Sheng Jiaoyang had just turned her phone on when she got a call from an unfamiliar Chinese phone number.

"Miss Xu, you finally picked up!" a young girl"s voice said through the receiver.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Zhou Xiaozhen. I"m the a.s.sistant that President Li arranged for you."

Sheng Jiaoyang slightly raised a brow upon hearing that. "And, why were you calling?"

"President Li said that as your a.s.sistant, I must be the first to know your whereabouts. So, I had to call to find out. Miss Xu, did you really leave the country with Lina?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"President Li said that he wanted you to come back…" The girl"s voice was very weak, without any confidence.

"Then, make him personally tell me that."

Sheng Jiaoyang hung up, and faced with Lina"s curious stare, she simply said, "Li Yu arranged an a.s.sistant for me."

Lina nodded. "In the afternoon, I"ll take you to see my company"s chief designer. For now, we can go find somewhere to eat."

In the car, Sheng Jiaoyang received a call from Li Yu. She accepted it, and Li Yu"s voice was soon heard.

"I already told you not to run around for the next two days. Did you treat my words as a pa.s.sing breeze?"

"Why am I obligated to listen to you?" Sheng Jiaoyang wasn"t somebody that liked to be ordered around, so while they were revising the contract, she"d edited a lot of the clauses restricting her movements. Due to this, Li Yu couldn"t use the contract to order her to do anything.

Li Yu was speechless.

"If there"s nothing else, I"ll see you later." Sheng Jiaoyang was about to hang up.

Li Yu was helpless and hurried to ask, "When will you be back?"

"Probably once school starts."

"So long?"

"Got a complaint?" Sheng Jiaoyang asked back.

"Come on, are you aware of your own status as a supermodel? Student Xu Jiaojiao, fix your att.i.tude. Don"t tell me that you signed with Entertainment International just for fun? Don"t you want to be famous? Don"t you want to earn money? Don"t you want to build your career?"

Sheng Jiaoyang"s lips twitched as she listened to Li Yu"s angry yet helpless questioning before replying casually, "So?"

"I planned out everything so that you could ride on Gu Zhou"s fame to clear the rumours and gain popularity. Yet, right after the scandal, you"re mixing with Lina again. Do you think the number of haters you have isn"t enough? Don"t tell me that you"re just friends. How can friends be so sticky with each other? I don"t believe it!"

This was probably the first time that Li Yu had met such an obstinate person, his teaching and complaints turning into ridicule.

"Believe whatever you want." Sheng Jiaoyang calmly blocked Li Yu with four simple words.

"You think I can"t bury your career?!" Li Yu was so angry, he accidentally spilled some of his true intentions. In any case, his boss had only told him to recruit her, not make her popular.

"I believe you can." Li Yu had just relaxed when Sheng Jiaoyang continued, "So?"

Li Yu was speechless.

"Nothing more to say? Then, bye!" Sheng Jiaoyang hung up.

Li Yu, who"d just been hung up on, rapped the desk in his office in anger. He wanted to see what future prospects this undisciplined person had without Entertainment International!

The forgotten a.s.sistant loitered around for a few days before ultimately deciding to apply for a transfer from the higher ups. The artist she was a.s.signed to didn"t show any initiative or intent in working with her, and even President Li had given up. If she didn"t apply for a transfer now, she would never be able to move up in the company.

The transfer request was soon approved, and Zhou Xiaozhen was transferred to a.s.sist another artist.

Meanwhile, a certain person who "showed no initiative or intent" was charming the designer with her self confidence and becoming one of the chosen models. This won her the opportunity to walk the runway with Lina.

"Before, I"d always wanted to do a show with you, and now it"s finally become a reality." Lina hugged Sheng Jiaoyang, smiling widely.

"I also never thought that I"d have the chance to do one with you." Sheng Jiaoyang was a bit emotional.

Lina c.o.c.ked her head, smiling as she said, "Tonight…"

She hadn"t finished speaking when the phone interrupted her, and the hands-free bluetooth system read out the caller"s name.

Rita? Sheng Jiaoyang raised a brow.

"Hey Lina, I heard you just came back, so come to my place for a party tonight!" Rita"s voice rang from the phone.

"Can I bring somebody with me?" Lin Na asked.

"A family member?"

"Nope, it"s a very good friend of mine."

"Ah, how disappointing, here I was hoping that you"d bring back a boyfriend. Lina, are you able to contact Jiaoyang? I haven"t been able to contact her recently."

Lina glanced at Sheng Jiaoyang. "Jiaoyang fell ill and is currently getting better. I also haven"t been able to reach her."

"My G.o.d! Jiaoyang fell ill? Is it serious? How come you can"t reach her?"

Hearing Rita"s emotional tone, Sheng Jiaoyang couldn"t help but feel touched.

"I also want to know her current situation, but somebody"s keeping information about her hospitalisation from us, so I can"t do anything either." Lina gave Sheng Jiaoyang a strange wink as she spoke with a regretful tone in her voice.

"But, you"re her closest friend! Aren"t you worried about not being able to reach her?" Rita asked anxiously.

"I believe nothing will happen to her."

"Alright. She was such a good and friendly person, the G.o.ds will definitely bless her. Lina, wear something pretty tonight!"

"Don"t worry, I won"t make you lose face."

"Then, I"ll see you tonight!"

Lina hung up and smiled at Sheng Jiaoyang. "I"m surprised Rita the Freak still remembers you. It seems you supporting her before wasn"t in vain."

Sheng Jiaoyang laughed hearing Lina say Rita"s nickname. "Yep!"

Back in their student days, Rita was a new transfer student with a somewhat violent temperament and who"d never lost a fight. To punish her for almost crippling some local tyrant"s son, her Father had cut off all her spending money. At that time, Sheng Jiaoyang had plenty of money. So, she gave her money, while Rita helped protect her and establish a standing in school. As such, the two became good friends. Rita and Lina were also introduced to each other by Sheng Jiaoyang.

"It feels like I haven"t seen Rita in two years," Sheng Jiaoyang sighed.

"You can see her tonight. It"s still a bit early, so for now, let"s go shopping!"

Lina"s expression was nostalgic as they walked about the shopping mall. "Little Sun, it"s been a while since we"ve walked around like this."

"Yeah!"

"That dress over there isn"t bad, let"s go take a look." Lina pointed at a display case showing off a mannequin wearing a dress.

After they"d entered, Lina was just about to ask the store clerk to bring down the dress for her to try when Sheng Jiaoyang pulled her arm.

"What happened?" Lina looked at her doubtfully.

Lina followed Sheng Jiaoyang"s glance and saw the figure sitting in front of the sofa.

Lin Yan?

Lina frowned as she swept her eyes through the store, pausing for a moment at the dressing rooms.

"Let"s go to another place." Lina wanted to quickly pull Sheng Jiaoyang away.

But, Sheng Jiaoyang didn"t move. Instead, she asked the store clerk to bring down the dress in the display case that Lina liked before turning to look at the dressing rooms. There were only two women who could make Lin Yan go shopping with them; Auntie Lin and his new fiancee. From Lina"s reaction, it was clear that the one in the dressing room was Lin Yan"s fiancee.

"Jiaojiao?" Lina asked worriedly.

"Don"t worry, I just want to take a look." Sheng Jiaoyang patted Lina"s hand that was pulling on her arm.

Their movements caused the man on the sofa to look in their direction.

"Nana."

Lina rolled her eyes, wanting to ignore him.

The store clerk had already come back with the dress.

Sheng Jiaoyang accepted the dress and stuffed it in Lina"s hands. "Didn"t you like it? Go and try it on."

Lina glanced at her, and then at the already standing Lin Yan before going into the dressing room.

Sheng Jiaoyang took a deep breath before walking over to Lin Yan with a smile.

"h.e.l.lo, Mei Niu"s brother."

Lin Yan"s expression was startled as he recalled that summer day a few years ago. A girl had laid on the window and waved to him with a playful smile after he"d finished playing the piano, saying:

h.e.l.lo, Mei Niu"s brother!