NWWNL – Chapter 57

“…”

The air seemed unnaturally still.

Yi Yang expressionlessly re-fastened the belt of his pajamas. He said to Xu Xinyi in a cold tone, “Move.”

Xu Xinyi moved to one side.

Then, confusedly, she asked, “Husband, where are you going?”

“It’s none of your business.”

–“This inexplicable man.”

Xu Xinyi rolled her eyes at his back.

–“Do you have to be so ill-tempered? Didn’t I just bump you a little? Is it necessary to be so angry?”

Yi Yang paused. He turned and looked back at Xu Xinyi who was disappearing into the room. Desperately he endured again and again, before finally managing to force himself to quicken his pace and leave.

Meanwhile, Xu Xinyi returned to the room and continued to look at the information of the artists she interviewed today. Then her phone lit up and began to buzz and vibrate.

It’s a WeChat message sent by Chen Shu.

“Sister Xinyi, are you there?”

She got a message?

Xu Xinyi unlocked her phone and clicked on WeChat.

She saw that Chen Shu had not only sent that one message to Wechat. He had also sent several other messages in the past few minutes.

“Sister Xinyi, I heard that your studio is recruiting entertainers? I don’t know if I have any chance to get into Sister Xinyi’s studio.”

“Here is my resume and some life photos.”

Along with the message, there were photos showing off the man’s good figure.

But WeChat showed that these messages had all already been checked.

Who checked it?

Yi Yang checked it?

Yi Yang, this dog man, he unexpectedly went through her cell phone?!

Does he even know anything about personal privacy?

Then he had the nerve to make an ugly face at her like she had done something wrong.

After scolding Yi Yang in her heart for a while Xu Xinyi returned her attention to the phone screen. She tapped on the life photos mentioned in the message. The abdominal muscles were clear and well-defined. Probably they were as firm and toned as the abs she bumped into just now.

These messages were all from the small actor who had worked with her briefly while filming “The Way of the Phoenix” in the Film City. She remembered that he had sent her this same kind of ‘life photo’ back then. But back then he had at least had the decency to disguise his intentions and immediately withdrew it.

But now he just sent it out in the open?

Now he would just send this kind of thing to her generously without bothering to pretend by withdrawing it?

Who couldn’t understand his underlying meaning here, considering the so-called hidden rules of the entertainment industry?

Just to join her studio he didn’t mind openly showing his half-naked body. Was he trying to seduce her?

If someone like this joined her studio, she really didn’t know what kinds of things he would be willing to do for resources in the future.

As the boss of the studio, she had to make smart decisions to allow it to continue to develop.

And what’s more, even though his abs were good and his face was good, he was nothing irreplaceable. The other four artists she had interviewed today were all about the same age as Chen Shu and probably had as much potential Chen Shu.

Such a risky artist couldn’t be hired.

—-

“Anya, that man Yi Yang, he went through my phone.” Xu Xinyi drooped listlessly in her office chair.

“Just ignore it. Men are all like that. They have a strong desire to control.” Anya answered absently while leaning back on the sofa and staring at the ceiling.

Xu Xinyi had never seen Anya like this. She could not help asking, “What’s the matter with you? So lifeless?”

Anya sighed heavily. “I broke up.”

“With that student union president?”

“That was the last one. I’m talking about this fresh meat who had just graduated and entered the circle.”

Xu Xinyi was shocked. “How long had you been with him?”

“Almost a month.”

“Well, judging from how frequently you change out your fresh meats, it’s not surprising to break up, is it?”

“Of course it’s not surprising to break up. The problem is…” Anya sighed and draped her arm across her forehead with an indescribable look.

“Can you not just stop speaking halfway? What on earth is going on?”

Anya ground her teeth, “It’s all because of Luo Jie, that son of a bitch. Today, my boyfriend called me, and tearfully broke up with me over the phone. He said that after I sent him home last night, Luo Jie beat him up in the corridor and threatened to block him in the circle. He said that if he didn’t break up with me, no one else would be his agent from now on.”

“…” Xu Xinyi slowly digested that for a while. Eventually, she said. “Luo Jie said he would block him in the industry? He’s just an agent, can he even do that?”

“Luo Jie is pretty well known in the circle, it should be possible, but is that the point?”

Seeing that Anya was about to get angry, Xu Xinyi immediately returned to the main subject, “Ok, let’s get to the point, how did you even get involved with Luo Jie?”

Anya looked very upset. “What do you mean ‘how did I get involved with him?’ That son of a bitch likes to haunt me and follow me everywhere like a shadow. I haven’t even heard any news about Han Xiao recently, how can his agent be so idle? I can’t believe it.”

“What are you going to do?”

“What am I going to do?” Anya sneered. “Because he was a colleague, I gave him some face before, but now he put his hands on my boyfriend. He can’t blame me for being impolite.”

Anya had been able to swim through her field of flowers all these years without ever letting so much as a leaf stick to her, so it could be seen that she had her own means and methods. Xu Xinyi was sure that she would be able to solve the matter by herself.

There was a knock at the door.

“Boss, there are two men who introduced themselves as Mr. Jiang who said they wanted to meet you downstairs.”

“Mr. Jiang?” Xu Xinyi glanced at Anya and asked, “Two Mr. Jiangs? Who are they?”

“They claim to be Jiang Nian’s father and brother.”

Xu Xinyi got up and walked out. “Where’s Jiang Nian? Has he come to the company?”

Jiang Nian’s father and brother were here. They were two ruthless characters, neither of whom were easy to deal with.

“Jiang Nian is not in the company today. He had to leave to take part in a variety show.”

Xu Xinyi’s feet slowed perceptibly.

Anya followed her. “I’ll go with you to have a look…”

Xu Xinyi shook her head and got moving again. “No, I can handle it myself.”

In the novel, Jiang Huai was not someone to mess with, and Jiang Huai’s father was even worse. If things ended up going sour she didn’t want to involve Anya.

Xu Xinyi walked into the lounge where the two men were waiting with her heart pounding.

Inside two men in suits sat on one of the studio’s sofas. One of them, Jiang Huai, Xu Xinyi had already met at the auction. The one sitting beside Jiang Huai was a man with a stooped back, a haggard face, and salt and pepper hair. Xu Xinyi assumed he was Jiang Nian’s father.

But his elderly appearance made him look nearly as old as Old Master Yi.

But she could still vaguely see traces of Jiang Huai and Jiang Nian around his eyebrows and eyes. It seemed they were really father and sons.

Seeing him now and comparing the two, if Jiang Huai was a sharp blade, then Jiang Nian was more like a blunt instrument that was still being polished.

Xu Xinyi sat down in front of the two men. She pretended not to know Jiang Huai. “Are you Jiang Nian’s family?”

The word family seemed to please Jiang Nian’s father. He smiled at Xu Xinyi and said, “Are you Miss Xu Xinyi, my youngest son’s boss?”

“Yes, you could call me that.”

“I am Jiang Nian’s father, Jiang Cheng. Miss Xu, I’m sorry to bother you today.”

Xu Xinyi listened to Jiang Cheng and thought that his tone was not as deep, heartless and cruel as it had been written to be in the novel.

Jiang Huai sat on one side and said, “It’s good to see Miss Xu is still doing alright.”

“Mr. Jiang Huai is…”

“Brother.”

Xu Xinyi smiled. “No wonder Mr. Jiang Huai said such a thing to me that day. Since then, I have done some investigation and I found that Jiang Nian had faked his age to sign with my studio. His personal opinion is that he wants to continue to work in the entertainment industry, and he seems very adamant on this opinion, so today I would like to ask his guardians for their opinions. “

Jiang Cheng was old, but he was not stubborn or pedantic. “Miss Xu, regarding Jiang Nian, my position is actually very simple. I can allow anything, as long as he is happy.”

But obviously Jiang Huai didn’t agree.

“Dad, Jiang Nian is still young. He should be studying at his age. If he really likes the entertainment industry, he can go in as soon as he finishes his studies.”

“But we would have to force him to study. And you should know your brother’s temper, the more we push him, the more he wants to rebel. Besides, isn’t he too old for you to manage his life for him?”

Jiang Huai was stubborn. “No matter what you say, I won’t agree with Jiang Nian entering into the entertainment industry.”

Xu Xinyi listened to the two men speak. The more she listened, the more she felt that Jiang Cheng was the kind of father who doted on his children unconditionally.

She couldn’t be like that.

She couldn’t learn from Jiang Cheng because children raised that way would end up blind and spoiled. After being a parent the children could not be coddled so much, instead, education had to be taken seriously.

…children?

Xu Xinyi’s mind went blank for a long moment and she closed her eyes. What children? Why would she think about children?

“What do you think, Miss Xu?” Jiang Cheng suddenly tossed the ball to Xu Xinyi’s court.

Xu Xinyi smiled awkwardly and said, “I actually think Mr. Jiang Huai is right. He has barely reached adulthood so he really should be studying in school. But I think it’s up to the guardians to persuade him…”

Jiang Cheng sighed. “If only he listened…” After a pause, he continued, “Alright, I will make a decision. He can do whatever he wants. If he doesn’t want to study, he doesn’t have to study. It’s not like this family can’t afford to support him.”

It was the final word of the head of the family.

Xu Xinyi watched Jiang Huai’s face. Although it looked like he still did not agree, in the end, he didn’t object any further.

“That child’s mother died early, so he suffered a lot when he was a child, and now his temper is not very good. But, Miss Xu, Jiang Nian will stay here in the future. Please take care of him.”

“Definitely.”

“So that’s it for today? If you have anything you need from me in the future, please call my personal line. ” Saying that, Jiang Cheng handed over a business card.

Xu Xinyi got up and took the card.

From the moment she entered the room all the way to the present, the conversation had been quite pleasant. Nothing like the tense scene she had imagined.

Jiang Nian’s father even seemed kind and easy to get along with.

Xu Xinyi got up to see them off.

But as they walked out, they met Jiang Nian at the elevator panting. He was standing there and sweeping his eyes around until they finally fell on Jiang Huai, “What are you doing here?”

Jiang Huai was uncharacteristically tolerant facing his questioning. “I came to talk about your work.”

Jiang Nian looked at Xu Xinyi.

Xu Xinyi smiled. “Your father and your brother have agreed that you can continue to work in the entertainment industry.”

Jiang Nien gasped and seemed stunned.

“Weren’t you supposed to be on a variety show now? Why are you back?”

“When it’s over, naturally, I’ll come back.” Jiang Nian quickly recovered. He hung his head and began to act very cold in front of his family. “Sister Xinyi, if it’s alright, I’ll go to practice first.”

“Why don’t you come home and have dinner with your father this evening?”

Jiang Nian was silent and did not say a word in reply.

Jiang Cheng did not seem to care about his attitude, or maybe he was just accustomed to it.

“Your dad will wait for you tonight. Alright, your dad is leaving now.”

With that, Jiang Cheng got into the elevator with Jiang Huai.

When the elevator door closed the warm smile on Jiang Cheng’s face gradually faded away,  and his aura of genial kindness disappeared like an illusion. The eyes under his sharp eyebrows were even more chilly and profound than Jiang Huai’s.

The atmosphere instantly turned cold.

“Is that the girl Jiang Nian likes?”

“Yes.”

“She seems fine.”

“But she’s married.”

Jiang Cheng took off his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes. Then he smiled coldly and said, “It’s just a marriage. You, the elder brother, should think of a way for your younger brother.”

“Yes, I understand.”

The elevator descended slowly to the first floor.

Meanwhile, Jiang Nian was apologizing to Xu Xinyi. “Sister Xinyi, I’m sorry, I didn’t know they were coming today. I’m sorry really they bothered you.”

Xu Xinyi, who had just faced down the two most ferocious bosses* in the novel, was finally silently breathing a sigh of relief.

“It’s fine, they only did it for your own good.”

Jiang Nian hesitated, “They… didn’t say anything to you?”

Xu Xinyi asked, “About what?”

“It’s nothing. I’ll go and practice first.”

Xu Xinyi patted him on the shoulder, “You should wipe the sweat on your head and take a break. There is no need to work so hard. I’ll give you a day off so take a good rest.”

Jiang Nian subconsciously raised his hand and wiped away the sweat.

He thought to himself that if it was up to him, he didn’t want a day off, he just wanted to stay here.

——

Xu Xinyi’s new drama “Bei Bei’s Promotion” came to a perfect conclusion after a month of being broadcast.

This drama was Xu Xinyi’s first performance as the female lead, and it thoroughly showcased her acting skills to the audience. With her popularity combined with investor marketing and Xu Xinyi’s recent and highly publicized return from Paris Fashion Week, it all came together to result in her having high popularity with fans and receiving constant invitations from all sides.

At the same time, the post-production of “The Way of the Phoenix” was finally over. Now it was just waiting for the final release date.

And after the edited promotional materials were released the fans who once said they would boycott the show slapped their own faces and all began to look forward to the release of the show.

Many investors were optimistic about the performance of the lead couple Xu Xinyi and Han Xiao, so the two began to receive many olive branches from various films.

“What is it? Are you interested in this movie?”

Luo Jie had watched Han Xiao reading the screenplay of this movie for at least three hours now so he couldn’t help asking, “Are you interested in the movie or the heroine of the movie?”

The script was sent by an investor who had worked with Han Xiao before. The investor told him that Xu Xinyi was being considered for the heroine role so he asked Han Xiao to read the script so that he could be ready to cooperate again if he was interested.

Xu Xinyi was already in the limelight, and her next drama “The Way to the Phoenix” was about to explode. So, right now, everyone wanted to work with her.

Han Xiao put down the script. “How are things on your end?”

“Don’t even mention it, things are basically clear.”

“What did you find?”

“We guessed correctly. Xu Xinyi and Yi Yang hardly met each other in the first two years of their marriage,” Luo Jie put a document on the table. “This is a record of Yi Yang’s business trips in the past two years. He hardly ever returned to City A and he spent a lot of time in the United States. He only came back recently, around the Spring Festival.”

With that said, he set another document on the table. “This is a record of the films and dramas Xu Xinyi worked on over the past two years. Whenever Yi Yang was in City A, Xu Xinyi was filming outside the city. The two people basically never met. The matter regarding their divorce is also true. The ex-girlfriend of one of my friend’s classmates is the assistant of the lawyer who handled Yi Yang’s divorce. She said that she had personally seen the divorce agreement.”

Han Xiao’s eyes were deep. He did not speak.

“And you know what else? Yi Yang’s business trips to the United States were all close to the area where Xu Weiyin was living at the time. You tell me, could there be such a coincidence? In the huge United States, he keeps going back around the same place?”

“Then, Xu Weiyin’s child…”

“I’m not sure about that, but…” Luo Jie sighed, “Xu Weiyin really didn’t lie. Yi Yang probably had an affair with Xu Weiyin in the past. There was some information about them on their old school’s forum. In addition, we both saw the scandals between Xu Weiyin and Yi Yang when she was still active in the industry. Although they were always clarified in the end, I feel that things are not so simple. Yi Yang probably had a deep affection for Xu Weiyin and probably he married Xu Xinyi because of her resemblance to Xu Weiyin.”

“Unfortunately, it seems that Xu Xinyi has always been deeply in love with him. Because of that, she would light up whenever he would give her even a little sweetness. She’s really pitiful.”

Han Xiao’s face was stormy.

Luo Jie sighed, “I can’t believe that Yi Yang unexpectedly enjoys this kind of ‘overbearing president’s replacement lover’ plot.”

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*so this is just weird. In the raws this is written as ‘**oss’ in English. Which, uh, is hard to parse? I know sometimes they use English loanwords in Chinese so I assumed it just meant ‘boss’ but the weird asterisks are throwing me for a loop. If anyone has any better idea for this line: ‘送走小说里最凶残的两个**oss’ do let me know lol