It finally became clear to Li Jingran that men were heartless creatures, showering love when they wanted to and removing people out of their lives as they liked.
Su Ruowan approached with a sad look on her face and greeted her parents. Hurt crept in more as Su Yi continued his way upstairs. “Don’t worry, Mom. I will talk with Shen Xi to get her to come home. I will leave the family as long as she comes back.”
Feeling bad for Su Ruowan, Li Jingran patted her hand and offered words of comfort. “Don’t take it personally. You know your dad. He’s going through a lot with the company, so he’s not in the best of moods.”
Su Ruowan’s tearful eyes revealed her downheartedness. “I can’t make Dad happy, but he will definitely be happy once Shen Xi is home.”
“Wanwan,” Li Jingran sighed. She did not know how she felt about Shen Xi anymore. After resentment and anger subsided, all that was left was despair. Li Jingran no longer counted on Shen Xi’s return. “To me, you will always be my daughter.”
Moved by her words, Su Ruowan glanced at Li Jingran and gave her a hug. She uttered in a raspy and weak voice, “Mom.”
Li Jingran had a heart-to-heart talk with Su Ruowan before bringing up and explaining the situation around National Idol. “Wanwan, we believe you can debut front and center on your own.”
Her husband had put in the efforts to deal with the new investor and requested a debut opportunity to play it safe. Wanwan would make her debut for sure but had to depend on herself if she wanted to debut front and center.
This came as a bolt out of blue for Su Ruowan. Despite her resentment, she put on a sensible front. “Got it, Mom. I won’t blame you or Dad.”
Ha!
So this was the so-called promise they made!
Were the Su family really that strapped for cash?
Su Ruowan did not believe a word coming out of Su Yi’s mouth. He probably gave up investing in the program, afraid that Shen Xi would not participate in the show.
What was the point of having an opportunity to debut?
She wanted a definite yes to debut front and center!
“I knew you’d understand,” Li Jingran smiled gently. “I got you the best coach from Country H to train you privately for the next few days.”
Compared to China, Country H had more experience in training boy and girl groups. Li Jingran sought a mentor from S corporation, the most renowned management agency in Country H to train Wanwan before the competition.
“Thank you, Mom.” Su Ruowan sweetly replied with a warm smile. However, she was scoffing inside, overwhelmed with an ill feeling that compelled her to question Su Yi about the investment withdrawal. Nevertheless, now was not the time to have a fallout.
She still needed to rely on the Su family, both her parents’ reputation and connection in the entertainment business to go far. Su Ruowan would have the upper hand to get even with Su Yi once she debuted and skyrocketed to fame.
Without the guarantee to debut front and center, Su Ruowan had no need for that debut opportunity. She only wanted the guarantee for peace of mind. Even if it was not pre-decided, Su Ruowan believed she was able to come up on top on her own.
Trusting she got through to Su Ruowan, Li Jingran let out a sigh of relief and grinned intimately. “Work hard. I give you my full support that you can make it.”
The mother and daughter engaged in chat, laughter, and pep talks when Su Muyan returned home and walked into the living room. He looked at them. “You all sound happy.”
“Muyan.” Su Ruowan said, “I was talking to Mom about National Idol. Mom found me the Country H’s best coach in training rookies.”
“I was just about to talk to you about National Idol too!” Looking cheerful, Su Muyan sat with them.
Li Jingran tensed up at the mention. Since the family kept running into problems lately, she was afraid it was another bad news. Li Jingran asked, “What about it?”
“It’s something good.” Su Muyan broke into a smile. “The show has invited me to be the vocal coach. I have signed the contract.”
The invitation to be a coach on National Idol had lifted the heavy feeling he had since the Qi Xiu incident.
Rumor had it that Qi Xiu was predetermined to be National Idol’s vocal coach. He was on the rise lately after all, and the production team wanted to ride on his coattails to boost the popularity of the show.
As it turned out, the investor of National Idol was not blind to who was the singer with the most potential and chose him.
“Really?” Su Ruowan leaped in joy. “That’s great!”
Su Muyan gazed at her with doting eyes but kept a straight face. “I won’t make any exceptions as the vocal coach. You have to give it your all, you hear me?”
While nodding, Su Ruowan stared back with an innocent look on her face. “Yes, I do. Muyan, I have to work harder since you’re the vocal coach, or else people will say I got here by pulling strings.”
Su Muyan lovingly smiled and joked. “It’s good that you’re aware of that. Don’t embarrass me, alright!”
“Of course,” Su Ruowan responded enthusiastically.
She was just thinking if Shen Xi had anything to do with the change of investors. However, she could finally relax knowing it was not Shen Xi.
The b*tch Shen Xi hated them so much that she wanted their family to crash and burn. There was no way Su Ruowan would be given a debut opportunity or Muyan to be invited to be the vocal coach if Shen Xi played a hand in it.
Achoo.
The much-thought-about Shen Xi rubbed her nose after letting out huge sneezes, wondering who was talking behind her back again.
Since it would take some time for the medical sample to be cultivated, Shen Xi set the alarm and sat on the sofa to play with her phone, having fun sending emojis back and forth with Li Yuan.
Shen Xi sent a text, ‘Brother, bring along the junk food in my bag when you pick me up later.’
Li Yuan replied, ‘Sure.’
Shen Xi had a gift for Fu Qingxuan in her bag and it was his favorite spicy snack – strips of wheat flour fried in oil called latiao. Latiao could be bought around here, but Professor Fu was a man too proud to purchase the snack himself.
Holding her phone, Shen Xi nestled on the sofa and smiled like an idiot looking at the chat. Soon, she fell asleep.
Along the corridor, medical experts were grinning from ear to ear as each of them held an exquisitely packed gift box. The transparent packaging revealed a beautiful cake inside and each cake had a different design.
“Madam, Professor Fu is still in his lab. It might be another half an hour before he’s done. Why don’t you wait for him at his office?” Jennifer was delighted to receive the gift.
The madam would visit Professor Fu at the medical center once every few days and each time, she would bring along cakes she baked herself. The cakes were more delicious than any bakery.
She made a lot of cakes to give out to anyone she met along the way. The colleagues’ favorite day was when she popped in for a visit. To be able to meet her and receive a cake was a symbol of luck and she was the goddess of luck.
“Is there anyone else here?” Mama Fu enquired. There was one last cake in her bamboo basket.
Jennifer nodded. “One of Professor Fu’s friends is here in the lab. She’s a beautiful young lady. She will love your cake.”
Mama Fu left Jennifer to her work before heading towards the direction pointed out. After glancing at the lab number plate, she knocked on the door, but no one answered. She then gently pushed the door open.
