Ji Ling wasted no time kicking off the company’s restructuring plan.
To be honest, he’d been toying with the idea for a while. But it was always too messy, too many people involved. This time, he caught the wind at the right moment and decided to use it to clean house.
He asked the major shareholders for their input, then held a shareholders’ meeting. Yan Yixuan sent his manager over, Luo Teng’s representative was already part of Ji Ling’s upper management, and among all the major stakeholders, only Luo Tao showed up in person.
“Was it a bad move for me to come here myself? Should’ve just sent someone instead,” Luo Tao muttered, looking a bit regretful.
Ji Ling told him, “Well, since you’re here, after the meeting I’ll take you out for a nice meal. The others won’t get that kind of treatment.”
That instantly brightened Luo Tao’s mood.
Ji Ling set up a new film company. The original marketing and promotions division was split off as a separate branch. The share structure between the parent and subsidiary companies shifted slightly.
Luo Tao’s shares mainly went to the entertainment marketing side. The Yan family’s money was directed into the film production company. Luo Teng’s shares were divided between the two.
This was exactly the kind of power-splitting the Yan family wanted, and Luo Teng had no objections either. As the company’s founder, Ji Ling held far more voting power than the others, giving him absolute control over the whole operation.
At the same time, Ji Ling moved the company out of the old office building into a new, standalone building. It wasn’t tall, but the location was solid. On the day they put up the new sign, both the old and new employees were buzzing with excitement.
When Luo Tao heard about it, he was stunned. “Damn, Brother Ji, you’ve really made it. You built your own office building?”
Ji Ling waved him off. “Nah, it’s Yan Yixuan’s property.”
Luo Tao’s jaw dropped again. “Not bad, not bad. You two that close now? He gave you a whole building?”
Ji Ling replied, “Gave what? I’m paying rent. Signed a lease and everything. He barely gave me a discount.”
Luo Tao instantly changed his tune. “Boring. Still just a tenant, huh? Come on, Brother Ji, you gotta step it up. The Yan family’s in real estate, and you couldn’t even seduce one little building out of them? Are you losing your touch?”
Ji Ling: “…”
With everything handled—paperwork refiled, new location set up—Ji Ling’s company finally entered a brand-new phase.
The Yan family’s funding gradually flowed in as the restructuring unfolded. And through all the back-and-forth talks with them, Ji Ling didn’t see any signs of a cash shortage.
Honestly, it was kind of amazing. Yan Yixuan must’ve figured something out behind the scenes.
But he didn’t say, and Ji Ling didn’t press. He understood—Yan Yixuan had a point. Right now, the outside world was circling the Yan family like sharks. They’d been making a lot of moves lately, and a lot of people were just waiting for the moment—
The moment there was a crack, people were ready to kick them while they were down and grab whatever they could.
Ji Ling couldn’t see what was really going on inside the Yan family. All he could do was follow Yan Yixuan’s lead.
And of course, Yan Yixuan had his reasons. Ji Ling trusted that all the careful prep they were doing now would come in handy one day.
Meanwhile, construction on the cinema chain had officially started.
The first batch of theaters included a few in smaller third- and fourth-tier cities, plus one each in the first-tier cities of S City and N City.
The theaters in the smaller cities were opening alongside new malls. The one in N City had a newly chosen location and would stand on its own. But S City was different—it was home turf for both Ji Ling and the Yan family. Yan’s side had bought back a cinema theater in one of their shopping malls, gave it a full makeover, and picked it as the flagship—it would be the first one to open.
Ji Ling shifted his main focus to the cinema business. The entertainment marketing side was running smoothly with steady profits, handled by a branch manager. Ji Ling told him to only take on films with heavy investment. That way, even if a movie flopped, as long as they followed the usual promo routine, they’d still make money.
Honestly, no one really got why Ji Ling always assumed his films would tank. Only Ji Ling himself knew—he came from a business background, and when it came to art or creative stuff, he just didn’t have the instincts for it.
Luckily, they were pivoting into theaters now. Ji Ling kept a close eye on the first S City location, visiting in person all the time to check on progress.
That theater was inside one of the Yan family’s malls. Sometimes Ji Ling would wonder—just like that time at the hotel—would he maybe run into Yan Yixuan here, too?
Turned out, he was overthinking it. Yan Yixuan wasn’t the kind of guy who’d go shopping himself.
But while Yan Yixuan wouldn’t be there, someone else from the Yan family would.
Ji Ling bumped into Yan Yueshi.
Last time he’d seen her at the mall, she’d been with Xu Jing. But now, she was wandering around by herself, looking completely bored. She didn’t even go into the clothing stores—just strolled around like she was out for a walk.
Two people were following behind her at a distance, probably bodyguards.
Ji Ling walked right up and greeted her.
Yan Yueshi saw him and didn’t seem the least bit surprised. She just said, “They’re still renovating the theater here, right? I was just thinking maybe I’d run into you.”
Ji Ling noticed how drained she looked. The lively spark she used to have was gone—like all the energy had been sucked out of her. Clearly, the breakup with Xu Jing had hit her hard.
He said to her, “Let’s sit and talk for a bit.”
Yan Yueshi nodded obediently.
Ji Ling took her to a coffee shop in the mall. They sat across from each other while the two bodyguards stood at the entrance, not coming in.
“What’s the deal with those two?” Ji Ling asked.
Yan Yueshi said, “My brother insists they follow me everywhere.” She forced a smile. “Seriously though, does he think something’s going to happen to me?”
Ji Ling chuckled. “Your brother gets extra nervous when it comes to you.”
Yan Yueshi rolled her eyes.
“Don’t you have work today?” Ji Ling asked casually.
“Didn’t feel like going. My brother’s basically spoiling me now—he doesn’t even dare lecture me anymore.”
That made Ji Ling laugh again.
But Yan Yueshi suddenly frowned and gave him a look. “I’m already in a crappy mood, and you’re not even trying to comfort me. You just keep laughing at me.”
She grumbled, and finally, a bit of life returned to her face. Ji Ling grinned. “Comforting you would just be pointless, wouldn’t it?”
Yan Yueshi laughed too. “Exactly. It’s like telling someone to drink more hot water.”
She smiled for a bit, then went quiet again, slowly tracing the rim of her coffee cup with her finger.
Ji Ling lowered his eyes and looked at her. “Can I ask why you two broke up?”
“You really are something,” she said, half glaring. “Not only do you not comfort me, you just go and poke at the sore spot.” But after a second, she added, “The reason’s the usual—just not a good match, no future together.”
She looked straight at Ji Ling, her eyes shining faintly. “We were together for a long time. Every now and then, he’d bring this stuff up. I figured this time would be the same… but he was dead serious.”
“He said I was too good for him,” she continued, “said he didn’t deserve me, went on and on like I was some kind of goddess. And then said he had to let me go, couldn’t keep dragging me down.” She stared at Ji Ling. “Am I really that amazing? I don’t even have a career or ambition. I’m only good at shopping and spending money.”
Ji Ling smiled—rarely did a rich girl lay it all out so bluntly. “Those are just excuses. Guys say that kind of stuff when they’re scared. Instead of owning up to it, they dump all the blame on you. ‘You’re too good, I have to let you go’—that’s just code for ‘I’m chickening out.’”
He looked at her gently, smiling. “Men are tricky creatures. Can’t admit weakness, so they shift the blame instead.”
Yan Yueshi burst out laughing. “Men really are big ol’ scumbags.”
She seemed to perk up at last and asked Ji Ling, “Are you like that too?”
Ji Ling nodded.
But Yan Yueshi shook her head. “You’re not the same. You, my brother, and brother Yili—you guys are a different kind.”
She fell into thought. “My brother and Xu Jing both say I haven’t grown up yet. But you’re about the same age as me… Why does no one say that about you?”
Ji Ling couldn’t help laughing. He thought to himself, Not only am I older than you, I’ve already lived through this once. How could I be the same?
So he said, “Because I don’t have a good big brother.”
The moment Ji Ling brought up her brother, it was the same old rant: “He’s way too controlling.” She pointed to the two men standing outside the cafe. “If he had the time, I honestly think he’d follow me around himself.”
Ji Ling had no comeback for that. In fact, he had a sneaking suspicion that if it were possible, Yan Yixuan would probably tie her to his waist and carry her everywhere.
She continued, “My brother told me the reason I liked Xu Jing was because I was still a kid when our parents died. He said when I grow up, I’ll meet better people, and I’ll realize that what I feel for Xu Jing is more like admiration than love.”
She paused, confused. “But… haven’t I grown up already? I’m in my twenties.”
Ji Ling smiled faintly. “What he meant is that when you’re more mature, you’ll be able to look at relationships more rationally.”
Yan Yueshi blinked and asked, “Do people really need to be rational to fall in love?”
This time, Ji Ling didn’t have an answer.
She pressed on. “When you were with my brother, did you ever stop and think about whether it was the right match? Whether it made sense? What would happen afterward?”
Ji Ling thought for a second, then answered honestly, “No, I didn’t.”
Yan Yueshi seemed lost in thought. “And my brother, he says he wants me to grow up, but then he turns around and controls everything I do. Isn’t that kind of contradictory?”
All her life, Yan Yueshi had lived carefree. She was cheerful, lively—but that didn’t mean she was clueless.
She had the same sharpness and intelligence as her brother. She’d just never had a reason to think about things like this. But this breakup… it had flipped a switch in her.
As she spoke, her eyes began to shimmer with unshed tears. She looked at Ji Ling and asked, “Lately I keep thinking, again and again—maybe I do need to grow up. If I were a little more mature… would I not have been dumped like this?”
Ji Ling didn’t want to sugarcoat it. He replied honestly, “No. No matter who you are, no matter how mature, you’ll still get hurt sometimes.”
Yan Yueshi nodded. Her gaze drifted off into the distance. In the end, those tears never fell—she held them back.
What she didn’t realize was that this very pain, this sorrow she was feeling… was part of growing up.
And Ji Ling realized something too: when a young bird starts longing to spread its wings and fly, that’s when it’s ready to leave the nest.
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)
