Chapter 49: Another Storm Begins
Honestly, since she changed her mindset, Li Sishi has developed a more complex and different feeling towards Huang Qianyan, the person she couldn't let go of in her past life.
This mentality stems from a broader perspective on the helplessness of the prevailing ideas of this era, as well as a sense of regret for those who have come to the same end and even share the same plight. When combined, it becomes a desire to help her, as if helping the ignorant and foolish "self" of the past.
For example, some people, after getting caught in the rain, want to help others who are also getting rained on, not wanting others to suffer the same hardships they endured; others, after getting rained on, are particularly happy to watch others get rained on, because they feel that since they have suffered, others should also suffer...
Li Sishi asked herself if she was either a smart person or a great person, but in this situation, she would undoubtedly choose the former approach to feel that she could live with her conscience.
Therefore, she calmly accepted Huang Qianyan's invitation, then opened the car door and sat in the passenger seat.
As Huang Qianyan drove her away, Li Sishi's mind drifted a little: If this were a novel from later generations that looked back on this era, the protagonist who could sit in the passenger seat of the beautiful Huang's car would probably be envied to death, right?
The two arrived at a coffee shop in silence. After sitting down, Li Sishi ordered some simple food and drinks as Huang Qianyan suggested, and then took the initiative to ask, "Is there something you need from me?"
"I've heard about you." Perhaps because she was an athletic girl who played basketball in her youth, Huang Qianyan has developed a straightforward and outspoken personality, and her speech is not as roundabout as that often seen in the entertainment industry. "If I'm not mistaken, Miss Zhuang is probably planning to groom you as my successor."
"So?" Li Sishi looked at her light brown eyes, which seemed to be hazy with mist.
“Although some people might feel uncomfortable about this situation, and I was also a little unhappy at first, after thinking it through, I actually feel happy and relaxed about your appearance.” Huang Qianyan looked at Li Sishi, vaguely feeling as if she wanted to capture traces of her younger self in her. “You know, I am nine years older than you, and I have been in this industry for almost ten years.”
"At only sixteen, whether for an artist or an ordinary person, it's the golden age with great potential," Li Sishi raised an eyebrow.
"But for a girl who wants to pursue the warmth of a family, this is already..."
"I'm getting 'old'." Huang Qianyan shook her head with a smile. "Besides, I really am feeling a bit tired."
"I think a girl will eventually get married." As if she had thought of something, her brows and eyes gradually relaxed.
Although this job brought her a huge salary that most people could only dream of, as well as popularity, friends, and true love... the troubles that followed were also unbearable for her.
Now, she has finally gotten over the pain left by her ex, and in her predicament, she has met a man who is willing to do a lot for her. In addition, the man has promised to overcome all difficulties to divorce his wife, who has no feelings for him but is very wealthy, and then marry her. How could she not be moved?
All she had to do was leave the entertainment industry for him, but he had to face the combined pressure from society and his family for her sake!
This is completely different from her previous boyfriend, a musical talent she dated for many years but who ultimately refused to marry her!
Looking at Huang Qianyan's appearance, Li Sishi probably guessed something: Speaking of which, the timing of this new one's appearance was truly advantageous, taking full advantage of the right time, place, and people.
A passive personality like Huang Qianyan's makes her most easily swayed by persistent advances.
When others are kind to her, she will remember it for a long time, and then a strange sense of guilt will arise, as if she owes that person something. With this sense of guilt as a foundation, she will relax her boundaries on some invitations that she originally did not want to accept, and then one invitation after another will come.
"Maybe, but it's a new era now. Whether a girl gets married or not, she can live a good life as long as she has the ability." Perhaps it was her experiences in her previous life that made Li Sishi somewhat wary of marriage, and the years she spent on campus also broadened her horizons. Therefore, she didn't care so much about those traditional ideas on this issue.
Simply put, it means that they have been hurt here before, so even though they are not completely disappointed with it, they are unwilling to easily set foot in this area again.
Realizing that the two were not on the same page, Huang Qianyan smiled slightly and changed the subject, turning instead to the real reason she had asked Li Sishi out that day: "You had a little unpleasantness with Miss Zhuang last time, didn't you?"
"There was a slight clash of ideas, but it shouldn't be a big problem." Although she hasn't received any new gigs since that day, her new song "Glamorous Debut," which has already been released to the public, has been arranged and sent to the radio station for chart rankings.
This means that Zhuang Menghua's "rebellion" against her
She was a little annoyed, but not to a serious degree, so she simply instructed Lu Yiting to ignore her for a while as a warning.
Anyway, she didn't initially plan to take on a lot of work this year because she not only had a heavy academic workload but also a lot of training courses; in addition, she had the obligations of being a Miss Hong Kong winner and had to prepare to participate in the Miss Chinese International Pageant as a representative of the Hong Kong region early next year... Perhaps this period of "being put on hold" will be the period of the most rest she will have in her future life.
Although the word "many" is only relative to those in Hong Kong's entertainment industry who have already made a name for themselves.
Huang Qianyan lowered her eyes and sighed softly: "That's for the best. Miss Zhuang really intends to put effort into training you. There may be some things that make you uncomfortable, but please believe that she would never harm you."
Although she earned a lot of money and established a position for Zhuang Menghua, she herself knew that she had caused Zhuang Menghua far too much trouble over the years.
Zhuang Menghua has a bad reputation in the company, but Huang Qianyan has always been well taken care of and pampered. Even though she caused a lot of trouble, Zhuang Menghua still dealt with her one by one. Such a boss who is willing to spend time and resources to cultivate her, and who does not treat his artists as cash cows to be exploited, is extremely rare in this industry.
It's not uncommon for some unscrupulous bosses to exploit their artists for profit.
Now that there's a rare opportunity for a new person to take over, she, as someone who's been through it all, doesn't want to see this kind of misunderstanding happen again.
"Yes, I understand." Li Sishi nodded.
Zhuang Menghua's compromise involved giving up a large portion of the profits she was about to gain—although these substantial profits were a bonus from her rebirth, there are countless people in this industry who would disregard morality for money.
After all, the benefits a talented "original singer" can bring to a boss are completely incomparable to those of a "lucky person" who has inherited some song resources; not to mention that in addition to imposing numerous restrictions on the misuse of these resources, she only wants fame and not profit, so she also has to spend some effort arranging charitable donations...
Li Sishi felt that she had just happened to be lucky enough to reach an agreement so smoothly.
You'll understand later, right?
"This is my business card. If you have any questions, you can call me..." Seeing how obedient and cooperative Li Sishi was, Huang Qianyan generously offered her business card.
"Thank you." Li Sishi reached out to take the business card, and just then the waiter brought over their order.
"Try the cakes and coffee here, they're really good," Huang Qianyan suggested.
Li Sishi smiled and said, "Then I won't stand on ceremony."
As she was speaking, Li Sishi suddenly noticed an elderly woman with a long face who looked somewhat familiar walking towards them, following the waiter's directions.
Their seats were in a corner that was hard to notice, and high-end venues are never hindered by the fact that every inch of land in Hong Kong is precious. Therefore, the distance between the tables was not small, so there was still some distance even when someone passed by.
Most people who come to this coffee shop are looking for a quiet place and tend to focus on what's in front of them without looking around at the other tables.
However, to avoid any overhearing by passersby and potential trouble, Li Sishi stopped what she was doing and signaled Huang Qianyan to remain silent as well.
Huang Qianyan, being an experienced person, immediately understood Li Sishi's meaning. However, she didn't know if it was because her direction was poor and she couldn't see who was coming, or if it was just her curiosity. She slightly turned her head to the side to try and see who it was.
No sooner said than done, the long-faced old woman who was passing by seized the opportunity when Huang Qianyan turned around and slapped her across the face!
"What are you doing?!" Seeing that she had a backup plan after her first attack, Li Sishi immediately stood up and grabbed the long-faced old woman's hand as she raised it again, protecting Huang Qianyan, who was a little dazed from the blow, behind her.
At this moment, the waiter who had led the way also realized what was happening and quickly grabbed the long-faced old woman's other hand. "Madam..."
What's wrong with you?
"What's going on? Am I wrong to hit this slut who ruined my son's family?!" The long-faced old woman glared at Li Sishi's back with her triangular eyes, looking as if she was completely in the right.
Upon hearing this, Li Sishi immediately realized who this long-faced old woman was: Ms. Yu Baozhi, the biological mother of Huang Qianyan's current wealthy boyfriend. She felt sorry for her original daughter-in-law but couldn't bear to scold or beat her philandering son, so she vented all her anger on Huang Qianyan.
Logically speaking, having a mother-in-law who cares deeply for her daughter-in-law and personally confronts the mistress is considered excellent treatment for the original wife. However, Yu Baozhi's indiscriminate approach has also caused some dissatisfaction among Li Sishi, who was once known as a "professional mistress-beater".
Her previous approach was to first investigate the background of the so-called "mistress" and then roughly divide them into three categories based on their individual characteristics: the first being pitiful girls who were deceived or forcibly taken by their scumbag ex-husbands.
It's just a normal meeting with the girl, offering her compensation, getting her to back out voluntarily or helping her out of her predicament, then going home and unleashing a torrent of abuse on her scumbag ex-husband, determined to skin him alive.
First, there's the kind of scheming woman who's equally scumbag to both men, fully aware of the situation but just wants to hook up with a rich guy. She's only focused on getting money, cars, and houses from the scumbag, and once she gets what she wants, she'll break up with him without thinking about marrying into a wealthy family... In this case, we should continue to meet with them for a talk, use money and other means to get rid of them, and then go back home and unleash our fury on the scumbag ex-husband again, not stopping until we've completely ripped him out.
As for the third and most common situation, it involves those truly "high-level" women who are cunning, resourceful, and capable of both winning over a scumbag and marrying into a wealthy family in place of the original wife. In this case, the scumbag isn't the main target; rather, the scumbag and the high-level mistress work together to defeat him. Unfortunately, she ultimately fell victim to this situation, which can be seen as another form of "if you walk by the river long enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet."
The current situation is clearly that the wealthy Cen Jianluo took advantage of Huang Qianyan's heartbreak and used sweet words to coax her into believing that he had no feelings for his wife and had separated from her, and that he would divorce his wife and marry her in the future—undoubtedly, Cen Jianluo is the main party at fault, while Huang Qianyan is a pitiful girl who is more likely to fall into the first category.
While being love-struck is absolutely unacceptable, it's impossible to live a life without ever making a mistake.
How mistakes are viewed and dealt with is the key to whether they are forgivable.
This is also the main reason why Li Sishi took the initiative to stop Ms. Yu Baozhi: Yes, Huang Qianyan did unintentionally interfere in someone else's family, so she was definitely wrong, but the one who was most wrong was Yu Baozhi's philandering son who coveted the beauty of a great woman but was unwilling to take responsibility. So, what kind of good behavior is it for Yu Baozhi to only pick on the soft persimmons who were less wrong and had a more distant relationship?!
Huang Qianyan stood up, covering the side of her face that had been hit. Looking at the scene of the girl who was half a head shorter than her and the old woman glaring at her angrily, she felt extremely complicated.
Knowing that Huang Qianyan was used to being a big star and that it was inconvenient for her to move around in high heels every day, Li Sishi, who was not much different in height but was wearing flat shoes because she was still learning and training, protected her behind her like a mother protecting her child, and kept a close eye on Ms. Yu Baozhi's movements to make adjustments at any time.
“Grandma, I think you first need to understand the difference between the principal offender and the accomplice…” Li Sishi stared at the person opposite her and said, “If you were to attack both of them together, I might not even be standing here. But if you only attack the one who is easier to bully and has made fewer mistakes, I’m sorry, I can’t let you…”
Bullying someone like this in public!
Despite being a public place, the coffee shop was actually quite empty. A few customers peeked out from behind the tables, but none of them came forward.
After all, Yu Baozhi's mouth, which kept calling people "sluts" and "little bitches," was really dirty. Most people who come to such high-end places have a certain status and position, so they generally have a "not my problem" mentality. Gossip is fine, but meddling in other people's business is out of the question.
However, while the surrounding customers were just watching the spectacle, the cafe's waiters and manager all gathered around, trying to persuade Yu Baozhi with kind words and gentle manners. But this only made her more arrogant.
"Let me tell you, I've already called the reporters. You just wait until the whole of Hong Kong knows you broke up someone else's family—tsk, a big star, huh? You have no shame!" As soon as Yu Baozhi finished speaking, the Hong Kong reporters, known for their speed, swarmed in from outside.
Huang Qianyan was startled at first, but then she quickly came to her senses and pulled Li Sishi, who was originally blocking her way, back, using her own body to shield her.
And so, she and Yu Baozhi, who remained in place, faced these crazed paparazzi who were like bloodsuckers.
"Joey, I heard you got involved in the marriage of the wealthy Cen Jianluo, is that right?"
"Joey, I heard you even asked Cen Jianluo to divorce his wife who had borne him several children, and then marry you, is that right?"
“Joey, Cen Jianluo’s mother, Old Madam Cen Yu Baozhi, is right here. Are you trying to negotiate with her? — Hey, what happened to your face?!”
Reporters, calling out Huang Qianyan's English name and asking various questions, suddenly noticed the red marks on Huang Qianyan's cheeks that her hand could not cover, and became even more excited.
While Huang Qianyan was still being besieged, Yu Baozhi was also having a hard time. The barrage of questions about how she and her daughter-in-law felt about the expensive gifts her son Cen Jianluo had given Huang Qianyan made her feel speechless, as if she had brought this upon herself.
"Mrs. Cen, I've received definite news that your son bought Joey a luxury mansion worth 20 million Hong Kong dollars!" The reporter was beaming, practically shoving the microphone into Yu Baozhi's mouth. "And there are rumors that your son is going to divorce his first wife, and you met Joey at this coffee shop today... Does this mean you've agreed to let this big star Joey into your family?"
"The only daughter-in-law in the Cen family is my current daughter-in-law, Bu Yinglin! And my grandchildren only have Bu Yinglin as their biological mother!" Yu Baozhi roared into the microphone, her anger barely contained. "As for this so-called big star—I'll just consider it as my son ordering a 20 million yuan prostitute!"
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