Chapter 44: Conflict

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“My surname’s Guo. Here’s my business card.” She produced a business card from her handbag and handed it to Jiang Se. “I’m Mister Chapman’s assistant.”

Jiang Se accepted the business card. The name “Guo Qiong” was printed on it. There was nothing else save a phone number on the card.

However, she had mentioned Chapman, a name Jiang Se knew. That was the surname of the director-general of the piano store’s operations in Huaxia.

Although the old Feng Nan knew the name of the person-in-charge of the Huaxia region, she had never met him. She looked at the business card and presumed her intentions for stopping her here.

“You don’t belong to any talent management company yet, am I right?” This woman was young yet held a high position. She smiled and extended a hand toward Jiang Se. “I’ve seen your acting today. I think that you’re very suitable for our pianos.”

Her implied meaning got Jiang Se’s attention, and she shook the lady’s hand. “From what I know, Steinway has never hired any celebrity or ambassador to promote their pianos before.”

Guo Qiong smiled and nodded. “You’re right. This is because of our firm belief that Steinway represents music and not a certain individual. Whether it’s a pianist or a farmer, as long as they’re sitting before one of our pianos, it means that they are connected with the most perfect and elegant music in the world.”

Moreover, Steinway pianos were well-known all over the world. There was no need for them to hire ambassadors.

“However, there’s an old saying in Huaxia, and that’s anything’s possible.” Guo Qiong spread her arms and gave Jiang Se and appraising look. “You have a dignified air about you. The sight of you playing the piano was marvelous.”

Jiang Se had a unique temperament. Whether it was before or after her styling, even the fussiest person would not be able to find any fault with her beautiful face.

This impression was stronger upon closer inspection of her face. The edges of her eyes were lifted slightly. When she focused on a person, her gaze would become slightly charming. However, her temperament was cold and pure. Her charm was turned into charisma. Even females seemed to be attracted to her when their eyes met.

“Would you mind giving me your phone number?” Guo Qiong clutched her handbag and asked the question with a smile.

Naturally, Jiang Se would not let this good opportunity slip past her. Steinway pianos never needed an ambassador since the brand had always enjoyed a special standing in the piano world.

Even though Jiang Se was not overly interested in the entertainment industry, this opportunity was different. Although Guo Qiong was merely mentioning the possibility of a collaboration, Jiang Se would still be willing to take it.

She exchanged phone numbers with Guo Qiong. Then, she put the business card away before parting ways.

When Jiang Se left the mall, Cui Xing and Zhao Rang had finished their conversation.

They were almost done with the packing of the production team equipment. They were now cleaning up the store and restoring it to its original condition. As Cui Xing looked around him, his assistant could tell what he was thinking about.

“Brother Xing, the newcomer has left.”

The newcomer was beautiful. Every person inherently admired something beautiful. Cui Xing was a man as well, so it was natural for him to be interested in her.

“Would you like me to get her phone number?” the assistant posed the question carefully, but Cui Xing frowned and shook his head.

“Forget it. ‘The 99th Love Letter’ will begin its publicity tour a few months later.”

In this film, his character, Li Qingyang, fell in love with the goddess, but in the end, he chose to be with the person who stayed silently by his side through it all. Although Jiang Se was truly beautiful, when seen off-camera, the female lead of the film was another person.

Although Cui Xing felt that this was a shame, there was nothing he could do about it. He took his shades out and put them on.

“The company might want Zhu Pan and I to be implicated in a scandal during the promotional period. Forget it. We don’t want to attract unwanted media attention and damage the film’s publicity.”

When Jiang Se came out of the mall, it was already 8 p.m. The skies had just turned dark, and the shops on both sides of the street were cast in colorful lights.

Jiang Se was hungry since she had not eaten anything for the whole day. She had merely endured her hunger inside the mall.

She knew that a few of the restaurants here were famous and that their food was delicious. However, when she thought about her account balance, she knew that she had no choice but to endure it for a while longer. She went into a dessert shop, bought two pieces of bread, finished them in the shop, and boarded the subway.

When she reached home, her other family members had already finished eating dinner.

Du You and Du Honghong were watching the television in the living room. Du Changqun’s mother was not in good health, so she had already gone to sleep.

There were sounds of someone taking a shower in the toilet. Zhou Hui was cleaning the house.

When she heard Jiang Se coming into the house, she looked up at her and spoke to her, “Sese, help me take out the trash.” She gathered the trash from the house into a bag and placed it beside the couch.

The siblings sitting before the television turned a deaf ear to Zhou Hui’s words. They seemed to be in the middle of a serious fight over which channel to watch.

Jiang Se took the bag of trash. It was a transparent singlet bag provided by the supermarket. Aside from some household trash, there seemed to be another object. It seemed to be a stack of thick folded paper which edges had torn through the layer of the plastic bag.

She gave the bag a light shake. When the trash above was shaken away, the object buried underneath was revealed.

It was a document sent via courier. It had been stained by the other trash. The side displaying the intended recipient was facing upward, and Jiang Se saw her name on it.

Since she was reborn, perhaps because she was not completely used to it yet, Jiang Se did not treat Du Honghong’s taunts or Du Changqun’s cold treatment seriously. She felt that these did not matter very much to her and she was never angered.

However, when she saw the couriered document, she immediately frowned. She suppressed the feeling to vomit as she reached into the bag of trash for the document. It had already been opened by someone else. She could see the words “The First Academy” printed on the file within.

Without having to see the contents, Jiang Se knew that this was the acceptance letter from the First Academy.

“Who went through my stuff?”

She threw the bag of trash onto the floor as she extracted the acceptance letter, which had been folded several times, from the bag of trash.

Fortunately, although the acceptance letter was creased, it was not torn. She smoothened it out. Holding a broom, Zhou Hui frowned and gave Jiang Se an uncertain look.

Nobody in the house spoke. Jiang Se asked again, “Who threw my stuff away?”

Du Honghong stopped fighting over the remote control with Du You. She had a slightly guilty expression on her face.

“Let’s talk outside.” Zhou Hui stopped what she was doing. She wanted to go and pull her daughter away. “You know how the family’s doing. It’s pointless for you to receive this. We have to put Honghong and Youyou through high school, and…”

“I’ve told you that I’ll pay for college myself.”

Jiang Se folded the smoothened acceptance letter. She did not return it to the courier file as she tried her best to suppress her annoyance.

“Before you open up the envelope, you should’ve asked me about it. Going to college or not is my business. I should be the one making the decision about that.”