CH 38

Chapter 38

Among artists in the entertainment circle, an invitation letter from the Chang Corporation signified a different status. This was because even if an average person managed to grab hold of a big thigh [1] even that was no guarantee that they would be able to get in. The Chang Corporation was very strict in screening those who would attend.

So at this time, artists from Jiuji Entertainment were the source of envy. Their company had received an investment from the Chang Corporation and thus were able to obtain invitation letters.

However, the people at the top of the entertainment circle were very clear on the matter. To Chang Shi Gui, his investment in Jiuji was akin to his playing with stocks. Perhaps he didn’t even know the artists that were under Jiuji, let alone the people who tried to use their proximity to obtain favour [1].

There were also artists that sought information from their managers to no avail. It was only later that it was known that the Chang Corporation had sent a few more invitation letters to Jiuji, but did not indicate any desire to further their relations otherwise.

Even if Ning Xi wanted to pre-order a gown now, it would be too late. As such, she could only clear up a half-day in her schedule to get fitted for ready-made clothes.

Ning Xi had a great figure. Her waist was slender and her legs were long. With her well-proportioned figure and her fair skin, it was easy for her to find the perfect dress. However, it was not easy to find one that was especially outstanding.

She looked for a while and after much difficulty, managed to choose a black evening dress.

Black was a colour that would never be out of style. She looked at herself in the mirror and touched her empty neck.

“Miss Ning is so fair and has such a small waist, this dress suits you perfectly.” Though the sales assistant had always complimented people without blinking [2], her words today were definitely genuine and sincere. In fact, the design of this dress was not particularly spectacular, but when it was worn by Ning Xi, it became exquisite.

“Thank you.” Ning Xi smiled and thanked her. Looking back, she saw Xiao Yang making a silly face and couldn’t help but laugh as she said, “This design, how many have you sold?”

“Please be rest assured that even though our brand does not belong to the top, it is still beloved by celebrities around the world. There will definitely not be another.”

The sales assistant was very clear that certain celebrities were afraid of wearing the same outfit and that it was normal to have such concerns.

“Sister Xixi, you look so beautiful in this dress, just like a goddess. ” Xiao Yang clapped excitedly,

“You’ll definitely stun everyone.”

“If you keep on complimenting me, I will have no face to see people,” Ning Xi smiled warmly as she said to the sales assistant, “Can I trouble you to help me wrap this up? Thank you.”

“You’re too courteous, please wait a moment.” This was not the first time the sales lady had assisted an artist. They all varied. Some were ostentatious, fussy, and some even lifted their chins and looked down on others. Customers as gentle and polite as Ning Xi were her favorite, so she was much more cordial.

After settling the bill, Ning Xi took a picture with the sales assistant before she was warmly seen off.

“Mister, please drive to the nearby jewelry store.” Ning Xi touched her neck, “I am still missing a necklace to match this dress.”

Only a diamond or gem necklace would suit this kind of evening dress.

The jewelry displayed in the store’s counters were exquisite and made many unable to take their eyes off them. Ning Xi set her hands on a pair of simple yet stylish earrings and could not decide on a suitable necklace.

She had heard that the reason one found difficulty in making a selection lay in the lack of money and Ning Xi more or less agreed, as she found herself in that very situation.

An event like the Chang Corporation’s party would definitely have many major investors in attendance. To an artist, it was the perfect opportunity to build up their name and establish their identity.

And so, in this situation, Ning Xi could not appear too shabby as it would not only be disrespectful to others but also make them belittle her.

Nobody could see beyond the surface to understand another’s nature at first sight. To strangers, they would not have the patience to uncover the beauty of one’s heart. As such, to attract attention, one would have to start with their appearance.

“Miss Jiang, this is the necklace that you’ve ordered. Please take a look and see if there’s anything you would like alter.”

“Not bad.” The person who replied appeared to be somewhat absent-minded.

Ning Xi turned back and saw that the speaker was a very young lady who only seemed to be in her early twenties. She looked to be extremely arrogant and impatient. It was clear that the necklace in front of her was just a barely passable.

“Miss, what do you think of this one?” The sales assistant recommending to Ning Xi brought out another design of the necklace in front of her. The cut of this necklace’s gem could not match up to the one she saw previously but the price of it was one third less.

After a careful comparison, Ning Xi bit her teeth and decided to buy the one before. It couldn’t be helped that it was expensive; at least she liked it.

“Oh, aren’t you the actress in the something-film? [3]” Miss Jiang noticed the movement around Ning Xi and sized her up and down. She reached her hands out towards Ning Xi, “Are you here to buy jewelry as well?”

She walked to Ning Xi, glanced at the few necklaces displayed in front of Ning Xi and said in slight contempt, “This gem is not lustrous enough. The design is also two months old and you’re still buying this?”

Ning Xi pointed at one of the necklaces and passed her credit card to Xiao Yang who was standing behind

her, “I’ll have this design, thank you.”

Xiao Yang looked at this Miss Jiang that appeared out of nowhere and without knowing why, she felt a sense of hostility from her towards Ning Xi.

However, upon seeing that Sister Xixi was calm and composed, the worry in her heart disappeared without a trace.

“A light purse makes a heavy heart, I have let you see an embarrassing side of me.” On Ning Xi’s face, there wasn’t the slightest hint of awkwardness under the scornful gaze of others. It was as if there was nothing shameful about purchasing a necklace design that was two months old.

Miss Jiang also did not expect her words to not have any effect on Ning Xi. The expression on her face changed. After a while, she said, “You’re very honest about this point.”

“Thank you for your compliment.” Ning Xi smiled calmly as if she was not facing a rich young mistress but an unreasonable child. Her expression was full of patience and helplessness.

To any outsider, Miss Jiang was strange. Since her family had money, even if you bought a necklace to play with it, it was fine. But to purposely sneer at someone for buying items that were not good enough, that was uncalled for.

Particularly for the sales assistant who had recommended the necklaces to Ning Xi, her face was filled with embarrassment. Though Miss Jiang was jeering at Ning Xi’s inability to afford quality items, from another perspective, she was also insulting the sales assistant for selling goods that were not up to standards.

It was only because Miss Jiang was a VIP client that no one dared to offend her.

“Keke,” Miss Jiang was angered to the point she wanted to laugh at Ning Xi’s attitude, “Aren’t you an old friend of Brother Chang’s? For you to come to the Chang Corporation jewelry store, and seeing that there is no special treatment or VIP discount for you…?”

Timing it perfectly, the sales assistant had already wrapped up the necklace. Ning Xi took the box into her hands and smiled, “Taking care of my friend’s business is my habit. How can I accept any discount?”

Miss Jiang finally understood why her cousin brother would flare up every time he mentioned this female artist, it was because the way she spoke was so infuriating.

Buying such a necklace was framed as taking care of her friend’s business?!

There were so many flagship stores under the Chang Corporation, would Brother Chang even need her care?

How could this person be so shameless?

Miss Jiang was so enraged that her expression changed. Just as she was about to open her mouth to retaliate, she saw Bai Lu walking over. The look on her face immediately became complicated as she took her things and left.

The fact that Miss Jiang’s relationship with the Bai family’s young miss wasn’t very good was known by many.

The moment Bai Lu entered the store, she saw Jiang Yi’s departing figure. She smiled without a care and asked the sales assistant who was welcoming her, “I noticed that Miss Jiang’s face wasn’t very pleasant, did she argue with someone again?”

The sales assistant laughed and tactfully said, “Miss Jiang just had a brief conversation with Miss Ning.”

Upon hearing the word ‘Ning’, Bai Lu cocked her brow and looked around. She then saw Ning Xi who was speaking to a sales assistant in a corner.

“Ning Xi?” Her perception of Ning Xi was very complicated. She couldn’t tell how much she liked her yet once she saw the smile on her face, Bai Lu would not be able to maintain a stoic face with her.

This woman…..she probably has poison. [4]

“Sister Lu?” Ning Xi also saw Bai Lu and her eyes immediately brightened. Her face carried a brilliant smile, “What a coincidence.”

That was right, it was this smile that made all unable to resist her.

Bai Lu unconsciously gave Ning Xi a smile and her legs also began to move towards Ning Xi, “Ning Xi, what are you doing here?”

“I do not have a suitable necklace for the party tomorrow night so I came here to take a look.” Ning Xi pointed at the necklace in front of her.

Hearing that Ning Xi was also attending the party tomorrow night, Bai Lu was not surprised at all. Instead, she said with a smile, “Your neck is so fair and long, no matter what you wear you’ll look beautiful.” She was telling the truth. Ning Xi’s neck was indeed pretty and sexy. The way she looked when she slightly tilted her head down made people want to kiss her.

The manager personally took out the necklace that Bai Lu had ordered. Ning Xi took a glance. It was a very gorgeous ruby necklace.

She did not conceal the surprise in her heart, “How beautiful!”

Bai Lu saw that Ning Xi only had admiration and amazement in her eyes without any jealousy or flattery. Her impression of Ning Xi improved, “Out of all the jewelry stores, I like this one the most.”

The manager who was standing to the side laughed, “Miss Bai thinks too highly of us. It is our greatest honour to satisfy our customers.”

Just by looking at the smile on the manager’s face, Ning Xi could tell immediately that difference between Bai Lu and Miss Jiang was simply too enormous. She stood up and said to Bai Lu, “Sister Bai, I still have to shoot a night drama tonight, so I won’t disturb you any further.”

“I was just about to leave for home,” Bai Lu smiled at her, “Let’s go together.”

The sales assistant that was serving Ning Xi saw that the two had a close relationship and thought that it was no wonder that Miss Jiang was so antagonistic towards Ning Xi, it turned out that it was because of Miss Bai.

There was a rumor that Jiang Family’s young miss was secretly in love with their boss but their boss seemed to have a better relationship with Miss Bai. So Miss Jiang always liked to give Miss Bai the cold shoulder. If both were present in the same location, they would never see eye to eye.

However, this news was simply some internal gossip that circulated. No one knew whether it was true or not.

Just as Ning Xi and Bai Lu walked out of the jewelry store, they noticed that there was someone secretly taking photographs of them from across the street. The photographer saw that they had already seen him and immediately drove off.

But they were both women, there’s nothing much to speculate about. So Ning Xi and Bai Lu did not pay much attention to it. Anyway, both of them had long become used to this kind of secret photo-taking.

However, they had overestimated the reporter’s moral principles. That night, the news was published online.

<>

Although the quality of the pictures released weren’t too good, the omnipotent netizens were still able to recognize their identities.

Netizen A: The reporters nowadays are always trying to capture a big scoop. Clearly the two are ordinary friends who are shopping together, how did it become so weird under their influence?

Netizen B: Exactly. But the sight of two beauties walking together is truly a feast for the eyes. Even though the blurring in this photograph is well done, Ning Xi and the Bai Family’s young miss are indeed different from those passer-by in the background.”

Netizen C: Did no one notice that this actress Ning Xi is very outstanding? A beautiful appearance, a good educational background and a great figure. The people who are close to her in the circle are all famous celebrities. Outside, she’s good friends with big figures like the CEO of Chang’s Corporation and the young miss of Bai family. Even her agency was able to hold onto a big thigh like the CEO of Chang Corporation because of her. I can’t help but feel that she’s a cheater in life. [5]

Netizen D: Upstairs 1, Ning Xi is the big winner in life.

……

Netizen N: Let me tell you guys some news from the entertainment circle. I heard that when this Miss Ning was acting in an important role in a certain big production, she was too popular and became a hindrance in some people’s eyes. Because of that, after a ‘Fireworks Glow’ burst in popularity, her name was continuously blackened by others. And this artist that slandered her is currently still on the production team, bullying her. It’s just that Ning Xi had a good temper and does not want to bring trouble to the team and so the news was suppressed.”

After this netizen dropped that explosive news, they did not appear again. But to onlookers, this news was akin to water dripping into a pot of oil, it wasn’t long before the net became heated up.

Previously, there were people that guessed that Ning Xi would act in ‘Searching the Sea for the Immortal Record’. However, all along they did not receive any confirmation. With this news, netizens were even more sure of their suspicion. There were even some that began to dig up the artists who had tried to smear Ning Xi.

But it was a pity that the production team of ‘Searching the Sea for the Immortal Record’ did too good a job of concealing secrets. They had no idea who the actors in this production even were. As such, there was no place for them to search even if they wanted to.

As this matter wasn’t too serious on the net, no agencies bothered with it. What they were more concerned with was the party to be held by the Chang Corporation later that night.

The afternoon of the day of the party, Ning Xi had ended her shoot early and she sat waiting in the dressing room for the makeup team that Zhang Qingyun had specially brought over to do her look. Only then did the production team of ‘Three Lives of Rogue’ only learn that Ning Xi received an invitation to the Chang Corporation’s party.

But once they remembered that Ning Xi was friends with Chang Shi Gui, the team wasn’t as surprised.

Though this wasn’t a surprise, when Chang Shi Gui personally came to pick Ning Xi up, it was an enormous shock.

A man came especially to pick up a woman before the party, what did it mean?

This meant that the woman would be his partner at the party.

Chang Shi Gui stood silently outside the dressing room. All the staff that saw him when they were walking by unconsciously quickened their pace, lest they disturb him.

Yet he seemed not to care about the surrounding passersby as he continued to stand quietly outside the door. His perfect side profile made women’s hearts unable to resist moving for him, but they could only revere him in their hearts because of his identity.

[1] – The original literal translation is ‘A waterfront pavilion gets the moonlight first’. It means that a person in a favourable position gains special advantages.

[2] – Basically, lying with a straight face.

[3] – Literally that’s what she said. She’s don’t remember the name of the show.

[4] – A chinese slang that means someone is toxic? But it’s usually said in a joking or sarcastic manner and towards someone who said something really ridiculous. So in a way, it’s kind of saying that a person is crazy for saying such weird things.

[5] – Gaming slang right? Basically, they’re saying that she gained some hacks in life to be able to meet such powerful figures.