Be reborn and be happy to the fullest

"With the China-Korea Song Festival approaching, starting yesterday, March 18th, various media outlets across the internet have begun to frequently and intensively report on the China-Korea Song Festival..."

"The focus of both South Korean and domestic media reports is on South Korean idol groups, while reports on domestic singers mainly concentrate on veteran top stars. Chopstick Brothers became an instant hit last year with their performance of 'Old Boys' on the Spring Festival Gala, and should logically be a focus of reports, but the media coverage is minimal. According to our investigation, Zhou Huanian issued a blacklist order within the industry..."

"The ban on the Chopstick Brothers is not limited to Zhou Huanian alone. He is a veteran bigwig in the industry and, like others, a monopolist of various resources and discourse power. These people have long reached a tacit agreement that the most severe punishment for disobedient artists is to ban them, a joint ban!"

"Now is the eve of the China-Korea Song Festival, which should be the busiest time for the group to land various commercial advertisements. However, since this ban was issued, not only have no advertisers inquired about Chopsticks Brothers' prices in the past two days, but even advertisers who have cooperated with them before have put pressure on the company, hoping that the company can restore Chopsticks Brothers' commercial value as soon as possible..."

In the bright and spacious office of Qianyu Times, Li Shuo sat back slightly in his boss's chair, with Wei Shuting reporting various recent information to him.

Every word Wei Shuting said corresponded to a malicious act or a tripping maneuver by Zhou Huanian. The destructive power behind it forced Li Shuo to admit that he had underestimated this bigwig in Beijing's elite circles! Zhou Huanian's previous tolerance of Li Shuo was based on the fact that he was a beneficiary of the status quo, and at least in terms of his level within Beijing's elite circles, he was superior to Li Shuo.

Li Shuo's expression turned slightly serious as he asked, "When does the concert start?"

Wei Shuting glanced at the time: "At 7 p.m. sharp, Brother Chopsticks has already gone to the Beijing Opera Center, we can leave a little later..."

Although Zhou Huanian is incredibly powerful, Li Shuo also has his own influence. This concert invited some industry bigwigs and specially set up VIP front row seats. Li Shuo's name was on the list of invitees.

"Um, does Lan Ying'er have time today?"

"Are you taking Lan Ying'er with you?" Wei Shuting was a little surprised, after all, Jin Chen and Li Yitong were also going to perform on stage at the concert.

"Of course, we're a famous golden couple in Beijing! Bringing your girlfriend to this kind of occasion is quite appropriate, isn't it?"

In reality, Li Shuo grasped the essence of "competition" and, when he was confident in his abilities, gradually began to accept the competitive environment.

“Since the day before yesterday, I have transferred some management authority of Shuoguo Culture to Ms. Lan Ying’er. She recently took a short leave from the Central Academy of Drama and should be at Shuoguo Culture now…”

"Um"

Li Shuo nodded, picked up his phone, and dialed Lan Ying'er's number...

"Honey! Why did you think of calling me?" Lan Ying'er's tone was full of surprise when the call connected. Since Li Shuo came to Beijing, he only spent two days with her at the beginning, and then he was always between the two beauties of Beijing Dance Academy, neglecting her.

"You've been working hard lately. Is the company difficult to manage?"

"Hehe, this is our company, so what's a little hard work? Besides, I'm here to be the boss's wife..."

"Wrong, you're the boss. Once you take control of the Beijing branch, I'll be the 'boss's wife' who can comfortably lie behind you..."

"goose……"

"Do you have time tonight...?"

Hearing the silvery laughter coming from her phone, Wei Shuting couldn't help but marvel at her boss's charm. Lan Ying'er was the fish she was in charge of, so she naturally knew that Lan Ying'er's recent "focus on work" was because she had been neglected by a man. This daughter of a listed company also had backbone, and she kept her distance from Li Shuo, secretly competing with the man.

As it turned out, the man only made one phone call today, and he immediately couldn't hold back anymore...

As she was lost in thought, Li Shuo finished his call and instructed her, "I've already asked Zhu Mingyu to handle things with Brother Chopsticks. Tingting, go and make arrangements for Lan Ying'er..."

"Yes"

……

"What's going on with Lan Ying'er?"

"What else could it be? She must be missing her man terribly..."

"Tsk tsk, I always thought Li Shuo was a prince charming, but now it seems that being handsome and rich isn't necessarily a good thing..."

Outside the president's office of Shuoguo Culture, Song Cheche and the other two beauties from the Central Academy of Drama sat together. Lan Ying'er had come to Shuoguo Culture to become the boss, and for various reasons, these friends were all very interested. So today, they specially gathered together to visit Lan Ying'er, only to find her inside answering a phone call.

The three beauties were all well-informed. On the one hand, they knew that Li Shuo seemed to have caused quite a stir at the Beijing Dance Academy, making the two school beauties jealous of each other. On the other hand, they had also heard about the conflict between Zhou Huanian and Li Shuo.

Emotionally, they naturally supported Li Shuo, but among best friends, there are bound to be some hidden thoughts. Li Shuo was both a womanizer and cheated on, and was also suppressed by a big shot in the industry. In the eyes of the three women, this was something they secretly enjoyed.

Of course, Qiao Yuxin and Zhao Ziying were secretly delighted, while Song Cheche, who had an ambiguous relationship with Li Shuo, was still somewhat worried.

"Everyone, what would you like to eat for lunch today? It's on me!" At this moment, Lan Ying'er came out of the office and said loudly to everyone.

The women were "shocked" and began to tease:

"What's wrong with you? You've been looking so gloomy all morning, has something good happened to you now?"

"What good news? How many months pregnant? Let me hear it..."

"Go! Go! Go"

Lan Ying'er pushed away the playful Qiao Yuxin and said with a reserved smile, "I have a date tonight, to attend the China-Korea Song Festival, um, first row VIP seats!"

"Wow, this is incredible!" "The China-Korea Song Contest is one of the top events in the industry."

The three women all praised her, and in a tacit understanding, they provided emotional support to their best friend.

But after arguing for a while, Zhao Ziying still asked, "Was it Li Shuo who brought you in? So, you two have made up?"

Lan Ying'er raised an eyebrow: "What do you mean we've made up? We didn't even have a fight!"

"Come on, look at yourself the other day, you looked like a lovesick woman confined to her chambers..."

Zhao Ziying smiled dismissively and said, "We're relieved that you two can make up. You don't know, we were just talking about Li Shuo..." "Talking about what?" Lan Ying'er asked.

Song Cheche laughed and said, "These two picky eaters think that Li Shuo is handsome and rich, which isn't a good thing, as he'll easily attract unwanted attention..."

In short, the atmosphere instantly turned cold.

Lan Ying'er was silent for a moment, then forced a smile and said, "It's alright, I won't take those things about Peking Opera to heart..."

The three women quickly reassured him, saying, "Don't worry, Li Shuo isn't that kind of person," and "He likes you the most, otherwise he wouldn't have taken you to an event like the China-Korea Song Festival."

However, all four women except Qiao Yuxin are shrewd and understand that these are just polite words. Li Shuo's image as the "perfect boyfriend" has been shattered among the four beauties of the Central Academy of Drama. Correspondingly, everyone's previous envy of Lan Ying'er has now diminished to an extreme level...

Because of her low spirits, Lan Ying'er ended up just finding a Western restaurant near Shuoguo Culture Company. The four girls all had small appetites, so they ate a pitiful little bit before calling it a day. However, Lan Ying'er wasn't the career-oriented type, so she pulled her best friend along and chatted for over an hour at the restaurant...

It wasn't until after 2 p.m. that Lan Ying'er received a call from Wei Shuting, and she realized with a start, "Oh no, I forgot something. Let's stop here for today, I have to go..."

Zhao Ziying asked, "Do you have anything else to do this afternoon? Isn't the concert still a while away?"

As she spoke, the three women stood up with Lan Ying'er.

As Lan Ying'er walked, she said, "Shuo-ge'er prepared some clothes for me. I'm going to try them on this afternoon. Also, he said he has a surprise for me. I wonder..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Wei Shuting stepped out of the passenger seat of a Rolls-Royce, nodded to Lan Ying'er, and said, "Miss Lan, the boss sent me to pick you up..."

"Tsk, is this the most expensive Rolls-Royce Phantom? Li Shuo is really too rich!" Qiao Yuxin's mutterings fully reflected the current mentality of the four beauties of the Central Academy of Drama: although they said "handsome and rich but can't be fickle", when the luxury car actually appeared in front of them, the feeling was very different.

Lan Ying'er, however, noticed the newly installed license plate and asked Wei Shuting curiously, "Is this the car that Brother Shuo bought in Beijing? How much did it cost?"

Wei Shuting nodded and replied, "Boss recently started a car sales company, and while he was at it, he bought some cars for Shuoguo Culture, Qianyu Times, and our secretariat. Among them are two Rolls-Royces and two Maybachs, all with Beijing license plates. As for the price, it's nearly a million cheaper than the market price..."

Song Cheche clicked his tongue and said, "I used to hear that the Rolls-Royce Phantom was priced at around ten million, but now it seems that it really lives up to its reputation. The price fluctuation alone is a million?"

Zhao Ziying glanced at her and complained, "Although it's a Phantom worth around ten million, you can't expect to get it for that much less without some real power. Li Shuo has opened another company, and it's involved in automobile import and export trade!"

Her family was much better off and she had a broader perspective, so she grasped the key point in one sentence: Li Shuo runs a large company that can import cars, not an ordinary 4S store!
Looking at her best friends, Lan Ying'er felt a surge of pride for no apparent reason: her best friends had been complaining about Li Shuo's womanizing ways and had said some bad things about her boyfriend in front of her, which naturally made her feel uncomfortable. But now, all those troubles seemed to have vanished in an instant.

At this moment, Qiao Yuxin grabbed Lan Ying'er's arm and said, "Ying'er, we've never ridden the Mirage before, let's go together, and take your poor best friends with us..."

Its eyes were blinking, giving it a pitifully cute look.

"no problem……"

Lan Ying'er was in high spirits, and then invited the others to get in the car, saying, "You guys don't have anything to do this afternoon, why don't you come shopping with me..."

"Didn't Li Shuo ask you to pick him up? How can we be third wheels if you two are together?" Song Cheche was actually more concerned about Li Shuo's whereabouts.

Lan Ying'er pouted and said, "Him? I don't know what he's busy with all day. He said he would pick me up before the party... No, Shuting, in the end, we'll have to pick him up, right?"

Wei Shuting nodded with a smile, while Lan Ying'er spread her hands to her other girlfriends: "Look, I still have to pick that guy up! Let's go shopping together. Li Shuo gave me a card, saying it's a black card with no credit limit. You guys help me get revenge today, let's max out this card!"

"Hehe, okay, okay, I love using credit cards!" Qiao Yuxin nodded frantically.

Zhao Ziying reached out and scratched her big papaya, complaining, "Hey, Lan Ying'er is showing off to us, and you're still responding..."

Song Cheche nodded with a smile: "Luckily, among us sisters, Li Shuo's first encounter was with Lan Ying'er. If it had been Qiao Yuxin, she probably would have been completely infatuated with her..."

"What if Li Shuo's first encounter is with you?" Zhao Ziying asked abruptly.

"Uh, I don't know, I guess they couldn't escape being poisoned either..."

The two of them were speaking in unison, seemingly praising Li Shuo, but also countering Lan Ying'er's subtle display of affection.

The relationship between the four beauties from the Central Academy of Drama is like this: not exactly pure best friends, but much closer than a typical "beauty alliance." There's some competition and scheming among them, but they all know that maintaining a good relationship will bring greater benefits...

Phantom quickly arrived at the shopping center that the four beauties frequented most. The four of them went shopping together, spending more than two hours in a row. If Lan Ying'er hadn't needed to get her hair done, they could have shopped until late at night!
While Wei Shuting brought Lan Ying'er to a high-end salon to do her hair and makeup, the other three women began to plot:
"Wow, swiping my card today was so satisfying! I declare that I'm going to find a rich boyfriend from now on!" Qiao Yuxin was still her usual naive and sweet self.

Song Cheche paid more attention to details, smiling as she said, "Not only do you need money, but you also need your own company. Don't forget, we just had four excellent security guards carrying our bags, even though many stores didn't have any stock with them..."

As for Zhao Ziying, she was even more ambitious. She took out her bag, opened it, and placed it in front of the two women: "What's so special about this? Take a closer look. After all this shopping spree, how much did it really cost..."

Looking at the LV bag filled with receipts, Qiao Yuxin's eyes widened, and she clicked her tongue in amazement, "So many?"

Song Cheche became interested and quickly picked up the receipt to count it...

After an unknown amount of time, Song Cheche exclaimed in shock, "114 million! We spent so much money in just two hours?"

Zhao Ziying said, "Yes, we spent quite a lot, but not as much as I imagined! Although we went to LV and Burberry stores, the expensive items were only tens of thousands of yuan each. No matter how much the four of us spent, it wouldn't amount to much..."

"That's not enough!"

Even Song Cheche felt that Zhao Ziying was a bit too ambitious and unrealistic. The latter chuckled and pointed to the Rolls-Royce Phantom outside the floor-to-ceiling window.

Song Cheche pouted and muttered, "That's Li Shuo's company car, it's not a gift for Lan Ying'er..."

As soon as the words were spoken, a beige SUV pulled up beside the Phantom. A closer look at the emblem revealed it to be another Rolls-Royce! At the same time, Wei Shuting got up and walked out… (End of Chapter)