chapter 15
Inside the carriage, Su Jinfan didn’t dare glance in Li Mochen’s direction again, afraid that her emotions might flare up and lead to another argument with him.
On the other hand, Li Mochen seemed intent on lightening the mood, occasionally striking up conversations with Su Jinfan. “Honestly, seeing you climb up step by step now fills me with relief.”
Just then, an inadvertent smile crossed Li Mochen’s face, revealing his flawless profile.
“I can only rely on myself, so of course I have to work harder.”
Su Jinfan didn’t want to speak anymore and just wanted to get out of the car. Just as she was about to pull the car door open, she heard Li Mochen’s voice ring in her ear.
“I hope Miss Su will focus on her work.”
Suddenly being addressed, Su Jinfan’s heart skipped a beat. She turned to look at Li Mochen and replied with a smile, “Of course I’ll focus on my work.”
“That’s good. I hope today’s incident will be the last.”
At that moment, it seemed they had encountered a red light, and the car slowly came to a stop.
Su Jinfan was overjoyed in her heart, finally able to escape from this awkward car ride.
“I’ll go first,” she said with a smile.
But unexpectedly, Li Mochen sneered, “It’s hard to get a taxi at this hour. Let me drive you back.”
Su Jinfan tugged at the car door, only to find it locked. Her smile instantly froze—what exactly was Li Mochen trying to do? Wasn’t their previous encounter awkward enough? What more did he want from her now?
“Su Jinfan, are you afraid of me?” Li Mochen noticed her desperate attempts to open the door and firmly grabbed her arm with one hand.
Pulled back, Su Jinfan was already furious. She swung her fist in anger, but Li Mochen, seeing her rage, tightly gripped both her arms.
Unable to move, Su Jinfan watched as the red light turned green, her heart shattering into pieces in an instant.
As if drained of all strength, she collapsed onto the sofa seat.
Truth be told, it wasn’t that she was afraid of Li Mochen; it was simply because, given their breakup, Su Jinfan had no reason—emotionally or logically—to be in this car.
Su Jinfan gritted her teeth and glared at Li Mochen, who remained expressionless as ever. Without hesitation, she bit down hard on his hand.
Sure enough, Li Mochen’s expression changed slightly, his brows furrowing. Taking advantage of the chaos, Su Jinfan cut the lock and tried to bolt out of the car. But before her feet could touch the ground, a hand yanked her back inside.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed? It’s a green light—there are cars everywhere!” Li Mochen growled under his breath.
Seeing Su Jinfan repeatedly attempt to escape, even disregarding the speeding vehicles on the road, an inexplicable fury surged within him.
“I think walking home would be better than staying with you,” Su Jinfan retorted.
Yet, her words undoubtedly added fuel to the fire in the current tense atmosphere.
Both of their expressions darkened. Li Mochen pulled the car over abruptly and grabbed Su Jinfan’s arm with such force that it hurt. “What did you just say?” he demanded.
Having known Li Mochen for years, Su Jinfan was well aware of his temperament. She had already felt that he was no longer the person he once was, yet his fiery personality remained unchanged.
“I’m telling you, Li Mochen, knowing you was a mistake.”
“Su Jinfan, do you really think you’re irresistibly charming? Do you think I drove you home because I like you?” Li Mochen released his grip, looked her up and down, then said with a smirk, “Maybe it’s possible—maybe I really could act like a scoundrel with you!”
Su Jinfan, furious and glaring, shouted, “Li Mochen, you scoundrel!”
“You should be grateful I’ve never lied to you. But do you know who the investor backing you is? Do you really think your comeback from all those scandals is solely due to your own efforts?”
Hearing Li Mochen say that, Su Jinfan’s heart skipped a beat. In truth, she had some answers in her mind, but she still couldn’t bring herself to believe the fact.
“It’s Shen Bai!”
Su Jinfan froze, no longer struggling, and just stared at him: “Do you have any proof?”
“Do you think I, Li Mochen, the director of Dingsheng, would lie?” His every word was sharp, leaving Su Jinfan at a loss for how to respond.
In such a confined space, Su Jin Fan had already been cornered by Li Mo Chen.
“I won’t listen to your nonsense.”
Li Mo Chen gazed into Su Jin Fan’s eyes, gripping her chin with his hand and forcing her to meet his gaze. “Su Jin Fan, in this industry, success doesn’t come easily. You should be grateful you have someone backing you.”
“You’re shameless!” Su Jin Fan’s face flushed red.
For some reason, every time she encountered Li Mochen, Su Jinfan couldn’t maintain her usual pride in front of him. She never showed vulnerability to others, but with Li Mochen, she truly felt weak.
“You’re free not to believe me, but I think you already have the answer in your heart.”
He pulled her close by the waist, bringing their faces inches apart. “I wonder if Shen Bai would get jealous if he saw us like this now?”
A sharp slap landed on Li Mochen’s face. Breathing heavily from the exertion, Su Jinfan stared into his eyes and said, “Li Mochen, you’ve changed.”
Su Jinfan hurriedly got out of the car, clutching her bag awkwardly in her high heels until she disappeared from Li Mochen’s sight. Li Mochen’s car remained parked there as he looked at his reflection in the mirror—indeed, his crisp suit was a far cry from the student-like appearance of years past. Had he changed? Yes, he had. Five years ago, he would have longed for such a life, but now, he didn’t seem satisfied with it at all.
He had always thought leaving Su Jinfan for great success was worth it, but now that he had achieved it, he felt as though he had lost something.
……
In the morning, when Su Jinfan arrived at the film set, the crew had just begun setting up the scene. Without facing the director’s reprimand, she let out a long sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, ever since offending Wang Lili, her treatment on set seemed to have changed. Rumor had it that TIME (a certain conglomerate) and all its affiliated platforms had refused to promote “Chang Ge.” As it turned out, Wang Lili was the granddaughter of the conglomerate’s founder.
The producers and assistant directors in the crew looked at Su Jin Fan with expressions full of hatred, sending chills down one’s spine.
At the same time, everyone in the crew gradually began to make things difficult for Su Jin Fan. Not only did they make her arrive on set at 4 AM every morning, but even for a role so minor it required just a glimpse of her back, they made her stand all day. In the end, Su Jin Fan’s assistants were reduced from three to just one.
Tianxin certainly couldn’t stand by and watch Su Jinfan suffer injustice. Several times she wanted to speak to the director, but Su Jinfan knew the reason behind it and consistently refused Tianxin’s requests.
“What do you mean, reshoot all the actress’s scenes?” Liu Ming’s anger flared up instantly. “The movie is almost finished—what are you trying to say?”
Facing the representative from Time Company, Liu Ming was already furious. “You want to replace the lead actress now, after the movie is already filmed? Are you serious?”
Confronted by Wang Yang, the Time Company representative in front of him, he found it utterly ridiculous. The reason he hadn’t promoted them was because they had offended Wang Lili, the daughter of Time’s board member. Now they wanted to replace Su Jinfan and reshoot her scenes with another actress? It was nothing short of a fantasy.
“To be honest, this kind of thing is quite common in the entertainment industry.”
In the room, the two were currently engaged in a heated argument, with the air thick with tension.
The Time representative was clearly dissatisfied with the director’s performance. After glancing at the seated producers and others, he continued, “Director Liu Ming, I think you should consider how much your film would lose without any promotion.”
The icy words were even laced with the worldly mockery of an old fox—a seasoned player in the business world who was all too familiar with such situations. In this dog-eat-dog environment, these were the rules. But Liu Ming? He was just a rookie director. How could he have imagined the entertainment industry could be so dark? The words spoken by the man before him were shockingly flippant.
But Wang Yang was clearly determined. It was a task assigned from above, and he couldn’t possibly refuse, especially since offending Wang Lili left no room for negotiation.
“And another thing, if you replace the actor with Wang Lili, I’ll pretend this never happened and give your movie proper promotion.” Seeing that Liu Ming didn’t grasp his meaning, Wang Yang repeated his words.
“I’m the director, and it’s not up to you to decide who the actors are.” Hearing Wang Yang’s icy remark, Liu Ming suppressed his anger, took a deep breath, and his dark eyes still exuded an undeniable resolve. “If you’re thinking about replacing the actor, that’s absolutely impossible.”
“Unless Director Liu Ming doesn’t want to promote through the Time platform anymore. You should know that 80% of the most mainstream promotions nowadays are on Time.”
“Then I’ll use that twenty percent.” Liu Ming exuded an air of dominance as he grabbed Wang Yang’s sleeve. “If you dare lay a finger on Su Jin Fan, I’ll make sure you crawl back to time.”
It was Liu Ming himself who had chosen Su Jin Fan. In his heart, she was irreplaceable compared to other actresses. If they were to replace Su Jin Fan, he would rather not make the film at all.
However, it seemed this was the first time Liu Ming had been so resolute in defending a girl.
“Liu Ming, don’t think this place is still your foreign turf. Here, you have to play by the rules of this place.” Wang Yang’s tone dripped with undisguised contempt. Furious, Liu Ming pointed at Wang Yang and coldly retorted.
“Don’t worry, I won’t cut Su Jin’s scenes. And if you think I care about your pathetic company, you’re overthinking it!” With that, she slammed the door and stormed out, leaving Wang Yang startled.
Wang Yang’s face turned ashen. In this entertainment industry, no director had ever dared to speak to him like that. Since that’s the case, don’t blame them for not showing any mercy.
