Actresses

Chapter 86 The Situation

He Yuran stayed at the company until the end of the workday before she finally came to her senses. During this time, she still hadn't heard from Shi Jiahe, but it was impossible for her, as the boss, to personally lower herself to contact the agent.

However, staying any longer was too boring, so she stood up and went to the outer room.

"Anyone want to have a team-building activity tonight?" He Yuran asked, hands on her hips.

For some reason, Xiao Zhao didn't leave all afternoon. The other three were also sitting in front of their computers, diligently typing away. Upon hearing this, they all looked at each other, their faces showing that something had happened, but no one dared to be the first to respond.

He Yuran grew anxious. "What? You can't even get people to come over when the boss is treating?"

"Oh, no, no." In the end, it was Ding Yi who stepped in to smooth things over.

He Yuran glared at her. "What's so important that you're busy with something? Busier than me? Do you really think I don't know what you're busy with?"

"Since the boss has spoken, of course we have to go!" Ding Yi quickly led everyone in clapping and then thanked the boss.

He Yuran, however, felt no joy at all.

She asked Ding to book a restaurant, and they strolled over there together after work. During the meal, everyone in the private room tried to talk and laugh, but no one seemed truly happy. He Yuran couldn't help but think back to that elaborate team-building event at Gubei Water Town, which she genuinely didn't want to participate in, but today she inexplicably missed that day.

Undeterred, she suggested going to a karaoke bar after dinner. Everyone responded listlessly, but they went anyway.

Xiao Zhao would nervously ask every now and then if there was anything she needed to do, and He Yuran would say, "Sing your song." She sat in a relatively high spot in front of the microphone stand, watching the people coming and going outside the private room, thinking, "Why didn't anyone get caught cheating this time?" She barely managed to sing until eleven o'clock, and then there were no more songs left. After listening to "Rejecting Gambling, Prostitution, and Drugs" twice, she couldn't take it anymore and said, "Forget it, let's go home. You all look like you're being tortured."

Finally, everyone dispersed in gratitude.

On the way back, He Yuran and Xiao Zhao remained silent. He Yuran had never paid attention to the atmosphere in the car before; as the boss, she didn't need to. But today, she felt uneasy. It was as if the air was lacking oxygen; she had never noticed it before, but today even breathing was difficult.

The car entered the underground parking garage and stopped in front of the building entrance. Xiao Zhao turned to look at He Yuran, his eyes saying, "Boss, go to sleep early," but He Yuran showed no intention of getting out of the car.

"I want to stay in the car for a while," He Yuran said sullenly.

Xiao Zhao's eyes widened. "Then I'll go down."

She was almost laughing in anger. "I told you to stay in the car with me! What are you doing getting out here? Do you think I'm going to eat you?"

"Oh, I thought you found me annoying, boss."

"It's not certain who will bother whom tonight. I spent money and didn't even get any credit." He Yuran became more and more resentful as she thought about it.

"How could that be? The boss is having so much fun with us, we're just having a blast."

"I know tonight is no different from working overtime. I snapped at Jiahe and scared everyone."

"Boss, Sister Jiahe..."

He Yuran always felt a surge of anger whenever she saw someone stammering. But today, she felt she couldn't lose her temper. At least not to say harsh words to a second employee today. Besides, her relationship with Shi Jiahe was different, but she absolutely couldn't do that to Xiao Zhao.

"Tell me your opinion," He Yuran sighed.

"When Jiahe said she was leaving, I found it hard to believe during the day, but now I think it must be true."

"Why? What did she say to you this time?"

"They didn't say anything, we haven't been in contact. But judging from your demeanor, boss, I think you've probably realized that things are different this time compared to your previous arguments..."

"Bullshit, I—" He Yuran instinctively retorted, then immediately regretted it. Sigh, why am I always so stubborn? Her attitude softened instantly. "Actually, if she comes back and apologizes, wouldn't this matter be over?!"

At this moment, He Yuran suddenly remembered what Ding Yi had said, and felt even more saddened and a little disheartened. She asked herself honestly, "I'm a big star, I've already been good enough to my manager, what more do you want?"

"Are you expecting me to be subservient to you? You've always been going along with me, haven't you? Besides, you lied to me about something this big, would it kill you to come back and say something nice?"

By the time she realized it, the words had already slipped out.

"Aren't you even going to ask me why she lied to me?" He Yuran said through gritted teeth.

Xiao Zhao hesitated. "Boss, I don't think I should ask. Besides, I don't think Sister Jiahe would really lie to you."

"I'm so annoyed by you guys. Whenever I say something, you all defend each other. Everyone has their own selfish motives, so why deny it? Besides, it's not that I don't allow people to have their own opinions. What I'm saying is, we can sit down and talk, but it's normal for me to get angry, isn't it? Why can't you accept that these things can coexist? After getting angry, I still have to go on with my life and work. But look at me, you just leave me like this."

Xiao Zhao fell silent again.

He Yuran realized that she wouldn't be able to get the information she wanted from the driver. Xiao Zhao was usually taciturn, and on this matter, not just Xiao Zhao, but probably no one else would say a word.

She waved her hand wearily. "Never mind, you can go back."

But seeing that Xiao Zhao was still looking at her innocently, she realized that if she didn't get out of the car, Xiao Zhao couldn't leave either. He Yuran felt like she should change her name to He Yude, because she was completely burned out. She didn't want to say another word and turned to enter the building.

I've never felt a night could be so long.

Between waking and falling asleep, it felt like a long time had passed, but when she checked the time on her phone, it was still only midnight. Around four or five in the morning, she finally collapsed from exhaustion and didn't wake up until the next morning. She felt dizzy and her eyelids felt incredibly heavy, as if she couldn't open them at all.

Ding sent a WeChat message in the morning asking how to reply to Chen Yueming.

He Yuran thought to herself, "Isn't this something we've already discussed?" She was just about to tell Jiahe that she could ask her when she remembered everything that happened yesterday.

"Have you arrived at the company yet?" He Yuran replied.

"I'm here, boss."

Are you all here?

"Everyone except Jiahe is here. Boss, are you coming to the company today? Without Jiahe, it's difficult to make a lot of decisions."

He Yuran was displeased and sat up abruptly. What kind of talk was this? When did she, Shi Jiahe, become so important? This is my company; I'm going to see what you've been up to all this time. She then typed on WeChat, "I'll be there in a bit."

Ding Yi happily agreed.

He Yuran wasn't going to go bare-faced today, so she put on some light makeup to look more energetic. To appear professional, she also packed her iPad, which she usually uses for reading scripts, into her bag and brought it to the company.

There were still empty workstations, but to fit in with everyone, He Yuran simply sat in Shi Jiahe's seat. Before sitting down, she carefully bent down to look at the dust on the desk. It's alright, too lazy to wipe it.

She plugged the iPad into a power source and clapped her hands. "Any work that needs confirming? Let's get started!"

Upon hearing the sound, Ding Yi quickly brought his computer to her side.

He Yuran frowned and said, "Is it really necessary?"

Ding smiled and pointed at the computer screen. "Boss, this, this, this... these all need your confirmation."

He Yuran's head buzzed. She had never imagined how many trivial matters Shi Jiahe, as her agent, would handle beforehand. Because every time Shi Jiahe came to her home to confirm something, it was actually a major decision the artist needed to make themselves. Ding Yi's current behavior was also reasonable; an executive agent couldn't make all the decisions themselves. Before, with Shi Jiahe around, He Yuran didn't need to worry about everything, but now it was all laid out before her at once.

First, there's the contract for Jiang Fan's filming. This involves scheduling, time, and the sizes of makeup and costumes. It also includes booking tickets, hotel specifications, who will be sent to the set, and the company will likely have to share some of the costs. Second, there's He Yuran herself. Several business partners aren't at her level but are willing to increase the budget; should we continue negotiating? And among the rejected business partners, we need to confirm whether there were any personal connections or influence with He Yuran. Then there's the daily operation of social media, content review, and material archiving. There's also the company's tax planning, contract and invoice tax filing, and office supplies procurement. Recent script selection opinions, connecting with some public welfare projects, and so on—the list goes on.

The third issue is how to handle the scriptwriting contract for "Top Stream Killing Game," which is also the most important remaining problem.

This was actually Ding Yi's biggest worry. "Boss, it involves the initial payment for the script, and Jiahe isn't here, so I'm completely unsure..."

He Yuran thought to herself, "You're asking me? I'm not sure either!"

"Just send the money, what is it that you're unsure about?" He Yuran asked.

"Well, since it's on our end, if we want to continue the collaboration, we need to fulfill the contract, including making payments. But because I haven't received the script, I'm not sure whether or not the payment needs to be made..."

"I didn't get the script either!" He Yuran stared wide-eyed.

"Who was in charge of this script? Has anyone taken over afterward?"

"Sigh, we're the client, so a few days' delay in payment shouldn't be a problem, right? Jiahe said before that the platform was handling it, let me ask Wei Ning."

After finishing her sentence, He Yuran reluctantly picked up her phone. As an actress, she had never proactively called a platform producer before; she was truly at her wit's end today. Even so, she was unwilling to contact Shi Jiahe first. She was still holding her breath, thinking that Shi Jiahe should be the one to reach out to her.

After the call connected, He Yuran said with a straight face, "Xiao Wei, I have something to ask you. Is now a convenient time?"

"Sister Ran, I'm at the hospital. If it's not urgent, I'll call you in a bit."

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"No, I came with Jiahe. She... isn't feeling well."

He Yuran's scalp tightened instantly. "What did you say? Jiahe... what happened to her?"