Chapter 67: This Is a Bit Tricky

When the news of The Mortal World selling like hotcakes reached Liao Liao, it was already the evening of the 2nd.

The sales and marketing departments of the company were inundated with calls.

Every distributor was demanding more stock—even willing to pay extra—as long as they could get their hands on it.

Watching her colleagues scrambling to fulfill urgent orders, Liao Liao smiled.

She smiled happily, then locked herself in her office for a long time.

Ten minutes later, when she stepped out, she looked so radiant that Xiaotuan almost thought she was a different person.

“Jie, you—”

“Let’s go, time to hear some good news.”

Before Xiaotuan could react, Liao Liao strode forward, brushing past her.

Realizing something, Xiaotuan quickly jogged to catch up.

Before long, they arrived outside the General Manager’s office.

Inside, an angry voice was booming:

“Wang Yang, stop pretending to be some big shot!”

“As if I don’t know what you’re up to?”

“I’m telling you, forget about Jiang Jiang!”

“She’s off-limits!”

“Got it? A non-negotiable asset of Top Entertainment!”

“Don’t even think about offering Dong Ping—we wouldn’t trade her even for Zhao Yuanyuan!”

Right after that, there was a loud bang.

Hearing it, Liao Liao took a deep breath.

Knock, knock, knock!

“Come in!”

Guo Xiangyang’s voice still carried a trace of anger.

But Liao Liao didn’t mind. She exchanged a glance with Xiaotuan before pushing the door open.

The moment she stepped in, her eyes were drawn to the shattered pieces on the floor.

If she remembered correctly, Guo Xiangyang had been using an extremely durable Nokia.

Yet, the Nokia was now in countless fragments, scattered across the office.

That said a lot about how furious he had been.

Seeing this, Liao Liao hesitated before asking, “Mr. Guo… Was it Lion King Entertainment’s Mr. Wang?”

Guo Xiangyang remained silent, seemingly trying to calm himself.

“What did he want…?” Liao Liao pressed.

“He wanted to trade Dong Ping’s contract for Jiang Jiang’s.” Guo Xiangyang let out a disdainful laugh.

“What a joke! Is he out of his mind?” Liao Liao cursed. “Dong Ping is just some third-rate nobody, and he dares to make that offer?”

Then, as if something struck her, she frowned.

“He wants Jiang Jiang’s contract?”

“But Jiang Jiang doesn’t have a contract…”

“Wait, could he be after that?”

Guo Xiangyang’s expression darkened as he nodded. “Looks like our company has a few leaks… We need to be on guard.”

He drummed his fingers on the chair, deep in thought, before saying:

“Wang Yang likely doesn’t know the specifics of Jiang Jiang’s contract. Only you, me, and your assistant Xiaotuan do.”

“From now on, this secret stays sealed. No one is to disclose anything about Jiang Jiang or her contract!”

“Also, you should avoid going to Jiangzhou yourself. If needed, get a trusted friend to act as an intermediary.”

“If Wang Yang has caught wind of this, I doubt other entertainment companies haven’t.”

“Especially those two giants.”

Liao Liao knew exactly who he meant—Tianyu Entertainment and Tenghong Entertainment.

The dominant forces in China’s entertainment industry, these two companies had signed nearly a quarter of all actors, celebrities, and singers in the business.

Any song released by them almost always landed in the top three, rarely falling out of the top five.

Fortunately, their focus was primarily on the acting world rather than the music industry.

But given their resources, they wouldn’t mind grooming a few top-tier songwriters and composers.

“I understand.” Liao Liao nodded firmly, a graceful silhouette surfacing in her mind.

—

During class break, Qi Wen walked over to Jiang Ning’s desk.

“Jiang Jiang, have you seen my Walkman?”

Jiang Ning thought for a moment and then gestured toward the round-faced girl sitting in the front row.

“Du Xiaoyan has it, I think. I just saw her borrow it from Sun Qian.”

Electronic devices were a rarity at school.

Those officially allowed by teachers were as rare as pandas.

Take Qi Wen’s Walkman, for instance.

It had originally been specially approved by Teacher Yang Mei for listening to English. But in recent days, it had been passed around among students to listen to music.

And that was something Teacher Yang Mei had no idea about.

If she found out, the Walkman would probably be confiscated and locked away in her office drawer.

Thinking about this, Jiang Ning recalled that she had also had an MP3 confiscated in her past life.

She had bought it with her New Year’s money, and it was even a well-known brand.

She only got it back after graduating from high school.

Much later, she found out that the original MP3 had corroded due to a leaking battery and was ruined.

The one returned to her had been personally bought by Teacher Yang Mei.

When Jiang Ning heard about this, she had mixed feelings.

She had wanted to thank Teacher Yang Mei, but by then, she had already left the school due to family matters.

It became one of Jiang Ning’s regrets.

Her thoughts drifted, and suddenly, she became curious about Teacher Yang Mei’s husband.

She had never paid attention before, only hearing about him occasionally after the incident.

If she remembered correctly, his name was Yu Honghai.

Apparently, he worked in a government compound.

But in what department, she had no idea.

Maybe she should find out someday.

—

After school in the evening.

Jiang Ning and Luo Shanshan walked side by side down the campus’ sycamore-lined path.

As they stepped over fallen golden leaves, Luo Shanshan—who had been chattering away about gossip—suddenly grew sentimental.

“Jiang Jiang, did you know?”

“Just a few days ago, Tang Bo came to see me.”

“He told me why he didn’t step in that time.”

“He also wanted me to help him apologize to you.”

“And?” Jiang Ning bent down, picking up a leaf larger than her palm and fanning herself with it.

“I turned him down,” Luo Shanshan pouted.

“If he just wanted to explain himself, I might’ve been fine with that.”

“But he also wanted to meet you alone.”

“And that, I wasn’t okay with!”

Jiang Ning chuckled, waving the leaf at her.

“Aww~ Shanshan, don’t be mad.”

“He’s not worth it!”

“Exactly!” Luo Shanshan puffed out her cheeks.

“Don’t worry, Jiang Jiang, I’ll protect you!”

—

Later that evening, Jiang Ning returned home.

Her mother was still out—probably playing mahjong.

Not bothered, Jiang Ning tidied up, climbed into bed, and pulled out her phone.

Ding ding ding!

She scrolled through a few messages but didn’t reply to any of them.

Only one from Tian Wenhao caught her attention. She stared at it for a long time, frowning slightly.

[Ning Ning, we failed the preliminary bid for the station shop rentals.]

She immediately typed back: [Why?]

A reply came shortly after.

[Asked. No response.]

Well then.

This was going to be tricky.