Stubborn words aside, proper courtesy couldn’t be lacking.

Shen Qianzhan switched the phone to her left hand, using her right to pick through essence, toner, moisturizer, and eye cream, stuffing them into her makeup bag: “It’s been so long since we’ve met, I indeed miss Mr. Ji’s handsome and distinguished bearing.”

Ji Qinghe curved his lips, accepting her compliment: “Going on a business trip? For how long?”

“To Wuxi.” Shen Qianzhan’s tone was helpless: “Return date undetermined, depends entirely on when the ‘Spring River’ crew can recover.”

Shen Qianzhan deeply felt she was in the wrong here. She had clearly agreed to the Xi’an trip with Ji Qinghe first, and even if it was due to work deployment, failing to keep her promise counted as breaking faith. Furthermore, her notification was inadequate—if Ming Jue hadn’t called to ask about her availability, she probably would have arrived in Wuxi before remembering this matter.

When one feels guilty, they like to seek validation. Since it wasn’t face-to-face, Shen Qianzhan felt much more at ease: “Wuxi has snow disasters, the crew stopped work and is waiting, wasting considerable funds. Producer Xiao has no experience handling this kind of situation. Boss Su was also afraid that continued delays would cause severe losses for both the company and investors, so she had no choice but to temporarily dispatch me to help.”

Her tone was completely that of “I don’t want to either, I’m just an insignificant little cog working for capital, with orders I dare not disobey”—full of helplessness and frustration.

Ji Qinghe wasn’t very familiar with the operational mechanisms of film crews. Hearing this, he was quite lenient, telling her not to take the broken promise to heart, that there would be plenty of time in the future.

After hanging up, Shen Qianzhan stared at her phone, speechless for a long time.

If before she had merely suspected Ji Qinghe was acting strangely, now based on his behavior and attitude, she was absolutely certain that this bastard had changed.

According to Ji Qinghe’s usual reactions, while the Xi’an trip would ultimately be postponed, he wouldn’t spare her a few sarcastic remarks. But strangely, he held the perfect ammunition of her going back on her word, yet comforted her to handle urgent matters first? He neither pursued the issue nor flew into a rage…

Was this the nitpicking Ji Qinghe she knew?

He was clearly running a charity hall at home, devoted to benevolence—a philanthropist.

——

Shen Qianzhan felt uneasy inside. After holding it in all night, when she rode with Su Zan to Wuxi the next day, she might as well have had “I’m full of worries” written in big characters across her face.

Su Zan couldn’t stand it and tried to console her: “It’s just Xiao Sheng, do you really need to act like you’re facing a formidable enemy? You’ve still got me!” His status as Qiandeng’s crown prince was quite useful with everyone except Shen Qianzhan, carrying natural authority.

The misunderstood Shen Qianzhan didn’t even lift her eyes, muttering: “I know what I’m doing with Xiao Sheng.”

Su Zan followed her gaze to look at the layers of snow accumulated outside the highway surface, asking: “If it’s not Xiao Sheng, who else could make you worry?” He fired off a series of test questions, from “Time”‘s script to project progress, from mortgage payments to handbags, finally hitting on romantic troubles: “You don’t even have a close girlfriend to share secrets with. I’ll suffer a bit and help you think things through.”

Shen Qianzhan never guarded against Su Zan. After just a few seconds of consideration, she couldn’t help raising her doubts: “Has something unknown and significant happened inside Bu Zhong Sui?”

Su Zan opened a bag of chips, crunching as he asked: “There have been things, but quite a lot has happened recently. What counts as significant?” Without waiting for Shen Qianzhan to provide precise criteria, he continued on his own: “The Bu Zhong Sui Asia spokesperson thing should count as pretty big, right? I heard that Bu Zhong Sui internally had actually decided on a top celebrity, with plans all ready, but then Ming Jue brought Mr. Ji’s orders over and directly had the person replaced.”

Shen Qianzhan had been diligent about work lately, knowing little about dinner parties and gossip. Hearing this, she leaned over with interest: “Who?”

The drama queen Su Zan looked around like a thief, saw that Old Shen and his wife were sleeping soundly, lowered his voice and whispered in Shen Qianzhan’s ear: “The one whose butt you grabbed.”

Shen Qianzhan: “…”

Her face went from green to black, and she unceremoniously snatched the chips from Su Zan’s hands: “When you learn to respect your elders and love the young, that’s when you get these back.”

Su Zan was delighted, and only after laughing enough did he say: “I’m not lying to you, it’s all true. Just have dinner with a Bu Zhong Sui executive in charge of this matter and you’ll know. They’re still confused, completely clueless about how this top celebrity offended Mr. Ji. Only I knew immediately that this matter wasn’t simple.”

Shen Qianzhan rolled her eyes, no longer in the mood for emotional counseling. She threw the chips back to Su Zan, pulled down her eye mask, and caught up on sleep.

——

From Beijing to Wuxi was a fourteen-hour journey. With regional blizzards, terrible weather, and poor road conditions, Shen Qianzhan’s group was forced to make a rest stop at a service station midway.

The service area was packed. Old Shen and the driver went to get hot water, while Mother Shen felt unwell after getting back in the car and was still sleeping after taking motion sickness medicine.

Su Zan went out for a stroll and returned carrying two servings of five-spice tofu, gesturing for her to get out for some fresh air.

The snow had stopped long ago. The air was filled with a crisp coldness, as if ice and snow had washed away all impurities, leaving only the pungent yet cold freshness that revived one’s flagging spirits.

Su Zan handed her two bamboo skewers: “I saw a long queue at the window, and it smelled like it was stewed in meat broth, so I bought two servings. If it’s good, I’ll get some for them later to fill their stomachs.”

Shen Qianzhan’s nose picked up the sour and spicy flavor in the soup: “You added seasoning for me?”

Su Zan was busy eating, made an “mm” sound, bit down half a piece of tofu, and kept panting from the heat: “Don’t you like eating it with vinegar and spice?” He took another bite of the meat skewer and asked: “Earlier, what did you want to tell me?”

Confiding always required the right atmosphere and mood.

Shen Qianzhan no longer had the troubled mood that wanted to confide from the beginning. She shook her head: “It’s nothing.”

Su Zan didn’t believe her.

He understood Shen Qianzhan—forcing wouldn’t pry this woman’s mouth open. When they first met, their communication relied entirely on his guessing and betting. When he guessed right, this ancestor would bestow a few glances and chat a bit. Those days were incredibly difficult.

After thinking, Su Zan squatted down on the steps and said: “Alright, then let me chat with you for a bit.”

He chewed and swallowed the last meat skewer, saying indistinctly: “The day before leaving, Comrade Old Shen asked me to go fishing and inquired about Mr. Ji’s character.”

Su Zan glanced at Shen Qianzhan, saw that she only paused with her bamboo skewer, and continued: “I jokingly asked if Auntie had urged him to ask. He said no, he just wanted to understand himself, asking about everything from Mr. Ji’s age to family situation. Seeing him asking while pondering, I asked what he was worried about.”

“Old Shen didn’t say, he said privately inquiring was actually quite impolite, but he and Auntie were about to leave Beijing, and not asking clearly left him feeling uneasy.” Su Zan fake-laughed twice: “I can quite understand Uncle and Auntie’s feelings. This trip back to Wuxi together is also an opportunity. I think you’d better explain your intentions to the elders, so they won’t be afraid to ask you but worry unnecessarily.”

Shen Qianzhan quietly ate her tofu, as if she hadn’t heard.

Su Zan was long accustomed to this attitude from her. He looked up at the busy service area with people and cars coming and going, rubbing his chin: “Sister Zhan, I know you’ve had a hard journey. These past years, you’ve led me through everything you encountered. I can understand how difficult it’s been for you to get where you are now. I also know you weren’t always like you are now, unwilling to accept anyone’s kindness. Mr. Ji is quite sincere toward you. I know some things I’ve done are quite annoying, but my original intention was also to create some opportunities for you. I’m not afraid of being misunderstood, I’m just afraid you’ll be too resistant and miss opportunities.” He spoke more and more quietly, his tone shifting at the end with a hint of envy: “Though I don’t support measuring love with money, Mr. Ji’s family has real gold and silver. Whether dating or marriage, you won’t lose out, trust me! Really won’t lose out.”

Initially, Shen Qianzhan listened while thinking, feeling Su Zan made sense on this point and that point too, but the more she listened, the more wrong it sounded. She glared at the money-obsessed Su Zan, expressionless: “Do I need you to tell me whether I’d lose out or not?”

Of course she wouldn’t lose out!

Sleep with him once, break even; twice, profit massively.

Did she not know this logic?

But jokes aside, Su Zan’s words did create ripples in Shen Qianzhan’s heart.

On the road again, Shen Qianzhan closed her eyes, but her mind was filled with Su Zan’s words in surround sound, like a spell, disturbing her peace.

Whether due to Su Zan’s rare emotional moment or because she was already wavering, there was a scale at height swaying precariously, about to be destroyed.

——

They arrived in Wuxi at midnight.

According to Shen Qianzhan’s arrangement, they would first send Old Shen and his wife home, with the driver conveniently resting in town for the night before heading to the “Spring River” crew the next day.

After reaching town, she first arranged for the driver and Su Zan to stay at a hotel.

When dawn broke the next day, everyone headed to the film base.

She had prepared emergency plans before coming. After arriving at the crew’s hotel, she skipped pleasantries entirely and efficiently called together the leadership including Xiao Sheng for an emergency meeting.

The meeting lasted until that evening. She simply and effectively listed solutions for Xiao Sheng to execute.

Blizzards causing snow disasters were force majeure; no matter how many plans there were, they only served to reduce the crew’s losses.

Fortunately, although Xiao Sheng had personal opinions about her, he didn’t inappropriately create trouble at this moment. After the meeting dispersed, he even showed genuine gratitude for her braving the heavy snow to aid the crew.

Shen Qianzhan pulled at the corners of her mouth, her surface performance flawless: “We’re all colleagues, helping each other is natural.”

She excused herself as being too tired from the journey and needing rest, avoiding dinner socializing, and returned to her room to sleep.

She slept until noon the next day. Upon waking, the horizon was grayish, impossible to tell if it was morning or afternoon.

Southern hotels had no heating, only air conditioning. Now the air seemed frozen solid, with even the last trace of warmth completely dissolved.

Shen Qianzhan slept groggily, not only failing to relieve fatigue but feeling light-headed and heavy-footed, weighted down like lead.

She struggled to sit up and looked at the air conditioner—the red ribbon tied to the air conditioning vent hung quietly, having been shut off for some time.

She leaned over to check the wall lamp she hadn’t turned off last night. The lamp was dark, the room dim and oppressive as if covered by crow feathers.

The blankets were cold and damp, somewhat stiff from the cold air’s penetration.

Shen Qianzhan hazily realized the power was out and first checked her phone.

In the signal bar, her phone signal had dropped to the last bar, pitifully weak.

The power was out.

After confirming this fact, Shen Qianzhan fell backward, lying down again with no will to live.

——

After spending half an hour finally accepting the reality of the power outage, Shen Qianzhan resignedly got up to wash up.

When Su Zan came knocking with the life producer, Shen Qianzhan had just finished washing up.

The life producer came to deliver lunch boxes. Seeing Shen Qianzhan awake, she finally sighed with relief: “I came to deliver breakfast this morning, knocked but no one answered. Afraid of disturbing your rest, I didn’t wake you. Just now when delivering lunch, there was still no response, so I came with Young Master Su.”

Shen Qianzhan smiled and told her to go handle her own business first.

Su Zan had stayed up late drinking with Xiao Sheng last night, got up late, had little appetite. He grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the tea table, drinking while entering the room: “Why is your room so cold?” After speaking, he rubbed his hands and urged her: “Hurry up and eat. After this morning’s blizzard and power outage, the entire crew is like they’ve been frost-bitten, waiting for you to be their backbone.”

Shen Qianzhan remained unhurried: “My going won’t restore power.”

Su Zan was speechless and simply shut his mouth.

The current power outage was undoubtedly adding insult to injury for the “Spring River” crew.

The crew had already been suspended for nearly half a month, with several hundred people idling in the hotel every day. Now even this shelter was affected by the blizzard and shut down, who knew how many staff members would have mental breakdowns.

Just thinking about it gave Shen Qianzhan a splitting headache.

Perhaps seeing her bad mood, Su Zan waited until she finished eating to say: “Mr. Ji couldn’t get through to your phone, so he called me.”

Shen Qianzhan was somewhat surprised: “Did he say what it was about?”

Su Zan grinned mischievously: “Originally nothing, but after I mentioned that the actors in this crew all look exactly to your taste, there’s probably something now.”