After getting in the car, Shen Qianzhan couldn’t stop laughing.

She kept glancing at Ji Qinghe, who looked calm and composed as if he hadn’t been specifically warned by the doctor, openly teasing him.

Ji Qinghe didn’t understand her amusement. After paying the parking fee and leaving the hospital, he asked: “That happy?”

Perhaps as an adult, many things had become reasonable and legal, falling under normal needs. Ji Qinghe hadn’t felt the kind of shyness or shame from childhood in a very long time.

The doctor’s medical advice, in his understanding, fell completely within normal parameters.

Shen Qianzhan denied it with obvious attempts to cover up.

Seeing him focused on the road ahead, thinking he couldn’t see, she bit her lower lip and smiled with particular subtlety.

Ji Qinghe withdrew his gaze from the rearview mirror, released his right hand from the gear shift in the center console, and reached for her hand.

His palm was warm and dry, and when he held hers, it felt like opening a protective umbrella.

He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it: “Actually, there are less intense forms of exercise.”

Ji Qinghe turned to look at her with a half-smile: “Maybe you’d like to try them?”

Shen Qianzhan heard the threat in his words and immediately knew when to quit while ahead.

Strange.

Before coming to the hospital, she had felt that urgent sense of being the only one who could handle things if the sky fell. After leaving the hospital, the taut string in her heart loosened slightly, becoming more indifferent.

She didn’t know if it was due to the doctor’s absurdly amusing medical advice, or because of Ji Qinghe’s unshakeable composure in the face of crisis.

For some reason, she now had the full confidence to take things one step at a time.

——

After cooperating with police to conclude the investigation, Shen Qianzhan returned to the hotel to take charge.

The reporters at the hotel entrance hadn’t dispersed. Besides the media, there were gradually more fan groups who had heard rumors about the “crew murder” and were worried about their artists’ safety.

Online public opinion remained unclear, and all crew members were without exception strictly forbidden from making public statements.

At the hotel’s main entrance, except for deliveries coming and going, not even a fly had shown its face.

The first thing Shen Qianzhan did upon returning to the hotel was meet with Qiandeng’s PR department.

The PR manager had worked with Shen Qianzhan for years with perfect understanding. The moment she appeared on the other end of the screen, he immediately uploaded several PR contingency plans they had urgently discussed that afternoon.

Qiandeng’s internal staff were still unaware of Shen Qianzhan’s intention to resign and continued allocating PR funds according to the highest standards.

Shen Qianzhan quickly reviewed all of Qiandeng’s afternoon work and examined the several major opinion trends Qiao Xin had compiled and printed, simultaneously marveling that Ji Qinghe’s promise wasn’t just talk while lamenting that Bu Zhong Sui was truly wealthy.

Just the one-day cost of suppressing hot searches and buying favorable coverage equaled Qiandeng’s entire annual PR budget.

The PR manager said: “Thank goodness Bu Zhong Sui’s PR department joined forces with Qiandeng in time. Otherwise, with this explosive revelation, Qiandeng alone couldn’t have suppressed it.”

Shen Qianzhan nodded slightly, not commenting much on this matter.

She circled the second PR plan and said: “Follow this plan. If public opinion continues fermenting, immediately issue statements and lawyer’s letters, nipping all rumors in the bud.” After speaking, she pointed with her stylus at the major bloggers who first started the revelations, her tone cold and voice calm: “Immediately notarize evidence and preserve litigation rights.”

The PR manager nodded repeatedly and quickly assembled a team to prepare the statement.

Shen Qianzhan left Qiao Xin to continue coordination while she went to the adjacent break room to call Su Zan and inquire about the crew’s packing progress.

She had originally planned to delay several days for a gradual location change, leaving personnel to handle Old Chen’s family’s confrontation. But Chen Yan’s decisive move today completely disrupted her plans. The crew staying here was just burning money and easily attracting media attention and criticism.

Moreover, the family’s trouble-making had significantly negatively impacted the hotel, leaving management very dissatisfied with the crew. They were just waiting for the contract to end to clear everyone out, with no room for negotiation.

Su Zan had spent the afternoon trapped in the hotel manager’s office negotiating compensation, giving him a splitting headache. After reporting on work, his face was dark with the look of someone who had been suppressing frustration for too long and was about to explode.

From earlier, Shen Qianzhan’s mind had been in high-speed operation mode, not noticing Su Zan’s emotions at all. Upon hearing this, she assigned the crew relocation to Su Zan, having him arrange personnel to safely move the crew to Beijing’s filming location as soon as possible.

Most of “Time’s” team consisted of people Shen Qianzhan regularly worked with. The major supervisors had followed her for years – their character and abilities were all reliable. Location changes were common for crews, and whether the crew director or on-site producer, they all had sufficient capability to handle it. She wasn’t worried.

Su Zan agreed. Seeing her leaning sideways in her chair with her back suspended, he thought for a moment before asking: “How’s your injury?”

Only then did Shen Qianzhan snap back to attention, casually saying: “It’s fine.”

She only now noticed Su Zan’s sour expression, as if someone had provoked him but he was holding it in, looking aggrieved.

Her heart softened as she asked: “Did the hotel give you grief?”

She’d been so busy all day that she barely had time to grab a few bites of food, with no time to guide on minor matters. Thinking about it, what could make Su Zan this angry was probably just the hotel manager.

He wasn’t skilled at handling such matters and was too proud and stubborn to let others take advantage of him – hardly a match for his opponent.

“No,” Su Zan denied: “I handled the hotel situation – you don’t need to worry about it. Just manage the PR side. Once this passes and we return to Beijing to film properly, you can rest.”

Shen Qianzhan was surprised: “You didn’t get taken advantage of?”

Su Zan’s expression was awkward. After a long pause, he said: “You said many things can’t be solved just by reasoning. Now it’s a special period – making too much trouble with the hotel wouldn’t be good either. The contract is signed anyway – they can’t get around black and white text. Making some concessions won’t hurt.”

He didn’t want to elaborate on how much homework he’d done or effort he’d exerted, feeling like boasting for credit in front of Shen Qianzhan made him particularly uncomfortable.

Su Zan cleared his throat and casually changed the subject: “Since you know Xiao Sheng is playing dirty tricks, have you thought of a solution?”

Discussing this, Shen Qianzhan’s expression grew slightly serious. She pressed her lips together and said: “It’s not just Xiao Sheng. If your sister isn’t involved, he’s definitely allied with some background force against me.” Xiao Sheng alone couldn’t stir up such big waves.

Su Zan’s expression stiffened as he said quietly: “My sister wouldn’t do that.”

Su Lanyi was a sensitive topic between her and Su Zan. Shen Qianzhan had no intention of driving a wedge between the siblings, naturally not planning to convince him with her own viewpoint.

Su Lanyi indeed wasn’t involved.

She couldn’t possibly use Qiandeng’s future to revenge against Shen Qianzhan, with whom she’d had deep friendship.

When Shen Qianzhan suspected Xiao Sheng, she had considered whether Su Lanyi might also have a hand in this matter. But based on her understanding of Su Lanyi, if she knew Xiao Sheng had such a terrifying idea, setting aside whether it would endanger Qiandeng’s prospects, just based on their previous friendship, she would sternly refuse.

There was no unsolvable deadlock between Su Lanyi and her – just different philosophies leading to parting ways. She was someone who dared to love and hate with strong opinions. Over the years, she had strayed from her original intentions, gradually becoming profit-focused and ruthlessly ambitious. Given how much she valued Qiandeng and fought for it with her life, she would never allow Xiao Sheng to cross her bottom line and touch her pressure points.

The fear was that the force behind Xiao Sheng was Penglai Chenguang. Once they reached some agreement, not only would the “Time” project be destroyed, but Qiandeng would probably also be within their calculations.

Then Su Lanyi, for self-preservation, wouldn’t consider her slight friendship with Shen Qianzhan.

Shen Qianzhan’s suspicion that Xiao Sheng had merged with Penglai Chenguang came from reviewing the news releases Qiao Xin had compiled all afternoon and the data reports provided by Qiandeng’s PR department.

These familiar tactics were strikingly similar to Zhao Zongchen’s media manipulation to pressure her for money seven or eight years ago.

If her suspicions were correct, she would soon return to that hellish battlefield.

——

As Shen Qianzhan predicted, Chen Yan’s trouble-making was just a fuse.

He was a chess piece that could be controlled by slight provocation, used to attract public attention and escalate disputes.

Just as Qiandeng’s PR department was still preparing their statement, online news about the “Time” crew’s “crew member dying from overwork during night shifts, crew covering up and not reporting” could no longer be suppressed. It was climbing the hot search rankings at rocket speed, rising one position per minute, booking that day’s top trending topic.

The topic’s views and discussion levels rose by hundreds of millions, quickly attracting widespread netizen attention.

Last night, Shen Qianzhan and Qiandeng’s PR department met until dawn, revising the statement over ten times. When everyone was exhausted at dawn and couldn’t continue working without rest, they had just slept for three hours.

The suddenly out-of-control situation was beyond everyone’s expectations.

Meanwhile, the opposing side seemed prepared, digging up substantial evidence of Bu Zhong Sui’s investment in “Time” and detailing Bu Zhong Sui’s “dark history” over recent years, trying to paint the investor and crew as birds of a feather.

When Qiao Xin urgently woke Shen Qianzhan, she was ready to tear Xiao Sheng apart.

She gritted her teeth as she gripped the cursor and browsed through the topic, her expression gradually becoming serious.

The press releases forcibly suppressed by Bu Zhong Sui were detonated thanks to Jiang Mengxin’s latest Weibo post from her account that naturally attracted hot searches.

She had written a lengthy post, starting from how a crew member of the “Time” production died suddenly during work hours and how the producer forced hotel employees to sign harsh confidentiality agreements to cover up the news. She emotionally described how Shen Qianzhan, to keep things quiet, detained the deceased’s family at the hotel and refused interviews, among other heinous behaviors.

Chen Yan’s image was also whitewashed into that of a victim who “had no choice but to resist to seek justice.” The so-called video evidence posted afterward labeled the crew’s self-defense actions as bullying and lawless thuggery.

After reading it, Shen Qianzhan only had questions filling her mind.

She looked up at the crowd of people standing in the room and was still in the mood to joke: “This story is quite well-written and timely. Perfect timing with the government’s entertainment industry cleanup – it’s sure to attract key attention.”

Qiao Xin was nearly in tears: “Sister Zhan.”

Shen Qianzhan tossed the mouse aside and reached out to ask Su Zan for cigarettes.

Her fingers extended in mid-air, trembling slightly – not obviously.

Su Zan silently glanced at Ji Qinghe sitting on the sofa, desperately making eye contact: Your woman, you handle her. If you don’t, I’m giving her cigarettes.

After waiting ages without getting any, Shen Qianzhan followed Su Zan’s gaze to look at Ji Qinghe.

She appeared relatively calm on the surface but was burning with inner fury, wanting to crush this group of people underfoot. Right now, she was suppressing evil fire with nowhere to vent. Her blood pressure was rising rapidly to the breaking point, ready to explode, when Ji Qinghe placed a stick of gum in her palm.

She was startled.

The fire that had already reached her head was inexplicably extinguished by more than half. She looked at the green-packaged gum in her hand, then at him, asking: “Where did this come from?”

“Bought it at the hospital convenience store.” Ji Qinghe sat down in the space Su Zan had vacated and said: “When you were applying medicine, I was afraid you’d be in pain, so I went to buy this to comfort you.”

But she hadn’t made a sound and didn’t need it at all.

Most people in this room knew that consultant Teacher Ji had something going on with Shen Qianzhan. What kind of relationship exactly wasn’t clear, but casually guessing, the unspeakable types were limited to just a few.

A smaller portion were oblivious and slow to react, only now sensing something between them.

As everyone stared at each other, Shen Qianzhan unwrapped the gum and put it in her mouth, saying: “By the way, let me reintroduce everyone. Teacher Ji, my boyfriend – the kind we’re planning to marry. I didn’t mention it before because I didn’t think it necessary. I’m acknowledging it now to give everyone a heads-up. Don’t be too shocked when you see Teacher Ji and me in the news later.”

Everyone was instantly stunned.

Wait, what?

Boyfriend and girlfriend?

Producer Shen actually gave up an entire forest of fresh meat for one tree?

Of course, that afternoon, when all the crew members who were bored and waiting to relocate saw Ji Qinghe’s photo appear in the Bu Zhong Sui investor column for the “Time” production, they were all shocked.

They had thought Shen Qianzhan’s “heads-up” referred to gossip targeting her “improper” private life. They had felt Shen Qianzhan was making a mountain out of a molehill, overly doting on her current boyfriend. Little did they know, Shen Qianzhan wasn’t doting on her current boyfriend at all – she had injected them with a shot of capitalist adrenaline.

Unlike the chaotic cursing and discussion outside, the “Time” crew members weren’t greatly affected.

Everyone was completely blown away by the fact that Teacher Ji, who usually didn’t talk much and was coolly unassuming, was actually Bu Zhong Sui’s executive president.

Besides discussing “whether the crew would be finished this time,” the entire crew was reflecting on their blindness, having missed the opportunity to curry favor with Bu Zhong Sui’s executive president and become high-level executives married to a rich, handsome man.

Such regret.

Could time be rewound?