Shang Yechu forced herself into a three-hour hibernation period before waking herself up to go to the company.
While I was washing up, Ji Juntao's message came through: "Something came up with Zhuang Sheng, I have to take care of it. Come back later."
Zhuang Sheng is a rising star at Qingping Entertainment. Shang Yechu has met him a few times; he's the kind of young man with a slightly roguish charm, the timeless classic bad boy of the entertainment industry. In Shang Yechu's previous life, before he joined Qingping Entertainment, he was originally one of the company's main male stars.
While brushing her teeth, Shang Yechu sent a voice message to Ji Juntao: "What's wrong with him?"
“He beat someone up,” Ji Juntao replied. “That pig!”
Shang Yechu replied, "Where?"
“An on-campus brawl,” Ji Juntao said angrily. “He’s only a freshman and he’s already doing this. The school should expel him and he’ll behave.”
“Our company can’t afford to have another high school graduate slip through the net,” Shang Yechu reminded. “Apologize properly to them and offer generous compensation.”
“I know we can’t be stingy right now,” Ji Juntao said, sounding extremely annoyed. “Our company really needs to hire some decent agents. Zhuang Sheng’s agent is a complete waste; he’s practically pissing his pants in fear.”
Since Ji Juntao was busy, Shang Yechu was temporarily exempted from her arduous training at the company. After washing up, Shang Yechu nestled back on the sofa, turned on her phone, and began reading the original novel of "Moonlight Window".
The novel version of "Moonlight Window" is written very smoothly, with a fresh style and high readability. It tells the story of a pair of childhood sweethearts who, after experiencing changes and being separated for many years, reunite and fall in love with each other again.
The more I read, the stronger the sense of déjà vu I felt for Shang Yechu. The female protagonist's character is indeed too similar to Su Ge—of course, not the real Su Ge, but the Su Ge presented in her public image.
Halfway through reading, Shang Yechu's eyes got tired, and she wanted to take a break and ask Ji Juntao how things were going.
Opening WeChat, Shang Yechu knew that clicking on the messages in the "Loving and Happy Street" section would affect her mood, but she still couldn't help but open the chat box.
The neighbors on the old street were saying their reluctant goodbyes. Even Uncle Fan, the stingiest of all, generously brought out his most treasured old items to share with his neighbors as souvenirs.
[If you need anything, just come and get it from me.]
I have woven bags here, so you don't need to buy any.
Anyone want some flashlights? I bought too many, and haven't sold them all over the years.
Shop owner Lu also sent a message:
I contacted Mr. Xu, and he said the cleanup will be completed by the end of the year, so everyone doesn't need to worry.
[Old Fan, don't rush to send them out!]
[Let's think of another way; perhaps there's a chance for things to turn around.]
Other neighbors in the group lamented: "Is there any chance of things turning around?"
Looking at the calligraphy and paintings hanging in my room today, I couldn't help but shed tears. This calligraphy was written for me by Mr. and Mrs. Hu years ago. In the blink of an eye, Old Qiao is gone, and even "prosperous business" couldn't be kept.
[Image: A calligraphy scroll with auspicious phrases such as "May your business prosper" written on it.]
Signed: Respectfully presented by Qiao Shan and Hu Shuizhi – 2005
A somber atmosphere permeated the group chat.
Shang Yechu recognized Grandma Hu's calligraphy at a glance. The calligraphy was very well preserved; after so many years, the ink had not faded and the paper had not curled at the edges.
Shang Yechu's melancholy was no less than that of her neighbors. In her previous life, Shang Yechu was blind to the world, a clay idol crossing a river, completely unaware of the old street's demise. But in this life, her situation was so much better than before... Was she really going to turn a blind eye and let the old street disappear again?
Is there really no way to preserve this old street?
What can be done to preserve this old street?
With a heavy heart, Shang Yechu entered the study and turned on the computer on the table.
Shang Yechu was not a businessman and knew nothing about real estate. He could only search online.
After a long and arduous investigation, Shang Yechu finally figured it out: it turned out that the owner of Xingfu Commercial Street was Taikang Group, a well-known local company in Hengshi.
Taikang Group is the landowner of Xingfu Commercial Street, while the other tenants are merely tenants. Under these circumstances, upon lease expiration, the developer can choose not to renew and directly evict the tenants. This requires neither government or tenant consent, nor payment of penalties or compensation.
In Shang Yechu's mind, every demolition project meant a large sum of compensation. Therefore, when she saw the mournful atmosphere in the group, she assumed that the developer was being unreasonable and hadn't given enough compensation.
Surprisingly, there was no such thing as demolition compensation!
Shang Yechu suddenly gained a deeper understanding of the plight of his neighbors in the old street.
For a moment, Shang Yechu even had this thought: why not just give some money to the neighbors in the old street himself?
Shang Yechu immediately rejected this absurd idea. Leaving aside the saying "a little help is appreciated, but too much will breed resentment," could simply throwing money at them solve their problems temporarily, or even provide for them forever?
Shang Yechu stood up and left the computer, pinching the bridge of her nose as if she had a headache.
Her inner anxiety prevented her from calming down to do anything, not even reading. She could only pace back and forth in the study until her eyes became dizzy.
After wandering around for a while, Shang Yechu arrived at a display case.
This display case was specially set aside by Shang Yechu to hold her trophies. Of course, Shang Yechu has only received one award so far, namely the Best Supporting Actress Award at the Ying Shi Awards. And since she has already given the trophy to Qi Ming and has nothing else to display, Shang Yechu has used the script and notes from "The Mute Woman" in place of the trophy.
The character biography that Shang Yechu wrote for Xiao Yue was placed on top of the script, and the strong handwriting showed Shang Yechu's dedication at the time.
Suddenly, a figure appeared in Shang Yechu's mind.
It was already one o'clock in the afternoon. Shang Yechu picked up her phone, found the number, hesitated for a moment, and finally made up her mind when she saw the words "Owner's lease expires and needs to be cleared out" on the computer screen.
The phone rang for a long time. So long that Shang Yechu thought the other party wouldn't answer, that's when it finally connected.
"leaf?"
A familiar, weary voice, filled with drowsiness, came from the other end.
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