True and False Daughters 11
He Chunxi looked at Du Jiaying, whose face was so red with anger that even her foundation couldn’t hide it, her eyes bulging as if they might pop right out of their sockets... He exchanged a glance with Shang Xi, and could only helplessly shake her head.
Back then, the evidence was all laid out before her, proving she was not her father's biological daughter... The feeling at that moment was as if struck by lightning, and even thinking about it now, she remembered it vividly.
At first, her mind had gone blank, scattered thoughts spinning with nowhere to land. Luckily, her father had rushed over in time to steady her.
In fact, from beginning to end, it's only her father's opinion she cared about.
Back on the way to the company just now, Shang Xi had said, "Uncle He isn't contacting Du Jiaying directly, most likely because he's considering your feelings."
She agreed.
Shang Xi had also pointed out: She dropped out of school to earn money as an entertainer so Uncle He could have access to better medical care, and her devotion had really moved him. So in Uncle He’s mind, no biological daughter could ever compare to her.
But she didn’t need her father to feel indebted to her at all.
She'd had a bucket of melodrama dumped over her head, but soon pulled herself together. Now, not only did she feel no enmity toward Du Jiaying, her father’s biological daughter, she even genuinely pitied her... But it wasn't out of sympathy for Du Jiaying having to “fight over a man in public,” but rather for purposely making herself look a bit disheveled in order to justifiably shake off her philandering fiancé.
He Chunxi only got into the entertainment industry to make money, but she was diligent about it, collecting all her acting program textbooks and studying them hard.
Meanwhile, during their time apart from Jin Li, when Shang Xi’s mind was clear, he too made up for lost ground by quietly learning the basics about showbiz.
So both of them could see right through Du Jiaying’s fake rage — and her fiancé was evidently also in on the act.
Du Jiaying’s fiancé bent down to pick up her purse, passed it to her with a gentle tone, “I want to end the engagement too. As long as you speak up, I’ll do everything I can to help.” Then he openly laid it all out with a smile, “We’re both pitiable people unable to control our own lives, so why make things harder for each other? I like your cousin Jin Li, oh right, you were switched at birth, weren’t you? Your biological father’s a professor at Capital University? Maybe I’m being too frank, but you really ought to seize this chance to leave the Du family. The Du family’s basically a pit of fire.”
The B-list female star, looking completely at ease, once again looped her arm through Du Jiaying’s fiancé’s. Her forehead was a little red and swollen, but her gaze remained calm, with a silent smile.
Things had escalated quickly and unexpectedly. Du Jiaying stared in shock.
Her fiancé added one more sentence, “Think it over. I’m heading upstairs.” With that, he gave a slight nod to He Chunxi, Shang Xi, and the deputy general manager, then strode off with the actress.
He Chunxi thought to herself: Not even playing in the same league!
But if she went to comfort Du Jiaying now, it would probably just end up awkward for both of them... So she dropped her head and typed out a little “gossip” message to her father with one hand, and with the other hand pulled her childhood friend along as they quickly made for the elevators.
The deputy general sent a look to the front desk, who’d been cowering in the corner watching the show, then strode lightly to easily catch up with He Chunxi and Shang Xi.
The once-grand lobby of the talent agency was soon left with only Du Jiaying, the receptionist, and three security guards.
Du Jiaying sat down on the sofa by the window, clutching the disposable water cup the receptionist handed over, looking lonely and dejected, but not actually sad at all: She’d just learned that she was switched at birth and her biological father was a professor at Capital University — her joy far outweighed her worries! She could finally, rightfully, be with her brother Du Jiahui. Why wouldn’t she be happy?
Honestly, she knew perfectly well that the Du family had always been very conservative about these things and put a premium on “well-matched family backgrounds” in marriages. Sure, being a professor at Capital University was great, but it didn’t compare with being a Du family scion, a family that always had a seat on the country’s rich lists.
So she thought at the time: Now that they weren’t actually siblings, she could naturally marry her brother. It was just that, given her own background, she couldn’t bring enough benefit to her parents or her brother. Her brother loved her, her mother favored her, but as for marriage... it would still be difficult.
Back then, she wasn’t at all worried about her brother Du Jiahui’s health, because the attending physician had said there was nothing seriously wrong. Even if he eventually needed a kidney transplant, that was years down the line, as long as he didn’t court disaster.
She’d fretted over it all afternoon, not even realizing she wasn’t at all upset about “not being Mom and Dad’s daughter.” She’d been out of it for a while, and only after the housekeeper reminded her did she see her father come home, looking ashen and exhausted.
Then she was summoned to her father’s study, where they talked for over an hour — it was the longest face-to-face conversation she could remember having with her dad.
When Du Jiaying emerged from her father Du Jizheng’s study, she was clutching the contact info for her biological father’s assistant, Gao Wen. She mulled things over for several days and finally decided to really play the pity card for all it was worth. No matter what happened after, first she’d use this windfall to break off her engagement!
What she didn’t expect was that when she actually took action, she’d end up more or less shooting herself in the foot.
She sat for a good half hour before she managed to calm down and leave the lobby.
While Du Jiaying’s mind was in turmoil, He Chunxi was far more at ease in the company’s deputy general manager’s office.
Both the deputy general manager and the chairman, who had been waiting for her, looked like they’d drop to their knees and beg if she so much as asked.
The chairman, who had never bothered to look her in the eye before, sounded almost tearful as he explained: Several of their projects had been shot down by the regulatory authorities in a row. Once the official paperwork came out in a few days, the stock price... would likely hit the lower limit for two or three straight days.
He Chunxi was quietly messaging her dad, not saying a word.
Shang Xi spoke up for her, “Did you deal with the people on the crew who were deliberately making things hard for Xiao Xi?”
The chairman looked silently at the deputy general manager beside him.
Knowing it was his cue, the deputy general manager could only bite the bullet for his healthy salary. “The director of that show is signed to our company, so we can deal with him, but as for the producer, lead actor and actress and their backers... the company honestly can’t do much.” He stopped just short of spelling it out.
Shang Xi asked He Chunxi, “Do you want to terminate your contract right away?”
He Chunxi set down her phone and asked the deputy general, “That other show, was the contract terminated?”
The deputy general immediately handed over the termination agreement. “Taken care of.”
He Chunxi flipped through the contract, then pushed it to Shang Xi for a double-check. “How many appearances do I still owe?”
The deputy general pulled out another set of documents from the drawer, “Four.”
He Chunxi looked through them one by one, realizing that in three of these four, she’d just be filling out the numbers. Only the last one demanded a penalty of twenty million to break the contract...
All because she’d played the fourth female lead in a smash hit show, she had become a minor third-tier celebrity — but what kind of appearance penalty was set at twenty million? This job was obviously a setup, made to screw her over!
The deputy general clearly got what was needed, immediately offering, “These three are a waste of your time, I’ll handle them for you. But the last one... Your former agent signed this for you, so what do you think?”
Shang Xi put down the contract in his hand and said, right in front of the chairman and deputy general manager, “Xiao Xi, you know, Ji Chun and I were also under Jin Li’s spell once... Well, ‘spell’ isn’t quite accurate, but when Ji Chun and I were around Jin Li, we just had no sense whatsoever — we’d do anything to please her. Luckily, after staying away from her for a while, Ji Chun and I both got some sense back.” He squeezed Xiao Xi’s hand. “And since meeting Uncle He, we’re completely cured.”
He Chunxi said, “Strictly speaking, this isn’t really your fault. I got mad but I’m over it.”
Shang Xi managed a bitter smile, “If you wanted to take it out on me, I’d have no complaints. But Jin Li really is something else. As far as I know, any rich heir who takes a liking to her ends up completely infatuated, and as for what they’d do for her...”
He Chunxi nodded at the contract with the massive breach penalty. “Isn’t this a good example? Willing to cough up so much money just to set me up. The leads on that show were also ‘ordered to target me’, right? I don’t even know Jin Li — why’s she coming for me?”
Shang Xi whispered, “Ji Chun and I are still digging into it.”
The deputy general wiped his forehead, sneaked a look at the chairman, then added carefully, “The eldest miss of the Jin family is really lucky, has a great reputation... There’s a lot of superstition in this circle, and rumor is she can actually improve people’s fortunes.”
He Chunxi lifted her head, eyes bright. “Then maybe I should personally go test her out?”
Shang Xi quickly tried to stop her. “Xiao Xi, you really have no idea, Jin Li is seriously dangerous!” She’s only a little below Uncle He in power — if you go head-to-head with her, you might not win!
He left the last part unsaid, but it was written all over his face.
He Chunxi grinned, dimples appearing, and waved her phone. “Dad agreed, said I could go ‘feel out the situation.’” She looked at Shang Xi. “When there’s an issue that relates to me but is beyond my ability to solve, I’m not shy about relying on Dad.”
Shang Xi breathed a huge sigh of relief. “That’s great.” Then he added, “I’ll go with you!”
He Chunxi looked at the deputy general manager again. “Well?” Her voice lilting upward, sounding playful.
The chairman and deputy general both nodded heavily, “Leave it to the company.”
It wasn’t that the chairman was hesitant to come up with the twenty million penalty — he’d lost billions on a single blockbuster flop without even blinking. The problem was, the last gig involved way too many second-generation heirs with complicated mutual interests, and their fathers were all heavyweights. Even with a mega-conglomerate as their parent company, the agency had no wish to cross them.
As for He Chunxi, they didn’t dare make things difficult for her — in fact, they just wanted to keep her happy. The recent setbacks with projects were just the appetizer; they both knew that if they got a reputation for being unreasonable, a tax audit team would probably show up next. Their kind of media company could never withstand a serious check!
So between two evils, they preferred not to choose at all, just letting the client decide. They would follow her lead.
Compared with those brash second-generation heirs, this “young mistress” was so reasonable and easy to talk to, the chairman and deputy general were honestly grateful.
Meanwhile, Qin Jingzhou read his precious daughter’s updates, especially regarding her judgment of his biological daughter, and didn’t react much at all. “For Du Jiaying, a lover is more important than a father, that’s standard practice.”
The system still reminded him, “Jin Li has a lot of second-generation heirs on her side. You can’t possibly show up and lecture each one yourself... right?”
“That would be too undignified,” Qin Jingzhou said as he lit a cigarette. “I plan to show up in person and have a chat with their fathers.”