Even after getting into the car, Rong Guang didn’t ask Chu Feiliang who they were going to see.
The atmosphere during the drive was a bit heavy. Rong Guang couldn’t help but let her gaze fall on Chu Feiliang’s fingers, recalling the momentary warm touch when they brushed against the corner of her lips, and her heart fluttered.
“We’re here,” Chu Feiliang said. “This won’t take too long. It’s just a routine matter to discuss some things. I’m here, so don’t be nervous.”
Rong Guang didn’t know what was about to happen, but seeing Chu Feiliang so solemnly and deliberately inform her, she still felt her stomach was in knots.
“I… I won’t be nervous.” Rong Guang hadn’t been that nervous originally, but now she was starting to take deep breaths.
Chacha, holding her hand beside her, looked a little lost with her big eyes and said, “Sister Guangguang, does this feel like being called to the principal’s office?”
Rong Guang paused. “It really does feel a bit like that…”
“Then you shouldn’t be nervous.” Chacha puffed out her chest. “Aren’t you already used to it!”
And it was all thanks to her!
Rong Guang: “…”
It was true. She had already attended several parent-teacher conferences for Chacha. And because Chacha’s grades were lagging, she had been called in three times this year, which was commonly known as a private reprimand.
Rong Guang poked Chacha on the forehead, both exasperated and amused by her.
The person coming today was probably a big shot; Director Zhang had even cleared out a conference room for them.
When Rong Guang walked in, she felt as if her eyes had been washed clean—the conference room floor was polished to a brilliant shine. If she hadn’t been here several times before, she wouldn’t have even realized the floor was actually white!
“Just who is coming…?” Rong Guang’s heart finally started to pound.
With such solemn preparations, it couldn’t be a minor figure. At the very least, this person was extremely important to the production crew.
Who could it be?
Moreover, Chu Feiliang had come with her, but she didn’t look nervous at all. In fact, she seemed quite relaxed and at ease, and was even ordering breakfast.
She even ordered a special kids’ meal for Chacha, which came with a “blue fatty” plushie blind box for an extra fifteen yuan—part of a doll family series Chacha had been collecting recently.
Before long, a commotion was heard from outside the door.
At that moment, Rong Guang and the others were eating breakfast. In front of Chu Feiliang were fried dough sticks and soy milk, while Rong Guang had savory tofu pudding and meat buns. Hearing someone arrive, Rong Guang subconsciously stopped what she was doing.
Chu Feiliang didn’t stop eating. She listened for a moment and said, “Keep eating. They’ll be talking outside for a few minutes.”
Rong Guang blinked, took a bite of her bun, and said, “Who is it, really…?”
As she spoke, the people from outside came in.
This time, Rong Guang was truly stunned.
The person in front of her was an acquaintance, and behind that acquaintance was another acquaintance.
“Just starting breakfast?” The person who entered was a beautiful woman with lovely, dark red hair that reached her shoulders. It wasn’t permed, but you could tell it had been professionally styled.
Her features were about sixty to seventy percent similar to Chu Feiliang’s. The only difference was that one could occasionally see warmth in Chu Feiliang, a gentleness in the corners of her eyes, but the person before her was cold through and through.
“Sister.” Chu Feiliang greeted her, then said without looking up, “Yeah, woke up late. Just started eating.”
Rong Guang glanced at Chu Feiliang and pressed her lips together, not quite knowing what to say.
Chu Siyue glanced at her, her gaze pausing on Rong Guang for a moment. In that brief instant, she seemed to understand everything. She said, “Finish eating, we’ll talk after. Coincidentally, Rong Guang and Duan Nong already know each other, so I don’t need to make introductions, do I?”
Rong Guang pressed her lips together, glanced at Duan Nong, and didn’t speak.
Duan Nong, however, ran straight to Rong Guang’s side with an arrogant and triumphant expression. She didn’t say a word, but her attitude made it perfectly clear—hiding was useless, she was here.
Rong Guang was helpless.
Duan Nong let out a soft snort, looked left and right, then reached out and poked Chacha.
The skin on Chacha’s arm was tender, and she was very sensitive to pain. She let out a soft ‘hiss,’ and tears immediately welled up in her eyes.
With her mouth full, she could only mumble indistinctly, “Why did you poke me?”
“Make room.” Duan Nong frowned. “I’m sitting with Rong Guang. Can’t you go eat somewhere else?”
Chacha looked at Rong Guang, bewildered.
Rong Guang sympathetically rubbed Chacha’s arm and said, “Be good, Chacha. Go sit over there for now.”
“Okay.” Chacha dejectedly made room for Duan Nong. She secretly glanced at Chu Siyue, studying her face for a moment before glancing over at Chu Feiliang.
They look so alike.
Chu Siyue was typing away at her computer, seemingly completely unaware of what was happening over here.
Rong Guang lowered her head and continued eating. Duan Nong looked at her food, wrinkled her nose in disgust, and said, “You eat this stuff for breakfast now?”
Rong Guang looked at her and said, “This is delicious, nutritious, and filling.”
Previously, Duan Nong had been on a diet, and since the entire group lived and ate together, Rong Guang had been forced to eat vegetable salads with her for several months.
Right after she was reborn, Rong Guang had initially thought her loss of appetite and nausea were just due to her fever. Now, with Duan Nong standing in front of her, she finally remembered this matter, which felt like an ancient memory to her.
Duan Nong clearly didn’t believe her and reached for Rong Guang’s spoon.
Chu Feiliang tapped the back of her hand with her chopsticks.
Duan Nong’s hand froze in mid-air. Her eyebrows shot up, and she looked like she was about to explode. But when she saw clearly that it was Chu Feiliang, she swallowed her anger, glanced at Rong Guang, and said, “Why did you hit me?”
“Rong Guang is eating. It’s not nice to snatch someone’s spoon, is it, Miss Duan?” Chu Feiliang smiled, tidied up her own finished meal, and leaned back in her chair. “I ordered the breakfast. Do you have a problem with it?”
Duan Nong frowned and said, “Our entire group eats vegetable salads and sandwiches for breakfast. This stuff is unhealthy and will make you fat. Besides, Rong Guang doesn’t like to eat this…”
“I like eating this very much, Nongnong,” Rong Guang said faintly, then proceeded to pack everything up.
It was true she liked vegetables, but she liked home-style stir-fries, not all sorts of raw vegetables mixed with salad dressing, or tasteless chicken breast that was like chewing on wood.
Duan Nong was taken aback. “What do you mean?”
Rong Guang frowned. “I don’t mean anything.”
“Alright, stop arguing.” Chu Siyue finally looked up from her computer. “Duan Nong, I promised your mother I’d get you in to fill Jiang Ruyi’s spot, not for you to come here and fight with people. If you don’t perform well, Director Zhang can kick you out at any time. I won’t joke around with Tiantian’s career, so watch yourself.”
The words Duan Nong was about to say got stuck in her throat. Her face flushed red, then turned pale. Finally, she angrily crossed her arms and threw herself back into her chair.
Chacha’s eyes lit up. Seeing Duan Nong’s thwarted expression made her want to clap.
But clapping with her hands would be too obvious. Not wanting to be conspicuous, Chacha could only tap her feet gleefully on the floor.
Chu Siyue paused, her expression turning suspicious for a second, but she quickly became serious again. She pushed the laptop over to Chu Feiliang and said, “It’s been handled. Mao Xiaosong’s sentence has already been handed down, so I won’t go into detail. I had someone assess the situation. Jiang Ruyi’s case could go either way—as little as a few months, or as much as three years.”
Rong Guang listened quietly without interrupting.
Chu Feiliang thought for a moment and said, “Three years is too long.”
“Mm, I think so too,” Chu Siyue said. “I can’t interfere too much. Jiang Ruyi’s company is still trying to pull strings for her. They want to use depression to whitewash her image after she gets out.”
“If you can’t interfere, I will!” Duan Nong’s eyes widened. “If she only gets locked up for a few months, what’s the difference from not going in at all? I already asked my dad. Even if Jiang Ruyi is jailed for this, it won’t go on her permanent record. She’ll come out with a clean slate. If she isn’t locked up for a few more years, won’t she just come out and harm someone else? This time, Rong Guang was lucky and avoided it, but what if she hadn’t? Disfigurement? Quitting the industry? Do you know how hard it is for her to earn money? That bunch of black-hearted people at Star Cluster…”
As Duan Nong spoke, her voice trailed off under Chu Siyue’s gaze.
After a moment, she mumbled, “I’ll stop shouting. You can continue…”
Chacha happily tapped her feet on the floor again, struggling painfully to hold back her laughter.
Get instant access to all chapters now.
