How to capture the evil villain? I choose to be his mother!

Chapter 400 The Most Disliked Actress's Mother in the Entertainment Industry (12)
It's kind of funny!
Zhai Ling, a female celebrity with top commercial value and whose income ranked among the top ten in the entertainment industry last year, is actually broke!
But that's the truth.

There are two reasons behind this:

First, Zhai Ling was naive when she signed the contract. Although the agency she was with did its best to promote her, it also gave her a harsh agency contract with a 10/90 split between the two parties.

Yes, Zhai Lingyi, Company Nine.

The company's aggressive promotion of Zhai Ling may well be partly due to this agency contract.

However, Zhai Ling's earning power is terrifying because she is incredibly good at driving sales; almost anything she wears becomes a bestseller, and countless businesses line up to collaborate with her...

Even if she only takes 10% of her income, after a few years in the industry, buying a larger apartment in Beijing shouldn't be a problem.

This leads us to the second reason behind it: Zhai Ling's relatives.

Zhai Ling was raised by her grandparents for two years when she was a child. Later, she grew up in various relatives' homes. Her relatives did not raise her at all. Most of the money she spent was from the sale of the house left by her biological father.

No one feels grateful to these relatives, and as they grow up, they quickly distance themselves from them.

But Zhai Ling didn't. She treated these relatives very well, as if she didn't hold any grudge against them for their mistreatment of her.

Zhai Ling has been in the entertainment industry for four years, from the age of eighteen to twenty-two, and every year she has been sending money to her relatives.

In the early stages, we earned less, only a few thousand from each household.

Later, when he earned more, he gave away tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of yuan, and also bought houses for his cousins ​​in their hometown city.

Even though the housing prices in my hometown are far lower than those in Beijing, the total amount is still quite substantial!
Zhai Ling willingly gave away so much money.

……

"Was this Miss Zhai Ling... a victim of PUA?"

The female lawyer who accompanied me, perhaps due to her youthful impetuosity, couldn't help but complain.

Sitting in the back seat, Zhu Wen didn't respond. Instead, he rested his chin on his hand and silently sorted through these details that wouldn't be revealed in the original book's plot.

It was through these details that Zhu Wen felt she might have some understanding of Zhai Ling...

"What is Sister Zhu thinking about?"

The one speaking was Xie Ji, who was sitting to Zhu Wen's left.

I don't know what happened, but Xie Ji, the big boss of a multi-billion dollar group, who should be busy with countless affairs every day, seemed to have nothing to do and actually followed Zhai Ling all the way to her neighborhood!
Even his attitude towards Zhu Wen softened considerably. After learning that Zhu Wen was only five years older than him, he changed his address to Sister Zhu Wen, despite the horrified looks from his subordinates!
The most terrifying thing is that Zhu Wen accepted it so calmly and naturally, without showing any sign of being flattered!

Those around them found their interaction very strange.

But I can't quite put my finger on what's so strange about it...

Zhu Wen turned and glanced at Xie Ji:
"I was thinking... how she grew up in places I couldn't see."

Xie Ji could sense that this was her true feeling. His eyes flickered, and he suddenly asked:

"Then do you regret it?"

Zhu Wen's gaze lingered on Xie Ji once again.

Others might not know, but she had read the original plot, so she had a general understanding of it.

The original novel's plot reconstructs this past through the lives of the male protagonist, Cheng You's, family members.

Xie Ji and his deceased sister, who was also Xie Huan's mother, had a very close relationship, but they were actually half-siblings.

The elder sister's mother was Xie Ji's father's first wife. The two were married due to a family alliance. After she passed away from a serious illness in middle age, Xie Ji's father quickly married a woman who was almost twenty years younger than him, who was Xie Ji's biological mother.

She was a woman whose lifelong desire was to pursue romance and freedom. She was a painter, so she always wandered all over the world.

Meeting and falling in love with Xie Ji's father was an accident. Xie Ji's father's old house caught fire, and she fell madly in love with him.

Despite the gossip, he insisted on marrying the woman he loved, and the two had a son, Xie Ji. After the birth of their son, Xie Ji's father believed he could keep his young wife and live a sweet and happy life together.

But a gust of wind never stops for men and children.

Xie Ji was only two years old when his mother fell in love with another poor painter, and the two secretly eloped abroad.

Xie Ji's father was so angry that he fainted.

Upon waking, unable to bear blaming Xie Ji's mother, she vented her anger on Xie Ji, believing that this useless son was the reason he couldn't keep his mother.

At his most emotionally unstable moment, he grabbed his youngest son's shoulder and yelled at him, asking why he wasn't crying or making a fuss, and just watched his mother leave. So all of this was his fault...

Young Xie Ji was forced to bear the sins of love and hate that should not have been his.

Even his half-sister, who originally disliked him, felt sorry for him and stood up to protect him, practically raising him single-handedly.

Their father, after begging his wife to return to the family to no avail, became emotionally unstable and mentally unstable for several years before finally choosing to commit suicide.

He probably thought that if he died, he could see Xie Ji's mother.

The truth is, the woman never appeared at the funeral.

She never came to see her son, not even once.

……

Upon hearing Xie Ji's question, Zhu Wen couldn't help but think—

Was he asking her, or was he asking his own mother who had disappeared for many years?
"regret."

Zhu Wen replied in this way.

This was also her heartfelt thought.

Xie Ji listened, but didn't know how he felt; he simply remained silent and didn't reply.

At this moment, Xie Ji's all-powerful assistant told them that everything had been arranged and they could go upstairs directly.

Zhu Wen tugged at his somewhat stiff and old-fashioned work suit and followed the female lawyer straight to the floor where Zhai Ling lived.

Zhai Ling lives in room 1606.

Zhu Wen rang the doorbell three times, but received no response.

But Zhu Wen knew that Zhai Ling was inside, just a door away.

She adjusted her non-prescription glasses and took out the documents from her bag:

"Hello Ms. Zhai, we are from Heguang Law Firm, and we would like to discuss something with you."

The room inside was completely silent.

A few minutes later, the female lawyer couldn't help but give Zhu Wen a look, asking if he wanted to leave and come back another time.

With a click, the security door opened, revealing a slender figure completely covered up inside.

It's Zhai Ling.

The sound, like a stagnant pool, came through the mask:

How much money do you want?

Perhaps numb from recent experiences, Zhai Ling had become too lazy to verify the identity of the visitor.

Zhu Wen believed that if she gave Zhai Ling a number, Zhai Ling would probably do everything she could to raise the money and hand it over.