Chapter 57: Big Plate Noodles p2
After replying to Lu Gaoshi, Ji Junxin forwarded both messages to Qiao Rubai and added another message of her own.
After that, Ji Junxin’s phone remained silent. Neither Lu Gaoshi nor Qiao Rubai contacted her again.
Mi Hongdou still didn’t ask anything. She just poured the remaining noodles into the big plate chicken, mixed them well, and gave Ji Junxin a full bowl, adding a few extra spoonfuls of chili oil. “These noodles are best eaten in big bites!” She placed the bowl in front of Ji Junxin.
Ji Junxin obediently took the bowl, ate two mouthfuls, then stopped and looked up, her cheeks puffed out, her eyes and nose still slightly red, looking at Mi Hongdou pitifully.
“How is it? Delicious, right?” Mi Hongdou pretended not to notice and added a boneless piece of chicken to Ji Junxin’s bowl.
“Mixing it all together like this, it’s coated with too much chili oil, it’s too… spicy…” Ji Junxin finally swallowed the noodles, feeling the spiciness bringing tears to her eyes.
“Really? I don’t think so, it should be very satisfying.” Mi Hongdou focused on deboning the chicken, not trying the noodles herself.
It did seem quite satisfying… Ji Junxin wiped her tears with a tissue, took another bite, then wiped her tears again.
“Lu Gaoshi left Qiong Yu, she’s not my manager anymore.” Ji Junxin finished most of the noodles in one go, her eyes and nose red, as if she had been crying.
“People come and go, life is full of meetings and partings. She’s gone, but I’m still here. I’ll help you unpack those suitcases later, don’t worry.” Mi Hongdou tried to hide her joy. Although she had expected it, hearing that the annoying woman was finally gone, she couldn’t help but feel a burst of happiness.
Mi Hongdou guessed that Ji Junxin wouldn’t tell her about last night’s events. As expected, after saying that, Ji Junxin didn’t mention Lu Gaoshi again.
As for Lu Gaoshi, after receiving Ji Junxin’s two “okays,” she felt both disappointed and relieved. Disappointed that Ji Junxin was truly angry this time and wouldn’t reconcile with her, and that she had truly offended Qiao Rubai from Qiong Yu, a decision she couldn’t reverse. Relieved that Ji Junxin had at least agreed to keep their conversation last night a secret and ask Qiao Rubai to do the same. Lu Gaoshi knew that Qiao Rubai’s attitude depended on Ji Junxin. Since Ji Junxin had agreed, if she went to talk to Qiao Rubai, Qiao Rubai should understand that Ji Junxin didn’t want to pursue the matter… then she wouldn’t deliberately make things difficult for her in the industry, right?
Lu Gaoshi had spent the entire night thinking about how their conversation at Nan Tian could have been overheard by Ji Junxin and Qiao Rubai. She could only conclude that either she or Jiang Dingyi had been followed, eavesdropped on, or even surveilled. The thought chilled her to the bone. Even a place with connections like Nan Tian could be infiltrated. It seemed Qiao Rubai was serious about getting rid of her. Lu Gaoshi’s usual arrogance stemmed from her relationship with Ji Junxin. If Qiao Rubai targeted her, what chance did she have? Realizing this, Lu Gaoshi didn’t dare to ask to stay with Ji Junxin.
She had originally wanted to subtly inquire how they heard her conversation. But Ji Junxin had completely ignored her, so she could only ask Ji Junxin to relay her request for secrecy to Qiao Rubai, hoping that Qiao Rubai, seeing that she was no longer pestering Ji Junxin, would let her go.
Not knowing where she might be eavesdropped on or surveilled, Lu Gaoshi was terrified.
If she completely distanced herself from Ji Junxin, Qiao Rubai should stop surveilling her, right? … Lu Gaoshi thought this, found a secluded spot, took out an old-fashioned phone from her bag, and dialed the only number saved in it.
“Ring… ring… ring…”
The wait was long, but Lu Gaoshi was patient, seemingly accustomed to it.
“Hello…” A man’s voice, just one word, sounding middle-aged.
“It’s me…” Lu Gaoshi, after the call connected, suddenly became nervous. After saying those two words, she paused.
The person on the other end seemed to wait patiently. After a long silence, he spoke again: “I know.” This time, it was more than one word. His voice was a little hoarse, but his pronunciation was clear, his tone seemingly indifferent.
Whether sooner or later, she was doomed. Lu Gaoshi had made up her mind before making this call. Moreover, even if she didn’t say it now, the person on the other end would soon find out. “I’ve left Qiong Yu, I’m no longer Ji Junxin’s manager.” Lu Gaoshi nervously swallowed. “So, I can no longer provide you with information about Ji Junxin. Your payment was always six months in advance. There’s still a little over a month left for this payment period, I’ll return the remaining amount to you.”
There was a long silence on the other end. Just as Lu Gaoshi thought he had hung up, he spoke again.
“The money doesn’t matter. What happened? Was it because someone found out about you providing me with information?” The man’s voice was now anxious, no longer indifferent.
“No, it wasn’t, it was my own decision.” Lu Gaoshi had already offended one boss, she didn’t want to offend this one too.
“Really?” The man didn’t seem entirely convinced, but his voice had calmed down.
“Yes. I reconnected with an old acquaintance and want to spend more time with him.” Having experienced Qiao Rubai’s investigation, Lu Gaoshi guessed that the man would also investigate her reason for leaving. She hoped that her excuse would be convincing enough to prevent him from digging too deep, from finding out about… yesterday’s conversation. The thought made her shiver.
“Really?” The man seemed to be in a chatty mood. “An old acquaintance, male or female?”
His sudden familiarity and friendliness startled Lu Gaoshi. It was her own matter, why was he so interested? Wasn’t he only like this when talking about Ji Junxin? Besides, she had already said it was an old acquaintance and that she wanted to spend more time with him, wasn’t that clear enough? It was obviously a romantic relationship, how could it be a woman!
But for now, the man was still her boss, so Lu Gaoshi honestly replied: “Male.”
“Oh.” The man’s voice turned cold again. “Then I wish you happiness.” A curt and indifferent blessing.
Then he hung up.
Lu Gaoshi listened to the dial tone, stunned. So, that was it? It was over? The deal… was over? Lu Gaoshi couldn’t believe it. This person was truly heartless. After so many years of phone calls, he didn’t even say goodbye?
Lu Gaoshi, no longer of any use, stood in the wind, holding the old phone, her heart feeling strangely cold.
This man, or rather, the intermediary who had contacted her on behalf of this man, had appeared two months after she became Ji Junxin’s manager. The intermediary, offering a sum large enough to buy an apartment, had made a seemingly absurd request: Lu Gaoshi, as Ji Junxin’s manager, had to call a specific number every two or three days, at least three times a week, and tell the man on the other end about Ji Junxin’s recent activities.
At that time, Lu Gaoshi’s first reaction was that the person was either from the paparazzi or sent by Qiong Yu to test her loyalty. But the intermediary said that the large sum of money was just payment for six months. Six months, one apartment. One year, two apartments. A year and a half, three apartments… Simple math, but Lu Gaoshi could barely process it. It wasn’t until the intermediary took her to the bank and deposited the money into her account that she realized she had made her choice.
Since then, Lu Gaoshi had called this number every two or three days, for years, until now.
The first few times, after the calls, Lu Gaoshi would check the entertainment news and gossip magazines to see if the information she had revealed, which hadn’t been made public yet, had been leaked. But it never was. After a while, Lu Gaoshi relaxed…
Over the years, the man hadn’t asked Lu Gaoshi to specifically inquire about anything. He just listened to whatever she said. What drama Ji Junxin was filming, who her co-stars were, what events she was attending, what scripts she was considering, as Lu Gaoshi made more and more calls, she became more casual in her reports. The other party just listened quietly. Sometimes, when Ji Junxin wasn’t filming, Lu Gaoshi would talk about what she ate, what she drank, what she was craving, and the other party would still listen patiently, without any comment. Whether the calls were long or short, he didn’t seem to mind.
Ji Junxin was a boring person, just filming and eating, or staying at home, without much of a social life. But although the other end of the phone was often silent, Lu Gaoshi always felt that he was listening with great interest. There was a time when Lu Gaoshi felt that she had become quite familiar with the man after so many phone calls, even though it was mostly her talking and him listening, so she subtly asked him why he wanted to know these things about Ji Junxin. But he immediately reminded her coldly that it was just a business transaction, that he was her employer, and as an employee, she didn’t need to know too much about her boss. So, Lu Gaoshi never asked again.
Bosses… they were truly heartless creatures. Lu Gaoshi clutched the old phone. She probably wouldn’t need it anymore. She suddenly wondered if, after she left, he would bribe someone else around Ji Junxin. Would it be Mi Hongdou, or Shen Zhu? … Heh, it seemed that it no longer had anything to do with her.
Lu Gaoshi didn’t know how much Qiao Rubai and Ji Junxin had investigated, whether they knew about her dealings with this man. But she guessed they didn’t. Otherwise, Qiao Rubai wouldn’t have let her go so easily, she would have interrogated her. But she had taken the initiative to cut off this last connection to Ji Junxin. She hoped that when they found out later, they would let her go, considering that she had given up voluntarily…
“Hmph…” Qiao Rubai glanced at her phone and angrily threw it on the table.
The phone landed with a thud, almost falling off the table.
Yang Lianyi, who was cutting steak, paused. “What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly angry? … Look, you scared Miemie, smile.”
Qiao Rubai, still fuming, couldn’t smile, but she turned to look at Yang Miemie, who was sitting in a high chair next to her. The little girl smiled at her foolishly, then, wiggling her chubby bottom, reached for Qiao Rubai’s phone with her short arms, grabbed it, and smiled.
So cute. Looking at the adorable little girl, Qiao Rubai’s mood improved.
Then, the next moment, the little girl skillfully put a corner of the phone in her mouth and bit down.
Both Qiao Rubai and the little girl froze.
“Eh…” Yang Lianyi watched as the phone slipped from the little girl’s hands and clattered to the floor, too late to even warn her.
The little girl covered her mouth with her chubby hands, or rather, her baby teeth.
“Aiya, did you hurt your teeth? Why do you want to eat everything? Isn’t the mashed potatoes good?” Qiao Rubai anxiously pulled the little girl’s hands away, checked her teeth, and, after confirming they were fine, picked up the bowl of mashed potatoes and sniffed it. “This was specially made with chicken broth, don’t you like it?”
The little girl shrank back in her chair and looked pitifully at… the steak on Yang Lianyi’s fork.
“You should check your phone. Don’t mind her, she wants to bite everything recently. It’s all because of the nanny who used to take care of her, she had a lot of custom-made soft candies from the candy store. Candy building blocks, candy kitchen sets, candy Go pieces… by the time I found out, Miemie had already developed this bad habit of biting everything. Hmph, she finally bit something hard, so she’ll stop dreaming that everything in the world is made of soft candy.” It was time for her to wake up from her foodie dream. Yang Lianyi finished her rant and, noticing that the little girl’s gaze was still fixed on her fork, slowly and elegantly brought the steak to her mouth, chewing with a look of enjoyment. “Some children just don’t understand. If she doesn’t eat her mashed potatoes, she won’t get any meat. It’s a pity if she ends up with nothing to eat.”
Qiao Rubai, who had just picked up her phone and straightened up, looked at the stunned little girl. She swore… the little girl understood. The proof was… Yang Miemie started wiggling her chubby bottom, reaching for the bowl of mashed potatoes that had just been taken from her table.
Qiao Rubai put the bowl back on Yang Miemie’s table. The little girl, no longer looking disgusted, started eating happily.
“I put bacon bits in it,” Qiao Rubai whispered to Yang Miemie, leaning closer.
“Really? I heard that. Who was the one who promised to only use chicken broth and make it vegetarian?” Yang Lianyi laughed. “She doesn’t understand what you’re saying anyway.”
Qiao Rubai looked at Yang Miemie, whose eating speed had clearly increased. She felt that the little girl not only understood but also felt a sense of urgency, afraid of having her dinner taken away.
“Don’t always make her eat vegetarian food, how pitiful.” Qiao Rubai was afraid the little girl would choke, seeing her practically burying her face in the bowl.
“Wasn’t it you who told me that children who are too chubby will be laughed at when they grow up, and losing weight is hard and pitiful, so I should start controlling her diet early?” Yang Lianyi said, taking a bite of steak. Qiao Rubai’s cooking wasn’t bad, she wanted to try the mashed potatoes.
As soon as Yang Lianyi finished speaking, Qiao Rubai felt a sense of foreboding. As expected, the little girl looked up at her with her big, round, pitiful eyes, some mashed potatoes on her chin. Qiao Rubai didn’t dare to meet the little foodie’s resentful gaze and, without even wiping her chin, looked down at her phone.
Eh… it wouldn’t turn on… Well, after being dropped twice, it was probably broken. Qiao Rubai pressed the button a few more times, then gave up.
She didn’t really want to reply to that message anyway.
She had received three messages earlier. The first two were from Ji Junxin, forwarding Lu Gaoshi’s messages. Qiao Rubai was furious. What “out of her mind”? It was clearly premeditated! And apologies? She didn’t see any sincerity! After saying and doing those things, she still had the audacity to ask for secrecy? Heh, wanting to continue working in this industry? She was asking her not to expose her, not to ruin her career. After reading the two messages, Qiao Rubai was shocked by Lu Gaoshi’s shamelessness. No wonder her assistant said the handover and settlement went smoothly this morning, so this was her plan.
Angered by the first two messages, Qiao Rubai opened the third one, read it, and then slammed her phone on the table. Although she had guessed that the third message would be Ji Junxin pleading for Lu Gaoshi, seeing it still made her angry. Especially since Ji Junxin understood that Lu Gaoshi was using her to ask for leniency, asking her not to blacklist her or spread rumors, and she still pleaded for her.
It was the same in her previous life. If it weren’t for Ji Junxin’s pleading, she wouldn’t have just severed Qiong Yu’s ties with Dajin and let the matter go. Seeing Jiang Duo and Zhang Zijing doing well at Dajin later, and Lu Gaoshi happily working as Jiang Duo’s manager, occasionally attending events with Jiang Duo’s father, made her grind her teeth in frustration.
Now, with a second chance, was she going to let it go again?
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