Inertial Dependence - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Shura Field

Several “big shots” appeared in the meeting room—people one usually only hears of but never sees—holding positions even higher than Yan Ciwei’s current rank.

They likely hadn’t come solely for Pei Luochen’s sake; the company had a major project to sign recently. Rumors of this had already reached An Chixu’s ears, proving it was almost a certainty, which was why the executives were lingering at headquarters. It was just a coincidence that Pei Luochen’s incident occurred now; the rival company wanted to negotiate with the firm, which had alerted this group of heavyweights.

An Chixu’s gaze swept over Yan Ciwei. In truth, the combined status of everyone present couldn’t match hers. Yan Ciwei was the daughter of the chairman of Rian Group, the parent company of Yanxun Entertainment, and the heir to the entire conglomerate. Her presence at Yanxun Entertainment, even as a Director, was considered starting from the “grassroots” to accumulate experience and build a team.

Even though she sat quietly in the corner, back arched and legs crossed, her eyes full of exhaustion and her lids drooping as if she were about to fall asleep, the crowd automatically left a space around her. It was as if a spotlight was shining on her, making her surroundings gleam. As long as she sat there, no one dared to ignore her.

An Chixu, however, merely stood behind Tang Shu, acting as an assistant producer. She had known for a long time that she and Yan Ciwei lived in different worlds.

The one presiding over the meeting wasn’t Yan Ciwei, but a manager from another department.

“Manager He, how do you manage your artists? How did a video like this leak?”

Manager He huddled to the side, apologizing repeatedly, claiming it was due to improper supervision by an assistant, who had already been fired.

Standing behind Tang Shu, An Chixu felt a subtle sense of discomfort. How similar was she to that fired assistant? Doing the most exhausting work, taking the heaviest blame. Yet, no one in the room felt anything was wrong. On the contrary, the manager’s expression toward Manager He softened slightly. Action provided an explanation; they could now begin the process of shifting blame.

Pei Luochen was absolutely untouchable. Someone gave Yan Ciwei a discreet look before quickly looking away. An Chixu didn’t want to admit her focus on Yan Ciwei, but a “nobody” like her in a meeting like this had to be observant, so she noticed it anyway.

Was Pei Luochen’s center position and persona finalized by Yan Ciwei?

The person An Chixu least wanted to confront was Yan Ciwei—not just because of their past relationship, but because of the woman’s methods.

“What exactly is the connection between this incident and the assistant’s supervision?” Unexpectedly, Yan Ciwei was the one to break the unspoken understanding and pierce through the pretense.

The expressions of those in the meeting room varied wildly. An Chixu couldn’t help but steal a glance at her; fortunately, they didn’t make eye contact. Yan Ciwei didn’t seem to care about the gazes of those around her. Call it ego or call it confidence, she was never easily influenced by others.

“Bring Pei Luochen and Zhou Yanxi here.” She issued the command naturally, her gaze barely brushing against the top of Manager He’s head. That one glance made the manager bury his head even lower, almost into the floor, before he scurried out to find the two waiting in the lounge.

An Chixu drifted off for a moment. She knew Yan Ciwei. That attitude meant she intended to hold the parties involved accountable. Perhaps she wouldn’t have to be the scapegoat after all. Her posture relaxed slightly.

Yan Ciwei hadn’t finished speaking. Compared to her usual meetings, she spoke much more tonight. In the past, she had a somewhat distracted, casual air, often lacking formality. No one dared to say anything to her, and she usually only bothered to give orders at the most critical moments.

“Are we short on chairs?” she asked. It was a seemingly meaningless sentence.

Only An Chixu understood her meaning. When their eyes met, An Chixu froze and didn’t look away; she actually saw a trace of soft light within those cold, heartless eyes. An Chixu turned her gaze back, followed a group of standing assistants out the door, and brought back chairs.

“It’s the first time I’ve met Little President Yan; she’s actually quite nice.” The assistants, sharing a common plight, whispered to each other as they went out. By caring about “background characters” like them, Yan Ciwei’s image suddenly became tall and noble.

An Chixu remained silent, her movements in carrying the chair slowing down.

When they returned to the meeting room, the two girl group members were already standing before Yan Ciwei. Their heads were bowed like little chicks, the tips of their ears red, and there were hickeys on their necks.

An Chixu recalled the events of tonight. Pei Luochen had always maintained a “cool and detached” persona. Her persona planner had strictly tailored this set of behaviors based on her appearance and recent fan preferences—distanced, but not aloof. The persona was well-crafted; An Chixu had analyzed the strategy behind it, a combination of moves designed to hook fans into wanting to know everything about her, making them fall in love at first sight or over time.

But the video leaked today featured her whispering intimate words to her teammate, Zhou Yanxi. It was so direct that An Chixu was embarrassed to watch it. In the video, the two were quite intimate; they were either in an ambiguous “situationship” or already dating. That idols cannot date is an unwritten rule in the industry, and besides, the age was inappropriate. To An Chixu, the two had committed a major taboo—it wasn’t just a matter of a collapsed persona.

“Are you dating?” Yan Ciwei asked like a family matriarch. Sitting before the two youngsters, every gesture she made exerted pressure. A single sentence, accompanied by a tap on the table, made the two separate their touching toes.

“Do you have to date?” She didn’t actually need them to answer. Yan Ciwei knew the moment she saw them walk in.

“I’m sorry…” Pei Luochen stuttered out a few words.

“Suspend all activities for one month. Use the time to reflect.” Truly powerful people are like this. She didn’t need to hear explanations or consult others for advice. She gave only one sentence.

Pei Luochen’s eyes widened, and Zhou Yanxi’s expression turned even worse. The manager was devastated and even stood up, wanting to object immediately.

“Little President Yan, Pei Luochen is the leader of the group, and they are in an upward phase. Directly banning activities will just confirm the rumors…” a nearby manager spoke up. They were here today to find a solution, not to punish Pei Luochen.

“Then no punishment? So next time she can continue to date, continue to flirt, the rivals can continue to save her videos, and we can continue to wipe her ass?” Yan Ciwei’s eyes swept over him. “If this were fake, would we be making such a big fuss and holding a meeting in the middle of the night? You know very well what is true and what is false, and you know even better what kind of person she really is.”

Yan Ciwei was likely one of the few high-level executives who didn’t support meticulously planning every aspect of a star’s persona. To some extent, her view was the same as An Chixu’s. Even if Pei Luochen showed her straightforward, flirtatious “player” nature, she might still have become this famous.

“I know I was wrong, next time…” Pei Luochen spoke up sheepishly from the side. One only knows pain after being hit. Yan Ciwei glanced at her, and she went silent.

“How to explain this—you should have plenty of prepared proposals. As for what the team will do while they are suspended… the remaining five people can’t attend promotional events?” Yan Ciwei truly had no intention of revoking the punishment; she even laid it all out. The punishment would certainly be internal. To the public, it would likely be framed as a performance or something similar, and they might even throw some dirt at the rivals to reduce the impact.

Manager He’s face turned various shades of red and white, quite a sight to behold. The expressions of the older executives who had issues with Yan Ciwei were also subtle.

However, this result was much better than An Chixu had anticipated. She was quite worried about the “sister” she managed, but if Pei Luochen suspended her activities for a month, it would leave more opportunities for others. An Chixu stopped her observations there. With more opportunities for Shen Jibai, she would also become busier in the coming month. She needed to go back and prepare well.

Tang Shu, of course, understood Yan Ciwei’s implication and was very excited. The data of the stars they managed was tied to their commissions. Tang Shu felt her “spring” was coming.

“Last time President Yan kept you to give instructions, did you make her remember you?” After leaving the meeting room, Tang Shu clearly wanted to do something more, the wrinkles on her face piling up.

“…I’ll go thank her.” An Chixu kept a wooden face, her joy long gone, her eyes filled with a faint irritation.

“Then don’t go with a long face. It would be better if you could appropriately mention our Jibai and our group’s results.” Tang Shu patted An Chixu, thinking she was quite savvy. If it weren’t for the fact that she was a bit afraid of Yan Ciwei, she would definitely have gone to curry favor personally.

An Chixu stepped two paces to the side and thought: Tang Shu is truly getting old. Her way of speaking and acting was very similar to her own mother. She could no longer keep up with the times and didn’t know what young fans liked. It was time for her to step down.

By the time An Chixu circled back to Yan Ciwei’s office, twenty minutes had passed since the end of the meeting. She knew Yan Ciwei would be in the office, just as Yan Ciwei knew she needed such an opportunity. She just didn’t know which of Yan Ciwei’s actions today were part of their unspoken understanding and which were special favors for her.

Being looked after by Yan Ciwei didn’t feel good. If possible, An Chixu didn’t want to come to this place again. She let out a sigh and walked to the door, but before she could raise her hand to knock, a flash of pine-green sliced through her vision.

Pei Luochen’s face was flushed with anger, her eyes rimmed with red, a thin layer of tears making An Chixu—who had bumped into her by chance—pause. An Chixu looked into Pei Luochen’s eyes; they were like clear autumn water, and her heart involuntarily tightened.

“You are…” Pei Luochen took a deep breath, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes. She thought An Chixu must be some important figure. After all, in Pei Luochen’s eyes, anyone who could come to the door of Yan Ciwei’s office at will must have some status. She was one such person, yet she was merely a pawn following orders.

An Chixu took a step back and lowered her head, adopting the posture of a subordinate, clearly informing Pei Luochen of her status. She heard Pei Luochen’s heavy breathing, crashing against her heart like waves hitting a reef. The usually proud idol seemed exasperated and wanted to vent; the person who had just bumped into her happened to be a target.

She was just about to speak when a voice broke the tension. “Sister An?”

“Sister Tang said you were here; I wanted to come thank you…” Shen Jibai stopped halfway through her sentence when she saw Pei Luochen at the door, facing off against An Chixu, nearly choking on her words.

Shen Jibai had been trembling with fear since learning of the leader’s incident, until just now when Manager He brought good news and even assigned her two promotional events. Shen Jibai thought An Chixu had done something. They didn’t have private contact information, so she could only look for her while she was at the company.

“Shen Jibai? What are you doing here? To mock me? Or to steal my backer?” Pei Luochen was in a fit of rage and spoke very rudely.

“…I came to find my persona planner; I didn’t know you were here.” Shen Jibai tried to step forward, but An Chixu moved to block her.

She wouldn’t see Yan Ciwei after all. A single “thank you” wasn’t important to her anyway. An Chixu exhaled; she thought she didn’t need to know how much Yan Ciwei had done for her or how much she had suffered. She didn’t need special care from her ex-girlfriend. She could just give Tang Shu a perfunctory answer.

“This is your planner?” Pei Luochen stepped forward, the disdain in her eyes nearly overflowing. A sneer was beginning to form.

An Chixu lowered her gaze, blocking Pei Luochen’s malice toward Shen Jibai, and suddenly realized she probably didn’t like these eyes, nor did she like pine-green hair.

“Still not leaving?” A slightly light, slightly cold voice cut through the doorway.

Yan Ciwei’s appearance stopped Pei Luochen from saying anything further, turning her into a red-eyed, aggrieved rabbit. The two made eye contact, and an invisible undercurrent surged once more, complex emotions swirling in Pei Luochen’s eyes. They stood in a high-low confrontation; the flush on Pei Luochen’s cheeks seemed to mirror the ambiguous air.

Pei Luochen’s position as leader was likely determined by Yan Ciwei, which was why she could make the final decision to cancel her promotional events for the month. What exactly is their relationship?

An Chixu felt exhausted. She turned and grabbed Shen Jibai’s wrist, wanting to leave.

“…An An, it’s late. Let me drive you home.” Her shoulder was brushed by a strand of hair, like long fingers pressing against the end of her collarbone. The bone was hard, but the fingertips were soft. It was a familiar feeling.

An Chixu thought she was about to smell the faint scent of geranium and slide back into the past. But she blinked, and what she smelled instead was the clear fragrance of jasmine.

Yan Ciwei had changed her perfume.

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