Due to her previous agent being blacklisted, Ji Fei could now only stay at home unemployed.
Although Ji Fei had decided to give up and enjoy life, continuing like this was becoming unbearably boring.
Qin Xi went to school, and Qin Yan was arranged by Qin's Father to re-engage with matters related to the company hospital.
Qin's Mom had various old girlfriends to have afternoon tea with, leaving only Ji Fei without friends, work, or anything to do.
After much consideration, she decided not to waste her superior looks and return to the entertainment industry to have some fun.
This way, she could not only get up-close access to celebrity gossip, but also be surrounded by handsome men and beautiful women to prepare for her next romance. Moreover, she could easily earn big money to accumulate a divorce fund in case Qin Xian kicked her out for his first love in the future.
The idea seemed wonderful, so she mentioned it to Qin Xian.
Qin Xian said he would help her set up a new studio, but Ji Fei didn't expect that he would actually make her interview agents herself.
Those who came to interview for a has-been like her were not particularly impressive agents.
This was bad enough, but in the cesspool of the entertainment industry, people with good character were a minority.
Even if they hid it well, they were like naked emperors in front of Ji Fei.
So during the interviews, she remained silent after each one.
Later, Ji Fei worried that Qin Xian would lose patience, but he didn't say a word, even as it became clear that no more agents were coming to apply.
Qin Xian then directly packed Ji Fei off to Qin Zhao Studio.
When she was received there, Ji Fei was completely dumbfounded.
Inside the office, there were only two people.
Qin Zhao was lounging on a nearby sofa, looking down at his phone. When she entered, he raised his head slightly in acknowledgment.
To be fair, since the last incident, this guy's attitude towards her had improved considerably.
[Love's bitterness really can make people grow up.]
Qin Zhao's movements stiffened. Hold it in!
Sitting at the conference table was his agent.
"Hello, Ms. Ji. I'm Gao Hao, Mr. Qin's agent. Mr. Qin has already given instructions. From now on, I'll be guiding your activities in the entertainment industry. This is your contract. Once you sign it, you'll be the second artist in our studio."
Gao Hao was a middle-aged man wearing glasses, smiling amiably. He looked kind-faced, but in the entertainment industry, that usually meant he was a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Ji Fei looked at Gao Hao, then at Qin Zhao in the distance, who was emanating an aura of a resentful husband.
"You agreed? Didn't you absolutely refuse before?" Ji Fei asked bluntly.
[I don't want this guy to reluctantly accept me and then act all awkward later.]
Who's acting awkward!
Qin Zhao gritted his teeth, feeling a bit uncomfortable as he said, "That was then, this is now. Since you're my second sister-in-law, having you here will put my second brother more at ease."
"Oh? Is that so?"
[Ugh, I'm getting goosebumps all over. Did he take the wrong medication or something?]
Qin Zhao: ...
He was starting to doubt his second brother's original intention in pushing her into his studio.
Was it really not just to annoy him to death?
Gao Hao looked awkwardly from side to side. Mr. Qin had indeed mentioned this before, but Qin Zhao had rejected it in front of Ji Fei, even threatening to leave if she joined.
Clearly, the relationship between uncle and sister-in-law was extremely poor.
So Gao Hao didn't understand why this top star suddenly agreed to accept his sister-in-law into his own studio.
In fact, Qin Zhao was doing this to thank Ji Fei. If it weren't for her, he didn't know what foolish things he might have done regarding the Chu Xinyue situation.
But his relationship with Ji Fei had been so bad before that he couldn't suddenly become friendly.
So when his second brother asked again, he agreed. It would be better for Ji Fei to have his protection, since she couldn't openly reveal her identity in the entertainment industry.
Ji Fei was still skeptical. "Although you're the boss of this studio, I won't just do everything you say. I want to decide what work I take on myself. Is that okay?"
Gao Hao immediately smiled and said, "Don't worry about that, you can look at the contract first."
Only then did Ji Fei lower her head to look at the contract. After scanning it once, she was shocked.
She could freely choose all her work, take time off whenever she wanted, and most importantly, the profit-sharing arrangement.
Her previous studio had at least put on a show of an 80-20 split.
Here, they were letting Ji Fei receive all the income, equivalent to being affiliated without any service fees, completely free of charge.
"Don't you... need to be paid?" Ji Fei asked in surprise.
Gao Hao smiled and said, "Our salaries are naturally paid by Mr. Qin."
Gao Hao didn't find it strange, just considering it as a brother-in-law showing respect to his sister-in-law.
Ji Fei also realized this and looked at Qin Zhao in astonishment.
Qin Zhao thought Ji Fei shouldn't have anything more to say now, so he continued looking down at his phone.
But then he heard Ji Fei's inner thoughts: [He really has been traumatized by losing his love, he doesn't care about anything anymore!]
Qin Zhao took a deep breath, "Are you going to sign it or not?!"
Of course, she had to take advantage of such a good deal, so she quickly signed.
Ji Fei maintained a calm exterior, but inside she was singing joyfully.
Not a single note was on beat, but she was still singing enthusiastically, even improvising.
For an all-round top star skilled in singing, dancing, and acting, this was torture to the ears.
Gao Hao smiled as he took the contract and said, "What kind of work would Ms. Ji like to do? I've checked, and you mainly did print ads before."
Ji Fei said, "Oh, forget about my previous experience. Now I just want work that's low-effort, high-paying, and not tiring."
Gao Hao almost couldn't maintain his smile.
Qin Zhao's expression was also hard to describe.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Isn't this every working person's ultimate dream? Given the choice, wouldn't you want this too?"
Gao Hao was stunned, realizing she had a point.
Qin Zhao, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, naturally couldn't understand this, but he couldn't be bothered to argue with Ji Fei.
"Fine, low-effort, high-paying, and not tiring. Find her work according to these standards," Qin Zhao said. "Oh, and exclude the singer route as an option."
Ji Fei: ?
Gao Hao, having seen it all, immediately put on his professional smile and said, "Alright, no problem."
Seeing that things were more or less settled, Qin Zhao had lost his spirit and looked somewhat dejected as he said, "I'll be going then. I'll leave the rest to you, Brother Gao."
Then he asked Ji Fei, "Any problems?"
Ji Fei shook her head.
[Tsk tsk tsk, look at that widower face, he's probably still heartbroken because he can't contact Chu Xinyue.]
Qin Zhao gave Ji Fei a listless glance, truly too tired to argue. It was as if all his energy had been drained that night.
[Should I tell him that Chu Xinyue is preparing to apply to go abroad? Nah, there's no use crying over spilt milk. Late-coming deep affection is cheaper than grass. I guess the drama of chasing after a wife isn't something that can be easily staged.]
Qin Zhao's face darkened, his breathing becoming rapid.
She's actually leaving?
These days, not only could he not contact Chu Xinyue, but he couldn't even find her when he went to her school.
He didn't know anyone in Chu Xinyue's social circle, so he was truly at a loss, only able to stare at her various social media accounts all day, looking for any new updates.
But Chu Xinyue wasn't the type to post updates often.
It seemed that unless she contacted him first, she would disappear from his world, not even giving him a chance to regret.
No matter how much he realized his mistake now, she wouldn't even look back at him.
It was already so difficult in the same city, if she went abroad... that would really be...
Qin Zhao's face turned terrifying, and he immediately turned to leave.
This time, even if he had to stand guard outside their school laboratory door day and night without rest, he would see her. He still had so much to say, he didn't want to leave any regrets.
Seeing Qin Zhao about to leave, Gao Hao suddenly remembered something and said, "Then about tonight's industry wine tasting event, you..."
Qin Zhao paused, as if remembering something, his face turning cold, "Cancel it."
Gao Hao wasn't surprised. Recently, Qin Zhao had cancelled almost all activities, running off to universities to look for someone. As his agent, he naturally knew what had happened.
For him, there were pros and cons. The good thing was that he finally didn't have to deal with the troublemaker Chu Xueqi anymore. Even though he wasn't her agent, he often had to clean up her messes, and she would use the softest voice to push him into the deepest pit, leaving him with no way to reason.
The new Ms. Ji, although her identity was also not simple, seemed much easier to deal with than Chu Xueqi.
The bad thing was that the money tree wasn't making money, struggling in the quagmire of love. For someone as sentimental as Qin Zhao, who knew how long it would take to recover, leaving his agent quite helpless.
As for the wine tasting event just mentioned, he knew Qin Zhao wouldn't attend, because it was originally an invitation accepted to help introduce Chu Xueqi to industry connections. Now, Qin Zhao naturally wouldn't go to such unnecessary trouble.
Gao Hao had just thought about taking advantage of this event, so he spoke up: "I think it would be good for Teacher Ji to participate in this event. Although there's no money involved, it's paving the way for the future. Strictly speaking, Teacher Ji is a newcomer to our studio and needs to be recognized by industry insiders. This way, people will be more likely to offer her work. Otherwise, if we only rely on actively seeking opportunities ourselves, our choices will be much more limited. I originally wanted you to take Ji Fei along, but since you don't want to go, I can take her myself. However, the event is out of town, so we might need to stay overnight."
Qin Zhao looked at Ji Fei and said, "It's up to you. Just let Second Brother know. I'm busy and have things to do. If you want to go, let Brother Gao accompany you."
Ji Fei gave an OK hand gesture.
Qin Zhao turned and walked towards the exit.
Ji Fei curiously asked Gao Hao, "Where is the location?"
Gao Hao smiled and said, "Yunmu Hotel."
"That sounds familiar."
"Of course! It's a very famous hotel!"
[It's not that kind of familiar. Oh, I remember now. Chu Xinyue shared a research sponsorship event on her social media, and the location was this hotel.]
A loud bang startled Ji Fei and Gao Hao, causing them to turn and look.
They saw Qin Zhao with one foot out the door and the other still inside, as if he couldn't get out in time before the door closed on him.
This was so out of character for his top-tier image.
Ji Fei: Pfft!
Gao Hao: *Trying to hold it in*
"Ahem, what's wrong, Zhao?" Gao Hao asked, puzzled.
"Uh... there's something I forgot to take," Qin Zhao said, rubbing the red mark on his forehead from the impact, seeming a bit absent-minded as he walked towards the sofa, his eyes constantly glancing at Ji Fei.
Social media? Ji Fei could actually see Chu Xinyue's social media posts?!
When did they add each other as contacts?
His older sister and second brother didn't have Chu Xinyue's contact information. His younger sister did, but she blocked Chu Xinyue after saying a few words on his behalf.
How on earth did Ji Fei manage this?!
It felt like a shortcut was right beside him, but he had been blind to it.
They had exchanged contact information when Ji Fei lent Chu Xinyue a dress earlier. Since Ji Fei never initiated a conversation with Chu Xinyue, Chu Xinyue forgot to block her.
The event link was also shared as required, and Chu Xinyue didn't expect anyone to see it.
Meanwhile, Gao Hao continued discussing the hotel with Ji Fei, "It's an all-in-one package for dining, entertainment, and accommodation. Teacher Ji, just treat it as a vacation. It won't be tiring."
[Let me see. Sure enough, Chu Xinyue and her classmates and teachers have already left to seek sponsorship. They'll probably be staying at the hotel tonight too. I could arrange to meet up with her to hang out. I quite like her. It's fortunate that Qin Zhao isn't going, otherwise, it would definitely be impossible to meet up with Chu Xinyue.]
[Sigh, it's not that your sister-in-law won't help, it's just that you two are destined to be apart!]
Qin Zhao: ...