What to Do if You’re Being Targeted by the Superstar? [Entertainment] - Chapter 6

Manager Li led the four of them out of the factory gates, where a battered van was already waiting. As the girls lined up to board, Li crushed his cigarette butt under his heel and hopped into the passenger seat. Zhinuan let out a quiet breath of relief that he hadn’t sat in the back. She mentally prepared herself, resolutely vowing to safeguard these girls in case of any unforeseen circumstances. Despite being a “fake” seventeen-year-old, some of the girls were genuinely that age.

A girl sitting next to her named Xixi, who was considerably shorter than Zhinuan, was trembling. She clutched Zhinuan’s sleeve and whispered, “Sister, where are they taking us?”

Zhinuan didn’t know either, but she patted the girl’s hand comfortingly. “Don’t be afraid. Just stay behind me.” The girl nodded frantically, refusing to let go of her sleeve.

The older girl who had stood up for Zhinuan earlier glanced over, offering Zhinuan a long, contemplative look before turning away.

They soon arrived at a high-end hotel in H-City. Zhinuan surveyed the lobby and felt a bit of relief; the place looked legitimate and public, not some secluded den of vice. Manager Li pushed open the door to a private dining suite and ushered them inside.

The room was thick with a nauseating haze of cigarette smoke. Several stout men in expensive suits sat around a table, already mid-celebration. Zhinuan recognized the man at the head of the table, the factory director. He waved them over with a casual air of ownership. “Bring them here, bring them here.”

Zhinuan walked at the front to shield Xixi. As they passed the men, one reached out to pinch Zhinuan’s backside, but she moved with the quickness of an athlete and dodged him. The other men erupted into a coarse roar of laughter at his failure.

The girls were forced to stand close and serve tea. The director treated his female workers as nothing more than commodities, and the girls had to endure being touched and leered at just to keep their jobs. Xixi was the youngest, and the men watched her like wolves. The poor girl was on the verge of tears.

When the server arrived with the food, Zhinuan saw an opportunity. As she crossed paths with the waiter, she “accidentally” bumped into him, sending a spray of hot soup directly onto Xixi’s dress.

Xixi froze in shock. Zhinuan grabbed her arm immediately. “Oh, how could you be so careless? Go and change your clothes, quickly!” With that, Zhinuan practically shoved the bewildered girl out of the suite.

It was a clumsy ruse, and Zhinuan felt her heart hammering against her ribs, especially as Manager Li glared at her with a look that promised retribution. However, the director was currently deep in discussion with a raw material supplier and barely noticed the interruption.

The supplier, a balding man, asked, “What’s the plan for this forty-ton batch of protein glue?”

The director grinned. “The same as always. Jelly.”

Zhinuan was struck with horror. The jelly produced by this plant was famous nationwide and primarily consumed by young children. “Protein glue” was industry slang for industrial-grade gelatin: a substance strictly banned from food production because it is toxic. To think he was planning to unleash such a massive quantity on unsuspecting children was sickening.

Perhaps assuming these uneducated factory girls couldn’t grasp the gravity of the conversation, the director didn’t even bother to lower his voice. “Next month, once the capital is back in hand, we’ll add another production line,” he said, laughing and showing his yellowed teeth as he reached out to pinch the girl standing beside him.

*****

When the dinner finally ended, Zhinuan’s nerves were frayed. She had already decided that if Manager Li made any further demands, she would call the police immediately. Fortunately, the director’s group had other business to attend to and drove off. With an hour left in the workday, Li gave a dismissive wave. “You lot don’t need to head back to the plant today. Consider yourselves off the clock.”

Xixi had been crouching in a corner outside the suite, and she hurried toward Zhinuan the moment she appeared. “Sister, thank you.” Her eyes were clear and full of a simple, rustic gratitude. She pressed a small gift into Zhinuan’s hand, a cheap metal hairpin with a tiny honeybee design.

Zhinuan changed back into her work uniform in the hotel restroom and clipped the bee pin into her hair. As she stepped out into the dimming light of the evening, she felt a strange sense of aimlessness. She was a stranger in this city, and without a clear destination, she found her feet carrying her back toward the movie studio.

The crew of Phoenix in the Paulownia had finished filming for the day. Zhinuan took a few photos of the set, hoping to catch Yu Zi leaving the dressing room. The mere thought of seeing her seemed to wash away the disgust she felt from the hotel.

Just as she was about to ask someone for the location of the dressing rooms, Yu Zi emerged from a doorway, accompanied by her assistant. Though she was in her street clothes, her hair was still swept up in its regal ancient style. She spotted the girl in the courtyard immediately: the one who had given her the gift and then shared her taxi in the rain.

Zhinuan stared at that beautiful face, feeling as though her luck had finally turned. Yu Zi whispered something to her assistant, who nodded and walked ahead. As Zhinuan stood there in a daze, Yu Zi beckoned her over.

Yu Zi looked down at Zhinuan from the steps. Ever since she learned the girl was only seventeen, she had begun to view her as a younger sister. She noted the name stitched onto the uniform once more: Sheng Xiaonuan. It sounded like such a simple, honest name.

Even the bee hairpin was adorable.

Yu Zi offered a rare, genuine smile, one that was entirely different from her professional “idol” grin. “Thank you for the other day,” she said. “Your umbrella is still in my hotel room. Do you want it back?”

Zhinuan was so captivated by the smile that she stood frozen for a moment. Yu Zi tilted her head, her smile widening. “Hmm?” she hummed with an amused lilt.

Zhinuan’s ears burned. Remembering Mr. Huang’s absolute despair over his lost “limited-edition” merchandise, she nodded quickly. “Yes, I do.”

Yu Zi raised an eyebrow. So she really does follow multiple idols, she thought. A strange, subtle flicker of jealousy, one she didn’t even recognize, flared in her chest. Her tone took on a slightly “sour” edge. “Then you’d better come back to the hotel with me to get it.”

Zhinuan followed her like a devoted puppy. As they waited by the road for the assistant to bring the car, the aroma from the nearby snack stalls hit Zhinuan’s stomach, which was still empty from her meager lunch. Her stomach let out a long, loud growl. Zhinuan tried to cover it in embarrassment, but Yu Zi burst into a soft laugh.

“You’re hungry,” Yu Zi stated.

Zhinuan had left the factory in such a rush that her phone and money were still in her locker. She looked piteously at the glistening sausages on the grill and nodded. “Starving.”

Yu Zi sighed, suddenly feeling that her jealousy over a seventeen-year-old’s other idols was incredibly childish. She bought two sausages and handed one to Zhinuan. Zhinuan took a massive bite, the crispy skin and savory filling making her feel human again.

“Do you eat street food, too?” Zhinuan asked between bites.

Yu Zi took a large bite of her own, needing to finish before her assistant returned. “I do.” She paused, realizing the girl might have a romanticized view of celebrities. To level the playing field, she added, “Song Yixiao eats it, too.”

Zhinuan didn’t catch the competitive undertone; she just thought it was fun gossip to share with Mr. Huang later. By the time the car arrived, the evidence had been disposed of in a nearby bin. However, as soon as they boarded, the assistant, Yirui, turned around with a suspicious look. “Did you sneak a snack?”

Yu Zi remained silent, but Zhinuan jumped in to take the blame. “It was me! I was the one eating.”

Yirui sighed. “Sister, I can literally smell the barbecue.”

Yu Zi collapsed against the seat with a dramatic groan. “You have the nose of a bloodhound, Chen Yirui!” Her hand happened to rest on the armrest, brushing against Zhinuan’s arm. The cool touch made Zhinuan look down. Yu Zi was so slender that the veins showed through her pale skin. Zhinuan felt a pang of protectiveness, thinking of how hard the woman must work to maintain such a physique.

When they reached the hotel, Yirui went upstairs to fetch the umbrella while Yu Zi stayed below with Zhinuan. Zhinuan’s stomach, not yet satisfied by a single sausage, let out another thunderous growl. Mortified, Zhinuan crouched down and hugged her knees to muffle the sound.

Yu Zi looked at her with increasing pity and knelt down beside her. “Hey, kid,” she said softly.

Zhinuan blinked. Was she the “kid”? “Huh?”

“It must be hard, dropping out of school to work in a factory,” Yu Zi continued, her voice full of elder-sisterly concern. “Take my advice… go back to school.”

Zhinuan stared at her, utterly bewildered. “Wait… what?”

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