Chapter 46: Behind the Scenes of the Circle

Jiang Cheng and Su Manyao were playing games when Su Manyao's company was Qingman Entertainment.

An office—actually not really an office, just a tiny workroom, with space only enough for a dressing table and a small sofa.

Ye Qing curled up on the sofa, hugging their knees, face buried in their knees, sobbing uncontrollably!

Beside them on the sofa sat their agent, Chen Jie.

Chen Jie, whose real name was Chen Hong, was a 37-year-old agent at Qingman Entertainment, managing four artists.

Chen Jie was of the sort that didn't do well in the company, so the resources allocated weren't great—something they knew. Of the four under them, only Ye Qing seemed to have a chance: good looks, a pleasant voice, often contacted by wealthy people hoping to do private side business, for which the going rate was usually several times that of comparable stars—though such offers were always refused.

But this was enough to see that Ye Qing themselves still possessed unique charm!

So they believed Ye Qing—if given a chance, they would surely become popular! In fact such opportunities already existed, and there were two of them! But both were sabotaged by people, one just now. Chen Jie reached out and gently stroked Ye Qing's beautiful back: "Little Qing, don't cry, you'll hurt your voice."

Ye Qing didn't speak, either arching their back against the hand or burying their head and sobbing.

Chen Jie sighed and said: "That's just how this circle is; don't rush, opportunities will always come."

Upon hearing Chen Jie say that opportunities would always come, Ye Qing cried even harder.

Chen Jie went to help Ye Qing up, but froze.

They also didn't know what to say; if blame is to be assigned, it's their own lack of ability—they couldn't even protect their own artists.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

Chen Jie lifted their head but hadn't risen yet; just as the knock sounded, the door lock clicked once, then without opening, a loud pounding followed.

This was someone knocking on the door, then directly trying to open it but failing, beginning to violently pound the door.

The young coconut who had been loudly crying was startled into a jerk, their sobbing stopped, they lifted their head—eyes filled with red bloodshot veins, a delicate face—at this moment, I felt pity.

"Who's there?" Chen Jie asked.

"Open the door!" came Zhang Anqi's voice from outside.

Chen Jie startled, glanced at Ye Qing, seeing Ye Qing wiping tears wildly with the back of their hand, but the already faint makeup was now a mess.

"Go open the door." Ye Qing said.

They put their feet down from the sofa, slipped into high heels, then tidied their clothes, reached to wipe tears from their face, trying to hide that they'd been crying—but it was obviously wishful thinking.

The room door opened; standing in the doorway was Zhang Anqi wearing a deep V suspenders, beside them stood their female assistant.

Zhang Anqi's face bore a clear-river smile, while their assistant wore a look of mockery, glancing askance at Chen Jie opening the door while shaking their left hand.

Obviously it was them who had just been pounding the door, and they'd hurt their hand.

"Ye Qing, what are you doing?" Zhang Anqi, wearing deep V suspenders and twisting their waist, walked into the workroom, looking with a friendly smile at the standing Ye Qing and asked.

"Hmm, nothing much, just resting." Ye Qing said.

Zhang Anqi seemed unable to see Ye Qing's bloodshot eyes or the tear tracks, their smile growing brighter as they stepped up to Ye Qing and said, close up: "You're so unreasonable; this makes things difficult for me. Next week I have a performance event needing two people; I'll give you a spot—want it?"

Ye Qing took a deep breath, glanced over to see Zhang Anqi's beaming face—a face that once was the most laugh-inducing galaxy, but going to LeTV made them feel terrified.

"Of course I'm willing, thank you Anqi for giving us Xiao Qing this opportunity!"

Seeing Ye Qing silent, Chen Jie hurried over to smooth things over.

They pulled Ye Qing's arm, then smiled at Zhang Anqi and said, "Thank you, Anqi."

Ye Qing hesitated, voice like a mosquito saying, "Thank you." "Hah!" Zhang Qi gave a cold laugh, their clear-river smile gradually turning sinister, eyes flashing cold light as they reached out and pinched Ye Qing's chin.

"Ah!"

Ye Qing winced and struggled, but the chin was held fast, unable to break free.

Chen Jie reached out to intervene, but their hand stopped midair.

If they really pushed Zhang Anqi away now, it might truly cut off Ye Qing's path! Zhang Anqi pinched Ye Qing's chin, lifted their face, leaned in to inspect the sickly expression, and said: "Ye Qing, can you tell me how you grew such a face? I'm really envious!"

Ye Qing's body twisted slightly, but it was clear they dared not struggle.

Only tears kept sliding from their eyes, not daring to meet Zhang Anqi's gaze.

"I took your song—aren't you upset?" Zhang Anqi asked, but Ye Qing said nothing.

In fact Zhang Anqi didn't need Ye Qing to answer—the answer was written on their face—but they didn't care.

"Tell me now whether you want next week's business opportunity."

"Ah!"

Ye Qing let out another soft cry—clearly Zhang Anqi's hand pinching their chin had just tightened further.

"Mm, you're willing." Ye Qing replied.

Zhang Anqi gave a cold laugh, opened their eyes, the smile they'd had upon entering gone, and said lightly: "I don't want to see your eyes red when you're at the company."

Having said that, they turned and left.

After leaving, Zhang Anqi's complexion changed; the calm composure they'd had when exiting was gone, somewhat anxious they pulled out their phone to call Kangwei.

"Destroy Ye Qing!"

"I want you to return to Ye Qing, giving them no chance at all!"

They lowered their voice into a hoarse shout into the phone!

"What's up? Just a nobody." came Kangwei's voice on the other end.

Zhang Anqi said: "This woman can endure too much; their resentment is already heavy—ordinary people would have exploded by now, but they still manage to hold on to the last thread!"

"Such a woman can't stay; if given a chance, their fine condition would mean you and I would both be unable to get by!"

Kangwei said: "I know how to handle it; no need for you to teach me."

Having said that, Kangwei hung up the phone.

"You!"

The hung-up-on Zhang Anqi stared at the phone, furious!

On the other end, Kangwei sat in their office, eyes on the phone placed on the desk, thinking: "Don't I know they have good conditions? If their conditions were bad, how could I possibly be watching them!"

…

In the mountain villa.

After the first round of the game ended, the second round was about to start immediately!

Just after hearing the game rules, Jiang Cheng felt it was boring because he thought he probably couldn't play this game.

The aloof Yujie Su Manyao would never do such a shameful thing with him! (End of chapter)