Limited-Time Attachment - Chapter 23

The spokesperson had indeed been replaced.

Before the contracts on this end were even cleared up, public opinion had already caught up. On several major social media platforms, videos tagged with “Yu Zhaowan,” “Traffic,” “Gold Master,” and “Yu Zhaowan’s Cooperation Cancelled Due to Scandal” surged in volume. The scandal photos that had just been suppressed were spontaneously unearthed by netizens, and the heat remained high.

Leaning back in her chair, Song Ming scrolled through a few videos and guessed the general situation.

The angles of these video scripts varied, but they all pointed to one thing: Yu Zhaowan had a “Gold Master” (financial backer) behind her.

One or two videos might have been a coincidence, but when almost every video hinted at this, analyzing who was behind Yu Zhaowan became the new entertainment for netizens.

Song Ming took a cursory look at the analyses. A few people had actually followed the trail and guessed it was her, though she couldn’t tell if they were “wild” netizens or people arranged by Zhou Jibai to guide the narrative.

Song Ming didn’t care to look deeper. She smiled indifferently and tapped the screen to pause a video; the “guichu” (manic/remixed) BGM, used to create a deliberate atmosphere, vanished.

“I’m going out for a bit,” Song Ming stood up.

“Alright,” Ji Shan replied with a smile.

“Contact me by phone if anything comes up.”

“No problem,” Ji Shan nodded slowly.

Song Ming paused her steps and looked back. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m just a humble photography studio owner,” Ji Shan stared blankly ahead, slowly pressing his hands together in prayer. “I can no longer feel the pain.”

Song Ming frowned, scanning Ji Shan from head to toe. “If you have time to go crazy, you have time to check the studio’s email.”

Ji Shan dropped his hands and complained with a long face, “Do you know you’re a bit cold-blooded? You’re running off and leaving me with this mess. You won’t even let me take a moment to be sad. It’s just work, what’s the rush…”

As Ji Shan grumbled, he logged into the office email. The moment he saw the unread list, he went silent, his resentment vanishing instantly.

An email from abroad lay quietly in the inbox. The name of the familiar company dazzled Ji Shan’s eyes. If he remembered correctly… that was an investment firm with immense capital and a notoriously sharp eye, they never missed.

Why would such a massive company, which had absolutely no connection to him, send him an email?

Could it be… perhaps… maybe… “Yue Xi” was about to make it big?!

Ji Shan’s hand shook. He stared at the email for two seconds, took a deep breath, suppressed his expectations, and opened it with a hint of skepticism… It really was a cooperation invitation!

Ji Shan slapped the table in excitement. “Quick, come look at who wants to work with us… Hey, where’d she go?”

Ji Shan looked around and realized Song Ming was long gone. The lounge door was open, and the green light of late summer filtered through the window.

Realization dawned on Ji Shan after a moment of daze. He looked down at his phone screen: “…This wouldn’t happen to be that ancestor’s company, would it?”

Song Ming had recently resumed activities in the A-City business circle.

This news couldn’t be hidden from industry insiders. The “notorious” eldest daughter of the Zhong family had suddenly returned to the country, which had already set the circle buzzing. Following that, Song Ming began organizing her assets. The timing was so coincidental that it was impossible not to link the two events.

However, regardless of the motive, the A-City families had all seen how much the profits of Songyun had increased during Song Ming’s tenure. Now that the wind had shifted, countless people were preparing to react.

In an apartment complex across the river from Song Ming’s home, a high-rise unit was brightly lit late into the night.

Exquisite slippers stepped across the floor, housing full, rounded white toes tipped with light pink polish.

This color is a disaster if not pulled off well, but the woman was dazzlingly white from head to toe. Her calves were smooth and shapely, her cold-white skin flawless. The hint of pink beneath her feet looked beautiful, proud, and perfectly appropriate.

Zhou Jibai had just showered, and the ends of her curled hair were still damp.

News of the change in Yu Zhaowan’s management agency had already been sent to Zhou Jibai’s phone. The feedback on public opinion submitted by her subordinates sat on the computer screen.

Song Ming had scooped the person up and tucked her into an entertainment company affiliated with Songyun.

It was true that Yu Zhaowan was mired in scandal, but under the protection of someone’s “money power,” she not only remained unharmed but had also gained a top-tier management company. A bright future in stardom was foreseeable.

Zhou Jibai stared at the screen for a while, then lowered her eyes and massaged her temples.

The huge house was empty, with only the slight hum of the computer tower in her ears. Zhou Jibai closed her eyes to rest for a moment. Then, a cold gaze shot from the corners of her eyesl, which always appeared charming and landed on a nearby drawer.

Zhou Jibai reached out and pulled a lighter from the drawer. Its silver-bright casing shimmered under the light, sleek and minimalist.

Her long fingers unconsciously rubbed the smooth casing. She flipped the lighter over, the bottom was clearly engraved with the word “Song” in bold, sharp strokes.

In the dead of night, the owner of another house was also sleepless.

A personal computer on the desk was connected to the corporate intranet. On the internal board of a small, nameless local fashion brand hung a legal complaint for a litigation dispute. The tug of war over copyright, dragged out by external interference, had become a mess of chaotic evidence that was exhausting to look at.

Song Ming had returned to the A-City business circle, but she hadn’t returned to Song Yun. Instead, she had taken over Boshen.

Boshen was small in scale. It was originally a local fashion brand founded by a domestic designer that once had some fame in the industry, though it was only a flash in the pan.

The designer was actually quite gifted, with solid skills honed from years of study in Europe. Unfortunately, there was a vast gap between design and management. This designer was truly terrible at business, pushed to the brink by competitors, and forced to seek group investment.

Once the funds were in place, the designer couldn’t accept the group’s development direction, which ran counter to their design philosophy, leading to a nasty fallout.

By the time Boshen reached Song Ming’s hands, it was a total mess from the inside out.

But Song Ming didn’t like the domestic scene. Songyun was all powerful and deeply rooted domestically, she didn’t want to bring her assets back to get entangled with them. So, she simply took over Boshen herself.

“I heard you struck back at your ex-girlfriend. Wasn’t that a bit too heavy-handed? You’re not being very considerate of your old flame,” an old friend laughed over the phone.

Song Ming’s computer screen was split: half showed Boshen’s lawsuit, the other half showed Yu Zhaowan’s scandal.

“I don’t think so,” Song Ming said, watching Yu Zhaowan’s search popularity slowly decline.

What “old flame” consideration? Being hesitant in front of Zhou Jibai would only lead to being schemed to death by her.

That woman wouldn’t show mercy to anyone.

“I’ll bet a Rolls-Royce Spectre,” the old friend predicted mysteriously through the airwaves, “that you’ll regret it sooner or later.”

Nonsense, was Song Ming’s first thought. What is there to regret? It’s just business.

Before she could retort, the end of her friend’s sentence was suddenly accompanied by a soft laugh. A delicate, feminine voice came through the line, muffled: “Who are you talking to?”

The friend seemed to turn back to explain to his girlfriend. The voice drifted further away, indistinct, followed by the faint sound of happy laughter reaching Song Ming’s ears.

Song Ming: “…”

Song Ming, who was currently single, felt this sound was quite unseemly. She coldly hung up the phone without even bothering to say “goodbye.”

She still had work to attend to.

The data regarding Yu Zhaowan fluctuated. Song Ming knew Zhou Jibai was operating behind the scenes. Her friend was certain she would regret being too harsh, but Song Ming didn’t say that she was actually too lazy to make enemies right now. However…

They could have lived in peace, Song Ming thought. It was Zhou Jibai who made the first move.