Expressway service area.

Qi Cong put the food and water he bought into the passenger seat, and then got into the driver seat self-consciously. 

Shen Jia, who was hiding in the back seat, lowered the phone and said in a hurried voice, “Brother Cong, just leave it, I’ll drive. You -“

“Shen Jia!”

A loud roar came from the mobile phone in Shen Jia’s hand, which made Shen Jia  shut up immediately.

“Will you please pay more attention to me? What did I tell you before you went to Haicheng? You can take leave, and work can be postponed for you, but you must absolutely never make trouble while you’re on it. What did you promise me at that time?!”

Shen Jia explained, “I didn’t make any trouble. It was the paparazzi who wrote fake news. I really didn’t fall in love. The person in the picture was Brother Cong. Those paparazzi are really blind. How does Brother Cong look like a girl — ” 

“Does it make sense for you to drive down the street in your iconic sports car? Didn’t I tell you to drive that car less often!” 

Shen Jia’s voice weakened. “I was in a hurry to return to Haicheng and forgot to change cars…”

“…” After a period of suffocating silence, the voice became lower than before, but it was still angry as it continued. “When you come back, come directly to the company to see me, no matter how late it is! It’ll be easy to prove you didn’t go on a date. I will ask the public relations department to prepare for it. You’ll be with…” He obviously took a deep breath. “Take a photo with that Brother Cong of yours, and try to remake the position of the photo taken by the paparazzi as much as possible. When I ask you to clarify, you will post this photo on your Weibo.”

Shen Jia breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly replied, “Let me ask Brother Cong if he is willing to show his face in public first.”

A more obvious deep breath came out, as the other side gritted his teeth. “Brother Cong, Brother Cong, I think you will be killed by your good brother sooner or later!”

Beep.

The phone was hung up.

Shen Jia sat up and secretly looked at Qi Cong, who was driving.

Qi Cong raised his eyes and caught Shen Jia’s line of sight in the rearview mirror. 

Shen Jia was surprised.

Before Shen Jia could be embarrassed, Qi Cong took the initiative to say, “Do you want to take a picture together to clarify the scandal?”

“… Brother Cong, you heard.” Shen Jia leaned over the back of the driver’s seat and rubbed his face sheepishly. “That’s why it’s not good to be an artist. It’s easy to have the media expose and discuss your private life. If you’re not careful, you can -“

He suddenly thought of something and abruptly changed his tune. “But it makes a lot of money. It’s especially good at making money! So Brother Cong, are you sure you don’t want to think about making your debut?” 

Qi Cong shook his head. “It’s not that I haven’t thought about debuting, it’s just that it won’t go too well.”

Shen Jia didn’t understand. “How can it not go well? You can sign with my sister’s company, and have my and my company’s support. Even if you don’t become popular immediately, there will always be some small popularity. “

“That’s what won’t go well.” Qi Cong looked straight at the wide highway ahead. He seemed to see his life in a mess and he doesn’t know where it came from. “I’ve been so absurd for the past three years, and I wasn’t good to you. Your sister won’t allow me to suck your blood like this.” 

Shen Jia was stunned. After he thought of this, he said in low spirits, “Not necessarily, my sister…. You didn’t mean to be bad to me before. You just forgot. As long as we tell my sister that you have remembered the past, she should sign you. “

Qi Cong didn’t answer.

He knew Shen Man. Although Shen Man seemed to be indifferent to Shen Jia, the younger brother from her stepmother, she really loved Shen Jia and protected him very much. Shen Jia was just naive.

 

…

 

The two of them smoothly returned to Beishi before 4 p.m. During this period, Shen Jia’s agent didn’t call him again, so Shen Jia’s clarification on Weibo was not posted yet.

When the car drove into Beishi, Qi Cong noticed that Shen Jia’s mobile phone vibrated twice. After that, Shen Jia was holding his mobile phone and chatting with people, typing very fast. In the middle, he secretly put on headphones to listen to a few voice messages, and his expression slowly faded.

“Shit!”

Qi Cong could probably guess who Shen Jia was talking with. He looked back and according to the navigation tips, headed steadily towards Manju Entertainment, the agency run by Shen Man. 

At 4:15 in the afternoon, the car was parked in the underground parking lot of the Manju Entertainment Building. 

From getting out of the car, to getting on the elevator, Shen Jia looked like he wanted to say something but he didn’t know how to say it.

Qi Cong withdrew his eyes from the elevator floor guide and looked at Shen Jia through the reflection of the elevator door. “Sister Man is up there?” 

Shen Jia froze and looked at Qi Cong. Suddenly he took off the hat from his head and grabbed his hair. “I talked to my sister in the car and she…she said she wanted to see you. “

Shen Man’s original words were definitely not like this. 

Qi Cong nodded, “I see.”

Shen Jia grabbed his hair again. “You know my sister’s temper. If my sister doesn’t speak well, Brother Cong…. I, I… “

“It’s all right.” Qi Cong smiled calmly at Shen Jia. “Which job applicant gets to see the boss on the first day of coming to the company? This is my chance and I believe that Sister Man will not really embarrass me. Don’t speak up for me and just listen to your sister. “

“What job applicant…?” Shen Jia lowered his head and put his hat on again. “You’re my brother.”

The elevator stopped on the 21st floor. The two of them walked out of the elevator and went down the corridor before coming to the door of the Manju Entertainment Company. The door was made from glass, so Qi Cong saw Shen Man waiting beside the front desk right away.

Shen Man was five years older than Shen Jia. She was Shen Jia’s half sister and was tall and thin. She looked different from Shen Jia, who looked pure and handsome. She looked more like her mother and had a cold temperament, without any expression on her face. 

Next to Shen Man stood a man of about forty years. He was of medium height and had a gentle appearance, but the lines between his eyebrows were deep and fierce.

The aura formed by two such people standing together could scare off children, at least Qi Cong thought so. Shen Jia beside him was very frightened – his hands were stiff when he pushed open the door.

Hearing the movement of the open door, Shen Man and the man looked over together. Their eyes fell on Qi Cong after quickly sweeping through Shen Jia. 

Qi Cong looked back politely but didn’t take the initiative to say hello to Shen Man.

Shen Man looked Qi Cong up and down, ignored Shen Jia greeting her, and turned her head to the man beside her and said, “Zhenxun, take Jia Jia to his lounge for a while.”

Shen Jia hesitantly looked from Qi Cong to Shen Man. To Shen Man’s surprise, he didn’t say anything  and followed her instructions, leaving together with his agent, Zhao Zhenxun.

It wasn’t until Shen Jia’s figure was completely out of sight that Shen Man looked at Qi Cong again and said, “Follow me.”

Qi Cong obeyed.

The two of them entered the chairman’s office. Shen Man motioned for Qi Cong to sit on the sofa, while she went to the tea table and poured water into a cup.

“Do you really remember?”

Qi Cong looked at Shen Man, who didn’t look back at him. He sat on the sofa and said, “I remember.”

“You’ve forgotten Jiang Zhaoyan?”

“I’ve forgotten him.”

Shen Man finally looked at Qi Cong and put the cup of water in front of him. “If you were still the Qi Cong who didn’t remember the previous 21 years that I met last time, and only had Jiang Zhaoyan in your eyes, I’d directly ask you to leave. If you remembered the past 21 years, but didn’t forget Jiang Zhaoyan, I’d give you a sum of money and ask you not to contact Jia Jia again. ” 

“But I happen to be none of those.” 

“That’s why I met with you.” Shen Man sat on the sofa beside Qi Cong. Her attitude was quite mild. “I was very grateful to you for caring for Jia Jia all that time. With this alone, I’d sign you immediately and help you to make money, even if your age is far beyond the age range suitable for becoming an artist making his debut.”

Qi Cong knew there was something more to come.

“But I’m afraid.” Shen Man was very frank. “I’m afraid that one day you’ll remember your feelings for Jiang Zhaoyan, feelings that were totally unreasonable in other people’s eyes. I’m a business person and I need to assess the risks rationally before I invest.”

“I’m scared too.” 

Shen Man’s expression changed.

Qi Cong looked directly into Shen Man’s eyes. “If I can, I don’t want to cling to Jia Jia like a leech, but I’m afraid that I will lose my memory again. Yet I didn’t refuse Jia Jia’s goodwill for me, because I need to make money to stabilize my parents’ life as soon as possible. Boss Shen, I’m very ashamed and sorry, but I really need a job that can start as soon as possible to earn money. “

Starting as soon as possible and making money, Shen Man heard Qi Cong’s implication – he didn’t ask to sign up to become an artist, he just wanted to ask for a job.

After a few seconds of silence:

“I’ll arrange a comprehensive physical examination for you.” Shen Man stood up and turned to her desk. She took out a brochure from it and handed it back to Qi Cong. “This is the hottest variety show in the past two years. After the program begins, all major entertainment companies will enter a total of 50 trainees. They conduct the final selection with these 50 contestants from the draft. Manju has five places. I can give you one place, as long as you show me that you have the potential to be an artist. Whether it’s singing, dancing or even cross talk, you have to show me that you have something worth promoting and cultivating. ” 

Qi Cong was stunned.

“This year the semi-finals are in October. This means one and a half months from now. Before that, you will follow Jia Jia as an assistant and get familiar with the working situation of the entertainment circle as soon as possible.” Shen Man bent down and took Qi Cong’s hand and put the brochure in his palm. “Also you can call me Sister Man just like before.”

 

…

 

At five o’clock in the afternoon, Shen Jia finally responded to the buzzing “love” rumor spread online that made many of his fans on Weibo anxious and heartbroken.

Shen Jia V: Girlfriend? Here, I’d like to introduce you to my new assistant and my good brother, Qi Cong. In past, my brother took care of me, so in the future I will take care of my brother [struggle] [struggle] [clenched fist].

There were two photos under this Weibo.

In the first photo, Qi Cong and Shen Jia, dressed in the same clothes as when they were photographed, stood at the front desk of Manju Entertainment together. One was smiling against the front desk counter and the other was laying his arms on the other’s shoulder, their chin proudly raised, and the corners of their eyebrows and eyes full of happiness. 

The second photo was a little old, with a car shed in the background. In the car shed, two teenagers in school uniforms stood side by side. One was slightly uncomfortable, tugging at the schoolbag strap, bowing his head to avoid the camera, while the other was smiling and holding the other’s shoulder, and was making scissors motions to the camera. The sunlight illuminated their expression, giving a true taste of youth.

Fans and melon eaters who came to see Shen Jia’s Weibo content and photos were all stunned after seeing it, and then reacted differently.

 

Edited by: Antiope1

Proofreader: Taalia

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