Chapter 22

"Is that you?"

A soft voice came from the side, and Su Tao felt it sounded familiar. She turned her head, and a familiar face came into view.

"Jiang Wan?" Su Tao asked uncertainly.

She really couldn't tell because the woman in front of her was wearing a fisherman's hat and a mask, obscuring her face. But those eyes were so beautiful that Su Tao intuitively knew it must be Jiang Wan.

"It really is you! I'm so happy you still remember me," Jiang Wan removed her mask and smiled gently and amiably, casually greeting Xie Jin next to her, "Hello Mr. Xie."

Only then did Xie Jin slowly raise his eyelids. His eyes were still filled with chill as he nodded to Jiang Wan, and stole a glance at Su Tao.

The remaining chill also made Jiang Wan shrink back involuntarily.

"I should be the happy one that you still remember me," Su Tao smiled and responded.

Su Tao naturally knew she was recalling what happened a year ago at Tianjin's brand promotion event, when Su Tao had helped block clothes from splashing on her.

"Sister, do you two know each other?" Jiang Qi didn't know when he had walked over.

When he spoke, Su Tao was stunned, "She's your sister?"

Su Tao's first reaction was, it's over, Jiang Wan's brother must have signed with a company already, so she can't sign him anymore.

"What do you think, great genes right? I'm definitely going to make it big in the future. Do you want to be my assistant?" Jiang Qi smiled brightly. Although a bit narcissistic, with a face like his, he had the capital to be narcissistic.

"Don't say nonsense, Little Qi. She is Mr. Xie's secretary from Tianjin Group." Jiang Wan corrected him.

Only then did Su Tao realize she hadn't introduced herself yet. She quickly took out her business card and handed it over, "Not anymore. I'm Su Tao, a manager at Jingyang Entertainment. This is my card."

Su Tao's business card was snatched away by Jiang Qi. His large black and white eyes looked at it carefully, and his thick eyebrows raised slightly, seemingly incredulous, "Talent supervisor? How old are you?"

"Certainly older than you, call me sister." Jiang Wan scolded her brother for being rude.

Jiang Qi didn't take the bait. He put away the business card, cocked an eyebrow at Su Tao, unconsciously flirtatious.

"I'll treat you to a meal." Su Tao took the initiative to invite them. She still hadn't given up on Jiang Qi and wanted to try signing him.

"Sorry, we have plans today and need to get going soon. Next time I'll treat you. I should have treated you a year ago anyway."

Jiang Wan always spoke gently and amiably, with a smile. Unlike Su Tao's cool politeness, she was truly very gentle.

Seeing the siblings leave, the sunset over the sea could only reveal its afterglow. The tall figure blocked even that last bit of light in front of Su Tao.

Xie Jin pursed his lips, his eyes as dark as a bottomless pool, staring intently at her. But not with the previous chill, "You're going to eat with them?"

"What business is it of yours?"

"That brat is interested in you, don't you see it?"

Su Tao was stunned for a moment, "Who? Jiang Qi?"

She didn't know what kind of thought process Xie Jin had. She decided not to continue arguing with him, took a step to the side to look at the filming location, only to find no one was left there.

Not only was no one left at the location, even Jin Chuiwen was gone. Only the afterglow of the sunset and the two of them remained here.

Su Tao was about to call Tong Mingxuan when she saw a message pop up in the group chat that Tong Mingxuan had met up with everyone already, and the crew cars had left.

They all assumed Su Tao would leave with Xie Jin.

Su Tao put down her phone with a sigh, feeling betrayed by her so-called friends. She headed towards the hotel to get her stuff and take a taxi to leave.

After gathering her belongings at the hotel, the door to the balcony wasn't closed. She could hear a voice coming through the balcony, "That Jiang Qi is obviously a scumbag..."

Su Tao was startled and hurried to the balcony. She saw Xie Jin standing on the balcony next door, leaning over and yelling loudly.

"What are you doing?" Su Tao looked left and right to see if anyone else was around.

"You wouldn't listen when I talked to you, so I had to say it this way." Xie Jin's voice was low, but with a hint of grievance. Su Tao steadied her emotions and warned, "Don't say nonsense here, it damages his reputation."

Xie Jin's expression darkened severely at her words, "You've only met him once and you're defending him like this?"

Su Tao shook her head, deciding not to continue arguing with him. She threw over her shoulder, "Xie Jin, stop being unreasonable!" then closed the door and left.

For the first time being called "unreasonable", Xie Jin was stunned in place.

It wasn't until Jin Chuiwen came looking for him that Xie Jin finally snapped out of his daze. He pointed at himself and asked, "Am I being unreasonable?"

Jin Chuiwen's eyes widened, unable to imagine why the boss would describe himself as unreasonable. He quickly shook his head.

-

The crew moved locations to another site, at a tropical rainforest scenic area.

Under the lush vegetation, the air was fresh and the oxygen plentiful.

The hotel was located in the scenic area, one of the sponsor's ways to promote their hotel.

To get to the hotel, one had to cross a long suspension bridge. The sides of the bridge were woven rope netting as railings, and the middle was just bamboo planks pieced together, shaky when stepped on, very unfriendly to those afraid of heights.

Although Su Tao wasn't afraid of heights, stepping onto the seemingly flimsy, violently swaying bridge boards was still thrilling.

After crossing the bridge was a tropical-styled house with a triangular wooden roof, natural and harmonious amidst the woods.

The house in front was just the hotel lobby and restaurant. The actual rooms were scattered throughout various corners of the rainforest.

Because there weren't many rooms, the crew had fully booked this homestay hotel.

The celebrity artists almost all stayed with their agents and assistants in family suites, with two to three rooms in each house. The crew members had it relatively tough, with five to six people squeezed into one suite.

But it was still much better than sleeping on the ground like before.

Arriving late, Su Tao got the room that had been specifically saved for her. She knew right away it would be a single room.

Luckily it was just a standard room with a living room, perfect for her to stay alone without waste.

The hotel surroundings were great. Opening the patio door led to a small infinity pool. Next to the pool was a wooden deck with wooden railings, like a balcony. Sitting on the balcony, it felt as if surrounded by mountains.

Su Tao looked around and saw that diagonally across from her room, slightly higher in elevation, was another house that looked similar to hers from the outside.

There were only some short trees between the two houses. Although not far and visible to each other's rooms, there was no direct way to get there, because under the pool balcony was layers of steep mountains.

Su Tao stood quietly on the balcony for a few minutes. Sure enough, the light in the other house turned on, and soon Xie Jin appeared by the pool, looking over at her.

After verifying her guess, Su Tao gave him a sideways glance and went back into her room, closing the curtains.

The curtains had such great light-blocking effect that the next morning, with no sunlight streaming in, Su Tao was awakened by the chirping of birds outside.

Pulling open the curtains, the sunlight filtering through the layers of trees wasn't glaring, but looked warm and cozy.

When she saw Xie Jin swimming in the infinity pool on the balcony diagonally across, she realized the awkwardness of an infinity pool.

The edges of an infinity pool were made of glass. Xie Jin was only wearing swim trunks, leaning against the pool edge, his fit body in plain sight.

Su Tao was silent for two seconds before closing the curtains again.

After washing up, Su Tao first went to check on her two artists. After confirming the filming time and location, she saw there was still ample time and decided to take a stroll along the mountain path.

Passing by yesterday's suspension bridge, she hadn't been able to see the scenery below in the dark last night. Looking down now in the morning, it was only about 10 meters high, with a creek right below. There was even a pavilion restaurant by the creek that looked like it had nice ambience.

Su Tao put on her Bluetooth earbuds, listening to music as she headed to the restaurant.

With few people in the morning, she almost didn't run into anyone along the way.

To her delight, the restaurant opened very early. Only upon entering did Su Tao discover that the side of the restaurant along the creek had no glass, blending seamlessly with nature.

Su Tao chose a seat near the creek's edge, facing that direction. As she walked over, her head was suddenly patted from above, and one earbud was pulled out.

Turning back, she saw it was actually Jiang Qi.

The cool breeze flowing through the restaurant, accompanied by the boy's smile, was extremely pleasing and refreshing.

"What a coincidence, you're here too?" Su Tao looked behind him in surprise but didn't see Jiang Wan.

Jiang Qi seemed to read her mind. "My sister is filming. I was bored by myself so I came out for a walk."

Su Tao gave an "I see" smile and invited him to sit together.

The restaurant only served coffee and tea in the mornings. Su Tao ordered a pot of Jasmine tippy tea. The two sat on the firm yet soft sofa, listening to the gurgling creek, amidst the curling steam and tea fragrance, and started chatting.

Turned out Jiang Qi had just finished his sophomore year of college nearby and was on summer break. He had come with his sister while she filmed and was also here to learn.

"So you do plan to join the entertainment industry?" Su Tao poured him a cup of tea, taking the chance to probe him.

"Of course, didn't I say so yesterday when we met?"

Jiang Qi leaned lazily on the sofa, every move exuding charm. His eyes were inherently deeply passionate, giving people the illusion of being cherished.

"Oh, the future top actor." Su Tao nodded, lightly chuckling to herself about these two unlikely words combined together.

"What? Don't believe me? Think I'm bragging?" Jiang Qi sat up straight, gaze burning as he looked at her.

Su Tao returned his gaze directly, sincerity filling her clear doe eyes, "I believe you."

But Jiang Qi just stared at her silently, the depth in his eyes seeming to beguile people to sink into them.

Su Tao looked back into his eyes as if spellbound, but her mind was racing. She had to seize this chance to sign Jiang Qi. This boy was too charming. He would definitely become wildly popular.

"How old are you really?" Jiang Qi suddenly spoke up, asking her age again.

Su Tao blinked, thoughts spinning quickly. Afraid that disclosing her real age would make him think she lacked experience and not trust her ability to make him popular, which would then hinder signing him.

Su Tao played it safe, "How old do you think I am?"

"You?" Jiang Qi deliberately dragged out his words, cocking his brows with a juvenile roguish smile. He stretched out an arm and patted her head condescendingly, "Just a year younger than me at most, right sister?"

Su Tao immediately detected the mocking emphasis on "sister".

But she didn't care about his attitude, playing along, "Of course, a old aunty like me certainly can't resist your charm."

Jiang Qi's smile faded, eyes reflecting boredom. He lazily took out his phone, scanned her QR code, tapped to request adding her, didn't even change the default remarks, then put away his phone.

He finished the tea in his cup uninterestedly, then stood up to leave.

"Let's meet up next time." Su Tao looked at him expectantly with bright eyes.

Jiang Qi lowered his head with a smile, "Sister, a girl can't be so easily hooked, that would be boring."

Su Tao stared at his back for a long time until he disappeared, then reflected that she seemed a little too proactive, feeling that he might not come out next time she asked him.

No matter, there was still Jiang Wan. If Jiang Wan agreed, Jiang Qi would probably not refuse.

Su Tao quickly sent Le Xuan a message to draft two contracts, one according to the standard for newcomers, a five-year contract, and one according to the standard for top stars, but with increased penalties, for ten years.

The rising sun finally broke through the shade of the trees and shone on Su Tao. She clenched her fist, determined to get Jiang Qi!

After settling the bill, Su Tao put on her headphones again, turned on some passionate songs, and turned up the volume. Embracing the passion from when she first started in the business, she walked out of the restaurant.

As soon as she left the restaurant she ran into Xie Jin.

"I just saw you guys on the bridge, what's the deal with that Jiang Qi? Was he tailing you? And you even added him on WeChat!"

The passionate music was still blaring in her headphones, she could only see Xie Jin's displeased face moving as if he was saying something, but she didn't catch a single word.

Su Tao walked around him and continued forward, with Xie Jin following behind, babbling incessantly, seeming a bit agitated.

The live version of the song blared from her headphones, the singer passionately vocalizing and interacting with the audience "Is this good?"

Su Tao nodded along happily.

"You agree? Then delete it now." Xie Jin's face lit up, his obedient little Taohong was finally back.

He grabbed Su Tao's hand and pulled her in front of him, smiling as he waited for her.

Su Tao blinked, looking at him blankly.

Xie Jin patiently held out his hand, "Then give me your phone, I'll delete it for you."

Su Tao puzzledly took out an earbud and asked him in confusion, "What are you doing?"

Xie Jin's smile froze as he sensed something wrong, but still clung to a shred of hope as he said, "Deleting Jiang Qi from WeChat, didn't you just agree?"

Su Tao let out a cold laugh, looking at him as if he were a weirdo, "Why would I listen to you?"

With that she put the earbud back in and strode forward, as if avoiding the plague.

Xie Jin: "......"