After Joining the Same Variety Show as My Arch-Nemesis - Chapter 7

Fu Hang really had not tricked her. In fact, everything he offered according to her status was perfectly reasonable—not too much, not too little.

After checking and finding no problems, Gu Jingxi signed her name.

“Wuwu! Xixi, you’re too good! You’ve practically solved my urgent crisis!” For a moment, Fu Hang looked as if he wanted to pounce on her.

Gu Jingxi rolled her eyes irritably. “Anyway, just this once. There won’t be a next time.”

“Okay, okay.” Fu Hang nodded repeatedly.

Fu Wen put the contract away, then said, “There’s still half a month before filming starts. Behave yourself. Here are a few product endorsements. The schedule doesn’t conflict, so take a look.”

As she spoke, she pushed a pile of endorsement contracts toward Gu Jingxi.

Gu Jingxi’s face immediately turned bitter. As she took the endorsement contracts, she muttered, “Why endorsements again?”

“Heh. Best Actress Gu, can you please stop being so Versailles?” Fu Wen sneered.

“These are opportunities other people beg for but can’t get. They’ll raise your public recognition. When Jian Lan left the entertainment industry, she was only short of the three major international awards. International awards don’t only look at acting ability when selecting actors; they also look at fame,” Fu Wen said expressionlessly.

Gu Jingxi paused. Then she picked up the pen and swiftly signed all those contracts.

Beside them, Fu Hang silently gave his sister a thumbs-up.

Brilliant. His sister was still brilliant.

Once Gu Jingxi finished signing, Fu Wen put all the documents away and said, “Alright. You have a shoot tomorrow. The studio is indoors. I’ll send you the rest of your schedule later. I’ve already given you three days off. It’s time to get up and work.”

“Yes, yes, yes.” Gu Jingxi accepted her fate, then said, “Then can I go back and enjoy the last day of my vacation?”

“Do as you like. Just don’t cause trouble for me. Mu Yu, keep an eye on her. Don’t let her pull any tricks.” After Fu Wen finished speaking, she continued working without even lifting her head.

“I’m not some problem child,” Gu Jingxi muttered.

Fu Wen rarely lifted her head and gave her a look, as if saying, Do you really have no self-awareness at all?

Gu Jingxi guiltily touched her nose.

“Then, uh, Sister Fu, I’ll go first.” After saying this, Gu Jingxi picked up her breakfast and gave Mu Yu a look. The two of them hurriedly left.

Fu Hang almost could not hold back his laughter, but Fu Wen lifted her head and swept him a glance.

“Are you done?”

Fu Hang immediately jumped up, took his briefcase, packed away the contract, and left without looking back.

“Uh, Sister, I’ll go first. Good luck with work. Try not to work overtime!”

Only after both little troublemakers left did Fu Wen finally have time to deal with work.

At the company, she was not only Gu Jingxi’s manager, but also the person in charge of the entire operation. There was still a large pile of work waiting for her.

As for Gu Jingxi, she got into her family’s car. After sending Mu Yu home, she returned home herself.

When entering the neighborhood, she happened to see a familiar silver-gray SUV preparing to leave the community.

The car window was raised, so she could not see what was happening inside. But for some reason, when Gu Jingxi looked at the car, she kept feeling as if the person inside was looking at her.

This inexplicably gave her goosebumps all over. She quickly turned her head and stopped looking.

On the other side, Jian Lan watched the black Bentley driving into the neighborhood, her gaze flickering slightly.

“Teacher Jian, are you listening?” A person’s question came through her Bluetooth earphones.

Only then did Jian Lan withdraw her gaze. At the security guard’s signal, she drove out of the community and replied, “I understand, but I don’t have any plans to write a drama recently.”

“But Teacher Jian…” The person on the other end hesitated, clearly still wanting to persuade her.

“And half a month from now, I have a variety show to record. I don’t have time to write,” Jian Lan refused decisively.

“But this is a chance to work internationally…” The other person still wanted to persuade her.

“I don’t care,” Jian Lan said bluntly.

“But…”

“Helen.” Jian Lan spoke, her tone slightly cold.

“I have always written scripts because I wanted to write them, not because I had to write them for someone. If I were to write for someone, then it would definitely be someone I chose myself.”

Hearing Jian Lan insist so firmly, the woman named Helen on the other end of the phone sighed.

“Alright, I understand, Teacher Jian. But as a proposal, I hope you’ll think it over a little more. After all, we truly want to work with you.”

“Mm. I understand. See you.” Jian Lan responded calmly.

“See you.”

After ending the call, Jian Lan had just been about to remove her earphones when another call came in. Seeing the contact name, Jian Lan chose to answer.

“Hello, Sister Jian. Everything’s settled.” Fu Hang’s voice sounded delighted.

“Mm. I know,” Jian Lan answered.

“I really have to thank you this time. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even know who to look for. Aiya, now I’m only missing one special regular guest. I’ll have to think carefully about it,” Fu Hang said with a smile.

Listening to him, Jian Lan said calmly, “Leave it to me.”

“When filming succeeds, I’ll definitely treat you to a meal… Wait! What did you say?!” When Fu Hang reacted, he could not help shouting.

Jian Lan’s expression did not change. She only said, “Didn’t you want to invite me before? I agree. Leave the special regular guest spot to me.”

For a moment, Fu Hang thought he had heard wrong. Now, he felt even more like he had not woken up yet.

“No, Sister Jian, what are you thinking? If you and Xixi appear in the same production team…”

Fu Hang shuddered. He could already imagine how the fans on both sides would tear him apart, not to mention Gu Jingxi, that living ancestor.

“Mm, I know. You’ll be caught in a war between my fans and hers, and you’ll also be questioned by her.”

Fu Hang found it hard to imagine how she could say something like this so calmly.

“But if you trust me, this will be your chance to become famous in one shot.” Jian Lan’s tone had barely changed from beginning to end.

Even Fu Hang, who had always been rather unserious, became unusually solemn when he heard her say this.

“Sister Jian, what exactly are you planning?”

Jian Lan rarely let out a low laugh, then said, “The commander doesn’t want to sit behind the scenes anymore. She wants to personally meet her prey.”

Fu Hang was instantly speechless.

“You’re that certain that block of wood Xixi will open her eyes?” Fu Hang could not help asking.

It was not that he wanted to say it, but with Gu Jingxi’s thick nerves, she really was a famous block of wood in their circle.

“That part is my business,” Jian Lan said calmly. “What do you think? Even if I don’t succeed, surely the traffic brought by newly crowned Best Actress Gu Jingxi and Jian Shen appearing on your variety show together can’t be ignored. Also, Xixi knows her limits. On the show, the conflict between us won’t be too obvious.”

“You’ve really handed me a fatal question.” Fu Hang leaned back in his office chair, his fox-like eyes narrowing slightly.

“So from the very beginning, when you recommended Xixi to me, it was because you had this selfish motive, right?”

“Mm.” Jian Lan admitted it without avoiding the question at all.

“You need traffic, and I need a platform where I can approach her openly. From a business perspective, this is a mutually beneficial win-win. Of course, from a personal perspective…”

“Fu Hang, I need you to help me with this.”

“Aiya, this is truly making me feel flattered.” Fu Hang immediately laughed it off, then smiled and said, “But Sister Jian, we’re scheming against Xixi like this. She’ll be angry if she finds out, you know.”

“I know. You can push everything onto me.” Jian Lan stopped the car at a red light, her eyes deep and dark.

“It’s been so many years. I don’t want to wait anymore.”

Hearing Jian Lan say this, Fu Hang curved his lips, then smiled. “Aiya, since you’ve said it like that, Sister Jian, then I definitely can’t refuse. So, how do we sign the contract?”

“I’ll come find you later. Right now, I have a meeting.”

Seeing the red light turn green, Jian Lan started the car again.

“By the way, I’ll bring funding into the production.”

“Daddy!” Fu Hang practically blurted out the word. Moved, he clutched his phone and said, “Sister Jian, you are my god! You have no idea, the old man didn’t give me much money at all. My production team’s budget is incredibly tight!”

Jian Lan raised a brow. “When you say that, don’t let your sister hear you.”

“Hehe, don’t worry. I’m not at her place. Then it’s settled! Sister Jian! I’ll wait for you! For the sake of your lifelong happiness, you absolutely have to come, my sister!”

His attitude had reversed completely, as if he were afraid she would run away.

Jian Lan was not in the mood to fuss over it with him. Looking at the company building in front of her, she replied perfunctorily a few times, then hung up.

After parking in the garage, she took the elevator all the way to the floor where the company was located. When the receptionist saw her, she hurriedly greeted her.

“President Jian.”

Jian Lan nodded slightly and walked in without looking sideways. Her secretary happened to come toward her. Seeing Jian Lan, she said, “President Jian, everyone has arrived.”

As she spoke, she handed Jian Lan a stack of printed and bound documents.

Jian Lan took them and glanced through them, then walked toward the meeting room.

“I understand. Prepare for the meeting.”

…

When Gu Jingxi returned home, Gu Feng and Tang Yun had both gone to work. Only the auntie was at home cleaning. Gu Jingxi simply returned to her room, nestled into her massage chair, and opened the game.

On a rare day off, she chose to play games.

After all, she was usually so busy with work that she barely had time to play.

Yesterday, someone had carried her up by a large margin. She was only two stars away from promotion. Gu Jingxi thought that since it was only two stars, she should be able to work hard and climb up by herself.

Then… then she began questioning why she had such an illusion.

After all, everyone knew that the promotion matches in this game were truly poisonous beyond belief!

After being taught a lesson by reality, Gu Jingxi was so angry her chest hurt. Not only had she failed to gain a single point, she had even dropped two stars.

Those were the two stars the big shot had helped her fish up yesterday!

Heartache.

In the end, Gu Jingxi gave up on climbing by herself and instead went to poke the big shot.

Xixi: Big shot, are you free? Please carry me in game. I want to rank up.

The big shot did not reply immediately. She was probably busy with work. After all, this was not a rest day.

Thinking this, Gu Jingxi put down her phone in disappointment. She chose to calm down for a while.

After all, if she went to play games in her current state, she was afraid not only would none of yesterday’s gained stars remain, she would even lose more.

Just then, the big shot’s message came back.

Watercolor: I was in a meeting just now. Wait a moment.

Gu Jingxi’s eyes lit up.

Great! She had a thigh to cling to!