LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 3 - The New Boss Was Actually Gu Yan?!
Song Qiuzhi woke up very early.
She washed up, made breakfast, prepared her mother’s medication for the day, took a few quick bites, and left for work.
While walking to the subway station, she took out her phone to browse some videos and look for popular songs she could cover.
In this world, thirty years of Chinese music industry development had been stolen, to be precise… for the past thirty years since the 1990s, all those classic songs and singers that Song Qiuzhi was familiar with in her previous life had never appeared.
However, the trending songs on Douyin hadn’t changed much, they all had the same monotonous tunes and meaningless lyrics.
“Ding dong.”
Before she could even start browsing Douyin, Song Qiuzhi received a WeChat notification.
It was from a small group chat with several close colleagues from the company, and they seemed to be having a heated discussion. Song Qiuzhi curiously clicked to lurk.
[AAA.Xingstar Entertainment Business Wang Limin: Have you all heard? Our company has been acquired.]
[Xingstar Artist Department Chu Wei: What? Is that true?]
[AAA.Xingstar Entertainment Business Wang Limin: It’s true. The Ice Queen called me herself this morning. The company was acquired overnight.]
[Flower Blooming Wealth: @Xingstar Artist Department Song Qiuzhi, Qiu Qiu, what are you doing? You absolutely can’t be late today.]
[AAA.Xingstar Entertainment Business Wang Limin: Old Liu is right. Qiu Qiu, you absolutely cannot be late. The Ice Queen has always disliked you, it was only because the big boss wouldn’t agree to fire you.]
[Xingstar Artist Department Chu Wei: With a new boss, who knows what might happen. Qiu Qiu, don’t mess up! @Xingstar Artist Department Song Qiuzhi]
After being tagged several times, Song Qiuzhi could no longer continue lurking peacefully.
[Xingstar Artist Department Song Qiuzhi: Got it, got it. Just arrived at the subway station. Should be at the company shortly after nine.]
[AAA.Xingstar Entertainment Business Wang Limin: Good luck.]
[Flower Blooming Wealth: Same here.]
[Xingstar Artist Department Chu Wei: +1]
Turning off her phone, Song Qiuzhi let out a slight sigh.
The company hadn’t been doing well these past few years, and rumors of acquisition had circulated countless times. But every time potential buyers came to investigate, nothing ever came of it.
This time, the big boss had managed to find a rich fool to quickly take over this mess – that was truly lucky to the max.
“Ah…”
Thinking about this, Song Qiuzhi sighed wistfully: “When will I find a rich fool to take care of me?”
When Song Qiuzhi finally squeezed her way out of the subway station, it was exactly nine o’clock.
Work started at nine-thirty, and it only took about ten minutes to walk from the subway station to the company – there was plenty of time.
“Phew…”
Song Qiuzhi let out a slow breath of relief and walked unhurriedly along the sidewalk.
She hadn’t taken more than a few steps when her phone suddenly rang in her pocket.
“Ring ring ring ring…”
It was a WeChat voice call – from Wang Limin from the Business Department.
This usually steady middle-aged man rarely made voice calls unless it was urgent, so Song Qiuzhi quickly answered.
“Hello? Old Wang, what’s wrong?”
“Where are you, sis? There’s an immediate meeting, direct orders from the new boss. All artists must attend.”
Upon hearing this, Song Qiuzhi hung up before Wang Limin could say another word.
Damn!
If the new boss loved working and making money so much, why buy Xingstar at all?
While Song Qiuzhi complained internally, she started sprinting – the new boss’s first show of authority could burn anyone else but not her.
Only four days until payday…
Even if it killed her, she had to last through this month – the full attendance bonus was 1000 yuan!
Human potential was truly immeasurable. For instance, what usually took ten minutes, Song Qiuzhi managed in just over five.
“Beep.”
“Verification successful… Good morning, Song Qiuzhi.”
After quickly scanning her face at the company entrance, Song Qiuzhi ran wildly, ignoring appearances, straight toward the main conference room.
However, at the conference room door, Song Qiuzhi saw someone she really disliked.
The Artist Department Director, Xia Lan, nicknamed the Ice Queen.
When Xia Lan saw Song Qiuzhi running up, her already cold expression showed even more disgust.
“Song Qiuzhi, you’re late.”
Song Qiuzhi gradually slowed down and smiled, playing dumb: “Am I? When I clocked in it was only 9:20.”
Hearing this,
Xia Lan raised her eyebrows, not intending to let Song Qiuzhi off easily: “The main group chat notified everyone to arrive ten minutes early. Are you special compared to the rest of the company?”
That was quite an accusation.
Song Qiuzhi had never been one to let others push her around. Faced with Xia Lan’s repeated provocations, she saw no need to remain polite.
“Director Xia, would you like to check if I’m even still in the main group?”
“After our argument about vacation time, didn’t you kick me out?”
“It hasn’t been that long – is your memory really that bad? Did you forget?”
Through the conference room’s glass, curious onlooking faces appeared one after another.
Song Qiuzhi and Director Xia’s arguments had become a traditional entertainment at the company – for some unknown reason, Xia Lan had unreasonably targeted her since Song Qiuzhi’s first day at Xingstar Entertainment.
But today was different. Colleagues who were close to Song Qiuzhi all secretly worried for her.
The reason Song Qiuzhi had survived Xia Lan’s targeting until now was that whenever Xia Lan proposed firing Song Qiuzhi, the big boss would reject it.
Now with the change in leadership, no one knew what kind of person the new boss was…
“Song Qiuzhi, are you dissatisfied?”
Xia Lan’s tone grew colder, and her words became increasingly impolite: “Ranking last in monthly evaluations, with such performance, am I not allowed to criticize you?”
Bringing up how I rank last in every performance evaluation?
Song Qiuzhi smiled coldly.
“Heh, I should be asking you about this, Director Xia. Where are the resources the company promised? I’ve been here for over a year and haven’t seen anything.”
“If I remember correctly, signed artists should have a monthly Douyin promotion budget, right?”
“My account has only had two promotions since creation – first time fifty yuan, second time one hundred yuan, both paid from my own pocket.”
“What’s wrong with being last? Conversely, I have reason to suspect you, Director Xia, of discrimination and workplace bullying, don’t I?”
These words almost completely tore apart any pretense, and successfully enraged Xia Lan.
She had ruled over Xingstar’s Artist Department with an iron fist for nearly ten years, and no artist had ever dared speak to her like this.
“Song! Qiu! Zhi!”
Xia Lan was so angry her shoulders were shaking as she said through gritted teeth: “Get out, right now, immediately.”
“Where’s HR? Someone come process her resignation.”
“Song Qiuzhi, you’re fired…”
Song Qiuzhi could roughly guess why Xia Lan was putting on such a show today – she genuinely despised her, and had been constantly making things difficult for her over the past year.
Previously, with the big boss’s protection, she could barely get by, but now that the big boss had let go, of course Xia Lan would make her move.
A quick decisive cut – getting rid of her right when the new boss was taking over.
But Song Qiuzhi refused to give Xia Lan what she wanted. After being targeted for so long, even a clay figure would have its breaking point, right?
The next moment,
Just as Song Qiuzhi was about to retort, she suddenly felt someone grab her wrist from behind.
Instinctively turning to look, she froze in place when she saw who it was.
Gu Yan.
Why was he at the company?
Seeing Song Qiuzhi’s stunned expression and the confusion in her eyes, Gu Yan almost couldn’t suppress his rising smile.
“I heard your argument.”
Gu Yan didn’t speak to Song Qiuzhi, but instead looked directly at Xia Lan and said: “Both of you come with me. Let’s talk in the office.”
“Also-“
“Today’s meeting is cancelled.”
Xia Lan stared at the suddenly appeared Gu Yan, particularly noting why the new boss was holding Song Qiuzhi’s hand.
“Mr… Mr. Gu…”
Xia Lan wanted to say more, but Gu Yan ignored her and simply turned around, still holding Song Qiuzhi’s wrist, walking toward the office.
Song Qiuzhi didn’t resist Gu Yan’s grip. Her brain wasn’t quite processing everything.
The Ice Queen called him Mr. Gu?
Which meant…
The rich fool who had acquired Xingstar Entertainment overnight was actually Gu Yan?
What?
What the hell was this man trying to do?!