Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
At this moment, Zhou Zhilei boiled with anger as her entire body was shaking from head to toe.
She was 26 years old this year, and she always thought that this was the age when a woman would be most beautiful. It was the time between inexperienced youth and mature womanhood, just like a flower bud in full bloom.
But what did Ning Qing say just now? She addressed as her Older Sister?
Was she old?
Women feared others calling them old the most. Zhou Zhilei naturally felt the same.
Zhou Zhilei lifted her gaze to look at Ning Qing who was standing before her. Although she was not willing to admit it, Ning Qing’s small, exquisite face was really the work of God. It’s so supple and full of moisture. Her sharp little nose, her attractive cherry lips… Her eyes were her most beautiful feature; they were moist and sparkling bright. Her eyes even made women melt upon looking at her.
Her features that were like a small girl were youthful and pretty, but as she lay back on the office chair. Her lazy posture made her look attractive and intelligent like a little woman.
The aura that she had on her body was what made men go crazy the most. She used the attitude of a little woman to conquer a man’s heart, and the girl’s body made men unable to resist her.
Heh, no wonder Lu Shaoming liked her.
It turned out that men were all so old fashioned.
At this moment, Zhou Zhilei was jealous; she was envious.
Ning Qing noticed every emotion that appeared on Zhou Zhilei’s face, and she curled up the corners of her lips up into a smile. She took up the fountain pen and lowered her gaze to start working. “Miss Zhou, do you have any other matters? If you do, please let me know, as my work studio opens officially tomorrow. If Miss Zhou wants to look for me again, you will need to make an appointment to meet me through my secretary.”
Zhou Zhilei hated her so much that she felt her heart ache, but she could not gain the upper hand using her words, so she grunted coldly and said, “Ning Qing, let us see who manages to win in the long term. Let me see how much longer can you continue being so arrogant!”
Zhou Zhilei left, strutting with her high heeled shoes as she walked away.
The atmosphere turned quiet, and Ning Qing laughed heartily. There have been too many people who told her to “see who manages to win in the long term,” but she rode through wave after wave, and she was still rooted at the same spot.
She would forever be rooted in the same spot.
At this moment, Xiao Zhou brought a bento box as she came in. “Ning Qing, I just saw that Zhou Zhilei; why did she come here to look for you?”
“She came here to boast, but I stopped her with a mere slap to her face.”
“Haha, Ning Qing, I just knew that you were always the best. Come and have your meal quickly. You’ve been hungry for a while, right?” Xiao Zhou placed 7 or 8 dishes onto the coffee table.
“Okay.” Ning Qing smiled as she walked towards the table, and she sat on the sofa, using a spoon to have a mouth of soup first before saying, “Xiao Zhou, is this goji berry black chicken soup?”
“It is. I noticed that your appetite has grown so I ordered more dishes. Have more of them, and fatten yourself up.”
“Okay.” Ning Qing had bite of rice, and she did not know why, but everything that she ate tasted good, “Xiao Zhou, after having my meal. It was probably because she was in a good mood. “I am going to take an afternoon nap. It is probably because spring is here. I feel a little sleepy now.”
“Sure, go ahead then.”
….
3pm the next afternoon. Liu Wenlong came.
Ning Qing stood up and looked at him. Liu Wenlong was a rough man from the Dongbei Region. He was 26 years old this year, and his features could not be considered handsome, but they were still proper. He had a guitar on his back, and the denim jeans that he wore made him look like a ruffian. His look matched his good voice, and he resembled a man who has gone through the trials of life.
“Director Ning, how are you?” Liu Wenlong did not have any excitement on his face; he just greeted her politely.
“Mr Liu, how are you? Have a seat here.”
The two of them sat down on the sofa.
Ning Qing had not opened her mouth, and Liu Wenlong said directly, “Director Ning, I heard that you wanted to sign me under the management of your work studio. I only have a single condition, and that would be that I am only in charge of creating my own music. Interviews, performances, and other events do not have anything to do with me.”
Ning Qing lifted her eyebrows up, and nodded her head as she smiled. “Sure.”
Upon hearing her words, Liu Wenlong froze immediately and said, “Director Ning, are you sure about that?”
He debuted from an audition programme, and after that, all the places where he wanted to develop were met with numerous setbacks. There were no companies that were willing to sign a contract with him, and it was all because he was not willing to participate in performances.
There were too many people who knew how to sing on earth, and singers that did not have any value in creating headlines in the entertainment industry were unable to continue on.
These were the inner workings of the entertainment industry, and it was not solely based on using abilities to determine a person’s performance.
“Mr Liu, I know that you are a free artist. Art should not be related to money. You can choose to be pure, and you can be arrogant. I totally can understand you, and I can allow you to do so.” As she spoke, Ning Qing received the contract from Xiao Zhou, and she handed it over to Liu Wenlong. “You look at the contents of the contract. I have agreed to all of your conditions, and these are the benefits that I will give you.”
Liu Wenlong looked at the paragraph concerning the welfare conditions, and his facial expressions stiffened. “Director Ning, the salary that you are giving me is only…one thousand dollars?”
Xiao Zhou heard his words and lifted her head up to have a look. Ning Qing had personally drafted this contract in the afternoon, and Xiao Zhou was unaware of its contents.
One thousand?
Xiao Zhou suspected that Ning Qing made a typo. Even the monthly spending of a university student nowadays would be higher than this amount now.
What could he do with a mere thousand dollars?
Ning Qing’s eyes brightened up, and she smiled as she welcomed Liu Wenlong’s gaze. She said graciously, “Mr Liu, I understand your situation right now. There are no companies that are willing to sign a contract with you. You would carry a guitar to busk on the streets every night. Other than meals and rental expenses, you would not be able to earn a hundred dollars. Now that I am covering both your rental and food expenses, I am still giving you a thousand dollars extra. This is already very generous on my part. Furthermore, Liu Wenlong, you stated your conditions the moment you walked through the door. The only condition that you had would be that you would not participate in performances. Now that I have satisfied the requests of being a carefree artist, such an arrogant and pure Mr Liu is now negotiating with me about money? Don’t you think that you are being contradictory right now?”
A masculine man from Dongbei was not glib with his words. Ning Qing’s words were just like a slap on his face, and he pursed his lips. His face was crimson red.
Xiao Zhou got what Ning Qing meant.
At this moment, Ning Qing lifted her gaze up to look towards the door. There was a girl standing outside the door. She looked to be around 22 years old, and she was channelling her gaze towards their direction at that moment.
The girl was dressed in a floral shirt, and it looked like it was handmade from the 90s in the mountainous regions. She had a pair of simple canvas shoes on her feet, and when Ning Qing looked at her, she quickly donned a smile. She was very shy and very delicate.
Ning Qing gave a warm smile and looked towards the girl. She directed her words towards Liu Wenlong. “I saw your programme before, this girl is your girlfriend, Li Yi. You two grew up together in the mountains and were childhood sweethearts from a young age. She actually got into a good university, but she firmly rejected it all because of you. Both of you made it through the mountains and came into the city. You busked on the streets, and she took a bowl to collect money for you.
“You got popular after the audition programme. Your relationship also touched many people, and at that time, a judge on the programme gave you a gold ring and asked you to propose to her, and she agreed to your proposal.”
Liu Wenlong nodded his head and said, “That’s right. I did not want that ring, and I also planned to return it to that judge when I left the stage, but I still did not have the chance to return it, and that judge has already asked his assistant to get it back from me.”
Ning Qing did not speak further. She took out another contract and placed it in front of Liu Wenlong. “I was joking with you just now, this is the real contract. You only need to bother about creating music. Promotions and performances would be my responsibility.”
Liu Wenlong looked at the premium conditions and his face became even redder. “Director Ning, you…”
Ning Qing stood up slowly and said, “I only wanted to teach you a lesson in life just now. Humans, first have to live, and then think about ambitions. If you’re unable to raise yourself up, and you can’t even protect your own lover, what basis do you have to talk about ambitions?”
Liu Wenlong was in a daze. He did not have much of an education, and he did not know much about life lessons.
He only knew that what happened backstage and the under the table dealings of the audition programme was the first time that he learned about the inner workings of the entertainment industry. That gold ring further eroded his dignity, and he only wanted to make music without any distractions. He hated all of these other things deeply from the bottom of his heart.
Liu Wenlong signed the document, and he stood up to say, “Director Ning, thank you. I will see you again.”
Liu Wenlong stood up and went out the door. He cupped his hands over Li Yi’s shoulders, and the face of a masculine man from Dongbei also gave off a gentle warmth.
Li Yi glanced at Ning Qing shyly. She bowed down and treated it as her thanking Ning Qing.
Ning Qing winked cheekily and waved towards her.
The two of them departed.
…
Xiao Zhou asked Ning Qing, “Ning Qing, at the start, I thought that you used one thousand dollars to threaten Liu Wenlong, but I did not think that you were actually lecturing him by your own good will.”
Ning Qing collected the documents on the table and said, “I was in fact threatening him. I cherish his talent, but his demeanour is akin to ignoring the world around him. It would be difficult for him in the future for me to make use of himself. At the same time, I also lectured him. Since I have decided to make use of him, whatever I can do to help him, I will do.”
A person like Liu Wenlong would find it hard to survive in this world if he did not change his ways. Ning Qing hoped that he would wake up to that fact.
Xiao Zhou nodded her head and said, “I think that Liu Wenlong and his girlfriend Li Yi have such a harmonious relationship between them.”
“That’s right. Li Yi is a good girl, but she is very naïve.” Ning Qing gave a definitive judgment and said, “Xiao Zhou, I have to go to the washroom.”
Ning Qing went to the washroom, and Xiao Zhou’s phone rang. She did not know who was calling and she pressed on the answer key to answer the call, “Hello, who is this calling?”
“Hello.” A deep and charming male voice came over from the other end of the line.
“Young Master Lu?” Xiao Zhou was taken aback, and she said, “Young Master Lu, are you looking for Ning Qing? She just went to the washroom, let me hand the phone to her.”
Young Master Lu was driving, and he had an earpiece in his ear. He furrowed his eyebrows while he rejected her proposal, “There is no need to. How come I couldn’t get through to her phone?”
He never got through after she came back from Finland.
“Young Master Lu, didn’t you know? Ning Qing lost her phone a long time ago.” Xiao Zhou was taken aback.
“What?” Lu Shaoming frowned and it made 3 angry lines run across his forehead. It was also to say that she did not receive any of his text messages or phone calls? “Where are you two right now? I will rush over.”
Xiao Zhou told him the address, and Lu Shaoming hung up.
The man inside the car was silent for a few seconds, and he then made a call to Zhu Rui. “Secretary Zhu, help me to destroy a hand phone number.”
She did not receive his text messages and calls. He would destroy them then, although he did not send any racy text messages, it was still a little..embarrassing.
He had begged her so humbly to stay.
…
Ning Qing came out from the washroom, and Xiao Zhou handed a SIM card over to her. “Ning Qing, you lost your phone, but I have already helped you get your phone number back. You have not lost a single message. I will accompany you later to buy a new phone.”
Ning Qing took the card into her hand, and her tiny face was a little red. “There is no need for that. I will let Shaoming accompany me to get a phone later.”
