chapter 14

Late at night, Su Jinfan finished her work and got into the car, which sped away.

Due to the Weibo effect, Ding Sheng Company has been extremely busy lately, but at the same time, major brands are also willing to sign Su Jinfan as their spokesperson.

The car was very quiet, with Su Jinfan resting her forehead on her hand.

Uncle Wang glanced at Su Jinfan through the rearview mirror. Since the car accident, he hadn’t seen her genuinely happy—she had been gloomy and depressed.

“Uncle Wang, why are you staring at me like that? Do you have something to say?” Su Jinfan looked up and met Uncle Wang’s eyes in the mirror, causing him to quickly avert his gaze.

He shook his head repeatedly and said, “Nothing, kid. I’m just worried you might be tired.”

Soon, they arrived at the foot of Dingsheng Tower.

“Miss Su, President Yu is inside. I’m Elsa’s assistant, here to escort you.”

President Yu? Su Jinfan walked while feeling somewhat puzzled.

“President Yu is the CEO of DC Perfume Group. He’ll be arriving shortly. Please wait patiently in the conference room,” the assistant in a suit led Su Jinfan to the 20th-floor conference room of the company.

Inside the conference room, apart from Su Jinfan, there were several others, including the company’s recently promoted newcomers, Ning Meng and Wang Lili.

However, the first person Su Jinfan noticed was, of course, Liu Xin. With a faint smile, Su Jinfan walked past her and took a seat beside her. “Sister Liu Xin, you’re here too.”

The people in the company couldn’t help but gasp. From the previous Weibo feud to the earlier movie battle, the outcome still hadn’t been decided. Everyone had expected the two to tear into each other upon meeting, but surprisingly, they managed to exchange smiles—though the underlying awkwardness was obvious to all.

Liu Xin turned her head away, refusing to speak to Su Jin.

Su Jin didn’t say anything, but Ning Meng beside her spoke up first. With her straightforward Northeastern personality, she said bluntly, “Sister Liu Xin has quite the temper, ignoring Sister Su when she greeted you.”

“What did you say?” Liu Xin shifted her gaze to Ning Meng, who had just spoken. Still a young girl, she was dressed in a custom-made designer floral dress that made her look fresh and youthful.

“Do you dare say that again?”

Liu Xin had already been exhausted from days of relentless media bombardment. Now, being talked to like this by a junior, she abruptly stood up from her seat, her eyes burning with barely contained fury.

“Heh, it’s all over the media, and you think you can stop people from discussing it? Isn’t this exactly the outcome you wanted?” Ning Meng’s voice was crisp as she crossed her legs, her face showing no trace of fear.

The conference room door swung open, and a man in his early forties walked in. “I didn’t expect Ding Sheng’s conference room to be this lively,” he remarked.

“Why is President Yu so late today?” Ning Meng, who had just been acting like a tiger, now had all her anger dissipated. She walked out from her seat and sat next to President Yu, intimately wrapping her arm around his. “President Yu, don’t let me down.”

The tone of her voice was enough to make anyone’s skin crawl. President Yu didn’t seem to be one for formalities either, wrapping his arm around her waist and whispering, “I only came to Dingsheng for you. You’ll have to make it up to me properly later.”

The two of them seemed to think they were the only ones in the meeting room, their hushed words all clearly heard by Su Jin Fan without missing a single syllable.

No wonder Ning Meng dared to challenge Liu Xin so boldly earlier—she really had a powerful backer and a sugar daddy!

The two frequently engaged in intimate interactions, with Ning Meng occasionally adjusting his clothes for him, while President Yu whispered a few words in her ear, prompting Ning Meng to act coquettishly, as if wishing the meeting room could become their personal stage for public displays of affection.

“You’re so bad, President Yu.”

The girl blushed and stomped her feet in embarrassment, even playfully hitting President Yu a few times with her delicate fists. “President Yu, so many people are watching. Let’s get down to business.”

The two continued their overly affectionate display in the meeting room for a full five minutes before finally remembering the matter at hand. Glancing at the uniformly female actors present, he signaled his assistant to retrieve the contract from the briefcase. “Regarding the endorsement for DC’s Youthful Charm product line, originally intended for Miss Liu Xin alone, the company has decided that since the four perfumes are distinct, the endorsement will now be shared by four female artists.”

If it weren’t for those previous incidents, would these endorsements ever have fallen into the hands of that ragtag bunch? Upon hearing such news, Liu Xin’s grip on the armrest suddenly tightened.

Her skin was already fair, but now it made her appear even paler.

Li Mochen had just rushed over and sat beside Liu Xin. Seeing her pallid complexion, he asked, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Liu Xin replied, following his gaze with a slightly flustered response.

“I never thought I’d be on equal footing with Liu Xin endorsing DC perfume.” After saying this, Wang Lili burst into laughter. Though the speaker meant no harm, the listener took it to heart—her words felt like a knife stabbing into Liu Xin’s heart.

Under normal circumstances, Liu Xin would have already stepped forward to slap Wang Lili, teaching her to watch her words in the future. But now, with Director Yu present and her own situation precarious, she had no choice but to tread carefully.

“Director Yu, may I ask which fragrance is the main focus of this campaign?” Li Mochen’s question was ostensibly to help Liu Xin out of the awkward situation, but the thought of the other actresses’ expressions still made him smirk involuntarily.

Director Yu tapped the table with his pen, pretending to be oblivious, and proceeded to answer Li Mochen’s question.

“The main promotion is for Miss Su’s perfume, ‘Elegant Beauty.'”

Now everyone understood that the main artist invited for this perfume brand was Su Jin.

“Also, Miss Ning Meng will be the singer for the brand’s theme song.”

Ning Meng pretended to be surprised as she stood up from her seat, glancing at the other female artists present. “Dear seniors, I appreciate your guidance. This is my first time taking on such a major endorsement, and there’s still much I need to learn from you all.”

Su Jinfan sized up Ning Meng from head to toe—a graduate from a prestigious acting school with outstanding academic achievements, her career in the entertainment industry had been smooth sailing. So, it turned out that Director Yu had been her strong backer all along. No wonder she had been acting so arrogantly in front of everyone before—truly, a newborn calf fears no tiger.

“Lastly, regarding the DC perfume brand this time, we hope to highlight the unique essence of each fragrance. The main responsibility will fall on Li Mochen.” Director Yu seemed unwilling to speak further, glancing at his watch—it was already 1 AM. Everyone knew what Director Yu would be doing next.

“Congratulations.” Liu Xin glared fiercely at Su Jinfan before putting on her sunglasses and leaving. Su Jinfan stepped out of the meeting room door, still waiting for her driver.

A buzzing sound suddenly filled her ears.

“That Su Jinfan is so formidable, with such ruthless tactics—she even snatched Sister Liu’s top promotion spot.”

“Hmph, why not mention Ning Meng? She’s being kept by Director Yu. In the end, wasn’t it Su Jinfan who outmaneuvered everyone?”

“Women like her, who’ve been in the entertainment industry for over three years—who knows how many men’s beds she’s slept in.”

“You heard what they said, didn’t you?” Liu Xin hadn’t left yet. She walked out of the office with some documents in hand, looking at Su Jinfan.

Su Jinfan calmly responded, “Is there anything worth paying attention to?”

“True, don’t you have a sugar daddy backing you now? The whole company is buzzing about your affair with someone from A&R.” Liu Xin spoke bluntly, casting a sidelong glance at Su Jinfan.

Su Jinfan looked up with a faint smile. “You’re absolutely right, but Liu Xin, didn’t you climb to your position with Li Mochen’s help? You’re the last person qualified to criticize me.”

“Su Jinfan, I remember you said when you entered the entertainment industry that you wanted to rise on your own merits.” Liu Xin, choked by the retort, could only sneer. “But can you really endure all these rumors?”

Right after, their words became increasingly unbearable—whatever they could think of, they said outright.

All that was heard was Wang Lili’s scream as she bolted upright from her seat.

Instantly, the other female artists stared at Wang Lili in shock.

Upon seeing Su Jin holding a cup of coffee and pouring it over her head, Wang Lili couldn’t contain her fury and shouted, “Are you insane? You lunatic!”

“What’s the big deal? So what if I splashed coffee on you? I’ve already told you about sleeping with several men—is throwing a cup of coffee at you really that outrageous?” Su Jinfan angrily smashed the coffee cup on the ground. “Wang Lili, you know so many positions—have you actually tried them all?”

“I…” The girl was instantly left speechless.

Su Jinfan strode over in her high heels, then pulled out a pack of tissues. As she wiped the girl’s hair, she said calmly, “Remember, in this entertainment industry, every word comes with a price. Next time, it might be sulfuric acid.”

She placed the unused tissues in the girl’s hand, then turned and walked away in her high heels.

Wang Lili was about to rush forward when Liu Xin stopped her, glaring fiercely at Su Jin: “Enough, enough! Do you really think you’re some big shot? If this escalates, how are you going to handle the aftermath?”

“Hmph, what’s there to be so arrogant about? If it weren’t for having connections, you’d probably be some unknown nobody by now.”

Even as Su Jin walked out of the company, the group continued to hurl insults without pause.

“Can we talk?” A car pulled up in front of Su Jin, and inside was Li Mochen.

Su Jinfan was about to leave, but the car kept following her, so she had no choice but to nod and get in.

“Miss Su, I’m the main person in charge this time, and that includes you. So if there are any issues between you, I hope you can inform me, and I’ll handle it personally.”

Su Jinfan let out a cold laugh and looked up at Li Mochen. So he was here to cause trouble for her. “Then, Director Li, if someone deliberately slanders and insults a fellow actress, what would you do in that situation?”

“Apologize in front of everyone,” Li Mochen replied, gripping the steering wheel while glancing at Su Jinfan.

“Alright, let me ask you this. Just like when people said you became the director by riding on Liu Xin’s coattails—even though you’ve now proven your capabilities, some still believe you only got there because of Liu Xin. So tell me, what can you do about it?” Su Jinfan couldn’t help but chuckle.

Li Mochen’s expression changed instantly. He looked at Su Jinfan with a smile, but his eyes burned with anger.

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