It was rare for a workaholic like Ji Ling to feel that free time could slip away so quickly.
After coming back from Jinyuan, he went straight to the office. On the way, he passed through the central business district and glanced up at the huge screens flashing ads. Young people hurried past him, faces full of urgency. When he lifted his eyes to look at the skyscraper where his company was, he actually felt a little out of place. The dazzling ads on the big screens, the sunlight bouncing off the glass walls of the buildings — it all felt so far away from the peace and beauty of Jinyuan that it gave Ji Ling a weird sense of stepping into a whole other world.
For a second, he couldn’t help but wonder — had he really experienced that little slice of leisure, or was it just a dream?
But then again, when it came to strange experiences, wasn’t his own life already full of things more bizarre than that?
Ji Ling shook off all the random thoughts crowding his head and threw himself back into work.
He started dealing more and more with theaters, trying to move his business closer to the front lines of the industry. He already had several projects running at the same time, with profits and investments both holding steady — you could say everything was going pretty smoothly.
It was worth mentioning that in this industry, connections really meant everything. People always said it’s easier to stay cool under a big tree’s shade.
Ji Ling and Luo Tao had already gotten to the point where they were half business partners, half friends. At Tiansheng Entertainment, Ji Ling had basically become a regular. He could walk right in without even needing to check in, and the employees would greet him warmly with a ‘President Ji!’
His company had taken on a bunch of projects from Tiansheng Entertainment too. At this point, whenever their production department needed anything, the first person they thought of was Ji Ling.
Now, whether that was a good thing or a bad thing was up for debate. On the bright side, working with people you knew made everything smoother and more trustworthy. On the downside, Luo Tao actually owned shares in Ji Ling’s company, so the money matters between them were getting a little too tangled — it could be a headache when it came time to sort things out.
Recently, Ji Ling had just taken on the promotional work for Shen Dongqing’s new movie.
Shen Dongqing was basically Tiansheng Entertainment’s poster boy — a top-tier, award-winning actor. He never touched projects that were all fluff and no substance. Promoting his films was a whole different ball game from the usual internet buzz campaigns. It was all about pulling in audiences while keeping a spotless reputation.
Ji Ling still remembered the first time he crossed paths with Luo Tao. It had been over one of Shen Dongqing’s movie plans too, though back then, Ji Ling hadn’t even gotten the chance to be involved. And now? The production department came straight to him, asking his team to take full charge.
The movie Shen Dongqing was starring in this time was a romance film, produced by Tiansheng Entertainment, directed by a veteran director with a flawless reputation. The story spanned from a sensitive period decades ago all the way to the present day. It started with the wild, reckless passion of youth and ended with the quiet acceptance of middle age, with the background times changing along the way.
When Ji Ling got the project files, he sat there reading for a long time without saying a word.
Not because he was moved by the story or anything — it was just that he had worked on so many popcorn flicks before, and now, faced with something so deep and artsy, he felt a little out of his depth.
He knew right away that this kind of movie wasn’t meant to make a killing at the box office — it was made to win awards.
But then again, in the past few years, audiences had gotten way more sophisticated. As long as they could target the right crowd and find the right angle, even an artsy film like this should be able to pull in a decent ticket sales.
Although Ji Ling used to be in traditional industries, he knew that the rules of doing business were pretty much the same everywhere.
It was like selling ice makers — way fewer people would buy an ice maker compared to a fridge. Maybe only ten people needed ice makers while a hundred wanted fridges. But if you were good at selling, and you managed to get all ten people to buy the ice makers, you could still make more money than if you sold zero fridges.
With a movie starring a top actor, backed by Tiansheng Entertainment, and produced by one of the best teams in the country, Ji Ling took this project very seriously. He held meeting after meeting, big ones and small ones, just to make sure the marketing plan would be flawless.
Since his company’s focus was on media work, besides new media and screen media, the employees also kept a close eye on print media. Even though print magazines were going more digital nowadays, you’d still often see all kinds of magazines lying around the office.
During one of his breaks, Ji Ling went to the pantry to grab a coffee. He noticed a few magazines tossed on the table. At first, he didn’t really care, but because his eyesight was so good, just one quick glance and he spotted a very familiar face on one of the covers.
Holding his coffee cup, he walked over and casually picked up the magazine with one hand. When he saw who was on the cover, he almost spilled his coffee.
It was a high-end women’s magazine, aimed at professional women who liked a bit of luxury. On the cover was a half-body shot of Yan Yili, with a bold headline underneath: ‘Exclusive Interview with a Successful Man.’
Ji Ling put his coffee down and, fighting off the goosebumps, started flipping through the pages.
The magazine had given Yan Yili a big spread, interviewing him about his role as the Executive Director of Yan Corporation. The article guided him to talk about his personal ‘keys to success,’ and by the end, it had built him up into the perfect image of a young, capable man.
Ji Ling thought of himself as a pretty self-loving person, but even he wouldn’t have the nerve to brag about himself in a women’s magazine.
The interview painted Yan Yili as a serious, hardworking, and responsible guy. It even dipped into a bit of his personal life — in the final part, it mentioned that he had a long-term partner who had always stayed by his side, and they were planning to get married soon.
Ji Ling had met Yan Yili’s girlfriend before, but he couldn’t help thinking — was it really necessary to share that kind of thing in the media?
No matter how deep their love was, it was still private business. Why tell strangers about it, especially in such a public way?
After he finished reading, Ji Ling put the magazine back where he found it.
It wasn’t unusual for women’s magazines to feature interviews with successful men, but still — if they wanted to pick someone, why not pick Yan Yixuan instead? At least Yan Yixuan was the real heir of the Yan family. Plus, he was better looking and younger than Yan Yili — way more marketable.
Ji Ling also noticed that the interview didn’t mention anything about Yan Yili’s background. Sure, everyone in the business world who had been around for a while knew the story, but no one would gossip about it openly. So for people outside the circle, this kind of interview was enough to fool them.
Besides, this wasn’t the old days anymore. Society now was much more forgiving about where you came from — as long as you were capable and could make money, you were considered a success.
And so, in the magazine, Yan Yili came across as this successful, serious, loyal man.
But to Ji Ling, that image was worlds apart from the arrogant Yan Yili he actually knew.
Ji Ling walked out of the pantry without thinking too much more about it. He just felt like Yan Yili had been popping up way too much in his life lately. Honestly, he needed to throw that guy out of his mind as soon as possible.
Shen Dongqing’s movie had already been submitted for review. It was originally scheduled to release during the May Day holiday, and the publicity was about to start, but then, out of nowhere, things took a turn.
There was a part of the movie that touched on a sensitive period in history, and as a result, it didn’t pass the review. They had to re-edit the film, and everything was pushed back.
So, Ji Ling had no choice but to hold off and wait for the review to pass again.
However, Ji Ling figured he could turn this setback into an opportunity. Usually, situations like this — where a movie fails the review — easily stir up sympathy from the audience. When the film finally released, they could add a line to the promotion like, ‘After all the struggles, it’s finally here.’ Then, he could write a soft article about the tough review process, making it seem like the film had faced so many challenges just to make it to the screen. He could even run the article on various platforms to boost publicity and make up for some of the losses from the delay.
While waiting for the review results, Ji Ling continued to work with the distribution team, trying to build closer ties with theater chains, doing the groundwork for the movie’s release.
There were a lot of theaters in S City, and many of them had large screens, most of which were in malls or shopping centers.
That day, Ji Ling was in S City’s biggest shopping mall for work. The top floor had a digital cinema with a huge customer flow, making it a key battleground for the distributors.
Funny enough, Ji Ling had once arranged a private event for Yan Yixuan here. It had cost a lot of money, but he had gotten pretty familiar with the manager of the place.
Usually, Ji Ling wouldn’t be involved in the day-to-day logistics, but since the movie’s premiere was going to be held here, he decided to check it out himself.
Things went smoothly with the work, and after finishing up, Ji Ling took a moment to rest in front of the cinema.
The mall had a circular glass structure, offering a broad and bright view. Ji Ling leaned against the railing, looking down into the central atrium. From here, he could see every customer clearly.
He was just about to head back when, out of nowhere, he spotted Yan Yixuan’s sister, Yan Yueshi.
Ji Ling couldn’t help thinking, “Is it just the Yan family I keep running into lately?”
Yan Yueshi wasn’t alone. She was talking to a man, and it looked like they were saying goodbye.
The man’s back was turned to Ji Ling, and he was too far away for Ji Ling to see his face. But from their interaction, it seemed like they were pretty close.
In the end, Yan Yueshi waved at the man, and the two of them walked away in opposite directions.
Ji Ling still didn’t get a good look at the man.
He remembered Yan Yixuan once saying that Yan Yueshi was probably in a relationship, and it seemed like that was indeed the case.
From what he could tell, the man seemed older than Yan Yueshi — probably a lot older.
After parting ways with the man, Yan Yueshi started walking toward Ji Ling. As she got closer, Ji Ling had a thought and suddenly called out to her.
“Miss Yan.”
Yan Yueshi didn’t expect to run into someone who knew her, and she was startled.
She looked at Ji Ling with confusion, clearly not recognizing him right away.
Ji Ling smiled at her and said, “Miss Yan, I’m Ji Ling. I visited Jinyuan last time, remember?”
Yan Yueshi thought for a moment, then finally remembered and said, “Ah, you were the friend my brother brought home.” She smiled at Ji Ling, though there was a slight awkwardness in her expression. “I can’t believe I forgot such a handsome guy.”
A little uneasy, she tentatively asked Ji Ling, “Mr. Ji, earlier…”
Ji Ling smiled and reassured her, “What’s wrong? I just came out of the cinema and happened to see you, Miss Yan.”
Yan Yueshi, relieved that Ji Ling hadn’t noticed anything odd, relaxed and became more cheerful again. Playfully, she said, “Mr. Ji, even someone as handsome as you came to watch a movie alone? So lonely?”
Ji Ling laughed out loud and replied, “I came here for work.”
He took out his business card and handed it to Yan Yueshi.
When she saw the company name on the card, her eyes lit up. With excitement, she asked, “Mr. Ji, so you’re from the entertainment industry?”
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
