temperament, and he was even more attracted to them.
However, if you observe carefully for a while, you can find that neither the bright and charming Zhu Ling nor the noble daughter later on could catch the eye of this simple and unpretentious male guest.
The reason why Lu Ye could chat and laugh with them was that he knew how to hold himself in check and could easily maintain decency and politeness.
This point is very consistent with Liang Sinan himself.
He could see a layer of mist in Lu Ye's deep dark eyes. A casual acquaintance like him could not see through this almost invisible barrier.
But someone can.
Liang Sinan changed his usual style of braking and stopping suddenly and slowed down slowly and silently. He saw the silver-gray car body again.
The difference is that this time the car door is wide open and there is a pair of people standing next to the car.
The tall man was holding up the roof of the car, his eyes slightly lowered as he stared at the girl leaning against the car body. A rare warm light overflowed from his distant eyes.
Liang Sinan seemed to have a premonition of something. Before he could blink, he suddenly saw a cold and noble figure leaning down.
Two figures overlapped and intertwined, flickering on the wall of the basement.
Liang Sinan's heart choked, and his feet suddenly lost control, and the tires rubbed against the ground, making a sharp scream.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
