Chapter 25

Xi Tang returned to Shanghai and went to the company to try on clothes. The company’s styling director, Argon Lee, presented her with two full racks of clothing. Xi Tang tried on long dresses, short skirts, jeans, sweaters, and had to match them with hats, necklaces, accessories, and hairstyles. The hairstylist constantly tied her hair into a ponytail, let it down, braided it, and fluffed it. Xi Tang preferred plain colors, and she gestured towards a round-neck white shirt paired with light blue jeans, asking Lee, “Is this okay?”

Argon, sitting cross-legged on a scarlet sofa outside the fitting room, sipping coffee, shook his head.

Xi Tang had to put on a hat and pair it with a yellow windbreaker. She turned around, pinched her waist, and gave a sweet smile. Argon finally nodded in satisfaction.

After another hour, feeling that trying on new clothes was a painful experience for the first time in her life, Xi Tang strongly protested and demanded to wrap up. Argon agreed and gestured for his assistant to pack up the selected clothes. Xinni, the company’s makeup artist, helped her with her eyebrows in front of the mirror, “Xiye, the whole company says you’re going to be big.”

Xi Tang laughed, “You believe that?”

Argon stood up and put on a delicate pose, “With people supporting you, gaining popularity, and having rumors, it’s all complete.”

If female celebrities go out in private clothes, they all seem to look effortlessly casual, as if they just grabbed something and went out. Who knows if they’ve tried on eight hundred outfits in front of the mirror beforehand like her.

Xi Tang, panting, carried a large bag of clothes back to Ni Kailun’s residence. Her schedule was already full, and she would start her busy work the next day. First, she had to participate in promotional activities for the two dramas she had recently starred in. Although she was not the lead actress in either of these dramas, as soon as she appeared, she attracted significant media attention. They kept asking her about her relationship with Zheng You Tong. She had also started to have fans, who called out her name sparsely in the audience and gave her gifts and asked for photos.

The rumors about Zheng You Tong had finally brought her into the spotlight.

Ni Kailun arranged for the company’s publicity team to apply for a verified social media account for her. The number of followers had been soaring since registration.

Xi Tang herself had never used it. The company’s publicity team was specifically responsible for managing the artists’ accounts. The publicity team had asked her for photos several times, but Xi Tang didn’t have many selfies. She posted some landscape photos from the past, as well as some photos of her working with colleagues on the set.

Regarding Zheng You Tong’s confession, her social media account responded on a workday.

That day, Xi Tang attended the celebration banquet for “Broken Sword.” It was also late at night. Huang Xitang’s verified account retweeted Zheng You Tong’s message and added a line of text: “From school uniforms to costumes, from classmates to colleagues, let’s work hard together.”

She attached a cute smiley face.

This public relations statement was written ambiguously and flawlessly.

That night, her fans increased by 100,000 overnight.

At that time, personal social media was just beginning to become popular, and it was also the best time at the beginning. Talented and ordinary people suddenly joined the world, commenting on the world and criticizing current events on it. The large-scale network marketing model in the entertainment industry had not yet formed, and most drama reviews were still written by real drama fans. Xi Tang had filmed many bad dramas in Hengdian over the years, but they were mostly roles without lines. The latest one was playing a young nun in “Broken Sword,” and this drama was just starting to be promoted and aired. Subsequently, the search volume of this drama increased rapidly, and then someone dug up the earliest “Orange Boy,” which also attracted a group of true fans who admired her. These fans followed her for many years. Xi Tang occasionally logged in herself and carefully read all the comments that evaluated her acting skills.

The company wanted to arrange an assistant for her, and Ni Kailun naturally offered to bring her along, but the personal assistant of an artist had to take care of the artist’s personal life, and it still depended on her own opinion.

Xi Tang was in the company that day, and Xiaoning came in and knocked on the door.

Since the last drama, Wu Zhenzhen had abandoned her, and she could only do odd jobs in the company during this period, and her life was not good.

In the past, they were just colleagues, and they often ate boxed lunches together on the set. As soon as Xiaoning came in, she had a smile on her face and a soft demeanor. “Sister Xitang, can you take me with you? I will work very hard.”

Xiaoning seemed like a decent girl, aside from her youthful star dreams. She was familiar with the entertainment industry’s work, and since they were colleagues, Xi Tang nodded and agreed.

That day, she took Xiaoning to a recording session. Xiaoning was very attentive, serving tea and tending to her needs. She even went out to chat with her fans for a while. That night, Xi Tang told Ni Kailun, “Let’s use her.”

When she returned to Shanghai about a week later, the small landlord couple called her to say that the hotel matter had been resolved. The police had investigated the case and even awarded the small landlord family a banner for their contribution. The news spread throughout the entire town of Xianju, and for a time, there was a lot of excitement. They renovated the front door and reopened the hotel, even hanging Xi Tang’s stills in the lobby.

This actually attracted quite a few customers.

Xi Tang asked with concern, “How did you manage to smooth things over in the end?”

The small landlord’s wife said in puzzlement, “We didn’t do anything. It’s strange. The day before, they wouldn’t even see us, but the next day, the police came to our door on their own.”

Xi Tang hummed in response, her heart gradually calming down. She knew roughly who it was.

Xi Tang typed a message on her phone: “The small landlord’s matter has been resolved. Thank you.”

She hesitated for a moment, then deleted it and changed it to: “Thank you for your help. The matter has been resolved.”

She deleted it again, and finally it became just three words, “Thank you.”

She pressed send.

During the day, Xi Tang worked, and in the middle of the night, she woke up groggily and reached for her phone as the first thing. Zhao Pingjin still hadn’t replied.

Of course, what kind of person was Zhao Pingjin? He was always arrogant and could get things done with a simple command. How would he have time to reply to such a trivial matter.

In the dark room, Xi Tang stared at the phone screen as it slowly went dark.

Ni Kailun took her to sign a hotel contract. The company had decided that she would be taking on a historical drama set in the late Qing Dynasty. Her hair had just grown to her shoulders, so the company’s stylist had specially prepared a shampoo for her to promote hair growth. They also hired a teacher to teach her Peking opera and the etiquette of a grand family.

After signing the contract, Ni Kailun linked her arm and got into the car, glancing at her faintly, “Haven’t seen that person recently?”

Xi Tang nodded. She had been so busy since returning that it had been almost a month.

Ni Kailun got into the car and said casually, “I saw him on the plane when you came back. It seemed like he was sick.”

Xi Tang hesitated for a long time, and then called Shen Min that night.

Shen Min was in the company’s conference room. The top two floors of the Jingchuang Technology Company’s office building, where high-level executives worked, were still brightly lit. The chief engineer and two vice presidents were still working overtime with the big boss. The company was going to participate in a bidding for an aviation navigation system project for a newly built civilian airport. The entire company had been busy with this project for over a month. In addition, Li Ming had recently gone on a business trip to South America, and Zhao Pingjin had been sick for a while. As soon as he recovered, he returned to the company to work on the bidding preparation.

The phone on the sofa kept ringing, and Zhao Pingjin impatiently gestured for Shen Min to answer it. Shen Min glanced at the caller ID on the screen and quickly answered, “Xitang?”

Zhao Pingjin, who was looking at the final research budget submitted by the finance department, was startled.

Xitang asked a little embarrassedly, “Am I interrupting you? I heard from Kailun that you were sick?”

Shen Min quickly glanced at Zhao Pingjin, not daring to say much. With a whole room of company executives, she didn’t know whether to go out and take the call, so she walked a few steps towards the window, “Yeah, he’s working overtime at the company.”

Xitang asked, “Is he okay now?”

Shen Min could feel Zhao Pingjin’s gaze fixed on her from behind. He had answered calls from Zhao Pingjin’s various girlfriends before, even the one from the influential Yu family. Sometimes when they couldn’t find Zhao Pingjin, they would call him. Having been Zhao Pingjin’s personal secretary for many years, he was used to dealing with such situations. If Zhao Pingjin didn’t want to answer, he would find an excuse, either subtle or direct, to decline. But this time, it was Huang Xitang. Even after so many years, their passionate past was still vivid in his mind. He didn’t know where Zhao Pingjin wanted to go with Huang Xitang now, but he knew that Zhao Pingjin cared deeply about this ex-girlfriend. When he was sick, he would look at his phone over and over again but never take the initiative to contact her.

Shen Min’s voice was tense and low, “He’s fine now. Do you want to talk to him?”

With so many people around, he didn’t dare say that Zhao Pingjin was staying up late every night.

Zhao Pingjin pushed away the laptop on his desk and stood up.

Xitang said, “That’s good to hear that he’s okay. I won’t disturb you anymore.”

Shen Min quickly called out, “Wait, Xitang...”

Huang Xitang hung up the phone.

Zhao Pingjin’s expression darkened as he slowly sat back down.

Seeing the situation, Shen Min quickly dropped her phone and returned to the conference table.

The lights in the conference room stayed on until 2 a.m. After everything was confirmed and ready, Zhao Pingjin waved his hand and dismissed everyone.

The secretary and assistants came in to clean up the documents and coffee cups. Shen Min followed him into the office and stood by the desk, waiting for his instructions.

Zhao Pingjin’s face was unnaturally pale. Shen Min looked at his complexion, and he had been like this for several nights in a row. After a day of meetings and work, his face was almost pale, and his eyes were bloodshot. Zhao Pingjin’s eyes were filled with weariness as he slowly said, “You can go home.”

Shen Min looked at him worriedly, “Shall I call the driver to take you home?”

Zhao Pingjin picked up the cigarette case on the desk, “No need, it’s not that far. I’ll drive myself.”

Shen Min said helplessly, “I haven’t been taking good care of your meals and rest. The boss will scold me again.”

Zhao Pingjin clamped a cigarette between his fingers and pressed his temple, enduring a faint headache. “There’s a lot going on at the company. All of you have been working hard these past few days. Even my grandson has been working harder than you. It’s thanks to you that you often go to see my grandfather and have tea with him.”

Shen Min’s father had been the chairman’s bodyguard when he was young. Later, during the turbulent times, he was sent to Qinghai. Afterward, to support national construction, he never returned to the city and settled down there, marrying and having children. When Shen Min was an infant, her parents had a car accident in Qinghai Lake, and she was sent back to Beijing to be raised by her uncle and aunt. The chairman had always supported Shen Min’s education and would invite her home during holidays. Everyone knew that Zhao Pingjin trusted this confidential secretary deeply, but few people knew about their relationship. Therefore, Shen Min could always have a casual conversation with Zhao Pingjin.

Zhao Pingjin took a puff of his cigarette, “Xiaomin, don’t always think of yourself as an outsider.”

Shen Min smiled, “I’m lucky to have the chairman’s care. I can’t be ungrateful. You should go back and rest early.”

Shen Min no longer disturbed him and nodded, leaving.

The big lights in the conference room gradually went out. The administrative secretary said goodbye to several high-level executives in the corridor, and their footsteps gradually faded away. In the huge office floor, only silence remained in the darkness.

The chairman’s office was still lit.

Zhao Pingjin got up, walked a few steps, and sat down on the sofa. His temples throbbed, his vision was a bit blurry, and he felt exhausted. He knew he had to go home to rest, but he leaned back on the sofa and rested for a while before getting up with the help of the armrest.

The elevator descended to the underground parking lot. The driver was waiting at the elevator entrance and walked up dutifully, “Mr. Zhao?”

It seemed that Shen Min had called after all.

Zhao Pingjin nodded. The driver opened the car door, and he sat in the back seat. The car drove out of the Guomao business district. The streets of Jianguomenwai Avenue and East Third Ring Road, and the city under Guomao Bridge were still brightly lit. He closed his eyes and rested for a while, then took out his phone.

Huang Xitang had sent him a message almost a month ago, with only three words, “Thank you.”

In the more than a week since he returned from Shanghai, he had been sleeping in the hospital like a dead person. When he had enough energy to pick up his phone, it had been more than a week since he received her message.

He longed to hear her voice, especially when he was particularly tired. She was like a poison deep in his bones, undermining his strong will and making him so fragile that he couldn’t bear it. He could only avoid her, but he missed her so much that his heart ached. The more it was like this, the more he knew he shouldn’t. He and Huang Xitang were living on borrowed time and were destined to separate.