Chapter 358: Her Current Symptoms Were The Same As When She Was On Her Period. She Was Weak All Over
Duoyao: “….”
Was it that obvious?
“You’re walking way more femininely than usual,” Xiling said as she coughed softly into her fist.
Duoyao lowered her head silently in guilt. Could she not be feminine? She already felt how the Little Mermaid must’ve felt when she first walked onshore. Every step was torture. Besides, her current symptoms were the same as when she was on her period. She was weak all over and she wanted to sit down for a rest every couple of steps because her legs were so sore. Why was it like this?
“Congratulations on finally coming to fruition.” Xiling patted her shoulder. She spoke in a voice soft enough for only the two of them to hear. “But you have to watch out. Don’t get pregnant.”
Pregnant…
Duoyao was stunned. Last night, she went to see Hades and was totally unaware of what happened after that.
After she got into the car, she sent Yan Molun a text silently, asking if she needed to take any medication. After a while, Yan Molun replied very quickly: No need.
Duoyao pouted and replied: What to do? I feel like I have a low blood count. I need some supplements.
On the other side, when Yan Molun saw the message, he was speechless for a while. How poor was this woman’s body constitution?
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Duoyao rested in a hotel in Chengdu for the rest of the day. She was simply tired out. Upon thinking about the variety show she had to record tomorrow, she wanted to kill herself. Indeed, it wasn’t an ordinary price to pay if one wanted to have a go at Brother Molun’s arrow.
“… What… canceled… why?” Xiling, who was answering a call on the side, suddenly raised her voice.
Duoyao turned her head and saw her expression turn from bad to worse with a little frustration. Around a minute later, Xiling walked over and said, “Sister Shuang called me just now to say that Liu Ruoni snatched away the online game Heroes Battle that the company secured for you.”
Duoyao was stunned. Liu Ruoni was under the same management company as her. She debuted as a singer and was now acting. She was youthful, pretty and also very popular. However, she only came over from another company last year. Now, she was also an artiste under Ge Shuang, but the two of them were focusing on different things and they were rarely in conflict. “Why? Wasn’t it agreed that it would be me? We even arranged for a date to sign the contract.”
“It was arranged by Sister Shuang.” Xiling frowned. “I asked Sister Shuang. She said it was an arrangement by the higher-ups in the company. I think it has something to do with you offending Kang Anhe.”
Duoyao was in disbelief. “No way. Kang Anhe doesn’t seem to be such a petty person.”
“You don’t understand men at all.” Xiling rolled her eyes at her. “I told you not to offend him and you refused to listen. Great. Now that we’ve finally gotten back on our feet, if the company refuses to give you any good resources, that’s akin as being shelved. The money for an online game endorsement is the easiest to earn. If you had gotten that endorsement, it would’ve easily been a few tens of millions. Now, Liu Ruoni got it easy.”
Duoyao knitted her eyebrows together tightly. Thinking about the loss of a few tens of millions made her heart hurt. However, she still had to comfort herself and comfort Xiling. “Forget it. I’ll earn those tens of million back after a few more gigs.”
Xiling scoffed. “I’m just afraid this is just the beginning. No. I need to get someone to contact the people from Heroes Battle. Why did they suddenly decide to change to Liu Ruoni? I want to see what they’re up to exactly.”
After saying that, she took her phone out and called a number. Duoyao chewed a biscuit and felt rather frustrated. She now had a group of bodyguards, a makeup artiste, and an assistant relying on her for a living.
…
In the next few days. the jobs the company had arranged for her during the first half of the year were successively given to other people in the company. The ones Duoyao still had in hand were just a few small gigs that didn’t have high public exposure.
No matter how slow she was, she must’ve already detected something was amiss by now. She called Ge Shuang and was given a perfunctory reply. The most intolerable thing was that when she was preparing to meet Xi Bolai in Shanghai at the end of the month, the company suddenly told her she didn’t need to go anymore. Xi Bolai had already canceled her eligibility and at the same time, the role was given to a new artiste under the same company, Xiao Xiao.
She knew Xiao Xiao too. She was different from Liu Ruoni. She started out as a child actor and was a very skilled actor. She had filmed many movies with several famous directors but because she was a child actor, she was unable to escape the public’s image of her ever since childhood. Hence, she had very limited options. Duoyao didn’t think that this film that she had been looking forward to so much would actually be given to Xiao Xiao.
She was furious. If these were the artistes from other companies, she would’ve let it go, but since these were artistes from the same company, someone was obviously behind it. She called Ge Shuang but the latter didn’t pick up her call. In the end, she could only call Ruan Yang to get her to ask Xi Bolai.
Ruan Yang replied half an hour later, saying in a serious tone, “Duoyao, Xi Bolai said your manager called him personally to say that you didn’t wish to take part in his movie because you thought the dual personality of the female lead was too difficult to handle and you were also afraid you would receive criticism from the audience, which would affect your image. So you recommended Xi Bolai from your company. Xiao Xiao went over to Shanghai to look for Xi Bolai that day and acted out a scene from the script. Xi Bolai was very satisfied, so he decided on her. Besides, I think Xi Bolai isn’t very happy with you right now. If I didn’t call over to explain things to him, he said he would’ve never wanted to work with you again.”
“I didn’t say that at all.” Duoyao was furious. She hated backstabbers the most. “Besides, how would Xiao Xiao know the script? Xi Bolai only gave it to me.”
Ruan Yang fell silent for a moment before asking, “Have you shown your manager the script?”
Duoyao was stunned. She was speechless. She went with Ge Shuang then. After that, when they left, Ge Shuang also looked at the script out of interest.
But how could Ge Shuang do something like that? She was brought up by Ge Shuang and didn’t even give up on her previously during the Zhu Fenglei incident. Why must Ge Shuang do her in like this?
Ruan Yang sighed softly. “From what I know, until now, Xiao Xiao hasn’t had a good manager. If she rises in popularity, I’m afraid the company will get her a better manager. I think Ge Shuang might want to pull her over to her team. After all, she needs someone to substitute you. I suggest you go to the company to look for Ge Shuang and have a talk with her. If she continues like this, you can leave your company and start your own studio or join another company. If you must, you should take it to court to receive compensation, but you can’t go on like this.”
Duoyao cursed silently in her heart. She got someone to book a flight back to Northern City on the same day to look for Ge Shuang.
Ge Shuang had a meeting upstairs. She waited for more than half an hour before Ge Shuang came down. When she saw Ge Shuang, she was feeling quite upset. “Sister Shuang, I won’t beat around the bush. You know I’ve been straightforward. I just want to know why you’re doing this to me.”
Ge Shuang had a complicated look on her face. She turned around to make a cup of tea and didn’t say anything.
Duoyao said, upset, “I’ll tell you truthfully. Ever since I graduated, I signed a contract and entered the company. I was a nobody then but you set your eyes on me. All these years, you supervised me and nurtured me. I treated you like an elder, like a teacher. When I didn’t do well, you lectured me. When I failed, you encouraged me. When I succeeded, we celebrated together. All of this is etched deeply in my heart. After I got popular, there were companies that tried to poach me but I never thought about going over. There were actors who started investing and making films but I’ve never thought of doing any of that before. I just wanted to stay in the company.”
“Duoyao… I didn’t have a choice either.” Ge Shuang passed her the cup of tea helplessly. “You’re a very loyal person. I know that, but I was also forced by the company. I had no choice at all.”
“It’s the Kang Anhe issue. It’s because I offended him, because I didn’t accept his courtship?” Duoyao laughed coldly.
“You always don’t listen to me.” Ge Shuang spread her hands out. “Right now, CEO Kang isn’t happy with you. He wants to shelve you. I’m just a manager—I don’t have a choice. I can’t take you with me to leave the company and go solo. Your contract will end in five years. If you want to take the company to court, it’d be draining both financially and mentally. It isn’t something that can be resolved in a short span of time. The scariest part is that it would still affect your reputation. Duoyao, I don’t have the courage to offend the entire company for you.”
“So… the only choice I have now is to be shelved?” Duoyao only found it ridiculous.
Ge Shuang frowned. “There’s also another way out. Go look for Kang Anhe, apologize to him and make him forgive you.”
“If this were in the past, I might’ve really gone to beg him, but now, I know he’s just a shameless villain. I can’t wait to give him a kick at the sight of him and spit in his face. I won’t beg him.” Jiang Duoyao stood up and said through gritted teeth, “Sister Shuang, I just wanted to understand what you thought. I understand it now. Sure. I know what to do.”
Ge Shuang was worried. “So? What do you plan to do? Why don’t you just listen to me for once? You’re always so stubborn.”
“Since you’ve decided to give up on me as a manager, I don’t need to tell you what I plan to do.” Duoyao turned to leave the office.
Xiling, who was waiting, rushed up to her. “Where are you going now? Don’t tell me you really plan to breach your contract?”
Duoyao turned her head back and suddenly looked at her. “Do you know where Kang Anhe’s company is?”
“What do you want to do?” Xiling felt uneasy from her gaze. Someone like her would never think of apologizing. “Miss Jiang, please don’t be rash. Rashness is a devil.”
Duoyao stared wide-eyed at her. “What do you take me for? I just wanted to apologize to him and ask him for a favor.”
“Really?” Xiling was suspicious. “I don’t know where his company is either, but I can help you ask around.”
Duoyao nodded seriously. She believed Xiling was capable of that.