Chapter 40

Two days later, Tian Yingying was sentenced for the crime of public humiliation by splashing pig's blood, receiving 5 days of criminal detention and a fine of 2000 yuan.

Xie Jin somehow got hold of the whole process of her arrest and released parts of the video screenshots and the verdict online, as well as all kinds of dirt on her.

Her amateur era speeches and indecent photos were dug out, destroying her lovely and innocent image. Netizens unanimously scolded her and wanted her to get out of the entertainment industry.

The various video programs she starred in were reported and forced to be taken down. Unaired programs also cut her parts one after another to avoid the fate of being taken down.

Tian Yingying's company claimed breach of contract damages from her. Not only was she disgraced, but also heavily in debt.

Su Tao finally knew what the "hell" Xie Jin talked about was.

In contrast, Jiang Qi, who also came out of the idol reality show, had a world of difference from her.

Right after advancing to the finals, Jiang Qi was approached by several film and television companies with the double crowns of first place in grades and popularity. Su Tao agreed to consider them carefully for Jiang Qi. His first drama was crucial and absolutely could not waste his popularity. Every step had to be taken steadily to make sensational results.

Su Tao was busy to death on one side. But the WeChat group she had set to "do not disturb" kept ringing nonstop.

Opening the group chat, she found many people @ her.

Some classmates made plans to come to play in Jiang City in the group chat. Since everyone knew she was in Jiang City, they invited her to have dinner together tonight.

Su Tao flipped through the chat records. It originated from Shao Tingting showing off photos of her stay in Jiang City these days. And she mentioned going out for dinner with Su Tao and Liao Dan etc, arousing everyone's interest.

A male classmate suggested going to Jiang City to play for two days. Many people chimed in. Finally 6 people were determined to come, including Zhong Siwei.

After high school, Su Tao only attended a class reunion. Finding that no one believed her no matter how she tried to clarify things that year, she never went again.

So when her classmates came to ask her out for dinner this time, she didn't hesitate to turn it down with the excuse of being too busy with work.

Just as she turned down her classmates with the excuse of being busy with work, she got a call from the show crew that Jiang Qi was missing.

Su Tao helplessly felt that excuses shouldn't be randomly made up. Otherwise they may unexpectedly come true.

Xie Jin, who was working at Su Tao's home, unexpectedly received a call from Su Yang Xing.

Xie Jin answered the call. His deep voice was full of majesty: "Hello?"

"Brother-in-law."

Xie Jin was very satisfied that Su Yang Xing still kept this form of address for him. His tone improved a lot as he slowly asked, "Well, what's up?"

"Jiang Qi ran out of the training camp. He said he wanted to confess to my sister."

Xie Jin: "!"

Shocked, Xie Jin did not forget to praise Su Yang Xing. Then he hurriedly hung up and called Su Tao.

The call was answered swiftly with Su Tao's clear voice.

Su Tao: "I was about to let you know that I won't be home for dinner tonight. Don't cook and wait for me."

Just as she finished talking, a clear male voice was heard from her end of the call: "Who is at your house?"

Clenching his teeth, Xie Jin balled his right hand into a fist. The veins on the back of his hand protruded as he tried his best to restrain his jealousy: "Where are you?"

Then he immediately realized it was inappropriate to ask like this. Su Tao would surely just say "None of your business" and hang up. He had to be more tactful.

Xie Jin tried hard to make his voice sound calm and followed up: "If you're eating out, could you get me something to eat on your way back? I want to know what good food you have over there."

As expected, Su Tao agreed: "Then I'll send you the menu later."

Less than 10 minutes later, Xie Jin received the menu Su Tao sent. He zoomed in to find the restaurant name, searched for the location on the map app, and immediately headed out to kill his way over.

In the private room of the restaurant, after sending the menu, Su Tao put away her phone and looked at Jiang Qi sitting opposite with a frown. She asked, "Why didn't you train properly and ran out instead?"

It made her get nothing done all afternoon, only looking for him.

Jiang Qi took off his hat and mask. His burning gaze lingered on Su Tao. He licked his lips, seemingly a bit thirsty. He poured himself a glass of water and drank it all in one go, then looked at her again. Suddenly he felt his throat tighten.

He didn't know what was going on with himself either. Usually he casually flirted. Ambiguous words just rolled off his tongue. But when it came to the critical moment, he couldn't get out a word.

"It's my birthday today." Su Tao blinked in surprise. She immediately flipped through her phone memo. She had noted down all the artists' birthdays and would send reminders a week in advance. She didn't get a reminder!

"Don't look anymore. The birth date on my ID is the lunar calendar." Jiang Qi murmured.

Only then did Su Tao realize she had always thought it was the solar calendar. She calculated the days on the calendar and it really was today. She quickly edited the note.

"I didn't know it was your birthday today. Wait, let me order you a cake."

Su Tao was a bit caught off guard. Of course they would celebrate his official birthday reported to the company. But privately she couldn't neglect the artist either.

Just as she was thinking about how to compensate Jiang Qi, when she turned around, she found that Jiang Qi had walked over to her side without knowing when. He was standing beside her.

He bent down. The decorative chain on his chest collided and jangled. He leaned sideways, looking at her. His clear eyes brimmed with affection. Su Tao's heart inexplicably tightened and she frowned at him.

"I just want to spend my birthday with you. It's been almost two weeks since I saw you last. You don't even reply to my WeChat..."

"Jiang Qi." Su Tao spoke up to interrupt him. She stood up and dodged him a little, feeling that something was off about him.

The two were looking at each other awkwardly when the room door was suddenly pushed open. A strange man barged in, then quickly apologized in astonishment, "Oh crap, wrong room, sorry..." Suddenly he exclaimed, "Hey, aren't you Su Tao?"

Su Tao was dumbfounded seeing the man at the door. He did look more and more familiar, but she just couldn't remember who he was.

"I'm Shen Lang, high school classmate!"

Su Tao suddenly realized. The name and face matched up in an instant. After so many years it was hard to recall him right away.

Shen Lang's gaze also fell on the handsome boy next to Su Tao. He looked familiar too, but Shen Lang couldn't call out his name for the moment.

Not wanting Jiang Qi to be disturbed for no reason, Su Tao directly dismissed him, "What a coincidence. When did you arrive in Jiang City? As you can see, I have a friend here, so I won't keep you."

"I'm right next door. You told the group you were busy with work and didn't join us. Turns out you were on a date with a pretty boy." Shen Lang looked between them ambiguously. He had clearly drank some alcohol, his face as red as a monkey's butt.

"No, he's my colleague. We're having a company dinner tonight. There are other people too." Su Tao tried every excuse not to let him get the wrong idea, although she was his manager. But after Jiang Qi's abnormal behavior just now, she subconsciously avoided suspicion.

"Our old classmates are all next door. Or you could at least come over and sit with me for a bit. I'll go get them to come over. It's rare we former classmates get to meet up. Let's have a drink together."

Shen Lang pretended to head out. Su Tao stopped him. "I'll come over instead."

It was just a few steps to the next room. Shen Lang pushed open the door excitedly and said, "Look who I brought."

Entering the room, there were 6 people sitting inside, 4 men and 2 women. Su Tao had face blindness for a moment and could only recognize one or two classmates. Among them was Zhong Siwei sitting furthest inside.

Next to Zhong Siwei sat a pretty girl with long straight hair. Her face shape was a bit like Su Tao's, looking quite well-behaved, gentle and demure. She was the only one Su Tao found completely unfamiliar among people whose faces looked familiar.

"Wow, Su Tao is getting prettier and prettier. She was the class belle in high school. With this looks now, she could even be a celebrity!" Came fawning praise from a female classmate whose name Su Tao couldn't recall.

Hearing her talk, Su Tao suddenly remembered she was the female class monitor in high school. Apart from being a bit utilitarian, her character was still decent. So Su Tao sat down next to her.

Su Tao took the empty cup vacated by the female class monitor and poured herself a glass of beer. Raising her cup, she said, "I happened to run into Shen Lang. I'm discussing business next door. I came over to have a drink with former classmates, but I have to hurry back soon. You all came from afar, and I wasn't able to come over right away either. I sincerely apologize. Let me treat this meal. Wish you all a great time playing in Jiang City."

Su Tao's words were perfunctory, obviously hinting at her estrangement and desire to finish her drink and leave quickly beneath the courtesy.

"No need to rush," Shen Lang stopped Su Tao. "Since you're here, sit a while longer. We haven't seen each other in years. It's not easy to get together. Liao Dan is on her way over. Why not call that pretty boy from next door to join us too?"

Mentioning the pretty boy next door piqued everyone's curiosity. They all looked at Su Tao.

Zhong Siwei, who had been staring at Su Tao strangely ever since she entered, suddenly spoke up, "You, have a boyfriend now?"

His words aroused everyone's gossiping and ambiguous glances that flitted between Su Tao and him.

Su Tao glanced at him but didn't reply. The seemingly well-behaved and obedient girl sitting next to Zhong Siwei suddenly held his hand. She said, "Our Siwei is just too curious."

Everyone could tell that her trivial sentence was to announce herself as Zhong Siwei's girlfriend.

The female class monitor, seemingly wanting to help Su Tao avoid embarrassment out of good intentions, grasped her hand excitedly and said, "Su Tao, I watched 'The Journey of Idols'. You and Xie Jin are real, aren't you? Are you two together now?"

Su Tao understood her kind motives, but this remark instantly made her the center of attention of the room. Su Tao smiled faintly, "It was all hype, for the show effect."

Clearly, except for the female class monitor, no one else watched this variety show or paid attention to the entertainment industry. Some didn't even have Weibo accounts. So they all asked the female class monitor, "Who's that? What hype?"

"You don't know Xie Jin? You should at least know Tian Jing Corporation right?" The female class monitor boasted proudly on Su Tao's behalf, "Rui Qi Videos is a video site under Tian Jing Corporation."

When it comes to Tianjin Group, those not in the financial circle may not be very familiar with it, but when it comes to Ruiqi Video, the public awareness is quite high.

Who doesn't have the Ruiqi Video app on their phone?

"Xie Jin is the boss of Tianjin Group!" The female class monitor went on to brag exaggeratedly, and said meaningfully, "Very, very handsome! Su Tao really has good taste now."

Shen Lang seized on what the female class monitor said and caused trouble, "What you said makes it sound like Su Tao used to have bad taste."

As he glanced at Zhong Siwei, who had an ugly expression, he fearlessly said, "Drink up, drink up!"

The female class monitor had a bold personality and downed a glass of baijiu. Zhong Siwei's girlfriend, Hao Xiang, seemed curious and asked, "The boss of such a big company, how old is he?"

She then felt it was inappropriate and added, "I know many bosses have great temperaments, and the older they are, the more refined by knowledge and experience they become, very refined gentlemen. Su Tao's boyfriend must be this kind of refined, gentlemanly type, right?"

The female class monitor was straightforward and retorted without giving face, "Hao Xiang, are you dumb? Can't you just look him up online? You only look at Zhong Siwei's face all day, never watch entertainment shows. A quick search online and you can find videos of Xie Jin. How can you say something so stupid?"

"I was wrong, class monitor, don't be angry." The more Hao Xiang spoke, the more she seemed like a green tea. "You're right, with Su Tao being so beautiful, her boyfriend must be very handsome. I was talking nonsense, Siwei~"

After that, she acted cute with Zhong Siwei, looking wronged, as if tattling.

The female class monitor shuddered in disgust, put off by Hao Xiang's coquettish behavior. Seeing that Su Tao didn't refute or help either, she decided not to bother with her and excitedly continued telling Su Tao, "Su Tao, I really like Jiang Qi. How can there be such a cute boy? Get me a ticket if you have tickets to his concerts in the future."

Su Tao added her on WeChat and promised to save her a backstage pass for the finals. She got a bear hug from the excited female class monitor.

Hao Xiang still prattled on, "Su Tao, you're so lucky to be in this industry, you must meet celebrities all the time. Can you get me Zuo You's autograph?"

Zuo You was a household name actor, a box office guarantee where every commercial blockbuster he starred in was a hit. He was also very handsome, exemplifying a good actor.

"I don't get to meet that many celebrities." Of course Su Tao didn't want to help her or cause herself any trouble, so she casually declined.

"Oh," Hao Xiang had a sudden realization, with a hint of disdain in her eyes, "I also heard the entertainment industry is very hierarchical, you probably don't have access to top celebrities."

"You..."

The female class monitor was about to retort when Su Tao stopped her. Right then, Liao Dan arrived and Su Tao shot her a desperate look before standing and telling everyone, "I really have to get back, a bunch of leaders are waiting for me."

Liao Dan immediately understood and pulled Su Tao toward the door, "Oh dear, can't keep the leaders waiting, we can meet up anytime, but we can't afford to lose this job. Hurry, hurry."

As she said this, she winked at Su Tao, perfectly in sync.

Su Tao turned and pushed open the door of the private room, preparing to leave, when she saw acquaintances.

Among the group of three or four people walking past the private room, two were familiar to Su Tao. One was her artist, Zhu Hang.

The 38-year-old was a veteran actor who took things easy and only accepted roles he liked, so Liu Wantao had assigned him to Su Tao.

Zhu Hang had always been quite satisfied with Su Tao. She respected the artists' own ideas and never complained or lectured them like Liu Wantao did. Seeing Su Tao, he was very happy, "Taozi, what a coincidence seeing you here eating too?"

Since turning down the role Su Tao had gotten for him, Zhu Hang had taken two months off to properly spend time with his child. Su Tao understood completely and smiled, "Long time no see, Teacher Zhu, you're looking very healthy."

"That's all thanks to the leaders' care, otherwise how could I be so carefree?" Zhu Hang had a steady personality with a touch of humor and greeted everyone with a smile.

"That's Zhu Hang and Zuo You, right?" Su Tao's classmates gathered at the private room door all exclaimed.

Even those not following entertainment would know these two, with their high public awareness.

Su Tao politely extended a hand to Zuo You and respectfully greeted, "Teacher Zuo." Zuo You only blinked, slightly nodded, and didn't take Su Tao's offered hand, aloof as could be.

Right then, a woman's mocking laugh rang out from the private room.

Without turning back, Su Tao knew who it was.

But she didn't mind and felt any more time spent here would be wasted. After asking Zhu Hang to watch his health, she got ready to leave.

"Oh dear, bumping into the leader means no rest, even on vacation you get assigned tasks." Zhu Hang's group, except the aloof Zuo You, all laughed good-naturedly.

Just as the gathering was about to disperse, they suddenly felt an oppressive aura, like a vicious beast had set its sights on them. They looked toward the danger.

The deep, dark eyes swept over the men standing beside Su Tao as the long legs strode steadily, showing no sign of an injured ankle.

"Boss Xie!" The bespectacled man standing beside Zuo You recognized Xie Jin at a glance and eagerly went up to greet, "I'm XX from Kangshu Entertainment, here's my card."

"Ah, so that's Xie Jin." The female class monitor had wanted to quietly tell those beside her but was too excited and spoke loudly enough for all to hear, "Even more handsome than on TV."

Now those in the private room could match a name to the face. The men felt a bit insecure seeing Xie Jin's flawless handsome looks.

Unlike the men's inadequacy, Hao Xiang felt jealous. Looking at Xie Jin's appearance, temperament, noble status, then looking at her own boyfriend, they were simply not on the same level.

But seeing his bad temper, she found some comfort that while her boyfriend wasn't easygoing, at least he wasn't as scary as this.

Suddenly she even felt some sympathy for Su Tao. No man is perfect. This Xie Jin is clearly the domestic abuse type.

Oblivious to being labeled an abusive man, Xie Jin still had a sinister, icy expression.

Even the previously aloof Zuo You changed his attitude. Taking the initiative to extend a hand, he politely said, "Boss Xie, I'm Zuo You, pleased to meet you."

Xie Jin didn't even glance at his offered hand. He grabbed Su Tao's hand and pulled her to his side, separating her from the men.

Noticing her gaze fall on his ankle, his gloomy expression instantly changed. Eyes wide, he froze in place before slowly turning to Su Tao with a pained, weak expression. He leaned one hand on her shoulder, half leaning against her, and weakly said,

"I walked over here enduring the pain in my foot, oh, it hurts too much."

Su Tao: "..."

Everyone: "!?"