The scenery here was beautiful, and the companion of the opposite sex walking was not the most handsome, but had a rather impressive figure. But the quiet walking trip was forced to stop after a minute.
It rained.
A shower of autumn rain was cool, and the light rain falling between the mountains had no resistance at all to the single clothes on the body. Taking a walk in the rain was purely asking for trouble.
The two hurried back and met three people who had just returned from going out at the door.
Wu Writer, of course, was an old acquaintance, and he was chatting happily with a fat man who looked about forty years old. He should be Editor-in-Chief Tao from Morning Star—whether this "chief" referred to "a certain chief editor" or "vice president" was unknown. Anyway, there were many people with "chief" titles in companies big and small.
The youngest one next to him carrying the water bucket must be Xia Lu, another student of Chang Painter.
"Yo." As expected, Wu Writer fired the first shot as soon as he saw them. "Long time no see, little princess. Did you come with your Uncle Kang this time too?"
"Teacher Wu is always so enthusiastic when he sees me, people who don't know might think you care about me a lot. But I know myself clearly," Jian Jing said lightly, "You just care about a certain thing, don't worry, I received it well and didn't damage it at all."
Wu Writer's expression froze as he suddenly remembered that she had an indecent photo of him in her hands. The muscles on his face twitched slightly as he forcibly swallowed this insult and strode into the house.
Editor-in-Chief Tao was not upset about being abandoned either. He smiled and chatted, "This is Jingjing, right? I've heard a lot about you. I'm Tao Ling from Morning Star. Come on, let's get to know each other."
He reached out very enthusiastically to get acquainted with her.
Jian Jing knew what he was after, but she wasn't afraid at all and shook his hand lightly.
"How long have you been here?" Editor-in-Chief Tao was very talkative. He had to ask something even in the few steps into the house, "We came this morning, ate lunch and went fishing. Ah, the water and air are so good here that we can have extra drinks tonight."
Xiao Lu said with a smile: "Editor-in-Chief Tao is really good at fishing. The two fish today are quite big."
Under Editor-in-Chief Tao's intentional or unintentional lead, when they entered the living room, they looked like a picture of harmony.
Chang Painter's eyes swept over Ai Di, but she asked Editor-in-Chief Tao, "It looks like you had a good catch today."
"Just got lucky." Editor-in-Chief Tao sat down with a smile. "Mr. Kang, we haven't seen each other for half a year, right? Today we have to drink well."
"Editor-in-Chief Tao is a busy man." Kang Mu Cheng said, "I heard that the book exhibition Morning Star held in Japan was very successful."
"Oh, stop it. We were just testing the water. Luckily it went well and we got this year's Romance Award."
The two competitors crossed swords. Chang Painter didn't interrupt and asked Xia Lu to take the fish to the back kitchen so that the cooking auntie could clean them up as soon as possible.
After giving the order, she stared at Ai Di and asked, "Where did you go just now?"
"Just went out for some air." Ai Di picked up the wine glass he had left before and drank the remaining wine in one gulp, "Headache, I'll go back to sleep for a while."
"Dinner will be ready soon." Chang Painter's tone was unpleasant.
"I won't eat, I'm on a diet." He said lazily, then turned and walked out the door into the Monet Building on the right.
Chang Painter's eyes darkened instantly. But with so many guests present, she couldn't make too ugly of a scene. She simply ignored him, "You guys sit for a while. I'll go prepare dinner. It's Western food today, nothing fancy, just whatever we have."
Everyone said, "Anything is fine."
Of course, no matter how casual the host was, it was impossible to just whip up a few dishes. Tonight's dinner included cream of mushroom soup, vegetable and fruit salad, fried fish fillet, spaghetti alla bolognese, cheesy mashed potatoes, chicken curry, pancakes and consommé.
Although the dishes were diverse, they tasted pretty good and suited the Chinese palate.
"Ai Di doesn't like my Western food. He said it's not authentic," Chang Painter drank very little and mainly red wine. Her cheeks were flushed. "It's better when it's not authentic. Authentic Western food, who can stand eating it year-round?"
This statement was unanimously approved by those present, including Kang Mu Cheng. During his time studying abroad in the United States, he suffered from eating Western food and suffered from eating local Chinese food.
Delicious food and fine wine loosened everyone's tongues.
Editor-in-Chief Tao chatted with Jian Jing with a clear goal in mind: "Mr. Kang is famously picky in the industry. Many partners get headaches as soon as they hear his name. How does he treat you? Is he strict with you? If you can't stand his ways, consider us Morning Star."
He asked Xia Tianxin, "Little Star, tell Uncle Tao how he treats you?"
"Give me a raise in royalties and I'll say nice things about you." Xia Tianxin smiled and said, "But our publishing house has very few requirements for us and gives us a high degree of freedom. Experienced authors can get a 50% advance payment just by providing an outline. It's pretty good!"
Jian Jing: "That sounds nice."
Editor-in-Chief Tao asked: "Think about it carefully, especially if you ever want to write about love someday. Let me tell you, our romance novels sell really well."
Jian Jing sincerely promised: "I will definitely think about it carefully."
"I heard that Demon 2 is already in preparation? Ah, you have to get Mr. Kang to be well prepared this time. What happened last time cannot happen again." Editor-in-Chief Tao pretended to lay bare his heart. "It makes me break out in a cold sweat for you. Overwhelmingly negative reviews, a major PR disaster! If it were our company, my heart would be shattered."
Jian Jing: "..."
Weren't you the one who sabotaged me?
Hearing this, Chang Painter asked Kang Mu Cheng, "He's openly poaching your authors in bright daylight and you don't have anything to say?"
"Let him try. He won't stop if he doesn't try." Kang Mu Cheng didn't care. Among all the big and small authors at Golden Crow, anyone could be poached, except Jian Jing.
The little girl had thin skin. Verbally playing along meant losing.
Sure enough, seeing that Kang Mu Cheng didn't even glance his way, Editor-in-Chief Tao felt disappointed. But his face still wore a smile: "Jingjing, you see, Mr. Kang doesn't care about you at all. If someone tried to poach my people, I would fight him desperately."
Jian Jing: "You are so kind."
A nice guy card to end the topic.
Editor-in-Chief Tao felt she was a little slow-witted and that it was not cost-effective to waste words on her. So he switched targets and started chatting with Chang Painter. First he said she really cared about her two students and was a good teacher. Then he asked when she planned to hold an art exhibition, saying that although he didn't understand art, he could at least help out.
To be honest, it was nice having someone like him at the dinner table, who could chat and tell jokes. Everyone knew his words couldn't be trusted, but it was still fun to listen to him. The puns kept coming.
Jian Jing found it very interesting.
As heads of publishing houses, Editor-in-Chief Tao and Kang Mu Cheng had completely different styles.
Editor-in-Chief Tao was generous, open-minded, talkative and humorous. Business was business, but interpersonal relations mattered too. Even if they couldn't cooperate, making a new friend and getting to know each other was good too.
Kang Mu Cheng, on the other hand, was more rigorous in his words, emphasized professionalism, and clearly separated business from personal relationships. Trying to get him to compromise after a few drinks was absolutely impossible.
As for Chang Painter, her thoughts tended to wander and she would just say whatever came to mind. Her artistic temperament was obvious, and she could chat with Editor-in-Chief Tao more easily. But Jian Jing noticed that she kept subtly glancing at Kang Mu Cheng.
When drinking, when passing the pepper, the smile at the corner of her lips was like smudged lipstick, a vague smear of rouge.
"Jingjing, can I call you that?" Xia Tianxin sat next to her, eyes and brows smiling. "We have a group chat, would you like to join?"
Jian Jing was a little surprised: "What group?"
"A chat group, mutual aid group, foodie group..." Xia Tianxin said. "People of similar ages in the industry, not just our publishing house, but also people from others. "
She lowered her voice and blinked, "More friends, more access."
Jian Jing understood. Writers had their own circles. If they ever wanted to switch companies, it would be convenient. She readily agreed: "Sure, thank you."
"You're welcome. Helping each other out." Xia Tianxin sipped her red wine, and gradually began to chat more. "Hey, is Wu Writer always like that?"
With her eyes, she glanced at Wu Writer across from them. His old problem had reared its head again. Head lowered, he was saying something to Xiao Tian while Xiao Tian's expression was somewhat stiff. Her body tried to lean closer to Xiao Lu next to her, but the seats were only so wide and she couldn't get far.
Xia Tianxin whispered: "I've heard the rumors several times already, that he bullies newcomers and likes to harass female authors. Looks like they're true."
Jian Jing glanced over. She stretched out her foot and nudged Kang Mu Cheng next to her.
He broke off his current conversation and turned to look at her.
Jian Jing lifted her chin, indicating for him to take a look over there.
Kang Mu Cheng frowned, then switched topics: "Speaking of which, I heard that competition hosted by Wu Writer was quite well received?"
Jian Jing could not bear it anymore. She made an excuse of feeling unwell from drinking too much and slipped away.
Xia Tianxin, Xiao Tian and Xiao Lu quickly followed suit and bid farewell, leaving the grownups to continue drinking and boasting.
Back in her room, Jian Jing took a hot shower before opening her phone, ready to watch some pet videos. Just then, the door knocked.
The person standing outside was completely unexpected.
"Won't you invite me in?" Ai Di asked.
Jian Jing frowned. "What's the matter?"
"Let's continue our previous conversation," Ai Di shook the wine bottle in his hand. "Don't worry, I won't take advantage of you."
After a moment of contemplation, Jian Jing politely declined, "I'm a bit tired and want to rest early."
"The night sky in the mountains is beautiful. Don't you want to see it?" He tried to entice her. "I know a small path up the mountain that leads to a gorgeous valley. There, the stars are just an arm's length away."
He made a gesture of plucking stars from the sky. "Just like this, so close."
"That may sound romantic, but I'm not interested," she rejected firmly.
Ai Di leaned in, bringing his face close to hers. The faint woody aroma of his cologne lingered around her nose.
"What about me? Are you not interested in me either?" he asked.
"No, I'm not," she stated. "Go back, or Chang Painter will find out and it won't end well for you."
Ai Di laughed with a shrug. "Lisa's got no time for me now, can't you see? She's set her eyes on Kang Mu Cheng."
Jian Jing: "..." Not surprised.
"Lisa and I are just ordinary friends," Ai Di crossed his legs, the tall shadow stretching onto the floor. "With this kind of friend, switching to another makes no difference."
Unable to restrain her curiosity, Jian Jing asked, "Why me?"
"Young, pretty, rich, of course it's you," Ai Di answered breezily. "Don't you want to give it a try? I make a very good 'friend', no strings attached."
Jian Jing: "The kind who borrows money."
Ai Di: "Writers are loaded, I only need a tiny bit."
"You're a bottomless pit," she stated gently. "Ai Di, you've touched things you shouldn't have."
Ai Di fell silent abruptly, seemingly surprised.
"Good night," she closed the door, not worried at all that he might continue harassing her.
The footsteps outside receded.
Jian Jing glanced at the time on her phone.
It was 8:40pm in Beijing on September 27th.