Chapter 55

The car interior remained dark, and Meng Qiuran didn’t dare turn her head to look at Gu Ruolan.

Gu Ruolan had also fallen silent. The sly expression vanished from her face, leaving her emotions unreadable in the flickering light and shadow.

The car rolled over a tiny pothole. A vibration so small it would normally go unnoticed felt like a roller coaster ride to Meng Qiuran at this moment.

She tightened her grip on the steering wheel and adopted her usual casual, helpless tone: “You know, I’ve always been optimistic about you. Who wants their ‘God of Wealth’ to be gloomy? Even if I forcibly stopped you from filming, you wouldn’t listen to me anyway. It would just sour our relationship—then who would I go to for my investment?”

Gu Ruolan turned to glance at her, the corners of her mouth curling slightly. “I understand.”

Meng Qiuran wasn’t finished, adding more reasons as if afraid Gu Ruolan would misunderstand: “And if you’re unhappy, Yuan Yi will definitely be moping around in front of me every day with a long face.” She shook her head exaggeratedly. “I’m the type of person who can’t stand it when people look pitiful.”

Gu Ruolan pursed her lips. The smile remained, though the curve was smaller.

“I still owe Yuan Yi a meal. I haven’t had a chance to make it up to her.”

Meng Qiuran was curious: “You owe her a meal? Since when?” She actually didn’t know about this.

“The day we recorded the Light of Stars finale. She asked when she came to take a photo with me.” Gu Ruolan seemed to recall something and glanced at her through the rearview mirror, her tone flat. “You left early that day, so you didn’t know.”

Meng Qiuran had indeed left early that day to meet those hoodlums and discuss the plan to scare Lu Youyou. Since she Read on BaiLianTales couldn’t tell the truth, she made up a random excuse: “I had an appointment that day and was afraid of the traffic, so I left early.”

Gu Ruolan didn’t follow up immediately, which Meng Qiuran found quite a relief. It would be troublesome if she pressed for details on who the appointment was with. Fortunately, Gu Ruolan was very tactful and never pried into such gossip.

“I’m treating Yuan Yi to thank her for the hard work of buying clothes for me.” Gu Ruolan hesitated for a moment. “Actually, I should treat you too.”

Meng Qiuran knew what she meant, but she didn’t want things to become too formal. She joked, “To thank me for tearing off your zipper?”

They both recalled everyone’s expressions at the moment the zipper was ripped off and couldn’t help but laugh simultaneously.

“It was torn off very… timely.” With a smile, Gu Ruolan gave a very high appraisal of her destructive act from last time.

Meng Qiuran just laughed and said nothing more, afraid that discussing the details of that day would trigger unpleasant emotions in Gu Ruolan.

The car passed the Hengshang neighborhood first before arriving at Gu Ruolan’s residence. Gu Ruolan looked back at the neighborhood flashing by. “I made you take a detour.”

“Not really. I’m not staying there today.”

“When do you usually stay there?”

“Whenever my brother is being too annoying, I’ll go stay there for a few days.”

Gu Ruolan nodded understandingly; it seemed it was used as a temporary sanctuary.

“Your brother hasn’t bothered you lately, has he?”

“No. Since you took the flowers away last time, there’s been basically no movement.”

Meng Qiuran breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good.”

At this moment, she seemed to be entirely on Gu Ruolan’s side, wishing she could isolate Meng Xiayan to outer space. Gu Ruolan remembered she once said she wouldn’t let her brother get too close, but this level of concern…

The car stopped below Gu Ruolan’s building. Meng Qiuran glanced at the brightly lit lobby. “Stay safe. Send me a message when you’re home.”

From getting out of the car to taking the elevator, it would take a few minutes at most.

“It’s very safe here.”

“I don’t care about other times, but tonight I was the one who brought you back, so I have to care about this.”

Gu Ruolan waved to her after getting out, but Meng Qiuran signaled for her to go inside quickly. Unable to win the argument, Gu Ruolan swiped her card and entered the lobby.

Ten minutes later, she sent a message saying she was home and telling Meng Qiuran to drive safely. Meng Qiuran replied with an “OK” gesture and started the car to leave.

Just then, a new message arrived.

Gu Ruolan: [Remember to send me a message when you get home, too.]

Meng Qiuran raised an eyebrow. Is that necessary?

Bai Qiu: [I’ll likely be home quite late; I don’t want to disturb your rest. Don’t worry, it’s very safe.]

Gu Ruolan: [Be fair.]

The request for fairness was one thing, but she even added a smiling face emoji. In the past, she would have complained that this was an emoji for old people, but now she could perfectly associate it with Gu Ruolan.

Meng Qiuran found her resistance to this emoji getting weaker and weaker. She replied with an “OK” gesture again and truly left this time.

Gu Ruolan wasn’t sleepy at all, even though she had stayed at Lu Youyou’s house for a long time and talked quite a bit. When she first got home, she saw Meng Qiuran’s car still downstairs and knew she was waiting for her message. The feeling in her heart was subtle.

It felt like being cared for and treated very seriously.

She never lacked for people being attentive and considerate, but Gu Ruolan was very resistant to such overtly displayed closeness because those people rarely acted without seeking a return. She didn’t dislike being cared for; she just disliked flattery with an ulterior motive.

Initially, she thought Meng Qiuran was like that too, but after getting to know her, she realized that besides always asking what kind of movies she wanted to film, Meng Qiuran made no other demands—she didn’t even force her into a meal. She loved to meddle and occasionally caused unexpected situations, but the results were never bad. Only when they talked about eating in the car did Gu Ruolan realize she owed Meng Qiuran more than just one meal.

She had helped her several times. If she truly wanted to demand something, she wouldn’t have stayed silent until now.

Gu Ruolan poured a glass of water and sat on the sofa to watch the evening news. Outside of work, she didn’t like looking into industry gossip; she preferred current events. But tonight, it was hard to concentrate. Her mind kept wandering for no reason, though she couldn’t say exactly what she was thinking about.

She felt a bit melancholy, yet she didn’t know why.

Forty minutes later, Meng Qiuran’s [stolen content]message arrived, saying she was home. Without waiting for a reply, she included a “goodnight” in the message.

Gu Ruolan’s reply was simple: [Okay. Goodnight.]

Two days later, Gu Ruolan returned to the company and went straight to see President Xin. Her complexion wasn’t as poor as the last few times; the period of hesitation and conflict is always the most painful, while making a decision brings relief.

“Ruolan, I’m very sorry you’ve decided not to renew.” Xin Qi spread her hands, her expression not looking very pleasant. “Have you decided to go to Xinghe?”

Gu Ruolan shook her head. “No.”

Xin Qi raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Not Xinghe?” Was it another company? She carefully recalled recent news; no other company had been in frequent contact with Gu Ruolan. She half-joked, “Are you planning to set up your own shop?”

Gu Ruolan still shook her head. “No.”

This time, Xin Qi truly didn’t understand. She put down her pen and leaned back. “I don’t understand. Ruolan, since you don’t have a better choice, why won’t you consider staying?”

“I want a change of pace. the current method doesn’t suit me.”

Xin Qi fell silent. Gu Ruolan was good in every way, except she was too idealistic. In this circle, how could anyone remain completely untainted? She had been lucky in the past; it would be very difficult to stay that way moving forward.

“President Xin, is there a problem with the movie contract?”

Xin Qi shook her head. “There shouldn’t be.”

“Then why is progress so slow?”

Xin Qi gave an ambiguous smile. “I’ll nudge Youqing. Go back and wait for news.”

Gu Ruolan didn’t have to wait many days for a notice from the company. However, the news was not good.

Yu Youqing told her that the company had accepted new work for her—and more than one job. Not only two variety shows, but also a small-budget commercial film.

Gu Ruolan didn’t understand and found it hard to believe. She called Yu Youqing to demand an explanation. “Ruolan, since you don’t plan to renew, shouldn’t you hurry and make up for the work you haven’t finished?”

“I said I wasn’t taking variety shows, and movie scripts must be approved by me first.”

Yu Youqing sighed. “That was the company looking after you in the past. Those terms aren’t explicitly written in the contract.”

Gu Ruolan gasped. When she first signed with Xin Qi’s company, it was through Jiang Sinian’s introduction. At that time, whether it was Xin Qi’s attitude or her own trust and gratitude toward Jiang Sinian, neither side had set very harsh terms in the contract. Their cooperation over the years had been pleasant; the company didn’t force her into frequent work, and she rewarded them with one Best Actress award after another.

However, when she intended to part on good terms, the other party suddenly turned hostile.

Those two variety shows were completely different from Light of Stars; they were the type aimed at “face-swapping” to create idols, which didn’t fit her style at all. To put it bluntly, they wanted her to use her fame to trade for resources for the company’s newcomers. And that small-budget commercial film went without saying—they just wanted to rush it for the Lunar New Year slot. The script had no depth; it was nothing but gags and manufactured conflict—a pure, boring popcorn flick.

Usually, she would have put such a script down after two pages.

“Sister Qing, I won’t take them.”

Likely expecting this reaction, Yu Youqing [read the original at bailiantales.com]didn’t continue to persuade her. “Then the only choice left is breach of contract.”

Gu Ruolan fell silent, but her breathing became audible. After a stalemate, and seeing no sign of Gu Ruolan relenting, Yu Youqing said softly, “Ruolan, think it over carefully and give me an answer as soon as possible.”

The call ended. The dial tone sounded like a stone hammer, blow by blow, nearly shattering Gu Ruolan’s heart.

She hadn’t even fully processed the Xiao Yan incident; she was just suppressing it. Now that the company had turned its back, coming directly for her weak spot, the impact was even greater than before. Although she no longer trusted the company as she used to—which was why she decided to leave—she had trusted them deeply once. At this moment, she felt the sting of betrayal once again.

Breach of contract. She had never imagined that one day, she and the company would come to this.

Xinghe somehow heard the news. Li Minshuang called Gu Ruolan personally, cordially inviting her to join them. “Ruolan, if you’re worried President Xin won’t let go, leave it to us. Xinghe is quite successful at handling artist contracts in the industry.”

It was true; Xinghe had poached many popular artists from other companies over the years. Contract disputes existed, but they were eventually smoothed over by Xinghe. But there was always a price; Xinghe’s long-term contracts weren’t a charity.

Having just witnessed the ruthlessness of a betrayal, how could Gu Ruolan be willing to step into another quagmire? “Thank you for the kind offer, Manager Li, but I’m not considering signing with Xinghe for the time being.”