Chapter 100: Sister Bao

Chapter 100

After finishing their meal, Zhong Ruanxing drove Song JinXing over to Teacher Niu's place to receive his daily beating as promised. She reminded him before he got out of the car, "Tell Teacher Niu not to hit you too hard. The bruises from yesterday still haven't faded."

Song JinXing nodded. "I'll be careful not to let your body get injured."

Zhong Ruanxing was speechless. "I'm worried about you getting beaten!" She started the car with a murmur and drove away annoyed. "It's not like I'm the one feeling the pain anyway."

Song JinXing watched the trailing smoke of the car and smiled faintly.

In the afternoon, Zhong Ruanxing received a call from Song Shuling, asking if sister-in-law was still staying at her brother's home tonight.

"I bought a gift to give sister-in-law when we meet. I want to bring it over."

Zhong Ruanxing recalled her odd behavior last night and took the chance to ask, "Why did you leave so quickly last night? Do you not like your sister-in-law?"

Song Shuling hurriedly denied it. "No, not at all!" She hesitated briefly before stammering, "I was afraid of disturbing you two. Sister-in-law may not like me."

"How could that be?" Zhong Ruanxing's tone was firm. "Your sister-in-law likes you very much."

Song Shuling sounded a little happy. "Really?" Then she sounded somewhat dejected again. "But sister-in-law hardly talks to me or smiles at me."

Zhong Ruanxing had no choice but to say, "That's just her personality. You see, she doesn't smile at me either, but she likes me very much."

Song Shuling laughed at her words, and the anxiety that had weighed on her all night finally dissipated. When she arrived at the apartment that evening, she didn't enter directly with the password like last night. Instead, she knocked on the door.

Zhong Ruanxing was cooking. Song JinXing went to open the door.

Seeing that cold, aloof face, Song Shuling immediately put on an ingratiating smile. "Hello, sister-in-law."

Song JinXing nodded. "Come in."

He still wasn't used to interacting with this younger sister, let alone now in Zhong Ruanxing's body. Likewise, Song Shuling felt the same. Although reassured by her brother's words, facing those indifferent eyes still made her involuntarily nervous.

She changed her shoes and immediately ran to the kitchen. "Brother, let me help you."

But the fan community was now stable, with the stars happily working on data every day. The official announcement of the leading cast of Song of Floating Life recently, as well as photos of the script discussion meeting, delighted them. They were now working on data for Song JinXing's role of "Qian Si" in hopes of raising awareness of the character.

Song Shuling had never followed stars before, so she was a little lost as she browsed for a while. She first followed sister-in-law's Weibo, then her hashtag, checking in and punching the clock. The pinned post at the top of her feed was a summary of voting links on major platforms.

Song Shuling clicked through the links one by one, quickly figuring out how to vote.

The actresses ranking ahead didn't look as pretty as sister-in-law, so why did they have so many more votes?! She was unhappy about this!

After voting, she scrolled up and saw another post had been heavily upvoted: [Xingxing's commercial resources have been so unfair since finishing The Spy until now without any news. If not for the two Song Corporation endorsements, there would be no data to make. Is the team even doing any work?]

—[Don't worry, sisters. Xingxing's resources in all areas have been so unfair before. Since she doesn't have a representative work yet, investors won't trust her either. It'll be fine after The Spy and Song of Floating Life air next year. I believe in Xingxing's ability to turn things around!]

—[Didn't we prepare ourselves when starting to follow a small-time actress? We're fans of someone who needs room to grow! Let's give her time!]

—[At least there aren't those malicious rumors anymore. The team is still working.]

—[How are the endorsements unfair when so many people are drooling over just the two from Song? More resources will definitely come after the shows air. We just need to believe in her.]

—[A beauty for the ages will go viral across Asia!]

—[Let me dump some cold water. She's only second female lead in The Spy and equal lead in Song but the show is clearly leaning towards Amy. Even if the shows do really well, it won't count under Xingxing's name. Let's pray Xingxing can get a standalone female lead project soon!]

...

The more Song Shuling read here and asked there, the more she understood what they were discussing.

Turns out sister-in-law had been maliciously slandered and suppressed since her debut until finally turning things around this year. But with no representative work, she couldn't get endorsements or quality female lead roles. She didn't even have variety shows, so she was at a greater disadvantage than actresses debuting alongside her.

Reading this made Song Shuling feel a little anxious.

Song Corporation had so many endorsements, yet sister-in-law only got two? Why not just give them all to her?

If she can't play female leads, why doesn't Song Corporation specifically invest in a TV series, hire the best screenwriter and director, and let sister-in-law star in it? Would that not work?

What's going on with brother? Doesn't he know how to do all this?