Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 348 If it weren't for her

"Sister Tao Hong, I'll head back to my dorm now."

At the third-floor stairwell of the Central Academy of Drama dormitory, Li Bingbing waved goodbye to Tao Hong. After walking a dozen steps, he looked back to make sure Tao Hong had gone to the fourth floor before letting out a long sigh of relief.

Ever since she agreed to make a cameo appearance in the TV series "A Messy Life," she has felt a jumble of emotions whenever she faces Tao Hong—shame, trepidation, and repulsion…

This forced her to wear a thick mask, and after several times, she felt her acting skills had improved.

However, the truth could not be kept secret in the end.

How should I face Senior Tao Hong then?
You have to understand that she was the one who helped me without hesitation when I was in trouble. She is a true benefactor of the Li family. I shouldn't betray her, both morally and logically.

But now, even if she were to give up the temptation Chen Hong offered, Li Bingbing would absolutely refuse.

This conflicting feeling left Li Bingbing in a state of anxiety every day.

She weakly pushed open the dormitory door. Liu Mintao, who was tidying up clothes on the balcony, glanced back and reminded her, "Someone just brought you something again. It's right behind your blanket."

The word "again" immediately put Li Bingbing on alert.

She pulled a large plastic bag from the corner of the blanket, thanked Liu Mintao, and then found a secluded spot to open the box.

Inside were two pagers with Chinese character display.

Although pagers have seen a significant price drop in the past year or so, this type with a Chinese character display still starts at 2000.

Among the people Li Bingbing knows, only Chen Hong could afford to give away two of these things.

So she hurriedly grabbed the box and ran outside the school, found a phone booth, and called Chen Hong back.

"Mr. Chen, those two pagers..."

"I had someone send it over."

Chen Hong readily admitted it, and then added, "You and your sister each have one, so I won't be unable to contact you even if I want to."

Li Bingbing looked at the two machines she had placed at her feet, her heart heavy, unable to bring herself to refuse—after all, the LV bag she had taken earlier was more expensive than these two pagers combined.

In the end, all she could do was hold the microphone and say 'thank you'.

"Not so polite."

Chen Hong said, "Delivering the things was just a side thing. Actually, there are some things I want to discuss with you."

It turns out there is no free lunch in the world.

Li Bingbing secretly became more vigilant, but obediently replied, "Please tell me, I will definitely help if I can!"

"Here's the thing, I was planning to have your sister work as a production assistant, but she hasn't studied this before. It wouldn't be right if she joined the crew without knowing anything, so I wanted her to come to Tianjin first and shoot a few commercials with me so she could get familiar with the situation beforehand."

Although Chen Hong is now a protected animal, she can't turn down the commercials she's already filmed, so she can only film them slowly at fixed times and locations.

"This……"

"Don't worry, I will definitely not mistreat her."

"Mr. Chen, may I... may I ask my sister's opinion first?"

"Of course, you can also take the pager to her. I'll have someone pay a year's service fee in advance, so you can use it without worry."

Wait to hang up the phone.

Li Bingbing frowned. She had thought that President Chen had ulterior motives towards her, and that it was most likely related to Senior Tao Hong. Letting her sister join the crew was just a side effect.

But now Mr. Chen wants his sister to go and "get used to it" first...

Did I guess wrong before?
Li Bingbing was completely baffled, but she knew she had to discuss it with her sister, so she went straight to United University after leaving the phone booth.

She usually takes the bus, but carrying two pagers worth over 4000 yuan in total, she always felt that there were hidden dangers on the bus, so this time she reluctantly took a taxi.

Upon arriving at the United University, Li Bingbing asked around and finally found the sports field.

Li Xue was playing badminton with her classmates when she saw her older sister arrive. She quickly handed the racket to her classmate and ran up to her, asking, "Sis, why did you come here without saying a word?"

Li Xue usually goes to the Central Academy of Drama more often, since it's easier to find good part-time jobs near the academy.

"Here."

Li Bingbing handed one of the boxes to his younger sister, then asked, "Guess who gave it to you?" Li Xue took it and looked at it. Seeing that it was a Motorola pager with a Chinese display, she immediately blurted out, "Could it be another one from President Chen?"

Seeing her sister nod, she asked nervously, "Sis, what did she say to you this time?"

"This time it's not aimed at me."

Li Bingbing shook her head slightly: "She said she was afraid you wouldn't know what to do if you went to the film crew, so she wanted you to shoot a few commercials first to get familiar with the situation."

"This……"

As the future leader of Hesong Media, Li Xue was no fool and immediately realized that something was amiss.

But she couldn't figure out Chen Hong's intentions for a moment, and not wanting to worry her sister, she smiled and said, "This is a good thing. I'll go and find out what President Chen is up to first, so you won't have to worry all the time."

"The problem is that this whole thing is a bit strange."

Li Bingbing couldn't laugh. She frowned and said in a deep voice, "You haven't had much contact with her, and you're not in this industry. Her sudden request for you to go makes me feel..."

"Hey~"

Li Xue pretended to be nonchalant and joked, "She's a nationally famous star and the boss's wife. What could she possibly want from me? She can't possibly be trying to devour us two sisters alive, can she?"

Li Bingbing shook his head helplessly: "This circle is too chaotic. I can't guess what she wants to do. In short, if you want to go, be careful in everything you do and don't touch anything you don't know the background of."

"You mean..."

Realizing the implied meaning in her sister's meaningful gaze, Li Xue was startled and quickly said, "Sister, what are you saying? How could I possibly touch something like that?!"

"You think those people all touched it willingly?"

Li Bingbing continued to scare her younger sister with a stern face. Although she didn't think Chen Hong would do such a thing, it was better to let her sister know respect and fear than to let her fall into a trap in a daze.

Li Xue repeatedly assured him that she would be careful before asking, "Sis, why don't you eat at our school cafeteria tonight?"

"No need, I came in a hurry and didn't tell the dorm, it's not appropriate to go back too late."

As she spoke, she prepared to leave.

"Wait a moment."

Li Xue quickly called out to her, "Sister, give me your pager number first."

As she spoke, she opened her box and found a card with her pager number inside.

Li Bingbing also opened his own. The two looked at the cards, then the pager, and then the casing and instruction manual. They felt like they couldn't get enough of looking at them.

In the end, Li Xue was the first to react and said to her sister, "Sis, wait for me to go find a pen. Let's copy down the numbers for each other."

As she spoke, she turned and ran to her familiar classmates, asking them one by one who had brought a pen with them.

From afar, Li Bingbing could hear:

"Wow, a pager? And it even has a Chinese character display?!"

"Li Xue, where did you come from?"

"That's your sister, right? She has...you each bought one?"

"If you can afford a pager with a Chinese display, why do you still need to do odd jobs?"

"Did you really buy them yourselves?"

There was amazement, envy, doubt, and also some barely concealed malice.

Li Bingbing was worried that her younger sister wouldn't know how to answer when she heard Li Xue laugh heartily: "It's because I work odd jobs that I have the money to buy it—actually, my older sister had her eye on it a long time ago, and she usually saves money to buy it."

"Think about it, my sister is studying acting. She'll definitely need someone's contact information when she's on set, otherwise, even if someone wants to cast her as the lead, they won't be able to reach her."

Hearing her sister's confident explanation, Li Bingbing secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and then felt a little envious of Li Xue.

If Tao Hong, whom she knew well, hadn't been at the Central Academy of Drama, she could have used that excuse to get away with it, then brazenly pulled out her designer handbag and pager, enjoying the envious glances from her classmates.

pity……

Although it wasn't quite to the point of being a case of gratitude for a small favor being repaid with resentment for a large one, Li Bingbing couldn't help but have a thought pop into her head: it would be better if there were no senior sister Tao Hong.

(End of this chapter)