The weekend passed smoothly, and aside from visiting Lang Xiyuan, Chu Liangxia picked up a few video editing tasks through different channels. She stayed up for two nights to complete them, finally scraping together enough to cover her recent living expenses.
Lang Lin wasn't one to make fuss. He spent the weekend quietly studying in his room, only leaving the house to visit the hospital with Chu Liangxia, and even then, he would notify her whenever he stepped out.
All Chu Liangxia needed to do was prepare three meals on time, which didn't interfere with her daily habits.
Monday, morning.
Chu Liangxia served breakfast and asked Lang Lin, "What time does the exam start?"
"Nine o'clock," Lang Lin replied.
"How many subjects?"
"Just one."
"I won't be back for lunch, you'll have to take care of it yourself."
"Mm," Lang Lin nodded slightly, not too bothered by it.
Chu Liangxia was used to this question-and-answer routine. After asking what she wanted to know, she got ready to eat.
After the meal, Chu Liangxia gave Lang Lin some living expenses before they both left the house one after the other.
The drive from Shuiyunjian to the TV station took ten minutes. If she still had time to spare, Chu Liangxia preferred to walk to work.
Clearly, she had overslept today. It wasn't very early, so Chu Liangxia took the bus to the TV station.
She arrived right at nine o'clock.
"Liangxia, good morning."
As soon as she entered the editing room, Lun Yi, who was carrying documents and walking out, greeted Chu Liangxia with a radiant smile on her round face.
"Good morning," Chu Liangxia nodded slightly and returned a faint smile.
"I need to deliver these documents first; I'll talk to you about something later." As soon as she finished speaking, Lun Yi hurried off.
Chu Liangxia shook her head slightly and then walked to her own desk.
Her desk was next to Lun Yi's. Both were interns who started at the same time. Lun Yi was naïve and straightforward, and they got along quite well.
"Liangxia," just as she turned on the computer, Director Zhu came over and asked kindly, "How's everything at home?"
Chu Liangxia paused for a moment and after a while, her lips curled into a stiff smile, "It's fine."
"Good," Director Zhu nodded with a hint of concern.
"…"
Chu Liangxia felt a bit ashamed.
The excuse for taking time off was made up on a whim to vent her frustration; she hadn't intended it to affect others.
Upon reflection, she really felt quite childish.
Having dealt with Director Zhu, Chu Liangxia was just about to organize her own video editing work when someone else approached her.
"Liangxia," a nearly ingratiating voice.
Minimizing the open folder, Chu Liangxia looked up at the visitor and asked with a smile, "What can I do for you, Yingying?"
Lou Yingying, 24 years old, had been at the TV station for two years, a year longer than Chu Liangxia. Her work ability was mediocre, but she was pretty; she was not focused on her job, but rather on networking and resources at the TV station, aiming to secure a good script and make an early breakthrough.
"Yingying, could you do me a favor?" Lou Yingying smiled sweetly, without a trace of caution one would expect when asking for help.
Chu Liangxia's gaze shifted as she slightly raised her eyelids and replied with a smile, "I'm a bit busy right now."
"It's fine; you can help when you're done," Lou Yingying said amiably.
"But..."
A flicker of annoyance flashed in her eyes as Lou Yingying cut her off, "It's just a small video, it shouldn't take you more than half an hour."
Chu Liangxia offered a gentle smile, a very amiable expression, "Sister Ying, I'm sorry, but I can't help you. If you really can't do the task, perhaps you could explain the situation to the director and let him assign it to someone else."
Her words successfully left Lou Yingying speechless.
Lou Yingying's work capability was subpar, and her mind was not on her work; she was always asking others for help, and over time this had caused annoyance among the people in their department.
Unlike her, Chu Liangxia was competent, easy to get along with, and although she hadn't been there for long, she wasn't the type to be pushed around easily; she had also helped others quite a bit and was more popular than Lou Yingying.
In the workplace, everyone prefers someone who is capable, intelligent, and reasonable.
However, Chu Liangxia's very existence became a thorn in Lou Yingying's side, a constant irritation.
Chu Liangxia had long anticipated that Lou Yingying would come to her, and of course, it wasn't just a simple "visit"—it was deliberately throwing the task her way with the ulterior motive that if it was well done, Lou Yingying would benefit, but if not, Chu Liangxia would bear the brunt of the failure.
She was content with her current life and had no intention of jumping into a pit.
"Xiaxia, how can you be like this!"
Lou Yingying's voice rose slightly, a whining tone with a hint of reproach, reaching the ears of several people around.
Everyone looked over but said nothing.
It's none of their business; they stayed out of it.
Chu Liangxia's eyes lifted slightly, and just as she was about to speak, Lun Yi suddenly appeared behind her and interrupted, "Sister Ying, our Xiaxia just lost her father; could you please let her have some peace?"
As the words fell, the surrounding looks immediately became strange.
Judging by Lun Yi's explanation, Lou Yingying truly seemed to be inconsiderate.
Thus, with her face turning red and then white, Lou Yingying was completely unable to continue speaking.
"I'm sorry, it was my oversight."
Managing to squeeze out those words, Lou Yingying turned and left quickly.
Chu Liangxia looked up and saw Lun Yi's sly smile, "We take care of our own things; don't mind her."
Knowing that Lun Yi was trying to comfort her, Chu Liangxia smiled and didn't say any more.
"By the way, Qin Yajun is coming to record a show later, to promote her new movie 'Eclipse of the Heart.' I'm planning to get her autograph during lunch. I remember you also like her movies, do you want to come along?" Lun Yi pulled up a chair next to Chu Liangxia, asked as soon as he sat down.
Qin Yajun, 30 years old, caught the eye of a well-known director at 18 due to her fresh appearance and temperament, rocketed into fame with a leading movie role, and had been popular ever since with a continuous stream of excellent work.
Chu Liangxia did indeed quite like her work.
But—
She had a mother who was even more famous than Qin Yajun.
Entertainment industry matters can't always be taken at face value, and Qin Yajun's character was nothing like her amiable on-screen persona.
Chu Liangxia appreciated her high-quality work but that did not mean she liked someone whom she had never even met.
"No need, I expect to be quite busy today," Chu Liangxia politely declined.
Their editing room was responsible for cutting "Goddess's Secret," and with a new episode taped over the weekend, the editing room was once again in a state of frenzy, busily watching videos on the computer, looking for parts to edit.
These one or two days each week were the busiest, with overtime being inevitable, and staying until one or two in the morning was the norm.
Chu Liangxia was in charge of editing Gongsun Shiqi's footage, a significant task ensuring she often worked overtime. Unlike Lun Yi and Lou Yingying, whose assigned tasks were much lighter.
"That makes sense..." Coming to a realization, Lun Yi then asked, "Do you want me to bring lunch for you?"
"It's fine," Chu Liangxia smiled, "that's the only time I have to walk around."
Seeing her response, Lun Yi nodded in understanding.
However, what Chu Liangxia did not know was that it wasn't just Qin Yajun coming this time, but also two other acquaintances.
Lou Yingying was like a bad omen, destined to ensure that Chu Liangxia wouldn't encounter anything good all day long.