Chapter 23
As the crowd surged towards the narrow entrance, Zhuo Zhi focused on protecting Li Qinyue. She formed a protective circle around her with her arms, preventing her from being jostled by the crowd.
Li Qinyue, however, clearly wasn’t as experienced with taking the bus as she had claimed. She would give way to older people trying to squeeze through, and step back to make space for children with large backpacks getting swallowed by the crowd.
As a result, the two physically capable young women ended up at the back of the line, squeezing through the gap by the door just as it closed, almost hitting Li Qinyue in the face.
“Phew—” Li Qinyue let out a long breath. Her position wasn’t too bad, facing the window, at least she had a view.
Zhuo Zhi was right behind her, but not touching her, holding a space between them with effort. She even managed to fish out some change and pass it forward to pay the fare.
The bus started, packed with winter-plump humans, swaying slowly. After a short distance, it got stuck at an intersection.
“Hey,” Li Qinyue nudged Zhuo Zhi with her shoulder, “Can I turn around?”
Zhuo Zhi was surprised that Li Qinyue would actually ask for her opinion. She quickly replied, “It’s best not to, it’s better to face the window.”
Li Qinyue wriggled around, her hip brushing against Zhuo Zhi’s waist, then her shoulder bumping against Zhuo Zhi’s face. In this confined space, she utilized every inch, finally turning around.
Seeing that Li Qinyue wouldn’t listen to her advice, Zhuo Zhi sighed inwardly, thinking this was more typical of her.
Li Qinyue was, as always, wearing high heels. Even when she wore sneakers to match her outfit, she chose ones with platform soles. So, she was, as always, much taller than Zhuo Zhi.
Zhuo Zhi’s body and outstretched arms formed a barrier, preventing others from touching Li Qinyue. Li Qinyue looked down at the top of her head and asked, “Is it heavy?”
Zhuo Zhi knew she was asking about the middle-aged woman leaning against her back. She twitched the corner of her mouth, “It’s alright.”
“I…” Li Qinyue raised her hand, intending to touch the woman.
Zhuo Zhi reacted quickly, grabbing her wrist, “Don’t.”
“Why not?” Li Qinyue looked down at her.
“This is how it is on the bus, everyone has to be considerate.”
“Oh.” Li Qinyue nudged Zhuo Zhi’s forehead with her chin, “Little Miss Goody-Two-Shoes.”
The heater was on in the bus, and everyone was bundled up in thick clothes. The air was hot and filled with a mixture of smells. Even standing at the front of the bus, Zhuo Zhi could smell someone in the middle who had eaten chive-filled buns.
In this sea of complex odors, she was an oasis. Li Qinyue’s scent was so pleasant, with layers of fragrance that wafted around with every slight movement.
The scent of her hair, her clothes, her wrist, and the delicate scent of her neck that hovered before Zhuo Zhi’s eyes.
The bus started moving again slowly. As the crowd swayed, Li Qinyue’s body bumped against Zhuo Zhi’s left hand, then her right hand.
Zhuo Zhi planted her feet firmly, making sure that the starting and stopping of the bus wouldn’t affect Li Qinyue.
Li Qinyue looked down and asked, “Are your arms tired?”
This kind of thoughtful concern was rare. Zhuo Zhi looked up at her and smiled, “No, I’m not tired.”
“They look tired to me,” Li Qinyue’s voice was soft, “You make me look like some kind of alien.”
“Eh, really?” Zhuo Zhi hadn’t noticed. She looked around and indeed, only she was awkwardly shielding someone like this.
“Give me your hand,” Li Qinyue nudged her with her arm.
Zhuo Zhi was too embarrassed to move.
Li Qinyue rolled her eyes slightly, reached out, and grabbed Zhuo Zhi’s arm, placing it around her waist.
“Hold on tight,” she said, “Otherwise, I’ll fall.”
“I won’t let you fall.”
“I don’t believe you,” Li Qinyue took her other hand and placed it on the other side of her waist, making her hold on tightly, “Now I believe you.”
Zhuo Zhi was helpless but didn’t let go.
Li Qinyue smiled, “If we fall, we fall together.”
It took more than ten stops for bus number 121 to reach the city center, and each stop was packed with people.
Zhuo Zhi and Li Qinyue were pushed further and further in, eventually ending up at the back of the bus, squeezed into the aisle.
During this arduous journey, Zhuo Zhi’s hands on Li Qinyue’s waist kept moving backwards until she found the most stable position.
That was, holding Li Qinyue’s waist, truly getting a feel for how slim it was.
From Zhuo Zhi’s perspective, she was doing her best to protect Li Qinyue. But from other people’s perspective, it wasn’t quite the same.
When they finally reached their destination and got off the bus, a middle-aged woman followed closely behind them and said to Li Qinyue, “You should exercise more, dear.”
Li Qinyue raised an eyebrow, “Huh?”
The woman looked at Zhuo Zhi, who was inseparable from Li Qinyue, “Such a big girl, still clinging to someone on the bus. Your job must be tough.”
Li Qinyue burst out laughing, waving her hand and sighing, “What can I do? She’s afraid of crowds.”
“Bring her out more,” the woman said earnestly, “She’ll get used to it if she sees more people.”
“Thank you,” Li Qinyue put her arm around Zhuo Zhi’s shoulder, “Let’s go, Sister will show you the world.”
Although the smog in Nanhai City was severe, it was a relief to get off the agonizing bus. Zhuo Zhi didn’t have time to dwell on the misunderstanding. She took several deep breaths and unzipped her jacket, letting the heat dissipate from her body.
Li Qinyue looked down at her, “You’re so weak, you’re sweating just from taking the bus.”
“It’s hot,” Zhuo Zhi looked at her, pursing her lips, “And I was nervous.”
“Nervous from holding my waist?” Li Qinyue pulled her hand back to her waist, “Listen to that auntie, hold on more and you won’t be nervous.”
“That’s not it,” Zhuo Zhi pulled her hand away and jumped back, putting some distance between them, “I was afraid you would be touched by others.”
“Why are you so possessive?” Li Qinyue chuckled, “You can’t even stand someone brushing against me?”
Zhuo Zhi was helpless. She stared at Li Qinyue for a while, giving up on explaining.
Li Qinyue straightened her collar and waved her hand, leading Zhuo Zhi towards the luxurious office building, “I’m just teasing you, time to work.”
The company Li Qinyue brought Zhuo Zhi to this time was much larger than the one behind “Shengge”.
The sign was shiny, the plants were lush, and the security was very tight.
From the moment they entered the building, they went through three layers of security checks. Finally, after Li Qinyue opened the company’s glass door with her fingerprint, Zhuo Zhi filled out a visitor registration form before being allowed in.
As she followed Li Qinyue inside, Zhuo Zhi stood up straight, afraid of embarrassing her.
She kept her eyes straight ahead, only relaxing after Li Qinyue entered her office. She looked around, “President Li, is this your company too? You’re so amazing.”
“Yeah,” the amazing President Li sat on her executive chair with her legs crossed, looking every bit the domineering CEO.
“Do you need to go through some documents?” Zhuo Zhi looked at the sofa, “Should I wait for you there?”
“Hmm…” Li Qinyue drawled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. She suddenly picked up the intercom and said, “One coffee, one juice, blueberry juice. Send over the shortlisted videos, no, all of them, no need to edit, I know how to fast forward…”
Her tone was calm and indifferent, like polished marble. Zhuo Zhi admired this side of Li Qinyue, her eyes shining as she stared at her.
Li Qinyue finished her call and looked up at her, “What are you standing there for?”
“Oh, okay,” Zhuo Zhi hurriedly walked towards the sofa.
“Come here,” Li Qinyue called out to her, patting her leg, “Sit here.”
Zhuo Zhi didn’t move.
Li Qinyue smiled, “Bring a chair over and watch something with me.”
Zhuo Zhi immediately moved a chair next to Li Qinyue and stared at the computer screen with her.
Someone knocked on the office door. A handsome young man, dressed neatly, entered with two drinks. His voice was gentle and pleasant, “President Li, your coffee.”
Li Qinyue tilted her chin, gesturing for him to put it down.
The young man looked at Zhuo Zhi and smiled, “Your juice.”
Zhuo Zhi was a little flattered. She quickly took the juice and said with a smile, “Thank you.”
Li Qinyue patted Zhuo Zhi’s head, “Take a look, tell me which ones you like and which ones you don’t.”
Zhuo Zhi leaned closer and saw a row of videos playing on the computer screen, showing several girls introducing themselves.
The young man quietly retreated and closed the office door.
Shengle Media was originally a struggling talent agency. A year ago, it was acquired, and the boss changed, and it gradually started to develop.
The company originally focused on music, signing a bunch of internet celebrities from various platforms. After the new boss took over, she put all of them in the “Idol Trainee Team”.
For newcomers to get a share of the pie in the current entertainment industry dominated by traffic, participating in popular talent shows or variety shows was undoubtedly the fastest and most effective way. The new boss didn’t care about seniority, or even talent. Whoever could get on the show and become popular was the future star the company would focus on cultivating.
Now, a large-scale girl group talent show called “12 New Stars”, produced by a leading company in the business world, was in the audition stage. The girls in the “Idol Trainee Team” were desperate to secure a spot on the show before the New Year.
How to operate, how to choose, it was originally the manager’s power. The new boss didn’t care about the process, only the results. After taking over the company, she had only come a few times. Dong Xin counted, this should be her third visit.
As soon as she arrived, she asked for the shortlisted videos of the “12 New Stars” contestants and even brought along a delicate-looking girl to watch them with her.
Dong Xin could only try to gather information from his limited observations. As the general manager’s secretary, his judgment was always a weathervane for the company’s artists.
The elusive new boss had asked for two drinks, coffee for herself, no specific requirements, but she had specified the flavor for the juice.
During the two minutes Dong Xin was in the office, the new boss’s gaze was split between the computer and the girl. She patted the girl’s head and said a very crucial sentence: “Take a look, tell me which ones you like and which ones you don’t.”
It was too obvious, too blatant.
Dong Xin quickly typed a message and sent it to a private group chat:
–There might be a change in the “12 New Stars” selection.
The group chat immediately exploded. These were all colleagues who were close to Dong Xin, they shared information and were very reliable.
Dong Xin summarized what he had seen:
–President Li brought her new lover to choose the contestants. The decision is probably in the new lover’s hands. It’ll probably be finalized today.
Everyone didn’t care if this new lover had any previous lovers. They had been fighting for a spot on “12 New Stars” for so long, each with their own interests involved. They had been battling for a month, and they couldn’t lose to a dark horse that suddenly appeared.
Messages popped up one after another, and finally, they agreed on a solution that was beneficial to everyone.
–At least show our faces and try to appeal to her.
Dong Xin took a deep breath. The task was arduous, but it had to be done.
He stood up, straightened his clothes, silently memorized the names of a few artists that the group chat had recommended, and then walked steadily towards that special office once again.
He knocked on the door. After a while, a voice came from inside, “Come in.”
Dong Xin pushed the door open. The first thing he saw was the delicate-looking girl’s flushed face, and then he received a glare from the new boss.
He quickly averted his gaze and walked up to her briskly, “President Li, our artists An Qi, Apple, and Zhang Baobei are here for their monthly performance. President Chen is not available, would you like to…”
Li Qinyue glanced at the computer screen, knowing what was going on. She turned to Zhuo Zhi and asked with a smile, “Want to see them in person?”
Dong Xin exclaimed inwardly: As expected, as expected, I’m a modern-day Zhuge Liang*! (Note: Chinese recognised as the most accomplished strategist of his era)
Zhuo Zhi nodded. Li Qinyue said to Dong Xin, “Bring them in.”
Dong Xin left the office and quickly sent a message in the group chat:
–Come over quickly!
–Remember to pay attention to the girl next to her, she’s the main character today!
–Observe their types when you enter, then decide how to approach her, don’t mess things up!
There was a chorus of replies in the group chat, everyone scrambling to prepare for the unknown judge.
Zhuo Zhi, however, was oblivious to all of this.
Li Qinyue had been showing her a bunch of videos of girls singing and dancing. In Zhuo Zhi’s opinion, the girls in the videos were all pretty and cute. But Li Qinyue would occasionally point at one and tell her that this one had knocked on her door in the middle of the night, that one had tried to seduce her by getting wet and bumping into her, and another one had tried to set her up with her sixteen-year-old brother.
Zhuo Zhi frowned, finding it hard to believe that these seemingly innocent girls in the videos could do such things in private.
Li Qinyue asked her if she wanted to meet them in person. Zhuo Zhi was curious, so she nodded.
She wanted to see for herself what these future stars, hiding behind the screens, were really like.
Zhuo Zhi stood up, ready to move her chair aside and observe these people as Li Qinyue’s bodyguard.
But Li Qinyue stopped her and said, “You can move the chair, but don’t move yourself.”
“Hmm?” Zhuo Zhi was bending over, confused.
Li Qinyue patted her leg again, “Girlfriend, time to play your part. These people are like wolves and tigers, they have ulterior motives towards me. When else would I use my shield if not now?”
She had a point. Zhuo Zhi couldn’t refuse, but looking at Li Qinyue’s long, slender legs, she still found the upcoming scene a little hard to accept.
She tried to resist, “Can I not sit on your lap?”
Li Qinyue frowned, her voice stern, “Then how should we show our relationship? Do you want me to introduce you to them directly and say, ‘This is my girlfriend, I only love her, stop harassing me’, or should I give you a passionate French kiss right here, right now, in front of everyone?”
Zhuo Zhi imagined those scenes and found them even more unacceptable.
So, she endured the humiliation, walked over cautiously, and said timidly, “I, I’m sitting down.”
“Sit comfortably,” Li Qinyue stretched out her arm, pulled Zhuo Zhi into her lap, and held her firmly, “I can handle your weight.”
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