Chapter 20

The alt account she had just registered had nothing on it. Even the profile picture was the default one: a simple white background with a gray little-person icon. Qin Ran even left a note on the friend request page, saying that she was the boss of Ninety-Nine Interactive Entertainment.

At first, she hesitated for a long time over what she should write in the friend request message. Would directly writing “boss” seem too stiff? If she wrote too formally, would Senior be scared? After thinking it over and over, she finally sent the words: “I’m the boss of Ninety-Nine Interactive Entertainment.”

Yu Shuman’s phone was not always with her, so her reply was very slow. It was not until the next day that Qin Ran discovered her friend request had been accepted. She was sitting in class, listening to the teacher lecture at the front. She secretly glanced down, then took out her phone and used the alt account to message Yu Shuman.

She sent a “Hello,” which seemed polite and distant.

The other side replied very quickly:

Hello, Boss. I’m Yu Shuman, an artist newly signed under Ninety-Nine Interactive Entertainment. You may not know my name, but I wanted to express my gratitude to you. On the day of the first public performance for Debut! Girls, my agent, Miss Yan Li, invited me and my friends to dine at a restaurant. The total cost was 139,000 yuan, and this amount has left me rather anxious and undeserving. Sister Li said the company would reimburse it, but I know that with my current ability, there is no way I can earn back that much money. I’m very grateful for your high regard, but I may not be able to repay your kindness. Your care toward me makes me feel deeply honored and fearful. Please wait until I reach the corresponding level before giving me this degree of support. Once again, I would like to express my gratitude to you.

Yu Shuman sent this long string of messages very quickly. It did not look like something she had typed directly into the chat box. She had probably written it in her notes ahead of time, and only pasted and sent it after the boss spoke first.

Yu Shuman’s wording was polite and distant. Overall, what she meant was this: the treatment Sister Li had given her during that meal had been too good. Even though Yu Shuman had not yet entered society, after working part-time for so long, she still understood a great deal about worldly relationships. That was why she felt so honored and fearful. She was only a newly debuted artist just starting out. She was not worthy of treatment on that level.

Besides, Yu Shuman was someone with a very clear understanding of herself. Apart from her face, she had nothing that made her stronger than others. Especially in the entertainment industry, where there were so many handsome men and beautiful women, why was she receiving such good treatment right from the start? Without the boss’s instructions, Sister Li would not have booked such an expensive restaurant. Then what could the boss want from her? Her youth? Her face? It could only be something like that.

Add to that all the rumors flying around the entertainment industry—today someone had been taken advantage of through unspoken rules, tomorrow some huge scandal would be exposed—and it was very hard for Yu Shuman not to think in that direction.

Her blunt and somewhat offensive words could easily make any boss who saw this message think: Is there something wrong with this person? read the original at bailiantales.com Does she think so highly of herself that she believes I would take a fancy to her?

And if the boss really did have such intentions, they would also feel that Yu Shuman was too offensive, and that she was a hopeless case.

But Qin Ran only felt that her senior was excessively adorable.

She could imagine Yu Shuman anxiously writing out this message. Whether it was asking Sister Li for the boss’s contact information or sending out this message, either act might cost her the treatment she currently had, or even cut off her future prospects.

Yu Shuman was too direct. Sometimes, she was so direct that she went too far.

Qin Ran pressed her lips together. Since she was in class, she did not dare smile. Otherwise, the teacher might call her out at any moment and make her answer a question. She could only keep her expression tense as she typed a reply to Yu Shuman:

I’m a woman.

Those four words made Yu Shuman so embarrassed that her toes nearly dug into the floor.

Qin Ran could imagine Yu Shuman’s stunned little expression right now.

But it made sense. These days, although many strong women were active in the public eye, among the wealthy, there were still more men in charge than women. The moment the word “boss” was mentioned, many people’s first thought was a middle-aged man. And if the boss was a woman, people would usually add the word “female” in front of “boss” to clarify.

It was very normal for Yu Shuman to assume her boss was a man. For thousands of years, tradition had been like this. Who asked this world to be a patriarchal society?

Every time Qin Ran thought of this, she could not help thinking of her previous life.

Before transmigrating, she had already taken charge of her family’s business. But because the board of directors saw that she was a young woman, resentment and dissatisfaction inevitably grew in their hearts. There were even people who jumped around like clowns, saying that her family’s assets would one day become someone else’s.

They also said there was one phrase especially suitable for her family:

A household with no male heir, ripe for devouring.

She disliked that phrase, and she disliked those people. So she followed what her parents had taught her and chopped off every claw they reached out with, making them clutch their wounds and crawl back into their caves to wail miserably.

People whose minds were still living in the patriarchal society of a thousand years ago deserved that beating.

But Yu Shuman’s slightly offensive words did not make Qin Ran unhappy.

People were sometimes that extremely double-standard.

Among her peers, Yu Shuman had a good personality and was mature. She was a good child praised by everyone. But that level of emotional intelligence was somewhat lacking in adult society. The message she had sent could very likely make her boss—a female boss who might originally have had a favorable impression of her—drop her impression of Yu Shuman straight to the bottom.

Qin Ran sighed in her heart.

Her senior still had quite a long way to go before she became truly mature.

But it was fine. Qin Ran would always protect her, and she knew that Yu Shuman did not say those things out of malice.

After a while, Yu Shuman finally replied with three words:

I’m sorry.

Qin Ran was very magnanimous:

It’s fine.

She even wanted to type and tell Yu Shuman that actually, women could have intentions toward her too. After all, Qin Ran herself had many intentions toward Yu Shuman. But that would be too greasy, and she did not dare actually type something like that.

After Yu Shuman sorted out her thoughts, she sent another long message. The central idea was still that she was an artist who had just debuted, that her virtue did not match her position, and that she should not receive such good treatment.

Qin Ran thought: This is barely anything.

But she still typed and told Yu Shuman that she had taken a liking to her potential. In the future, Yu Shuman would definitely become Ninety-Nine’s money tree. Everything she invested in Yu Shuman would definitely be earned back several times over.

Qin Ran even used provocation:

Do you have no confidence in yourself at all?

Her senior was most susceptible to this move. Sure enough, a moment later, Yu Shuman expressed:

I definitely won’t let your investment go to waste. I will definitely become famous, become popular, and earn money.

After that, Yu Shuman said practice was about to start on her side, so she ended the conversation with Qin Ran.

Qin Ran still could not help letting a faint smile appear on her face, and then the teacher picked her out and made her answer a question.

She had originally wanted to change the profile picture of her alt account. But after thinking carefully, changing her profile picture would carry a certain tendency, and she had already used the default profile picture when chatting with Yu Shuman earlier. If she changed it now, and the picture looked too young, it would seem a little strange.

At this point, Yu Shuman’s impression of her boss had already gone from middle-aged man to middle-aged woman. If it changed again to young woman, that would be even stranger.

So she did not change the profile picture and continued using the default system icon while chatting with Yu Shuman.

However, her rich-woman alt account did change its profile picture. It was a cute cat head.

During this period, Qin Ran also did not quit her part-time job at the production team. After all, this was the best way for her to get close to Yu Shuman and supervise her.

Yu Shuman had still ended up in the same group as Ling Miaohan, but Qin Ran was confident that with her here now, even in this kind of situation, she would not let Yu Shuman become Ling Miaohan’s stepping stone.

At lunchtime, Yu Shuman came over with her boxed meal to find Qin Ran, and the two of them huddled in a small corner to eat together.

The weather had turned colder now, so Yu Shuman wore a thick coat over her dance practice clothes. After finishing lunch, Yu Shuman did not leave. Instead, she stayed and chatted with Qin Ran.

She shared with Qin Ran the toe-curlingly embarrassing thing that had happened a while ago, and even called herself an idiot. “If only I had asked Sister Li earlier whether the boss was male or female. How could I directly assume the boss was a man? I even made such a joke of myself. The boss’s impression of me must be terrible.”

Not really…

Boss Qin Ran sat beside Yu Shuman, listening to her ramble on. She would not think badly of her. On the contrary, she only thought Yu Shuman was very cute.

It was just that she could not say this to Yu Shuman. So she could only change the wording and comfort her. “Not necessarily. Maybe she’ll think you’re a good girl who doesn’t fear power and has no intention of taking shortcuts.”

Qin Ran’s comforting words did not make Yu Shuman feel much better. She still could not help letting out a long sigh.

Seeing her like this, Qin Ran felt a little at a loss.

She did not like seeing a dispirited Senior. She liked that bright, forever positive and upward-looking version of Yu Shuman.

Some people liked watching beautiful things wither before their eyes, appreciating the most heart-wrenching tragedies.

But Qin Ran liked seeing the sun always radiating light, proudly lifting its head.

It was precisely because she did not want to see Yu Shuman lose her radiance that she had chosen to bind herself to her.

She still wanted to say something else, but then she saw Yu Shuman raise both hands and slap them hard against her own cheeks. She did not hold ​bailiantales.com​back much, and the sound was a loud, crisp smack.

The movement startled Qin Ran, leaving her expression momentarily stunned.

Yu Shuman also realized that her action had been a little sudden and frightening, so she quickly showed a smile. “Sorry, Junior. I made you worry.”

“But don’t worry. I won’t lose heart. Even if the boss has a bad impression of me, it’s fine. I’ll become exactly what I said I would be: the money tree that earns the most for Ninety-Nine Interactive Entertainment. When the time comes, even if the boss didn’t have a good impression of me at first, she’ll end up liking me!”

She lowered her hands. Her face was a little flushed, clearly because she had used quite a lot of force just now.

They were sitting in an unnoticed little corner. Beneath them were steps, behind them was a tightly shut door, and the meal boxes they had just finished eating rested on their laps.

They were the most unknown existences in the entertainment industry.

One was a poor student working part-time for the production team.

The other was a newly debuted young artist who had just gained the tiniest bit of fame.

The young artist said she would become the company’s most profitable big star, someone even the boss could not ignore.

The poor student simply smiled, tilted her head as she looked at her, and said that she definitely could.

This was Qin Ran.

And her brightest sun.