The RedAlpha had signed the contract and settled in with the help of Patrick.
Zhang Yunxi eyed the little cousin when they were queuing for their groceries.
"Just spit it out; what is it?"
"You never strike me as a generous type."
"Good observation."
"So what's the deal with Patrick?"
"My source told me he's a bright kid, lost.. but a bright kid."
"He is the reason you need Senior Qian's help, right? If you need a lawyer's help, that means the kid got a history. How can you blindly trust him?"
"Cousin, trust me. I know what I'm doing. My source is never wrong. Besides, I'm poor now. I need as much helping hand as I can get."
"You know that you're poor but still lodge them; you even include food. Are you crazy or what?"
"I need the platform to run for trial ASAP; it was the soil, and my drama is the seed. We need a good land to raise a good plant."
"About that.. What's your plan for filming? You still be here to welcome Team 2, right? When will you be back in Beiling? I bet you haven't chosen the leading role yet."
"I have someone to run the preliminary casting. He is annoying, but he's reliable."
"Achoo!"
Rachel shook her head, "I bet Linzhi was talking bad about your boyfriend again."
Andrea watched her boyfriend explain his vision to the crew. "What do you expect? She was desperate enough to get Kevin's connection."
They didn't know what the duo talked about on their eye-to-eye meeting, but Kevin declared himself director after. Seems like he got to debut before even entering the gate of the National Film Academy.
The subject of their confusion was ecstatic. He got to make his debut with an original drama set on Ao Dynasty! He even got to film in a real palace and not some replica!
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
People with higher starting points get ahead differently in life.
Much to their distaste, Kevin and Linzhi knew they were similar. While Kevin was a son from a previous marriage, Linzhi didn't even know who her father was. They grew up seemingly loved and dripping in luxury while deep down inside, they've been striving for perfection as it's the only way they knew not to be disliked.
Linzhi was in her room while Patrick, Yunxi, and RedAlpha team were enjoying their takeout. Count it as a welcome dinner from her but without her.
With three different screens and her laptop, Linzhi was trading her stock. No matter how big Nie Group was, time was always needed to get their fund on track. She had prevented the bankruptcy, but the accident still happened; her asset might help the company's urgent needs, but to manage a company with dozens of child companies and affiliates, her money wasn't worth mentioning.
It was past midnight when she was done, and to her dissatisfaction, she was craving hot chocolate from her favorite franchise.
On her original timeline, she was jumping from one filming project to another, from one endorsement to another. The company saw her worth, and she's also ambitious, her net worth increasing as her popularity grows. In her leisure time, she had 3 filming projects, 5 endorsements, and at least 12 event appearances. She was that popular, and her body management was super strict; she would never eat something after 6 in the evening.
As a capital city, Angon was different from Beiling. It was a windy and chilly winter, but people were around to do their thing. Some were snacking on street stalls, others enjoying their time-linked arm, and the other type was the solo wanderer like her.
She stopped across a castle. It was magnificent yet solemn, bringing peace and tranquillity. Her eyes caught a tall figure on the castle's sidewalk.
He was standing under the streetlight with his guitar in his arms; the tall and straight lines of his body were outlined by the dim light. The facial features had the potential to be outstanding and ready to emerge. But his expression was indifferent, as if no matter what he was singing or playing, how the passers-by watched, or how much money people gave, he didn't care.
Linzhi couldn't be more familiar with that.
After her mother's death, although her career skyrocketed and she managed her expression during filming or on stage.. her depression was there. Lurking beneath the surface, waiting for her to snap and maybe push the button she shouldn't push.
She crossed the road and gave him some change.
He hummed a thank you but still didn't raise his eyes; he lowered his eyes and plucked the strings, his fingers were long and slender, and the fingertips lined the strings, giving off a cold light.
First tune..
Second tune..
Third tune..
Linzhi focused her eyes on his fingers.
Both the melody and the fingers were eerily familiar.
Like possessed by a ghost, "HANN?"
He plucked the wrong string and froze, but it only took a second to resume his play. Then he gathered his guitar case.
The other onlooker moved to the next thing, but Linzhi followed him. She just knew if she left him right now, she might be haunted by endless what-ifs.
"Hey, wait!"
Linzhi was chasing long distances but was unable to catch up. She just wasted a good opportunity!
Self absorb by her failure, Linzhi was too late to realize that she was surrounded.
"Hi, girl?"
Looking up from her phone, her reflex was a second too late cause Beno's man took her phone while Beno gagged her.
"You're so hard to find."
Linzhi was in a full-blown panic when Beno's man turned off her phone after typing god knows what. She was struggling to free herself; stomping, she literally nailed his hands, but the guy didn't budge.
"Get the car," Beno's height made his chin rest on her head, and her scented shampoo filled his nostril. "Do you know how cold a holding cell is in the winter? Of course, you don't, but I can tell you that it was so cold that the only thing to keep me warm was thinking of your beautiful face."
Knowing her struggle was futile, Linzhi made as much distance from his excited part as possible.
She was short-sighted; how could she not think that a guy this rampant must've had a connection to bail him out? Linzhi was too naive, thinking his influence wasn't that great at this time.
A black SUV approached and Linzhi was thrown in, with a gun at point blank - she froze. She turned back time after died of poisoning. Now what? Is she dead with her brain scattered around?
BOOM!
The explosion was from below; the car lost its balance and spun a few times.
Consecutive soft bangs followed by a series of groans from the outside.
The guy in the front seat was shot in the hand before they could move, and the next thing Linzhi knew was someone with a mask carrying her on his back away from the park.
She could faintly hear police sirene before she lost consciousness.
It was an unfamiliar ceiling and scent that greeted her when she woke up. Linzhi could tell the room's owner was a man by its decoration. He was a minimalist, and judging by the book on his shelf and table; he was preparing for some kind of exam.
With a soft click and the door was open.
To her surprise, it was a familiar face, "HANN?"
He handed the cup and cold medicine, "Don't get cold."
Han Junjie raised his eyebrow when she only took the pill and swallow it raw.
"Thank you for your help; I don't usually get into trouble."
Han Junjie was sitting on the edge of the bed, and the room felt cramped; the atmosphere suddenly turned awkward.
Linzhi was about to say something when a roaring voice was heard.
"HAN JUNJIE!"
Linzhi rolled to the corner, and Junjie hid her undercover at lightning speed. It was their instinct that kicked in, responding to an unknown threat.
Linzhi couldn't see the intruder's expression, but the anger in his voice was evident.
"You actually refuse to go to the party! Don't you understand it was the birthday of our potential producer! What is wrong with you!"
As if the gentle and panicked state before was an illusion, the man next to Linzhi answered coldly. "I never agreed to go."
"Are you sick? Do you even want to debut, huh? Are you waiting for your little girlfriend to free you from the contract? Dream on! I've invested so much money in you; if you don't want to debut, then just live as a trainee for the rest of your life! Once the contract's up, I'll destroy your chance in the circle! Let's see if anyone dares to defy my H Media!"
BRAKK!
The door was slammed hard.
Linzhi finally knew why he didn't answer her message. He was already a contracted trainee, but judging from the man's word.. Han Junjie did rather poorly in his training.. But why? In her original timeline, Linzhi heard from Patrick that Han Junjie was part of an idol group before signing with Zhang Yunxi as an actor. He was outstanding on his debut, but on their third comeback, there was blatant favoritism, and his resources kept decreasing.
Han Junjie allegedly dated Zhang Yunxi to help him terminate the contract with H Media; although his strength as an actor was evident, the wagging tongue was still wagging.
'Does the little girlfriend he was talking about was really Yunxi? Are they in a relationship this early? Should I ask her to bring HANN to us?'
"He's gone."
The pulled blanket made Linzhi lock eyes with Han Junjie.
Linzhi was appraising his star quality, while Han Junjie was envious of her eyes. The sparkling eyes were full of vitality and determination. It was the eye of youth, innocent and full of life.. Unlike him.
"Do you want me to call Patrick?"
"No need, he probably sleeps-" Linzhi paused and confusedly stared at him, "How do you know, Patrick?"
"Did you forget? I'm his part-timer. We've met before at the police station too."
The muscle memory finally worked and Linzhi realized that the musician on the other night was Han Junjie, and the boy she met on the afternoon also had a similar height to him. She only met him twice and he always wore his mask, she didin't pay any attention at all.
She could identified him as HANN was precisely because his hand and the music, she could never associate him with the guy with mask!
An alarming memory was triggered.
HANN was following her secret mini blog, that means he knew she had alot of his secret snapshot. Her only hope of redemption was that her guess was wrong.
"By any chance.. Are we classmate?"
"No," Linzhi was sighed out relief when he continue, "I'm in the class next door."
WHAT THE HELL!?
HANN wasn't ignoring her recruitment because of his company, he was ignoring her because he know the old her used to stalk him!
'Nie Linzhi oh Nie Linzhi! Why am I so messed up when I'm young!'