"Be good." A sly smile flickered at the corners of Su Haoyang’s mouth, so fleeting that the person in his arms couldn’t even notice.
The contract signing process was so smooth it bordered on eerie.
The next day, a manager from Splendid Culture ca directly to the Su Family Villa with the contract.
The contract terms indeed looked enticing, with a basic share ratio slightly higher than Xingyue’s A-level contract, and the promised resources were quite attractive.
Under Mrs. Su’s "loving" gaze and Su Haoyang’s "encouraging" look, Xu ngjie almost didn’t look closely at the lengthy supplentary terms and appendices—especially the details on "artist image cooperation," "priority of business activities," and "penalties"—before signing her na at the bottom as Party B.
The manager bead as he put away the contract, exchanging a knowing glance with Mrs. Su.
After Xu ngjie signed, an unusual feeling of relief washed over her.
It was as if by signing this contract, she had completely severed ties with the past and demonstrated her "value" and "determination" to the Su family.
She even began to look forward to the near-at-hand engagent ceremony, imagining herself in a gown, receiving blessings from friends and family in the glass greenhouse.
That night, Su Haoyang appeared particularly gentle and considerate, personally cooking dishes she liked, and after dinner, he accompanied her on a walk in the garden, sketching details of the engagent ceremony until late at night.
The ink on her signature seed barely dry when Splendid Culture’s work schedule surged in like a tide.
Almost without giving her any ti to breathe and adapt to her new identity, the manager had lined up a schedule so packed it was suffocating. From pre-dawn brand appearances and magazine shoots to late-night variety show recordings and comrcial performances, her titable was cramd to the brim, with scarcely a gap.
Sotis she had to rush between three or four cities in a day, continuously moving between planes, nanny cars, and various work sites, making als and sleep a luxury to be snatched at any available mont. The work wasn’t all glamorous; much of it was tedious and ti-consuming appearances, promotions, and even social engagents for brand partners.
Her body and mind were under imnse pressure, fatigue clinging like an inseparable dull pain, leaving dark shadows under her eyes, her delicate makeup unable to conceal her haggardness. Sotis napping in between makeup sessions or dragging leaden legs back to the Su family during the late nights, she felt tired, so tired that even her bones ached.
Yet, every ti this happened, Su Haoyang would conveniently appear, holding her and saying in a tone filled with both affection and pride, "ngng, you’ve worked hard. The company values you so much, giving you so many resources, it shows our decision to sign was the right one! Once the engagent ceremony is over, your career will surely flourish!"
Mrs. Su often ntioned at the dinner table, with an ostensibly caring tone, "Splendid values ngjie so much, the schedule is tight, but it’s all to quickly pave the way, after all, it’s worthwhile for young people to endure so hardship."
Wrapped in this dual "comfort," and thinking of the coming grand engagent, Xu ngjie forcibly suppressed that feeling of exhaustion, even self-consoling: Yes, the company "values" so much, giving so much work, isn’t this proving the path paved by the Su family is right, proving my value? For Haoyang, for our future, what is this bit of tiredness?
She was imrsed in a sweet fantasy of being "valued" and about to experience the pinnacle of her life, deliberately ignoring the greedy hunger for value extraction lurking behind the work intensity.
However, fate’s twists often arrive unexpectedly.
As the engagent approached, Xu ngjie finally found so ti amidst her hectic work to think about it—
In the dining room, Mrs. Su was sitting at the head of the table, leisurely having her exquisite breakfast. Her hair was immaculately grood; she seed particularly cheerful, even humming a tuneless lody. In front of her was a docunt, and as Xu ngjie approached, she glimpsed Splendid Culture’s logo and a list of resources on it.
"Good morning, Auntie." Xu ngjie greeted softly, "The day after tomorrow is the engagent, and I haven’t booked tickets for my parents yet."
Mrs. Su raised her head at the sound, and the smile on her face vanished instantly, as if shifting faces in Sichuan Opera: "Why would they co over?"
Her gaze towards Xu ngjie no longer bore yesterday’s "loving" look, nor even the previous deliberate pretense of gentleness, only an utter indifference and... an undeniable trace of smugness and disdain.
Xu ngjie froze on the spot: "The engagent, my parents... aren’t coming?"
"Engagent?" Mrs. Su finally raised her eyes again, as if she’d heard a ridiculously absurd joke, her lips curled into a thoroughly mocking arc, her eyes cold as a snake’s tongue, "What engagent? Miss Xu, are you talking in your sleep?"
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