When driving back, twilight was beginning to fall.
During dinner, Jingyi couldn't hold back and told everyone at the table about seeing Xiao Yanzhi and Qin Yaoyao that day.
The moment they learned that Qin Yaoyao was pregnant and about to get engaged to Xiao Yanzhi, both Xiaoye and Sister Chen showed surprised expressions involuntarily.
Especially Xiaoye. Her face looked as ugly as if she had eaten a fly. "General Manager Xiao's taste is getting lower and lower. Has something gone wrong with his eyes recently?"
"I declare that from today on, General Manager Xiao will no longer be on my list of successful men," Jingyi echoed. "A successful and capable man would never marry and have a child with a woman like that, unless he is vulgar and has no inner qualities."
The two of them were talking back and forth. Without using a single swear word, every sentence was an insult.
Jiang Li silently curled the corner of her lips.
"You two can't even keep your mouths shut while eating," Sister Chen said, tapping their heads with her chopsticks. "Jingyi, you're becoming more and more like Xiaoye."
Jiang Li let them chatter away without saying a word.
After dinner, she took the embroidered silk and walked into her room.
She turned on the bedside lamp and carefully unwrapped the small square layer by layer, revealing the embroidery on the silk.
The vermilion base and the dark red embroidery thread were in the same color family, but when layered together, they complemented each other so well.
Jiang Li leaned closer. Her eyes traced over the fine stitches one by one, and her fingers gently covered the embroidery, feeling the texture of the thread.
A warm current that transcended time and wisdom seeped in from her fingertips and spread all the way to her heart.
She remembered the way Cheng Yingchun looked at her, which was also as fine and dense as these stitches. At first, she thought it was offensive.
But it wasn't offensive at all. It was clearly the purest kindness from an elder.
...
"General Manager Sheng, everything was normal today. The old lady is doing well."
Sheng Shuocheng was standing in his study, listening to the report from Huacheng. With one hand in his pocket, he stood by the window smoking. "Okay, I see."
"However, two guests came today, and the old lady actually let them in," the person reporting said. At this point, he also found it strange. "Normally, the old lady never allows anyone in."
Sheng Shuocheng of course knew this.
In the past two years, Cheng Yingchun had been extremely eccentric. She not only refused to receive guests but also had almost no contact with others. The doctor said she was closing herself off.
"Who were the two guests?"
"I've already sent someone to investigate. One seems to be a celebrity, and the other is her assistant, named Jiang..."
"Jiang Li," Sheng Shuocheng thought for two seconds and said in a deep voice. "Is that her name?"
"Yes, it is."
Sheng Shuocheng frowned and was silent for a moment. Then he said, "How did she find the old lady?"
The person on the other end of the phone couldn't gauge his temper and didn't even dare to breathe loudly. "It's not clear yet, but we've already sent someone to investigate."
"Don't bother investigating," Sheng Shuocheng paused and said expressionlessly. "As long as the old lady is okay, don't worry about the rest."
Sheng Shuocheng's words were extremely concise, but his aura was so strong that the person on the other end couldn't help but swallow. "Yes, it's my incompetence."
"It doesn't matter. Continue to take good care of the old lady."
Sheng Shuocheng was a busy man who was already in his fifties. It had been a long time since anyone had made him feel so unsure.
In the dark blue night, his eyes looked extremely dark.
This little girl, Jiang Li, really surprised him.
When he suspected that she had ulterior motives, she always behaved frankly and naturally. But when he started to trust her, she would create some "coincidences" that seemed to have ulterior motives.
According to Sheng Shuocheng's way of doing things, he shouldn't be bothered with a young celebrity who was constantly involved in the field of fame and fortune. It would make him seem like an ungenerous elder and might also make outsiders tease him about "an old cow eating young grass."
He had overestimated this little girl's abilities before, thinking she was a pure stream in the field of fame and fortune.
He twirled the wedding ring on his ring finger.
Jiang Li did have a good impression in his heart, but that was only in the past.
No matter how innocent and sincere she had seemed before, it all vanished the moment she suddenly went to visit Cheng Yingchun.
The next day, Sheng Shuocheng asked Zhang Yi to pass on a message to Jiang Li.
"Miss Jiang, General Manager Sheng asked me to convey a message to you," Zhang Yi said in a calm tone. "It's good for a young girl to be smart, but being overly smart is another matter."
Jiang Li was completely confused.
"Sorry, Assistant Zhang, I don't understand what General Manager Sheng means. Could you please explain..."
"I can't tell you. You'd better do the right thing," Zhang Yi said. He completely lost his previous respect and just coldly ended the conversation.
Listening to the busy tone on the other end of the phone, Jiang Li was briefly stunned.
General Manager Sheng wouldn't have Zhang Yi convey this message to her for no reason. She must have done something to upset him.
But when she thought about it, all the things she had done recently had nothing to do with General Manager Sheng, and they were all aboveboard. How could she have made him angry?
Before Jiang Li could figure it out, Sister Chen walked over with a solemn expression, as if she had something to say but hesitated.
Jiang Li noticed something was wrong and casually asked, "Sister Chen, what's going on?"
"I'm not sure," Sister Chen sighed helplessly, frowning tightly. "Baijiao issued an announcement early this morning saying that they want to terminate several of their previous cooperations with you."
"Although the other side will pay the liquidated damages, it will still have a significant impact on you."
Jiang Li of course knew this.
The promotional advertisements for the previous cooperations with Baijiao had already been filmed. Suddenly terminating the contracts now meant that all the products she had endorsed would have to be gradually removed from the market, and all the promotional advertisements would also be taken down.
This kind of sudden termination of the contract before the expiration date usually only happened to celebrities with a bad reputation.
Even if the brand didn't explicitly say anything, the public could still imagine a series of possibilities.
Jiang Li was about to start filming a movie and was also preparing to compete for the Best Actress award next year. If her reputation was damaged, it would have a huge impact on her.
"I'm just wondering. We haven't contacted any bosses recently, let alone offended anyone. What's the problem?"
Sister Chen was talking to herself while looking through her phone's contacts. "I have to quickly contact the public relations team and ask them to write some press releases as soon as possible, saying that you've been sick recently..."
"Sister Chen, send me Du Shiming's phone number," Jiang Li closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Don't rush to release the press releases. Let me handle it first."
Sister Chen quickly sent the number to Jiang Li.
"Excuse me, is this Mr. Du? I'm Jiang Li," Jiang Li said calmly after dialing the phone, but one could still hear a bit of urgency in her voice. "Regarding the cooperation with Baijiao, did I do something wrong?"