Chapter 179 - "Have Him Add One More Zero to the Amount." (1)
Fang JunRong finally learned that let it be in reality or in her dream, Li WangJin's fate was still a stroke from Jiang YaGe.
She watched as Li ShiZe went looking for Jiang YaGe with a look of grievance after taking Li WangJin to the hospital.
Waking up, Fang JunRong noticed that she had slept for a full 9 hours. No wonder she felt so refreshed!
She would normally forget about her dreams after she had woken up but that wasn't the case today. Today she recalled all of the details clearly and the scenes played in her head over and over again like a movie.
That was such an amazing dream. The only complaint that she had was that she wasn't able to see the end of it. That wasn't quite as satisfying as it could have been.
She had no idea whether her dream was prompted by what happened that day or that it was something that happened after her death in her previous life.
Whether it had truly taken place or not, the pain that she had brought with her from her previous life was starting to dissipate. She still hated those individuals but she knew clearly that the most important thing for her to do now was to live the good life that she now had ahead of her.
In the week that followed, XinYun was busied with matters of the funeral. Fang JunRong had no intention of attending the memorial even though many told her that he had already passed away and that it'd be the right thing for her to be there. She, however, had no intention of reconciling with him, even after his death.
It was said that after a person had passed away, one would almost remember the good things about them. Nevertheless, whenever she thought about Li WangJin, all she could think of when the moment that him and Li ShiZe had her locked up in the mental institution. She was not able to muster up a shred of compassion for him.
What she worried the most was actually XinYun. To her surprise, XinYun handled everything on her own. She took care of everything about the funeral with the assistance of Zhong Yi and a few assistants.
She finally returned home after the initial seven days and there was hint of dark circles under her eyes.
Fang JunRong gave her a hug and brought some fruits over. "Have some fruits?"
The fruits that she brought out for XinYun were all from the dimension. She had cut them up into small chunks after she had washed them out. These fruits even looked different than the regular ones. As though a filter had been applied, these fruits looked like they could make the cover of magazines if one was just to casually take a picture of them. She collected the seeds from the fruits. It was her intention to see if she might be able to grow them in real life and how they would taste if that worked.
"Um, I don't really feel like anything right now..."
Li XinYun just finished saying that before a piece of apple was shoved into her mouth. Her eyes widen and she took the plate of fruits over and started eating them. One piece after another, she ate nonstop.
"This is delicious. Where did you get these from? This is the first time I have tasted something this good! They are sweet and crisp!" She felt very contented after she had devoured half a plate of them.
And, she wasn't sure whether it was just her imagination, but she even felt less tired after having the fruit.
Fang JunRong said casually, "This is a new breed and you can't find them on the market just yet."
Li XinYun didn't really get what her mother meant by that so she'd just stick with the eating for now.
Her cheeks puffed up like that of a hamster while she ate. She didn't mention anything about the funeral but her assistants would, later on, fill Fang JunRong in on the details. As such, Fang JunRong had learned that Li ShiZe only showed up at the funeral just long enough to light his father an incense and, no longer being able to withstand the look of contempt from the other guests, took off. Never mind about helping out with the funeral.
Li WangJin's favorite son that he had place all of his hopes in was so perfunctory even at his funeral. Had Li WangJin knew about it from the afterlife, he just might jump straight out of his coffin.
Chapter 180 - "Have Him Add One More Zero to the Amount." (2)
Stories about Li ShiZe spread within their circle. His not-so-good reputation completely hit rock bottom. Many talked in private how toxic of a person Jiang YaGe was and how she had turned someone with a bright future like Li ShiZe to what he had become today. From where Fang JunRong stood, the two of them were about the same. Match made in heaven, almost. There was no need to say which one of them was too good for the other.
Even though Li ShiZe had already mucked it all up but he still has some money left with him. If he was to buckle down and live his life, his days would still be better than that of a regular person. But it was always difficult going from riches to rags; whether they were willing to settle for that lifestyle was a different question.
All in all, Li ShiZe's future no longer concerned her.
At that moment in time, she felt that the burden that had been weighting her down had been lifted and she felt a sense of relief between her eyes and brows.
***
On the other end, by the end of December, Jiang DeXian's contract with Yingce Media was finally up. He met with his agent for the very last time before he left the company. He didn't hate the company too much. Even though they had set him aside for not succumbing to offering up sexual favors, but they also didn't use any others to force him into it other than putting his aside and ignoring him as if he didn't exist. Nor did they care about him finding work outside of the company.
When it came to companies of their type, they already had bottom line and conscience.
The agent looked at him and looked like he had something to say. Finally, all he said was, "If this is your choice, I'll respect it."
Aye. He had thought that Jiang DeXian would stand his ground permanently but he finally gave in to a woman.
Jiang DeXian lifted his brows but just smiled without saying anything. Many felt that he followed Fang JunRong around in order to save ten years of hard work.
"Well, you are not young anymore. Better take the opportunity to make as much as you can.
"You need to have a plan for yourself. For example, it's best to buy yourself a house," said the agent caringly. "Just let me know if you ever want to come back. I might not be able to do much, but I can at least get you a role that has a couple lines."
Jiang DeXian rubbed his temples and said, "Actually, I already own a house."
The agent was surprised as well. "Really? You got yourself a house already?" It looked like he truly has a special place with Fang JunRong. Hadn't the two of them only met like two months ago?
Jiang DeXian said casually, "I bought it myself. I've made some money in the stock market a while back."
The agent gave him a suspicious look and seriously suspected that he received instructions from Fang JunRong. He waved at him and said, "Okay, that all I have to say then."
As soon as Jiang DeXian walked out of the front door, the agent received a call. He quickly ran after Jiang DeXian and stopped him.
"What's the matter?" asked Jiang DeXian.
The agent, panting, spoke quickly with a very excited look. "There was a large production that asked for you to be the male lead by name! Do you want to go to the audition?"
He had originally thought that this would be an opportunity that Jiang DeXian could not turn down. Leeching off of a woman might sound cozy and all, especially when the woman was rich and attractive, but a life like that had too much uncertainties. He would risk being dumped any day. It would be much better to become a star and earned both fame and money on his own.
Jiang DeXian, on the other hand, frowned and asked, "Which production?"
"Forever Night. It's a sci-fi movie with budget over 50 million yuan! And it was the work of Director Ji with a very reliable team. Film Emperor Fang JueMing was the most likely person to nab the role of the male lead before. Too bad he had injured his hand."
Chapter 181 - "Have Him Add One More Zero to the Amount." (3)
"I am going to have to turn it down. I'm just an 18th tier actor. I'm not good enough for a production of this size," said Jiang DeXian coldly.
The agent was shocked beyond words. "Wait a minute..."
Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, Jiang DeXian's mind was made up. He had no intention of changing his mind. His contract with ______ was up and the company couldn't even force him to take the job even if they wanted to.
There was nothing they could do except to watch him leave.
***
Fang JunRong, naturally, had caught wind of this as well. As she had Jiang DeXian followed her around, many had mistaken their relationships and, as such, many related his latest development back to her.
Forever Night? She was pretty sure she had not heard of this movie in her previous life.
Theoretically speaking, with such a big investment, even if she didn't pay much attention to the entertainment circle, she should have heard of it before. Meaning that, this production did not exist in her previous life? Could this be part of the butterfly effect of her rebirth?
When Jiang DeXian came in to work, she teased him, "Forever Night huh? A work by a famed director and very highly sought after. You sure you won't regret for turning it down?"
From many people's perspective, never mind about being the male lead, even a supporting role would be considered as very lucky to have. Yet the once 18th-tier little actor Jiang DeXian had turned it down without any hesitation. That was surely jaw dropping to most.
As her assistance, even with the extra income as her date, he would be making at most hundreds of thousand yuan a month. That well below what a popular star would make.
Jiang DeXian sounded very decisive. "Zhang ZhiYang was the one behind Director Ji. The two of them are very close. He had even taken one of Director Ji's daughter born out of the wedlock as his adopted daughter."
Zhang ZhiYang?
Fang JunRong frowned a little. Was that part of Zhang ZhiYang's plan to get to her? She had no idea about the relationship between Zhang ZhiYang and Director Ji.
She glanced over at Jiang DeXian and was surprised that he even knew that. She would think that was quite a secret even in his circle.
In her previous life, Zhang ZhiYang met Jiang YaGe at a banquet and the two of them hit it off immediately and he finally taken Jiang YaGe as his adopted daughter. It looked like he had not been in contact with Jiang YaGe yet in this life time and had turned to kiss up to Fang JunRong.
Fang JunRong, on the other hand, did not afford him that opportunity. In her previous life, Zhang ZhiYang was already married by now. The woman was high in status as well, a Second Generation Star of sort. In this lifetime, though, Zhang ZhiYang was still single. Could that also have something to do with her?
His fondness of taking on adopted daughter stayed though.
Looking at Jiang DeXian, she said, "If that plan had foiled, I'm sure he'll try something else. Just watch out for it."
She was very confident in Jiang DeXian's ability to react to any unforeseeable circumstances.
To Fang JunRong's surprise, Zhang ZhiYang's next move could be so crude and simple – just throw money at him.
She received a text from Jiang DeXian one night.
[Zhang ZhiYang offered me 5 million yuan to leave you.]
Fang JunRong was testing the effect of her Hair Growing Cream at the time. She just came out of a shower and had applied the Hair Growing Cream on her hair and scalp before she wrapped them up with a warm towel.
Her lips twitched when she saw the content of the text.
Do not tell her that Zhang ZhiYang did all those because he wanted to pursue her. She was pretty but hardly so pretty that Zhang ZhiYang would have fallen in love with her on first sight among all of the other pretty women surrounding him.
Instead of her beauty, it was more like what she possessed that he was after.
She replied back to him quickly. "Have him add one more 0."
Did he really think he could get rid of someone for mere 50 million yuan?