Shocked by Ji Qinghe’s frankness, Shen Qianzhan didn’t respond for a long while.

Qiao Xin came to notify her about a meeting. Seeing her staring blankly at the gift box on the table, she quietly reminded: “Sister Zhan, has our department been receiving gifts a bit too frequently lately?”

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t even a whole department.

Ji Qinghe was generous in his own way, but his gift-giving was selective—only those who had made an impression and left their mark with him could receive these airdrops.

Most of the gift boxes contained cosmetics, skincare products, perfumes, and Bu Zhong Sui peripheral products of considerable value.

Initially, it was New Year’s gifts right after January 1st, from Su Lanyi at the top to several production assistants handling errands at the bottom—everyone got a share. Later, it was just gifts for Shen Qianzhan’s department, repeatedly and conspicuously, so much so that neighboring departments caught wind of it and came to probe for insider information daily, sounding sour.

At first, Qiao Xin would deflect by saying it was due to their collaboration, that the investor was particularly generous. But as it continued one after another, not only did colleagues not believe it, she couldn’t convince herself that such lavish spending was purely to maintain business interests.

She tactfully conveyed the behavior that had been deeply troubling her lately: “Now when I go to the restroom, I have to be careful not just of female colleagues, but also male colleagues. Everyone’s quite curious about our collaboration with Bu Zhong Sui…” Of course, mainly your personal gossip.

But she didn’t dare say the latter half.

Shen Qianzhan was particularly “rules for thee but not for me” about gossip. When it came to her, if it was harmless and she was in a good mood, she might personally engage in real-time hot discussions with extra details. But if it crossed her bottom line and disgusted her, she’d rather kill them all than spare one.

Shen Qianzhan nodded, unconcerned: “Let’s go to the meeting first.”

Today’s meeting was hosted by Su Lanyi, somewhat like an annual report. But because the reporting content was overly fair and transparent, and Su Lanyi scolded people with equal treatment for all, it was jokingly called “annual public execution.”

When Shen Qianzhan arrived, department heads and managers from various company divisions had filled about eighty percent of the conference room.

She had performed excellently this year, so praise and commendation were inevitable. To avoid arousing public anger, she kept a very low profile and found an inconspicuous seat.

At 2 PM, the meeting officially began.

Su Zan spoke on behalf of the artist management department. When he mentioned suing Xiang Qianqian for breach of contract after the New Year, the entire conference room fell silent as if time had stopped—not a sound could be heard.

Half the gazes quietly fell on Shen Qianzhan, who was playing with her pen.

Everyone knew that when Qiandeng expanded into artist management, it was Shen Qianzhan who stepped up in a crisis and spared no effort to make Xiang Qianqian famous. Besides handling Xiang Qianqian’s management affairs, Shen Qianzhan also had to balance her producer work. Her current position was almost entirely earned through her own fighting spirit.

At Qiandeng, people might not respect Su Zan, but no one would disrespect Shen Qianzhan.

When Shen Qianzhan stepped down from management duties last year, there were even company rumors that she was removed from the position due to overshadowing her superiors and sent back to producing. Now, just over half a year later, Xiang Qianqian had left, and the management department, aside from Zhou Yan, had no outstanding artists—clearly an army without generals, scattered like sand.

Su Zan also sensed the silent atmosphere. He paused, then continued his report as if nothing had happened.

Shen Qianzhan slowly twirled her pen, never even raising an eyebrow from start to finish.

She had almost predicted Xiang Qianqian’s insistence on leaving from the very beginning. She never sought out Xiang Qianqian for private conversations precisely because she knew the whole story and didn’t want to use the painstaking efforts and favors of the past to coerce repayment.

There was something Su Lanyi hadn’t told her, but Shen Qianzhan understood it well.

When she stepped down as a manager, first it was because her workload was too heavy to bear, and second because Su Lanyi was dissatisfied with her scattered attention. The higher the outside praise for her, the more Su Lanyi had opinions about her.

Shen Qianzhan was perceptive. Even though Su Lanyi’s unconscious resentment was like a girl’s petulance, she still took it seriously immediately and proactively proposed stepping down.

Qiandeng and Xiang Qianqian had grown together from nothing in the artist management field. Shen Qianzhan’s investment in Xiang Qianqian was much more than what people saw on the surface—she actually couldn’t bear to give up on her.

But Su Lanyi had extended a hand during her life’s lowest point, and that couldn’t be betrayed.

After weighing various factors, Shen Qianzhan chose to abandon Xiang Qianqian.

Xiang Qianqian valued relationships and loyalty. She stubbornly believed that Shen Qianzhan was removed to balance other department heads due to Su Lanyi’s power play. She cried and made scenes, secretly negotiating with Su Lanyi to save the situation.

The final result of those negotiations was unknown, but judging by Xiang Qianqian’s subsequent six months of indulgence and depression, it clearly came to nothing. With her obsessive personality, she probably harbored resentment over Shen Qianzhan abandoning her and chose to betray Qiandeng as revenge.

Adult emotions in this world were always thin and shallow, especially in this city where most people had nothing to depend on. For survival, some chose to be bloodthirsty carnivores, living for profit.

So what did that make her?

After the meeting ended, Shen Qianzhan packed up and left.

Before leaving, she turned to look at Su Zan and gestured for him to meet in her office later.

Tonight was the charity gala hosted by Bai Xuan. Su Lanyi had something else on, so Su Zan would attend in her place.

Shen Qianzhan represented Qiandeng, so naturally she would go with him.

The charity gala was held annually with increasingly grand momentum.

The venue was semi-open, with celebrity red carpet signing segments, and multiple media outlets broadcasting live on-site. Besides artists, industry bigwigs gathered there. Whether for exposure or networking with the powerful, it was a rare opportunity.

When Su Zan arrived, Shen Qianzhan had just changed into her gown and was having her makeup done.

He rarely saw Shen Qianzhan sitting obediently while being styled, so he couldn’t help teasing: “Didn’t you used to complain that makeup artists weren’t as good as you doing it yourself, insisting on doing your own? How did you surrender today?”

Shen Qianzhan glanced at him while directing the makeup artist to blend her eye makeup, retorting: “Watch your mouth and accumulate some virtue. You offend people for me every day. Did I owe you millions in my past life that you’re so relentlessly pursuing me in this one?”

Su Zan also sat down beside her casually, muttering: “Then pay me back in this life, and I might reluctantly let it go.”

Shen Qianzhan almost spat at him, but seeing her beautiful, dignified, and enchanting self in the mirror, she couldn’t bear to ruin this lovely facade with foul language. She forced herself to stay composed and just rolled her eyes meaningfully.

But some people just don’t know how to read the room.

Seeing her calm down, Su Zan deliberately provoked: “Dressing up so beautifully tonight—do you have a plan?”

—This naturally beautiful lady can look fresh and radiant with just a little grooming, you straight man, do you know how much your comments deserve a beating?

Su Zan continued: “Got a new target? Expanding the harem?”

Unable to tolerate it anymore, Shen Qianzhan finally exploded: “I’ve only ever had one man, where’s this harem coming from?”

She pushed away the makeup artist’s hand and turned to grab Su Zan’s dog ears: “Women putting on makeup has absolutely nothing to do with men.”

The disciplined Su Zan instantly became quiet as a chicken.

Shen Qianzhan didn’t need to walk the red carpet and went directly into the venue.

Qiandeng’s seats were in the fifth row, alongside other film and TV company colleagues.

She arrived early and, after sitting down, subtly scanned the entire venue looking for Ji Qinghe’s position.

It wasn’t until right before departure that Shen Qianzhan noticed Ji Qinghe had sent her a WeChat message that afternoon—just four words: “Face-to-face tonight.”

Looking at the timestamp, she had been in a meeting with her phone on silent. After the meeting, she was rushing to do makeup and change into her gown, only having time to check her phone after getting in the car.

It had been exactly a week since they last met.

Shen Qianzhan had gone from initially planning to give him a piece of her mind next time to now feeling as calm as still water, enlightened about worldly matters. She deeply felt she wasn’t far from becoming a middle-aged nun.

But even after the gala began with Jiang Yecheng taking the stage for opening remarks, Shen Qianzhan still hadn’t seen Ji Qinghe.

The gala was divided into first and second halves, with the second half being the main event, requiring everyone to move from the venue to another exhibition hall.

Now there were no assigned seating requirements—everyone could sit wherever they wanted.

As Shen Qianzhan was being led in by her plastic sister Ai Yi, she unexpectedly saw Ming Jue waiting at the entrance.

He seemed to be waiting specifically for her. Upon seeing her appear, he walked straight through the scattered beautiful people arriving at the scene, directly to her: “Producer Shen, President Ji requests your presence.”

Ai Yi glanced at Shen Qianzhan with surprise, but this emotion only appeared briefly for a moment. She tactfully let go, excusing herself to see an acquaintance, and left first.

Shen Qianzhan didn’t put on airs either. She nodded slightly and walked toward the front row with Su Zan following behind.

Ji Qinghe sat in a corner seat in the front row, with floral arrangements and decorations blocking the stage lights on both sides, creating a relatively enclosed space.

Behind him was hustle and bustle, like water drops in boiling oil, full of worldly atmosphere. Yet he remained unaffected by this commotion, as if independent of time’s dimension, isolated from the world.

Seemingly sensing her presence, Ji Qinghe, who had been facing away from her, turned around without warning to look at her.

His profile was coldly chiseled, his nose bridge straight, and the contours of his jaw were softened by the stage’s light and shadow, revealing a soul-stirring sense of restraint. When his gaze met Shen Qianzhan’s, she clearly saw a light suddenly brighten in his eyes—like fireflies covering the sky, stars competing in brightness, that stunning color like a starry galaxy, flashing and disappearing.

Struck by his beauty, Shen Qianzhan rather embarrassingly felt her knees go weak.

If not for her dignity, she could call him daddy, husband, and brother in different ways for ten minutes straight.

However, Shen Qianzhan’s rich inner monologue left no trace on her exquisitely featured face. She gracefully took her seat, meticulously arranged her dress hem, then looked at Ji Qinghe with reserved directness.

The latter’s posture was lazy, long legs crossed, his sitting posture not particularly proper.

His gaze fell from Shen Qianzhan’s brows and eyes to her lips, then from her slender swan neck to the straight shoulders covered by a layer of thin gauze, finally landing somewhat suggestively on her chest, with a mix of appraisal and restraint: “Underestimated the bust size?”

Shen Qianzhan was wearing the haute couture gown Ji Qinghe had sent over two days ago.

With this question, her previously prepared script was instantly shattered. She looked up, saying each word angrily: “It’s because I’ve grown.”

Ji Qinghe was noncommittal, but his eyes held some deeper meaning.

He clearly knew jokes should be appropriate and didn’t tease her further, instead asking: “Any gains tonight?”

Social occasions like this were good opportunities for networking. Neither too deliberate nor too awkward.

“No.” Her tone was somewhat gloomy.

Ji Qinghe looked down at her: “Weren’t you going to question me this afternoon?”

At the thought of that conversation, Shen Qianzhan’s face instantly darkened. She turned to glare at him: “Isn’t President Ji’s way of speaking a bit too improper?”

The lights in the venue dimmed as the host took the stage.

Ji Qinghe’s eyes also deepened with the changing lights: “Only with you.”

Shen Qianzhan didn’t hear clearly and instinctively leaned in, bringing her ear closer.

Ji Qinghe said slowly: “I said you look especially beautiful today.”