Falling from a great height to the bottom of a valley felt unreal to Jiang Mengmei. All she could hear was a cacophony of noise, and a blurry face flickered before her eyes.
Seeing her dazed expression, as if she hadn't heard a word, Li Jing grew even more furious. "Are you listening to me? Why would you choose to pretend to be a rich young lady? Look at you, even in designer clothes, you haven't improved your status one bit.
Do you know how much effort I've put in for you? I spend hours every day organizing your designer clothes and coordinating outfits. Is my time worthless? If you're going to pretend, at least do it convincingly. Now you've been caught, making me a laughingstock to the entire company and the internet. How can you be so heartless?"
Jiang Mengmei gradually came to her senses and shouted, "Did I want to portray the persona of a rich young lady? Who was it that said the rich young lady persona was popular and insisted I buy those designer brands? It was because I listened to you that I'm drowning in debt. If anyone's to blame, I'm the victim."
"Pah, you're the victim? You're a damn liar!"
No longer finding Jiang Mengmei useful, Li Jing's temper flared, and she glared at her with disdain. "If you want to dig your own grave, I can't help you. From now on, whatever you do, I won't interfere.
Also, let me tell you, the reason 'Youth in a Musical' kept you until the third episode was your popularity. But your current popularity, hah... The anti-fans on Weibo have collectively demanded your withdrawal from the competition. The director just called to inform me that you don't need to appear in 'Youth in a Musical' anymore.
And the script I gave you yesterday is also out. The client for yesterday's advertisement endorsement has also canceled. Although the advertisement hasn't been released, the cooperation has been terminated. You are in breach of contract. Consider yourself lucky that your downfall happened the next day, and you only need to pay one million."
Jiang Mengmei's eyes widened in shock. "What do you mean, not only are these canceled, but I also have to pay one million? Why? Do you know how much money I spent on this damn persona? I've sought out over a dozen loan platforms and incurred tens of millions in debt. Shouldn't that be compensated to me?"
To establish her persona, she had truly gone all out. But in the end, it was all for nothing? After spending so much money, she got nothing? She was unwilling.
Li Jing looked at her as if she were an idiot. "Who told you not to manage your image properly? You've just debuted and already collapsed. Paying one million is considered lenient. Jin Xue, who collapsed a few months ago, had to pay in the hundreds of millions. What you owe is less than an ant's flesh to the client."
"Then why should I pay? Doesn't the company bear any responsibility? Don't you have any responsibility? Why?" Jiang Mengmei argued.
Li Jing, too lazy to argue further, picked up a contract from the table and threw it at Jiang Mengmei.
"This is a contract you signed yourself. Read it slowly. If you don't understand, find a lawyer. Anyway, I've delivered the message. If you don't pay, the client will sue you, and I can't predict the consequences.
Let me tell you clearly, from now on, you have been abandoned by the company, or rather, by me. Now get out. Is my office a place you can just walk into?"
"Li Jing, don't get too smug," Jiang Mengmei stood up, her eyes red with anger.
"Get out," Li Jing commanded contemptuously.
Jiang Mengmei knew that staying any longer would be useless. She could only leave with suppressed anger. After leaving the company and thinking it over, she still felt she needed to call Jiang Mengran and ask her to beg the Chu family again. As long as the Chu family said a word, her status would immediately rise.
However, when she called, the number was not connected.
Jiang Mengmei had no choice but to go home herself. To her even greater shock, the password to her home had been changed. After knocking for a long time, she finally heard a word from Jiang Mengran: "Severance of ties."
Jiang Mengmei was furious and could only retaliate with harsh words. Then, after much thought, she could only contact the person who had served her last night.
...
On Tuesday, the dating show 'Heartbeat Rhythm' finally premiered. Quan Jiu hadn't paid much attention until she passed the front desk and was excitedly called out by Guo Xiao, "President Quan, you've become a celebrity now."
"Hmm?" Quan Jiu was confused. "What celebrity?"
"'Heartbeat Rhythm'! It aired today. I watched it. You and the CEO of Chu Group are too perfect together! Everyone online is going crazy shipping you two." While saying this, she looked at Quan Jiu with her peach blossom eyes. "President Quan, is there any chance we can meet the male god?"
Quan Jiu thought for a moment and then realized it was the premiere day. She smiled and returned to her office.
Although she had participated in the show for other reasons, she was also curious about how the production team would edit the footage.
Upon opening the show, the screen was filled with comments about male and female gods, saying they were perfect together, forced together, and so skilled. All of them were shipping her and Chu Rong. As for Mai Su, she had become the "other woman." Not only was her screen time limited, but when she did appear, she was cursed by netizens.
Quan Jiu then checked the trending searches and found a rather amusing situation: the top ten trending searches were all related to her.
Looking at her phone messages, she saw that some acquaintances had already started asking about her situation. After all, being pursued by a CEO was something everyone envied.
"Our show has aired."
Quan Jiu selectively ignored this message.
However, Chu Rong, who was working from home, was clearly not giving up and sent over a CP (couple) cut clip that netizens had lovingly created.
"This batch of netizens has great taste."
Quan Jiu rolled her eyes speechlessly. After enduring it for a moment, she couldn't hold back and finally picked up her phone to reply curtly and roughly: "Superficial."
Chu Rong's lips curved into a smile. "Seeing the essence through the form."
Quan Jiu said indignantly, "Fake."
Chu Rong's smile widened. "The happiness of CP fans is real."
Quan Jiu's brows furrowed. "They're just gossiping."
Chu Rong said leisurely, "The essence of gossiping is happiness."
Whatever. Chatting with you is just wasting my time. Quan Jiu thought to herself, put down her phone, and stopped replying. However, as soon as she did, the phone rang.
She picked up the phone and answered, "What is it?"
"President Quan, the Fashion Week is in three days. I've prepared a few outfits from Yun Lan Ge and am ready to have them delivered to you. What's the delivery address..."
"No need, I have clothes here."
Chu's mother had bought her so many clothes. When she tried them on, she had mentioned attending Fashion Week together and even picked out what she should wear. Naturally, she wouldn't refuse.
The caller said "Okay" but didn't hang up, instead exuding a hesitant aura.
Quan Jiu asked, "Is there anything else?"
The caller then spoke with a hint of complaint. "It's Fang Tian Xiu Fang. We sued her, but she's unrepentant. After being ordered to pay, she's been everywhere, claiming to be the original author. She's even applied for copyright for many of our early embroidery designs. Although it wasn't approved, her behavior is truly disgusting."
Fang Tian. Quan Jiu smiled slightly. After Yun Lan Ge won the lawsuit, the matter was reported. However, perhaps due to intellectual property rights and the niche nature of ancient-style clothing brands, the news only caused a small stir at the time.
In other words, as long as Fang Tian continued to shamelessly lie, and the rumor spread from ten to a hundred, where falsehood becomes truth and truth becomes falsehood, she might actually become the fake one.
How could she allow such a thing to happen?