Chapter 24

Su Tao: I'm sorry, I can't hold my liquor well. My friend happened to see us and got the wrong idea. I hope it didn't cause you any trouble?

After a long pause, Jiang Qi finally messaged back:

Jiang Qi: Is this your explanation?

Jiang Qi: Shouldn't you be explaining your relationship with that man?

Su Tao: I think I should explain my intention for looking for you today.

Jiang Qi didn't reply, seemingly waiting for her explanation.

Su Tao directly sent over the electronic copies of two contracts.

Jiang Qi: ?

Su Tao: I actually felt you had great potential to be a celebrity when I first saw you. I wanted to sign you on as my artist.

After sending this message, Su Tao felt a little nervous, not knowing how he would react.

After a long time, Jiang Qi finally replied:

Jiang Qi: Are you trying to save face since I rejected you?

Su Tao: "..."

She suddenly felt it wasn't worth being polite with this bratty kid.

Even if she was trying to save face, wouldn't his words hurt her pride even more?

But thanks to what he said, her nervousness suddenly dissipated.

Su Tao: No, you may have misunderstood. My original intention asking you out was to discuss a contract with you, but you kept refusing to see me, so I went chasing after you at your concert.

Su Tao: I should have made it clear from the beginning, I'm sorry.

Her phone screen darkened after the messages were sent. She turned it back on, still not receiving a reply.

Su Tao looked at the WeChat conversation without a response for a long time. Her heart grew colder and colder.

Just as Su Tao was feeling dejected and regretful for losing out on signing a top celebrity, her phone screen suddenly lit up.

Jiang Qi: Meet at the restaurant we were at yesterday morning.

Since he was still willing to meet after she explained her intention, it showed he was also interested in signing with her. Su Tao clenched her fist, regaining her confidence.

Su Tao got out of the car and practically sprinted to the restaurant.

Xie Jin, who had been watching the whole time, angrily slammed the car door. But he only stayed angry for a few seconds before following her footsteps.

-

Su Tao arrived first at the same spot as before. After about ten minutes or so, Jiang Qi leisurely strolled in.

Jiang Qi lazily sat down like before, but his usual smiling eyes were now expressionless.

Su Tao still had a polite smile on her face. She took out the two prepared and bound contracts from her bag and placed them on the table.

"Here are two contracts, one is a normal rookie contract, and one is a customized contract for you. You can take a look first, and we can discuss if you have any questions."

Jiang Qi's gaze moved from Su Tao's face down to the contracts. He laughed lightly and said, "You even prepared contracts."

"Every term in this custom contract for you is one I researched carefully. Although I'm a shareholder of Jingyang Entertainment, I'm also a qualified agent. I will try my best to maximize your interests. If you sign with me, I will devote all resources to you and help you quickly debut and become famous. I guarantee you will become an A-list celebrity within a year, reach top-tier status within three years, and attain your goal of becoming a top actor who wins awards within five years."

"Oh right, Gu Yiyan is someone I personally nurtured. I helped him achieve his current success within a year, so you can completely trust me."

Jiang Qi watched Su Tao's eyes shine when she talked about work, her entire person exuding a different vibe and color.

If she was like an unopened clam when they first met on the beach, then now she was a dazzling pearl.

Jiang Qi lowered his eyes to hide the emotions in his heart, and slowly said, "Currently two other companies have discussed contracts with me, with terms no worse than yours. Why should I choose you?"

Su Tao didn't look too surprised. She had been thinking about this question. "Because what I promise, I will definitely fulfill."

Her gentle yet firm voice tugged at Jiang Qi's heart. The determination and confidence shining through her clear eyes made her whole person glow.

This sentence that wasn't really a promise, yet no one would doubt her. She had a kind of convincing magic.

Jiang Qi stared at her intently for a long time, before his playful attitude surfaced again. "Alright, then let me see your sincerity."

"What sincerity?" "Be my assistant first and let me see your capabilities."

Su Tao's smile froze. Why was this bratty kid so obsessed with making her his assistant ever since they met?

"Your request is one no agent who wants to sign you can fulfill." Su Tao spread her hands and said.

"Then whoever can do it, I'll sign with them." Jiang Qi stood up, seeming ready to leave.

Su Tao stopped him: "I really don't have time. I still have two artists recording shows..."

"So all the resources you said will be devoted to me don't include your own time? You're not even willing to spend a little time on me, how can I believe you?" Jiang Qi seemed to have prepared his rebuttal already, leaving Su Tao unable to refute.

"Jiang Qi, I juggle multiple things at once. I really don't have that much complete time to be your assistant."

"One day, just one full day of time."

"And you'll sign with me?"

"I'll consider it."

Su Tao gnashed her teeth and thought for a moment before agreeing. "Deal."

Xie Jin had been following Su Tao the whole time. Hearing their conversation, he watched her return safely to her hotel room before stopping in his tracks and withdrawing his gaze.

He called Wu Xueyu. His pitch black eyes blended into the dark night: "Sign an artist named Jiang Qi, Jiang Wan's brother, at any cost!"

"President Xie wants to promote him?" Wu Xueyu asked hazily, having just woken up.

"Sign him back, then shelve him!"

-

Su Tao arrived at the address Jiang Qi specified within the time he required.

She didn't expect it to be the gates of T University.

Su Tao also wore the white tank top with dark blue jeans she had on when watching the band perform that day.

One reason was it was convenient for outdoor activities, and two it was easy to pretend to be a passerby at critical moments.

This was a habit formed when she was bringing up Gu Yiyan.

But she didn't expect this outfit to unintentionally match the environment perfectly, blending in seamlessly as a college student.

At nearly 1.7 meters tall with a slender figure and long neck, Su Tao was still an eye-catching presence even among the campus full of beauties at T University.

She had her hair in a ponytail. The short ponytail bounced lively like a bunny tail behind her head.

Her fair and translucent skin shone under the sunlight. Smiling with red lips, she waved at Jiang Qi standing at the meeting spot.

Jiang Qi spotted Su Tao like this immediately. His eyes behind the sunglasses froze for a moment before he withdrew his gaze after she walked up to him.

He brought Su Tao onto campus. The school that should have been quiet during break was instead bustling with people, banners, balloons, and streamers, lively and extraordinary.

"Is there some event today?" Su Tao asked curiously.

"Yeah, a basketball game between us and the Foreign Languages University nearby, held once a year."

There were quite a few students on the roadside dribbling basketballs, making an ordinary basketball game seem like a sports anime in real life.

Jiang Qi strolled leisurely with Su Tao side by side, not looking like a team member about to compete at all.

"Are you playing?"

Jiang Qi suddenly took off his sunglasses, a flirtatious smile in his eyes again. "Do you want to watch me play?"

Su Tao glanced at him expressionlessly. "Whether I want to watch or not isn't important. I'm your assistant today, as long as you're happy."

She analyzed the reason she was misunderstood last night, and summed up the main problem - when he flirted with her, she didn't respond coolly and unambiguously.

Instead, she treated him like an adult, thinking he was just making some harmless jokes, and overlooked his age and childish mentality.

So she needed to learn from this lesson. No matter what he said in the future, she had to respond with timely indifference.

Jiang Qi's flirtatious smile froze for a moment as he withdrew his gaze. He fiddled with her bunny ponytail and revealed a sunny boyish smile. "They won't let me play even if I want to."

"Why not?"

Jiang Qi suddenly jumped in front of her, blocking her path. His eyes narrowed slightly. "First tell me the relationship between you and that man yesterday, then I'll tell you the answer."

Su Tao's expression changed slightly, but she quickly regained her calm. At the same time, she noticed the unfriendly looks from the students on the roadside dribbling basketballs, especially the girls.

"Just a friend." Su Tao simply answered, then took out a mask from her pocket, preparing to put it on.

"A friend who would forcibly take you back to his hotel late at night?" Jiang Qi grabbed her mask in one hand, demanding she answer him clearly.

Su Tao looked up at him. He had the appearance of a blessed son of heaven, so why was he housing such a gossipy soul?

As she looked up, a basketball suddenly flew towards Jiang Qi out of nowhere. Su Tao subconsciously grabbed Jiang Qi's hand, wanting to pull him aside, but she misjudged and while Jiang Qi managed to narrowly dodge, the basketball accurately slammed into her forehead.

The ball was fast and powerful. Losing her balance from the hard impact, Su Tao fell sideways into a roadside puddle.

Jiang Qi immediately went to help Su Tao up after she fell. Her white top was covered in mud, and her temple was red where the ball hit, already starting to swell.

"You pulled me away instead of dodging yourself?" Jiang Qi frowned, feeling uncomfortable but not knowing how to express it.

This was the first time a woman had shielded him.

"It's not like I couldn't dodge." Su Tao shot back at him. She felt like he was asking the obvious - if she could dodge, why would she choose to take the hit?

"You didn't dodge yourself yet shielded me?"

Su Tao lowered her head to look at the mud on her clothes and the growing crowd. She was in no mood to answer Jiang Qi's barrage of questions.

She looked up, wanting to know who the ball belonged to, and whether it was an accident or deliberate.

Suddenly, a roar. The powerful engine sound grew louder from afar, and yellow headlights flashed as they prompted pedestrians to clear the way.

In the blink of an eye, a black Ferrari 488 four-seater supercar screeched to a halt before the crowd. Before they could admire the gorgeous car model, the man who stepped out attracted all the gazes focused on the car.

Xie Jin stood tall and cold beside the car. The nine-split pants outlined his legs even longer. His deep black eyes contained a cold solemnity, oddly contrasting with the faint sandalwood scent around him.

He walked towards Su Tao and frowned deeply at her muddy state. His gaze then fell on her red and swollen temple. He held up her face, fingers gently brushing aside her bangs.

"Hiss-" Su Tao sucked in a breath from the pain when he touched her injury.

Xie Jin's eyes quivered slightly, and the unrestrained fury rose from the depths of his heart. His pitch black eyes hardened like ice as he scanned the crowd. His low voice wasn't loud, yet seemed to roar, shaking people's hearts.

"Who hit it?"

No one dared admit it to begin with, much less under Xie Jin's terrifying questioning. Even if they were the ones who threw the ball, they wouldn't admit it now!

Su Tao could tell no one would step up and claim responsibility for this. She pushed his hand away and held it instead, hoping to quell his anger as she gently said, "Take me to change first."

The Ferrari that sped away in a trail of dust only left the crowd with its four red taillights.

-

The car was silent. Su Tao looked at her sorry state on her phone, then the two men's dark moods. She sighed.

She was the one injured yet didn't lose her temper, while they looked wronged as if owed a debt.

"That person has poor ball skills but quite the strength." Su Tao laughed, trying to dispel the cold air in the car.

Jiang Qi, who had been silent, suddenly spoke. "It's not poor skills, they deliberately aimed at me."

Su Tao looked over curiously, asking with her eyes why he said that.

Jiang Qi sighed, looking weary: "It must be another campus post saying some goddess confessed to me and I rejected her again. Those guys are standing up for their goddess, I'm used to it."

Su Tao: "..."

This arrogant Versailles-esque rhetoric just rolls right off his tongue, doesn't it.

Having unknowingly become a driver, Xie Jin scoffed disdainfully.

Su Tao thought he also looked down on the childish arrogance, but Xie Jin murmured, "I'm different. When I was in school, they only dared admire me secretly, not confess. Maybe they were afraid of embarrassing me."

Su Tao: "..."

Su Tao silently turned her face towards the window.

After randomly finding a nearby hotel, Xie Jin didn't get out of the car to follow them in. Jiang Qi got a room for Su Tao, then went to buy her clothes and told her to go in and wash up first.

Before she could close the door, Jiang Qi blocked it and warned: "No matter why that man is here, I hope after I get back he won't appear again. Otherwise, the contract is off."

Su Tao's mouth twitched. She felt this kid was a tycoon hiding behind a sunny boy exterior, not much better than Xie Jin.

She was quite surprised Xie Jin didn't follow them in, and wanted to ask why he had shown up at school so suddenly. But it seemed for now that him leaving spared her a lot of trouble.

Since only her clothes were dirty, after a simple wash Su Tao heard a knock at the door. She went to open it in her bathrobe, but it was Xie Jin who came in.

He held a brand name bag in his hand, but his gaze fell on Su Tao's bathrobe.

The bathrobe had no buttons, just a sash tied loosely in a bow. One light tug would undo it completely.

"Why did you come back? I thought you left."

Xie Jin's eyes suddenly darkened intensely. He slammed the door shut and said, "So you were going to open the door dressed like this for that kid?"

Before Su Tao could say anything, there was another knock at the door. It was Jiang Qi returning.

Recalling his earlier warning, panic crept into Su Tao's usually calm expression.

She pointed to the bathroom and whispered in Xie Jin's ear, "Hide in there, don't make any noise."

Xie Jin stared at her in disbelief, as if he had misheard.

"You want me to hide?"