As soon as the trending topic was released, netizens were instantly shocked.
"Who is Zhou Jiaxin? Why is everyone so excited, it's confusing me."
"Heavens, are people still so out of touch? You don't even know Zhou Jiaxin? She's the only one in our country to have won awards in both film and television, breaking records. Filming abroad requires queues, and she's currently in semi-retirement. I never expected to see my goddess's variety show debut in this lifetime."
Fenghe Media.
Wang Qing flipped through her phone, her expression growing grimmer with each scroll.
She had always thought Chen Tianming was joking that day. With her popularity, if she just left for a few days, Chen Tianming wouldn't be able to run this variety show. He'd have to grovel back, begging her to return.
But she never expected Chen Tianming to find someone else so quickly, and someone with even higher status and fame than her. How dare Chen Tianming do this? She knew Fenghe was backing her. Was he not afraid of completely falling out with Fenghe?
The more she thought about it, the angrier Wang Qing became. She impatiently threw her phone onto the table.
As soon as Xu Jiajia entered, she saw Wang Qing pacing like an ant on a hot pan. A flicker of disdain crossed her eyes. "How many times have I told you, no matter the time or place, never reveal your true emotions. Why don't you listen?"
"I've been bullied to this extent, and I'm still not allowed to show it?" Wang Qing said impatiently. "I haven't even confronted you yet, and this is the solution you came up with? They've directly turned around and found Zhou Jiaxin. What am I supposed to do?"
"What's the rush?" Xu Jiajia glanced at her and sat on the sofa. "Haste makes waste."
Wang Qing ran her hand through her hair.
Easy for her to say. She was already 36, and after getting married and having a child, a large portion of her active fans had already left. Coupled with the less-than-ideal performance in the last two episodes, she didn't dare to open her Weibo homepage.
Every time she logged in, she saw her fan count dwindling, which hurt more than death.
"I have a script here. You can take a look and try to get it," Xu Jiajia handed Wang Qing a file. "Unless something unexpected happens, we will invest in it. Your fans won't be a problem then."
Hearing this, Wang Qing's anger subsided a little. She got up and took the script from the table.
She opened it.
"It's Chen Tianming again."
"You know about the cold winter in the film and television industry these past few years, right?" Xu Jiajia opened her laptop. "The team has evaluated it; this is a good film. It's just that Chen Tianming hasn't announced anything about starting production yet."
Wang Qing paused. "Then where did you get the script from?"
Xu Jiajia looked at her, disdain reappearing in her eyes. She didn't know what her brother saw in Wang Qing. When they first started dating, she thought he was just playing around with Wang Qing, but she never expected him to be determined to marry her.
Wang Qing was careless, and frankly, not very bright. Before going on this variety show, she had repeatedly warned Wang Qing to speak less and do more. But she acted like an idiot, willingly becoming someone's pawn and even pushing Fang Miaomiao down the slope.
If they hadn't managed to contain the news in time, and if the Wen family hadn't been so indifferent to Fang Miaomiao, Wang Qing wouldn't know how she died. Her brother had no choice but to suspend Wang Qing's finances for a while.
She originally thought Wang Qing would learn her lesson. But no, she directly got herself kicked off the show.
If it weren't for her brother and Wang Qing having Xu Bao'er, she would have stopped caring about Wang Qing long ago. She was good for nothing but causing trouble.
"Don't ask about things that aren't your business," Xu Jiajia said after a moment of silence. "Also, you're not allowed to mention that variety show we went on for vacation again. And stay away from Shen Jiani. Just stay put for now, or don't blame me later."
Wang Qing paused, then huffed, with a hint of indignation. "Jiani is too pitiful. Her husband is actually abusive. You don't know, last night when we got into the car, Chen Cai kicked Shen Jiani several times right in front of us."
"That's their business," Xu Jiajia said nonchalantly. "All you need to know is that your husband, my brother, treats you well."
"I'm warning you again, don't go looking for Shen Jiani."
She suspected that Chen Tianming's eagerness to get rid of Wang Qing and Shen Jiani might have been orchestrated by someone in power. After all, their Fenghe also invested in that variety show, but Chen Tianming didn't hesitate to issue a termination notice.
Unless, he had someone backing him.
After much thought, Xu Jiajia could only think of the Wen family.
This was also why Xu Jiajia didn't want Wang Qing to get close to Shen Jiani. She had a premonition that this matter wouldn't end easily, so the best thing for them to do now was to wait.
"Did you hear me?" Xu Jiajia asked impatiently again, not having received a response.
This was the first time Wang Qing had seen Xu Jiajia so fierce. She nodded pitifully. "I heard you. Why are you yelling at me?"
"Stay at the company or at home reading scripts during this time," Xu Jiajia still warned, unable to rest assured. "Remember, don't cause any trouble, or don't blame me for being unkind."
With that, Xu Jiajia turned and left. She still had a meeting to attend regarding the variety show. She had no idea that as soon as she left the office, Wang Qing was immediately called away by a phone call.
...
"We are very honored to have Senior Zhou Jiaxin join our variety show. Senior Zhou Jiaxin's presence makes our show shine."
There was a round of applause in the courtyard.
Zhou Jiaxin smiled and shook her head. "As long as you don't find me old and a burden."
"Nonsense, Senior Zhou is the most amazing. My idol is Senior Zhou."
"Yes, yes, Teacher Zhou, just standing here makes me feel so motivated to work," Fang Miaomiao added with a nod.
Zhou Jiaxin chuckled, shaking her head. "Your mouths are so sweet."
After chatting and laughing with them for a while, Fang YanHuan stood up.
"Alright, alright, we are very excited about Teacher Zhou's arrival. To welcome Teacher Zhou and Chen Huan, the production team is up to something again!"
"Director, are you going to make a seafood feast with 200 yuan?" Chen Huan propped his chin with one hand and tapped the table lightly with the other.
Chen Tianming smiled without a word.
"The task is here," Fang YanHuan waved a small slip of paper. "Are there any children who want to guess what our task this afternoon will be?"
"Is it playing?" Wu Yueyuan raised his hand and asked softly.
"No," Fang YanHuan said with regret. "What else do you think, YuanYuan?"
Wu Yueyuan looked up at Zhou Jiaxin.
Zhou Jiaxin patted Wu Yueyuan's head. "It's okay, darling. Just say out loud whatever answers and ideas you have."
"Fishing?"
Fang YanHuan shook her head again.
Wu Yueyuan drooped his head in distress.
"Beachcombing."
Everyone turned to look at the source of the voice.
Unexpectedly, the speaker shrunk their neck and retreated behind Chen Huan.
Even more unexpectedly, Chen Huan directly pulled Ye Nan back. "Tsk, speak louder, what are you hiding for?"
"Beach, beachcombing."