009, Chu Liangxia, Mom attempted suicide again_1

"No need to count, the future is limitless,"

Touching her nose, Chu Liangxia was completely nonchalant.

"Heh, quite confident," Gongsun Shiqi said in a singsong manner, looking down at Chu Liangxia with disdain, and asked irritably, "You edited my program, didn't you?"

"Yes."

Chu Liangxia remained calm and composed.

"Give you two choices," Gongsun Shiqi said, glancing around to make sure no paparazzi were following, then glaring at Chu Liangxia menacingly, "One, continue editing for me, but in the next few issues, you must turn my image around; two, lose this job and spend a lifetime selling street goods here. Believe me, I can make sure you'll never find work in this circle again."

"What I choose will depend on how you behave," Chu Liangxia said lightly.

Editing can destroy a star, but it can also make one shine. As an editor, Chu Liangxia naturally understood this clearly.

But—

She really had no way to deal with this Gongsun Shiqi.

In the program, stupidity, petulance, arrogance, affectation, tactlessness, disrespectfulness towards seniors...

Initially, when Chu Liangxia set out to edit her segments, she had watched all the recorded videos and, in the end, found it impossible to start. She could only edit a few segments to maintain overall video coherence, which naturally resulted in Gongsun Shiqi being horribly maligned.

Chu Liangxia had seen many stars, some with bad tempers could be described as authentic, but others with bad tempers were truly ill-mannered.

Gongsun Shiqi said with a stiff tone, "Name your price."

Withdrawing her gaze, Chu Liangxia closed her notebook and then picked up the money thrown on the Eight Trigrams Diagram one bill at a time.

"Excuse my frankness," Chu Liangxia stood up, meeting her gaze head-on, and articulated slowly, "Given your performance on the program, if you don't want to be smeared, the only time I can edit is when you're asleep."

Speaking, Chu Liangxia spread her hands, "I'm sorry, but I can't tolerate making low-quality videos, so even if you buy the TV station, I'm powerless to help."

"Chu Liangxia, do you really not care about your job?!" Gongsun Shiqi clenched her hanging hands tightly and threatened through gritted teeth.

Chu Liangxia smiled lightly, "If you really had the ability to make me lose my job, you wouldn't be here looking for me now."

Gongsun Shiqi choked.

She had personally come to find Chu Liangxia only because the TV station refused to fire her.

"Heh," after a pause, Gongsun Shiqi forced a sneer, "Are you really set on offending me?"

"Like I said, I am powerless," Chu Liangxia shrugged.

There was a way to have the best of both worlds, if only Gongsun Shiqi was willing to change her behavior and style, even if it was just an act. Chu Liangxia could pick those segments to edit and could even persuade the director to agree to such an editing approach. But the woman before her was stubborn and regardless of whether she was willing to change, Chu Liangxia had no interest in helping.

"Chu, Liang, Xia!"

Gongsun Shiqi ground her teeth, yelling the name with deliberate emphasis.

"Thanks for the money," Chu Liangxia said slowly as she folded the bills and put them in her pocket, revealing a standard shallow smile, "If there's nothing else, I won't see you out."

Those words, to Gongsun Shiqi's ears, were incredibly annoying and hateful. That smile, in Gongsun Shiqi's eyes, was nothing but a flaunt of her self-satisfaction.

Already suppressing her rage, Gongsun Shiqi felt the unnamed fury hit her again, pushing her to the brink of explosion!

However—

Due to her own status and the current setting, she had to hold back her fury.

If she made a scene again, the company would definitely give up on her!

Her eyes, hidden behind sunglasses, became even more malicious. Gongsun Shiqi took a deep breath to calm herself down, then, after throwing an unseen cold look at Chu Liangxia, she turned and left angrily.

Chu Liangxia sat down and continued with her work.

It was just a minor incident, not enough to affect her.

*

At the entrance of Hengdian, a tall figure stood, dressed in black casual wear, exuding a cold and detached air, yet standing out in the bustling crowd.

The scene that had just unfolded was fully witnessed by Feng Ziheng.

Unconsciously, those calm and indifferent eyes flashed with a hint of amusement.

"Feeling good?"

Someone walked up behind him, the tone of their voice teasing as they asked.

Without turning his head, Feng Ziheng spoke in an indifferent voice, "Not bad."

Shan Xian took a step forward to stand beside him, following his gaze until it landed on a girl sitting in front of the fortune-telling stall, clutching her notebook.

Stroking his chin, Shan Xian mused, "Speaking of which, that fortune-teller is said to be quite accurate. A few female celebrities sought her out a while back, and whether they were on the rise, put on ice, or temporarily out of opportunities, she guessed it all right."

"Coincidence." Feng Ziheng furrowed his brows, his tone icy.

Shan Xian raised an eyebrow at him, "Believe, and it's true; don't, and it isn't."

"I don't believe," Feng Ziheng said coldly.

"Let's drop it, I don't believe either," Shan Xian rubbed his hands together and added, "Anyway, I still have a scene to shoot, it will probably take about half an hour before we wrap up. Why don't you go for a walk, and I'll find you after I'm done."

Feng Ziheng glanced at him, his eyes cold and piercing.

For some reason, Shan Xian, a grown man nearing thirty, suddenly felt timid under his imposing stare.

The Shan family often had dealings with the Feng Family, and since Shan Xian and Feng Ziheng were close in age and met frequently, this time Shan Xian's car had broken down, and knowing Feng Ziheng would be passing by, he asked for a ride.

What they hadn't expected was for their timings to not align.

"Half an hour."

Feng Ziheng dropped four words, his hand in the pocket of his casual pants, and turned to leave.

"Hey—"

Shan Xian wanted to call out to him, but before he could, Feng Ziheng had already disappeared into the crowd.

Forget it, for a difficult person like Feng Ziheng to agree to wait for half an hour, it must have something to do with his good mood. He might as well not ask for more.

*

Twenty minutes later.

After finishing the third video, Chu Liangxia shut her laptop. After stretching, she took out her phone from her bag.

She hadn't turned it on since she'd shut it down that morning.

The moment she turned on her phone, messages started buzzing in, several of them.

Chu Liangxia slowly went through them.

There were praises from Gan Mulan admiring her video work, excited notifications from Lun Yixing that he hadn't been fired, earnest pleas from Lou Ruhui urging her to return, a message from Master Ling asking if she was setting up her stall again, a bank notification of a successful transfer from Gan Mulan, and then...

Lang Lin.

A message from her younger brother.

"Chu Liangxia, Mom tried to kill herself again."

A clear line of text suddenly leapt into her view.

The early summer night carried a hint of a cool breeze that blew through the bustling streets and hit her face.

But Chu Liangxia felt somewhat cold.

After a moment of stunned silence, Chu Liangxia typed a few words but then, after a second thought, deleted them all.

Gathering her laptop, stool, and the Eight Trigrams Diagram back into her travel bag, Chu Liangxia entered the crowd, finally loosening her tight grip on the phone to dial Lang Lin's number.

Some relationships, if you can't escape them, you have to face them.

...

After the call, Chu Liangxia quickened her pace towards the bustling streets.

Just then, Feng Ziheng, who had settled into his car on time and just switched on the headlights, saw a figure hurrying past, startled by the sudden light and stopping instinctively.

Looking closer, he saw a slender figure with a travel bag larger than herself, squinting back in his direction.

That face was quite familiar.