I Love Her Because She’s Dim-Witted And Filthy Rich - Chapter 10

Seeing Su Miao’s face drop with an expression as if she were about to burst into tears, the heavy oppression in Duan Bainian’s heart inexplicably dissipated. She even felt a bit like laughing; in fact, she actually did let out a laugh.

“Hey, I’m the one who lost my job, alright? I’m not even wearing a funeral face, so what are you doing?”

Su Miao was incredibly distressed. “If you had never been famous like me, it wouldn’t matter; you could just find a job and live a normal person’s life. But you were actually famous once, so you…”

Su Miao didn’t finish the second half of her sentence, but Duan Bainian understood. The entertainment industry was indeed like that; for those artists who had passed their prime, they were always depicted in various miserable states in entertainment gossip. Moreover, they would be dragged out every once in a while, to be “publicly flogged” for the sake of onlookers, making them seem even more pathetic.

Duan Bainian gently stroked her bracelet. “It’s okay. Didn’t I say just now? My family has some connections back home; I won’t starve to death.”

It would have been better not to mention going home; as soon as she mentioned her hometown, Su Miao became even more upset. She gave a small sniffle. “I don’t want you to go home.”

Duan Bainian remained silent for a moment. She stood up, walked over to Su Miao, and gave her a gentle hug. “Su Miao, in this life, no one can stay with someone forever. We are all just passers-by. To be able to walk a small stretch of the road together is already very lucky…”

Su Miao instinctively wrapped her arms around Duan Bainian’s waist, burying her face deep against her stomach without saying a word.

At this moment, she didn’t want to speak to Duan Bainian at all.

She thought that Duan Bainian was so annoying, always saying things she didn’t want to hear.

Duan Bainian stroked Su Miao’s head. “You… you are especially, especially good. I never thought I would become friends with such a good girl like you. I am very lucky… Transport is so developed nowadays; in the future, if you have time, you can come to Gansu to find me. The scenery in Gannan is very beautiful. I’ll take you around then.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Duan Bainian felt Su Miao trembling. Soon, through her cotton-linen pajamas, waves of dampness seeped through.

Su Miao was crying.

Duan Bainian wanted to push Su Miao away, but her outstretched hand stopped in mid-air and did not continue. If she pushed her away, what would she say? She hadn’t thought of anything.

She gave a soft sigh and stopped speaking as well.

After a good while, Su Miao stopped crying. She lifted her small face and looked at Duan Bainian with tearful eyes. “If… if you could still receive resources normally, would you continue to stay in the entertainment industry?”

Duan Bainian found it a bit strange. “Why do you ask that?”

Su Miao was sobbing, her eyes full of seriousness. “Just answer me… yes or no?”

Duan Bainian still looked at Su Miao strangely. “Staying in the entertainment industry is naturally for the best, but why are you asking this? Can you help me?”

Su Miao didn’t answer. She stood up abruptly and, without saying a word, went straight out of Duan Bainian’s room.

Xiao Song was in the living room watching a movie. Hearing the sound of the door opening, she instinctively looked back and saw Su Miao with bloodshot eyes, which gave her a start. “Miao… Sister Miao, what’s wrong?”

Su Miao didn’t answer her.

Xiao Song hesitated for a moment but still sent a WeChat message to Su Miao’s mother to explain the situation—Su Miao’s mother, He Aizhi, was her true boss.

Speaking of He Aizhi, Xiao Song admired her from the bottom of her heart; it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call her an idol. Over ten years ago, her idol got divorced and raised Su Miao alone, becoming a single mother in every sense of the word.

He Aizhi had originally been a manager. In the nineties, she had managed several successful artists. Later, because of her marriage, she resigned, considering that a job that required running around everywhere wouldn’t allow her to take care of her family.

Later, it was heard that because Su Miao’s father had a mistress outside, they divorced.

He Aizhi returned to her old profession, but because she couldn’t agree on terms with her old employer, she simply went out on her own to start a new company, Nanyang Entertainment. After developing it for over ten years, it was now quite famous in the industry.

Su Miao returned to her room and composed herself for a long while. Once she felt she could speak without a nasal tone, she called her mother.

Having just heard from Xiao Song that her daughter had been crying and then immediately receiving a call from Su Miao, He Aizhi knew that Su Miao had something to tell her.

He Aizhi answered the phone and joked, “Oh my, my precious daughter actually knows how to call her mother?”

Su Miao: “Oh, how could I not! By the way, Mom, are you coming the day after tomorrow?”

He Aizhi responded, “Roughly then. I’ll finish things in Shanghai tomorrow and then come to see you.”

Su Miao’s voice sounded extremely happy. “Come quickly, I can’t wait to see you.”

He Aizhi didn’t believe her at all. “Don’t you lie to me. I went to see you last month, and we clearly agreed you’d pick me up, but when I came out of the station, there wasn’t a sign of you. It was Xiao Song who picked me up.”

Su Miao: “Mainly, I can’t wait for you to meet my new friend.”

He Aizhi was somewhat surprised. “You like this new friend very much.”

Su Miao nodded, though the other person couldn’t see her. “She is really especially good, a very gentle person. She took the initiative to teach me how to act. You know I’m stupid, but she never loses her temper with me. And when she saw I was bruised, she took me to the hospital for a check-up. Other than you, she is the person who treats me the best!”

Listening to her precious daughter’s happy tone, He Aizhi also became cheerful. “Is that so? Originally, I only planned to treat her to a meal to get to know her, but hearing you say that, I should prepare a gift to thank her?”

Seizing the opportunity, Su Miao quickly said, “No need for a gift. It just so happens she has some trouble right now; you can help her.”

Hearing her daughter’s tone change because of her urgency, He Aizhi laughed helplessly. She knew it—crying and then calling her proactively meant nothing good was happening.

He Aizhi: “What kind of trouble?”

Because she was anxious, Su Miao spoke in a muddled way. “She’s going back to her hometown… Oh no, she… she’s unemployed. Her company is going to stop her resources.”

He Aizhi asked, “Why are they stopping her resources?”

Su Miao froze. This… it seemed she hadn’t asked Duan Bainian about that.

He Aizhi couldn’t help but sigh. This silly daughter of hers was truly silly beyond measure. “If she violated company regulations, it’s normal to stop resources.”

Su Miao immediately denied it. “That’s impossible, she’s not that kind of person… Oh Mom, just help her!”

He Aizhi couldn’t help but press her hand to her forehead. “How do you want Mom to help her?”

Su Miao said tentatively, “How about… you sign her over?”

He Aizhi was silent for a moment and said, “Two problems. First, I don’t know what the contract your friend signed with her original company says, when it expires, and most importantly, how much money is needed to pay for a unilateral breach of contract. The second problem is that I’m not clear what type of artist your friend is. If she clashes too much with the artists of the same type in our company, even if she comes over, it’s impossible to give her too many resources. At that time, she might be disappointed.”

Su Miao was stunned as she listened; she had thought about it too simply and hadn’t considered so much at all. She spoke in a low voice, “Then what should I do now? Go and ask her how much the penalty for breach of contract is?”

He Aizhi thought for a bit. “Determine the breach of contract penalty first, then we can talk about other things.”

After hanging up the phone, Su Miao immediately scrambled out of bed and went to knock on Duan Bainian’s door again.

It was the assistant who opened the door. Without waiting for the assistant to speak, Su Miao immediately went to knock on Duan Bainian’s own room.

Seeing Su Miao returning, Duan Bainian was clearly surprised. “What is it?”

Su Miao looked nervous. “If… if you were to terminate your contract, how much would the penalty be?”

An unbelievable thought surfaced in Duan Bainian’s heart. “You want to help me pay the penalty?”

Su Miao said vaguely, “Something like that… how much is your penalty?”

Duan Bainian felt a mixture of complex emotions. Had she become so useless now? Had she actually plummeted to the point where Su Miao had to help her?

Duan Bainian’s self-esteem was acting up. She spoke hoarsely, “I don’t need you to pay the penalty for me.”

Su Miao immediately became anxious. “If… if you don’t terminate the contract, then even if resources come looking for you, you won’t be able to take them!”

How could Duan Bainian not know what Su Miao was saying? But if she let Su Miao pay her penalty, she would rather not terminate the contract and just quit the entertainment industry altogether.

Watching Su Miao’s anxious face, Duan Bainian looked away. “The penalty is not a small amount. I don’t want to owe you a favor. I still have four years on my contract. After four years, it will terminate automatically. There’s no need to spend this money to terminate it.”

Su Miao was both aggrieved and anxious. If Duan Bainian didn’t terminate her contract, she couldn’t sign with Nanyang Entertainment, wouldn’t have resources, would have to go back to her hometown, and then…

She would be separated from Duan Bainian.

Su Miao looked at Duan Bainian with expectation. “If you don’t want to owe a favor, you can pay back the penalty money slowly in the future.”

Duan Bainian smiled. “30 million. You calculate it—when would I ever be able to finish paying that back?”

Su Miao froze for a moment. “You can pay back as much as you can! I won’t rush you!”

Duan Bainian made a move to close the door. “It’ll be fine when it terminates automatically. Go back and rest early.”

Su Miao was truly hurt. Why was it that she was rushing to help Duan Bainian, and the person wouldn’t even accept it?

Su Miao’s tears were like pearls from a broken string, pitter-pattering on the floor.

Su Miao sobbed, “Why are you so stubborn! I’ve taken the initiative to lend you money, and you still don’t want it! Are you stupid!”

Duan Bainian’s face was expressionless, showing no emotion. “Yes, I am stupid.”

With that, she closed the door with a “thud.”